#IMWChallenge Day 2- Meals

Why I rarely count Macros when I eat

Update- this post was written Tuesday evening about an hour after dinner.

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So today I am at the office from about 930AM til 210PM, then home for virtual visits from 225PM - 5PM. I was going to just fast and wait for dinner but I had a chocolate craving. No I did not eat chocolate but instead had a chocolate protein shake.

The shake I use is from Designs for Health and use cocoa and beef protein and a little bit of Stevia. I blend it with about 16oz of water and ice chips and add some ground cinnamon. It is just over 200 calories total, not that calories matter that much.

If you count Macros ( Grams of Carbs, Protein and Fat), which I rarely do, the 2 scoops of the protein mix for lunch had:

Calories 200

Fat 3 grams

Carbohydrates 6 grams

Fiber 2 grams

Protein 42 grams

So we can agree that this was a delicious protein laden low fat, low carb mini-lunch, just enough to tide me over til dinner.

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Dinner was steak and eggs followed by a small handful of blueberries.

In case you read dietary labels here it is for the ribeye.

Look closely.

I ate almost the entire steak which was 2.5X the 4 oz serving size. So it was a 10oz steak.

If I figure out the macros:

Calories 240 x 2.5 = 600 calories

Fat 16 grams x 2.5 = 40 grams = 360 calories ( 1 Fat gram = 9 calories)

Carbohydrates ZERO grams ; Zero x 2.5 is still ZERO.

Fiber ZERO grams

Protein 23 grams x 2.5 = 57.5 grams = 230 calories
( 1 Protein gram = 4 calories- but here is a hint- Protein is rarely burned for energy)

Cooking the steak there was some olive oil and butter.

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I also had two eggs, let’s consider them large eggs

2 eggs is 140 calories composed of:

Fat 9 grams

Carbohydrates ZERO grams ; Zero x 2.5 is still ZERO.

Fiber ZERO grams

Protein 12 grams

There was a small bit of cheese and milk in the eggs as well as butter in the pan. So perhaps the fat content was slightly higher

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Now the Macros for the day are not that accurate which is why I rarely use them, but for today I am showing you just to give you an idea.

With the steak and eggs and not counting the butter, olive oil and blueberries,

My Macros were:

Calories 938 calories + whatever came from the small amount of butter, olive oil and handful of blueberries. So maybe I hit 1000 to 1100 calories total??

Protein 111.5 grams

Fat 52 grams

Carbs 6 grams + whatever was in the small handful of blueberries

Up to 1100 calories if we count the blueberries, butter and olive oil is NOT a whole lot of calories. But I was totally satisfied/full. In fact I left a small piece of steak and egg for tomorrow, probably just a few bites. So perhaps eating this way fills me up so much that I actually eat less calories on a Low Carb higher protein/fat diet. Who would have thought??

It also appears like my Protein grams is about twice my fat grams. Maybe that is why I was full so quickly as protein is very satiating,

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As I sit here typing this #IMWChallenge post, my dinner was finished about an hour ago and just thinking of food makes me ill. There is no way I can eat anything else tonight.

What have I learned?

1- The protein shake makes a good mini-lunch if I feel the need for a small lunch

2- Eating more protein and natural fat really fills me up, is very satisfying and takes away any urges to eat after dinner.

3- I guess I will see where my weight is tomorrow. Hopefully down a bit.

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What did everyone else eat for dinner Tuesday night.

Share your meals on Twitter or Instagram and use hashtag #IMWChallenge

Or send them to me by email or the Spruce app.

Any comments, as always please leave them below.

I have had a few requests for the Creamy Smoked Scallop soup recipe so I am thinking about sharing it. Maybe if a few more people request that recipe…….