Cutting using IIFYM - success story & thank you!

This post serves a few purposes...

1. Because I'm on a cut and completed my weekly weigh in today.. after 2 weeks of not dropping weight I adjusted my calories/macros and then BANG recorded a weight loss this morning of 1kg. I am SO excited that I felt the need to share my success with the wonderful bb.com crew (well at the very least those kind enough to read this post)

2. To hopefully have my story serve as a bit of encouragement to fellow newbies who are stuck about where to start.. so my story, in brief, goes like this:

I've been training for a couple of years but for the majority of this time it was sports specific. A knee injury, and subsequent surgery, meant I could no longer play my chosen sport (basketball) and so my training changed. Over the last 4 months I started getting more serious about where I could take this body transformation but neglected my diet so OBVIOUSLY wasn't happy with my progress..

This is where I went to see a dietician.. long story short, I got quite generic information, a very generic food plan, and very little detail surrounding the plan to ensure I was educated enough to make this a long term, lifestyle change/thing..

Then I stumble across bb.com forums.. in particular the female section.. I start reading the WEALTH of knowledge on here.. very importantly Emma-Leigh's macro/calorie sticky in the nutrition section. It all makes sense.. I post a couple of times with some questions, seeking advice and the responses I get are AMAZING..

Next thing I've calculated my calorie/macro requirements and start weighing, tracking everything.. and BOOM, I start losing weight @ a healthy pace but more importantly ALL WHILST EATING FOODS I ENJOY (for the most part!). I plateau for 2 weeks and adjust slightly and then I have another great week and see a drop on the scale.

I take the advice of the experienced ladies here and stay on my compound lifting routine.. sticking to the basics, not re-inventing the wheel and as a result haven't seen too many in the way of strength or muscle loss.

Morale of the story for those still reading (bless your cotton socks)..

bb.com is amazing
the advice, knowledge and support here is amazing
GET YOUR CALS/MACRO's ON POINT
Track everything
Follow a professionally designed lifting program.. and stick to it
Revel in the fact that you are now part of a successful online community and celebrate your successes as no doubt you'll at this point start seeing PLENTY of them

Thank you to all the wonderful people here for your ongoing support and advice.. you've helped another person get that little bit closer to reaching her goals.

**insert happy dance here**

GJ OP, may you have continued success, Poptarts of peace fitting your macros, and and many more celebratory dances. :D

[QUOTE=thehobbes;1205066301]GJ OP, may you have continued success, Poptarts of peace fitting your macros, and and many more celebratory dances. :D[/QUOTE]

Poptarts ... yesssss ... they feature weekly that's for damn sure. In Australia Poptarts are normally quite expensive but I found a place which sells them for a third of the normal price. SCORE!! ;)

And thank you for your well wishes :)

This is exactly what I needed to read today! I started tracking macros a week ago and am up by a lb today but know that if I keep consistent with lifting and weighing/measuring everything i eat consistently I'll see results. Just can't get tooooo hung up on the scale which I sometimes do.

Congrats! I'm thrilled for you.

This is great, OP, and nice job. I preach the flex dieting method to a lot of ppl and they just refuse to accept the fact that they CAN lose weight while still enjoying some "less than healthy" treats as part of that plan. Good for you!

Great job! I garee that the information and support available here is amazing. Love learning more and more everyday.

Without the advice I've gotten from all the wonderful gals on this site, I'd still be yo yo dieting and unhappy with myself. My avi shows a 12 week difference in size, back when I started following IIFYM. Best thing since sliced rye bread :)

[QUOTE=Rozlyn27;1205331441]This is exactly what I needed to read today! I started tracking macros a week ago and am up by a lb today but know that if I keep consistent with lifting and weighing/measuring everything i eat consistently I'll see results. Just can't get tooooo hung up on the scale which I sometimes do.

Congrats! I'm thrilled for you.[/QUOTE]

Glad my experience resonated with someone :)

When I hadn't lost anything for 2 weeks (just stayed consistent), despite tracking food I was pretty deflated. But I went back to the drawing board and revisited my calculations for macros and reduced ever so slightly. I also saw a vid one of the ladies posted in a thread about weighing food and the fact that eyeballing food and not actually weighing everything can see you got over by a few hundred cals (yeh, a few HUNDRED). Hopefully someone reads this, knows the vid I'm talking about and can link it for you to watch. It's great. So if Ur not weighing everything, literally, then start doing that. Made a huge difference for me.

And yee haa to flexible dieting!!! In the week just gone where I lost the next kg finally Id been having 1 scoop of creme brûlée ice cream in my protein milkshake every night. And pizza and a pop tart on Sat night. Who wants to be shackled to Chicken and veg all day every day. BOOORRRRINGGGGG!!!

[QUOTE=jrobb82;1205441031]Glad my experience resonated with someone :)

When I hadn't lost anything for 2 weeks (just stayed consistent), despite tracking food I was pretty deflated. But I went back to the drawing board and revisited my calculations for macros and reduced ever so slightly. I also saw a vid one of the ladies posted in a thread about weighing food and the fact that eyeballing food and not actually weighing everything can see you got over by a few hundred cals (yeh, a few HUNDRED). Hopefully someone reads this, knows the vid I'm talking about and can link it for you to watch. It's great. So if Ur not weighing everything, literally, then start doing that. Made a huge difference for me.

And yee haa to flexible dieting!!!![/QUOTE]
It for sure struck a chord with me.

I decided to lower my cals by 30, nothing extreme but I am already on the low end for someone my height. Just till I see movement again and then I'll creep back up. Inputted everything (EVERYTHING) into MFP and I'll see how it goes. Also compared labels to everything I logged, and checked the labels that I scanned. Fingers crossed I've got it down now!

[QUOTE=Rozlyn27;1206077751]It for sure struck a chord with me.

I decided to lower my cals by 30, nothing extreme but I am already on the low end for someone my height. Just till I see movement again and then I'll creep back up. Inputted everything (EVERYTHING) into MFP and I'll see how it goes. Also compared labels to everything I logged, and checked the labels that I scanned. Fingers crossed I've got it down now![/QUOTE]

GOOD LUCK! Honestly... slightly reducing cals and then WEIGHING everything on the digi scale is when I really started to see results :) Post back with your success stories!

[QUOTE=jrobb82;1206081801]GOOD LUCK! Honestly... slightly reducing cals and then WEIGHING everything on the digi scale is when I really started to see results :) Post back with your success stories![/QUOTE]

Did another read of MFP. Counted my macros - I had met them all and it said I have 111 calories left. Does not compute. I have possibly been off by 100-200 calories a day haha. Frick sakes. Lesson learned, eat to meet macros only, not to meet calories.

This is just what I needed to see! I'm also doing IIFYM and have just started to go on a cut. Its been about 2 weeks and I have lost 1 kg but my weight still fluctuates a bit probably because my body is still getting used to the lower calories after my reverse diet!! But I know that I just gotta be patient and make sure I hit all my macros so I can lose a bit more weight! Good luck to you with your cut, seems like you're doing a good job of it :)

You make an awesome point about not reinventing the wheel. When I started lifting seriously, I thought I had to do all this crazy stuff and forgot about the basics.

CONGRATS! Happy for you and your progress :)