Hey Reader!

In the 124th issue of The MF Kitchen, you'll slice into the details of:

• Recipes for my Crispy Taco Pockets and Breakfast Brownie Protein Bites!
• 7 low calorie, high protein sandwiches that will help you lose fat. Here they are!​
• Best pre and post-workout meals (plus exactly what I do)...
• The perfect pairing with french fries (and the story most people don't know)...
• High protein pretzels, OREOs, and more... are they high protein??

Preheat your ovens…

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Weekly Recipe Roundup 🍽️

Crispy Taco Pockets Being able to make a crunch wrap with half a tortilla thus keeping the calories much lower! These taco pockets for example are only 121 calories with 12.5g protein! Click below to download the recipe and make it easy yourself: ​​​Crispy Taco Pockets.pdf​

Breakfast Brownie Protein Bites If you are looking for a quick and easy low-calorie snack, these 28-cal breakfast protein brownie bites are it! ​​Click below to download the recipe and make it easy yourself:​ ​​​Breakfast Protein Brownie Bites.pdf​

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Recipe Recreations Of The Week 🤌

45 Second Protein Lava Brownie is sooo clutch!

Macros for the Whole Lava Brownie:​
214 Cals, 19g Carbs, 6g Fat, 21g Protein

Here’s the video and recipe:
👉 https://www.instagram.com/theflexibledietinglifestyle/reel/CxLfJWFLtfF​

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This Week's Flavor 🎥

The Sandwich Blueprint! 7 low calorie, high protein sandwiches that will help you lose fat (and that you'll actually want to eat every day). ​Here are the recipes and video.​

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Zach's Beats 🎧

Vibes from my music archives. ​Ride - Twenty One Pilots​

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One FAQ ❓

Answer: I'll be upfront and honest with you.

The importance of eating around your workouts is incredibly OVERRATED.

But...

It is also extremely underrated when done right.

Let me explain.

What you eat around your workouts isn't going to patch a shitty diet the rest of the hours of the day.

But when your diet is dialed in, this is when it can and will help.

Let's first get the part that doesn't matter out of the way.

Post-workout nutrition is a fraud.

It's not important at all.

Just because you had a great workout, doesn't mean you “earned” to eat a ton of food lol.

You don't immediately need a protein shake within 30 minutes or all your gains will be lost.

Just eat your normal next meal after your workout. You will be just fine!

I haven't had a protein shake in damn near 10 years lol.

I like to eat my calories, please, and thank you!

I will share exactly how I structure my eating around workout at the end of this section so it'll all make more sense.

Now let's go to a pre-workout meal.

SUPER underrated.

And I think of it more as a pre-workout snack, rather than a meal.

A meal is a meal. A snack is a bridge or tool.

So for example, let's go into how I normally eat.

I mostly eat meals. I don't like to snack unless it's needed to perform.

I eat breakfast. I eat lunch. I eat dinner.

All balanced macronutrient profiles.

For me, I like 40% carbs, 35% protein, and 25% fats.

I feel my best on that split.

The fats I won't go under 25%.

This is a topic for another day so let me know if you want me to break down my macros in more detail.

So I usually work out around 4:30pm.

And that means I've had two meals already that day.

I am pretty well-fueled.

My “pre-workout meal” was my lunch around 1pm.

So I then just have a medium-sized apple as my pre-workout snack to ensure I have a little extra boost of energy/fuel to hit my workout in the gym or play sports as hard as I can.

I eat to perform my best.

This mindset shift will transform your body composition.

Because if you are timing your food best around your workouts, then you will hit them much harder and thus your body will make more progress.

Your body doesn't see 3 sets of 10 reps. It only knows the quality of those reps.

Same goes for me when playing sports as well.

If I feel fueled, I will have more energy to play harder and thus will have more output.

The return on investment of your medium apple or any little boost of carbs is 100% worth it if it leads to you performing better.

And I also play some high-level pickup basketball at 7am on Thursday mornings.

Do I eat prior? Nope.

Because if I did, I'd feel sluggish.

That wouldn't be “eating to perform” because I know my body.

I ate my dinner at 7:30pm the night before so I'm still not very hungry.

And because I've tested this theory with eating before and not eating before these pickup basketball seshes, I know that I perform best without eating.

This is all one big experiment you can conduct on yourself!

And not to forget this big point…

If your goal is fat loss, you don't have an abundance of calories to play with.

So if my goal was fat loss, not eating before my 7am basketball does save me more calories for the rest of the day.

To recap, eating to perform can be a game changer to your body composition.

It's allowed me to have my favorite body composition to date while also having my most versatile athleticism as well.

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Weird Food Fact 🤓

I live this love story every single day 👰🏻‍♂️

GOTTA have my fries with ketchup.

And I eat fries EVERY SINGLE DAY for lunch.

But I really only use ketchup with my fries. That’s about it.

MAYBE on a hotdog or burger when I am feeling it.

Not one of the masochists I saw the other day putting it on their mac & cheese 😭

But anyways, my love of ketchup led me down a rabbit hole of how it was created.

It’s a weird, wild, and fishy story lol.

Let’s take a little trip back to 17th-century China, where the original version of ketchup (known as "ke-tsiap") was created.

But it wasn’t the sweet, tangy sauce we know today. It was a salty, savory fish-based sauce made from fermented anchovies, spices, and brine.

It was used to add an umami punch to dishes (kind of like soy sauce or Worcestershire sauce today).

So, how did this fishy condiment evolve into the beloved tomato ketchup that some weirdos (love you) slather on their mac & cheese?

As European traders brought ke-tsiap back from Asia, they started tweaking the recipe.

The Brits gave it their own twist, making variations with mushrooms, walnuts, and even oysters (still no tomatoes in sight!).

It wasn’t until the early 1800s in America that tomatoes entered the scene.

Tomatoes were seen as suspicious back then (yep, people thought they were poisonous!), but eventually, people realized they were onto something delicious.

A few clever cooks began adding tomatoes to the ke-tsiap mix, and boom... the modern ketchup was born.

By the late 19th century, Heinz stepped in and perfected the recipe with a mix of tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, and spices, giving us that sweet and tangy flavor we love today.

And the rest is condiment history!

So next time you’re squirting ketchup on your fries (which is also masochist behavior. Ketchup is always on the side!), remember that you’re enjoying a sauce that started as a fermented fish sauce!

And in case you are wondering which ketchup I use, I personally am not a fan of the Heinz sugar-free ketchup even though they have the macros of the Gods!

Hunts is my Mom’s favorite but I think it’s gross lol.

I have used them all and I have found that I am a ketchup snob for one brand I never thought I’d love.

The Whole Foods Brand Ketchup. It’s my go-to!

Anyways, hope you found this ketchup origin story as fascinating as I did!

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Serving Surprise 😮

Going off of last week's Serving Surprise...

I found some high protein OREOs and some high protein pretzels!?

Say what!?

They must be a game changer!

Well, are they really?

A lot of times with these products, they make a claim to be “high protein” but in reality, their macros are almost the exact same as the normal versions.

The FDA has a “high protein” guideline for nutrition labels that most people don't know about.

For a brand to be able to call their product “high protein,” they have to have at least 20% of the daily value requirement of protein.

Since the daily requirement for the FDA is 50g of protein (wild), 20% of that is 10g aka only has to have 10g of protein per serving.

But what about calling a product “Protein Pretzels” or just putting “Protein” in front of the name?

It now only has to be a “good source” of protein per serving which is 10% of the FDAs daily value recommendations.

So that comes in at a whopping 5g protein per serving.

Let's start with the Protein Pretzels compared to regular ol store-brand pretzels.

So for the “Fitzels” you are getting 130 calories, 4g fat, 13g carbs, and 7g protein.

For the regular pretzels, you are getting 110 calories, 1g fat, 22g carbs, and 3g protein.

The “Fitzels” have 3 servings per bag and the regular pretzels have 17 servings.

But the 3 servings bags costs twice as much as the 17 servings bag.

It’s all pros and cons. If the slight macronutrient makeover is worth it, then go for it!

But it’s usually not as dramatic of a makeover as it’s made out to be.

*I did try these Fitzels and they were a pretty good flavor but kinda dry. Not terrible!

Now for the Protein OREOs 😁

So for the Catalina Crunch OREOs, you are getting per 3 cookies (changed serving size to 3 cookies to match the regular Oreos) 135 calories, 9g fat, 18g carbs, 6g protein.

For a regular OREO, you are getting 160 calories, 7g fat, 25g carbs, 1g protein.

I'll be honest, I tried these Catalina Crunch OREOs and they were pretty damn good.

Are they worth the extra 6g protein per 3 cookies and slightly less calories?

Ehhh lol.

Yes it's less sugar. Cool.

But that's a story for a whole different post on why sugars are not as important as it's made out to be. Lol don't get triggered.

And only getting 16 cookies per package vs 45 cookies per package for the regular OREOs for the same exact price.

That's up to you.

I sound like such a hater lol.

I just see people thinking these products are magical and so they can just eat the whole package.

A magical cheating “food hall pass.”

That's not how this works. Just like a “cheat pass” shouldn't work in a relationship 🙄

I love me some macro-friendly product innovation but an extra few grams of protein in a product doesn't make it a “protein source.”

Anyways, hope this was eye-opening and you learned something new!

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Go cook something good this week!

Eat to perform when you need to.

And please... for the love of god... stop putting ketchup on your mac and cheese 😭

Much love and happy cooking,
​Zach