How do you manage your budget? ????Are you proactive or reactive? I’d say that if you were to ask my husband, he would tell you that I am better at managing my macros than my budget. lol… But I will let you in on my single best tip to manage your own macros successfully.
PLAN AHEAD!
&
TRACK BEFORE YOU EAT.
Okay, that was 2. But seriously, in our day 1 tips to new members, we always advise to plan your day ahead of time. Track your food before you eat it. And even easier if you take it one step further by entering your meals the night prior. I like to do this pre-thinking when I am not hungry or rushed, when I can more calmly plan my whole day. This extra bit of work on the front end saves me a ton of time and worry during the day.
I do this almost daily. On weekends and when travelling I may want to leave a little more room for spontaneity, but this practice truly saves me a ton of time and it is well worth developing this habit. You can always change your mind later, but knowing that you have a plan is more likely to keep you on track.
I like to enter my dinner first. Dinner is often the biggest meal of the day for me and as such will cost me the most macros. The protein I choose at dinner may also be more rich, therefore I may need to save more fat for it; or maybe it’s pasta night and I want to build a little cushion in for my carbs. By entering dinner in first, I can work around that.
Second, I see if this is a workout day or a rest day. If it is a workout day, I plan my nutrition needs depending on when I workout. If I go in the morning, breakfast will need more carbs; if it is an after-noon session, I need to make room for a pre-wod snack in there.
Then I see what I need to eat to make my target and what I have on hand. Lunch is usually salad with left-over protein, or a smaller version of last night’s dinner. I will adjust quantities to fit my macros by adding or deducting foods. More veggies and less carbs. Sub in egg whites instead of eggs if I am going over on fat. It’s a little bit like macros Tetris. Sounds silly, but it gets easier the more you do it. Truthfully, the size and frequency of my meals doesn’t vary much from day to day as I have found what works best for me and stick to it. But we all have occasions that we want to save up for, or days that require a little more juggling to make everything work.
Thinking of my macros like a daily budget really makes it clearer for me. Buy the essentials first and then leave some discretionary funds for the fun stuff! My macros targets are how much I have to spend daily. In there, I need to make sure I hit my protein, carbs and fat, get my veggie intake (see earlier posthttp://powerupnutrition.ca/macros-and-micros-are-you-eating-enough-vegetables/), hit my fibre, and always leave a little room for something special after dinner. Anything from a a bowl of seasonal berries, a couple of squares of dark chocolate to a scoop of gelato. In my book, deprivation always leads to binging.
Of course, all of this is made is easier by choosing my meals on the weekend and ensuring I have all of the necessary ingredients at hand. Make it easy on yourself, use a grocery delivery system if life is crazy; just be sure to remove as many obstacles as you can.
Shoot me a message if you want help with your own budget- of macros, that is- apparently I am not as great when it comes to $$$. ☺️
Annie 🙂