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FM and WEM recipes
Nutrition | January 28, 2015
I’m sure you’ve already noticed the (FM) or (WEM) next to each one of my recipes. It helps me to stay on track with my healthy lifestyle and if you decide to adopt my method, it will help you as well. I am Precision Nutrition certified and have been following the control carb diet for well over 6 years myself. It keeps me lean, full of energy, and strong for my workouts and day to day activities. I divide my meals into 2 major categories:
1. FM
Free Meal – these type of meals are low in carbs, mostly based around veggies, protein, and healthy fats. You can pick any of my FM recipes and enjoy them at any time of any day.
Fruit low in GI such as berries, apples, pears, kiwi, grapefruit, tangerines, oranges, cherries, peaches and apricots are ok to have in moderation. 1 portion = 1 cupped hand for one meal.
If you bake with almond or coconut flour instead of regular flour, you can still enjoy many delicious baked goods including bread, pizza, pasta, muffins, cupcakes, and even pumpkin pies or sugar free chocolate cakes.
Use erythritol or stevia as a sugar substitute. You can also use a little amount of agave when baking and still have it be an FM.
FM/WEM
Boiled potatoes do not raise your blood sugar levels as much and can help with weight loss. Reheated boiled potatoes are even better! The same with legumes. Yes they are high in carbs, but they both contain a fair amount of fiber and don’t rank high on the glycemic index. There are a few other whole foods that could be in this category, but that also depends on your own diet your personal carb tolerance.
2. WEM
Workout Earned Meals are those that I have to earn with my workout. I used to follow the classic 2-3 post workout hour window, but recent research shows that carb timing is not as important as the total amount of carbs we eat over the course of the entire day. Since starchy carbs can slow down your fat loss efforts, I suggest you include them on your high intensity workout days.
Whole grains, potatoes (baked or fried), sweet potatoes (baked or fried), pasta, rice, quinoa, legumes, oats, wheat, bread, chocolate and other sweets, fruit high in sugar such as bananas, mango, pineapple and other exotic fruits. In other words, if I don’t do my workout, I don’t have these type of meals.
Here are some benefits of low carb diets:
1. It’s the most effective treatment known against metabolic syndrome
2. Reduced insulin and blood sugar levels with a major improvement in Type 2 Diabetes.
3. Increased levels of HDL – the good cholesterol.
4. More of the fat loss comes from the abdominal cavity.
Having a lot of visceral fat that tends to lodge in that area and around your organs can be the major cause of inflammation, insulin resistance, and a leading driver of the metabolic dysfunction that is so common in western society.
5. Effective way to reduce blood pressure.
Hypertension (high blood pressure) is an important risk factor in diseases that include stroke, kidney failure, heart disease, etc.
6. Easier weight loss, however you can’t look at this as a diet, but a lifestyle. I’ve kept myself fit and lean for the past 8 years because I’ve been consistent with my eating habits and my training that tie together.
Here are some examples of my Go-To FM recipes:
Here are some examples of my Go-To WEM recipes:
Private Member |
Great suggestion. But for a vegetarian it is hard to keep this kind of diet since almos all protein foods (as quinoa for example) are also kind of high in carbs, and you don’t wanna drink protein shakes all day long.
What would you suggestfor vegetarians?
Beijos
Private Member |
I was vegetarian for about 3 years and I had the same problem. If you eat eggs and dairy like I did here’s an idea : I measured cheese / feta, cottage / , eggs and beans like protein. And nuts too. Yes these are foods that are higher in fats / cheese and nuts/ or carbs / like beans/ but it worked. 🙂
I hope I helped 🙂
Private Member |
Thank you! And you could gain muscle / lose fat doing like that?
Private Member |
I wouldn’t say I gained a lot of muscle actually but I lost fat for sure. If you want I can send you some pictures from back then to see what it was like for me 🙂
Private Member |
Hey Diana, this would be great! My email is daniela_recchia@yahoo.com.br
I am trying to build some muscles but at the same time I still have some fat reserves (around my tigh) that just fell impossible to get rid of.
Beijos :*
Private Member |
Hi Daniela,
I know you say you don’t want to drink protein shakes all day long (understandable), but you can make a lot of recipes with whey protein powder. And you know, it’s not all or nothing. You could, just once a day, switch out beans and cheese, for example, with some recipe you’ve made with a protein powder, eg. add protein powder to greek yogurt. My point is, just changing one meal in your day, just slightly, can alter your entire diet. Also, egg whites, they’re a very handy source of protein (if a bit expensive in my opinion).
Private Member |
nyc, ny, usa
Just want to say, Zuzuka this photo of you is stunning! And all this questions and suggestions are helping me out too with handling my carb intake.
Private Member |
Hi Z.,
I´m looking for the posts with your daily meal plan, did you delete them?
I think you posted them 1 year ago, you wrote down exactely what you had eaten within a week (when and how much..)
I mean they were your personal posts and I can´t imagine that sweatfactor owns them… ?? please help…
Love H.
Private Member |
lake tahoe, nv, usa
If I find it somewhere in drafts, I will make it public in Nutrition right now. If I don’t it must have got deleted somehow..
Private Member |
Thank you for replying and looking for it!
It was a big help to know how big your portions are etc. maybe you could post a daily meal plan reloaded some time.. I know it must be a looot of work and Im sorry to ask for it, but it would be really helpful to have some kind of draft. Anyway thanks for being not only our trainer, but also our mental coach. It means a lot to all of the Warriors who follow you. Love H.
Private Member |
I second this! Both the thank yous, and the desire for a daily log of your food. That’d be so helpful and inspirational, especially because I always like the composition of your photos.
Private Member |
Hi Z! I like to have coffee or tea in the morning and then do one of your 5 minute workouts. I usually have a FM meal afterwards. Is that okay? Or am I sabotaging myself by having my coffee/tea?
Private Member |
Hi Christie, if you look through her other articles and youtube videos (let me find the link… okay, found it here: https://zuzkalight.com/nutrition/bulletproof-coffee/ ) she talks about taking coffee before her workouts, with butter and coconut oil. I actually just tried it. It’s very good. Tomorrow morning I’m going to try it before a workout and see how I feel.
Private Member |
la valette-du-var, france
If you cook with corn flour is that FM or WEM ?
Private Member |
lake tahoe, nv, usa
Flour is WEM. I use almond or coconut flour instead whenever I bake or cook meals that require flour.
Private Member |
la valette-du-var, france
Thanks Zuzka 🙂
Private Member |
toronto, canada
what about quinoa flour???
Private Member |
lake tahoe, nv, usa
WEM
Private Member |
corn is high carb and high in sugar
Private Member |
err starch
Private Member |
Hi Z! I’m doing the beginner workouts at this stage to build my strength and endurance, working my way up to the more hardcore workouts – so I wanted to check if completing a full beginners session is still classified as ‘full on’ enough to earn us our WE’s? One more thing, if at all possible – I noticed some of your recipes don’t note whether they are FE or WE. Do you think it might be possible to update those to include what they fall under to make it a bit simpler for anyone in the early stages just getting their bearings? Would be super duper wonderful 🙂
Thanks xx
Private Member |
Hi Zuzka, cheese is not a high carb food but do you have any rules around your consumption of cheese as a FM?
Private Member |
Hi Zuzka,
I just joined and want to start eating clean asap. I’m looking for recipes on this page but I don’t see any. All I see are comments. Where do I find them??
Thanks!
Samantha
Private Member |
lake tahoe, nv, usa
Hi Samantha,
Glad to have you here. You can find all my recipes in the Nutrition category. Just scroll down.
Private Member |
santa cruz, ca
Zuzka, how do you feel about dairy?
Also, how long have you been eating this way, and what changes have you seen in your body since then? I am thin, but I feel like I tend to retain water in my midsection, and will also gain weight there if I do gain weight (I don’t gain weight that easily, though). I would like to have a more cinched middle like you have. 🙂 Thanks.
Private Member |
lake tahoe, nv, usa
I’ve been eating like this for about 6 years now with some breaks here and there when I tried different types of diets. I always came back to this lifestyle because it’s just something that works best for me. I like how it ties with my training and it gives me most energy and control over my body composition.
Private Member |
santa cruz, ca
Thank you for your reply, Zuzka. Do you feel you eat more vegetables in place of grains and starchy vegetables? If so, how have you tolerated the increase in fibers in the past? Did you find yourself having digestive issues in the beginning? Thanks again.
Private Member |
lake tahoe, nv, usa
I do eat more veggies than grains or starchy carbs, but I still include those in my diet as post workout meals, so I haven’t been having any digestive problems following this approach. However I know what you mean. I tried in the past following the 4 hour body diet by Tim Ferriss which consists of eating basically just veggies and meat, and I have experienced problems there.
Private Member |
santa cruz, ca
Very, interesting, Zuzka. Yes, any time I have abstained entirely from grains, my energy suffers, I get too skinny, and my digestion sucks! There is research that shows that healthy starches and grains are beneficial to our gut flora, but it really doesn’t take that much. And I think your approach is best–to consume them as is TRULY NEEDED. So this way you get all the nutritional benefits.
I’ve also found that as I’ve gotten older I’ve become increasingly sensitive to grains completely. Any more than a handful or two per day, and I will have a swollen face and eyes in the morning, tight back of the neck, pressure behind the eyes, and digestive problems. I think that in the United States our environment, high gluten wheat strains, antibiotics, etc, have made people develops sensitivities, more than ever before. It’s amazing how much better I feel if I limit grains and starches, and stick to non GMO, organic choices, and/or grains and pastas that are imported from Europe!
Like when I visit my family in Italy, I NEVER have the digestive issues eating their pasta, that I have here. Different wheat varieties! Here I can’t even touch anything with gluten!
Private Member |
Zuzka, would it be possible for you to do your grocery list again with FM & WEM next to all the items on the list?
Example:
Apple – FM
Pineapple – WEM
Chicken – FM
Hamburger – WEM
I know it’s a lot to ask but it would help immensely in trying to figure out how and when I could eat these foods. Also I like Hannah Mckay’s idea of seeing how and what you eat in a weeks’ time.
I think seeing what your portion sizes are and when you eat your cabs would be a big help. I myself work until 5:00pm so I do my workouts after 5:00. I’m trying to figure out what I could eat before 5:00 and my workout. I just want to say you are amazing person and THANK YOU!
Private Member |
Yes, please. It would be wonderful! 🙂