Ep 26 - Interview with Lauren Fit Foodie

Are you worried that tracking your macros involves a life of restriction and boring diet food?  WRONG!  LaurenFitFoodie - our guest in this podcast episode - explains how desserts were non-negotiable when she started her macros journey so she figured out how to make them healthier and fit them into her plan.   You won't want to miss this popular food blogger's tips for making healthy food taste great!  She also shares all the details of her new Fit Cookie Club.

We talked about her macros journey, how she got ready for her recent wedding, the most popular recipes on her blog, and more! If you consider yourself a "foodie" (or just love delicious food), you won't want to miss this episode! 

Follow Lauren  on Instagram:  n@laurenfitfoodie
Check out her website, delicious recipes,  and subscribe to her newsletter:  https://www.laurenfitfoodie.com 
Learn more about the Fit Cookie Club:   https://laurenfitfoodie.com/fit-cookie-club-healthy-meal-plan-every-week/


Want a personalized nutrition and exercise plan for achieving your weight loss and fitness goals?  Join us in October for our Metabolic Makeover programs. Get on the waitlist today! https://view.flodesk.com/pages/61d8a436b0306b55f06cbe98
Schedule a free, 15-minute weight loss consultation call with Couture Fitness Coaching:   https://calendly.com/couture_fitness/weight-loss-strategy-call
Connect with us on Instagram @couture_fitness_coaching and check out our website https://www.couturefitnesscoaching.com/
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Thanks for listening, we hope you enjoyed it.

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Transcript

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Welcome to the Boost Your Metabolism After Age 30 Podcast. I'm Joe. And I'm Allison and we're your co hosts and the founders of Couture Fitness and Lifestyle Coaching. We're on a quest to help women design lives they love and bodies they adore. We were fed up with the dieting industry and decided to create something different. We're starting a calories up revolution where women are nourished, their metabolisms are healed and their bodies and brains start working for them in the battle against weight loss. If you feel like your metabolism is wrecked and you want to lose weight once and for all you are in the right place. Well, hello, everyone. Welcome to today's podcast. You've just got Joe here today. But I have a very special guest with us. I have Lauren from Lauren fit foodie on the show today. Very, very excited to have her and we're going to talk all about Lauren and our clients love Lauren and Lauren fit foodie. I have a lot of questions for her. But before we get into that, let me tell you a little bit what's going on with couture fitness coaching right now we just launched our July program, we run our programs on the quarter. So we just started a bunch of ladies off in our July program. And then of course, we will be opening again in October. So if you want to join us in October really strongly consider getting on our waitlist, there'll be a link in the show notes. And that's how you can start getting news from us and get everything you need to know to join us in October. So like I said, we have Lauren from Lauren fit foodie with us today. Lauren, why don't you just kick things off by introducing yourself and telling us a little bit about your macros journey. All right, well, hello everyone, and thank you for having me on. Super excited. I don't know I feel like macros has just been like such a big part of me like for so long now it's like so hard to like even identify like, you know where it came into play at. But it was first introduced to me in college if there was like some friends that I had who like we're getting into it. And that was also kind of an Instagram was starting to become popular. And I was seeing some people on there doing macros. And I had come from a history of like similar girls like in college, like wanting to kind of like you know, get in shape. It's always like feeling like I'm chasing and what the look like could be like more in shape. You know, before that, like all I had really tried was you know, just eating less like is this the kind of like how you grew up was just like learning that less is more like, like, oh, I need to do, Let's carve most of this just less, less less. And so like it was really the macro is really intrigued me because, you know, I come from like a background in science. Like I really like learning like how the body works. And you know, just like know, numbers in general. And so like I was really intrigued by macros into liking, I gave it a shot. And this completely fell in love with it. And that's like, you know why I'm here now because I still I think it's just incredibly like empowering like because it teaches you like how to fuel your body versus like I said, like how most of us grew up was thinking that less is more like it was teaches you like, you know, no, like, that's not the case at all, like, you know, you need carbs for energy, like you need fat for hormones, you need protein to go muscle, like all of it is important. And so this super eye opening to me. And from there, I started an Instagram, because for me, dessert is necessary. And so that was the hardest part for me with the Packers was like just figuring out like how to incorporate dessert all the time, like in a macro friendly, friendly way. So that's, you know, we're at kind of create Instagram because like, I'm loving all these creations and I was coming up with and I just wanted to share it with everybody from there, the blog and all that stuff. Yeah, okay, so yeah, I think that's really interesting. And I totally agree with you, as women especially, we are so brainwashed that if you want to lose weight, or you want to change your body shape, it means taking away something or cutting calories or restricting in some way. And so my mind was also blown the first time it was actually my business partner, Allison, it was the first time I had prep for a show and my body kind of plateaued. And she was like, Well, if you want to bust out of that, you're probably going to have to eat more. And I was like, let that's the urine. How can that be? So yeah, I do think it's mind blowing when you do really begin to learn what adequate nutrition is for an adult female body? And how much that is a game changer in terms of changing your body. So when you first started with macros, did you also get into resistance training at that time? Yeah, as started like kind of like sprinkling it in like I didn't like full on go into a program at that point. I wish I wish I would have you know, obviously but yeah, I'm slowly but surely like I was still like in college and like scared of the men only like resistance had the gym but I knew like before that like I was just kind of doing like the cardio machines and like the cardio dance classes. But after that, like I was like looking at Oh, like what strength classes can I do? So I did start sprinkling in more, but definitely looking back. I wish I would have done it sooner. Yeah, for sure. Okay, and so what was your big break as a blogger because you're pretty popular. I don't know how to. I mean, I can count we can count your followers on it. To gram and stuff, but did you have a big break as a as a food blogger? I've got to say like, I don't, I don't think I did. Like, I still feel like I don't know what I'm doing. Half the time. I kind of like just like grew in stages. I know. Like when I did recipes for metal and moves like tighter together, like that was kind of like one of like, the big exposures I got, and that increase readers a lot. But like I said, I still feel like I don't know what I'm doing half the time. So I don't really feel like I had like a break. So to say, Yeah, well, I'm sure many people, many of your followers would disagree with you. So do you have any training as a chef or anything? Like how did you figure out all the cooking stuff? No, like, just Google. Like, it's just, I mean, crazy what you can learn, like from Google, and like watching YouTube, and even like more to this day, like, I feel like I started like in the desert round. But now like, I'm starting to experiment with like, more like savory, like types of cooking. And so it's just like, this fun, like learning how to code. But yeah, I'll I'll just like self taught. Cool. And so are you doing is your blog? All you do now? Is that what you do for work full time now? Yes. Yes. That's amazing. I know, because I was doing an accurate coaching. When I first left nursing. I was doing both. But yeah, like, I think it was amazing. I about a year and a half ago now where I transitioned to only doing the recipes, because there's just so much so much that goes into both of them. And I felt like I was kind of being torn in two different directions. So yeah, yeah, no, I think well, I've never tried to be a food blogger, but I would think it's very, very time consuming. Like all the pictures and the testing and looking at the nutritional information about all the recipes. I'm sure that does keep you very busy. Yeah, there's a lot there's a lot more that goes into it than people realize, like just like on the back end, and then with the nutrition to like, you know, how can I make this more macro friendly, and then entering it in my fitness pal and stuff like that? So yeah, absolutely. Okay, so the next questions I have for you have to do with your individual macros. So, like I said, these are the burning questions all of our clients had for you who are probably some of your biggest fans. So you recently got married? Yeah, can you take us through how you got ready for your wedding? Like in terms of, you know, did you do a reverse for a while and then do a cut? Like how did you approach getting ready for your wedding. So I knew like I mean, obviously, like through Ed's experience with macros over the years and so as soon as like we knew like what our date was going to be like I knew that I wanted to plan for enough time like to have the beating and maintenance like before my cut and then also start reversing back up like and not you know, in our wet wedding or like the tail end of your cut. So I kind of like planted with that in mind and did maintenance for like a period of time before the cut then I like did a 20% deficit from there at the beginning of January and so it ended up lasting like 13 weeks I think is what I extended it till and then from there I started adding more back ends I knew I wanted more food to work with for like the wedding and the honeymoon stuff. Nice. That sounds great. Okay, do you mind sharing with us what your maintenance calories are your reverse calories are in your cutting calories? Or at least I guess for your for this wedding? Yes. Well, so before that, like I guess like last like fall like winter, like I was pretty active. Like I was getting more steps in like than I usually had like other periods of maintenance. So they were like a little bit higher than they had been in the past. Like around like 2200 ish, you know, I didn't count I wasn't tracking like strictly like software like maintenance and stuff. Because like it was like during the holidays and stuff too. So like evaluate for like three or four days a week. Like I can only log from clip just to liking and make sure I was kind of staying within that area. Because you know, the wedding was like coming up, right? So I was trying to like, make sure I had some, you know, numbers to work with. So yeah, like around like 2200 is where I was at. And then I brought it down to I went ahead and like did like a I don't know how like you guys like to do with macros. But I didn't did like a gradual like I kind of went ahead and jumped to 20% just to reflect what I've had like the most success with in the past versus like a 15% deficit. So I went ahead and did that. And so I was eating like my body weight and protein, and then fats and carbs were kind of kind of buried by the day, like I didn't feel like as much attention to them. But they try to keep my pads around like 50 to like around 50 grams or so as well. Like kind of like the goal was but in stress if it didn't hit it mainly just tried to hit like 1650 calories and protein. Okay, so around 1650 calories for your cut. Yep. And you did that the whole time. That was your calorie level the whole time, or did you have to go any lower? Yeah, that did that the whole time. Nice. Okay, and how much weight or what was your body composition change during that time period? I think I can't remember exactly, but I think I lost like eight pounds. Okay. That was very happy with that. Yeah. And you looked how you wanted to on your wedding. Right, exactly. Yeah, I mean, I did progress pictures too. And so you could have I see like that tightened up more, but I felt more competent than I ever had. So I was very happy to add food back into some my muscles were like filling out a little bit more. So it was nice. Yeah, that sounds like a very sane approach to getting ready for a big event. I remember from my wedding, this was many years ago, all of a sudden be 20 years ago, I did the SlimFast thing. Push Ups a day. So that when you did sounds so much better. Okay, well, awesome. And then what were you able to get your calories back up to for your wedding and your honeymoon. So I was so like, in the middle of a reverse kind of when I went on my honeymoon, but like I had already, like, started like adding them up. But then of course, like, I didn't track anything. Of course, there was like, I think to two weeks straight, right, a certain track, and I definitely ate more than maintenance. But you know, it's your honeymoon, right? And then I started tracking some like when we get back, but to be honest, like now, like, I'm not like tracking every day. Like I'm kind of back into like that maintenance mode where like, I'm not, you know, like, I'm not like anal about it. Like I've done this for so long. Like, I'm not like every single day to make sure I'm at where I'm at. So like, I mean, I feel like I'm probably like around like 2100 right now. So I'm not as active as I was last fall. But today, like so hot outside, like actually staying in more, but like, I'm probably only playing 100. And like right now, if every day is like, different, that's probably what like it averages out to be like for the week. Yeah, well, that sounds like and that's what we try to impart to our clients is that like, if you do the work is your calories up, don't crash diet diet from a reasonable amount of calories, then this is what you get in exchange, you can lose weight, when you want to lose weight by just cutting your calories a little bit. Nothing, you know, nothing. We're not talking about counting cutting down to like 1000 calories a day or anything. And then you can go on vacation and go on trips or have holidays at a higher calorie range and not worrying about I assume your weight tonight skyrocket after your wedding like your body is used to these higher calories. And it responded very well. Right? Yeah, yeah. So that is what lies on the other side of you know, kind of getting through your macros journey and getting the calories up and kind of going through these diet cycles, which to me has translated into complete freedom. I no longer have to take food with me on my special diet food with me on vacation or worry about the holidays. And it truly is freedom. Yeah, I mean, I think so too. Like, I think a lot of people like are still like an end that mindset where they have to be like chasing like fat loss, like the whole year. And it's like, of course, like you're gonna get tired of that and like, get exhausted and burnt out from it. Like because it's not supposed to be that long. You know, you're supposed to get in, you know, to the diet, do what you need to do for those 12 weeks or however long and then get out and live it maintenance. Yeah. Yeah, I think and then of course, like, I guess before that can happen. If you're eating if you start this journey off eating 1000 or 1200 calories, you gotta get your calories up first. There's no, there's no way around that. So yeah, there's the two biggest things like if people like, don't, doesn't like click, like from the get go. Macros aren't going to work if you've been, you know, eating, like super low calories for like, you know, a long time. Yeah, and I didn't, I think it goes back to kind of that social conditioning that we're just taught that it's so virtuous to eat as little as possible. The only way to change anything is to restrict and go super low calorie. Okay, so switching gears a little bit, give us your thoughts about strength training, like now, I'm sure you've been doing that for several years now. Like what has it done for you mentally and physically, it was kind of like the opposite of you know how with food we were, like, always saying that, like, this is more in line with working out like, like, like, more cardio is better. And so like, it was just like a huge mental shift for me too. I mean, it's not like punishment is not like what I have to do. Like, you know, like I strength train, believe it because I want to and it's empowering. And that like also like translate like back to your diet. Like, you know, like, you know, I want I want to eat in a way that's like going to fuel me but like I said earlier, like, I wish I would have gotten into strength training sooner and like maximize the new newbie gains better as like people talk about but most definitely, like, I don't think that I would like have the physique that I had today without building muscle like it would just be like a failure. They really nothing there. I mean, it's just been a game changer for me. Like I love strength training now like it's not like I don't dread working out, like, you know, getting on the treadmill to do cardio. Like I look forward to beating my last bicep curl weight and stuff like that. She's very empowering. Yeah, I agree. It is. It's hard to know that until you experience it, but it is very empowering. I used to be well, I was not like competitive distance runner, but I had done marathons, half marathons and yes, you feel very accomplished when you do that, but it's also can be very depleting and I feel like strength training is the opposite like it is. Yeah. It's much more empowering both physically and mentally. So I agree with all of that. Okay, what is your best advice for people who are just getting started with tracking macros and, and cooking sort of in this macro friendly way? And I guess first, why don't you define that for us in your words like, what what macro friendly recipes and cooking is, in my mind, like, macro friendly foods and like eating is just like, it's, it's macro balanced. So I can say like, I mean, I guess those two words can be used interchangeably, like macro friendly, like is macro balanced, like, it's not like a dish that's really low on protein and like high on fat, like usually a dish that you know, has, like, you know, a good amount of protein, like, you know, for that serving, and it's a little bit lower in fat compared to most recipes out there. And then it's balanced in carbs. And that can often mean like a lot of different things like because it could be like lower carb, or like more moderate carb, kind of just like what you need for that pager and, and whether you're dieting or at maintenance or whatever. And like starting out, like I feel like it, you probably tell your clients number one like tip is to log the night before. I mean, that's how all reason, like, you know, I'm able to successfully log a full day to because like, the day is busy. And so definitely log the night before to make your life easier. You could always like change it around, you know, like, what was whatever comes up like, what, it's so nice to have like a skeleton there. And besides that, I'd say like, keep it simple. From the start, because there's so much you're learning and so Kevin, like a handful of recipes like that, you know that you know, that you like and you know, that work that you don't have to like, make them different every night. And that's that would usually feel like calls like more headache, like just kind of keep it easy from the get go. The best advice I would give Yeah, I agree with both of those things. Number one, I don't think expecting that you're going to hit your macros with zero planning or zero thinking that's not going to happen. Yeah. I know. I know. So what I say is, I mean, like, it's hard to hit those protein targets unless you are trying, you have to try pretty hard. It's not just going to accidentally happen especially with the protein, it's very easy to go under on the protein. Way over on for me, it's usually fats. I'm usually high on fats when I'm just mindlessly doing my thing and actually not so high on carbs. So yeah, you gotta have a plan. And then I agree also, you know, I always say, like, come up with a couple of breakfasts and a couple of lunches that you can just put on repeat. And it may be very up dinner, if that's, you know, if you need some variety, but most people even when they're not dieting, or not making themselves a gourmet breakfast every day. You can you can just, you know, don't worry about getting bored or anything. Just get some some recipes and some foods that will work for you. Yeah. Emergency like five minute meal too. Yeah, I think that's a really great idea. That might just be something like some turkey, some peppers, you know, hummus or just, yeah, something that you can just throw together. I agree. Okay. And then this was a big question that some of our clients had, who follow you very closely? And is how do you plan your macros when you are testing your recipe? So how do you manage all the licks, tastes and bites? Like when you're perfecting a recipe or testing out a recipe, think about this question, because I feel like I've done it for so long. I just kind of like do it like subconsciously, but I do make sure I have breakfast beforehand, obviously with protein and because otherwise, it's so much easier for me to like, you know, want to go in for more bites that way. And so like definitely starting with a protein. Breakfast helps me a lot. Staying hydrated helps me a lot. Because otherwise, like I really just want to, like take a bite of everything. But besides that, like I definitely like I feel like that's part of the process. You know, you kind of have to take bites and legs and so like, I just kind of roughly track. Like I said, I don't check every day now. So it's not like always like a thing. But like when I am like, you know, I'll go back like at the end of that I'd be like, okay, like I have like, you know, maybe I have a serving of this, like granola or whatever, like testing it out. So it's not like perfect or anything. When I am tracking I do like to try to be after this. I go back in and kind of account for that. How often are you creating new recipes? Like, are you doing like one or two a week or I mean, you seem pretty prolific. But I just wondering what that breaks down to I try to divide my days now. Because like I said, there's so much computer work that goes into step two. And I found that as easier Can I want to like have like recipe days and when I have like computer days. And so I'll try to have two days a week. And those are like focused on foods. And so I'll try to do like two to three recipes, two to three recipes. Maybe for those days. And sometimes like you said it's a Kevin didn't make the recipe again, because it didn't quite turn out the first time. So yeah. And then like, you know, the weekend like the play around with some stuff, too. So I don't know. I feel like I'm in the kitchen a lot. Yeah. Now and then your now husband is he into macros too. Because that's another thing I get from people. It's like, well, I can't do this because my family doesn't do it. But you can but just out of curiosity is your husband. He probably needs your recipes. Yeah, he does. He's everything. And so like he's never tried macros before. He did Ideally My Fitness Pal ones. Okay, guys, you dealt with my fitness pal like what? But yeah, I mean, for the most part, like he's really into working out so he'll do like a lot of boxing and like strength training and stuff too. So like, he's in it like eating nutritious stuff too. But he also like, obviously, like, comfort food. And so I don't know, he definitely, like ate all my food minus like some of the desserts like he's not a dessert person, but like, as far as like the savory stuff goes like he'll, he will just eat whatever really, I mean, as long as you make the food taste good, which is like the goal, right? Like you never want to eat. It's bad. Like, of course, like your husband or whoever is going to eat it too. So yeah, I think that that is my number one message because I am food motivated. I'm not someone who just eats to live I probably live to eat and so for me like this been a sustainable lifestyle. But I've told people like even when I have been in show prep, like listen, like I have had dinner parties, and no one knew they were eating healthy foods. And it can be like it's the macros like can be a very luxurious food life. It really can be it's just about kind of, I guess, different intention in terms of like what you focus you're, you know, you're not going to make a very fatty mac and cheese. You might make like a grilled chicken and a salad or something instead, it's just sort of being intentional about what you're making, but I agree it can it can be delicious food for sure. Okay, what are your top five favorite recipes that you've created? Rather than that? You would if someone has never heard of you before? You would tell them to definitely go try? Well, definitely the egg white pizza is probably like my number one just because it like flips, right? So like the egg the crescent roll dough, like goes to the top and the egg whites go to the bottom. And so like I was so excited, like when I was first trying it out because I was like ooh, it's gonna be like so macro friendly. Like it's gonna be like a breakfast pizza. Everybody's gonna love it. And but then like when it flipped I'm like, Oh my gosh, no, like it's ruined. Like when I first made it, isn't it but now it's like one of my most popular recipes so and I make it all the time because it's so easy so that definitely has to be up there and then I'd say like the buffalo chicken spaghetti squash casserole I love that one too like especially when dieting because it's you know blue or carbs and it's like also like my mom's favorite recipe of mine probably the only one she makes like on repeat all the time. I love it for that reason. And then the other three are probably like sweets and like this this bloody brownies which is the Oreo in the middle with the cookie dough on the brain and then there's a cookie and cream using cream brownies that's up there too Those are both of my sweets could work and then probably like the sugar cookie bars on my website because there's three ways you can switch that one that like depending on like what kind of crossing you and like for the holidays and stuff and they like taste it because I sure if you are so they're delicious. Okay, and now that we're on the topic of baking out that's my personal question. I've never been successfully able to bake with protein powder in it not tastes weird. So how is it the secret in the protein powder that you use tell us the secret to that a large part of it is the protein powder you use usually like the type because I've experimented with a lot differently brands and is definitely some are just like whey only and some are casein only and some are whey and casing blend. And then of course there's like plant based too and so like I mean I've tried like doing just the way and like for usually that one doesn't turn out good yeah, there's something about like when you heat way it just gets weird. And that's like usually like the classic like oh protein powder desserts are bad because it doesn't respond well and they they're just the way so I use I usually use a way plus casein blend and that works well and then also like a plant based usually works just fine as well like you need to do vegan I found that that one works just just as great I don't really have a whole lot experience like cooking or baking only with like casing but as far as like blend and then the plant base goes like you usually pretty good but then also you know you can't just like throw whatever into it you always have to like throw like something indulgent in there like you know whether it's like a little bit of water or like a little bit of oil like you can't just like strictly do like she's kind of like like it's a spectrum you know like it's not like oh this food is good. Oh this food is bad. I like to think of it as like obviously this dessert is like a little bit like you know healthier because like it's a little bit more macro friendly but it's not like I mean obviously it could be more macro friendly. Like things could always be more macro friendly but like throwing it like a little bit of butter in there like a little bit of oil adding like some applesauce or pumpkin or like you know whatever like to compensate like the amount of like liquid it makes it better versus like doing like all applesauce or like all pumpkin you know I think that that's like like the main thing like I tried to always like add like a little bit of like something indulgent in there too, and it goes a long way. Okay, that's a good tip. I like that. Yeah, I think especially if you have ever dieted before you can really easily get into this all or nothing mindset and that that's how I started According to Yeah, that if it's not super clean, whatever that means then it's evil or something, but then I think all that sets you up for is just then going off the rails in the other direction. So I think that's a really good tip like it is about balance and just a little bit of butter or something that we would typically not think of as a health food can go a long way. And at the end of the day, it's all about the balance and just hitting your targets, right? I mean, yeah, so, okay, a little bit of it. Like it really does go a long way. And yeah, okay. And then similar question. What are sort of your go to macro friendly products? What is your favorite protein powder to bake with to do whatever with? I mean, and what else do you have to have? I always use PE, and I am like, I've always use them, like for the past, like, literally five years now, just because I've always had like, great success with them. Like, I've tried a couple of others here and there. And I just love science. So I use their vanilla and Kpop for most recipes, and it works really well. So that's definitely that's a staple in between. So Kpop is a different flavor from vanilla protein powder. Yeah, it's like, you can definitely get Kpop and use it for anything that like calls for vanilla. Like a mild yellow cakey kind of flavor. That like I mean, yeah, it's very versatile, but it's delicious. Okay, okay. And this P science, is that something like that's mail order only? Or do you get it on Amazon? Like, how do you get where do you get the science? And do you have a discount code? I'm not sure. Like how many stores they sell it and but like, I know, like, I think either either GNC or Vitamin Shoppe, like one of themselves that also sells it. But then you have from their website, they have you can pick from like all the different flavor options. And then you have a code more fit foodie. And that will save you like 10% of your purchase from there. So I think if you order like over a certain amount, they give you free shipping. But I really like when you order from their website too, because they give you like sample packs of like other places like that you cannot get to try otherwise. And then they also have the different sample packs that you can order. If you want to try like the cookies and cream flavor or the snickerdoodle flavor, you can order a half set back or a six serving bag to kind of see if you like it before committing to like a whole to a party. And is it that KYC or mixes up way that humans mentioned? Okay, so good for baking? Yes. Great for breaking. Okay. And then also do you make shakes with it? Or how else do you use that protein powder? Yeah, I guess I think I mainly bake with it. But like, like I don't I don't usually do like strict protein shakes, at least not anymore. When I was a nurse I would they have like a cafe series. And so I'd get like an iced coffee and like the cafe series in there. And that was really good, like busy on the run instead of a good like protein punch. But then I have like some protein milkshake recipes that involve like a little bit of ice cream in it like a thing. So it goes a long way. And that's in there. So it's like a protein shake at night. That's delicious. That sounds good. Yeah, delicious. Okay, so that's your pick for protein powder. What else are your like? Go to Staples? You probably heard a cut decarb or ABS? Yeah, uh huh. Yeah, I love those. I love those. I mean, I always have some of those. I order the big pack and keep them in the freezer. I just love it so much. I'm like obsessed with making like breakfast French wraps in the morning times. Like this. That's it? Well, so that's like, a must do you have a discount code for those as well? I do not know. If you Google it you can find one though. Yeah. That's that like I always keep like laughing cow cheese wedges in. Er, because like the light version of those are like 35 calories and they go that goes a long way. I mean, they're delicious on everything. I think my favorite food is like a sandwich and so I definitely use those a lot. And then I love G Hughes honey mustard you try that? No, I've not heard of that is GQ is the brand or is G G Hughes like he he's got it got it. I'm not sure how you pronounce that even but they sell that like Harris Teeter and Walmart. I think like most grocery stores that their honey mustard is delicious. I'm like I love honey mustard and like it definitely doesn't disappoint. And it has like for two tablespoons. It has 1.5 grams of fat and one carb and so it's a really macro friendly and I love it like it goes a long ways with what you can include and stuff. So yes, is that fine? Or Is anyone more? Okay, so protein powder. What a car but laughing cow honey mustard. Okay, one more. What ice cream do you use for your milkshakes? Just any ice cream? Any usually getting ice cream but I like Ed slow turned. Uh huh. It's like, like it's a little bit like creamier than like Halo top unenlightened and stuff either they definitely work it's not terrible in Mecca is is like, lighter than like the normal version and it's really creamy. So I like that. It's Hmm, okay. Okay, no, I have to try the milkshake. And sometimes I end the day and I'm low on protein and that would taste really good. I'm sure. It definitely does. It makes a good good amount to so you're eating like a sip on it for a while, which is nice. Okay, awesome. Why don't you tell us and we can just sort of wrap things up. Tell us about you have a new service that's out called Lauren fit cookie club. So why don't you tell us all about that and if someone is interested in that, how they would sign up and what they would get with the Lauren's that cookie club. Yeah, so I named it fit cookie club, like my name, but we just got a new puppy. Her name is cookie. And so I kind of named after her and also because I love cookies. So it's not like a somebody thought it was like a cookie membership for the year like a dream. But it's kind of like what I like to call like the ultimate like fit foodie hub have like a lot of goals for it was like what I want to add, like, you know, as far as like resources go and like all just to kind of make your life easier when it comes to, you know, food and mealtime. And you know, just like putting food like, you know, on the counter making macros easier for you. And like, when you first sign up, you'll get access to 100 of my exclusive recipes. And like, these are like all the recipes that like are in both my cookbooks and just like other ones like that I've had here and they're all like available for you online to print out if you need to, like like all my recipes, like they're going to have the macros listed, and they're going to be in my fitness house. So you know, just gonna make your life much easier that way, you know, with not having to, like create a recipe for yourself. Oh, yeah, I agree that having an already My Fitness Pal is a huge, that's a, that's a game changer. I mean, probably agree that, like, you'll have access to this, like, you know, for more variety and like, the goal is to add eight, eight to 10, you know, new exclusive recipes to that database every month. So it's just gonna continue to build and you can have access to this all the time online, like you'll have an account, you can log in and save them and print them and all that stuff. But also, like what I think most people are most excited about. And me too is each week, every Friday, you'll get an email and it's gonna have a couple of recipes for the week, like usually like six to eight recipes, go breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, dessert, some kind of like dressing or sauce, because you know, they really like elevate your food so much, I'm gonna put that on there. And then like some kinda like other like side item or stuff just to give you like some ideas for food to make the week so you don't have to like think about it. Like it's just sent right to your inbox. There will be an example meal day we've been doing to example no days, like roughly like, you know, obviously, like an example and like, you know, you can tweak it to however but we have one that's like, you know, it's gonna vary every week. But like one like It's like 16 101 That's like 1900 calories. So you can kind of like pick one and, you know, if you're just starting out and like kind of like use that as a guideline moving forward to do whatever you need to hit your macros. Yeah, people are really excited to like, you know, that it's gonna like keep things exciting for mealtime like, as far as like having to like think like, oh, it was for mealtime like, you know, it's gonna give you some ideas. And like I said, the goal is to continue to build on that as well, like I want to do for a client, I plan to put out seasonal collection guides, like a fall collection guide, like spring, you know, all the seasons and fit cookie club members will get the like all those guides for free, as long as like you're signed up when the guy the guy comes out, but kind of like to focus on Seasonal Recipes more. And that will be like a PDF, and then we'll integrate those recipes into, you know, the weekly meal plans, like throughout that season and stuff. So this is gonna keep mealtime exciting and make it easier. And so I think it's gonna help like everyone in that realm thing. Yeah, I think sometimes it's just overwhelm and decision fatigue get in the way and we just think of, it's too hard. And sometimes you just have to get in the habit of trying new recipes, like making the recipe so I can see that this would be very helpful that if you you know, just the these are the new recipes that you try this week. And before you know it, your repertoire will have expanded and you will have a handful of go to recipes that will hit your macros and and yeah, become new favorites. I mean, we are such creatures of habit. So I think sometimes we just have to I can see how this will like help reduce decision fatigue, so just get people out of their comfort zone. Well that sounds amazing. So how do how does someone sign up and what is the cost so actually delaying but if you head to my blog to there's a under the menu tab, there's a fit cooking club tab and so you can just click on that and like I said, I'll give you the link to and dollars a month or like even if you want to commit to a year it's $100 a year and you can save 20 bucks okay to make it look as affordable as possible. Everybody can have access to it. Yeah, I think that sounds like a bargain to me. Because your your recipes are pretty amazing. So yeah, and like I said, you personally curating menu and I grew up being a recipe sounds like a pretty amazing deal. So there'll be eating well and getting fit before you know it. Right. That's saying Right yeah. Okay, well, we usually like to end our podcast talking about favorite foods. And so we know that you have a copycat Chick fil A sauce. And you're probably a big fan of Chick fil A. So what's your go to order when you go to Chick fil A? So I usually like pretty much 99% of the time I'll get the grilled chicken sandwich, add pickles and I get it on the normal bun and I'd salad and then I'll eat tea and I'll add my own like liquid Stevia. So that's usually what I'll do like you say unsweet tea and then you add your stevia. Yeah, I'll get like the unsweet tea. Okay, I can add my own liquid Stevia because I love I love tea. Beat tea and so like you know what not Yeah, when I was like oh, that's a lot of sugar in the tea mom like address are making one time so the liquid Stevia doesn't really good job. I think it depends on what kind you get with that too. But love it. And then like, I'll add my Chick fil A sauce to the sandwich and the salad because it's a little more macro friendly. Yeah. Okay, that sounds pretty good. Okay, well my go to is the cool chicken wrap. Is that what it's called? Because that sucker has like 40 grams of protein that's a little bit high in carbs. And I don't know what the but it's pretty. It's pretty good. I mean, you get a lot of protein and it's very filling. So I like that. And then I get there unsweetened iced tea and a diet. I call it a diet Arnold Palmer. But if you are locale lemonade, half of the locale lemonade and half of the unsweet tea. So try that. Yeah, that's pretty refreshing. So and then donated to yeah, very, very rarely they have their peach shakes right now, which I love. But sometimes I talk my kids into sharing one of those with me so they are there but maybe I can come up with I don't know I hate you know, actually, I do have a copycat Chick fil A shake, which is that premier protein, they have the peaches and cream shakes in the summer. So I do that and then a fresh peach like from the farmers market. And then I a little bit of almond extract and then whipped cream on top like so I blend. Yeah, mirror protein, shake the peach the ice. And then I put the m&m and extract it is actually a pretty good sub for the the chick fillet peach shake. So as I say, I came up with one of the peppermint one that they viewed and learned that version of my blog too. But I will check. I forgot about my peach shake. I'm gonna go get the ingredients for delicious is peachy. Yeah, that's right. You're in the south, but we haven't it's Farmers Market season here. So we're definitely in the middle of peach season. So well thank you so much for your time. I know our clients are gonna love this and then our listeners too. So you are a real inspiration. And that's again, like I tell people we're gonna become like this is you know, like, this is a whole new world that you're stepping into. You just got to give it a chance. But you can eat very well, following macros and have a very good food life. So you are laying 10,000 All right, well, thanks, Lauren. That's all we have for you today. But thank you and have a good day everyone. Thank you. That's what we've got for you today about how you can invest in your metabolism and start losing weight by eating more and exercising less. Trust us you aren't too old and it's never too late. If you want to learn more about this topic, head over to our Facebook group, Boost Your Metabolism After Age 30. You can also follow us on Instagram or Facebook at Couture Fitness Coaching. And if you want to work with us, join us for our next 12 weeks session.