IIFYM vs percentages

almx00
almx00 Posts: 16 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hello,i am a 18 yr old female,5'6,152 lbs looking to lose around 20-30 lbs in the next 3-4 months. I used the IIFYM calculator,put in my stats,working out 6x a week (cardio+weights) and my desired 1300 cas/day. The calculator told me to eat 53.3 carbs a day,152 grams of protein and 52 grams of fat. I dont know what percentages it used to calculate that. I then changed the percentages myself to 40C|40P|20F. That gave me an allowance of 120 carbs,120g of protein and 26.7g of fat per day. Which one should i follow?? The results that the IIFYM gave me seem crazy (50 carbs a day :explode: ) I'm quite confused. Im looking to lose weight as I mentioned as well as developing muscle tone. Thank you!

Replies

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    IIFYM doesn't use a %...it uses 1g protein per Lb of body weight (I don't know why they don't just use LBM...I believe there are some assumptions in there that someone using the calculator is already relatively lean or something) and either .35 or .40 grams of fat per Lb of body weight and they round out the rest with carbs. Also, I would suspect the reason you're getting such low carb is because you've plugged in a pretty aggressive weight loss goal so your calories are probably pretty low...IIFYM is going to make sure you're hitting protein and fat first...so what gets cut is carbs.

    You'd probably be fine with a zone approach as well, which is an option of IIFYM...it is a 40c/30p/30f ratio and is pretty common while eating at a deficit.

    I basically make sure I'm getting around 1 gram of protein per Lb of LBM and anywhere ffrom .30 - .40 grams of fat per Lb of body weight and I round out the rest with carbs.
  • 3laine75
    3laine75 Posts: 3,069 Member
    The later is far too low on fat. Use IIFYM then fiddle with your percentages till you get something similair. 40/30/30 on here works out, near as damn it, to what IIFYM gave me.

    ETA: not being preachy, but you probably don't need as big a deficit as you've gave yourself if youre 18. But if you're determined to stick at 1300, remember to eat back your exercise cals :)
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    The later is far too low on fat. Use IIFYM then fiddle with your percentages till you get something similair. 40/30/30 on here works out, near as damn it, to what IIFYM gave me.

    ETA: not being preachy, but you probably don't need as big a deficit as you've gave yourself if youre 18. But if you're determined to stick at 1300, remember to eat back your exercise cals :)

    If she's using IIFYM calorie goals then exercise should already be included in the calorie calculation as IIFYM calculator is a TDEE method calculator.

    OP...1300 does seem aggressive which is why I suggested that you may want to back off from that...that aggressive approach is why you're getting such limited carb intake with IIFYM...IIFYM is going to make sure you're hitting protein and fat first as they are far more essential to your overall health than carbs...then it will round out the rest of your calories with carbs. With such a low calorie goal, IIFYM is saying fine...but no carbs.

    How much do you need to lose? What % cut did you take from your TDEE? IMHO, 1300 is too aggressive for the amount of exercise you are doing.
  • almx00
    almx00 Posts: 16 Member
    Thank you all!!

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