make tracking macros as easy as possible when following a recipe

If you’re new to tracking your macros and aren’t big on cooking, creating meals can be a challenge at first. Not only are you learning to accurately weigh and measure your food, you’re also learning how to manipulate your meals to hit your targets. It can seem like a lot, but the key is starting with simplicity and focusing on the basics first. Today’s post is about just that, giving you a thorough guide for how you can create easy-to-track meals that are equally easy to prepare.

1 — KEEP IT SIMPLE

There is undoubtedly a bit of a learning curve when you first start tracking your macros. From figuring out your food scale to learning the ins and outs of your tracking app, it can take some time and practice. Add in the challenge of cooking your own food while trying to learn the basic nutrition information for your food and ensure your meals hit your targets and it can be a bit overwhelming. 

This is not the time to get fancy with your recipes in the kitchen or learn to cook when you have never cooked previously. It’s the time to focus on simplicity.

KEEP THINGS SIMPLE BY BUILDING YOUR MEALS WITH SEPARATE INGREDIENTS THAT ARE EASY TO TRACK:

Think about your ingredients in terms of their primary nutrient content (ex: rice = carbs, chicken = protein, avocado = fat) as a way to make creating meals a bit easier. We recommend starting with meals where you can easily identify the specific macronutrient groups on your plate. Start with your easily identifiable protein source, then add in your carbs (tailoring them to your specific needs), then a fat source.

START WITH PROTEIN:

When choosing a protein source, first stick to lean proteins that have more calories from protein than from fat. 4-5 ounces of cooked protein is pretty standard for portion size. (For reference, when estimating a meal out, most restaurants serve 6-8 ounces of cooked protein.)

Here are some easy go-to lean protein sources:

• Chicken breast

• Lean ground beef (96/4)

• Lean ground bison (96/4)

• Lean ground turkey (93/7)

• Extra lean ground turkey (99% lean)

• Pork tenderloin

• Turkey breast

• Cod or tilapia

• Tuna

• Shrimp

• Egg whites

NOTE: Weighing your protein raw is always more accurate, but the best rule is to just track it as you weigh it. If cooking raw protein to eat immediately, try to weigh it raw before. But, if you are prepping and weighing out cooked protein, track it as such and be as specific as possible in doing so. For example: if you are prepping for the week by cooking a batch of boneless, skinless chicken breast in the oven, enter "baked boneless, skinless chicken breast" into your tracking app and find an entry that matches best. You may have to click around on a few and see if the numbers look similar on most of the entries and then choose one that looks best. 

NEXT ADD IN YOUR CARBS:

When it comes to carbs, you can pick and choose what works best with your specific macro targets. Lower carb options, like fruits and veggies, are great if you need to make your macros stretch. Higher carb options are more calorie-dense, but can be really helpful if you have a hard time hitting your targets. We always recommend having fruits and vegetables on your plate, but the rest of your carb options have a ton of flexibility.

LOWER CARB OPTIONS: FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

We’re all about big volume over here. Eating higher volume meals means choosing nutrient dense foods that will give you more food for fewer macros. As an example, a standard protein bar is about 24P/10F/26C. For the same approximate macros, you could easily have a whole giant salad with tons of veggies, chicken, and dressing in a giant bowl for about 24P/8F/24C. More food, fewer overall calories. The highest volume foods are generally fruits and vegetables, which also help you hit your micronutrient and fiber targets as well.  (For more on adding high volume foods to your day, check out this post)

Here are some great lower carb options:

• Asparagus

• Bell peppers 

• Bok choy

• Broccoli

• Brussel sprouts

• Cabbage

• Carrots

• Cauliflower

• Celery

• Eggplant

• Green beans

• Kale

• Mushrooms

• Okra

• Onions

• Pumpkin

• Squash

• Spinach

HIGHER CARB OPTIONS: STARCHES AND GRAINS

Adding in more calorie dense veggies, beans or grains may be needed depending on your specific goals and targets. These higher carb foods are what we generally think of as carbs - bread, rice, pasta, etc. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with these options and they are actually really helpful for someone with higher targets that may have a hard time hitting their daily intake. Many of these carbs are also high in fiber which can help keep you full and satisfied.

Here are some great higher carb options:

• Black beans

• Bread

• Garbanzo beans

• Lentils

• Pasta

• Quinoa

• Red potatoes

• Rice

• Sweet potatoes

FINISH WITH FATS:

More than likely, you will incur some fat along the way depending on your protein and carb choices - most protein sources also contain some fat and fats are also present if you are preparing your meal with any cooking oil.  I like to think of the fat component of my meal as something that’s fun and mainly how I’m going to make the food on my plate taste even better. This may be in the way of cooking oil, a condiment (like salad dressing or a mayo-based sauce) or a garnish, like avocado or nuts.

Here are some great fat options:

• Cooking oil

• Avocado

• Nuts

• Salad dressing

• Mayo-based sauces, like spicy mayo

• Eggs (even though they are protein, whole eggs also offer a healthy dose of fat)

• Ghee or butter
  

2 — USE EASY-TO-TRACK RECIPES

Finding and using recipes that are not only easy to cook but also easy to track is key. Look for recipes or stick to meals that can be pieced together with separate macro components, like a taco salad, versus a dish like a casserole or lasagna, which can be much harder to track and isn’t as precise. Try to create meals that look something like this:

• Taco salad: lettuce, beans and fajita veggies + lean ground beef + cheese or avocado

• Flank steak + mashed potatoes + leafy green veg + cooking oil

• Tuna steak + rice + green beans + sesame oil

• Turkey + bread + lettuce, tomato + spicy mayo

• Egg whites + hash browns + strawberries + avocado

Since tracking your macros is a popular practice, there are lots of recipes on the internet these days. Even if you can’t find recipes that are macro-friendly, using recipes that offer nutrition information is extremely helpful. Some places we recommend checking out:

KLN Blog & Shop We have many macro-friendly recipes here on the blog, and full cookbooks geared towards easy-to-track meals in The Shop

Skinnytaste.com: Easy recipes with all nutrition information included

Fitmencook.com: Great meal ideas for when it comes to meal prep meals. We haven’t used the site much but the app is awesome. It even lets you adjust the ingredients in the meals and recalculates the macros accordingly.

3 — SUBSTITUTE WHEN NEEDED

If you find a recipe that’s doesn’t necessarily work with your macro goals, it doesn’t mean you can’t use it. You just may have to substitute a few things to make your dish fit your numbers better. A few ways to do this:

• Add in higher-volume vegetables in place of calorie-dense carbs. For example, if cooking a pasta dish, you may substitute spaghetti squash or another veggie noodle for only a percentage of the calories. (Check out this post for more veggie substitutes)

• Use cooking oil spray instead of olive oil/cooking oil and use water to deglaze (release any stuck food on the bottom of your pan) when sautéeing veggies or protein.

• Substitute fattier protein for something more lean. A few quick examples:

  • Chicken breast in place of chicken thighs

  • Keta salmon for atlantic or sockeye salmon

  • Pork tenderloin for pork chops

  • Sirloin steak instead of ribeye steak

4 — MAXIMIZE MyFitnessPal 

Even though it takes some time on the front end to learn the ins and outs of MFP, learning some of the awesome features, like saving Foods, Meals and Recipes, will save you so much time in the long run. Take the time to explore each of these features and be sure to save any frequently cooked recipe or meal for easy adding later on. This even includes entries for alcohol!

At the end of the day, the best thing to do is to start small and keep it simple. Making big progress takes time, but the best way to get there is to start with small changes. Start with the simple meals, learn about the foods you are eating, and build habits that will make it easier and easier as you go.

We’ve created a whole book of easy-to-track, macro-friendly meals! Our new cookbook, Dinner Party, is out now and is full of recipes that are easy to prepare but also perfect for serving at a dinner party or family dinner. Both digital and hard copies are available in The Shop!