Day 4 of IIFYM

4

Alright, warning, some of you may be disappointed in me today.. I am prepared for it. On the bright side, some of you may not be so disappointed and will forgive me. Here goes nothing.

Calories consumed: 1618/1658

Calories burned: -735

Net calories: 883

Carbs: 140 grams/ 137 grams

Protein: 62 grams/155 grams

Fat: 93 grams/ 54 grams

Sodium: 3101 mg/1440 mg

Cholesterol: 102 mg/180 mg

sugars: 26 grams/24 grams

Fiber: 7 grams/23-31 grams

So yes, my carbs were over, my sodium was over, and my sugars were over (the worst combination) but I am not mad about this because I had a great workout and I treated myself to a new recipe that I have been craving and that is why my stuff is over. I apologize ahead of time if this upset anyone, I will do better and I am still learning so it will take me time before I perfect the IIFYM. At this point, I am just happy I am able to blog about it and share this with all of you because this will help keep me accountable and show people that I too make the same mistakes & I am in the fitness industry. 

Breakfast:

  • 2 oz of Italian bread
  • half of an smoked sausage
  • liquid egg whites
  • frozen cut broccoli 
  • shredded cheese
  • salsa
  • vanilla flavored almond milk
I didn’t eat lunch today, not because I was skipping but because I had class and didn’t pack anything for lunch and by the time I got back in town, it was time for dinner. 
Dinner:
  • Texas Toast (4 slices)
  • Pepperoni
  • Mozz. cheese slices (4 slices)
  • prego pizza sauce
I made a new recipe today (pizza grilled cheese) which is why my macros is off today, but like I said I am not upset about it, I knew beforehand it would miss and I had planned on it, especially after such a large breakfast (that I didn’t finish). I need to work more on my sodium intake, for whatever reason, I need to start becoming more health conscious of this, because it is bothering me more and more everyday when I go over the recommended. New goal of mine is to look at the sodium content when purchasing my groceries, this is very important to me. Well, other than that, I could have done better or made better options but I really wanted to try my hand at this new recipe and it turned out very well. I probably could of ate one and been decent for the night but I ate two sandwiches. Tomorrow is a new day!
Sincerely,
Your Fitness Blogger Shay-lon xoxo

Day 3 of IIFYM

3

Hello! So, this is another late night post about my IIFYM results for day 3. Sorry about this once again, this might be a constant thing if I keep on this path on waiting last minute, I normally do this in case I sneak in a snack before midnight. I should be in bed because I have my last day of class tomorrow and I have a busy workout day ahead. Wish me luck, because tomorrow my professor is going to come up with an exercise challenge for me and 2 other colleagues of mine versus our 3 clients.. so this should be a good time (mentally and physically challenging). I am not prepared for it, but I’ll come in with a ready set go mindset.  Okay, so anyways, I might add that to tomorrows post to let ya know how well I did and what not, for now we will talk about today’s results.

 

Calories Consumed: 882/1658

calories burned:-600

Net Calories: 282

 

Carbs: 106 grams/137 grams

Protein: 35 grams/155 grams

Fats: 37 grams/54 grams

Sodium: 2017 mg/1440 mg

Cholesterol: 63 mg/ 180 mg

Sugars: 11 grams/ 24 grams

Fiber: 7 grams/ 23-31 grams 

 

I didn’t eat breakfast this morning, oops. This doesn’t normally happen, but I worked third shift last night and got home early this morning and wasn’t very hungry for breakfast.

 

Lunch:

 
  • Tortilla chips
  • Salsa
  • shredded cheese

Dinner:

  • 2 slices of little Caesars pepperoni pizza (regular crust) 

I had 2 16.9 fl oz bottles of water today.

I also threw away the rest of the box of pizza so I had to desire to eat anymore and because I don’t like their pizza the next day. I know a waste of 5 dollars.. ugh. 

 

My exercise today was all upper body exercises, no lower body. I did lat pulldowns, low rows, triceps, & ab crunches all at the gym today. Spent about a hour and 15 minutes at the gym, my upper body was still sore from two days ago, lol. Not sure why but right now it feels alright.. & hopefully it will be fine tomorrow. I have noticed some changes in my biceps and I am happy with that thus far & my classmates said my back is showing pure muscles & I never even noticed. Hmm..

Well that is all for now, I will talk to all of you tomorrow perhaps, goodnight. 

 

Sincerely,

Your Fitness Blogger Shay-lon

Dining out too stressful? Read this :)

 

Recently, I had someone ask me to talk about “dining out” and feeling like it is such a hassle when they do their IIFYM and when they just want to “diet” or want to simply eat “healthier options”, this person says, they realize when you dine inside, the options are much better than pulling through a drive-thru and normally some places will have the calories listed with the meal, but they always feel guilty when they dine out because they always feel like the “healthier” options really aren’t that much healthier than cooking at home & they just want to sometimes tell the cooks to cook something a certain way, lol..(yes it bugs them this much).

 

Well, I can somewhat understand this person’s issue with dining out and feeling like the options are  never healthy enough because when you get so used to having to cook at home and meal planning, you have a routine of what foods fit your IIFYM or whatever “diet” plan you are currently on.  The frustration is simply the obsession of the diet you are on in my opinion and with being on a strict diet, you never know how to handle your cravings, desires, and normally go off on the “deep end” because of the peer pressure of wanting to eat like everyone else around you. In my situation for example, while yes my nutrition matters to me but with IIFYM the food is the least of my worries, the worries come from being able to simply calculate the macros in my head to determine if the meal fits & if I can’t do the math fast enough or have no clue then I dive for it, in hopes I made the brightest decision based on what the ingredients are, how big the plate is, what I ate earlier, and how much of it I will eat.  I think when places put the calories down, it helps me decide so much easier because even though I can hit calories and not hit macros, I at least can make a semi educated guess and I feel more at ease.

Dining out should be a fun experience not one that people dread unless that is just your personality and it doesn’t phase you to sit down and eat with friends and family. I think when dining starts to bug you to the point where you get anxiety over what you eat, then you need to either reevaluate the diet you are on, rethink your exercise regimen, or perhaps speak with the cooks themselves and get an understanding of how the food will be cooked and if you can, ask them to cook it a certain way that helps you feel better about the meal. I would even go as far to say bringing your food scale with you but I know that can be a hassle or come off a bit weird (but hey, it’s an idea). There are reasons why some people have to be strict (bodybuilding, lose weight, don’t exercise, cutting. etc) and those people usually have been doing this enough where they have an idea of what places to eat and what places to stay away from, they know exactly how much to eat, they have friends/family that have the same eating habits, they surround themselves with like-people, and/or bring their scale with them. With this being said, I will help give you some pointers in case you have the same issues as the person who had me write this blog. I already mentioned some ideas but I’ll put them in bullet form so it is easier to read.

  • Do some online research of the restaurant beforehand
  • look at what the meal is and ask what the ingredients are 
  • bring a food scale if necessary
  • sit with like-minded people or people who support your “diet”
  • choose a place with variety (i.e don’t just choose a burger joint or pizza joint)
  • If it shows the calories of the meal, take advantage of this and make an educated guess on how the meal fits in your “diet” 
  • eat until full not until bloated
  • If you are doing IIFYM, worry less about the food and worry more about teaching yourself to make sure whatever you eat fits the macros (get comfortable with IIFYM before you venture off)
  • Try to choose meals that are simple (i.e steak and broccoli with a side of a baked potatoe instead of a pasta dish you can’t pronounce or some meal that could have over 100 different ingredients)
  • Exercise more often if you are so worried because at least you can balance yourself out if you make an error in choice of foods
  • Get to know the cooks, this might help if the restaurant allows for you to make changes to the meal
  • make mistakes & learn from them, don’t stress over making your first mistake. I want you to make more mistakes so you can constantly learn
  • continue to cook at home, don’t allow dining out to be your main source of food
  • Dine for a good time not in fear
  • Hold yourself accountable for the good and bad choices 

Hopefully this list gives you some peace of mind and I am able to help those of you who may fall within in this same problem and needed some extra advice. As long as you learn from your mistakes when you dine out, you will progress and know how to handle those situations better. Feel free to contact me with questions:)

Thank you for reading!

 

Sincerely,

Your Fitness Blogger Shay-lon

Day two of IIFYM tracking

2

4.26.16

 

This is day 2 of keeping track of IIFYM & today was actually a great day for the most part.. won’t say it was perfect but it went decently well with my macros; I am making small bits of progress. Not to mention, today’s exercise regimen was high intensity for the most part. 

 

Calories I consumed: 1004/1658

Carbs consumed: 134 grams/137 grams

Proteins consumed: 43 grams/155 grams

Fats consumed: 37 grams/ 54 grams

Sodium consumed: 2820 mg/1440 mg

Cholesterol consumed: 63 mg/ 180 mg

Sugars consumed: 29 grams/24 grams

Fiber Consumed: 9 grams/23-31 grams 

 

Calories burned: –1031

Net Calories: -27

 

Exercises I did:

 
  • Did 30 minutes between TRX squats (reps of 20) and leg press reps of 12. Went back and forth between the two and got sweaty real quick, my legs were drooling with water. Felt really good but I will feel it later. I did 100 pounds on the leg press. I could have done 130 if I wanted to but didn’t feel the need to go that high for today. I am not sure the highest I can do, because haven’t tested it, but I probably could go higher if necessary. 
  • I did sprints up and down a basketball court. I pretty much did 4 sprints then walked half the court 3 laps and then started back up. I would say I did this for another 20-30 minutes today. It went very well, I enjoy sprinting. I made sure to stay hydrated with water and Aminos. 
  • I keep track of my steps, but my steps would have to be off today since I didn’t have my phone on me all day today.. especially when I was running, but I would say I walked 200 calories worth today at the very least. My phone only caught 61 calories with a .76 miles. 

What I had for Breakfast:

  • Bakery Italian bread (2oz) with Tuna with 2Tsp of RedHot hot sauce.
  • Almond milk with Hershey Lite chocolate syrup (this is why my sugar ran over) grr. lol

Dinner: 

  • Tortilla chips
  • Shredded Mexican style cheese
  • Restaurant style salsa (Tostitos)

Water consumption:

  • 1 16.9oz and before bed tonight I will probably have another 16.9 oz bottled water if not two. 

Overall I know that without the syrup I would have been under on sugar and that is okay because I wanted a change up for this morning and I don’t regret it. The sodium, Chol, and sugar are not part of IIFYM, those are goals that my App has set up for me. I am sure IIFYM might have way for you to track those as well but I just used my app for those three things. If anyone wants to add any comments, please feel free. I don’t mind, because I am holding myself accountable with your help. Thank you. 

 

Sincerely, 

Your Fitness Blogger Shay-lon xoxo

IIFYM (If it Fits Your Macros) What is it?

 

I am sure this post is going to be semi popular since this is the newest form of keeping track of what you eat. I only heard of this recently and had to look into this because people were going crazy over it.  Between Instagram, Facebook, twitter and other bloggers; this has got so many people interested & following this plan and even I am doing this plan because I like it! Why do I like it? because it doesn’t eliminate foods, doesn’t restrict certain food groups, this is specific to each individual, no one is alike and everyone is different which means everyone will have different macros to reach based on a few things.  Yes, you have to count your calories and it is highly recommended that your purchase a food scale to measure your food in grams and keep track of it per an App or writing it down. I am going to share the ins & outs about IIFYM so that all of you can have an understanding of what this is and what one needs to do to start, share some cons and pros possibly and give you an inside look at this trending eating style, I’ll even share the link to the source so that you can get started, I will share some books I recommend that you read so that you have a better understanding and I’ll share with you what my daily goals are in case any of you haven’t had the chance to read my blog from the other night.

IIFYM (“If it fits your macros”): IIFYM speaks specifically for weight loss but this is also for muscle gains, maintenance and gaining weight.  This is specific to the individual so no one is on the same exact goals unless someone has the same exact goals and lifestyle as you do.  The word “macro” stands for macro-nutrients: Carbohydrates, Proteins, Fats, Fiber, and this form of eating does not emphasize on the “eating healthy” and “eating clean”.  Basically IIFYM allows you to eat whatever you want but in moderation and for this reason being, it teaches you to stay accountable for what you eat if you seek results. 

Along with having to keep track of carbs, proteins, fats and fiber.. you also should keep track of your sugar and sodium intake as well as alcohol intake.  For some people these other things may seem less important but in all honesty, they are just as important and should always be taken into consideration.  When it comes to keeping track of your macros, this goes a lot deeper than actually just saying you ate 2 slices of pizza, you need to actually take into account all the toppings on your pizza, the type of crust, size of the pizza, and then be able to know whether it fits your appropriate macros.. if not, don’t eat it or too much of it.. if it does.. eat it! simple! Now I have only gotten started recently so right now it is a trial and error situation and you should expect this for the first few weeks of doing the IIFYM because you have to learn as you go how much of something you can eat before it doesn’t fit your macros.

The basic idea of IIFYM

  1. Know how many calories your body burns in a day (TDEE)
  2. eat 15-20% less everyday than that number 
  3. Split the calories up between carbs, proteins and fats with adequate fiber and water intake.

Words that matter in IIFYM:

  • BMR: Basal metabolic rate (the number of calories your body burns at rest, with no zero activity)
  • TEF: Thermic effect of food (the number of calories burned in the process of digesting food you eat)
  • NEAT: None exercise Activity Thermogenesis (the number of calories burned in all activity, outside of exercise)
  • TEA: Thermic Effect of activity (The number of calories you burn exercising; or higher than usual energy output)
  • TDEE: Total daily energy expenditure (the amount of calories your body burns in a 24 hour period; sleeping, working, exercising, playing and digesting food) the IIFYM calculator will help you figure out your TDEE using the above terms.

With this being said, the IIFYM takes in consideration your age, height, body weight, activity level, and your goals.  This is something that is very detailed in the way they calculate your information so that you know in depth what to hit on your macros.  I might add this is not the fun part, but luckily for all of you, you are able to use the sites calculator and it does all the math for you.  One of the most important things to do while keeping track of macros is to meal plan because meal planning will help all the time when you are trying to hit your macros but this doesn’t mean you can’t eat out or sit at a nice restaurant and enjoy a meal, if that happens just write it down and add it to the tracker later or some people bring their food scale with them.  The most important word is MODERATION! everything should be eaten in moderation because if it is not done in moderation you will fail your macros every time & I would know because I found out what areas I keep missing and what areas I eat too much of.. and this has opened my eyes & hopefully it will help you manage your eating habits without having to eat like a “rabbit”. 

 

I won’t go into too much detail because I plan on sharing the site with all of you so that you can get started or research this more on your own time, but I wanted to give everyone the basics.  I have had people tell me it will be another fad and maybe this is so, but in my opinion this “fad” seems like a good idea for the most part as long as the individual trains their minds and body and keeps their macros in mind when they eat their food.  I don’t know what tips I can offer since I have just started myself,  but I believe that one thing that helps me is using an App on my phone and/or tablet that does all the tracking for me and exercising more; even though I do plenty of exercise in my opinion. The IIFYM, ask what fitness level you would consider yourself, you should be honest with yourself for the best results… I chose light activity because even though I probably fit within moderate exercise and have days I am at “very active”, I want to account for the days I am not as productive because not everyday will I be at the gym or working out and if I am not doing this or if I stop for whatever reason I want to make sure I can still keep up with my calorie intake and macros.   This is up to you, but I give myself some wiggle room in case and if you want you can calculate both just so you know. 

 

My macro goals

  • Carbs: 33% (137 grams)
  • Proteins: 37% (155 grams)
  • Fats: 29% (54g) 
  • Fiber: 23-31 grams

Suggested Calories I need to eat: 1658

My TDEE: 2072 calories a day

My BMR: 1503 calories/day

My weight: 150 pounds

My Height: 5’8

 

I added my weight and height because I am comfortable enough to share with all of you and want to make sure all of you at some point become comfortable with yourself and myself so that we can all help one another stay on track.  I hope this helped some of you and like I have said previously, I am going to make blogs about each day (IIFYM) allowing every one of you to keep me accountable of my eating and exercise regimens and motivating me to keep going and to give me the wisdom and share your stories with me and work along side of me if you doing the IIFYM. This is the site I would recommend you use so that you can do the calculations for the IIFYM, please feel free to share what your results are and take a look at the rest of the site for more information; if you have any questions, feel free to always ask! Thank you for reading.  http://www.iifym.com/iifym-calculator/