IIFYM fans...

monicarungood

Hey! I am interested in learning more about IIFYM style of dieting... I was down from 225 to 140 pounds at one point, but only learned later that I needed to be working on building more muscle in order to make it easier to maintain that weight, and due to a variety of things have since gone back up to about 165 pounds at about 5'5".

Please feel free to link me in the right direction if my question is redundant, but I figure I have to start somewhere--right now my routine consists of, roughly, the 5x5 Stronglifts app MWF (only been doing it a couple weeks so far), and running 3-4 miles Tues/Thurs, with a long run on Saturdays (I am training for a half.) I just got married in the fall, so I've been kinda slowly working back into running over the last few months.

I am expecting *some* weight loss simply as I get more into my training runs, but as said above, I'm also interested in building more lean muscle. From what I can tell, IIFYM seems to be a generally good fit more for those who primarily lift... is the fact that I run frequently going to be an issue if I start following IIFYM? Right now I'm just plain counting calories in MFP.

Again, sorry if this seems redundant or ignorant. It's just hard to know what to do--it seems like everyone has a different opinion on what's "good." I've heard trainers bash on running, bash on 5x5 Stronglifts (which I do realize, that routine is going to need to change up over time), bash on various diets, etc. and they're not usually very constructive about what I CAN be doing. I had zero clue when it came to nutrition growing up, so this whole thing has been one big long process as I try to figure out how to best nourish my body.

SideSteel

IIFYM is simply a dietary philosophy and it can be used independent of whatever training you prefer to do.

You are simply setting up reasonable calorie and macronutrient targets and hitting those targets within reason selecting foods you enjoy. And you would be primarily eating whole and minimally refined foods for the bulk of your intake while also leaving some room for discretionary calories (a portion of your intake dedicated to whatever the heck you want once you meet nutrient needs with the remainder of your calories).

monicarungood

That definitely helps. I feel like any time I see it referenced, it's usually on Instagram with some dude's giant bicep. lol

SideSteel

mkhelms wrote: »

That definitely helps. I feel like any time I see it referenced, it's usually on Instagram with some dude's giant bicep. lol

It originated in the bodybuilding community on bodybuilding.com. Consequently most of the people promoting it are bodybuilders to some extent.

ndj1979

IIFYM is just a method of eating to fit in your macros and also eat the foods that you like in moderation, it is not going to make you have "big biceps" that only comes from training and eating in a surplus.

What is your current training regimen like? Are you currently lifting heavy utilizing compound movements??

DvlDwnInGA

I use IIFYM to set my calorie and macro goals. I find that it is better for people who are doing weight training than MFP. I use MFP to track each of those calories and macros. The calorie counts are usually really close to each other. Like within 50 or so calories. However, the macros are not. I like to eat more protein than MFP has me set for. So I set my goals up to do that.

They both work and the only thing that I really adjust differently using IIFYM is to make sure I am getting a minimum of 1 gram of protein per lean body mass.

The closer I get to my goal weight I will adjust it up higher on the protein and fats side and drop carbs down to be a lower total for daily macros.

monicarungood

ndj1979 wrote: »

IIFYM is just a method of eating to fit in your macros and also eat the foods that you like in moderation, it is not going to make you have "big biceps" that only comes from training and eating in a surplus.

What is your current training regimen like? Are you currently lifting heavy utilizing compound movements??

The 5x5 Stronglifts app switches between two basic routines. One will be Squats/Overheard Press/Deadlift, and the other will be Squat/Bench Press/Barbell Row. It's pretty new to me--this is only the third week my husband and I have done it, and I have not started finding my maxes yet (as I've never tried to lift heavy before), although with some exercises I'm starting to get close. We know we want to add more/change up exercises over time, I think for right now our main goal is to establish the routine of getting off work and going right to the gym instead of the couch.

I did a lot of BodyPump before that, which involves some lifting but their whole "thing" is low weight/high rep, so not as beneficial as it could be. I'm about to run my 5th half-marathon--I don't have issues getting my cardio in, but since the lifting thing is new it's a little weird trying to figure out a routine.

We're lifting MWF and I'm running Tues/Thurs/Sat, generally.

Edited to add - depending on difficulty, I've been adding 5-15 pounds at a time when lifting with Stronglifts--I just figure it's safer than just assuming it's going to be no problem to add 30+ pounds and then finding out it's not the case.