quick & easy dinners: burrito bowls

it does not take a lot of time or effort to make a healthy meal. it may seem daunting but it can be quick and easy to make a healthy meal. 

so today's meal is a burrito bowl. 

here's what you need: 

chicken breast
seasonings
pinto beans
rice
avocado
tomato

how much of each of these do you need? depends on how much you want to cook. for me, i cooked up a couple lbs of chicken, a big can of pinto beans, and a couple cups of rice. plus a few tomatoes and a couple avocados. i cooked a big batch because 1) i was hungry and 2) i like having leftovers available. 

first things first: get your rice going. that's what will take the longest. 

Then take your chicken breasts and slice them up so they'll cook faster.  and get them into the pan. i used a quick spray of coconut oil pam on the bottom of the pan. 

from there you'll add your first round of spices. here are the spices i used today: 

once you season the meats on all sides you should have 3 things on the stove... your rice, your chicken, and your beans. 

while all of that is cooking you don't really need to mess with it, minus some stirring here and there. so you have plenty of time to cut up your tomatoes and avocado. 

add salt  and pepper to taste

and pretty shortly after that, your food should be just about ready to go. a few more stirs, and maybe a little bit more time on the rice, you'll be good to go!

layer it however you would like, but i went with rice, beans, chicken, and then the tomato/avo mix. 

super tasty, healthy, high protein/low fat, no fuss dinner. 

this all took me about 30 minutes, and it made a big dinner for two, along with plenty of leftovers for the next day. 

and there you have it! one of my favorite easy to cook meals.

what's your favorite easy, healthy meal?

let me know in the comments or on my instagram or on facebook! 

what are: macronutrients?

if you're looking up things about fitness and/or nutrition you've probably come across the term macronutrients or macros. macros are a hugely important part of strength training and fat loss but can seem pretty intimidating. you'll see it in reference to carb cycling, IIFYM, keto, zone diet, etc. there are a lot of ways to use macros to your benefit, but let's start with the basics! 

so what are macros? 

pretty simply, they are carbohydrates, fat, and protein. 

carbs:

basics: 4 calories per gram. the primary function of carbs are to fuel organ activity (brain, heart, and skeletal muscle). 

what you need to know: carbs give you energy, and are the primary source of energy in the body. they fuel your body functions.

they are NOT the reason you have gained weight or are overweight, that only has to do with the amount of calories you eat in a given day/week/etc. you can eat carbs late at night and still lose weight (promise), as long as you are staying in your given calorie range.

the general daily recommended intake is approximately 45 - 65% of your caloric intake. this does vary upon the activity of the person. the more active, the more carbs recommended. 

where you can find carbs: fruits, vegetables, potatoes, sweet potatoes, breads, beans, rice, granola, sugary sweets (limit these though)

fat:

basics: 9 calories per gram. primary function is fuel,but also helps with insulation, protection, and transportation in the body. very important for brain function. 

what you need to know: fats keep your body going. not the first choice for your body to use as energy, but will be used (especially if you do not consume a lot of carbs)

and fats do NOT make you fat. you NEED fat for your body to function properly. Fat fuels cell function, brain function & development, vitamin absorption, and protects the body's organs. Not to mention, fats keep you fuller longer, so you'll get less hungry. 

the general daily recommended intake is approximately 20-40% of your caloric intake. once again, this varies person to person, depending on their lifestyle. 

where you can find fats: nuts, seeds, coconuts, oils, avocados, olives, cheese, eggs. (avoid trans fats when possible)

protein:

basics: 4 calories per gram. two basic types of proteins - structural and regulatory. structural proteins work in your skin, cell membranes, muscle, and bone tissue, to help build and repair. regulatory proteins are enzymes, transportation, defense, contractile, hormones, and serums, which work to maintain fluid and electrolyte balance. 

what you need to know: protein is the big macro that you'll hear most any fitness person talking about, and for good reason. protein is the key element in muscle building and repair. when you weight lift or run or workout in general you are wearing down or creating tiny tears in your muscles... so you NEED protein to rebuild those muscles to make them stronger for the next time you do that workout. 

also, protein is the best macro to keep you full. so if you are cutting calories or just need help not overeating, protein is the way to go. 

the general daily recommended intake is approximately 10-35% of you caloric intake. however, if you're active or an athlete, you may need more. 

where you can find proteins: chicken, turkey, cheese, eggs, beans, lentils, beef, eggs, quinoa, tofu, soy or whey proteins. 

there you have it! this by no means is a complete overview of all of the ins and outs of macros but it is a pretty good overview, if i do say so myself. i will be doing complete posts on each macro at some point in the future along with a post on micro-nutrients, and on all the diets mentioned in the intro.

But if you have any questions right now...I would love to hear them! 

You can leave thoughts, comments, or questions below or ask me on facebook or instagram! 

HOW TO: count calories

losing weight is simple (not easy) for most people. 

it is just calories in vs. calories out. losing weight is making sure you are eating (and drinking) less calories than you are burning. (yes, there are health things and exceptions to this rule... but for 97% of people this will hold true)

(note: if you've struggled with eating disorders, calorie counting may not be the best option for you! it may trigger you into disordered/restrictive eating again. I will eventually cover other ways to work on weight loss while not counting calories. and if you are struggling with ED *here* is a link to people who can help!) 

counting calories seems like an impossible task when originally brought up... but it can be SO SIMPLE. mostly thanks to phone apps. 

I no longer track calories (i track macros ~ but i'll go into that later) but i still use My Fitness Pal for all my food tracking.
It's great for so many reasons: 

1. GIANT database of food, and a lot of it is verified (meaning you rarely have to manually add food into it) 
2. Fantastic community (i have met some AMAZING people on MFP! Having people in on your health journey who support you, even virtually, is SO helpful.) 
3. easy way to actually see how much you are eating every day so you can make the necessary adjustments

there are some drawbacks though. when calculating your calories it is pretty generalized (as expected) and if you say you want to lose major weight it will calculate your calories to 1200 per day. which is not really the best way to start your calorie counting journey because:

1) that will be a HUGE cut to your current calorie intake and is hard to maintain
2) long term calorie cutting will ruin your metabolism (which I did... It can be fixed, it just takes time). 

SO! here is my recommendation... don't use their calorie calculator! there are a couple different things you can do!

1) 100% track every single thing you eat for several days in a row (including a weekend day) and just cut calories off of that number. for example... if you track and find that you are eating 3000 calories per day... i would recommend cutting 10-20% of the calories off of that number. So if you wanted to cut 15% of your calories for weight loss you would be at 2550 calories per day. BUT you could even go easier than that and just cut 50-100 calories off your typical diet and then once you plateau you can cut a few more calories (at a SUSTAINABLE rate) and so on until you hit your weight goal. 

2) there are about a million calorie calculators on the internet that you can use! *this* calculator will give you your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) & BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate). Your TDEE is basically an estimate on how many calories you burn on a given day that includes exercise and BMR. Your BMR is how many calories you burn just being alive... eating, breathing, organ function, maintaining body temp, etc. 

For weight loss off of that number you would want to calculate 10-20% off that TDEE number UNLESS it goes below 1200 calories (which you should not do ever!) 

"but what about low carb or keto or low fat or vegan or if it fits your macros or intermittent fasting or whatever other thing i heard about??" 

do it dude. or don't. honestly, do whatever you can maintain. if you can maintain a low carb diet for an extended period of time... do it!! if you can't or it will make you miserable.. don't!! and that goes for any other diet style. do what you can and will be able to maintain! this is not (or at least should not be) a quick fix. (personally, i've gone into macro counting/ carb cycling and it has been really great for me! keeps my calories in check while not focusing on being below a certain threshold of calories which works better for me mentally). 

"i haven't lost weight in like 3 weeks should i cut more calories??" 

first things first... sometimes the scale will stall for weeks on end. it happens. chill out and keep tracking and doing your thing but that being said maybe you do! but before you do... check these things out first! 

1) measurements & progress photos (maybe you haven't lost a pound... but you have lost an inch around your waist! that happens!)
2) are you tracking accurately?? (double check that you are tracking your intake correctly! maybe you aren't using the right calorie info in MFP,  maybe you need to be weighing your food to make sure that you are correctly tracking how many calories are in it)
3) are you tracking consistently?? (if you are tracking really well Sunday - Thurs but aren't Friday & Saturday you could be sabotaging your progress!) 

Some tips: 

1) let yourself have foods you enjoy! do not totally cut out foods you like otherwise you won't stick with it long term. i have a dessert of some sort worked into my daily intake basically every day since i started tracking
2) figure out easy low calorie foods you can easily incorporate (watermelon or strawberries or baby carrots are an easy snack that will fill you up. zoodles or spaghetti squash instead of pasta are an easy sub too! wraps instead of sandwiches. things like that!)
3. if you have a bad day/meal/drink/night/whatever...  remember you are never more than one bite to being right back on track. don't let one meal/treat/etc spiral you out of control. (that's a la Syatt Fitness who is full of great advice/tips/etc)

calorie counting is a really, really great way to hit your weight loss & health goals if you do it right and you do it consistently! this definitely does not cover everything about calorie counting so please let me know if you have any questions!