Your Guide To IIFYM For Women

This post wasn't originally scheduled for today but it came about really randomly since all of a sudden I found myself obsessing over IIFYM and wanting to know every possible thing about it. Does it work? Is it real? Is it easy to follow? I joined an IIFYM Women's group on Facebook a couple months ago to connect with other fitness conscious friends and the results I've seen are staggering. Like jaw dropping, ab popping, staggering. I immediately gained an interest in this way of eating and looked into it. From what I can see it's basically this:

Eating a certain, exact amount of macronutrients each day... protein, carbs, and fat. 

If you already use a calorie tracking site like myfitnesspal then you'll be somewhat familiar with protein, carbs, and fat. If not, you already understand the basics of counting calories which means you're half way there and the rest of the counting will be simple! The hard part is making sure you get enough of the right "macros." 

If you want to start, the first thing to do is to download a calorie counting app. My fave is myfitnesspal (add me here). The next thing you need to do is figure out your caloric and macro needs. I found a few sites and this one had the best calculator (calculate!)

Once you figure out your caloric & macro needs, start thinking about foods you can eat to help you reach your goals. When I entered my own info my results were:

Tips:

1. Use the Athletes Formula! Unless you've gotten your body fat measured via bod pod, dexa, or hydrostatic methods most often it isn't accurate, so don't use it. 

2. How many times a week do you work out? This means lifting with weights. Not cardio! Cardio is fantastic and I LOVE it, but for this method of eating it needs to know weight lifting. Do not enter cardio days in here! Don't be afraid to put down 2 days if thats the truth! Thats what I put.

3. Fat loss range is 10-12 times your body weight, generally speaking. If you're looking to lose weight start with the highest amount of calories possible. You want to be able to eat as much as you can while still losing weight because it will prevent you from falling off track and binging (HELLO! Please tell me I'm not the only one who does that LOL) Also, if you start at the higher end of the range than you have some calories to take from if your weightless begins to stall. Summary: Always start with "Suggested"

4. If you have quite a bit of weight to lose you mat choose aggressive or reckless but please keep in mind this is meant for people who have more than 50lbs to lose! Choosing aggressive or reckless are not sustainable so it's not the best choice for long term :) 

I'm starting my own IIFYM journey today, and my weight has slid back up to 130lbs as of yesterday afternoon (boo). I'm excited to show you guys my results after 5 weeks of this, then 10 weeks. Here are some pictures of the gals from the facebook group I'm apart of. Results = INSANE!

Kait Cavers

Marisa Roper

These are just a FEW examples of the women who have followed IIFYM and had incredible success! It's science. Eat what your body needs and you WILL have results. 

Here's a little chart to help you get started on picking the right foods for your macro needs.

Try this out and let me know what you think! I'm excited to experience my own IIFYM journey. This just makes SO much sense to me, and I genuinely think it'll work for anyone who does this. Take care lovelies!!