The Beginning To My Journey

I told myself I was going to use this space to document my weight loss journey because I always forget to update my facebook page . (I promise to get better with that too). Since I am taking leaps this year to be brave, I decided I should start with exactly what I wanted to do with this space, the big reason I decided to come back to my corner. I want to share my journey, the fun, the ugly and the all in between even if it just helps one person.  

Many of you know, if you follow me on instagram, if not we should be friends on there, that I go to the gym on average twice a week to meet with my coach to weight lift. I love it because I don't have to think about the workout, I dont have to do much thinking matter of fact besides making sure I have proper form and he controls the amount weight. Also, it's great to be around people who are on a fitness journey too. It's a non commercial gym which makes things 1000000% better. I have put on a decent amount of muscle in the last few years of going, so now it's time to show it off. 

Look at them hips. (insert biggest eye roll) 

In order to show off those muscles, I need to shed some of the fat. So I am going full force into IIFYM. I did it in 2016 when hubby was deployed before too and had great success. 

If you don't know about IIFYM - it stands for if it fits your macros. You weigh your food, log/track your food, and you eat within a certain amount of carbs, fat and protein.  The goal is to be within +/- 5 of your daily intake goals each day. The macros make up you calorie intake, so you focus on the macros and not the calories. Carbs and Protein are 4 calories/ gram and fat is 9 calories / gram. You could eat a 100 calorie snack and it could be 25g of carbs but if that is all you ate, you would be hungry ALL day long and eat a ton of carbs with no protein/fat. 

There is so much information out there to learn how to do it, the formula to determine your macros and so much more but it truly is the only "diet" that has worked for me and I have done ALOT of different diets. I have noticed I tend to eat lower carb naturally and I always over eat my protein goal even when I try not too.

I use the app My Fitness Pal and it seems to be the best one for me. I love that I can scan my food and it remembers foods I eat often. Which I tend to eat the same foods every day.  

Currently those are my goals. I will have to adjust them eventually. I have been eating at these numbers for about a solid week. I started January 1 but than my house had some serious issues that it totally derailed everything. So I had to refocus once it was all settled and was fixed. So I am actually going to count February 1 as my starting point with my weight and measurements. 

My goal is to lose about 10 pounds before end of March when hubby and I go visit my sister. I am putting that out into the world so it can hold me accountable. 

Why you weigh your food? This is the assorted macaroons from Trader Joes (which are delicious by the way) but the package says 3 macaroons (30g) per serving. I weigh it out, and actually 2 macaroons are 27g so no way that 3 = 30g. Therefore if you ate that 3rd macaroon it would be extra calories that you didn't count and eventually those extra calories start to equal extra pounds/ not losing weight to reach your goals. It's so important to weigh your food vs. eating off serving size   

I get it can be fore frustrating at first and time consuming but I promise you the more you do it the more it just becomes natural. You can build recipes, you can eat whatever you want basically as long as it fits, and sometimes it's even good to just have that "cheat" meal not day! 

So here we go, February 1! You can do it too!!! 

I will share a day of eating soon. 

Have you done IIFYM?