Does anyone else find food really, really confusing?
I’ve counted and analysed every mouthful of food I’ve consumed for my whole life and I’m still confused as all hell.
When I was having trouble shifting weight earlier this year my trainer at the gym said ‘What are your macros like?’
I said ‘What the actual fuck are you talking about?’
I’ll be honest here, I don’t hate counting calories and making sure I’m getting all the right stuff in my diet. I don’t count calories all the time (because oh my god I WANT TO LIVE!!!) but every now and then I’ll track what I’m eating for week and then I re-discover all this excellent information I chose to forget. Like Magnums have about 5 hours at the gym worth of fat and sugar in them. And while almonds are an excellent form of good fat they stop being excellent once you’ve had about ten.
After years and years and self experimentation and some recent success shifting weight I’ve embraced the notion that fat is not the enemy (THANKS 1980s for creating the fat fear, you giant dicks) and I’ve come up with this amazing and totally fool proof equation to make sure every meal I eat is giving me the good stuff. Here it is.
Green + protein + fat
That’s it. I make sure I have those three things in every meal and I’m totally good to go. Here are a few staples. I’ll often add extra veggies and things if I’ve got stuff on hand but the base of the meal is always those three things.
Caesar Salad
Green + protein + fat
Cos lettuce + chicken + egg/mayo
Lazy Lunch Salad
Green + protein + fat
Baby spinach + tin of salmon + avocado
Fish and greens
Green + protein + fat
Baked broccoli + grilled fish + goats cheese
Chicken Satay
Green + protein + fat
Zoodles + chicken sticks + peanut sauce
Taco bowls
Green + protein + fat
Salad leaves + beef mince + sour cream
I don’t find I need a lot of carbs in my life but if you need carbs you can totally add a cup of brown rice or whack a salad on a grainy bread roll and bob’s your uncle. Even a handful of roasted sweet potato would be ace.
Best Ever Caesar Salad Recipe (serves 2)
What you need
400gms chicken thigh fillets, cut into small pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 x hard boiled eggs, peeled and cut in half
1/2 an avocado, sliced
6 x anchovies, finely sliced
1 small cos lettuce, shredded
2 tablespoons of whole egg mayonnaise
2 tablespoons of shaved parmesan cheese
What you do
1. Heat oil in fry pan and cook chicken for about 5 mins until it’s brown on all sides and not pink in the middle.
2. Chuck all ingredients in a bowl, add the cooked chicken and bam! Perfect dinner.
This has become a hard core staple in our house and an excellent lazy dinner option. I’ll often add tomato and cucumber if I have it lying around but a mate of mine told me this a caesar salad travesty and tomato has no place in a traditional caesar salad. So… tomato is optional.
The formula is such a great guide, I use it for every meal. It makes cooking and ordering super easy, I just make sure everything I eat fits the formula. It’s also great for making sure every meal I eat is created on a base green stuff. Ace.
Do you have a basic formula you follow for most meals? Or a standard thing you eat at particular times of day?
P.S Also you should totally sign up for my newsletter. It’s full of cool stuff.
P.P.S Don’t forget Crochet Coach has a free trial offer period at the moment so make sure you sign up!