I want to be completely honest and transparent here because it's not always easy to constantly be consumed with the diligent tracking that IIFYM requires. But even with that background, I have found myself frustrated and tired of counting and weighing every single thing I eat. It was an easy transition to start looking more closely at the way those calories were being divvied up. For me, I was coming from a place where I was already tracking calories and doing so as part of my daily routine. If you've struggled with disordered eating in the past or you have obsessive tendencies, I can see how weighing everything you eat may do you more harm than good. I will say, for some people, this method may not work for your lifestyle. And yes, you're supposed to weigh EVERYTHING. With macros, most things are tracked in grams so first and foremost, you'll need a food scale to track. I learned quickly to plan my food in advance and balance out my macros so that I was getting adequate protein in throughout the day.

Unless I was planning on downing chicken and egg whites every night this wasn't going to work. My carbs and fats were pretty much gone by lunch leaving me with insane amounts of protein to eat for the rest of the day. I won't lie, it was so difficult for me to make all the numbers fit at first. I am someone who thrives on structure and if I was going to commit to this, I wanted to make sure I was doing it right. This helped me feel like I was on the right track versus going about it blindly. It really helped when I had questions as a newbie. The nice thing about doing this is that I was also added to a Facebook Group of women who were all going through the same learning curve. I felt overwhelmed and confused so eventually, I ended up going to someone who calculates macros for a living to get mine done. The problem was that I kept getting vastly different numbers with each one I tried. When I first started to track macros, I researched a lot about it and tried out many different online calculators. The philosophy is that the weight you are losing is actually fat versus water weight and muscle and my goal is to nourish my body with as much food as possible while still losing fat. Weight loss is generally slow on IIFYM (at least it was for me) since it's recommended that you start with a smaller calorie deficit. Additionally, increasing your protein also helps reduce the risk of muscle loss while you maintain a caloric deficit. Protein is an important macronutrient when you are trying to lose fat as it keeps you feeling fuller. With IIFYM, while you may be able to fit in a cupcake here and there, you are more focused on reaching certain macro goals which definitely calls for more nutrient dense foods. You can eat a 1500 calorie diet and if your only focus is on calories, those 1500 calories can come from pizza, cupcakes and brownies. However, if you only look at calories, you risk missing out on a good balance of macronutrients. To lose fat you have to burn more calories than you ingest. Weight loss is essentially calories in versus calories out in its most basic form. If you are looking for muscle gain, you will probably need higher fats and carbs to ensure you are in a caloric surplus. So for example, if you are in a fat loss mode (also called a cut), you will be eating in a small caloric deficit and you will probably have higher protein targets and lower fats and carbs (aka the fun stuff). The basic premise of IIFYM is that depending on your personal goals and current body composition, your body needs certain amounts of proteins, carbs and fats. Macronutrients are carbohydrates, fats and proteins.

Also, this here is intended as a very basic overview of macros and my experience with it but for a more in-depth look, this article here is an excellent resource. You should always check with your doctor before embarking on a new diet or exercise routine. Everything I know about macros is based on my own research and my own personal experience. Before I get into it though, I do want to stress that I am not a doctor nor a nutritionist. So here is a little crash course into the world of macro tracking if you are looking into this as an option for yourself.

People often ask what all this macro business is really about.

Macro tracking