IIFYM

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whitneylcripps
whitneylcripps Posts: 14
in Food and Nutrition
Who here is following the "if it fits your macros" meal plan? Today is my first day! If anyone has any tips on getting your ratios perfect, or if you wanna share meal plans feel free! Also, add me so I can see your diary for motivation!

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  • accelerashawn
    accelerashawn Posts: 470 Member
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    I sort of do this but not religiously. The macros approach is working awesome for me though....for the first time in my life i can see the top 3.5 abs!

    Plan everything in advance and buy a bunch of tupperware so you can take stuff with you. Hitting the macros is pretty easy after you've been doing it for a couple months...you'll know without thinking too hard what foods have what macros in them.

    Log it all and its easy
  • soccerkon26
    soccerkon26 Posts: 596 Member
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    I have several snacks that I switch off eating throughout the week. Once I log my breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the next day, I see which snacks fit best to get me as close to my goal as possible...I'm still having difficulty with it though!
  • Kita328
    Kita328 Posts: 370 Member
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    I start by logging a meal or two that I know I will be eating then fill in macros for the remaining meal.
    Example: Work week I pack a lunch and maybe have dinner plans so I will log it then- I will say ok I need more this or that for breakfast to fit my macros and I will plan snacks according.

    Sometimes if i know I will be eating pasta (high carbs) I will make sure my other two meals have 2 forms of protien Example cottage cheese and tuna for lunch- this will better insure I get all my macro's.

    It takes some time but its so nice because you dont have to restrict food. YOu just work it into your day.

    I mostly pay attention to the weekly macros because that gives a better overall picture than just one day. Obviously I try to have the most balance I can in a day but if I dont I just try to balance it out the next day and work it into my weekly graph
  • williams969
    williams969 Posts: 2,528 Member
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    I follow relatively closely to IIFYM principles. For me, once I found my macro targets, I don't find it too hard to be within 2-3% of my targets. I normally eat the same type of breakfast and lunch every day, so I know how the macros will total (I pre log those, too, and adjust the weights daily as I chop my veggies for my salad, for example). Dinners will vary, but I just see what macros are left, and add another bit of potato or more veggies if I need more carbs (and fiber), or more chicken if protein is needed, more butter, etc.

    Like others have said, after you've done it for a while, you'll get better at hitting those targets. It was a "wreck" for me at first (macros where "everywhere", lol), but every day and week I got consistently better and hitting the targets much more closely.

    ETA: YMMV, but I never strive for "perfect" daily macro targets. I draw the line at cutting off 3 more grams of chicken or throwing away 1/4cup of spinach to make it perfect. ~5% accuracy is my "perfect".

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