IIFYM withOUT Excercise

deeishealthy

Hello All,

Long ago I went through WW, lost 30lbs, and still felt blah. I found a website that monitored my macros beautifully and made a game out of balancing your nutrients for the day (I lost another 30lbs using it and felt AMAZING), but it's now gone. MFP is very similar and I'm happy I found it.

Counting calories is good for me, but I'm more interested in nourishing and fueling my body properly with the RIGHT calories. Mostly because I live a very sedentary life, with bursitis severely limiting what I can do for exercise, so want to control what I can, my diet. I've recently started looking into IIFYM and love it, however, Google gives me everything to do with lifting, which I don't do.

Is there anyone here that is following IIFYM without lifting? Just using it to lose weight and eat healthy? Do you have any resources you could share in the comments that are more geared to those of us that do not lift?

Thanking you in advance...
Dee

DeguelloTex

IIFYM is completely separate from lifting. It can be applied to any scenario. If you want to eat less protein than you see recommended in association with lifting, just target less protein.

I mean, are you just looking for a macro allocation or something different?

cwolfman13

IIFYM is just a concept (derived largely out of the body building industry) that allows for flexibility in dieting in that more attention is paid to the actual macro than particular food items that make up that macro. IIFYM was a stock answer by a user of bodybuilding.com to questions like, "If I eat X or Y, is that going to destroy my gainz brah?"...answer, IIFYM.

There is no universally optimal macro ratio...the "Y" in IIFYM is pretty important. A marathon runner is going to have a different optimal macro ratio than, say, a body builder. To that end, IIFYM can be applied to any diet plan on the planet...because IIFYM is not in and of itself a diet plan, it's just a philosophical concept that says you can eat X or Y so long as it is in the confines of your established macro ratios.

deeishealthy

Yes, that's making perfect sense. I should have been more clear... I am trying to figure out what the Y should be for me, and that's where my struggle is. Everything I look at is for lifters, not for sedentary old fat women who just want to eat healthier with proper nutrients.

deeishealthy

Thank you for responding... I guess I will keep muddling along.

cwolfman13

deeishealthy wrote: »

Yes, that's making perfect sense. I should have been more clear... I am trying to figure out what the Y should be for me, and that's where my struggle is. Everything I look at is for lifters, not for sedentary old fat women who just want to eat healthier with proper nutrients.

keep it simple...ultimately, your energy (calorie) intake is going to be the overwhelming factor where weight loss is concerned. our body's are just super awesome machines...and like any machine, we require energy to function...a calorie is just a unit of measure of that energy. when we consume more energy than required, that energy is stored in our backup generator for later use. when we consume less energy than required, that backup generator kicks on and we burn fat to make up for the difference.

worrying about macros and this and that can muddy the waters...not that they aren't good to be aware of, but really, first things first...get your calories in order. macro ratios become increasingly important when you're talking about fitness performance...outside of that they can be helpful in balancing your diet out, but in and of themselves aren't going to have a whole lot to do with weight loss.

as far as nutrition goes, get back to basics...look around your grocery store at all of those whole foods...eat a lot of those. eat plenty of veg, a couple servings of fruit...whole grains, lean sourced protein and healthy fats. cook and eat a lot of food made from scratch, whole ingredients. "my plate" is actually a reasonably good place to start. also, learn to read nutritional labels and learn what a proper portion of X is for you. a good place to start with portion control is eating the recommended portion of whatever...ie 4 ounces of chicken breast, etc. from there, you can adjust according to your needs.

deeishealthy

Yes, agreed! Which is exactly what I've been doing for years (on and off, which is why I still have to use these tools to manage my loss... I'm a food addict). I have my calories set and am trying to determine what is the healthiest level to have my macros set to for my lifestyle WITHIN my caloric budget for optimal health for a 5'2" 47 year old woman who lives a sedentary lifestyle. My research and experience over the last eight years has me eating mostly "clean" (I know I know that's another "term" that has been overused and destroyed) so I am enjoying very much the search for balance. I was more looking for insight to my sedentary lifestyle and what my % for p/f/c should be (ish) vs all of the "but do you lift, brah" crap I'm finding online.

I feel like I'm still not making myself clear, but I sure do appreciate the input.

cwolfman13

deeishealthy wrote: »

Yes, agreed! Which is exactly what I've been doing for years (on and off, which is why I still have to use these tools to manage my loss... I'm a food addict). I have my calories set and am trying to determine what is the healthiest level to have my macros set to for my lifestyle WITHIN my caloric budget for optimal health for a 5'2" 47 year old woman who lives a sedentary lifestyle. My research and experience over the last eight years has me eating mostly "clean" (I know I know that's another "term" that has been overused and destroyed) so I am enjoying very much the search for balance. I was more looking for insight to my sedentary lifestyle and what my % for p/f/c should be (ish) vs all of the "but do you lift, brah" crap I'm finding online.

I feel like I'm still not making myself clear, but I sure do appreciate the input.

I understand what you're saying...but there's no magical optimal macro ratio really, it's a very individualized thing.

Many people when dieting use a ratio of 40c/30p/30f which is what I used...it is also referred to as the "zone" or "zone dieting" maybe start there.

rainbowbow

I think it depends on you and what you feel the most energized, less bloated, and happy/content maintaining calorie wise.


Personally, i've recommended the "balanced" Macros for the average person and they usually do pretty well on that. It's just 40% carbs 30% protein 30% fat.

This generally puts people at 1g protein per pound lean body mass, enough fat to cover essential fats, and enough carbs to stay energized and not-cranky.


Again, this is just personal experience, and your mileage may vary.

deeishealthy

You guys ROCK. THAT is the information I was looking for. Thanks, everyone!