IIFYM/General Question

mattbecker56

Ok, I know this sounds very stupid but it confuses the heck out of me so I thought I would ask just to be sure. Ok, so I am "starting" the "IIFYM diet". I am in a cutting phase and according to IIFYM.com my calorie goal is 2171 calories a day. I usually burn around 700 calories a day doing P90X (Calories burned calculated by Polar FT7 Heart Rate Monitor).

So say I had eaten my 2171 calories for the day then did my workout. I would then have 1471 net calories according to myfitnesspal.

Does that mean I can then eat another 700 calories and bring me back up to my goal of 2171 calories for the day? Or has my 2171 goal already been met regardless of any calories burned during exercise?

I know that I am overthinking this and will probably get some flak but could someone pull my finger and help me out with this brain fart? Thanks!

3dogsrunning

No. TDEE includes your exercise so you don't eat back those calories. You eat that goal regardless of exercise (however, if you miss several regular workouts I would adjust. TDEE is meant to average over the week, so you eat the same amount every day, but if you aren't doing your regular workouts you may be eating too much)

Also, bear in mind that HRMs are designed for steady state cardio exercise and interval training like P90X will affect the accuracy. You may not be burning 700 calories.

ETA - a lot of people will change the calories burned on their log to 1 calorie on MFP just so it doesn't affect your calorie goal and you can focus on the TDEE.

TrueBlueBruin78

Your "macros" are set for weight loss. Eat your prescribed macros, and do not worry about the calories burned. You might see some members that log "1" minute of a workout, but they do that just to log in their workout and do not account for calories burned during the workout, if that helps you.

autumnblade75

IIFYM stands for If It Fits Your Macros. My understanding of IIFYM is, if you can balance protein, fat and carbs by eating twinkies and pop-tarts up to your calorie limit, you're all good. I don't think it has anything to do with setting your calorie limits. That would be TDEE, or Total Daily Energy Expenditure. Again, this is just my understanding of how this works, but you make an educated guess about how many calories you burn on an average day based on your activity level. If you guess well, you eat the TDEE number and your weight stays stable. You eat a little less to lose weight, and more to gain.

It sounds like the website has calculated a TDEE for you, so I would say you probably don't want to eat an additional 700 calories in a cutting phase.

Edited to add: If your weight doesn't stay stable when eating at TDEE, you've guessed wrong. Adjust accordingly.

3dogsrunning

IIFYM stands for If It Fits Your Macros. My understanding of IIFYM is, if you can balance protein, fat and carbs by eating twinkies and pop-tarts up to your calorie limit, you're all good. I don't think it has anything to do with setting your calorie limits. That would be TDEE, or Total Daily Energy Expenditure. Again, this is just my understanding of how this works, but you make an educated guess about how many calories you burn on an average day based on your activity level. If you guess well, you eat the TDEE number and your weight stays stable. You eat a little less to lose weight, and more to gain.

It sounds like the website has calculated a TDEE for you, so I would say you probably don't want to eat an additional 700 calories in a cutting phase.

You still have a calorie goal based on IIFYM. Generally from what I have seen people use the TDEE method to figure that goal depending on what your current goal is, maintain, lose, bulk. The TDEE method is your educated guess.

mattbecker56

Thank you for the detailed response. You answered everything I was questioning and have been a great help. I appreciate it.