Monday Munchies: IIFYM

My style of dieting lifestyle is prone to a lot of name calling and bashing-simply because it doesn't fit a mold.  

It's not clean eating.

It's not paleo.

It's not gluten free, or dairy free, or low car, or low fat.  

It's whatever you make it to be-which is what is awesome about it.

However, in order to successfully hit your daily macro count, you are almost forced to eat more clean than not.  

Hitting the required protein is the hardest part, and the fats and carbs go quickly-so unless you're saving up for something special-most people don't have a choice but to limit their fats and carbs.  

I'm a creature of habit, and I'm a-ok with my breakfast and lunch being the same thing day in and day out. In fact, I would prefer for that to be the story for my dinner as well, but with a family I need to attempt a dinner menu.  Unfortunately, that doesn't stop my kids from asking for pizza every.single.night. 

So, what are my staple munchies while following IIFYM?

For a long time, I had a protein drink for breakfast

 

I recently bought this protein drink at Costco.  While it has more bank for your buck so to speak (less carbs, way more protein) it consumes a lot of my protein so I found that I wasn't able to eat as much.  My nightly snack used to consist of yogurt, or eggs to meet my daily protein intake.  I've resorted to keeping this as an option to use when I need it.  

 

Now, I've resorted to eating one of these individual servings of low fat cottage cheese for breakfast.  

 

Additionally, I use 1/3 of a cup of whole milk in my morning coffee at work.  I can't believe I was on the fat free train for so long! Whole milk makes such a difference and eliminates the need for any flavored creamer. 

I will try to make sure I've had plenty of water after my coffee-about 24 oz.  That helps keep me hydrated which ultimately helps keep my day on track since I'm less hungry.  

My lunch usually consists of a couple of the same items, and I will vary a couple depending on what I plan for dinner.  Typically, lunch is an ezekiel cinnamon rainson muffin with butter spray, a string cheese-which I happily string, some sort of greek yogurt (fat percentage also varies based on daily food planning), and a square of 86% Ghirardelli chocolate.  If I need to reserve more carbs for later in the day I'll eat a can of tuna as my main lunch component.  I need to get better at squeezing in some vegetables.  

My afternoon snack recently has been one serving of plain almonds and a small banana.  I try to eat that on my way home so I'm ready to hit the gym.  

My dinner really has no rhyme or reason-when it's just the kids and me I have the freedom to make them something quick like pasta, or oatmeal, or cereal, and make myself whatever it is that will complete my macros for the day.  If I do cook a "real" dinner, I will just make it work.  I've become a fan of the Imagine soups, specifically the butternut squash, but it's about twice the carbs as the other vegetable version, I've found it worthwhile to switch.  Their creamy broccoli is my new fave.

    

I used to enjoy making my own huge pot of soup for the week-but the large pot made it difficult to heat up and a lot of times it would go to waste.  Although these soups are on the expensive side, the convenience is worth it.  

I eat a lot of eggs, specifically egg whites.  I will sometimes eat 5-6 egg whites at time.

I also eat chicken, salmon, or turkey deli for dinner a couple nights a week. 

I like the Fage 0% greek yogurt.  It's super thick and is great with some mix-ins like fat free jello pudding mix (left as a powder) or PB2

  s  

I have seen this at most grocery stores-get your hands on it.  I was skeptical at first, but for realzzzz-when mixed with water it's like natural peanut butter.  

I used to be a big fan of protein bars, but they're pretty costly and I have found that I would rather eat real food when possible.  But, I keep a stash on hand for when I know I won't be home for a meal, or in an emergency when I might  get hungry.  I bought a combo box of the Zone Peanut Butter and Fudge Graham and Costco, but there are several options out there.  One new option I've come across are these NuGO bars.

 

There is a huge variety and which one I choose depends on my macro need. 

And of course, I will always make room for a donut...

 

Happy counting!