Am I eating too much with IIFYM? Help!

ksisk1105

So I just started getting back into lifting & eating right. I have an online trainer as well. Before I was not working out and not eating super healthy. For the past 2 weeks I've been eating totally clean on my own between 1200-1300 cals and I lost 5 lbs. Now my trainer has me doing IIFYM and my approx intake with my macros is between 1800cals-2000cals/day. I feel like I physically can't put down that amount of food in a day. I've also gained back a pound for every day that I've started eating this way. I am 164lb now. I feel super bloated all the time and not even hungry. I know that I'm lifting now, so I need more calories, but I just feel like I'm going in the opposite direction than I wanted. I just started lifting again, so I'm not even lifting heavy yet. She said it's to get my metabolism going, but I guess I just need some reassurance. How much should I be consuming with my body weight to gain muscle but also lose weight?

taziarj

Have you calculated your TDEE? What does MFP tell you for your calories to lose your desired amount per week? You can set up MFP for IIFYM by overriding the percentages for each macro accordingly. Your calories should be the same regardless and it is your individual macros that are adjusted based on expected calorie intake. You need to determine your TDEE and calories you wish to consume each day and then determine your macros. For weight loss, I have seen a P-40%/C-30%/F-30% mentioned as a good breakdown for macros. Those percentages are based on your calorie intake.

livingleanlivingclean

The way of eating you follow is irrelevant (you can eat "clean" doing IIFYM, but that's a whole different conversation). Do your calories align with your goals?

What are your goals? If you want to lose, you need to be in a deficit, regardless of whether you're lifting or not. Lifting in a deficit is great to help maintain muscle.

If you're wanting to gain muscle,you need to be in a surplus. You'll gain muscle and fat - the amount will be determined by the size of your surplus.

Eating 1200 calories is low for most people, and unnecessary. 1800/2000 may be too high for you - depending on your by goals. That said, you're likely to have gained weight from water retention (more carbs, more training) and general food increase.

Your metabolism is going. If it wasn't you would be dead.

AnnPT77

Take a deep breath. Now let it out. You're OK.

Since it takes around 3500 calories over maintenance to gain a pound, you're not gaining fat massively on 2000 at 164. 2.5 pounds a week is unhealthily fast to lose at 164, besides. With a new workout routine & some eating changes you're probably adding some water weight, not to mention some extra digestive system contents on a bit higher calories. Neither of those is fat. Give it a month; give the program a chance to work. Then see what you think.

PAV8888

Everything @AnnPT77 said is true, assuming you're accurately estimating your calories in. Which is not always as trivial as it seems!

Dvdgzz

I always gain weight as I begin to lift again. Like Ann said, give it time.

CathReese33

When you saw your trainer, was your goal fat loss, body recoup or increased strength? That would determine the level of calories they set you.

I would also agree with the increase in weight when starting a lifting programme. I don't fully understand why, but believe it is because damaged muscles store water to aid recovery, so it could just be a water weight gain.

The other possibility could be due to volume of food, physically weighing more - again, no idea if this is true, just trying to rationalise the gain in some way. :-)

Chat it through with your trainer - hopefully they will have some answers for you.

not_a_runner

So you've been at 1200-1300 for the past 2 weeks and dropped a lot of weight (probably a lot of water), and now your trainer just increased that by 600-700 calories...
You're probably eating more carbs, as a result holding more water. More volume of food could also make the scale go up initially. New exercise plan. All things that could cause a temporary increase.

I would mention your concerns to your trainer. That is what you're paying for, after all. Trusting a coach is important. If they know what they're doing, they'll pay attention how your body responds/listen to your concerns and adjust accordingly. Have patience and they will get you dialed in.

I'm also working with an online trainer who started my calories fairly high initially. She explained why she was doing this - we want me to eat as much as possible while still losing fat. (Apples to oranges, but I'm 5'1'', 176 lbs and at 1900 calories. Depending on activity, 1800-2000 could be reasonable for you.)

(**However trying to "get your metabolism going" sounds sort of like a red flag. Maybe that's just her way of phrasing it, but - beware of the "woo". Some "coaches" are wackadoodles.)