IIFYM Help. What do you eat?

My diary is open. I'm not trying to lose weight though, just recomping - seems to be working fine!

chicken, salmon, halibut, cod, shrimp, beef, cottage cheese, venison, bison, turkey, pork....

Why only tuna and eggs??? The grocery store has way more items!

Here is my ratios that I use from IIFYM.

Everything.

my diary is open as well..

I eat lots of eggs, egg whites, cheese, seafood, fish, chicken, pork, greek yogurt, skim milk, canadian bacon, ham.

I don't *really* follow IIFYM, however.

What I do is
1) make sure I hit my protein minimum (20%)
2) make sure I hit my fat minimum (20%)
3) make sure I get enough potassium and iron and eat a varied, balanced diet (I have some guidelines for this)
4) eat whatever else I want to hit my calorie goal
5) be active every day (run three days, lift three days, do mobility work three days)

My diary is open.

First of all, whether your macros are right or not is completely a personal thing. The IIFYM website is basically just cashing in on the concept...it has really nothing to do with the original intent of IIFYM. IIFYM was just a stock answer provided by a guy named Erik Stevens on bodybuilding.com when people would ask things like, "can I eat oatmeal...or is it going to interfere with my gainz brah?"...answer...IIFYM.

IIFYM basically comes out of the fitness/athletics world, not so much dieting...your "right" macros would be ones that optimize your performance for whatever it is you are doing. A bodybuilder (where this was coined) would put a premium on protein for building muscles with the second point of emphasis likely to be carbs to keep glycogen stores full and provide the body with easy burning fuel to maximize protein synthesis. Conversely, the "right" macros for an endurance athlete would be carb heavy. In either scenario, fat is important to overall body function, but not directly important to athletic performance.

IIFYM has essentially been bastardized across the internet to mean that you can basically shovel whatever you want into your face so long as it fits your macros. At conception, it was generally assumed that one would be eating a diet that consisted largely of nutrient dense whole foods providing for optimal nutrition and thus optimal performance...but say, someone was on a bulk and eating 2500 calories of awesome nutrition...a little ice cream to get them to 3,000 calories to bulk wouldn't be a big deal. You aren't going to find too many athletes at any level just eating **** because it fits their macros...generally nutrition is pretty important to them, as it is ultimately very important to performance.

I would suggest eating a diet that is comprised largely of whole foods...veggies, fruit, eggs, meat, poultry, fish, whole grains, etc...and enjoy some ice cream from time to time...and beer...always beer. If you are dieting I'd recommend getting at least 0.9 - 1 gram of protein per Lb of LBM to help you hold onto muscle mass...if you're in maintenance, your protein intake would be largely dependent on your activity...the more active you are and the more vigorous that activity, the more protein you need. Fat should be in the neighborhood of 0.35 grams per Lb of body weight...if you're getting 0.3 - 0.4 grams per Lb of body weight, you're doing good. I don't necessarily try to hit mine dead on or anything...so long as I am in an acceptable range of protein and fat and have adequate carbs to fuel my workouts I'm good...I don't fuss if I'm not bang on 1 gram per Lb of LBM or anything like that...I just focus on proper nutrition.

ETA: for the average end user, having a reasonably balanced macro ratio and getting your nutrition with your food is what you should be striving for...hitting dead on certain macros really is only going to be marginally beneficial to the well conditioned athlete. As long as you have pretty good balance in your diet, you should be ok...

My diary is open, and I am starting to get the hang of it!