Week 1: IIFYM If It fits Your Macros

Disclaimer: I’m about to talk about weight loss, eating plans, and a goal I’ve set for myself. Each time I chat openly about this topic I receive an influx of emails from folks asking me to join their coaching team and to use their weight loss aids. I’m not interested nor am I able to partake in any of that at this time due to my husband’s line of work. If at some point I am able to or decide that I would like to go down that path I have family and close friends that are involved with most of the larger companies that are out there and I would of course need to reach out to them 1^st. BUUUUT if you want to reach out to chat about health and fitness or something else I would love to hear from you! I love when you guys send emails just to connect and chat (not to get me to buy products or join a team) but chatting is fun!

Ok now on to today’s post!

As most of you know I got back on the weight loss train a few months back. Once Carson hit the 2 month mark I was ready to get back in the gym and tighten up my diet.
Sadly things are going slow, reallllll slow and I’m not seeing the results I would hope to be seeing at this point. I’ve lost weight but we’re talking 5lbs over a 3 month span. Not good! Being 5 9 and having around 50 pounds to lose I should be dropping more weight than that.

Here’s where the new plan comes into play.

Kent and I were chatting about my results the other day. I told him how shocked I was that I wasn’t losing more weight. Then he said something that really hit home……

”If you’re not seeing the results you want you need to make some changes.”

Light bulb moment! He was so right!
My body isn’t responding to what I’m doing so why not shake things up a little?

I’ve been following the If It Fits Your Macros/Flexible Dieting world for some time. I’m a member of the Facebook groups, I follow a few bloggers that live a IIFYM lifestyle, and I’ve even done some research on it. It’s always intrigued me because I see the awesome results people get but seemed so confusing and intimidating which is why I’ve been watching from afar too afraid to give it a go.

But after Kent placed that little light bulb above my head I figured what do I have to lose?
Well I do have a bunch of weight to lose. I’d be totally cool with kicking some lbs to the curb.

So I decided to jump in even thought I had no idea what in the world I was doing. I figured I’ll give myself a little grace the 1st week or so and learn while I’m in the trenches.

I’m going to keep an open mind about the whole thing and see where it takes me.

I was around 11 months postpartum with Weston before I started to lose weight (no mater how clean I ate). I tried and tried and tried but my body for whatever reason wasn’t ready to let go of the fat. I did a cleanse right before Weston turned 1 and dropped 15 pounds then got pregnant with Carson.  My body may just work that (hold onto weight) way after I have babies. Who knows but I’m willing to give this a go and see what happens.

Maybe this will be just what I need to shake up my metabolism.
Maybe I’m not eating the right combinations of food to help my body be a lean mean weight loss machine. Maybe  I’m I’m not eating enough. I know, how can you be overweight because you’re not eating enough. Sounds crazy right but it’s happens.
Maybe IIFYM won’t work for me or maybe it will. Who knows?

And so the journey begins.

As I’m typing this I’m on day 2 and still feeling all…..”Huh macros what????”
Do I weight this in grams?
What if My Fitness Pal only shows it measured in cups. 
Do I need to do some converting or look things up before I weigh them to see what the measurements they offer for that item?

Y’all I’m incredibly awful at math. No joke I was in remedial math in high school. The whole converting and calculating serving sizes makes my knees knock but I figured if all these other people can figure it all out I can too. Kent aka the resident math genius sat down with me last night and a little math lesson. It was really helpful and I’m feeling much better about tackling tomorrow. It’s simple math y’all so don’t let me scare you if you’re thinking about giving it a go. Again I’m really crummy at match so what’s hard for me may be a no brainer for you.

I just need to remember give myself a little grace and allow for some growing pains.
No matter what program you choose there’s always that 1st week or so where things are a little tricky…….
You’re trying to learn the dos and don’ts.
You’re trying to see what works best for you. 
You’re trying to make sense of it all.
Yep I’m definitely in the “Tricky Phase” this week BUT I’ve committed to a month so not matter what I’m going to give it my all for a month and see what I think. If it doesn’t work out no sweat if it does then SWEEEEET!

My thoughts so far:
I’m only on day 2 so I’m newer than a newbie but I can already see some great things about this lifestyle.

1. I was not eating enough. Like nowhere close to where I needed to be. I get so caught up with my kids and I’m not always able to sit and eat a meal. When I do eat I’m usually famished and eat way more than I should. IIFYM is holding me accountable and helping me make sure I get in my nutrients and a good combination of nutrients not just a salad here or some fruit there. I’m eating a well balance diet.

2. Since I’m weighing everything out I’m keeping my portions in check. It’s good to see what a healthy portion of fish or chicken looks like.

The hard part……

This has been the most difficult program I’ve ever done but again I’ve set a goal so I’m determined to get my IIFYM sea legs about me. It’s just the weighting thing that I need to get used to but everyone eventually gets it down so I’m sure I will too.

Things that have helped me so far…….

My Fitness Pal (the premium version), a food scale, IIFYM YouTubers & Bloggers (thank goodness for my friend Megan), and a good ole’ Google search are crucial to getting your wings about ya. I’m trying to not hire a IIFYM coach unless I get stuck or until I know this is the eating plan I definitely want to follow. There’s tons of helpful info out there you just have to put some time into doing a little research.

I’ll check in with you guys as I go along and let you know how I’m doing. I know there are several others who are interested in getting started but a little fearful like myself so I’ll post updates as I go along.

Wish me luck!

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I’ll be back on Friday with some Friday Faves!