IF IT FITS YOUR MACROS

MACRO? – A macronutrient is any of the nutritional components of
the diet that are required in relatively large amounts: protein, carbs,
fat, and minerals such as calcium, zinc, iron, magnesium, & phosphorous.

#“IF IT FITS YOUR MACROS” – WHAT IS IT?

IIFYM is one of the best things you can do to fix a diet that is becoming unsuccessful. It will help curb
binges, cheating and guilt, the three of the biggest factors in people quitting a healthy eating lifestyle.

Imagine eating a diet consisting of the worst foods you can think of from McDonalds, but here and there
you sneak in some vegetables or a healthy protein source. Will it effect your body in a good way?
No, it won’t.

Now let’s imagine that you have a superb diet consisting of good protein sources, whole foods, vegetables and
fruits, but every once in awhile you eat a Big Mac. Is it going to effect your body composition in a bad way?
No, it won’t.

The phrase If It Fits Your Macros (often abbreviated to IIFYM) refers to meeting the individual macronutrient
needs relevant to one’s goals and then filling the remaining calories with foods of personal preference. Meaning,
eat whatever you want as long as it fits the macros.

#DOES “IIFYM” METHOD WORK?

The short and quick answer is yes, it absolutely works. Flexible dieting can be your key to success! But let us
understand why it works, and how you can apply it optimally and successfully.

#CALORIES IN, CALORIES OUT

Your body burns a certain amount of energy every day, and this can be measured in calories. The energy in food
can be measured in the same way.

“A calorie is the amount of energy required to heat up one kilogram of water one degree Celsius”

If your goal is to lose fat, you need to feed your body less energy than it burns. When you do this, it must get the
energy it needs from somewhere, and its “go to source” is its fat stores. This is an absolutely irrefutable scientific fact.
When we’re talking strictly weight loss, a calorie is a calorie, regardless of where it comes from.

If all you want to do is lose some weight, calculate how many calories you burn every day, eat 20% less than that
(keep yourself in what is known as a caloric deficit) and voila, you will lose weight regardless of what you eat to get
those calories.

#WHY COUNT MACROS?

Because a calorie is not a calorie when we’re talking body composition. What I mean is if you want to lose weight
while also maintaining as much lean mass as possible, you need to do more than just maintain a caloric deficit.

- You need to ensure you get enough protein every day to preserve muscle.
- You need to ensure you eat enough carbs, to keep up the training intensity.
- You need to ensure you eat enough healthy fats, which play an important role in hormone synthesis.

This is why counting macros is superior to counting just calories. It allows you to focus on improving body
composition, not simply dropping or gaining pounds. Now, just like with counting calories, what you eat to hit
your macro targets is of secondary importance when we’re talking body composition.

In the end, the carbs in the Twinkie turn into glucose and glycogen just like the carbs in broccoli. The protein in the
5 Guys burger is made up of the same amino acids as the trimmed chicken breast.

That said, Twinkies are not the same as broccoli, and eating a bunch of 5 Guys meat every day is not a good idea.
And this what a lot people think about the “If It Fits Your Macros” movemet. It is WRONG

#EATING CRAP AND LOSING WEIGHT?

Just because you can eat everything every day and lose weight doesn’t mean you should.

Remember that food is more than a mere source of protein, carbohydrate, and fat–it’s also our source of vital
micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) that support our body’s many physiological functions.

A major problem with candy and other sugary treats, many processed foods, fast food, and so forth is they’re horribly
deficient in micronutrients. A major benefit of eating “clean” is it provides your body with an abundance of macros.

If you eat too much junk food, and too few healthy foods, you will develop vitamin and mineral
deficiencies that can cause many different health problems.

#THE PROPER WAY OF “IIFYM” METHOD

80% DAILY KCAL FROM HEALTHY FOODOne of the biggest problems people run into when dieting is they get to a point where they just can’t
stomach chicken and steamed veggies anymore, and one taste of something savory leads to an all-out binge.

DON’T BE AFRAID OF LITTLE INDULGENCES
If majority of your daily calories come from healthy foods full of micronutrients,  feel free to include some
non-nutritive treats if you so desire.

DON’T BE AFRAID TO PLAY WITH YOUR MEAL TIMING
If the foods you like to eat tend to be more calorie dense, an easy way to work them into your macros is to reduce
your meal frequency (thus allowing you to increase meal size).