IIFYM? What do you guys think? I'm a runner..

healthycollege
healthycollege Posts: 6
in Food and Nutrition
Hey guys! I've been seeing a bunch of stuff about the IIFYM way of eating and basically it's that you eat really whatever as long as it fits your calorie and macro goals. When following this I of course would not be eating pizza and candy, but I do like that if I wanted to sneak that extra piece of chocolate cake in once in a while I can. I've had some problems lately with binging at night and I feel like it's because I'm not getting the right ratio of macros, so I am kind of intrigued by IIFYM. The one issue, though, is that I am a runner and am currently training for a marathon. Is this way of eating okay for a runner, or is it more for people who lift/ do less cardio? Also, how would I adjust my macros on days where I have long runs (i.e. 17 miles)? The macros I have would not be enough to cover a day on which I do a run like that. Anyways, my macros are:

1630 calories
225 g carbs
96 g protein
19-24 g fiber
38.8 g fat

I'm petite, 5'1" and 96-97 lbs, and am looking to maintain my weight. So what do you guys think about doing IIFYM? Any other suggestions? Opinions? Experiences? Thanks so much!

Replies

  • amandalj
    amandalj Posts: 28 Member
    I'm really curious about this topic as well!
    I'm training for a half marathon in May, and a full marathon in September. I'm really working on getting a little faster and have been incorporation some strength training into my routine, so for now I put my info in the IIFYM calculator to help me lose weight.
    Once I get into full marathon training, I'm going to go into more of a maintenance mode to make sure I'm properly fueling those runs.

    There is an option on the TDEE calculator page that allows you to input the amount of activity you do:
    http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

    Under the formula it uses to calculate, you can select 'Enter Activity Level'. From there you enter your minutes of activity per day - I'm thinking I'm going to average out how much time I spend running per week and enter that under the "Heavy" activity.
    I'm not sure how well this will work, but I'm going to give it a shot and if I feel my energy levels are dragging I'll drop it until the marathon is over.

    Good Luck!

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