Our Top 4 Transformation-Friendly Food Faves

Chris and I get asked all of the time what our fave go-to meals are, especially since—like many of you—we have a crazy, busy life! And while we have over 230 amazing, healthy, and delicious meals from Grab N? Go to Gourmet in our TRANSFORM App (and please don’t let the name fool you—many of these Gourmet meals are easy-to-fix), let’s be honest…anything even close to Gourmet ain’t gonna? happen in the Powell home these days! So when Chris and I talked about what our fave meals are, not so surprisingly, they’re all the Grab N’ Go and Quick Prep variety. 😉 And while all of these recipes are from the 300 calories/meal level in the app, rest assured that YOUR meal plan will give you the correct calories and macros to keep you progressing towards YOUR goals!

First up…my faves.

If you follow me at all on social media, you’ll know that I seriously cannot survive without my daily Starbuck’s Marshmallow Dream Bar. #IshouldbuystockinStarbucks 😉 This meal fits beautifully into my high carb days, takes about 30 seconds flat to fix, and really takes care of any sweet craving I’m having.

Shake and Marshmallow Dream Baropt

Marshmallow Dream Bar and Protein Shake 

Ingredients:

2/3 Starbuck’s Marshmallow Dream Bar
1 1/3 scoops vanilla protein powder
10 ounces water

Directions:

1. Mix water with protein powder and enjoy with Marshmallow Dream Bar on the side. Makes 1 serving

Nutrition information: 291 calories, 3g fat, 34g carbs, 31g protein

Next, a go-to low carb fave that is super easy to prepare and even yummier than it is easy! And I’d say that anything with cheese that is on plan is a win in my book. 😉

Scrambled Eggs and Avocadoopt

Scrambled Eggs, Cheese, and Avocado

Ingredients:

5 large egg whites
1/2 cup shredded Colby Jack cheese
1/2 small avocado, diced

Directions:

1. Separate egg whites from yolk, whisk for 30-45 seconds. Spray a skillet with nonstick cooking spray. Scramble eggs until done to desire texture. Sprinkle cheese and avocado over the top of eggs and enjoy! Makes 1 serving

Nutrition Information: 303 cal; 18g fat; 8g carbs; 32g protein

Now for Chris’ faves. His #1 pick lately is anything cereal. Cereal is the perfect carb—you can grab a handful and eat it dry, enjoy it with some unsweetened almond milk, mix it into other foods, use it as a topping for ice cream, and the list goes on and on. And there are so many varieties from the super sweet to the fiber-rich ones, so cereal is seriously so user-friendly! Another one of Chris? faves is peanut butter (he often has a jar and a spoon in his backpack #Ikidyounot), so cereal AND peanut butter? This breakfast option was a no-brainer choice for him.

Frosted Cereal and Protein Shakeopt

Frosted Cereal and Peanut Butter Shake

Ingredients:

1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1 tablespoon all-natural peanut butter
8 ounces water
2/3 cup frosted cereal flakes
2/3 cup unsweetened almond milk

Directions:

1. In a blender, combine protein powder, peanut butter, and water. Blend until well combined.
2. Serve cereal with almond milk and enjoy peanut butter shake on the side. Makes 1 serving

Nutrition information: 312 calories, 10g fat, 30g carbs, 27g protein

And you’ve probably seen him share this low carb meal on social media one or ten times, so this one was another no-brainer for him. And if you meal prep (which you should!), it?s super quick!

Ground Turkey Marinara 6opt

Ground Turkey Marinara

Ingredients:

3 ounces extra-lean ground turkey (meal prepped)
1/2 cup steamed broccoli
1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup low-sugar marinara
1/4 tablespoon unsalted butter

Directions:

1. In a bowl, combine the steamed broccoli and butter, toss until well coated.
2. In the same bowl, add the rest of the ingredients, mix well, and enjoy! Makes 1 serving

Nutritional Information: 308 cal; 15g fat; 12g carbs; 31g protein

For any of you who are vegetarian or vegan,  you can enjoy these meals too—just sub your fave vegan/vegetarian protein source for the ones in the recipes and enjoy!

And I know some of you may be asking yourselves, “How are Marshmallow Dream Bars and frosted cereal healthy?” Great question! We live by the 80/20 rule: 80% of the time we eat totally “healthy,” and the other 20% of the time, we eat those foods we love that might note be quite as “healthy.” This is how we’ve planned the meals in the app too! This rule keeps those cravings away AND it’s a great psychological transformation tool we’ve been using ourselves and with our peeps for years. No matter how dedicated you are to your plan, if you deprive yourself of the things you love for too long, you WILL have a major binge party at some point that will derail your progress. So give the 80/20 rule a try—it works!

What are your fave go-to meals? Share in the comments below so we can all try them out!

Xoxo,

Heidi

And here are more of our faves:

Spring Break Savory & Sweet Treats || BBQ Chicken Pita Pizza & One-Minute Brownie
My (Almost) Famous Pumpkin Pie Overnight Oats!
Peanut Butter Power Fudge
Protein Waffles!
Gluten-Free Maple Bacon Protein Donuts
Memorial Day BBQ Recipes: Mouthwatering and Powell-Approved!

33 Responses

  1. Hi there,
    I just downloaded the app today! (YAY!) And plan to start my transformation next Monday. I have a question regarding workouts – I know it says it eat breakfast within 30 minutes of waking but what if you want to get a workout in before work (around 5am) – do you eat BEFORE the 5am workout, or after? Or do you eat a little snack before you workout that early, then your main breakfast after your workout? Any clarification would be appreciated! Excited to start this journey! I’m in a rut with motivation to workout! Hoping this will give me a boost!!

    1. Also – question regarding protein – Are the ready to drink protein drinks (like Advantedge) OK to drink for the protein options? Or do we absolutely need to get protein powder?

      Thanks!

    2. Hi LJ: For protein powders, we recommend low fat (less than 3g), low carb (less than 7g), with around 20-25g of protein per serving. Other than that, go with what you like best!

    3. Thank you for the video. That was helpful.

      I understand the protein POWDER, but I’m asking about the READY TO DRINK protein DRINKS that are already in a bottle ready to go (no powder and no mixing with water) – are these OK to drink as my “protein” instead of the powder form? They are high in protein and low in carbs and fat like you stated.

      Thanks again!

    4. Hi LJ: Yes, these are fine as long as they follow the general recommendations I offered. 🙂

    1. Hi Krystal: Try different ways of preparing them, add them to smoothies, grind them up and add them to other recipes, or google ways that parents add vegetables to their kids’ diets without them know it – you can get some great ideas there! You can do this! 🙂

  2. I am struggling to find a protein powder that I can choke down without blending in a frozen banana at least (so low carb day shakes are not my fave). What are your favorite flavors and brands?

    1. Hi Megan: We don’t have any particular brands to recommend, but in general, we recommend low fat (less than 3g), low carb (less than 7g), with around 25-25g of protein per serving. Other than that, go with what you like best!

    2. Hi Megan I too was struggling to find a good protein drink. You might want to try Premier Protein drink (Liquid ) its low in fat sugar and carbs and high in protein. don’t taste bad either.

  3. I’ve transformed amazingly lost 80lbs…but now besides surgery how can I tighten some skin?

  4. I am finishing up my 12 week Physique/Advanced/ Lean and Shred the end of June. At this time I am also having surgery and won’t be able to do much working out for 8 weeks. I’m a little freaked out and don’t want to gain weight. I love this APP and was wondering what i could follow food wise for the 8 weeks i can’t work out. I need to stick to a diet but I’m not sure what it would look like without working out.

    Any suggestions?

    Thank you

    1. Hi Erin: I’m so sorry to hear about your surgery. Before you go in for your surgery, you can pause your workouts on the Me –> Program page. Scroll down and hit the button by “Pause Workouts.” Follow your nutrition program, do weekly progress updates, and after an update, if an option automatically pop up asking if you want the program to auto-adjust for faster results, please click YES, and let the program do its work! We hope you recover quickly!

  5. Hello !!! This is my second week with the transformation App… I am doing this With my husband… he already Lost about 4 pounds and I lost almost 2 Pounds. We are wondering if there’s any problem to eat veggies with our meals? Because We like a lot cucumber lettuce and tomatoe. Can We add that to our meals or it Will become a problem for the process??? Thankyou in advance and We love the App !!! the grab n go men? ( We dont have time to Cook) and I am doing the cross training program and I already love it!!!!

    1. Hi Angie: You’re both doing amazing! You can add non-starchy/non-root type vegetables to any meal – in fact, we recommend it!

  6. I am having trouble finding the carb percentages for high carb and low carb days? I want to add in some of my favorite dishes but want to stay following the turbo plan. Thanks

    1. Hi Sheree: All of your macros are figured out for you in the Turbo Cycle, and you can use the chart in this post to help you put your meals together: https://heidipowell.net/4514. If you’d like to change to the Extreme Cycle, we do have some macro recommendations in this post: https://heidipowell.net/10617. Both cycles are amazing and can definitely help you get you to your goals. ?

  7. Hi! So excited to take this journey with you and Chris. I am feeling like Tiffany Pearls. Your app suggest a lot of carbs with whole wheat bread and corn tortillas, it’s scary. However, I haven’t tried your program so regardless of my concerns, I am going to follow your nutrition. Quick question, I see in parenthesis meal prep on some ingredients. Is there a meal prep guide I should use?

    1. Hi Carolyn: Your body does need healthy carbs to be healthy and to help you achieve your goals, so you can feel confident with the carb recommendations in the app. For meal prep, here’s a post that can help with this: https://heidipowell.net/11957. We hope you love the app!

  8. Wondering what protein powder you use? Or what to look for in a protein powder there are sooooo many!

    1. Hi Melissa: We recommend low fat (less than 3g), low carb (less than 7g), with around 20-25g of protein per serving. Other than that, go with what you like best!

  9. Hi Heidi,
    This blog answered questions I had about the meals I have been consuming the past couple of days off of the transform app. I kept questioning crackers and so many sweet options, so much bread, especially since in the past About 3 years ago I set out to lose weight and did, but with a veggie detox and a paleo diet after that, so you can imagine the questions I have been having. After an injury to my knee, I stopped excercising, then the holidays came etc., etc.
    scrolling through instagram I found your post for your app. I am very excited to be on this journey and hope this time I can get in better shape and stay healthy!!!

    Hugs,
    Patty

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