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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 |
Hi zuska,
I jut joined and just finished the first beginner workout. I started to try and workout and eat better as I want to look my best for my wedding coming up in July. I was doing some other workouts and found the intensity was too much and I was just hurting myself so I decided it is best I start a workout program from the beginning and improve my intensity.
My biggest challenge with eating well and clean is I am a nurse, and I work 12 hour shifts days and nights, I find it I skip breakfast a lot because I am too tired to wake up early enough to eat breakfast before work at 7 am and when I have time at work it is so hard to find healthy options in the hospital cafeteria. Then once I get home it is nearly 8pm and I only have 2hours to try and eat healthy and workout before bed, so I tend to end up just eating a bowl of cereal.
The biggest challenge actually happens when I work night shifts! I wake up at 6pm (dinner time) and all I want is breakfast food, then around 10 pm I eat at work but find myself wanting to snack lots during my night shift and once I get home I am so tired and need to sleep that I end up just eating cereal, so I find I do not get the right amount of proteins required daily and I do not have the time to have 3 meals a day and 2 snacks.
What do you suggest I could do to improve my eating habits as a nurse?
Thank you so much! looking forward to improving my health and my fitness! and looking well at my wedding and honeymoon!
Jenn
Private Member |
lake tahoe, nv, usa
Hi Jenn,
First of all, I admire what you chose to do for living. I wanted to be a nurse myself, but my mother wouldn’t let me, so I’m a little jealous 🙂
So here’s what I think I would do in your position. I think I would lean towards intermittent fasting, and schedule my meals about 6 hours apart. It still requires some prep, but it won’t be overwhelming for you. The challenge is to get enough calories through healthy food. First of all throw out the cereal box 🙂 sorry. Look through my FM recipes and pick those that are easy and quick for you to prepare. Try to find meals that you can prepare at home and pack with you for work. I think it must be challenging to come home from work (you must be tired) and do a workout right away. I can suggest you to have a hot shower which will wake you up, get the circulation going and it can serve as a warm up before your workout at the same time. The whole purpose of a warm up is to warm up your muscles which could be done via exercise or a hot shower. That way, you get out of the shower, and feel refreshed just enough to do your workout. You can do all that within 30 minutes and then you’ll have about an hour and half to have your dinner and relax. You can pick any of the WEM meals after you do your workout.
When you do intermittent fasting, you don’t have to eat 5 times a day, but your meals should be clean and the portions should be sufficient to make up for the calories you didn’t get in via snacks. Now your biggest challenge is to sit down and plan everything. Plan every single meal you’ll eat, plan how you going to do your workout when you get home, and always ask yourself if it’s a sustainable lifestyle for you. Can you commit to the plan? If you have any doubts, you have to re-think the parts of the plan that seem too challenging. There’s always a solution you just have to ask yourself the right questions. Also if it feels too overwhelming, try to change just one thing at a time. I would start with replacing the cereal with a healthy option and packing at least one meal with you to work. You don’t need too much variety as long as you’re getting enough protein, healthy fat, and veggies. If you have a hard time with eating veggies (like I do) you can supplement with Supreme Greens. If you can’t pack any protein with you in the form of meat or eggs, you can supplement with a protein shake. The rest is up to you. Good luck!!
Private Member |
Hello from Florida.
What are your thoughts on buckwheat flour? Do you consider it to be a positive alternative to other flours? Would you group buckwheat recipes into FM or WEM? Thanks in advance for the feedback. I use buckwheat flour to make pancakes and have my fingers crossed your feedback is at least semi-positive.
Private Member |
st.john's, florida, united states
Hey there, what part of Florida are your from? Im from Jax
Private Member |
Tampa. Would love to find some other Zuzka followers in the area.
Private Member |
Hello from London
I have just joined the Zuzkalight club and I abouslately love it because of its diverse range of work out which challenge me in so many different ways . Question I have tried workout before eating and I really struggle because of my energy levels are very low which impacts on how hard I can push myself. So I tired eating before I workout and I did very well. However, I’m not sure what to eat please advise what are the best things to eat before a workout? Thanks
Private Member |
ontario, canada
Hello Sarahproverb,
I read your comment and I was like Wow I totally have the same problem! I literally just asked Zuzka what I should eat before a workout. I too have low energy and cannot work out on an empty stomache. I like to work out in the morning but I need to eat something.It has to be lite but filling enough to sustain me for my workout 1 hour later(because I can’t workout immediately after I wake up). I can then eat more protein heavy after the workout. I did well eating beforehand too but I want to hear from Zuzka what foods I should eat before the workout. If Zuzka responds to me I will let you know what she said. Or you can let me know if she responds to you! Just thought I would connect with you since we share the same question. 🙂
Private Member |
Hi Zuzka, can I eat a wem meal at dinner time after doing my workout. Thank
Private Member |
lake tahoe, nv, usa
Yes you can. It doesn’t matter what time of the day it is as long as you earn it.
Private Member |
ontario, canada
Hi Zuzka,
Thanks so much for responding and welcoming me in a comment I made introducing myself as a new Zgym member! This is day 4! I just need one piece of advice very much! When I wake up in the morning I cannot work out right away. Im just not ready until atleast 1 hour after I wake up. Then I get very hungry and I can’t work out on an empty stomache. What do you suggest? Ive thought having a very small mini breakfast or some kind of snack as soon as I wake up(which I can totally do) then working out the hour later when Im ready. Would that work? If so what foods do you suggest as a pre workout “snack” that would be filling enough but still light. I would then probably eat a bigger more protein based meal about 30 minutes after my workout. So far Ive just been eating a banana(and coffee ofcourse) as soon as I wake up. Please please help me! I need to get this sorted out because I want to make the best choice. Thank you so much! Btw Im either an endomorph or mesomorph if that helps. I am a healthy fit with some tone but have that little extra layer. But I have a goal to lose that little extra layer and build up my muscle.
Private Member |
lake tahoe, nv, usa
I can suggest bulletproof coffee – just add a one large cup of coffee into a blender together with 1 tbsp grass-fed unsalted butter and 1 tbsp coconut oil. Blend on high for a few seconds and then pour the coffee into your mug. You can sprinkle some cinnamon on top of the delicious foam. It’s very good, creamy in texture and it will give you a few hours of sustainable energy without making you feel too full. That’s what I do. I would leave the banana as a post workout snack as it’s quite high in sugar and GI, but if you’re naturally skinny and looking to build muscles, you can totally have some carbs in the morning before your workout.
Private Member |
ontario, canada
Thanks Zuzka for the advice! There is so much information on the internet it gets exhausting! I like to take advice from people that actually do what works for them! Im naturally petite and do not gain fat easily so Im going to go for a small amount of light carbs in the morning like oatmeal. I also tried chia seeds and there pretty good. I will definitely try your bullet proof coffee. Thank you so much!
Private Member |
I have been following your month 1 of power strength workout program and seem to have days where I am so depleted that I can’t seem to have energy to do anything. Do I need more carbs on my days off or less? I count carbs and am trying to do about 50 carbs on my workout days and about 200 carbs on my days off. What would you recommend or what do you do?
Thanks,
Rachel
Private Member |
Hi Zuzi, I would like to ask you how i recognize that i preprer myself FM or WEM, in case that i like to experiment by myself. For example I preper mixture of plain yogurt, curd (tvaroh in czech) and six dried plums that i cut into small peaces – it is about 15,5g of protein, 3,9g of lipids and 30g of carbs. Or when I preper soup – 75g of natural brown rice with 300ml of chicken broth.
I understand that FM are low in carbs, but what is OEL of carbs – cause i think but maybe I am wrong that carbs are nearly everywhere.
Thanks you 🙂
Private Member |
Hi there everyone!
To anyone willing to give advice, I have an open ear.
I’m just starting the beginners 12 week workout program. My body is familiar with exercising, but I am 10 weeks postpartum (c-section). I’m breastfeeding, sleep deprived, and HUNGRY ALL THE TIME!! I eat as much protein as I can, as many vegetables as I can, and fruits, because I know that nutrient density is what will help me take care of myself. But when my sleep is so broken, I just want to eat all the cookies I lay my eyes on. Any tips to quit this?
I try to eat intuitively, and usually end up eating 2100-2300 calories a day. I’m 5 9″, 165 lbs, and again, breastfeeding. Any suggestions on helping with nutrition? Eating well with a baby can be so challenging!
Thanks,
Heidi
Private Member |
Hi, I just joined and love your recipes and that you give nutrition and workouts. I found your coffee recipe but saw your chicken/tuna salad and was hoping you would share your recipe. Thank you for giving a types of exercise as well. Love your website.
Linda
Private Member |
lake tahoe, nv, usa
Of course I didn’t realize this recipe is not on the website yet.
Private Member |
Hi zuzka! I’ve been following you since body rock! I need to gain some serious muscle! I’m 5’5″ and weigh 107! My question is… Should I follow the same thumb rule with healthy fats or can I eat more? I really want to pack in the calories but will eating too much result in cellulite? Thanks! 😘 Kristin
Private Member |
lake tahoe, nv, usa
You should read about eating for BodyTypes You’re a natural Ectomorph which means that you can eat carbs (not junk food – superfoods) with every meal until you gain muscles and turn into mesomorph. You can have potatoes (not french fries or chips), oats, whole grains, quinoa, rice, any fruit. You can even enjoy pasta, but make sure most of your food is not processed just for health reasons.
Private Member |
Hi! Thanks for responding so quickly. I do eat a lot of sweet potatoes, brown rice pasta, oats but my question was in particular to healthy fats… I eat a lot more than even a couple thumbs worth per day. I eat raw olive oil, at least one whole avo a day, peanut butter, coconut oil… And sometimes I eat a combo of all in one day. Is that ok being I am trying to gain or should I cut back on the fats… I don’t want cellulite. Also, I’m 40yrs old. Thanks!
Private Member |
Hi Zuzka! I’m a natural Ectomorph and am taking your advice on eating for my body type. I’ve been following your daily exercises but I’m wondering since I don’t need to lose any fat and I just really need to gain muscle, do you recommend following some of your specific workouts vs. your daily. I’m still having trouble gaining muscle. I’ve been doing the daily’s consistently for two months but want to step it up as far as muscle gain. Maybe I can workout twice a day? Any suggestions you have will be appreciated. I’m getting breast aug at the end of July and I really want to put as much muscle on as possible. Thanks so much! I love you btw! Been following you since body rock tv.