IIFYM

IIFYM stands for If It Fits Your Macros and macros are the three main macronutrients such as protein, fat and carbs. IIFYM is also referred as “flexible dieting” and essentially it is making sure everything you eat throughout the day fits your specialized macro breakdown. Everyone is different and the breakdown of macros depends on your weight, height, activity level, age and what your fitness goals are, whether you want to maintain, lose, or gain weight. I’ll cover more about the ratio later.

I follow tons of fitness profiles on instagram and a good half of them use the IIFYM diet. At first I passed it off mostly because they would eat healthy, while still having a pop tart or yummy treat and then follow it with “well it fits my macros.” I didn’t really understand it or cared to understand it, and mostly felt that what they were promoting wasn’t “healthy” and against everything they (and I) stood for. But as time went on I became more interested, especially when my favorite fitspo (fitness inspiration) instagram started following the diet as well. She struggles just like I do with keeping a healthy mentality while eating clean and IIFYM has helped her feel less guilty with indulging every now and then. 

I became interested and took to the internet to do my research. IIFYM.com has been the most useful and I was able to find out what my own macro ratio looks like using their IIFYM calculator. They also have a bunch of other health calculators such as BMR (what your body burns at rest), TDEE (what your body burns throughout the day), etc, which also help you figure out how many calories you should be consuming based on how many calories you burn.

So why IIFYM? I thought eating “clean” was good enough? Essentially yes, but also no. I used to be the same way. “As long as I am eating clean I’m ok,” BUT I didn’t know how many calories I was consuming and my amount of macros was different everyday. For example, before I went on vacation back in May I was hardcore (yeah I used that word) eating clean and would only cheat once a week. But after I came back from vacation and eating dirty food for 3 days I found it hard to bounce back and found myself gaining weight very very easily. Yeah I ate bad foods more frequently than before, but I essentially eat 90% clean throughout the week with exercise 4x a week so you would think I should be loosing weight and not gaining it right?

IIIFM.com explains, "Since our daily calorie intake accounts for the majority of what our bodies look like, it only makes sense that when we eat clean, we lose weight. Eating clean however is not the answer to fat loss, but is simply a trick or technique that helps those who don’t count calories or macros, to lower them. The biggest problem when we eat clean and have no idea how many calories we are actually ingesting (let alone how many our body requires) we end up starving ourselves, and line up our metabolism for a bounce back that is sure to have us putting on extra lbs. soon as we start eating “normal” again.” 

Puts things in a completely different perspective huh? I also used to be one of those people that thought I didn’t need to or I actually shouldn’t be counting my calories because again “I’m eating healthy so it doesn’t matter,” and I always thought it promoted an unhealthy mentality. When really keeping track of what I’m eating is a healthy mentality because it lets me know what I need MORE of, yeah I said more and not less. I use the My Fitness Pal app on my phone to insert my meals and it helps me stay on track with my macro ratio. It may seem like a chore to have to insert my food for every meal for every day but it really isn’t. It takes no longer than a minute and it saves previous used foods to I just have to tap the food I ate and save it. My Fitness Pal then breaks up my macros into a pie chart and shows what the ratio of what I’ve consumed that day next to my macro goals. 

Still interested? To calculate your specialized macro ratio go to http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/ and it will do it all for you! It’s broken down in 4 different steps. 1) you put in your information, 2) select what your goals are, 3) select your nutrition plan (use iifym), and finally 4) view your results where you can choose how many grams of each macro you want. I picked 1 gram of protein, .40 of fat and then it leaves carbs for very last. Based on the amount of calories I burn a day (2100) my goal is to eat 1,725 calories with a macro ratio of 45/30/25 (carbs, protein, fat). It has only been a few days but my body is already reacting very positively. I suffer from “food baby syndrome” and “I promise I’m not pregnant it’s my food baby”, meaning I get bloated very easily from eating too many carbs. I’m still allowed to eat a fair amount but it is helping me not eat too much like I tend to. 

And guess what? At the end of the day if I have some macros or calories left over I can eat what I want as long as it fits! Say I have 30 grams of carbs left to meet my goal and I’m craving something yummy, I’ll eat a pop tart and it still meet my goals. Yeah I could eat a banana and it would do the same thing, but sometimes (or all the time) you just want a damn pop tart ;)

H2Oh

Our bodies are composed of about 60% water (your brain being 90%), which means we need to drink enough of the stuff in order to sustain a healthy body. Water aids in digestion, absorption of minerals/vitamins, circulation, transportation of nutrients, flushing out toxins and keeping our body temperature balanced. It also regulates your metabolism, which is crucial if you are looking to lose or maintain weight. Yet most people don’t drink enough water daily and instead live off of sugary sodas and juices. By the way that’s the first thing that needs to go if you are looking to build a healthier lifestyle. I cut out soda completely 7 months ago and haven’t looked back. I specifically blame soda for all the headaches I used to have and now I rarely ever get them. Soda and juices are simply empty calories and I would much rather eat my calories than drink them. 

Especially living in Arizona we need to be drinking a lot of water in order to stay hydrated during these awful hot summers. The symptoms of dehydration include fatigue, loss of energy, weight gain, constipation, high/low blood pressure, acid-alkaline imbalance and premature aging, just to name a few. Weight gain specifically because people will mistake hunger for dehydration, so the next time you feel hungry or have a craving, drink a full glass of water and see how you feel afterwards. Also, right when you wake up drink a glass, or two, or even whole liter of water before you eat anything. Water in the morning starts up your metabolism, cleanses your colon to aid in the absorption of nutrients and helps purge toxins from the body. 

So how much water should we be consuming daily? What about the “drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water” rule? Well it all really depends, like most things do, on YOU. Depends on your environment, if you live somewhere hot or cold, how much exercise you do, how much you weigh, and if you’re male or female. I found this “hydration calculator” where you put in all your information and it calculates how much you should be drinking a day. You’ll find it here: http://nutrition.about.com/library/blwatercalculator.htm

According to it I should be drinking roughly 2.2 liters (73 ounces), which is an average amount for a woman. So the 8x8 rule can be applied since it is around the same amount of ounces. But I tend to drink more than that, about 3-4 liters, especially on the days where I do heavy HIIT sessions. 

And I know that water can get boring compared to other beverages, but there are many different ways to “spice” it up. Add lemon! It makes it surprisingly sweeter and easier to drink your daily-recommended amount. Lemon water on its own has many health benefits that I will have to cover in another topic. You can also add mint leaves, cucumber, even fruit to give it a flavored taste. Drinking tea can help switch things up, but be careful on what kind of tea you drink. Don’t even think about reaching for the canned tea in convenient stores. Have you seen how much sugar is in one of those? I mean tea bags, the old fashioned way. Add some lemon, a dash of cinnamon and you’ve got yourself a party! I sweat sometimes I’m wise beyond my years, haha.

Anyways drink more water people!! It’s nothing but beneficial for your body!

http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/6-reasons-to-drink-water
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/13-symptoms-of-chronic-dehydration.html
http://www.mensfitness.com/nutrition/what-to-drink/5-reasons-to-never-neglect-water
http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/water/NU00283.html

Cardio: The Ugly Truth

Ahhhh cardio. A concept that seems simple yet carries with it a multitude of speculation and even more of a “He said, she said” type deal. I’ve heard so many different things about doing cardio and I’m sure you have to. Such as, “The more you run, the more calories you burn!” and “Don’t do any cardio, strictly lift weights.” and “Do only cardio, you don’t want to get bulky.” Blah blah blah. I’m going to try to tackle these topics using my own experience and the resource I use that you can find at the bottom of the post.

Okay let me start off my saying that I have a love/hate relationship with cardio, and when I say cardio I’m mostly referring to running. I was on the track and field team in high school but only because my mom threatened me to either join marching band or pick a sport (not kidding) so I choose to run in circles. Why I picked track and field at that time is beyond me because I was reallllly bad at it. Like come in last every single time bad at it. Like the coaches only put me in one race because they had to bad at it. You would think that running skills would rub off on me considering my mom ran in high school and STILL holds running records, and the fact that my older sister got a full ride scholarship to college because of how freakin fast she ran. My brother is even good at it, lapping me when we used to hike when he is a whole 3 years younger than me. Embarrassing I know. But I stuck with it for the whole year and then the year after that I found my true love, swimming. It’s my element and I tend to agree with it more. 

I started to incorporate running into my workout routine about a month after I changed my eating habits but when it started to be as hot as the surface of the sun I moved my cardio inside and onto my moms treadmill. This is when I really started to actually love it. I never really loved it outside because it’s freakin hot and I would always give up when I knew I could go longer. On the treadmill I tend to push myself harder instead of stopping because I know how much time I have left in my set. Also telling myself to “stop being a pansy you have 10 seconds left” helps. 

Anyways enough about me. Like I’ve said before I’ve heard MANY different things about the “correct” way to do cardio and the constant back and forth is nothing but frustrating. Recently I took to google and decided to find out on my own in order to solve this unsolved mystery. This article I found “9 Steps to Perfect Health. #7 Move Like Your Ancestors” by Christ Kesser (not a Doctor if you’re wondering for cite purposes but practices Acupuncture and Chinese medicine). I suggest reading this whole article if you have the time because it’s extremely insightful, but I’m going to try to shorten it.

But let me start by saying that when I talk about cardio I’m referring to the repetitive activity done at moderate intensity like jogging or walking on the stairmaster.

At first he explains that on one hand we have the typical coach potatoes that don’t do any exercise, but also on the other we have the fitness fanatics who will do countless hours of cardio thinking that they are going to loose weight fast when in reality it’s not the case at all. He states that Americans have continually gained weight over the last 40 years in spite of increased leisure time exercise and increased energy expenditure. He goes on to say that people would be surprised to know that the caloric burn during exercise is actually pretty small, people who exercise tend to eat more and increasing specific periods of exercise can actually be detrimental. What did I just say that? Yep it can actually be harmful to your health. I’m not saying you’re going to drop dead the next time you run for 45 minutes; I’m saying a continued effort over a long period of time. My sister is the perfect example. She was literally run into the ground, as in she broke her leg during a race. She was so good that her coaches had her do back to back races at every meet, which damaged and weakened her body to the point where she still has problems with to this day. Yet on the outside she looked like she was in the best shape of her life. What reflects on the outside doesn’t necessarily reflect what’s going on inside.

So how can cardio be harmful? Well our helpful guy Chris gives us a list of scientific reasons such as:

Increases inflammation

Depresses the immune system

Decreases fat metabolism

Disrupts cortisol levels

Causes neurodegeneration

He expands on the topic of cortisol levels (what manages stress) by saying that too much exercise can disrupt our natural cortisol rhythm and drives levels to high at first but over time depresses them over time, which then promotes fat gain and muscle loss. Over exercising can also increase heart disease. Say whattttt? Yep. In the study he mentions 102 runners were compared to 102 non runners. The runners aged between 50 and 72 and ran 35 miles a week. And guess what? They were actually THREE times more likely to have heart damage than the non runners. There were 12 heart attacks among the runners vs. 4 attacks among the non runners. And yes I know this could be based on a number of different aspects like I’m sure you are thinking, but the runners had NO history of heart disease and were exercising like maniacs so you would think they would be healthy right?

This doesn’t mean that the next time you want to go for a run you think to yourself “But Ashley said it’s bad for you!” and don’t end up doing it. I am saying don’t run aimlessly on the treadmill for an hour, instead integrate HIIT into your workout. I’ve talked about HIIT on my healthy instagram before but just to elaborate again for those who don’t know. HIIT in short means = High Intensity Interval Training. So basically short bursts of energy with periods of low intensity in order to keep your heart rate guessing. I really fell in love with running when I started doing HIIT because it meant that I could take breaks during my workout whereas I’ve always been told to run, run, run and to keep running! Now I’m no Forest Gump here, but I believe it has further improved my endurance, my stamina and my ability to say that I like running (never thought I would see the day). 

Here are some statistics to back up what I’m trying to say. In a study, one group was assigned to “chronic cardio” while the other was assigned to intervals of 8-second sprints. After 15 weeks the researchers found that the HIIT group had a significant reduction in total body mass, fat mass and better insulin levels. Another study done at McMaster University found that “6 minutes of pure, hard exercise once a week could be just as effective as an hour of daily moderate activity.” 

So tell me, would you rather run for an hour or do a short 30 minute HIIT session? And HIIT doesn’t have to be just running, it can be anything! You can apply it to any type of exercise of your choosing, such as hiking, swimming, cycling etc. It is very versatile and every time you work out it can be different than the last. Below is my go to HIIT exercise when I’m not feeling creative. It may seem easy but I promise you, you will be dripping with sweat at the end. I typically run on the treadmill 4x a week and every single time I try to make it different than the last in order to keep my body guessing and to avoid hitting a plateau. I’ve also incorporated doing incline walks to help train my body for the Grand Canyon hike I’m going on in October. 

Well if you’re still with me at the end of this very lengthy long post then you’re ready to shake the next person that says “The more cardio the better!” Funny I mention that actually, I follow a girl on instagram who does 2+ hours of cardio 7x a week! Are you kidding me? I wish I could shake the crap out of her. But I’m sure she will pay for it later while her little 106 pound frame is currently reaping the “benefits.” Ha. 

So next time you step outside, or on the treadmill, or hop in the pool, incorporate HIIT and you won’t regret it. Unless you’re sore the next day ;)

http://chriskresser.com/9-steps-to-perfect-health-7-move-like-your-ancestors

A lil about me!

Hey everyone! Or the few that will actually read this. So why a blog now? Well as you know (if you know) I already have a “healthy” instagram where I post meals, recipes and random facts about living a healthier lifestyle butttt to be honest I’m kinda over it and will probably delete it soon. I want an outlet where I can discuss topics of my interest into further depth than allowed on instagram, and where the information is just as important as the image/s. I have learned TONS of stuff since I started this journey back in January that I want to share in the hope that it will help others. 

Throughout my short life I’ve tried to diet several times, which involved me eating a lot of packaged salad, lean cuisines and those wonderful 100 calorie packs. I would be strong for a good week and then  would slowly but surely go back to my old eating habits. While I can’t blame anyone but myself I’m sure it had to do with living at my parents house where the main food choices were pop tarts and 10 different kinds of sugary cereals. And let me tell you, those two things are my weakness. Espeically cherry pop tarts, zomg I’m drooling just thinking about it. Right now if you were to go to my moms you would find 4 boxes of pop tarts in the pantry. Every single time I go over there it is an internal battle to not eat one, which I surprisingly haven’t (yet)! I just love those damn pop tarts. 

Anways, after I moved out of my parents and into a house with my boyfriend my eating habbits still didn’t change. Our meals consisted of hamburger helper, spaghetti and oven pizza, not to mention the countless sugary snacks, little debbies, bags of chips and candy we had stocked up. That was just at home. We ate out several times a week and mostly at greasy fast food restaurants (A LOT of taco bell). Now that I think about it I really don’t know how I was able to eat all that crap, for every meal, everday. I mean don’t get me wrong I love bad food, that’s why I’m even here in the first place. But it’s all about moderation, not access and binging until you feel sick like I often did. The food caught up to me slowly but surely in the most sneakiest ways. Not only was I gaining weight but I was tired all the time, not matter how much sleep I got, I had horrible headaches on the daily and my stomach was always upset. But did I keep stuffing my face? Yep. Things only changed when around this past Christmas I had a whole week off from work and school which meant me lying around doing absolutely nothing except watching netflix and eating my moms wonderfully delicious gingerbread cookies. I was walking through the house with a gingerbread man in hand when I looked down and didn’t recognize myself. And I know I’ll get the comments like “you’re skinny what are you talking about” like I’ve gotten before, but in all reality you have no idea. I was very unhappy and remember feeling so self conscious about the way I looked in my clothes even on Christmas. I wanted to feel comfortable and confident in my body and I presently did not, at all. 

After winter break was over I knew it was time to make the change and stick with it for once. And now 7 months later I’m still at it! Yeah it started out as a mission to get rid of my Christmas fluff but soon it turned into bettering my health and my insides. I don’t know how much weight I’ve lost because I tend to stay away from the scale like any girl should, and I don’t particually focus on weight. Instead I focus on what I’ve gained, like knowledge, insight and a new outlook on food and nutrition. I love this lifestyle and even more I love sharing what I know to others. And let me just say that I don’t have a degree in nutrition and I don’t study it in school, most of the stuff I will post about I research or have found in my own experiences. So I hope that with this blog I can give to others what health has given to me.  :)