Chris Powell's Choose More, Lose More for Life (37 page)

Fats	70–100 Calories
Dairy
Blue Cheese	1 oz
Brie	1 oz
Cream Cheese	2 Tbsp
Egg Yolk	2
Feta Cheese	1 oz
Goat Cheese	1 oz
Heavy Whipping Cream	2 Tbsp
Mozzarella	1 oz
Parmesan	1 oz
Romano	1 oz
Sliced Cheeses (e.g., Cheddar, Colby, Gouda, Havarti, Monterey Jack, Muenster, Swiss)	1 oz (1 oz = 1 slice)
Sliced Cheeses (low-fat)	2 oz (1 oz = 1 slice)
Dressings
Creamy Dressing (low-fat)	2 Tbsp
Creamy Dressing (regular)	1 Tbsp
Mayonnaise (regular)	2 Tbsp
Fruit
Avocado	cup
Olives (large, brine-cured)	13
Nuts and Seeds
Almond Butter (with salt)	1 Tbsp
Almonds (raw, chopped)	1½ Tbsp
Peanut Butter (with salt)	1 Tbsp
Pecans (raw, chopped)	1½ Tbsp
Sesame Butter (tahini)	1¼ Tbsp
Sesame Seeds	2 Tbsp
Sunflower Seeds	1½ Tbsp
Walnuts (raw, chopped)	1½ Tbsp
Oils
Flaxseed Oil	1 Tbsp
Olive Oil	1 Tbsp

Let’s be honest: Unless you love to cook, you’ve got a slew of better ways to spend your time than sweating in the kitchen before each meal. A terrific way to make carb cycling easier is to shop for and prepare and cook large quantities of ingredients
before you’ll need them
to assemble your
meals. It won’t just free up your time: Keeping cooked, pre-portioned, pre-marinated meats and veggies, and pre-mixed dressings and sauces in your fridge and freezer lets you gather the ingredients for any recipe at a moment’s notice. Fewer trips to the supermarket and simpler, quicker meal prep will help you eat right and stay on track with your carb-cycling program. Plan ahead so your food’s ready when you are!

Each of our recipes includes ingredient measurements for making different numbers of servings. The numbers 1, 2, 4, 6, or 8 at the top of each recipe tell you how many portions you’ll get using the ingredient quantities listed below each number. Visiting the supermarket just once to buy what you need for several meals reduces the stress and time that goes into shopping. And prepping these larger quantities of ingredients in a single session—more food than you’ll be using right away—will
save you a ton of time
later on. The multiplied measurements also allow you to adapt the recipes to serve everyone at a family or group meal, or to take the dish to a potluck! After all, carb-cycling food isn’t diet food: It’s everyday food made in healthy ways. If you don’t tell them, your family might not even know they’re eating healthy!

Now, you aren’t restricted to eating only the dishes we give you here. You can use the recipes in my first book,
Choose to Lose
, or those that you find in other sources or make up yourself—as long as they
use only smart foods, in the right portions
. If you want to prepare those in bulk, you’ll probably have to figure out how much of each ingredient you need to use if you multiply the recipes to serve more people. With all of those ¾ teaspoons and
cups, it’s a pain to do the math! So we’ve created a handy chart that gives you all the multiplied measurements you’re likely to need. Turn to Appendix D: “Multiple-Serving Measurement Chart” in the back of the book.

We like to get ready for about four days of meals at a time by having a cooking marathon. Heidi and I usually bulk-prep our food on Sundays and Wednesdays; sometimes that changes depending on our work schedules. So here’s what you do: Start by choosing two or three similar recipes and then find the
ingredients they have in common
—say, if they both call for chicken breast. For those shared ingredients, take a look at the quantities
you need to make the number of servings you want. Add up the numbers, make a shopping list that includes the amount you need for each ingredient, and head out to the store. Back at home, lay the ingredients out on the counter, then slice and peel and chop for all the recipes at the same time.

Once you’ve prepped all the ingredients for one of your recipes, get it started on the stove or in the oven. While that’s cooking, finish prepping the ingredients for your second recipe. If you can handle cooking two dishes at once, get recipe number two started, then go through the same routine for recipe number three—or slow it down and wait awhile. Keep an eye on everything at once! You don’t want to end up with burned food.

When you’re done cooking,
allow your food to cool
unless you’ll be eating it right away. Portion it out and put it into plastic Baggies or storage containers. Label your containers using tape or a permanent marker so you can quickly pick out what you want when you’re ready to eat it. Depending on when you plan to eat your pre-prepped food, store it in the fridge or freezer. I usually use some of my portions for that day’s meals and store the rest in the fridge or freezer.

You may never have heard about bulk-prepping before, but fitness professionals and athletes have been doing it for decades. If you want to eat every three hours, you have to have the right foods available at the right
times. Cooking a meal from scratch every three hours is simply unreasonable. But if you make your food in advance, in bulk, the food you need will be there for you exactly when you need it! For Heidi and me, bulk food prep usually takes thirty to seventy-five minutes per session, but it saves
hours
over the next several days. Such a small time investment up front can ensure nutrition success over the next four days. It is a win, every time.