RFT: Iron in Heels is a monthly series on tamilyouth.ca that seeks to educate, inspire, and empower Tamil youth to improve their fitness and well-being by developing an active lifestyle.
Written By: Sulaksana Sabaratnam
That infamous acronym that has boggled the minds of many – IF IT FITS YOUR MACROS! Macros, you know, macronutrients? That thing I talked about briefly in my piece “Don’t Forget Your Food?” Just in case it seems a little fuzzy, macronutrients are your proteins, carbohydrates and fats; the stuff our body requires in large amounts to function. Your macronutrients are what you want to focus on when hitting your calorie count and If It Fits Your Macros (IIFYM) is a method that many follow to hit certain ratios of these macronutrients within their caloric requirement. I wonder if this sounds like a bunch of jiberish….
Image Retrieved From: https://rugbywarfare.com/if-it-fits-your-macros/
Let’s put it this way –
Just say you require 2,000 calories and hypothetically, you want to maintain your body and are following the general maintenance ratio of 15% fats, 35% carbohydrates and 50% proteins, you would consume:
2,000 x 0.15 = 300 calories of fat
2,000 x 0.25 = 700 calories of carbohydrate
2,000 x 0.50 = 1,000 calories of protein
BUT… that’s not what my nutrition label has! No, your nutrition labels won’t read 60 calories of fat but instead, it would read it in grams (g). So, let’s do a little bit more number crunching. I mentioned before that 1g of fat = 9 calories, 1g of carbohydrates OR protein = 4 calories. Let’s apply that!
300 calories of fats/9 = 33.3g of fat
700 calories of carbohydrates/4 = 175g of carbohydrate
1,000 calories of protein/4 = 250g of proteins
TADA! There you have your macros! ~33g fat, 175g carbohydrate and 250g protein.
Now, let’s talk about why this method is so popular. It’s the concept that it does not matter what you eat, as long as you hit those numbers. Wait. What? Poptarts, donuts, chicken wings, PIZZA – all that good stuff. Sounds totally amazing! RIGHT?
Image Retrieved From: http://blog.imprettyfit.com/nutrition/iifym-explained/
Wait. THERE’S A CATCH!
This method of eating wasn’t introduced as an excuse to eat a bunch of “empty calories;” foods that have no essential nutrients. However, it allowed a leeway for people to incorporate a “treat” to keep them sane. Having said that, I want you to keep in mind that eating clean prevents you from consuming a vast amount of salts or sugars – causing unwanted water retention.
Bottom line – IIFYM is a great method to use whether you want to build mas, maintain or want to cut; sparing or building muscle mass while eliminating fat mass or limiting the amount of fat your body puts on accordingly. This does not mean you are to eat a ton of junk food although, you technically can. You still want to always remember that your body also requires micronutrients to function to its best ability. I’ll leave it at that for now and let you absorb this first.
Stay Tuned for my next piece on “Macronutrient Ratios and Your Goals”
You can also contact me on Instagram at @sulaksanas and be sure to follow for some daily gym motivation!
Sulaksana Sabaratnam is a certified personal trainer and weight-loss consultant. She is currently working towards her nutrition manager (NM) certification. With her passion in fitness and her drive to challenge the limits of her body, Sulaksana also enjoys educating her male and female clientele who benefit from both, her physical weight training and complementary nutrition knowledge. Through her articles, she hopes to help women feel comfortable in the gym atmosphere, invite women to take on strength training to strengthen and accentuate the feminine curves and encourage them to ask questions freely. Follow her via Instagram at @sulaksanas for daily inspiration!
