IIFYM

Hey guys! I know it’s been a while since I’ve been active here, I apologize. I got a second job at Planet Fitness on the weekends and I’ve been working between 60 and 70 hours a week for about a month now! I’m sure you can imagine how my sleep schedule has suffered, but I’ve been doing surprisingly well with working out and eating right. I’ve been on track approximately 5 days a week and I’ve still been going to the gym 2-3 times a week.
This past week I was put into a somewhat compromising position, and through no fault of my own, I was scheduled (at one point) to work a double shift on Sunday. Working a double on Sunday means that I can’t go grocery shopping after work Saturday, and I can’t meal prep on Sunday! Oh the horror. I started thinking about what I could swing by and grab on Saturday (between my first and second job) that would require little/no prep time. Needless to say, my meals this week aren’t the envy of any fitness person. But that’s not why I’m here.
One of my good friends on Instagram, @itsmiamotivated, has recently started up with Weight Watchers. Mia has been in my life since the beginning of my journey and we have become pretty good friends, so when I saw that Weight Watchers was working for her, I reached out and asked her what it was all about. She explained to me the point system and it really resonated with me. I definitely see the appeal of assigning points to foods and making sure you don’t eat too many points in a day! But for me, while the meetings and app may be a huge plus, the points system was too similar to counting calories to justify spending money to join Weight Watchers.
But my conversation with Mia got me thinking. I really am not invested in my nutritional goals anymore. I’m eating healthy foods and I’m watching my portion sizes, but I don’t really care anything beyond that anymore. Calories, and Macro nutrients, have been the furthest thing from my mind for a while now. And maybe that’s been a contributing factor in why I haven’t been losing weight!
Anyway, I re-downloaded the Lose It! app that I used in the beginning of my journey. After I input all the foods I planned to eat in a day, I realized that while I was in a calorie deficit, my macro nutrients were out of whack! Anyone whose trying to lose weight knows to steer clear of carbs and get as much protein as possible, so tell me why my projected macros were like 60% carbs and 10% protein. Ugh! I knew I had to change something.
Now keep in mind that my prep this week wasn’t the most nutritional week I’ve ever had, it was the easiest. This is literally a prep I put together with 0 prep time in mind. So I’m sure other weeks are a better example of my nutritional excellence. But I think this week was a great place to start, in growing my understanding of macro nutrients. I have already made some changes to what I planned to eat this week, and I’m just getting started! Let’s talk a little more about how I started:

1. I went to iifym.com and went through their macro calculator. Super easy and self-explanatory. I did the best I could and I aired on the side of caution. (For example, it asked my activity level throughout the day and my workout intensity, I aired on the side of less active/less intense even though I have days where I am more active and have more intense workouts. I wanted my results to be conservative, NOT the best case scenario.)
2. I put in my name and email address and was then given access to my results. Based on my answers, I was given a suggested macronutrient layout and calorie intake.
3. I took a look at the nutrition labels on my food, and I figured out how the food I’m planning to eat would fit into my suggested macronutrient layout. I already knew that I was WAY over my daily carb intake, but I didn’t realize how bad. For example, I had planned on eating 4 little tangerine oranges today. Then I realized that there’s 10+ carbs, PER ORANGE! Good source of energy and vitamin C, but looking at the macros made me realize why the serving size is 1 orange.

Tracking macro nutrients isn’t a good option for everybody, but I personally feel like it will help me keep a close eye on my nutrition. I am already thinking in my head about how I’m going to improve my meal plan next week to be more macro-friendly, and still allow me to have the stuff I love. If this is the first you’re hearing of Macros, join the club! I’m new to this and maaaaaybe I’m going about it all wrong. But I’m learning, and I can’t wait to see where this process takes me! Here’s to a better body and improved nutrition.
*clinks water bottle*