"Unclean" IIFYM Success Stories and Pics please?

TarynAngeline

I've read enough about IIFYM but I'm still brainwashed by PTs and nutritionists saying that processed foods slow metabolism and and spike insulin, hindering weight loss even on a deficit so I am hoping some of you can post your pics of successful weightloss on IIFYM. I have about 15 I'd like to lose and I just want to eat what I want (in moderation of course) and stop being afraid of food. Seeing is believing so please share and inspire me ! :flowerforyou:

creativerick

Just made a thread of my journey. I always so IIFYM and could never stop eating pizza, tacos, lunch meat, protein shakes (processed), etc.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1199492-my-journey


There are studies that show that these things may effect metabolism, but in real world, the effects are so minute it's not necessary for many people to worry about. Now for health issues, you may have reasons to cut out certain foods.

TarynAngeline

Just made a thread of my journey. I always so IIFYM and could never stop eating pizza, tacos, lunch meat, protein shakes (processed), etc.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1199492-my-journey


There are studies that show that these things may effect metabolism, but in real world, the effects are so minute it's not necessary for many people to worry about. Now for health issues, you may have reasons to cut out certain foods.

You sir, are fantastic.

TarynAngeline

Also I always welcome more IIFYM friends, so anyone feel free to add me!

katemckenna5

Bump

caraherch

The thing about eating clean is that it's not just for your weight loss- processed foods contribute to heart disease, diabetes, cancer, bone disease, so much! You can be skinny and still be at risk for all of those things by eating a highly processed, unnatural diet.

AJ_G

The thing about eating clean is that it's not just for your weight loss- processed foods contribute to heart disease, diabetes, cancer, bone disease, so much! You can be skinny and still be at risk for all of those things by eating a highly processed, unnatural diet.

Care to back that up with some sort of scientific evidence?

callmestephanie

What does IIFYM mean?

But I agree... I'm tired of people fussing me about everything. Calories In < Calories out... that's all that matters... and that's all I've done so far to lose what I've lost. I tried a few "fad" diets because I'm admittedly stupid... and they did jack but frustrate me and cost me stupid amounts of money.

MaggieGiamalvo

Don't laugh... what's IIFYM? I mostly stay out of the forums, so don't know what that stands for. From the context of what I've read, it has something to do with making up your own diet plan. Yeah?

AJ_G

IIFYM = If It Fits Your Macros. Basically set up a calorie goal and proper macro goals (X grams of protein a day, X grams of fat a day, X grams of carbs a day) and eat basically whatever you want to meet those macros. It's also referred to as flexible dieting. It's an alternative to "Clean Eating" which cuts out tons of foods due to the claim that they are "unclean". IIFYM helps by setting up a plan that's easy to follow and doesn't cut out foods that taste good and that you enjoy which is why people are less likely to give up on their weight loss or go on binges on IIFYM as opposed to "Eating Clean"

mockchoc

IIFYM = If It Fits Your Macros. Basically set up a calorie goal and proper macro goals (X grams of protein a day, X grams of fat a day, X grams of carbs a day) and eat basically whatever you want to meet those macros. It's also referred to as flexible dieting. It's an alternative to "Clean Eating" which cuts out tons of foods due to the claim that they are "unclean". IIFYM helps by setting up a plan that's easy to follow and doesn't cut out foods that taste good and that you enjoy which is why people are less likely to give up on their weight loss or go on binges on IIFYM as opposed to "Eating Clean"

^ + 1 trillion. You rock AJ.

MaggieGiamalvo

IIFYM = If It Fits Your Macros. Basically set up a calorie goal and proper macro goals (X grams of protein a day, X grams of fat a day, X grams of carbs a day) and eat basically whatever you want to meet those macros. It's also referred to as flexible dieting. It's an alternative to "Clean Eating" which cuts out tons of foods do to the claim that they are "unclean".

Thanks! Well, I guess you could say I'm somewhere in between. I've always enjoyed eating clean foods, in addition to junk foods. I just let my portions get way out of control, without exerting the energy to burn it all off.

So, my MFP journey has been this... I joined a few years ago, when I was about 170 pounds. I'd already lost a couple pounds when I started with MFP, by eating more salads (one of my favorite things). By using the Food and Exercise Diaries and IIFYM, I was able to lose about 25 pounds in about 40 days. I really don't know why I stopped using MFP, but I did. Life happened, job changed, I became more sedentary, and I went back to old habits and larger portion sizes. I gained it all and some more back.

After seeing pictures of myself at this past Christmas, I decided I had to do something about my health and weight. So, again, I started out with losing weight without using MFP. I was 184 at my heaviest (ever). I think the first weigh-in I did with MFP this 2nd time around was at 182. Since my very 1st weigh-in with MFP was lower than what I weigh now, the weight loss I've achieved isn't registering in my tracker yet. But, I'm still going the IIFYM route and I'm losing. I'm down to 176.4 and it's only been a couple weeks (1 1/2 of which was spent on a very long road trip where I made poor food choices). Now, I'm home and combining things like pizza and salads and the weight's coming off.

The things I've learned... stay under on calories, fat, total carbs, and sodium (especially). It's okay to go over on fiber and protein. And, probably most importantly, drink LOTS of water.

Enjoy what you eat. Don't beat yourself up if you have a "bad" food day. Make the conscious decision that that's what you wanted to eat and it didn't tempt you into eating it. Just decide to workout harder that day or the next, to work it off.

AJ_G

IIFYM = If It Fits Your Macros. Basically set up a calorie goal and proper macro goals (X grams of protein a day, X grams of fat a day, X grams of carbs a day) and eat basically whatever you want to meet those macros. It's also referred to as flexible dieting. It's an alternative to "Clean Eating" which cuts out tons of foods do to the claim that they are "unclean".

Thanks! Well, I guess you could say I'm somewhere in between. I've always enjoyed eating clean foods, in addition to junk foods. I just let my portions get way out of control, without exerting the energy to burn it all off.

So, my MFP journey has been this... I joined a few years ago, when I was about 170 pounds. I'd already lost a couple pounds when I started with MFP, by eating more salads (one of my favorite things). By using the Food and Exercise Diaries and IIFYM, I was able to lose about 25 pounds in about 40 days. I really don't know why I stopped using MFP, but I did. Life happened, job changed, I became more sedentary, and I went back to old habits and larger portion sizes. I gained it all and some more back.

After seeing pictures of myself at this past Christmas, I decided I had to do something about my health and weight. So, again, I started out with losing weight without using MFP. I was 184 at my heaviest (ever). I think the first weigh-in I did with MFP this 2nd time around was at 182. Since my very 1st weigh-in with MFP was lower than what I weigh now, the weight loss I've achieved isn't registering in my tracker yet. But, I'm still going the IIFYM route and I'm losing. I'm down to 176.4 and it's only been a couple weeks (1 1/2 of which was spent on a very long road trip where I made poor food choices). Now, I'm home and combining things like pizza and salads and the weight's coming off.

The things I've learned... stay under on calories, fat, total carbs, and sodium (especially). It's okay to go over on fiber and protein. And, probably most importantly, drink LOTS of water.

Enjoy what you eat. Don't beat yourself up if you have a "bad" food day. Make the conscious decision that that's what you wanted to eat and it didn't tempt you into eating it. Just decide to workout harder that day or the next, to work it off.

Sounds like you're on the right track but there are a few things I'd suggest. First, don't lose the weight too fast. 25 pounds in 40 days is absurdly fast and it's just an absolute certainty that a good portion of that was muscle and that's not what you want. If you're not lifting weights already, start immediately. Heavy weight lifting will limit muscle loss while you're losing weight so most of your weight loss will be fat.

Also, in terms of staying under, yes it's good to stay under sodium, carbs, and calories. Your fat goal should actually be a minimum and understand that it's completely fine to go over your fat goal as long as you hit your protein goal and you don't exceed your calorie goal. Dietary fat is really important, it helps with hormone production, nutrient absorption, brain and organ function, and skin and hair health. It's actually better to be over you fat goal then under it. I noticed in your diary that your protein goal is set at 60g. This is also very low. Adequate protein intake coupled with heavy weight lifting is extremely important to prevent muscle loss while you're losing weight. A good recommendation for protein intake is 1 gram per pound of Lean Body Mass which is essentially your total body weight subtracted by your body fat. If you're not sure you can always give it a good guess. Nobody should really be consuming less than 100g of protein per day in my opinion, unless they're under 120lbs.

SpecialSundae

I started IIFYM last year at the same time as starting strength training. I posted up my story on my one year anniversary last month: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1176534-i-m-sexy-and-i-know-it-my-first-year-of-strength-training

MaggieGiamalvo

IIFYM = If It Fits Your Macros. Basically set up a calorie goal and proper macro goals (X grams of protein a day, X grams of fat a day, X grams of carbs a day) and eat basically whatever you want to meet those macros. It's also referred to as flexible dieting. It's an alternative to "Clean Eating" which cuts out tons of foods do to the claim that they are "unclean".

Thanks! Well, I guess you could say I'm somewhere in between. I've always enjoyed eating clean foods, in addition to junk foods. I just let my portions get way out of control, without exerting the energy to burn it all off.

So, my MFP journey has been this... I joined a few years ago, when I was about 170 pounds. I'd already lost a couple pounds when I started with MFP, by eating more salads (one of my favorite things). By using the Food and Exercise Diaries and IIFYM, I was able to lose about 25 pounds in about 40 days. I really don't know why I stopped using MFP, but I did. Life happened, job changed, I became more sedentary, and I went back to old habits and larger portion sizes. I gained it all and some more back.

After seeing pictures of myself at this past Christmas, I decided I had to do something about my health and weight. So, again, I started out with losing weight without using MFP. I was 184 at my heaviest (ever). I think the first weigh-in I did with MFP this 2nd time around was at 182. Since my very 1st weigh-in with MFP was lower than what I weigh now, the weight loss I've achieved isn't registering in my tracker yet. But, I'm still going the IIFYM route and I'm losing. I'm down to 176.4 and it's only been a couple weeks (1 1/2 of which was spent on a very long road trip where I made poor food choices). Now, I'm home and combining things like pizza and salads and the weight's coming off.

The things I've learned... stay under on calories, fat, total carbs, and sodium (especially). It's okay to go over on fiber and protein. And, probably most importantly, drink LOTS of water.

Enjoy what you eat. Don't beat yourself up if you have a "bad" food day. Make the conscious decision that that's what you wanted to eat and it didn't tempt you into eating it. Just decide to workout harder that day or the next, to work it off.

Sounds like you're on the right track but there are a few things I'd suggest. First, don't lose the weight too fast. 25 pounds in 40 days is absurdly fast and it's just an absolute certainty that a good portion of that was muscle and that's not what you want. If you're not lifting weights already, start immediately. Heavy weight lifting will limit muscle loss while you're losing weight so most of your weight loss will be fat.

Also, in terms of staying under, yes it's good to stay under sodium, carbs, and calories. Your fat goal should actually be a minimum and understand that it's completely fine to go over your fat goal as long as you hit your protein goal and you don't exceed your calorie goal. Dietary fat is really important, it helps with hormone production, nutrient absorption, brain and organ function, and skin and hair health. It's actually better to be over you fat goal then under it. I noticed in your diary that your protein goal is set at 60g. This is also very low. Adequate protein intake coupled with heavy weight lifting is extremely important to prevent muscle loss while you're losing weight. A good recommendation for protein intake is 1 gram per pound of Lean Body Mass which is essentially your total body weight subtracted by your body fat. If you're not sure you can always give it a good guess. Nobody should really be consuming less than 100g of protein per day in my opinion, unless they're under 120lbs.

I guess I left out the part about rehabbing back and knee injuries. Heavy lifting isn't an option right now. I do workout, but without weights. To look at me, you wouldn't notice it, but I'm actually quite muscular... I'm just well insulated, too. haha!

I do appreciate your input, but I've been very happy with the results I get when I follow the macros set up by MFP. (My protein goes up once I add in my daily exercise amount. And, I do eat my workout calories/macros.) I get regular doctor's check-ups and have passed with flying colors. Two years ago, while working a very physically demanding job, I had some chest pain, so I went to the hospital, got checked in, had cardiac stress testing done, and was told I was the healthiest person they had ever seen on the cardiac floor. The conclusion we all came to was that I pulled a muscle (left chest area) while working. I mainly had it checked out because I'd experienced that pain before.

I agree that dietary fat is important. I don't shy away from it. I just know that, for me, I can't go over on it and lose weight. As far as the speed at which I lost (1st time), I wasn't trying to lose it that fast. I was just eating better/smaller portions and the fat was melting off.

For me, I look at it this way... when I eat like this (IIFYM/following the MFP suggested macros), I feel better, the doctors say I'm healthy... if it's not broke, don't try to fix it. Thanks, again, for your comments, AJ_G!

Sarauk2sf

The thing about eating clean is that it's not just for your weight loss- processed foods contribute to heart disease, diabetes, cancer, bone disease, so much! You can be skinny and still be at risk for all of those things by eating a highly processed, unnatural diet.

How so?

What do you define as clean and what as processed?

Milk?
Frozen food?
Pasta?
Quinoa?
Cheese?
Bacon?

Sarauk2sf

I have followed IIFYM since starting dieting.

My success thread from last year:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/903628-one-year-of-barbells-and-ice-cream-my-story-so-far-pics



I don't have many before pics:



Some 'after' pics:

Cranquistador

*swoon*

Cranquistador

guess i would be one

GiveMeCoffee

Not a success yet but working towards it, you can read what I wrote yesterday if you want.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/jwhited71

mustgetmuscles1

IIFYM, Weight lifting with little cardio, -1 pound per week for the first 50 pounds. 4 bulk/cut cycles since getting down to 160 over 1.5 years ago. Currently a little over 170 and cutting again.