macros

Erik's Weekly Fitness Tip | If It Fits Your Macros

 

If It Fits Your Macros (IIFYM)

IIFYM is an approach you can take when it comes to losing or gaining weight.  IIFYM might be a different approach than what you are used to hearing. Read more about macros here.

Most people associate dieting with clean eating and exercise. It has been proven many times that you do not have to exercise and eat healthy to lose weight.   IIFYM gives you freedom to eat the food you love.  

Say What?

You heard me right, wine, pizza, or ice cream = no problem.  Here’s the caveat… you can eat whatever you want but you cannot overeat.  Put yourself in a safe calorie deficit of 10-15% and make sure that you do not go over the amount of calories you are allowed to eat.  So if your calorie deficit number is 1800 calories per day you can not go over this number.  

Now I know what you are thinking, come on Erik, chicken, broccoli, and oatmeal should be the staple of anyone’s diet, especially if you are trying to lose weight.  Not that this isn’t true, but for many people it is very difficult to sustain this type of eating regimen for the long run without having foods that they enjoy.   And to be perfectly clear and honest, I would prefer people eat a fairly clean and balanced diet!

How IIFYM Works

So how does IIFYM work?  If your goal is weight loss, you first need to figure out how many calories you have been eating each day. Track your calories for 3-4 days so you can see how many calories you average per day.  Let’s say you average 2500 a day, take 10-15% off of 2500. This is the number you are going to subtract from 2500.  2250 or 2125 will be your new daily allowance in calories.  

Now keep in mind this is the simplest form of cutting calories, there are many other factors that can be included in this:

  • workouts
  • activity level
  • basal metabolic rate

But if you are having issues losing weight, IIFYM is a great place to start without the hassle of changing what you eat. If you don’t believe me that you can lose weight with eating whatever you want, read about the Twinkie diet here.  

Call me if you'd like help with your very own personalized nutrition plan 310.251.7420

Image Credit: Robert Huffstutter via Flickr

Sign up below and every week we'll send you one short but effective idea that can help you improve your performance.

 

Erik's Weekly Fitness Tip | Count On This

 

 

What are macros?

Your macros consist of the carbohydrates, protein, and fat you consume in a day that your body uses for energy.

Why we should count them

Counting your macros can be very telling.  If we start paying attention to what we are eating it becomes apparent that we can be eating too many or too few calories depending on our particular goals: weight loss, weight gain, or maintaining weight.

What are Your Goals?

There is value in knowing how much you are eating because you can tweak your daily allowance to meet a very specific weight goal.  Your goal may be to decrease body fat, pack on more muscle, prepare for an endurance event, or help you meet your doctor's orders to lost weight.

How do you do it? 

It is not an easy task to figure out your macros.  You have to read food labels, weigh food after it has been cooked, and log everything you consume into a food dairy.  I know it’s a lot of work, but it can be well worth the investment of your time.  MyFitnessPal is a fantastic app that you can put on your phone. It allows you to keep track of your calories and it is super easy to use. 

Simple Math

1 gram of carbs = 4 calories

1 gram of protein = 4 calories

1 gram of fat = 9 calories

 

Tips

1.     Do not make any drastic changes in your nutrition. Only after you have figured out how many calories you are eating per day, should you then slowly adjust your daily allowance. 

2.     If you are looking for an edge in your respective sport or looking to lose weight, counting your macros will get you there.  

Image Credit: Declan Rex on Unsplash

Sign up below and every week we'll send you one short but effective idea that can help you improve your performance.

 

Erik's Weekly Fitness Tip | Stalled Out

 

Has your car ever stalled? It happened to me once, at a particularly choice moment,  when I was trying to get the girls off to school. It’s not a fun experience. For most of us, stalling cannot be avoided, especially if we like to push the limits.  At some point in our weight training we will stall. In our quest to lose more weight we will stall.  While on our journey to a 10K personal record we will stall.  The majority of people who experience stalling find that it is due to our: training, diet, sleep, recovery, rest in between sets or it just comes down to poor planning. 

Performance

Let’s look at performance and see how we can avoid the pitfalls of stalling. As a former track and cross country runner and now lover of heavy squats I know this feeling and I know it well.  I’ve stalled many times in my training and I have never once hit my full potential.  So if you are a runner, triathlete, mountain biker, weight lifter, or someone who just loves to push their limits but feel like there’s a little more in you, here’s my best tips to give your body the jumpstart it needs. 

  1. Keep a detailed log that keeps track of: training, sleep, diet, recovery, and anything else that could affect your training both positively or negatively.
  2. Audit your diet; most athletes do not eat enough.  This will affect your ability to recover.  Protein, carbs, and fats  (your macros) should all be on point with your training.  Most people often come up short with adequate levels of protein. If you are over 40 you especially have to make sure your protein levels are a bit higher because you do not digest protein as well.
  3. Rest! You could be overtraining or overextending yourself during workouts.  Make sure you are getting your rest in. Read more about this here.
  4. Biting off more than you can chew.  We’ve all been trying to lift heavier loads, run faster intervals, or trying to match someone else’s workout before we are ready.  These things can cost you dearly.  Be patient with your training. 
  5. Add another set of eyes.  Get a coach to review your training; sometimes a small tweak can be a game changer. 

Weight Loss

Stalling with weight loss is very similar to stalling with your performance. It can be extremely frustrating and can start to chip away at your motivation.  Here are some quick tips to help you overcome being stuck.

  1. Keep a food journal or log onto the myfitness pal app.  Your calorie intake might be more than it should be.  Keeping track of what you put into your body everyday will help you stay on track and see where adjustments can be made.
  2. Stop doing the same workouts you did 4-6 weeks ago.  If you consistently work out, but you are doing the exact same workout without changing any of the variables up you will stall. The variables being: intensity, load (heavier weights), duration, frequency, or speed.  Change things up!
  3. Pay a visit to the weight room.  The gym, without a doubt, can be an intimidating place. As a result most people stick to the cardio section and try to cardio themselves skinny.  Muscle loves to burn calories! Weight training will help not only get you stronger, but will also help you maintain and build muscle mass.  You’ve got to lift! 
  4. Don’t undo all your hard work on the weekends.  Booze, crappy food, and bad sleep can sabotage your weight loss. Stay on point as best as you can, even on the weekends, it all counts!
  5. Be Patient!  It takes times to get results, so don’t get discouraged early in the game. Keep plugging away and the results will follow and your hard work will pay off.

Stick to the Plan

Most stalling is due to not executing on your plan.  So you have to be diligent with all the steps you should be following.  As frustrating as it can be, just by making a tweak here and there can knock down that door and get you through to the other side.

Image Credit: Noah Kuhn on Unsplash

Sign up below and every week we'll send you one short but effective idea that can help you improve your performance.