These macro friendly recipes are the best meal prep recipes for counting macros because they’re well balanced between protein, carbs and fat!
Have you heard of counting macros? My mom recently started and has raved about her results, so I’ve set out to learn more!
The reason I wanted to give this a try is because it does not restrict certain foods. You can eat whatever you love! You just have to try to reach certain goals for how much Protein, Carbs and Fat you’re eating every day.
The most difficult part about following a macro diet is that you have to log everything you eat. But in doing so, you learn SO MUCH about the nutritional value of what you’re eating. Rather than eating tiny amounts, the goal is to find foods with lots of volume but are low in calories and high in protein.
What Are Macros?
I can’t explain it as well as some others have, so here are some articles that explain it in more detail:
Here’s a macro calculator that will tell you how many grams of each macronutrient you should eat per day based on your weight, age and activity level.
Once you’ve figured out your macro goals, it’s time to start planning! I use the app MyFitnessPal to track everything I’m eating.
The Best Macro Friendly Recipes
I found it’s much easier to plan out your meals ahead of time so you know exactly how your food fits into your macros in advance. If I don’t plan, I sometimes find myself way out of balance halfway through the day and it’s hard to fix it.
That’s why these macro friendly meal prep recipes are here to help! Each one includes the macronutrient count so you can easily plan in advance.
Just make these meals a couple days in advance and refrigerate them for lunches or dinners.
Green Vegetables are the most macro friendly. They give you the most bang for your buck. These include: Broccoli, Kale, Spinach, Peppers, Green Beans, Asparagus, Cucumber, Zucchini, Lettuce, Mustard Greens, Celery, Brussel Sprouts, and many more.
The theory behind the Zone diet is all in the numbers: 40-30-30. Zone dieters balance their meals and snacks so that their calories come from a mix of 40 percent carbohydrates, 30 percent protein and 30 percent “friendly” fats.
A basic strategy would be to divide your total daily targets including calories, carbs, fat and protein by four. This would give you even macro targets for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. Then, divide that 1/4 number by two to get the target macros for your two snacks.
Meat, poultry, and eggs: lean cuts of beef, lamb, goat, pork loin, skinless chicken and turkey, quail and duck. Fish and seafood: salmon, tuna, cod, shrimp, mackerel, lobster, catfish and crab. Low-fat or fat-free dairy foods: yogurt, milk, cheese and cottage cheese. Legumes: beans, split peas, lentils and soy.
However, a general guideline for fat loss is to aim for a moderate protein intake, with slightly higher proportions of carbohydrates and lower proportions of fats. A common macro ratio for fat loss is 45% of calories from carbohydrates, 25% from protein, and 30% from fats.
Work out how many grams of each macro you need to eat
To work out how many grams of each you need, you multiply your total daily calories by 0.4 for protein and 0.3 for carbohydrates and fat. The protein and carbohydrate figures are then divided by 4 and the fat figure by 9.
If you're trying to lose weight, shoot for 68-82 grams of protein per day. Matt says to split your daily protein intake between your three daily meals. “Your body does a way better job at metabolizing protein when it's consumed 15-30 grams at a time.
The 30-30-30 diet involves eating 30g of protein within 30 minutes of waking up, and then completing 30 minutes of low intensity exercise. This method first appeared in Tim Ferriss' book The 4-Hour Body in 2010 but was recently popularized by nutritionist and wellness podcaster Gary Brecka.
Carbs from veggies: All leafy greens, cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts, vegetables like artichokes, swiss chard, sweet potato, green banana are all healthy carbs that pack plenty of fiber, vitamins and complex starch that keeps your meal prep nutritious.
The term macro in this diet, short for macronutrients, focuses on the percentage of carbohydrates, fat and protein consumed in a day. How much you are allowed per day (or per meal) depends on your body composition, age and health goals.
Your perfect macronutrient ratio depends on your goals, activity level, age, health, and genetics. For weight loss purposes, a moderate carb (30%-40% of calories), moderate fat (20%-30% of calories), and high protein diet (25%-35% of calories) tends to work for most people.
So, what is a macro? Macro is the shortened version of the word macronutrient. Macronutrients are the nutrients your body needs in significant amounts daily to function properly. The three macronutrients are proteins, carbohydrates (carbs), and fats.
Carbohydrates are the quickest, and fats are the slowest. Carbohydrates, proteins, and fats are digested in the intestine, where they are broken down into their basic units: Carbohydrates into sugars.
Introduction: My name is Velia Krajcik, I am a handsome, clean, lucky, gleaming, magnificent, proud, glorious person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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