The simplest and most effective way we know to reach your weight and health goals is to use the IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros) style of eating.
While we will not exclusively use this in your journey of weight loss/muscle gain, we will use it as a foundation.
IIFYM is a simple philosophy which focuses on “calories in/ calories burned” method to help you lose weight. Every single day, your body and the metabolism running is burning calories, it is either burning calories from what you consume or it’s burning them from your current body fat/muscle.
There are 3 primary macro-ingredients which determine the calorie content of the foods you’ll eat. You’ll get very very very familiar with these as the weeks and months progress. They are protein, carbohydrates (carbs), and fat.
As part of your plan, we will tell you how many calories you can consume per day while losing weight. We will specifically detail how much protein, carbs, and fat you will consume each day. If you consume the amount we tell you, and follow the workout/sleep/hydration routines we outline for you, you’ll lose weight (or gain muscle depending on your goal). You just will.
This plan is backed my science and a boatload of positive results so we promise you, you can trust it.
“But wait, how do I know how much protein, carbs, and fat is in the foods I’m eating?” That’s where My Fitness Pal comes in. We’ll use this awesome little app to track the food you’re eating throughout the day, (and take pictures of it), and in the process My Fitness Pal will tell us exactly how much protein, carbs, and fat you are consuming. This will help you stay on track.
A FEW TIPS WITH TRACKING YOUR MACROS
#1: The first, most important strategy to tracking and winning with macros (which likely is a brand new habit for you :-)), is to PLAN PLAN PLAN PLAN PLAN.
This means you know a day in advance what are going to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner the next day. Preferably, you’ll know a few days out by using the sample meal plan we've included in the nutrition module below (or feel free to create a version of your own).
This way, you’re not trying to go throughout your day and “guess” what will work for your plan. We promise you this doesn’t work, we know because we've tried it.
Mark out your meals for the following day (and create a general outline at the beginning of each week), and then follow it. It will get easier with time. :-)
#2: Purchase a weight scale and use it. A weight scale will help you know how much of each food you are consuming. This will help you know how much food to prepare or consume in order to hit your goals.
If you search “food weight scale” on Amazon, you’ll find a bunch of options.
#3: Progress over perfection. In the beginning this may be difficult because it’s NEW, that’s ok, do it anyway.
If you miss a meal, that’s alright, take your best guess at your macros. If you miss a day (hopefully doesn’t happen, and definitely not more than once), then take your best guess and then get back on it. You’re paying for this program, and we want you to get the best possible results from it, don’t you?
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