Flexible Dieting/#IIFYM experts, please read!

JeneliaAponte

Hi !

I am just now on my first day starting my flexible diet plan. I had a problem meeting my macros today and was under my calorie intake. I would love if anyone could give me additional advice/recipes to follow to ensure I meet my macros daily.

Thanks,

Jenelia

giggitygoo

It would help if you made your diary public, otherwise we're shooting in the dark.

JeneliaAponte

Welp, its public now! Hopefully that gives you some light to shoot and aim GREAT PRODUCTIVE advice at me. Thank you

cwolfman13

For starters, you have to hit your calorie goals to hit your macro goals. From there, you just increase consumption of whatever it is you are lacking...a lot of people have trouble hitting protein goals...you could drop the carby breakfast and eat some eggs, etc. Also a lot of people supplement with whey or other protein solutions when they have high protein goals.

JeneliaAponte

So I should focus more on my calorie goal, and then when that is met then look at my macros and see what I'm lacking?

redfisher1974

Yes, At first just hit your calorie goal eating whatever floats your boat and like magic you will start to find the clean foods that make you feel fuller and then you will start to check your macros.... It self teaches you so to speak.

jacksonpt

2 tips for you:

practice and pre-log.


There's no secret to it... it just takes some practice to get the feel for foods/meals that work well together and get you to your calorie and macro goals. Prelogging helps a lot, especially early on as you figure out how to pair foods.

Liftng4Lis

pre-logging helps tremendously!

cwolfman13

JeneliaAponte wrote: »

So I should focus more on my calorie goal, and then when that is met then look at my macros and see what I'm lacking?

If you don't hit your calorie goals, you can't hit your macro goals...because the macros are what give you the calories.

Protein - 4 calories per gram
Fat - 9 calories per gram
Carbs - 4 calories per gram

Beyond that, it'll just take some practice. Like jacksonpt said, pre-logging helps a lot, particularly in the beginning.

erickirb

Looking at your diary, it looks like your protein goal is quite low (20%) I would suggest aiming for 0.7-0.8 grams per lb of body weight or at least try upping protein by 5-10% and lower carbs by that amount. Or is there a reason the protein goal is not very high?

sullus

Don't worry about hitting any particular macro exactly, every day. Make sure that your average over a few days is in line, and you'll be fine.

JeneliaAponte

Thank you soo much everyone!

@ERICKIRB I'm assuming my protein goal is low because my goals that on my profile is to lose one pound a week. I want to shed five more pounds before I start weight training

auddii

The good news is that you have a lot of room in your calories to add to hit your macros. Your protein is pretty low, so maybe add in a cup of greek yogurt, cheese, even some more lean meats. I only looked at yesterday, and you seemed to eat pretty small servings of meat. You could easily have 4oz of meat on your sandwich, and look into higher protein foods for breakfast as well (eggs are a good choice).

You can also fill in with foods that have high fat that are also sources of some (lower protein) such as peanut butter, nuts, etc.

Here's a good list of protein sources:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/926789-protein-sources

And I also agree that pre-logging helps tremendously!

segacs

Don't worry too much about changing the default macro goals if it's still your first week of logging. Focus on weighing and measuring out your food accurately and tracking what you actually do eat for the first week or two. It'll be eye-opening. And then you can adjust as you go.

erickirb

JeneliaAponte wrote: »

Thank you soo much everyone!

@ERICKIRB I'm assuming my protein goal is low because my goals that on my profile is to lose one pound a week. I want to shed five more pounds before I start weight training

Not really, MFP sets protein low, and at 1880 cals 94 grams of protein is low. I would point out that in a caloric deficit you should be getting even more protein then at maintenance or a surplus, in order to avoid losing lean muscle mass.

You can manually change you protein goal up to meet your requirements.

erickirb

segacs wrote: »

Don't worry too much about changing the default macro goals if it's still your first week of logging. Focus on weighing and measuring out your food accurately and tracking what you actually do eat for the first week or two. It'll be eye-opening. And then you can adjust as you go.

But if she is doing IIFYM then having an appropriate macro balance is essentially or there is no real reason from doing iifym then.

Hornsby

Yea, 94 grams is just under 20% of your calories at 1880. Would definitely try to get that number up some.

JeneliaAponte

@erickirb @hornsby MFP has me set at 20% , what do you recommend I increase my protein intake to?

morgiee_lynne

Planning, if you try to just go about your day and "hit" your macros you will never be spot on. Until you are really used to your macros, but at that point they should be changed (if using for weightloss). So my advice is prep!

Hornsby

JeneliaAponte wrote: »

@erickirb @hornsby MFP has me set at 20% , what do you recommend I increase my protein intake to?

I'd do 30-35% if you are trying to lose weight ATM.

segacs

BFDeal wrote: »

I see your problem. You only at 1/4 cup of the Ben & Jerry's - FroYo Half Baked. Should have ate the whole pint. Work on it.

Hehe. Exactly.