Day -3 Thur 01/23/2020

My new fitness plan goes into effect in four days. Yesterday I did a rough look at strategies for apportioning macronutrients. Today I'll try and finish this topic and then discuss some of the essential aspects of the non-nutritional properties of foods.  

Continuing yesterday's discussion, Table 2 (below) summarizes these general thoughts based on two factors, limiting simple carbohydrates and favoring protein over fat.

Table 2 Macronutrients given 1.0 g of protein per pound of body weight.

Macronutrients	Calories/Gram (kcal/g)	Caloric Allotment (kcal)	Mass Equivalent (g)	% Daily Totals (%)
Carbohydrates	4	240	60	13.3%
Protein	4	1000	250	55.5%
Fat	9	760	84	42.2%
Totals		1800	294	100.0%

The percentages in Table 2 serve as a guideline and can be used to plan future meals. Every meal can't meet these exact daily percentages. They should be and will be allowed to vary as much as 20%, as long as the assumptions are maintained, as shown in Table 3.

Table 3 Ranges for Macronutrients Percentage

Macronutrients	Calories/Gram (kcal/g)	Caloric Allotment (kcal)	Mass Equivalent (g)	% Daily Totals (%) +/10%
Carbohydrates	4	200-300	50-75	13.3%
Protein	4	800-1200	200-300	55.5%
Fat	9	600-800	67-89	42.2%
Totals		Na	na	100.0%

The name of the meal plan is "If It Fits Your Macros," the IIFYM Macro Diet (link). According to their website, the diet plan "....takes the hassle out of tracking your macros with a Meal Plan tailored to meet your exact needs." The process starts by establishing a baseline macronutrient breakdown.  

Their Macro Calculator is free. It takes into account age, sex, current weight, and goals, fitness levels, and preferential strategy and computes my Ideal Macro percentages. You get an email containing the results. Unfortunately, the value for carbohydrates exceeds the recommendation for people with type II diabetes (60-120 gram/day).

The results in Table 4 show more of an even split, favoring carbohydrates.  The IFFYM algorithm does not take into account carbohydrate limiting recommendations for diabetics.  However, this is useful information, from a historical perspective, and is worth preserving. So, I've placed the results in Table 4. For an additional fee, the site offers further services, at cost, which include meal planning and workout programming.  

Table 4 Results from IIFY Macro Calculator Results

Macronutrients	Calories/Gram (kcal/g)	Caloric Allotment (kcal)	Mass Equivalent (g)	% Daily Totals (%) +/10%
Carbohydrates	4	824	206	36.3%
Protein	4	708	177	31.2%
Fat	9	738	82	32.5%
Totals		2270	465	100.0%

Let's look a the strategy for total daily calories. Calorie management has three parts, the transition, weight loss, maintenance.  

The point of the transition is to allow your metabolism to adapt to the drop in calories slowly, taking place over two, four, or six weeks. For a man my age and weight, typical starting values are somewhere around 2000 kcals/day and drop down 200 kcals/day, or so. However, I've not had much luck with starting at 2000 kcals.  

For whatever reason, I believe my basal metabolism rate is quite low, probably around 2000-1800 kcals/day, based on experience and observation over the past 12 years. I tend to get better results starting around 1500 kcals/day and dropping down to 1200 kcals/day (or less). A downside is rapid weight gain. After taking 6-12 months to lose 20% of my weight, I've gained half of that back in a couple of weeks, all of it in a couple of months. I think it's the body's reaction to having sustained weight loss at a long-term, deficient caloric intake. So, there's an argument for staying the higher range.

For planning purposes, I'm going to start this program at the 2000 kcals/day, drop it down to 1500 over six weeks. That will take me to the end of February. That last tidbit might be useful later.

OK, I'm committing to eating a little over a half-pound of macronutrients per day. Of course, the food I prepare and eat contain macronutrients, and typically has the mass & volume sufficient to reach satisfactory satiation levels. Well, that's the goal.

Before I go for the day, I need to talk about fiber. For a person with type II diabetes, fiber helps in two ways, adding digestion and slowing absorption of sugars. It's best to get fiber naturally. Often cruciferous vegetables are typically recommended. Supplements help. However, avoid probiotics and foods promoting probiotic behavior, like yogurt.  

Enough for now. Table 3 contains the overall diet approach. I'll be using My Fitness Pal (MFP) to record and track how well I'm managing my macros. Tomorrow I'll start laying out the fitness and exercise plan. Also, I need to write a blurb on ways to stay motivated, and one on some of the research I've done with the anatomy body fat.