It Could Happen To You

I had two WW friends that I found to be so knowledgeable and inspirational after their journeys to loose 100+lbs. I checked in last night, and they'd both posted blogs about how they'd been off track, for almost a year and the other all summer and they'd gained 20lbs and 12lbs back, respectively. I'll be honest, it rocked me. These women are so strong, so resolute in their healthy habits... How could this happen?

It freaked me out. I'm not knocking them, or belittling them in any way. They are both back on track, back on point, and back to working out. But it just goes to show that it doesn't take much to let it get away from us. I still think these women are rock stars, and I know they'll pull it together.

I spend a lot of time talking about working out and the different types of routines I'm doing at any given time. Thought it'd be a nice change of pace to talk about what I'm eating. After all, I've taken my new found mantra to heart.

In some of the new fitness circles I run with, they use more acronyms than a teenager texting. One I recently learned was IIFYM: If It Fits Your Macros. Meaning you can eat whatever you'd like, so long as you hit your macronutrient breakdown. Personally, I try to keep my daily intake to 40% carbs/30% protein/30% fat. So by IIFYM standards, I could eat pizza and burgers (or pop-tarts) everyday, so long as I'm within my 40/30/30 split.

Now, the biggest argument against IIFYM is that it isn't sustainable for "normal people." How it is that I keep finding myself outside of this "normal" range is beyond me. And what's the counter to IIFYM? Clean eating. Lean proteins, whole , unprocessed foods, and replacing most of your carb and starch sources with veggies and fruit.

There's been a major uproar in my circles lately, and I cannot figure out why. The vegans think this, the paleo eaters think that, the IIFYMers are on another train and the whole foods/clean eaters ride a different bus. I came to the understanding, quite recently, that different things will work for different people... AND THAT'S OK. I'm not forcing my way of doing things down any one's throat. I'm doing my thing, and I feel great while still pulling the results I'm aiming for.

Some say IIFYM isn't sustainable for normal people because it requires tracking calories and macros, while clean eating/the whole foods approach is more intuitive. Bottom line, it all depends on YOUR personality. I'm Type A. I like lists, organization, order, a plan, a schedule... the thought of spontaneity makes me uncomfortable. So I track everything. I track my multivitamin, my fish oil, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and every thing in between. 

For those of you who are NOT type A (you know who you are), this may not be the plan for you. And again, THAT'S PERFECTLY FINE. If the intuitive eating on the whole foods/clean eating plan works for you, that's great! What DOES bother me, however, is the people who knock my tracking by telling me "that's too time consuming." After I curse at them, in my head, I just tell them I think it's 5 minutes well spent.

Like I said, I just learned about IIFYM, but it looks like this is the kind of approach I've been following. Though I'd still say it's based off of clean eating principles even if I do plan cheat days. Not once a week like many, but if I know I'm going out with friends or headed out of town, I plan for it. Some days I eat sweet potato fries, some days I'll have a piece of garlic bread or a slice of pizza, and yes, some days I'll even have ice cream. But you know what's consistent? I measure and track it. Yes, I said measure. I still use my food scale and my measuring cups to track accurate portion sizes.

Someone recently asked me what I thought about a specific type of diet, and if I thought it would work for them. Just so y'all know, I'm not a supporter of any kind of diet that excludes entire food groups. But the only advice I gave her was to start tracking what she was eating. If you don't know where your "problem area" is, you won't know what needs to be fixed.

What do I use to track my food (and my workouts)? MyFitnessPal. It's a free website where you can create an account and set your weight loss goals. It then gives you access to a database of thousands upon thousands of food items that you can enter for your daily food journal. It even has a built in bar code scanner, so you can snap a pic of a food item without having to search for it or put in the nutrition info yourself. At the end of the day, you can complete the entry, and MyFitnessPal will show you graphs and charts of your macro breakdown. But the BEST part of MyFitnessPal? You can download the app for your iPhone or Android device FREE. Actually, I've never even used the web interface.

No matter where I go, I can track my food. I'm very logistical (read: anal), so the fact that I get graphs and charts and tables of more information than I really need, I don't have any excuses. When I'm not making progress, I can go back and take a look at the numbers to pinpoint why. You know what I've noticed on the weeks when I'm NOT progressing? I don't track daily.

This post turned out to be longer than I thought! But there you have it. I don't subscribe to any particular "diet," per se. I do make a conscious effort to make better food choices, but I don't live in a bubble. OK, so I don't drink anywhere near as much as I used to, I don't eat out the day before a weigh in, I don't "snack" like I used to, and I go to bed early. I've been called all kinds of names for the habit shifts, and I couldn't care less. I feel great, and I'm lookin' pretty fly too ;)

It doesn't matter what mode of transportation you use, but get moving! Find the program that works for you, find the support system that you'll need to make it through, and then just take it one step at a time.

EDIT 10/31/12 - This post was originally written on October 11th. Then on the morning of the 12th, I was very discouraged after my weigh in, so I never posted. I'm posting it now because I still believe everything I wrote. I will, however, say that I'm rethinking my approach to cheat days. So keep an eye out for a post later this week on that. Even though the scale is not moving as quickly as I'd like, I'm losing inches. I know this because pants I just bought a month ago now fit differently. I'm over feeling sorry for myself, and I've righted this ship. I know exactly what I need to do to see the results I want, and I'm doing it.

I expect to finish 2012 STRONG. Thanks for sticking with me!