If it Fits Your Macros (Part 2 of Macros Blog)

Good afternoon fitness nation!


I just wanted to pop in for a quick post, since I have quite the audience now! In a previous post, I explained what macronutrients were and how you can track them and adjust them to work for your weight loss. (if you havent read that post click this http://crazymomgettingfit.blogspot.com/2014/06/what-heck-are-macros.html ) I really just wanted to expand on that a little bit since I have had people ask me how it is that I lose weight and still enjoy some of the yummier foods in life. I promise, I am not a wizard with a magical metabolism (But hey, I can dream right? No harm in pretending to be a wizard lol. )

It's called IIFYM, and that stands for "If it fits your macros." Basically, look at your macros like you look at money. If you have $40, you aren't going to try and spend $50 right? If you do that, your debit card gets declined (and that is like a nightmare when there are people in line behind you lol. Look at your macros like you look at a budget (which can be a scary word, I know.) I know that I need 170 grams of carbs in a day (I eat 1700 calories per day and 40% of those calories are reserved for carbs.) If I get a craving for frozen yogurt, I simply look at the nutrition panel of the fro-yo. Frozen yogurt is pretty much all fats and carbs, and that's not always a bad thing! You need carbs remember? I need 170 grams a day, and if I decide that I want to spend 40 grams out of my 170 total grams on fro-yo, well then I'm going to do it! mmmmmmmmmm fro-yo!!!!!!

WAIT! Here's the thing... Yes, you technically CAN eat pizza an fro-yo and ramen noodles and make it fit your macros, but that doesn't mean you should. What I like to do, is a healthier modified version of this. Instead of fro-yo, I'm going to eat Halo-Top protein ice cream, or Atctic Zero protein ice cream. I still get my ice cream fix, but I made a better choice than traditional ice cream. Now back to your regularly scheduled blog.

So say I log my Halo-Top into my fitness pal, and I've eaten it. Now if I click that "nutrition" button on MFP, it is going to deduct all of those Halo-Top macros from my "daily balance." This means for the rest of the day, as long as the foods I choose fit into my "balance," I am free to enjoy them. The tricky part, is trying not to overspend in any category. If you notice you can  ALMOST fit something in to your macros, but not quite, simply eat a smaller amount of it, problem solved because you still get your treat, and it fit into your macro-budget for the day. Once you get the hang of this, it is amazing! There is absolutely no one out there who couldn't make this work for them for life! Make better choices, and find space for the things you want on occasion. No cheat day needed when you can make your favorite things fit right? Enjoy spending your macros, and get to it!

Feel free to share this with your friends and family!!