DO'S AND DON'TS FOR FLEXIBLE DIETING

The following are tips (from personal experience) that will make this journey just a little less difficult:

DO’s

1. Do include your supplements that have macro properties into My Fitness Pal – Examples of this include fish oils, protein, etc. If it has macro’s, log it!
2. Do check My Fitness Pal: MFP has a way of changing your total calories on you as you lose/gain weight. For example, if you enter that you gained 2 lbs, and your goals in MFP are to lose weight, MPF will CHANGE YOUR TOTAL CALORIES in an effort to help you continue to lose weight. This is quite thoughtful, but drives a flexible dieter CRAZY!!! The point of macro tracking is to make sure you hit the same numbers every day, which is hard if MFP changes your total calories, thus changing your macro allotment.
3. Celebrate the little successes – So you haven’t lost weight, but you’ve hit 3 PRs (Personal Records) in the gym this week! FU*K YES! Or maybe you’ve gained weight, but you’re looking in the mirror and your stomach is looking flatter?! CELEBRATION!!! Don’t always think about the number on the scale- as cliche as that sounds. Take into consideration other things that are the result of your hard work and flexible dieting: how you feel, how you perform, what your friends are saying about how you look, etc… Take those WINS and celebrate!

DON’Ts

1. Don’t enter foods into My Fitness Pal that have trace amounts or 0 macro properties – For example, black coffee has 0 carbs, 0 fats, and 0 proteins according to MFP. So even though it’s 5 calories, it has no macro value and is therefore a waste of time to enter. Simply enter in the sugar and cream (if you do that)! Of course, you CAN add it if you WANT TO, but I tend to leave it out just because it won’t matter in the big scheme of things for me.
2. Don’t enter in your exercise to MFP – Adding exercise to MFP will add extra calories into your daily allotted calories which will change the number of macros you are allowed to eat (according to MFP). Remember the point of macro tracking is the hit the SAME numbers every day. If you enter in your exercise, you end up throwing those numbers off.
3. Don’t worry about total calories – Total calories is something to NOT worry about when tracking your macros. Theoretically, it should all even out and if you hit your macro numbers, your calories SHOULD read 0 by the end of the day, but sometimes it doesn’t. THAT’S OKAY. It’s okay for you to be under or over your calories, so long as you are hitting your macros. SO- IGNORE THE CALORIES (When did you ever think you could say THAT?!)
4. Don’t be too hard on yourself – Yes, it’s important to hit your numbers, but life happens. Take it all in stride and know that it’s not the end of the world to have a bad eating day. Flexible dieting is wonderful because it’s something you can end up doing for a lifetime, so one bad day among a lifetime of eating? NO BIG DEAL. Get back at it the next day… or maybe the day after… :)

Email me with questions as you have them! Coming soon: FAQs!

Interested in joining the next group? Email me! eaticecreamgetabs@gmail.com You should have a response within 1-2 days :)