IIFYM... Your Opinions Please??

CyberEd312

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Works pretty good for me........ and I might add I am diabetic (type 2). Best of Luck

mrmagee3

I have recently been introduced to www.iifym.com and I was wondering what some of your opinions were on their theory? What are your results?

Like any other diet, if you set it up for a calorie deficit, you will lose weight. If you do this plan intelligently, by which I mean a wide variety of foods and not turning it into the Snickers and Pizza Diet, you'll lose weight and be eating a healthful diet.

Just like any other plan, if it works for you, then it's a good thing.

CoderGal

I'm a fan!

SideSteel

I think it's fundamentally solid but I also think it's very misunderstood.

It is a philosophy about food selection rather than a set number of calories or a specific macro setting.

Unfortunately, people tend to leave iifym.com with a misunderstanding about what IIFYM actually is, as most of the posts here seem to indicate that people believe IIFYM to mean a specific intake setting.

IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros)

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/817188-iifym

An example of applying IIFYM

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/925464-fitting-it-in-giggity

63lab

it works.
that is all.

astange83

I have a hard enough time eating 70g of protein in a day, forget 157g! Nor do I see me eating 63g of fat and still losing weight. Wish I could make it work though.

scottaworley

I have a hard enough time eating 70g of protein in a day, forget 157g! Nor do I see me eating 63g of fat and still losing weight. Wish I could make it work though.

Here's what you need to understand. Eating at a deficit makes you lose lean body mass. Eating protein and strength training helps to maintain lean body mass. 70g of protein is not adequate for these purposes. You need the extra protein. Drink a protein shake if you can not get enough in your daily diet.
Dietary fat does not create body fat. This is something that many people struggle with. Getting enough fat is necessary. Many vitamins and minerals are fat soluble. Without adequate dietary fat you will not absorb the vitamins and minerals that you need to be healthy.
You can make it work. Be careful, eat foods you enjoy, and try hard to meet your macros.

beastmodekittyx

I like this diet because it keeps you from binging on ''bad'' food since you are allowed to make them fit in your colorie intake!

honkytonks85

I have recently been introduced to www.iifym.com and I was wondering what some of your opinions were on their theory? What are your results?

It makes complete sense and I agree with the theory. For me personally,

I find it pretty hard to really know the number of grams of protein, fat & carbohydrates in all the food I am eating. For example, if I eat out at a restaurant there's no way I am going to know what is in the sauce, how much oil they cook with etc. So I would find it hard in that regard. If I cooked all my own meals, it would be a lot easier. But I am not sure it would fit into my current lifestyle. Calorie counting for me is still even guesswork, and I have to fiddle around with it to get it working.

MB_Positif

I eat pretty much whatever I want and it's worked for me so far! Good luck!

MercenaryNoetic26

My pics are my results. I'm fat! :glasses:

BrainyBurro

IIFYM is not really a theory. it's just a clearer explanation of the reasons one should eat certain foods.

IIFYM focuses on what your body NEEDS for health. you need protein and fats for health. so you choose foods to help you meet those daily goals while still meeting your calorie goal.

all of the other "diets" obscure this basic fact by focusing on demonizing particular foods. they focus on the idea that you CANNOT eat certain foods and be "healthy". that's all they do. their false assumption is that just by avoiding the foods that they consider "bad " or "unhealthy", you will automatically give your body everything it needs w.r.t. macronutrients. this is nothing more than a leap of faith on their part. you don't really know unless you track your macros, and once you start doing that, you are following IIFYM, only with extra rules about of avoiding certain foods.

i put clean, paleo, primal, low card, low fat, gluten free, etc. into this latter category of "diets".

you can follow these "diets" if it makes you feel better (mentally) or if you have a medical condition that would benefit from their food restrictions, but you don't have to do so if you don't have a compelling reason to do so.

Wildflower0106

I am hear for more than weight loss. Increasing my fitness and improving my health overall is more important to me than figuring out how to eat junk and look good.

Oh dear... It is really sad that people still misunderstand IIFYM... You should really do some research.

OP: IIFYM worked for me! To meet my macros I have to eat mostly clean, but when I make homemade peanut butter chocolate chip cookies I can eat them in moderation. I had an easy transition into maintenance (2 years maintaining). Honestly IIFYM was the only method I have tried where I could lose weight and MAINTAIN that loss.

pcastagner

I have a hard enough time eating 70g of protein in a day, forget 157g! Nor do I see me eating 63g of fat and still losing weight. Wish I could make it work though.

Here's what you need to understand. Eating at a deficit makes you lose lean body mass. Eating protein and strength training helps to maintain lean body mass. 70g of protein is not adequate for these purposes. You need the extra protein. Drink a protein shake if you can not get enough in your daily diet.
Dietary fat does not create body fat. This is something that many people struggle with. Getting enough fat is necessary. Many vitamins and minerals are fat soluble. Without adequate dietary fat you will not absorb the vitamins and minerals that you need to be healthy.
You can make it work. Be careful, eat foods you enjoy, and try hard to meet your macros.

Yeah... I'm not so convinced on the super high protein anymore. Don't think it's bad, but don't think there is evidence it helps either.

Just because something is important and good, and not enough of it is bad, does not mean more of it is better.

SideSteel

I have a hard enough time eating 70g of protein in a day, forget 157g! Nor do I see me eating 63g of fat and still losing weight. Wish I could make it work though.

Here's what you need to understand. Eating at a deficit makes you lose lean body mass. Eating protein and strength training helps to maintain lean body mass. 70g of protein is not adequate for these purposes. You need the extra protein. Drink a protein shake if you can not get enough in your daily diet.
Dietary fat does not create body fat. This is something that many people struggle with. Getting enough fat is necessary. Many vitamins and minerals are fat soluble. Without adequate dietary fat you will not absorb the vitamins and minerals that you need to be healthy.
You can make it work. Be careful, eat foods you enjoy, and try hard to meet your macros.

Yeah... I'm not so convinced on the super high protein anymore. Don't think it's bad, but don't think there is evidence it helps either.

Just because something is important and good, and not enough of it is bad, does not mean more of it is better.

Here's some research, more where this comes from indicating that higher protein intakes are beneficial:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/823505-research-on-protien-intake

Bobbiezilla

I clicked on here just to find out what IIFYM was, and it's totally my philosophy! It's all about portion control and planning for me. Yep, I counted out 21 Doritos today. Realistically I'm going to eat chips, ice cream, sunflower seeds, popcorn and birthday cake for the rest of my life..... I can plan a little, be happy with portioning, and never be angry with my healthy choices. I can have my cake and eat it too....sometimes

victoriavoodoo

I had a hard time with protein at first, also with going over carbs. It turns out carbs are my favorite thing ever. So I went from vegetarian to pescetarian and meet my protein with fish and occasional protein powder with water.

I like IIFYM because I like crap food, and I can fit in one or two small treats with the healthy stuff with this method. Today my treat is a serving of tater tots(frozen, way less cals when I bake them than fast food fried ones). My rule is to be within 10 grams of fat and carbs either way, and no more than 10 grams under protein but over is fine if I'm in the green on calories.

I stopped tracking sugar because it freaks me out and 90% of my sugar comes from fruit, so I'm seeing if I can lose weight without tracking that and so far it works. Still working on sodium intake lol, 2500 doesn't happen often but it's easy to drink more water when I track in advance and see that my sodium for the day is high.


It is also worth mentioning that you have to change MFP's default macro amounts because they aren't at the best ratio. Not that there is one "best" ratio that works for everyone but some starting points I have heard mentioned repeatedly are 40:40:20 or 40:30:20 for protein:carbs:fat.

scottaworley

I had a hard time with protein at first, also with going over carbs. It turns out carbs are my favorite thing ever. So I went from vegetarian to pescetarian and meet my protein with fish and occasional protein powder with water.

I like IIFYM because I like crap food, and I can fit in one or two small treats with the healthy stuff with this method. Today my treat is a serving of tater tots(frozen, way less cals when I bake them than fast food fried ones). My rule is to be within 10 grams of fat and carbs either way, and no more than 10 grams under protein but over is fine if I'm in the green on calories.

I stopped tracking sugar because it freaks me out and 90% of my sugar comes from fruit, so I'm seeing if I can lose weight without tracking that and so far it works. Still working on sodium intake lol, 2500 doesn't happen often but it's easy to drink more water when I track in advance and see that my sodium for the day is high.


It is also worth mentioning that you have to change MFP's default macro amounts because they aren't at the best ratio. Not that there is one "best" ratio that works for everyone but some starting points I have heard mentioned repeatedly are 40:40:20 or 40:30:20 for protein:carbs:fat.

Track fiber instead of sugar.

pcastagner

I have a hard enough time eating 70g of protein in a day, forget 157g! Nor do I see me eating 63g of fat and still losing weight. Wish I could make it work though.

Here's what you need to understand. Eating at a deficit makes you lose lean body mass. Eating protein and strength training helps to maintain lean body mass. 70g of protein is not adequate for these purposes. You need the extra protein. Drink a protein shake if you can not get enough in your daily diet.
Dietary fat does not create body fat. This is something that many people struggle with. Getting enough fat is necessary. Many vitamins and minerals are fat soluble. Without adequate dietary fat you will not absorb the vitamins and minerals that you need to be healthy.
You can make it work. Be careful, eat foods you enjoy, and try hard to meet your macros.

Yeah... I'm not so convinced on the super high protein anymore. Don't think it's bad, but don't think there is evidence it helps either.

Just because something is important and good, and not enough of it is bad, does not mean more of it is better.

Here's some research, more where this comes from indicating that higher protein intakes are beneficial:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/823505-research-on-protien-intake

I am not finding any info in those links, just abstracts that don't quite state what the list claims they state, and certainly no methodologies or sample sizes.


Sigh...


And it only occurred to me to question this dogma because its hard to get as much protein as I used to now that I'm in Japan, and I have been cutting harder than normal, and I've been doing fine in the lean mass and strength retention department.

songbyrdsweet

It really depends on how you classify 'high' protein and 'benefits'.

The American Dietetics Association recommendation of 0.8g/kg of BW is for a sedentary individual. Regular exercises will likely see benefits from about 50% more protein (1.2g/kg) and serious athletes can easily double that (1.7g/kg).

People seem to forget that skeletal muscle protein synthesis is driven by gene expression, NOT protein intake. You have to train hard to cause muscle growth and repair. Having a supply of amino acids can come from a high protein intake, but it can also come from a protein intake that matches the requirements for athletes and enough fat and carbohydrates to spare the protein so it isn't used for energy. That's also why you generally need a bit of an excess of calories to build muscle or a very modest deficit to lose fat while maintaining muscle. That's another reason training is so important--your body will put those amino acids to use in protein synthesis rather than shunting them away to gluconeogenesis or the Krebs cycle to make energy.

What are the benefits? Increased satiety and improved bone density (as long as you have adequate calcium). Notice that this list does not include magically bulging biceps.