starting iifym

Melissa72187
Melissa72187 Posts: 68 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
For those of you that follow iifym how do you insure to meet the requirements for carbs protein and fat at the end of the day? I'm always way over with carbs and fat is seems when I look back (I wasn't following iifym until now, just counting calories) I'm a stay at home mom so I don't really need to plan my meals for the week just need to know how to go about it. The iifym website told me I should be doing 40/35/25

Replies

  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,220 Member
    IIFYM has nothing to do with your macros, you can control them how ever you feel best meets your goals. For weight loss I'd suggest about 1g/lb/lbm or a little more if your not too overweight and are athletic, and about .4/lb/bw for fat and the rest carbs. But none of this is etched in stone, nor should it be. I'm around 35/45/20 P/F/C right now.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    Mine at set based on BF% and my TDEE...so currently set at 45/30/25 C/P/F

    I aim for my protien the most and try to hit that..which means lots of lean meats and fish and greek yogurt.

    My fats are usually over...carbs hardly ever hit...eh.

    I actually prelog a lot of my meals in the morning based on my breakfast. For example today I had cereal and toast with skim milk..so for supper salmon and veggies...

    Lunch is up in the air because I am going out but it will be protien heavy.
  • serindipte
    serindipte Posts: 1,557 Member
    IIFYM has nothing to do with your macros, you can control them how ever you feel best meets your goals. For weight loss I'd suggest about 1g/lb/lbm or a little more if your not too overweight and are athletic, and about .4/lb/bw for fat and the rest carbs. But none of this is etched in stone, nor should it be. I'm around 35/45/20 P/F/C right now.

    How does "If It Fits Your Macros" have nothing to do with your macros?
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,220 Member
    IIFYM has nothing to do with your macros, you can control them how ever you feel best meets your goals. For weight loss I'd suggest about 1g/lb/lbm or a little more if your not too overweight and are athletic, and about .4/lb/bw for fat and the rest carbs. But none of this is etched in stone, nor should it be. I'm around 35/45/20 P/F/C right now.

    How does "If It Fits Your Macros" have nothing to do with your macros?
    That about food choices and meeting your nutritional goals however someone happens to formulate their percentages of those macros is irrelevant......
  • Wakes18
    Wakes18 Posts: 3 Member
    Looking back and logging meals is a good start and how most of us probably started out but in order to make sure you are hitting them you are going to have to start planning ahead a bit and thinking about what you are going to eat to make sure you hit each of them.

    You are also realizing why just tracking calories is pointless, when you discover that the bulk of your calories come from fat and carb sources...track the macros instead and just focus on hitting that number of protein, carbs, and fats...you'll end up hitting your calorie goal anyways in the process, the math doesn't lie :)

    As for the correct ratio of the 3 macros - it varies by person and athletic lifestyle, and goals so I suggest that if you are not sure then just try what comes from the app and play around with it until it is manageable and works to your goals.
  • Melissa72187
    Melissa72187 Posts: 68 Member
    Thank you! That helps a lot and makes sense, I was curious if I still had to really count calories or if it'd fall in to place. All I know is just counting calories isnt working for me anymore because I get too focused on staying under rather then the nutritional value of what I eat.
  • navyrigger46
    navyrigger46 Posts: 1,301 Member
    I set mine at 40/30/30 and try to hit my protein macro early. If I do, that usually means I hit my fat macro as well, then I can get the rest of my calories from carbs which usually puts me close. Only thing I do different is that on my game days I focus more on carbs but still try to be at 75% of my protein macro on those days.

    Rigger
  • Melissa72187
    Melissa72187 Posts: 68 Member
    I set mine at 40/30/30 and try to hit my protein macro early. If I do, that usually means I hit my fat macro as well, then I can get the rest of my calories from carbs which usually puts me close. Only thing I do different is that on my game days I focus more on carbs but still try to be at 75% of my protein macro on those days.

    Rigger

    Good idea getting protein in early, ill have to try that! Because even today after inputting my lunch and breakfast in already I'm close to my limit for carbs and really low on protein!
  • Wakes18
    Wakes18 Posts: 3 Member
    If you want the proof, here is an example:

    Say you want to hit 100g of each of protein, fats, and carbs (EXAMPLE - you wouldn't actually go at this ratio), your calories would add up as follows:

    Protein: 100g x 4 (calories per g) = 400 calories
    Fat: 100g x 9 (calories per g) = 900 calories
    Carbs: 100g x 4 (calories per g) = 400 calories
    Total Calories = 1,700

    Assume your target goal is 1,700 calories, it is much easier to just make sure you hit 100g of each of those than it is to count calories up to 1,700 and work backwards.....protein and carbs are always 4 calories per g no matter what, and fat is 9 calories per g.

    It will always work out if you track macros instead of calories.
  • KBmoments
    KBmoments Posts: 193 Member
    I would like to start, too....it just seems so hard to try and get all of the macros to add up correctly/line up correctly how you want them. Calories seem easier because it's just one number to hit. How do you even start? AH!
  • Jruzer
    Jruzer Posts: 3,501 Member
    I personally just try to get 120 g/day of protein and let carbohydrate and fat fall where they may within my calorie allowance.

    ETA: I do a lot of cardiovascular work as I'm training for high elevation backpacking, so I want me some carbs.
  • 1Cor1510
    1Cor1510 Posts: 413 Member
    I'm at 40/30/30 C/P/F. I find if you shoot for the protein number, the others generally line up pretty close. No longer eat more than maybe 1-2 peices of bread a day, or instead of bread a serving of potatoes or something like that. I have found I no longer crave sweets or bread though, that's been a great side effect. I shoot for 100 gs of protein a day. Feel free to check out my diary, I just lowered my calorie goal this week.

    I recently started incorporating protein powder, it really helps to hit that macro. Also, pre logging the day helps for making better choices. ex: last night, I had enough calories for a cinnamon roll snack (I bought them for my boys but I love them too, haven't had one in a while) but figured out that a bowl of raisen bran and milk would fill the macros better, so cereal it was :) I didn't even miss the stupid cinnamon roll because the satisfaction of hitting my numbers almost dead on was better!
  • ell_v131
    ell_v131 Posts: 349 Member
    For those of you that follow iifym how do you insure to meet the requirements for carbs protein and fat at the end of the day? I'm always way over with carbs and fat is seems when I look back (I wasn't following iifym until now, just counting calories) I'm a stay at home mom so I don't really need to plan my meals for the week just need to know how to go about it. The iifym website told me I should be doing 40/35/25

    In my opinion the most important macro is protein, and you can't figure that out by percentage really. You should get 1-1.5g protein (the higher end if you work out) per pound of lean body mass. Take that number and figure out what percentage it is of you daily allotment. The rest is for fat and carbs. It would be difficult to go low on fat I believe and I don't watch my other macros at all, cause as long as I hit my protein, I have hit my fat and carbs just pretty much come along, unless you're trying to restrict them :) So protein is my only focus pretty much and I find that to be an easy approach
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Personally, I'd advise sitting down and doing some pre-planning and pre-logging...this way you aren't stuck at the end of the day all super protein deficient or whatever (because at the macro % you're going to be getting quite a bit).

    If you pre-log a planned day you can kind of see where you need to make improvements and better address how to go about that rather than trying to do it real time and in the moment.

    Also, you can arrange your macros however you like...personally, I find the IIFYM to give rather high protein goals for people who are at all overweight because it gives it by total BW rather than LBM. I'm basically happy if I get around .90 grams protein of my total BW and anywhere from 0.3 - 0.4 grams of fat per Lb of BW and then just adjust my carb intake for weight control...i.e. when I'm cutting my carbs decrease and when I'm maintaining they increase due to my protein and fat intake remaining fairly constant.

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