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"Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

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Your Questions Answered: Macros, Calories, Keto, Portions.

September 25, 2021 By Maria

Welcome back to your regularly scheduled programming! This week we’ll look at the following questions:

❓Who are you (aka, me, Maria) to give advice on health and nutrition?

❓What do you think of the Keto diet?

❓How do you portion foods that do not have a food label?

❓What’s the easiest way to weigh and measure food?

Let’s take it from the top. Who am I?

That in itself is a loaded question.

I am a:

✅ Wife

✅ Daughter

✅ Sister

✅ Friend

✅ Neighbor

✅ Coach

✅ Vice President

✅ Freedom Loving Patriot

✅ Child of God

The real question is:

What credentials or authority do I have to suggest health recommendations? 

Great question. I took a 3 year hiatus from corporate America  to start my own personal training business. I was certified through the National Academy of Sports Medicine as a:

✔️Personal Trainer

✔️Fitness Nutrition Specialist

✔️Behavior Change Modification Specialist

I spent 3 years working full time helping 40 + clients achieve their health and wellness goals.

In addition, I’ve traveled my own personal fitness journey. I’ve tried almost every diet or “lifestyle change” out there. For anyone wondering, the variance between my least healthy and most healthy self, is 30lbs. In case you are also wondering, I am 5’2 and have a short midriff. 😳

Let’s move on.

What do you think of the Keto diet? 

My personal opinion is that any diet that eliminates a food or food group is not sustainable over time. I know A LOT of people who have been successful with Keto. I may or may not know the same number of people who have gone back to square one when they deviated from the diet.

On the flip side, there’s a respectable number of athletes who have proved to be successful using a keto diet and there are also studies that suggest Keto is beneficial for people, especially children, who are epileptic.

As I’ve repeatedly mentioned in this series, everyone has unique goals and health conditions. Therefore, there is no 1 size fits all plan for everyone out there.

I’ll conclude my opinion by sharing that I personally don’t agree with any diet that eliminates fruits and vegetables. True Keto is less than 15 grams of Carbohydrates

per day. This means no fruits or veggies for you! Or at least not enough.

Fun Fact: 1 peach has approximately 15g of Carbohydrates

These next two questions go hand in hand.

How do you portion foods that do not have a food label? 

What’s the easiest way to weigh and measure food? 

Let’s make 2 categories of food.

Category 1: Meat, Fish and Chicken

Category 2: Everything else

For meat, fish and  chicken the general rule is: 1oz = 7g of protein

I know what you may be thinking. “I will forever get the 1/2lb burgers! Maria said more protein and that would be 56 grams of protein!”

Dear friends, I love your thinking, but don’t forget to budget in the fat that goes along with meat. Depending on the cut and how lean the meat is, 1 burger can fulfill your daily amount of fat.

With that being said, here are a few helpful tips:

With the exception of salmon, most fish are purely protein. Shellfish is generally only a protein source.

Meat, fish and chicken generally do not include any carbohydrates, however, the sauces and marinades used on them will likely include both carbohydrates and fats.

A great example of this is a chicken caesar salad. You will likely consume a days worth of fat, or more, from Caesar dressing.

Though salads provide a good amount of micronutrients, they are not as calorie or macro friendly as they are marketed to be.

Next time you’re at the store, take a peak at the fat and carbs in caesar dressing, or any dressing.

So what’s a gal to do?

Get the dressing on the side and/or Portion It! Eliminate fat from your other meals for the day.

On to our other category: Everything else.

You’ll notice foods like fruits and vegetables don’t have a food label. If you’re buying bakery items or hitting a drive through, food labels will also be excluded.

The best way to know how many carbohydrates are in your morning banana, is to weigh it!

Here’s the deal. I know weighing and using a food scale seems intimidating and like a real pain in the booty, but, over time you will be able to eye ball the items that you once put on the scale. It’s a learning process and everyone I know who has given it a try, has been surprised at how easy it really is.

I highly recommend the Perfect Portions scale.

It contains 2,000 built in nutritional facts!

You can weigh items in either ounces or grams and it comes with a code book for hundreds of foods.

In addition to being able to see the amount of protein, carbs and fats in your food, it also displays:

  • Calories
  • Saturated Fat
  • Cholesterol
  • Sodium
  • Fiber
  • Sugar

Let’s use a banana as an example. We’ll say the code for a banana is 4365.

You’d turn the scale on, type is 4365 and then place the banana on the scale.

Check out this video to see how easy it really is!

Not so bad, right?

Unfortunately, I don’t know many people who are 100% pleased with their current state of health. If you’re one of those folks, the truth is that to have something you’ve never had before, you have to do something you’ve never done.

If you have questions please feel free to drop them here or shoot me a private message.

As always, thanks for following Project Breadcrumb Trail. Please share with your family, friends, pets and neighbors! Also share with your social media feed, if you’re still plugged in!

May God bless and protect our country and everyone reading.

~MLO

Filed Under: Health, Learning, Nutrition

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About this blog

Welcome to Project Breadcrumb Trail, where the path of courage over comfort is always chosen. Each post represents a breadcrumb, defined as an idea, a perception, or a lesson, that may be the very concept you need to change your thoughts, and hence your life … forever. Start your own personal journey and visit us often!

About Maria

Maria is a Christian Conservative, born and raised in Upstate New York. She currently lives in Dallas, Texas with her husband. She works full time as Vice President of Operations for a communications company, developing strategies to maximize business growth. In her spare time, she equally enjoys coaching and training individuals to grow and reach their maximum potential. Maria loves CrossFit, frozen custard and Jesus.

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