May 27, 2016

Banana Pancakes

Banana Pancakes 
Servings: 1.
Nutritional facts (toppings included)
Fat 6 g.
Carbohydrates 31 g.
Fiber 4 g.
Protein 17 g.


Ingredients:
   
For the pancakes:

  • 60 g of Banana.
  • 63 g Egg whites.
  • 1 Whole Egg.
  • 15g All purpose flour.
For the toppings:
  • 60 g of Strawberries.
  • 30 g of Fat-free Plain greek yogurt.
  • 20 ml Mrs. Butterworth's sugar-free syrup.

Directions:

  1. Blend the banana, the egg whites, the whole egg and the flour.
  2. Heat a flat pan and spread PAM oil spray.
  3. Turn to low-heat and pour the mix into the pan. Flip when bubbles appear on the surface.
  4. Serve and add the yogurt, the strawberries and the syrup on top
  5. Enjoy!

April 26, 2016

How to calculate and track your macros PART 1

Hello again!

I hope that you have found my first post useful! If you haven't read it yet here's it is What IIFYM is

Now that you know what are macros and you have an idea of what IIFYM means, let's talk about how to actually calculate your own macros and how to track them.

As I told you before, there are three macro-nutrients: Proteins, carbs and fats. Every person has different protein/carb/fat daily requirements. This is based on the level of activity, age, weight, height and gender. Let's use an example, pretend that there's a girl named Mary and a guy named Josh, Mary is 25 years old, weights 65 kgs and she's 170cm tall, she works as a secretary so she spends most of her day at her desk. Mary goes to the gym 3 times a week. We could say that Mary is moderately active. Josh is 30 years old, he is 185cm tall and weights 82kgs, Josh works as a constructor and does cross-fit 5 days a week. Clearly, Josh is a pretty active man. If we compare Josh and Mary, who would you say that needs more energy throughout the day? Of course, the answer is Josh!!

To calculate your macros, there's an equation (Don't hate me, I know you weren't expecting any math in here) but I' gonna be very nice with you and I'm going to give you a link that you can follow to calculate your caloric requirements and your macros. This calculations are very accurate; however, make sure that you enter the right info! IIFYM Calculator

After you get your numbers, let me introduce you your new best friend:My Fitness Pal


My Fitness Pal is an app/website that has a huge database of food and it is design to help you track your macros and calories. Of course, there are several apps that do the same thing but this is the one that I have known for a while now and that I feel that has more information. They have a premium version that allows you to set your own goals but personally, I just try to adjust them as close as the app lets me and then I constantly check that I'm registering according to MY macros and not the ones that the app calculates for me.

I prepared this quick video where I show you how I use MyFitnessPal without the premium version!


I'll be posting the second part this weekend. I'll provide you more detailed information about how to weight and register your food in the app!



April 20, 2016

What IIFYM is?

Hello there! So I guess if you are reading this pretty brand new blog (thanks by the way) is because somehow you are wondering WTH is IIFYM... Well, keep reading because I'm gonna give you a very brief explanation so you can understand what this is all about.

So let's start by explaining what does IIFYM means: If It Fits Your Macros! 

That was quite easy lol...

Now, you might be wondering what macros are, so play attention to this.
As you know, our bodies need energy to keep us alive, we get all this energy from FOOD! I want you to understand that energy equals CALORIES, therefore all food has calories. But, where do the calories come from? They come from the three macro-nutrients: PROTEINS, CARBOHYDRATES & FATS. Yup! These three guys are the basis of any diet in the world. 

So how do these guys provides us with calories? This is quite simple, per every gram of PROTEIN present in any food, your body will receive 4cals. Same thing for CARBS, every gram gives us 4cals. For FATS, every gram provides 9cals. 

Now that we know this, let's talk about what the IIFYM philosophy is. To put it in simple words, flexible dieting is about tracking your calories no matter where they come from. Yeah you are reading it right; it doesn't matter if you are getting calories from a piece of chicken and some steamed broccoli or if you are getting them from a donut. Of course, these foods may have similar calorie content but they have DIFFERENT macros.
People tend to think that IIFYM is about eating pop tarts and ice cream all day but it isn't. You might fulfill your carbs and fat intake from desserts but you have to complete your protein as well so that means we have to eat  some "clean food" too.
The biggest difference between "eating clean" and IIFYM is that with a IIFYM you get flexibility; you can eat the things you love and still achieve your body goals. 

Personally, I see flexible diet as the perfect balance. I used to torture myself eating plain chicken and veggies all the time, I was so afraid of carbs like pasta and rice. With IIFYM I learned that I can eat not only pasta, rice, chicken, veggies but I can also eat ice cream, bread, fruits, milk and whatever I WANT if I can make it fit into my macros :)

So the image below gives you an idea of how I incorporate the three macro-nutrients in my breakfast: I'm getting my protein from my egg's omelette, carbs from the slice of bread and the banana pieces and fat from the peanut butter. 

This breakfast's macros are: 
21g of protein. = 21g x 4cals = 84cals
37g of carbs. = 37g x 4 cals = 148cals
11g of fats. = 11g x 9cals = 99cals

This gives us a total of 331 cals!



I hope this info was useful for you. I'll be posting about how to track your calories and more useful things so you can understand IIFYM better!