Customizing Your Meal Plan - No Excuses

Ok, let’s get to the details.  After you decide your fitness plan and caloric intake, calculate the % macros for your daily plan.  Now there is a formula for calculating your proteins/carbs/fats per calorie (it’s not multiplying % by daily calories to get your macro allotment), but to save time, use Scooby’s site for the macro portions http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/, and this free website www.fatsecret.com to put the meal plan together. 

In the beginning, I wanted to shed fat. 2400 calories/day was my target, and I was looking to get 50% protein 30% carbs and 20% fats in my daily mix.  Where did I get this ratio?  It was recommended in the P90x guide, and it seemed to be a good starting point.  I never hit the macros exactly every day, but, I always was in the ballpark +/- 3%.  Anyway, I started to crash consistently during my workouts after about 60 days, so I upped my caloric intake to 2800 calories/day on my resistance days and kept my cardio days at 2400.  I also upped my carbs to 50-55% on resistance days, and kept them at 30% on cardio days.    This took about 4 months to figure out before I felt I had the right balance, it didn’t happen overnight.  I am still listening to my body, but this mix seems to be working wonders.  I am shredding fat, putting on muscle, and not feeling hungry.  I also realize this is not my meal plan 6 months from now.  Eventually, I want to consistently have 55-60% carbs.  Why the high carbs?  I plan on having low body fat and continuing higher intensity exercises.  This goes back to my point of focusing on your needs and not a meal plan designed for someone else.

What kind of foods should you use to hit your macros?  I have seen this topic debated over and over, and I’m really going to focus on what has worked for me.  Take a look at this meal plan that I took from a professional body builder:

  

	Meal Plan 1
	Item	Kcals
Meal 1	1 medium banana	105
	1 cup egg whites	126
	2 cups cooked oatmeal	290
	2 slices wheat toast	256
	1 serving whey protein	110
Meal 2	1 medium apple	72
Meal 3	2 cups cooked brown rice	429
	6 oz chicken breast	332
	1 package spinach	62
	2 slices wheat toast	256
Meal 4	6 oz chicken breast	332
	1 serving Salad	9
	2 slices wheat toast	256
Meal 5	1 serving casein protein	150
	Total Calories	2785
	Protein	32%
	Carbs	51%
	Fats	17%

This is a very simple diet, very clean and the caloric intake is close to 2800 with the macros similar to my macro needs on my resistance days. 

Now take a look at a sample menu from my diet:

	Meal Plan 2
	Item	Kcals
Meal 1	2X protein greek yogurt	160
	1 serving banana	110
	2 servings Blue Bell No Sugar Added Ice Cream	180
	2 servings chocolate milk	440
	28 oz coffee	17
	2 servings whey protein isolate	210
Meal 2	1 wheat tortilla	90
	1 serving string cheese	70
	1 medium gala apple	71
Meal 3	2 servings 100% whole wheat bread	160
	2 servings chicken breast tenders	200
	1 serving kraft fat free cheese slice	25
	1 serving fat free miracle whip	15
	1 serving KC Masterpiece BBQ Sauce	60
	2 cups celery	28
Meal 4	1 wheat tortilla	90
	1 serving string cheese	70
	1 cup seedless grapes	110
Meal 5	3 servings Cheeseburger Pizza (Clean Eating Magizing Recipe)	600
	1 serving cottage cheese (low sodium)	90
	Total Calories	2796
	Protein	29%
	Carbs	53%
	Fats	18%

The daily caloric intake and macro ratio is very similar.  I have much more variety (things that I like), and I am actually looking forward to my meal plan as opposed to the professional body builder’s plan.  So this begs the question, if you are only worried about calories and macros, why not eat whatever you want, as long as it fits your macros?  Well, check out this low fat, low sodium, higher protein diet:

	Meal Plan 3
	Item	Kcals
Meal 1	4 cups Lucky Charms	456
	2 servings chocolate milk	440
Meal 2	1 ice cream sandwich	220
Meal 3	1 serving Doritos	202
Meal 4	1 ice cream sandwhich	220
Meal 5	13 Miller Lite bottles	1248
	Total Calories	2786
	Protein	44%
	Carbs	41%
	Fats	15%

I actually think this was my diet in college, and we all know how that worked out.  Notice that this is closer to the balanced 40/40/20 diet that a lot of people follow.  So, can you be successful by hitting your caloric and macro needs, regardless of food quality?  If you hit your goals based on Meal Plan 3, then you have the inner workings of that friggin DeLorean at the end of Back to the Future, where Doc Brown chucks all of that garbage into Mr. Fusion, then blasts into the future with a hopped up flying time machine.  

Anyway, here’s the approach I took, and still am taking.

I will use my current meal plan as an example.  Monday through Sunday daily calories look like this:

Monday               2800

Tuesday               2400

Wednesday          2800

Thursday              2400

Friday                  2800

Saturday               2400

Sunday                 2200

Total Weekly Intake:  17,800 calories

When I first switched up my plan, I stuck to the 80/20 rule.  80% of my calories would be clean, whole foods, no BS, and I would shoot for 4-5 serving of veggies/fruits per day to get my nutrients.  That means I could indulge in around 3,560 calories that were garbage and still feel good about myself.  I could do that in one day, or spread it out.  Just to let you know upfront, I did not and will not eat foods that I believe can be detrimental to me controlling the insulin spikes.  Therefore, those garbage calories will not include things like alcohol and donuts.  But, I did allow myself wings, baked if possible, but also deep fried in white flour in controlled portions (it was not sending my cravings through the roof, I monitored closely), and it was very satisfying.  I also continued to eat BBQ (Hinze's, Mustang Creek), and instead of mixing fries with it, I would opt for corn, coleslaw or green beans.  I would never do my garbage calories in one day, because I was continuing to exercise, and a whole day worth of garbage would do absolutely nothing for my workout the next morning.

As time progressed, the cravings for the garbage carbs started to subside.  You will notice on Sundays, that I have only 2200 calories, because I want to indulge a little more in fat macros on those days.  2200 calories is in the range of my RMR, so I up the fat and protein more on Sundays, knowing that I’m in a caloric deficit for the week, and none of it will be stored as fat.  I don’t go overboard on Sundays, but I do enjoy a great breakfast like whole wheat bagel with 3 eggs, two strips of bacon, fat free miracle whip on the bagel (to each his own), fat free kraft singles, and ghost pepper salsa.  It’s awesome, and my whole Sunday is kind of structured that way.  The higher protein/fat day really leaves me feeling full, even though it’s my lowest calorie day (and typically my rest day ).  Again, I am paying close attention to the stuff that could potentially give me a nice insulin spike.

After a month, I felt like my cravings were under control.  When I went back to Indiana for Christmas, I was able to stay away from the sweets I grew up loving, and did not really feel the urge to gorge (like every Christmas before that).  I am looking to get a little more extreme with 90/10.  That still means I can have 1700+ calories as garbage, and I’m using that allotment to mix in things like KC Masterpiece bbq sauce with my chicken during lunch.  Again, this approach really can give you flexibility in your meal plan, and at no point do I ever feel like this is a diet.  Anyone can do this….ANYONE….I really don’t want to hear how you would like to do this, but you hate giving up certain things.  Seriously, you don’t have to give up certain things, just mix them in to your calories and fit them into your macros.  There is some discipline involved because you don't want to let the garbage things you love to indulge in exceed your 20%.  You’ll be amazed at how easy this can be with a little planning. No more excuses.