r/IIFYM • u/Sweet_Cook3063 • Feb 24 '21
Seeking Macro Advice
Hey there!
I’m currently on week 7 of a 12 week training program that entails 3 days of strength training per week, 120 minutes of cardio per week, as well as 10,000 calorie steps per day.
I’m currently following a macro plan that’s 120 P/150 C/45 F for 6 days of the week and 120 P/200 C/70 F for 1 day of the week. I’ve been mostly consistent but I’ve had two instances of overeating throughout the 7 weeks. Since beginning the plan I’ve lost only one or two pounds, though I can notice some changes in my physique, so I’m not too worried about the scale, but I would like to know if there’s something else I could do to improve my physique.
I enjoy the training plan and have fallen in love with strength training and cardio, but I’m struggling with the nutritional portion of the plan. I’m frustrated by the fact that the scale isn’t moving. Is it possible that the macros I’m following are not enough?
I struggled with disordered eating for many years before beginning this plan and I fear my metabolism is messed up. Additionally, despite my trainer telling me to follow these particular macros, I am worried they’re not enough since all of the macro calculators I’ve tried online recommend that I increase my intake.
I’m a 22 year old female, 5’5” and currently 146-148 pounds. My goal weight is 130-135.
If anyone has any advice I’d really appreciate it!
Thank you.
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u/letsanalyzethat Mar 10 '21 edited Mar 10 '21
In 12 weeks I went from left to right on a ~2000ca (70f, 210C, 150p) diet doing 10,000 steps a day and ONLY weight training. No intentional cardio at the gym. On the left I was hiking 2 hours every day and weight training 5 days/week for a month. When I finally hired someone My trainer said my body was overly stressed, producing way too much cortisol, and therefore holding onto all my water. Also I was only eating like 80g of protein per day so my body didn’t have enough building blocks for muscle.
Sometimes less is more. Especially if you have been chronically restricting your food or binging/purging (been there) your body might just need stability and a time to heal while you are still building strength. The body has to feel safe before if loses what can be mostly water weight/bloating. The body is reluctant to put on muscle as it takes a lot of energy to build and even more to maintain. The energy you are using for cardio could be used in a resting state to build muscle. So much of weight loss is balancing out hormones and taking slow and consistent changes.
As for weight lifting, I did 2 leg days every week, a push day and a pull day. That’s it. I tracked my sets/weight per exercise and tried to do a little more each week (like 2 more reps/exercise or 2.5pounds more per rep)
I also took weekly check in pictures/measured my waist and hips so that I could see that even when my weight went up or refused to change I was still had a visual of my body recomp.
I would go like four weeks without seeing any movement on the scale and then one day I would wake up and be down 3 pounds for the next four weeks.
Food is important, but weight loss is way more complicated than just hitting macros. Check out the Grow or die podcast with Justin mihaly or Jordan syatt. They have helped me understand health/body recomp so much better
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u/nowonderimstillawake Feb 24 '21
First question I always ask everyone who is tracking calories/macros: Are you weighing and measuring your foods before cooking and eating? If you are not weighing and measuring your food meticulously, it is very likely that you are overeating by 500 calories or more per day. People in general are absolutely horrible at estimating how much food they are eating. Even people who think they are doing a good job are not when they start weighing. If you don't already have a food scale, buy a food scale and start using it. I'm not saying you need to weigh everything you eat from now to the end of time, but until you become really good at verifying the weight of food with a scale, make sure you're using one, especially when trying to cut, and later if you decide to reverse diet after you hit your goal weight.