Macro Monday

     Welcome to Macro Monday! I have talked about my reverse diet and macronutrients (carbs/fat/protein) a little bit in the past. So I thought I would show you a full day of my meals and snacks. Each day is completely different, this is just one random day I choose to photograph.   

     Reverse dieting is a specific kind of IIFYM (if it fits your macros) diet. I have a certain number of grams of protein, fat and carbs I eat everyday, for me these number changes weekly. I can eat what ever foods I want as long as I hit my designated grams of fat, protein and carbs. Because this diet leaves lots of flexibility in choosing what you want to eat, it has been given the name "Flexible Dieting". 

My day started with a hard boiled egg topped with Pink Himalayan sea salt while I heated up my 'real' breakfast. 

'Real' Breakfast - Leftover shredded chicken with french cut green beans and BBQ chicken

Mid-morning Snack - Peanut Butter Cookie that my mom brought over the day before. 

It was delicious, Thanks Mom!

Lunch - Mesquite Smoked Turkey Breast on Honey Wheat Bread 

with White Cherry Gatorade (unpictured)

Afternoon Snack - Vanilla Greek Yogurt with vanilla soy protein powder mixed in (wouldn't do that again...) topped with warmed up fiber chocolate brownie and sprinkles.

Dinner - Shredded Buffalo Chicken with broccoli, carrots & cauliflower on the side  (not pictured)
It was good, but spicy.

Nighttime Snack/Dessert - A serving of Despicable Me Honey Maid Crackers (...cookies?) and part of a three musketeers bar.  Minions are too cute.

Also non pictured lots and lots of water. I was a little short on protein but I hit my other macros on the mark. With flexible dieting you don't have to eat the typical 'diet' foods. I ate what I wanted/was craving.

What kind of diet do you follow?

Reverse Dieting

      From now on I think Mondays on the blog are going to be all about diet, nutrition, and what I am eating. 
     
     Diets suck right? Not this one! I started reverse dieting about a month ago (mentioned here) and I absolutely love it. A reverse diet is where you keep increasing your calories (in the form of carbs and fats) each week while still maintaining about your same weight in order to repair your metabolism. It sounds too good to be true, right? 

    Well, I can say from personal experience it is not too good to be true! I have increased my carbs by about 20 gram and my fat by 5 grams in the last month  and my weight initially went down and has now stayed about the same. I weigh myself daily and my weight only ever fluctuates by 0.2-0.4 lbs. 

    The benefits to reverse dieting:

• Getting to eat more carbs (donuts, please) = having more energy   
• Your body is being well fueled every single day. When you workout your muscles need a lot of fuel to successfully complete their task and heal post-work out. 
• Maintaining a low calorie diet is not possible in the long haul. If you lose a bunch of weight on a low calorie diet you will have slowed down your metabolism in the process. When you try to start eating more food you will rebound and gain back weight. With reverse dieting there should not be much weight gain (depending on your body weight %).
• Increasing your metabolism makes future weight loss much easier - no more cutting down to a sluggish 900-1200 calories in order to lean out.

    I decided to reverse diet because I was fascinated by the idea of having the ability to heal and somewhat control my metabolism. It has been a fun and eye opening experience for me. I am seeing food in a whole new light. 

    I think I picked the perfect time to reverse diet with the holidays (aka carb season) coming up!!

Do you count macros (protein, carbs, fat)?

Have you ever reverse dieted?