Bacon, eggs and a bagel for breakfast? Sounds like a yummy combo but people who have weight loss on their mind might think of this as a disaster to their diet. What if you could eat the bacon, eggs and toast for breakfast and still lose weight? It’s possible with a diet called ‘If It Fits Your Macros’ aka. IIFYM.
This diet allows flexibility in choosing what types of carbs, proteins and fats make up your day. Depending on what your goals are and your fitness activity the calories you need per day and the macro-nutrient ratios will vary.
So let’s say your caloric intake per day is 1700 and your macro-nutrient goals are:
40% of those calories to come from carbohydrates
40% of those calories to come from protein
20% of those calories to come from fats
You would need 170 grams of protein, 170 grams of carbs and 38 grams of fats per day.
Starting with breakfast I’ve calculated what the macronutrients look like for 2 strips of bacon, 1 egg and a bagel with a tbsp of strawberry jam:
Bacon: 200 calories
20g fat
7 grams protein
0 grams carbs
Egg: 70 calories
5 g fat
6 grams protein
0 grams carbs
Bagel: 190 calories
1 gram of fat
7 grams protein
36 grams carbs
Jam: 50 calories
0 grams of fat
0 grams protein
13 grams carbs
Total nutritional facts for breakfast are: 510 calories
26 grams of fat
20 grams of protein
49 grams of carbs
So for the rest of the day you’re left with: 1190 calories
150 grams of protein
121 grams of carbs
12 grams of fat
It might seem tedious to calculate your macros everyday depending on what you choose to eat – there are helpful apps that can be downloaded to your phone that can be used for searching foods and meals so that your macros can be tracked easier.
Any diet plan will work as long as you trust it and stick with it!
If your goal is to lose weight: any diet will work for weight loss if you adhere to a caloric deficit (burning calories through exercise and limiting calories through food) using a macro-nutrient calculator works great if you’re unsure if you’re not eating enough or too much…and the flexibility of eating what you want and when you want is great too, but we always recommend a healthy balanced diet always!
Healthy proteins, fats and carbohydrates that include fiber and a variety of nutrients will make sure you not only look good but will make you feel good too… keep you more satiated throughout the day and fuel you for your workouts!
Balancing out your macronutrients so that you’re eating some fats, protein and carbs in each meal will keep you feeling more satiated and more energetic throughout the day, at least that’s what how we feel when meal prepping and also from people that have tried it!
Athletes or people who want to gain muscle or strength may require different macronutrients to meet the energy demands of their sport!
If you’re unsure about calculating you’re own macronutrients, email us at info@luxfit.ca and we can help you plan your meals!