Macro Diet and Exercise: What You Need to Know

Macro Diet and Exercise: What You Need to Know

If you are reading this, chances are that you are either about to start the macro diet to lose weight and get healthy, or already began and have some questions how it plays out when it comes to exercising and other physical activities.

Either way, good!

As we have stated before, macro dieting is simply the most reliable, science-based method to lose weight and get in shape.

The thing is that due to decades of misconceptions and misinformation about nutrition and exercise regimes to lose weight, most of the info out there is geared towards addressing the former while leaving the latter sitting in a blind-spot for the most part.

There isn’t nearly enough clear information on how these two things interact with each other. Especially if we consider how wildly successful the macro diet is proving to be.

I want to start remedying that.

In this piece, I’m going to quickly go over the basics of how – and why – the macro diet works so well. Then, I will address a few common queries I get from people relating to this dieting method and physical training.

So, here’s Macro Diet and Exercise: What You Need to Know!

How does the Macro Diet work?

It’s difficult to understand why the macro diet works so well if you don’t have a clear picture of what macros actually are. So, let’s start with a quick overview of what macros are, and how they work.

“Macro” is short for macronutrients, which is a term we use to classify the compounds that our body needs in large quantities to operate. In short, macronutrients are what we get our energy from.

The three primary macronutrients we receive from foods are protein, fats, and carbohydrates. Sometimes, alcohol gets cataloged as a macronutrient, but it is processed differently from the other three. Nonetheless, these components are where our calories come from, and they contain certain number of calories per gram.

Specifically:

• Carbs contain four calories per gram.
• Proteins contain four calories per gram.
• Fats contain nine calories per gram.
• Alcohol contains seven calories per gram.

The macro diet, then, is a nutrition method that accounts for your specific body needs and creates a plan to provide you a percentage of the macros you require – regardless of the type of food you use to get them – to keep your body constantly burning stored fat as fuel for energy.

A measurable, science-based, and incredibly effective approach to losing weight.

Can You Lose Weight just by eating right?

It’s one of the most common questions I hear on the topic. Particularly since traditional dieting usually proposes that you can’t lose weight without exercising. The old Cardio, cardio, cardio… mantra.

But the fact of the matter is that, yes! You can indeed lose weight just by eating right. It’s actually a pretty straightforward reasoning, once you understand how our bodies utilize food to function.

Nutritional science has figured out that if you just eat fewer calories than your body requires – accounting for activity level, energy needs, size, goals, etc. – while still getting an adequate supply of protein, carbs, fat, and fiber, you start losing weight at a relatively steady and predictable rate. This happens because your body has no choice but to tap into your energy storage (fat) and burn them to supplement itself.

Likewise, the main reason behind your weight gains usually come from your dietary habits. Too many calories result in more stored energy or fat.

So, as long as you follow a carefully planned nutritional system that keeps you in a calories deficit, you’ll lose weight. Regardless of your particular level of activity.

That being said, physically demanding activities like fitness training, weightlifting, and bodybuilding DO bring a host of health benefits with them and a general improvement to your daily life.

In such cases, the macro diet becomes even more of a boon, since it can help you attain the energy levels required to keep up with said increased physical activity, and reach your exercising goals even faster!

The Macro Diet Can Help You Lose Weight and Build Muscle

Like everything else in life, getting in shape or losing weight is all about knowing what your goals are, and what you need to do to achieve them. And in this topic, knowing when to transition from a fat loss-centric diet to a muscle growth one is vital.

Now, individual values are bound to vary since each person is different and have different requirements.

But the most straightforward advice I can give you, on the particular subject of finding the right transition point, is to take a look at where you stand in your weight loss process.

As a rule of thumb, this range sits around 10 to 15 lbs. above the previous ideal body weight for males and 8 to 12 lbs. above the previous ideal body weight for females.

Within these ranges, you don’t need to start counting macros to lose fat necessarily. You can instead adopt a macro diet that promotes muscle growth and strength to reap the benefits at the gym.

Any Macro Diet-Specific Advice for Training, Exercising, And Muscle Building?

Now, before you go, I’d like to talk a bit more about specific advice for those looking into the use of macro diets to help them with weight training and the like.

As you know by now, the success of a macro diet depends on you counting your macros correctly and using a formula designed specifically FOR YOU.

Just like creating a training regime, you can benefit a lot from tailoring your macronutrient ratios to go with your specific body type, exercising goals, and energy needs. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t a few general guidelines you can use to get you started.

If you are using the macro diet to build muscle, a good macronutrient ratio breakdown to use is 40% carbs, 30% protein, and 30% fat. Entirely within the recommended parameters suggested by the national institute of health for active individuals.

However, keep in mind that although these ratios reflect your overall consumptions throughout the day, not all the meals should follow this spread within that day. As they should adapt to your energy needs to be processed optimally. Leave high-carbohydrate, low-fat meals for shortly after training, and leave adequate protein proportions with a bit of fiber for dinners.

If your goal is losing weight and getting in shape, the macro diet will work for you. Regardless of your physical activity – or lack thereof.

However, there are so many health benefits to exercising that it can be difficult not to recommend it. Especially, once you are enjoying the improved energy levels the macro diet is going to provide you consistently.

If you are getting into macro dieting and also enjoy exercising, this advice can help you reach your training goals more reliably and efficiently. Keep them in mind and use what suits you to make your “getting fit” experience much more enjoyable and productive.

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from IIFYM Recipes and Articles – IIFYM http://bit.ly/2NdEFBh

Keto vs Macro: Which is superior?

There are hundreds of dietary alternatives out there. From Paleo dieters, to Atkins followers, all promise weight loss and a wholesome lifestyle.

Any nutritional coach worth their salt knows what makes them all work: Caloric deficit.

Any regime that creates caloric deficit will result in fat loss.

However, this does not mean that all diets and nutritional regimes are sustainable. Diets that impose draconian restrictions to food tend to be ineffective. Not because they don´t produce the desired effect, but because sooner or later they will rebound.

A proof of this is that the term “Cheat Meal” has become both a buzzword and an institution during the last few decades.

Fortunately, the new millennium has given way to systems that see metabolism under another light.

Ketones and Macronutrients

These terms have gained traction during the last decade. They are the foundation of very different and innovative nutritional approaches and offer elegant solutions to those who want to lose weight, but still want to enjoy great food.

Let´s see what they are about:

Keto Diets

The Keto diet relies on a known fact about our body´s sources of energy.

We know our bodies primarily use glucose as fuel. We absorb carbohydrates and transform them into glucose, essentially sugar, and then our liver sends it to our muscles as fuel as needed. Any excess is stored as fat.

However, when we deprive our body from carbs, it switches to our backup source of energy. Yes, that body fat your liver had been putting away for later.

This has a lot of benefits.

First, our bodies burn fat for fuel, which helps with cognitive function (brain power). The liver takes fat and transforms it into ketones, which can be thought of as fuel cells for our muscles and brain.

Secondly, this kind of diet helps regulate cholesterol, triglycerides, blood sugar and insulin levels. Awesome effects for people with certain types of cancer, diabetes and even Polycystic ovary syndrome.

The best part? Bacon!

Going Keto

The diet is based on the consumption of high fat foods, while drastically reducing carbohydrates consumption. More on the benefits of the Keto Diet here

As long as you cut down on grains, baked stuff, starches, sugary treats and alcohol, you can eat fatty foods such as red meat, ham, bacon, eggs, cheese, and your veggies. This is certainly preferable to most low-fat/high-bore diets.

Its counterintuitive principles make it a favorite of fat lovers. But there is a catch (there always is, isn´t it?).

First, you have to enter Ketosis. This is when your body switches energy sources as it runs low on carbs. But the process is quite uncomfortable, unbearable for many.

Your body and brain are not used to ketone as their primary source of energy. This causes a flu-like condition that some have compared to a withdrawal syndrome. Most experience headaches, nausea and general fatigue. Many discontinue their keto diet before they reap the benefits of accelerated fat burning because of the keto-flu.

The second drawback is that you have to almost completely renounce to sugar, processed foods and alcohol. They can all throw you out of ketosis as your liver is rushed with sources of bad old glucose.

While keto diets are not as restrictive as most others, it still imposes a narrow cap on delicious food. Forcing you to eat “clean” for months at a time is simply not sustainable. Many people enter into a diet/binge cycle that is very hard to get off of.

Moreover, keto diets that have high protein intake do not really offer any advantages over other dietary regimes.

Many people get baffled after they find out there is still glucose fueling their muscles even if they completely cut on Carbs. Well, the liver, which is an incredible machine, uses proteins in a process called glucogenesis to produce the glucose some bodily functions cannot do without.

This makes Ketogenic diets a bit more restrictive than one would assume as proteins must also be kept in check.

Here is the real truth about keto:

The keto diet only works if you are in a calorie deficit, and that means you have to hit your macros.

There is nothing special about burning fat for fuel. NOTHING!!

If you don’t hit your macros, keto will not work

Macro Diets or Flexible Diets

It is important to point out that IIFYM is not actually a dietary regime but a system that helps you control your daily caloric intake. The uniqueness of this approach is that it lets you eat anything as long as you stick to your calculated caloric intake. More info at our advanced macro calculator page

Suddenly, cheat meals become unnecessary, and the psychologic incentives for binge eating are drastically reduced.

This is the holy grail for those who suffered under cruel coaches who starved them and put them through punitive sessions of cardio.

The main criticism comes from diet zealots who advocate for strict food discipline.

Many believe this approach is lazy as it lets you indulge in junk food, and use the derisive If It Fits Your Mouth acronym.

But, is this true?

The regular approach most diets use is one that tells people exactly what to eat and when to eat. Their followers don´t really have to keep track of anything. They just have to stick to a strict list of Do´s and Don´ts.

Flexible Dieters, on the other hand, must make a conscious effort to find out the nutritional value of everything they put in their mouths and keep track of their caloric intake before every meal.

True. It would give anyone the freedom to hit their macronutrient requirements with pop tarts and sodas. But this is not what actually happens among IIFYMers.

We have seen a tremendous interest in learning about optimal body composition and macronutrient breakdown. Meaning that people appreciate the flexibility and freedom, but also tend to take this approach more seriously than, say, someone who spends a week in almost complete inanition and then indulges in a two-day junk food feast.

The philosophy behind IIFYM is really easy to understand:

In order to increase sustainability, people have to be able to have fun with what they eat.

However, as most things in life, flexible eating requires a plan.

This is not as confusing or as restrictive as all other fad diets. It just requires a bit of knowledge of the science behind the system to start outlining a macro plan. Of course, it takes time to really learn how to do it right. That´s why we offer an easy to follow and customized blueprint for those who want to learn more.

Advantages of IIFYM over Keto Diets

Maybe one of the most important advantages of the flexible IIFYM is that Ketogenic diets can be adapted to it, while the reverse is not true.

Can you drink alcohol on Keto? Nope.. Not if you want to stay in ketosis at least.

But…
Can you drink alcohol on the macro diet? You bet your carb eating ass you can!!

By simply keeping track of your caloric intake, making sure most of it comes from high-fat foods and keeping carbs away, you can still reach ketosis and replace glucose as the main fuel source. Again, you can eat anything as long as it fits your macros.

However, keep in mind that the body can still produce glucose if protein consumption is not kept in check. This makes IIFYM less fun.

But the main advantage of Macros over Keto, and any other fad diet, is that it does not create habits that slowly become a burden. This is the real secret. This is what grants IIFYM its sustainability.

I hope this clarifies a bit the differences between the two nutritional approaches. Keto is still a diet, while IIFYM is more of a system that does not require you to change your lifestyles or give up the foods you love. You can even go Keto under the IIFYM philosophy, but it won´t be as enjoyable.

The base of all sustainable habits is the satisfaction they provide!

The post Keto vs Macro: Which is superior? appeared first on IIFYM.

from IIFYM Recipes and Articles – IIFYM http://bit.ly/2I1rt3B

Macro diet blog picture for IIFYM.com

Health Benefits of the Macro Diet

Macros -or macronutrients- are the big food groups that supply our bodies with the energy we need to function.
This energy comes from the all-too-well-known calories. If you’ve ever attempted to lose weight, you are at least familiar with the term; calories in, calories out, meaning you want to lose weight, you have to eat less calories than your body needs, or use more calories (through exercise) than you eat.

Make’s sense, right?

Why clean eating diets fail

In short, clean eating diets fail because the starve you.
Many weight-loss diets are based on counting calories or drastically reducing the amount we ingest daily; and while they may be effective at first, it’s very unlikely that you’ll be able to follow them long-term.

Why?

Because these hypocaloric regimes usually leave us feeling hungry All. The. Time.

Such is the case of fad diets.

Fad diets are the weight-loss equivalent of viral content. They become popular really fast because they claim to help you lose weight quickly in record time.

And who doesn’t want to lose weight quickly?

But just like a viral video or meme, fad diets lack quality. Yes, you will lose those extra pounds, but, and this is a big BUT… (not a big butt like many of us are trying to get rid of).

The thing about fad diets, and all the get-thin-quick regimes is that they only work in the short term. They are not something that most people are able to follow for a long time, let alone forever. and chances are you will gain all that weight back once you return to your regular eating habits.

And that is not the only shortcoming of fad diets.

Even worse than gaining all that weight back is the fact that many of these diets can put your health at serious risk.

Among the harmful effects of fad diets, we can mention malnutrition, digestive problems, dehydration, and exhaustion.

Many of these get-thin-quick diets restrict or completely eliminate fats and/or carbs intake. But, as we will explain later, these food groups play a crucial role in our body’s function.

A low-carbs and low-fat diets will prevent your body from being able to synthesize all the compounds it needs for metabolic, catalytic, and communicative processes.

Fad diets often involve consuming a lot less calories than what your body needs, and calories, as dreaded as they are in the weight-loss world, are what allow the body to produce energy molecules, so losing weight quickly often comes at the price of feeling tired throughout the day.

They also tend to be based on a macro deprivation regime. What this means is that, in order for them to be effective, you need to give up your consumption of at least one group of macronutrients entirely.

However, all macronutrients are necessary for our wellbeing. Meaning that most fad diets have long term secondary effects in our organism as it cannot perform many essential functions due to the lack of certain nutritional compounds. Fad diets are not sustainable.

But there are effective ways to lose weight sustainably.

Flexible diets based on balanced consumption of macronutrients, on the other hand, ensure our bodies receive all the necessary elements to synthesize essential compounds for all its functions.

The 3 essential macros are carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. And all of them provide energy and other valuable nutrients that our bodies need in regular doses.

It is true that everyone has different caloric needs, but we all get our calories from these food groups one way or another.

This is at the foundation of flexible diets based on macronutrients. Learning how much of each macro we need for our body to produce the necessary energy and nutrients to function, can help us achieve a well-balanced diet that will allow us to lose and stay at a healthy weight.
The thing that makes it such a radical idea is that it doesn´t involve eating plain and tasteless food. The macro diet has revolutionized dieting, by allowing those who follow it to eat what they love and still lose weight.
How?

By keeping track of your macronutrients A.K.A. carbs, fat, and protein.

(spoiler allert: The answer is Tracking your macros)

Why is tracking macros important?

Because it is not restrictive and we can play a little with the food we love along with food that is good and nutritious for our bodies.

But losing weight without forgoing the food we love is only one of the benefits of following the macro diet.

As we mentioned before, each macronutrient has a role in our bodies.

The macro diet helps us make sure we eat enough of each macronutrient to provide our bodies with all the elements necessary to function properly and keep healthy.

This fact alone makes Macro Diets a healthier option right off the bat.

But what is it exactly that these macronutrients do once they are in our system?

Carbohydrates – Fuel for our body

Carbs are our primary source of energy.

Once they enter the body, they are broken into smaller molecules and absorbed by our cells, which turn them into ATP (short for Adenosine triphosphate), the primary fuel molecule that powers many metabolic functions.

Ideally, you should get most of your carbs from fruits, whole grains, and fiber-rich vegetables, but thanks to the macro diet you can also indulge in delicious cookies and cream ice cream, or that pizza that you’ve been craving all week for… if it fits your macros.

Fiber, for example, is an essential carb. Why?

Besides keeping us regular, fiber also boosts our immune system and regulates our digestive system. Fad diets that restrict your carb intake may be inadvertently restricting your fiber intake.

Following the Macro Diet helps you eat the right portion of fiber on a daily basis, and in turn, your body will have the necessary intake to benefit from a fiber-rich diet.

Carbs also help you preserve muscle. This is extremely important because it is thanks to our muscles that we can burn any excess energy.

Some of the associated consequences of muscle atrophy include metabolic changes and a diminished capacity for fat oxidation.

And when your body needs energy and finds itself deprived of its primary source (carbohydrates stored in the form of glycogen), it turns to your muscles to get it.

Proteins – Helping us feel satisfied six ways from Sunday

Proteins play a crucial role in regenerating and repairing body tissues and cells, the production of hormones, and they strengthen the immune system.

Protein foods are rich in amino acids, which are the building blocks of every cell in our body. They also help build muscle and prevent muscle mass loss.

But there is more.

A group of proteins called enzymes trigger and regulate many biochemical reactions within our bodies. Some of the functions that depend on enzymes are food digestion, energy production, and muscle contraction.

Hormones are also proteins that act as messengers within and between cells, tissues, and organs.

Proteins also act as the body’s buffer system.

What does this mean?

It means that they help maintain appropriate pH values.

Additionally, proteins regulate fluids balance between blood and the tissues surrounding it by attracting and retaining water where and when necessary.

But as if all that wasn’t enough, ingesting your body’s precise requirements of protein helps you feel satisfied. Proteins keep you from feeling hungry often.

How is that possible? You are probably thinking that fiber does that. Fiber does help you feel fuller quicker, but proteins help you feel full for longer. According to a study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, proteins activate the release of satiety hormone. This hormone signals the brain that you’re good in the hunger department.

Fat – They help cells communicate

Fat was, until no so long ago, considered the devil of food groups. Some nutritionist even removed it entirely from the diet of those looking to lose weight.

But the truth is the body needs fat, of the healthy kind, to lose weight.

Yes, you read right, the body NEEDS fat to lose fat.

Consuming fats increases your metabolism, and in turn, increase the fat-burning rate.

On the contrary, if you are on a low-fat diet, you are basically telling your body not to burn fat.

Fat and oils are essential for the human body to function efficiently, and as such, we need to consume certain types of fats on a daily basis.

There are even some of these compounds that we must source from our food because the body is not capable of producing them.

Such is the case of the linoleic and linolenic acids. These are called essential fatty acids, and they play vital roles in blood coagulation, brain development, and reducing blood cholesterol. Essential fatty acids help prevent heart disease.

Opting for a completely fat-free diet can be counterproductive for your overall health. Why? Many nutrients are fat-soluble, so the body needs fat to absorb and/or transport them. This is the case for carotenoids and vitamins K, A, D, and E. Not ingesting healthy fats can lead to micronutrient deficiency and thus, health problems.

Other roles of this macronutrient include regulating the compounds that go in and out of our cells, providing structure to cell membranes, helping keep skin and hair healthy, and aiding in cell communication, which is essential for the body to function correctly.

As you can see, the nutritional pyramid exists for a reason, and depriving ourselves of one or other group of macros will only have harmful effects on our health in the long run.

The health benefits of the Macro Diet lie in the fact that it helps us lead a balanced diet.

The advantage? It does so without keeping us from ingesting the food we love!

This makes “dieting” more manageable and more sustainable in the long run, because who doesn’t want to eat delicious food and still be able to lose those extra pounds and keep them gone?

The post Health Benefits of the Macro Diet appeared first on IIFYM.

from IIFYM Recipes and Articles – IIFYM http://bit.ly/2UnXOmG

2 Macro Diet Recipes

One of the biggest advantages of the macro diet is that it allows you to eat whatever you want, If It Fits Your Macros.

That’s the magic phrase.

But there isn’t any magic involved in the macro diet approach.
It’s pure science.

You calculate your daily macronutrient needs, reduce it by 15-20% to lose weight, and prepare your meals around those numbers.

Our macro calculator will handle the details for you if you want to save time.

This leaves a lot of room for flexibility and no need to starve yourself or deprive yourself of the foods you love, for example.

That´s the reason why IIFYM is commonly referred to as tracking macros, or more recently flexible dieting, if you will.

Of course, it works better if you eat mostly non-processed food.

Non-processed foods usually have one or two macros in them and nothing else. This makes it easier for you to track your daily and weekly amounts of macronutrients (macros).

How so?

Because it’s easier for you to weight and calculate how much of each macro every meal has.

For example, lean meats, such as chicken breasts, are nearly 100% protein. They contain only traces of fats and zero carbs which are perfect for those following the IIFYM macro diet.

Frozen pizza, on the other hand, has all three macronutrients, and in varying amounts, depending on the toppings, if you will.

Additionally, processed food is usually high in saturated fats and other harmful chemicals such as preservatives and artificial flavoring.

The process of weighing our food and determining the amounts of macros a meal has can be a little stressful and somewhat confusing at first.

So, to get you started, here are 2 macro diet recipes you can enjoy making yourself and still meet your fitness goals.

Eggplant and Chicken Primavera

This recipe is excellent for a quick, low calorie, and healthy dinner or lunch.

What you’ll need:

• 1 large eggplant
• 2 cups of mushrooms
• 1 large red bell pepper sliced
• 1 head of broccoli
• ½ an onion (it can be red or white)
• 1 jar of pasta sauce
• ¼ cup of grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 large chicken breast
• ¼ teaspoon garlic salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Prepping:

• Cut the eggplant in thin slices and then in four equal pieces
• Cut the broccoli into small florets
• Slice the onion, mushrooms and bell pepper
• Cut the chicken breast in cubes

 

Method:

1. Add two teaspoons of olive oil to a large skillet and sauté all the vegetables, ad a pinch pepper and garlic salt. Cook the vegetables until they are tender and the eggplant looks partly translucent.
2. In another pan, fry the diced chicken with one teaspoon of olive oil and the remainder of the garlic salt. Cook it through making sure you don’t overdo it.
3. Heat the pasta sauce in a pan and once everything is ready, put ¼ of the veggie mix, the chicken and the pasta sauce in a bowl. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and voila!

 

This recipe serves four portions.

 

Nutritional information:

Total Macros (grams):

Fats: 32

Proteins: 88

Carbs: 136

 

Calories: 1060

 

Macros per serving(grams): Fats: 8 Proteins: 22 Carbs: 34

Calories: 265

 

If you divide these numbers by 4, you’ll get the macros per serving.

Are you a vegetarian? Substitute the chicken for chickpeas, lentils or tofu.

 

Are you vegan? Just don’t sprinkle any cheese on.

Our second recipe is none other than brownies!

Because…why not? If it fits your macros, you can enjoy this delicious dessert.

 

Chocolate Chip Brownies

What you’ll need:

• ½ cup of dark chocolate chips
• ½ cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
• ¼ cup of cocoa powder
• ¼ cup of oat flour
• ½ cup of unsweetened applesauce
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons of honey
• 4 tablespoons of brown sugar
• ½ cup of peanut butter
• ¼ teaspoon of baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon of baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon of salt

 

Prepping:

• Preheat the oven to 350 °F
• Line a large pan with parchment paper.
• To make the oatmeal flour, first, grind the oats in a blender until they become powder and then measure out 1/4 cup.

 

Method:

1. In a large bowl add all the wet ingredients: peanut butter, honey, vanilla, and applesauce, and mix them well. Then add the egg and continue mixing until smooth.

 

2. In another bowl, mix the dry ingredients: oat flour, brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and baking powder.

 

3. After that, mix the wet and the dry ingredients thoroughly. Then add the dark chocolate chips and mix. Add the batter to the pan, spread evenly, and top it up with the semi-sweet chocolate chips.

 

4. Put in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes.

 

This recipe yields eight portions, and it’s vegetarian- and vegan-friendly, so enjoy!

 

Nutritional Information:

Total Macros(grams):

Fat: 94

Proteins: 38

Carbs: 138

 

Calories: 1436

 

Macros per serving(grams): Fats: 11.75 Proteins: 4.75 Carbs: 11.25

Calories: 179.5

 

These are scrumptious examples of just 2 macro diet recipes you can prepare at home and while easily keeping tracks of your macronutrients.

 

Both recipes combined won’t take you longer than an hour, and if you live by yourself, you can save the remaining servings to eat in the next few days, for instance.

 

You can also divide the ingredients by the number of serving to get the recipe for a single serving, or create the entire batch, for example. 

 

Happy cooking and enjoy your macro diet recipes!

The post 2 Macro Diet Recipes appeared first on IIFYM.

from IIFYM Recipes and Articles – IIFYM http://bit.ly/2AQUetK

About Us

About IIFYM & the Best Macro Calculator

You probably clicked on this page to learn more about the company that started the macro tracking trend and showed the world that you CAN eat the foods you love to lose weight.

Well, in order to understand our company, you need to understand me.
My name is Anthony Collova and  I’m the founder of IIFYM.com

I am also the creator of the world’s first ever macro calculator.

The small bit of software that changed the face of dieting as we know it today and allowed people to break from crappy, unsustainable weight loss programs and restrictive meal plans.

In addition to being the developer of the world’s best macro calculator, I am also I’m a husband, nutritionist, life coach, burner (participant of Burning Man), artist, food snob, dog lover and recovering drug addict with over 20 years of sobriety behind my belt.

My purpose in life is to help people. Simple as that.

This is why I build the IIFYM website and the macro calculator.

To empower people to lose weight while eating the foods they enjoy so they love their body and build a healthy relationship with food.

That is why I am so fricking obsessed with tracking macros.

See, I tried nearly every diet on the market, and nothing ever helped me lose weight as much as IIFYM did.

Once I started tracking macros, IIFYM helped me drop 70 lbs of pure body fat and totally transform my physique.

It wasn’t just a new sexy body that my macro calculator helped me get, but rather it was everything that tracking macros helped me to uncover.

My real success was there the whole time, waiting behind everything that was hidden by those 70 lbs.

My energy,
My confidence,
My sleep,
My productivity,

Hell…Even my income improved when I finally
cracked the code to weight loss and macro tracking.

Since you are reading this, I am guessing you are a bit like me.
Those 70 lbs of unwanted body fat didn’t just slow me down, but it affected every single area of my life.

It was there when I woke up groggy in the morning
It was there when I struggled to fall asleep at night.
It was there at my job, where I pretended to eat healthy just so people wouldn’t judge me..

…And it most certainly was there when my ex-wife left me for a different man.

In fact, those extra 70 lbs of unwanted body fat were still there even when I put myself through countless diets that promised the world, but never actually delivered the fat loss I hoped to see.

Low carb
Low calorie
Low fat
Paleo
Keto
Atkins
South beach
The Zone Diet
Weight Watchers

And everything else you can imagine.

None of these diets worked for me
because none of them were sustainable.

Every weight loss program failed because they were all so restrictive that I couldn’t adhere to them for longer than a couple of months.

I always had the best intention but no matter how bad I wanted to lose weight or how much I talked my self in to believing I could stick it out I always ended up in the same spot I started at.

Frustrated, shameful, guilty and hungry.

It wasn’t until I found myself at my wits end that I took the right steps to reach my goals.

That is when I decided that maybe I should start from scratch, forget what I thought I knew about dieting, and find a new way to lose weight.

My problem wasn’t that I wasn’t smart.
It wasn’t that I was lazy
It wasn’t that I didn’t want it bad enough.

In fact, my problem withe weight loss was quite simple:

The reason I failed with so many fad diets was because they were too restrictive and unsustainable.

Everything I tried forced me to do things that were totally different from what I naturally do on my own.

They all demanded perfection rather than celebrating progress.
And they all required suffering as the key ingredient for weight loss to work.

And if it did work, it wouldn’t last.
Even when I’d hire personal trainers to kick my ass in to shape, these guy all demanded perfection too

And the worst part about all the diets I failed at is that they tried to convince me that they weren’t actually diets.

That I wasn’t following a diet but rather making a new lifestyle.

A lifestyle?
Are you serious?

You want canned tuna, rice cakes and egg whites to be my lifestyle?

Are you kidding me?

That is why I was unsuccessful so many times and why I dove head first in to finding a new way.
A scientific way to lose weight without suffering, starving myself or giving up the foods I love.

I buried myself in books, in studies, in pod casts, talking to doctors, to dietitians, to people that lost 10 lbs and people that lost 100 lbs.

I interviewed athletes, coaches, bodybuilders and bodybuilding coaches to crack the code and figure out exactly how to lose weight while eating the foods I love.

Once I had my data, I got to work and built the worlds best macro calculator.
We are currently on our 7^th iteration and I am happy to say that IIFYM has the worlds best macro calculator there is.

There are over 160 macro calculators on the internet right now, and I had my hand in developing over 130 of them. Chances are, if you went to any weight loss website to use a TDEE calculator or macro calculator, it was one that I developed.

Over a decade later I sit here in front of my computer, writing my story after confidently helping over 150,000 overweight people lose weight while eating the foods they love and grow the confidence that comes with reaching our goals and transforming in to the person that we want to be.

I started IIFYM.com to help people lose weight while eating the foods they love, but those transformations is what I am most proud of.

See, weight loss is one thing, but confidence is a different type of animal

When we shed our unwanted body fat, we take the first step towards healing from our emotional baggage.

Kind of like how I feel when I get a haircut and wear a sharp business suit.

When I look good, I feel good.

Is it the same for you?

Take a second right now.
Just a second, to picture your favorite outfit.
The clothes that you look your best in and feel your best in.

Now imagine yourself in those clothes at your goal body weight.

How do you feel all dressed up, in the body you’ve always wanted, wearing clothes that set you on fire?

That my fried is what my goal is for every single one of the people that visits my website.

To have them wake up with that feeling every day of their lives. To live it and know it so well that their confidence overflows into every other area of their lives.
Every moment,
Every relationship,
Every opportunity,
Every decision,
Everything…

See, I don’t just want you to lose weight without the suffering. That’s the easy part.

What I want is for you to feel the same way that I felt when I reach my goal weight, married the woman of my dreams and sold my company to a business that allowed me retire at age 35.

That my fried is how I want you to feel when you get out of bed in the morning.

And the best part is that my program works 100% of the time for 100% of the people that follow it.

All you must do is put your left foot in front of your right foot and follow the weight loss plan path that I lay out for you.

Without starving yourself
Without restricting your food options
Without body shame or food guilt
And either with, or without exercise. Your call

My goal is put your weight loss program on auto pilot.

This is why diets that forced me to eat foods I hated never worked.
I always ended up feeling guilty for eating the food I enjoyed and didn’t enjoy the things I was supposed to eat and before long I’d fall off my weight loss plan for good and gain back any weight I lost, plus more.

This is the one thing that every single one of my macro tracking clients has in common.

We were all tired of failing at weight loss and sick of diets that made of feel like failures.

Now, the one thing that me and my clients have in common is that we get to eat the foods we love and lose weight while doing it.
No more suffering
No more eating crappy health food
No more taking fat burner and expensive supplements
No more confusion surrounding health and nutrition

Now, we eat the food we love, lose weight and happily tell others exactly how we reached our weight loss goals in half that time that it takes most people, without feeling like we are actually dieting.

For more info on how you lose weight without dieting, check out the weight loss programs we offer to get you started with macro tracking so you can transform your body exactly like so many others have.

To your success,

Anthony Collova
Founder, IIFYM. com

The post About Us appeared first on IIFYM.

from IIFYM Recipes and Articles – IIFYM http://bit.ly/2AHJjm3

Easy Keto Meal Prep Ideas

The keto diet has been gaining a lot of attention recently, and for good reasons - it is a simple, satisfying, effective style of eating (that allows for a lot of eggs and cheese!)

At its core, the keto diet aims to push you into a state of ketosis, making you use ketones for energy. This happens because you’re drastically reducing your carb intake (below 10% of total calories) which also depletes your glycogen stores.

To some of you, this might sound counterproductive, but the keto diet is just a variation of the ‘if it fits your macros (IIFYM)’ style of eating. The main difference is that on the keto diet, you eat very few carbs and your fat intake is increased. This gives your body a steady stream of energy throughout the day (there are no energy highs and crashes, commonly seen in carb-rich diets) and each meal is more satisfying and more filling (both protein and fats take longer for the body to break down into usable energy).

With that said, if you want to ensure that you stay on track with your diet and goals, you need to plan. This is where keto meal prep comes to the rescue.

Today, we’ll take a look at four easy keto meal prep ideas to include in your diet.

​1. Low-Carb Egg Muffins

Here’s what you’ll need for this recipe:

• ½ onion, sliced

• ¾ cup red bell pepper, chopped

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 8 medium eggs

• ¼ cup milk

• Salt & black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 ° F (175 ° C) and oil up a muffin tin.

2. Put the eggs in a large bowl along with the salt, pepper, and milk. Whisk well.

3. Add the onions and bell pepper and continue to whisk until everything is well mixed.

4. Pour the mixture evenly into the tin. It should be enough for 12 muffins.

5. Bake for 16-20 minutes. Take out and let them cool for a bit.

6.  Enjoy!

​2. Keto Bread

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 1 ¼ cup almond flour

• 5 tbsp psyllium husk powder

• 2 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp salt

• 3 egg whites

• 2 tsp cider vinegar

• 1 cup hot water

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 ° F (175 ° C) and mix dry ingredients in a bowl.

2. Add the hot water, egg whites, and vinegar to the mix while beating with a mixer for 30-40 seconds.

3. Moisten your hands and make 1-6 pieces of dough (personal preference).

4. Place each piece on a greased baking sheet and pop in the oven for 50-60 minutes.

5. Enjoy as a side of a meal or with nut butter!

​3. Veggie Omelette

Ingredients:

• 3-4 whole eggs

• 1 tbsp olive oil or cooking spray

• 2 oz cooked chicken, ham, or sausage, chopped

• ¼ cup red bell pepper, chopped

• 2 oz cheese, chopped

Directions:

1. Oil up a pan and set on medium heat.

2. Meanwhile, add eggs, chicken, bell pepper, and cheese in a bowl.

3. Whisk for a minute, pour the mixture in the heated pan and cook for 2-3 minutes.

4. Once the bottom is cooked, gently fold in half and cook for 1-2 minutes more.

5. Let it cool a bit and enjoy!

​4. Low-Carb Meat Pie

What you’ll need:

• ½ onion, chopped

• 1-2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 20 oz ground beef, pork, or lamb

• 4 tbsp tomato paste

• Salt & pepper

• ½ cup water

​For the crust:

• ¾ cup almond flour

• 4 tbsp coconut flour

• 1 tbsp psyllium husk powder

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 3 tbsp olive oil

• 1 egg

• 4 tbsp water

• Pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 ° F (175 ° C).

2. Fry the onion and garlic over medium heat for a few minutes. Add ground meat, salt, and pepper.

3. Add tomato paste and water. Lower heat and leave to simmer for 18-20 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, mix crust ingredients in a food processor for a few minutes until thick consistency forms.

5. Spread the dough in a deep-dish pie pan and along the sides. Bake the crust for 10-15 minutes.

6. Take it out of the oven and place the meaty middle in the crust. Put a layer of shredded or diced cheese on top and pop in the oven for 30-40 minutes.

7. The pie is done once the top turns golden brown.

8.  Let it cool and enjoy!

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What Should I Eat on the Keto Diet?

Everyone’s talking about the keto diet right now. People ask us all the time if it’s really different than IIFYM… and it’s not.

It has a different macro ratio split, but ultimately you are still tracking your macros and eating the foods you want to eat inside those ratios.

How do you calculate keto macros?

It varies from person to person (and expert to expert), but usually the macro ratio falls within the following range:

• 60-80% of calories from fat
• 15-30% of calories from protein
• 5-10% of calories from net carbs (net carbs are your grams of carbs minus the grams of fiber… so you can still eat lots of veggies!)

Regardless of the ketogenic macro ratio you use, your goal should be to eat as few carbs as possible, and the carbs you do eat should be high in fiber.

Why should you consider a ketogenic diet?

Your body uses carbohydrates (sugar) as fuel. By strictly limiting your carbohydrate intake you can force your body to burn fat instead.

This new energy will come from a high fat diet, but also from your stores of body fat! Simply put, a ketogenic (or keto) diet is one which converts your body from burning sugar to burning fat.

What are ketones?

Once your body begins to burn fat as fuel it will produce ketones as a byproduct. Your body is then said to be in a ketogenic state.

Ketones promote brain function, and as an added bonus, excess ketones are not stored by your body, but excreted in your urine.

Ketogenic diet and insulin levels

A ketogenic diet also controls insulin levels and eliminates insulin swings.​

Insulin moves sugar (glucose) through your bloodstream and into your muscles and eventually to your liver to be stored as glycogen. Unfortunately, once your muscles and liver are “full” insulin promotes the storage of excess carbs as body fat.​

Controlling your insulin levels through a strict, low carbohydrate diet can keep your body in fat burning mode… though it can be really hard to maintain that low level of carbs, which can make the ketogenic diet hard to maintain.

What to Eat on a Keto Diet:

Meat and Poultry

Meat and poultry form the base of any ketogenic pyramid. Choose grass fed and free range beef, pork, chicken, turkey and wild game whenever possible.

Eggs

One large egg contains less than 1 gram of carbohydrate and 6 grams of protein, the ideal food for any ketogenic diet.​

Eat the entire egg, many of an egg's nutrients are found in the yolk.

Seafood

Fish and shellfish are also ketogenic foods. Salmon, catfish, sardines, mackerel and similar fatty fish are very high in healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Shrimp and crab contain little to no carbs, while clams and mussels are relatively high in carbs.

Cheese

Cheese is nutritious, delicious, low in carbs and high in fat… perfect for a ketogenic diet.

Greek Yogurt and Cottage Cheese

Plain Greek yogurt and cottage cheese are natural, high-protein foods that do contain carbs, but can be included in your ketogenic diet. Both decrease appetite and promote the feeling of fullness and can be easily flavored with cinnamon and nuts.

Nuts and Seeds

Nuts and seeds are healthy, high-fat, high-fiber and low-carb foods.

Low-Carb Vegetables

Non-starchy, fibrous vegetables are low in calories and carbs while being high in fiber. Choose fresh or frozen asparagus, bean sprouts, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, greens (collard, kale, mustard, turnip), peppers, radishes and salad greens (endive, escarole, lettuce, romaine, spinach, arugula, radicchio, watercress).

Avocados

Avocados contain only 2 grams of net carbs per serving (half of a medium avocado) and are high in fiber and healthy omega-3 fatty acids.

Berries

Most fruits are much too high in carbs to include in your ketogenic diet, but berries are the exception.

Raspberries and blackberries contain more fiber than carbs and are loaded with antioxidants. Choose blackberries, blueberries, raspberries and strawberries.

If you're interested in the ketogenic diet, it can be a great way to kick off your fat loss journey.

The stricter rules of the keto diet can help people break some of their food habits (especially if high carb treats like cookies or cake are your vices) before moving to a more balanced If It Fits Your Macros ratio that includes carbs and is more sustainable.

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