I tried going IIFYM today - here are my results

Cindyinpg

So,since we all are basically doing IIFM, what do you all see as things about our way of eating (diet if you will) that you reject?

It's not so much what you're eating that's rejected. It's more the "all or nothing" attitude that people seem to adopt once they decide to get healthy or lose weight. It's hard enough making the commitment to start getting healthy, only to come on here as a noob and read that your worst fears have come true....that you must cut out all sugar, flour, salt, fat (delicious food) in order to be a success. That you have to spend buttloads of $$ on organic or clean this-that-and-the-other. If it wasn't for the IIFYMers preaching moderation and balance I woulda abandoned this a long time ago.

Yes! Amen. I never would've made a week!

Fullsterkur_woman

It looks like you went over your calorie and macro budget though. I allow myself anything as long as it fits into my calorie goals. So if I want the icecream it might mean I'm going to have a smaller portion of something else so I'm still hitting my target calories for the day

Again, not IIFYM if it doesn't take into consideration whether or not you're still going to get your target protein, fat and carbs. I can easily eat 1400 calories a day. 1400 calories a day with 180 grams of protein? Not so much.

Cindyinpg

This isn't about "eating what you want" it's about HITTING YOUR MACROS. If you're clever you can make a BigMac fit your macros. If you just eat whatever you want and don't even consider the macronutrient values of the food, you are not doing IIFYM... You are just doing "eat all the food".

Not that there's anything wrong with eating all the foods. I'm in favor. Seriously considering some brownies tonight. Nomnom

Did you make MORE Nutella brownies?

Michele81287

It looks like you went over your calorie and macro budget though. I allow myself anything as long as it fits into my calorie goals. So if I want the icecream it might mean I'm going to have a smaller portion of something else so I'm still hitting my target calories for the day

Again, not IIFYM if it doesn't take into consideration whether or not you're still going to get your target protein, fat and carbs. I can easily eat 1400 calories a day. 1400 calories a day with 180 grams of protein? Not so much.

Ok then if it fits your macros seems like it does require a lot of planning and work. All the good junk food is typically high in fat and sugar not protein.
I think it's easier to say hey I have 200 calories left I think I'll have that icecream instead.

Fullsterkur_woman

Did you make MORE Nutella brownies?

Awwwwww yeaaaaaaaah....

Fullsterkur_woman

Ok then if it fits your macros seems like it does require a lot of planning and work. All the good junk food is typically lacking high in fat sugar not protein.
I think it's easier to say hey I have 200 calories left I think I'll have that icecream instead.

I don't know if it's "a lot", but it's some, sure. But just because something's easier doesn't mean it's better. Just depends on your goals. If your goal is to wear a size 2 (or 4, or 18, or whatever), then sure, that'll do ya. But if you want to pick up a 150 kg rock just because it's sitting there on the beach in Iceland waiting for you to come show it who's boss, 200 calories of ice cream just don't cut it.

determinedbutlazy

Did you make MORE Nutella brownies?

Awwwwww yeaaaaaaaah....

240 dollars... Worth of pudding.

Excuse me while I kiss the SKY.

Achrya

This isn't about "eating what you want" it's about HITTING YOUR MACROS. If you're clever you can make a BigMac fit your macros. If you just eat whatever you want and don't even consider the macronutrient values of the food, you are not doing IIFYM... You are just doing "eat all the food".

Not that there's anything wrong with eating all the foods. I'm in favor. Seriously considering some brownies tonight. Nomnom

Did you make MORE Nutella brownies?

Alas, I'm out of nutella. I was thinking regular brownies with the nutella fudge ice cream I got from coldstone tho.

Fullsterkur_woman

Alas, I'm out of nutella. I was thinking regular brownies with the nutella fudge ice cream I got from coldstone tho.

Everything's uncool, we have been de-funked! Awwwww noooo! (Brownies a la mode would be awesome tho) OK, enough farting around for me. Lifting rocks requires sleep too. Maybe I need a macro for that! :laugh: I'd love to stay up and goof off on the forums, but does IFMM? :noway: D'oh!

Hope the OP finds something in my ramblings helpful.

RECowgill

So just curious, what are your goals? Are you trying to lose 1lb a week? More or less?

My goal is to lose 1-2 pounds a week. To also get ahold of food so that it is just what it is - food - and not as a substitute for love, calmness, emotions, fun, boredom, etc. (to conquer food addictions);

to get slimmer for better health, to be able to walk more than 2 blocks, and regain my energy and to go out dancing again !!!

Well it sounds to me like your maintenance calories are around 2000ish +, not sure. I set my target loss on MFP to basically nothing, 0.1lbs a week, and this has been more effective for me thinking of it this way than trying to go for unrealistic targets. Just my opinion, but 2lbs a week is an unrealistic target. 1lb a week is also somewhat unrealistic if you're first steps are really just to get control of your bad dietary habits. Start with maintenance would be my advice. Aim to get rid of bad actors and bad nutrition, get portions under control, just focus on cleaning up your food a bit and not making the situation worse. Crawl before you walk, stop the bleeding.

Get rid of sugary and salty foods. They are likely doing organ damage, even if that's not apparent yet. They slow down/stop or even reverse your ability to shed bodyfat.

Resetting your macro targets more realistically like this might help you get it all under control better. You will feel less impacted by the psychological effects of daily failure. It's worked for me, if my ceiling is 2500 and on a given day I do 2300, then its a victory. Even 2500 is a victory because I probably used to eat 4000+. Its an improvement, I eat better today than I did yesterday and that is a success. I have slowly but steadily dropped bodyfat this way.

And if you get rid of the 2lbs a week target, your macros were probably better today than you realize. Not great or ideal, but perhaps an improvement than your diet last month?

Hildy_J

Everything in moderatioin? Absolutely.

ESPECIALLY moderation. ;-)

Cindyinpg

So just curious, what are your goals? Are you trying to lose 1lb a week? More or less?

My goal is to lose 1-2 pounds a week. To also get ahold of food so that it is just what it is - food - and not as a substitute for love, calmness, emotions, fun, boredom, etc. (to conquer food addictions);

to get slimmer for better health, to be able to walk more than 2 blocks, and regain my energy and to go out dancing again !!!

Well it sounds to me like your maintenance calories are around 2000ish +, not sure. I set my target loss on MFP to basically nothing, 0.1lbs a week, and this has been more effective for me thinking of it this way than trying to go for unrealistic targets. Just my opinion, but 2lbs a week is an unrealistic target. 1lb a week is also somewhat unrealistic if you're first steps are really just to get control of your bad dietary habits. Start with maintenance would be my advice. Aim to get rid of bad actors and bad nutrition, get portions under control, just focus on cleaning up your food a bit and not making the situation worse. Crawl before you walk, stop the bleeding.

Get rid of sugary and salty foods. They are likely doing organ damage, even if that's not apparent yet. They slow down/stop or even reverse your ability to shed bodyfat.

Resetting your macro targets more realistically like this might help you get it all under control better. You will feel less impacted by the psychological effects of daily failure. It's worked for me, if my ceiling is 2500 and on a given day I do 2300, then its a victory. Even 2500 is a victory because I probably used to eat 4000+. Its an improvement, I eat better today than I did yesterday and that is a success. I have slowly but steadily dropped bodyfat this way.

And if you get rid of the 2lbs a week target, your macros were probably better today than you realize. Not great or ideal, but perhaps an improvement than your diet last month?

Um, what? :huh: And, I think you're forgetting, the OP is interested in learning more about IIFYM, not how evil sugar and sodium are or how they inhibit fat loss, damage organs or whatever. :noway:

From an earlier post.
"IIFYM means precisely that we do not worry about things like "clean" or "sugar" or "wheat" or "organic" or "preservatives" or "sodium". There's nothing whatsoever wrong with eating organic, clean, whatever, but none of that stuff will *ensure* that you meet your macros. Only planning, pre-logging, making adjustments if necessary and adding it all up will do that. "

Hannah_Hopes

oh dear...
In to read the other pages later when I'm bored :laugh:
I follow the IIFYM thing I suppose - I've 60lbs to lose and have issues with food, to avoid overeating I focus on planning meals and I avoid foods which may trigger overeating which I'm slowly re-introducing so I don't overeat with them such as yummy pizza where I'd use to eat a whole medium one I now share a small one.. so much talk of pizza in this thread so I thought i'd continue it :drinker:

Just do what works for you.
:flowerforyou:

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

OP it seems clear to me that you don't really want to do IIFYM, so don't do it. It's your body and your plan. No one is going to hold you down and shove poptarts down your throat. It also seems like you don't really want to understand it, honestly, since this is the third or fourth time it's been explained to you and you still completely misconstrued it for your experiment.

I disagree with some of your points though. For one, not everyone here is doing IIFYM. IIFYM proponents generally change their macros to recommended settings, since MFP's goals are low in fat and protein. There are plenty of people here who just do calories; I did it that way for awhile. I do think there's a lot of overlap between the more relaxed "clean-eaters" (who allow treats and discretionary calories) and the stricter IIFYMers, but the main difference I think is the application of "good" and "bad" labels to foods.

Beach you know we usually agree, but I disagree that IIFYM is for people who already have things tightly controlled. I went from being way too liberal with my food choices (a lot like what nonnymouse did today) to tightening up into IIFYM and making sure I hit my protein goal first. If I'd gone straight for the strict I would have quit long ago.

Also I don't know where these threads are where everyone IIFYM says that you don't have to eat any whole nutrient dense foods. Whenever I'm in a thread talking about IIFYM I always mention that I eat mostly whole nutrient dense foods, and that you can't hit your macros with nothing but poptarts and pizza and brownies.


TL;DR: If you don't want to do it, don't do it.

Velum_cado

Oh ok,, well then... that may be it.

However, I think there is another issue.. A lot of people here say "eat everything in moderation"..Taking that literally I did. And they were not big portions, they were small, but still it caused me to go over my MFP macros.

So i think that proves we cant do everything in moderation, but that we have to moderate what we eat, we cant eat everything in moderation. It doesn't leave room for other things that would have been healthier for me.

But, again, eating whatever you want isn't "eating everything in moderation". I have one dessert a week. It might be ice cream, it might be a chocolate bar, it might be cake... I don't eat all of the above. That's eating in moderation and it clearly works for some people.

If it doesn't work for you, it's because you're struggling to moderate your food choices.

ValerieMartini2Olives

I am a firm believer of the IIFIYM.

Last week I had a burrito from Chipotle, half for lunch and half later. It fit well into my macros.

Yesterday I had a ham croissantwich and hash browns from Burger King, still in the macros.

I very rarely eat stuff like that. Almost all of my produce and meat is organic. The majority of foods I eat do not have long non-pronounceable ingredient lists.

If I want a damn donut, I will eat it but I work the rest of the day so it will fit IN the macros.

BikerGirlElaine

I'm learning about fitting treats in, too.

Preplanning my day is key. I prelog, loosely, in the the morning, and try to leave some room for something. Most of my foods are healthy and nutrient dense.

If I come to the end of dinner and I have 100-200 calories left, I have a treat.

I'm finding that it's much better to have the kinds of things that you can portion out in small bits. M&M's or Reese's pieces or other small candies are good, much easier to count accurately and fit in to whatever is left in my calorie goals.

jessflutterby

You can do it. You just have to learn how to do it. The easiest way to fit a lot of food in a calorie/macro plan is to eat clean, nutritious meals. However, if you want to eat "junk", you actually can, if it fits in your macros. It really is all about moderation, self control, and tracking. I don't know your macro split, but let's say you have 50 carbs / 100 protein / 20 grams of fat left for the day and you want to eat ice cream that has 50 carbs / 10 protein / 15 fat, eat it....but eat it with the full knowledge that you are done with carbs for the day, you only have 5 grams of fat left, and you still have to eat 90 grams of protein. So, basically you'll be eating lean protein for the rest of the day.
You can do this with any "treat" (or multiple treats)....you just have to have the self-control to stop eating that macro when you've reached your limit. And if you want something that doesn't fit in your macros today...then save it for tomorrow....the best part about iifym is that magical hour where your macros reset and you can start fresh.
I've lost 135 lbs counting calories/macros. It's not for everyone, but it worked for me. And I can honestly say, the longer you do it, the easier it gets. Things don't happen overnight...trust the process.

jackielou867

OK. Here's your problem. You can have a little bit of whatever you want, but not 10 different what you wants in one day. Try to avoid empty calories. You have to fill your body with all the nutrients it needs first. If you don't you will be hungry. If you eat crap, your body will not find what it wants and demand more. The more junk you eat the more you crave. This is your addiction! The more healthy food you eat, the better you will feel. The less junk you eat the better you will feel. The more exercise you do the better you will feel. I have only lost 12 kilos, but omg I have lost 25 years. I am not so tired, I sleep better, I look better. I don't get out of breath doing simple tasks.
If you have an event coming up you can have a day off. But the rest of he week work hard and make up for it. I can blow 1700 calories at the all you can eat buffet once a month, but my weekly calories will still be about right