IIFYM - What is this about!?

So, I see people talking aobut TDEE's and BMR's etc so I'm doing my google to inform myself... Which lead me to this website iifym.com which is this giant calculator that apparently tells you exactly what to eat every day... But, it adds that you MUST eat EXACTLY the amounts suggested or you will have inconsistent weight loss...

It wants me to eat:


CARBS PROTEIN FAT FIBER CALORIES
GRAMS per day 331.4 250.5 87.1 78 - 97 3112
GRAMS per meal 110.5 83.5 29 26 - 32 1037

#1 I have no idea how I would ever get that much protein without doing protein shakes every meal, which I'm pretty much already doing, but carbs... that would be nearly impossible and maintaining that level of calories... It also completely ignores sodium which is far and above the hardest thing to limit in a diet...

Can someone explain if TDEE is better than the MFP suggestions?

iifym.com is just some private website. it has nothing official to do with the concepts of "If It Fits Your Macros". that site is simply trying to profit by using that acronym for their domain since they know they'll get traffic from those who type IIFYM into their browser window.

in fact, you don't need to ever visit that site to learn about and understand the basic principles behind IIFYM... it's all common sense really.

more info here:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/817188-iifym

even more info here:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/833026-important-posts-to-read

even even more info here:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/10118-eat-train-progress

Yes to all of this.

Congrats, you lost weight, you also haven't addressed your risk for hypertension and at those levels of carbs for me your risk of heart disease... Losing weight isn't the only goal in being healthy.

This!

Well, the major problem I have with all of this... is these are literally impossible...

There is absolutely NO way a man can eat THAT much protein / carbs / fiber / fat without either going WAY over on calories, or being deficient in some way or the other...

There is also NO way to do this on a low sodium diet...

Please, PLEASE show me how you can eat ANYTHING that is packaged or processed that will be even remotely acceptable on 2300mg of sodium a day.

I would love nothing more than to eat fast food or packaged food, it's what I've lived on for the last 8 years and made me ridiculously obese. Primarily because they are stupid high in calories and stupid low in anything else.

So, what exactly is the " treat " portion of this diet if you're still being forced to eat fresh fish / chicken with very little seasonings. Are people really considering kale a treat?

Well, the macros you got are actually a percentage of the calorie goal you have. I do pretty well with some processed foods. What I do (and I see most people suggest) is plan your protien first, and the rest usually falls into place pretty well. So it is definitely possible to eat that much protien per day and stick with your goals.

I don't even pay attention to the macros. In fact, I rarely log my food.

I never say "you can't eat that ever! " that just sets me up for failure.

I exercise, drink water and an occasional Coke, eat correct portions of whatever it is I'm eating whether it's pizza or salmon or a few bites of chocolate. I've lost over 100 pounds and other than some chronic illnesses completely unrelated to weight, I'm healthy according to my blood work on vitamin, minerals, sodium, etc.

It's not about what you eat, it's about not over eating, exercising and drinking that water.

Carbs aren't exactly the devil, it's just science, that's the entire point of all this... Too many carbs causes micro tears in the walls of your arteries, which can be filled with low density lipoproteins which is why everyone freaks out about cholesterol, but if you just lowered the carbs you wouldn't have the tears and thus the need to lower ldl and thus less chance of heart disease.

the IIFYM scheme is based entirely on eat what you want so long as it fits your macros without being an *kitten* and saying you're gonna eat a stick of butter wrapped in sugar to get your fat / carb macros for the day.

However, I have spent 2 hours trying very very hard to get a solid meal that involves ANY packaged or fast food that fits my macros, I would encourage you to provide one cause I'll follow it...

97 carbs - 54 protein - 19 fat - 22 fiber - 24 sugar - 575 sodium - 780 calories

If you can find me a combination of packaged foods - turkey bacon / sausage / ham / chicken or fast food that can fit those metrics I will be head over heals because I cannot even get close... I either get close to protein and go over on fat, get close to carbs but go over on sodium, all of these things are like counter balanced. You add one thing, take away another and it repeats in a circle. The ENTIRE point of this system was to take the STRESS out of eating... But I've spent 3 hours being extremely stressed.

Wouldn't it be easier to just cook from scratch than eat processed? Not hard to learn if you don't already know how and it takes out a whole lot of the sodium issue. I have to watch sodium, fat and sugar. I've still managed to eat just fine since dropping a good chunk of the processed stuff

2 years following IIFYM .. Over 150lbs lost .. Good Luck Man .. You can do it ..

Don't over-complicate it. This needs to be simple and easy in order to be long-term sustainable. For me, although macros are important, it basically just comes down to calories. I just use the MFP method. Use whatever is easiest and whatever works best for you.

I think I've miss-portrayed myself in this little rant, and what I'm finding is that more and more people aren't really sticking to their macros... They're sticking to their calories and mostly proteins... I can hit calorie and protein all day, that's a sinch... Now let's work on my hypertension, let's work on heart disease, let's work on these other things and it becomes unbearable....

I don't cook a lot cause I'm not home a lot, I'm either at the gym, at work, or hanging out with friends. Convenience has been everything for me... It's why I'm willing to drink 4 protein shakes a day, and feel like a beached whale... I just hate to stand for an hour preparing something that is great and fits my macros but I just can't do it on a regular basis.

At most I can fit in a dinner, but most days I'm up and out the door to work, I get an hour break but I commute 30 miles to work, going home isn't an option, I pretty much have to pack a lunch, which requires pre-cooking, which sadly goes back to my stupid self destructive loop, or I depend on what's soooo much easier, convenience...

My ultimate goal would be to plan a way to eat strategically out and in to hit my calorie / protein macros, but my sodium will be a train wreck and probably so will my fats.

I have hypertension, I'm also at risk for several other nasty little diseases from my family medical background. Easiest thing I can honestly tell you is try to hit your protein and your calories. When your grocery shopping look at the back of the packages and try to find what has lower sodium. (ie When I was first told I had hypertension, I was buying salad dressing, the only one I really care for is Ranch, which is high in sodium, but after looking at the Original and the Bacon Ranch, the Bacon had lower sodium. Let's just say my mouth had a happy time) Cut out your soda, or cut down on it, I still drink a can or two of REGULAR soda a day, sometimes three depending on the day. I also have the fun of not being able to eat certain vegetables due to texture issues while eating them (let's just say pea's and I are NOT friends, eww) so I eat a lot of salads. But I don't limit myself on what I want to eat either. I just make sure it fits within my calorie goals. I know soon I will have to actively start looking for more veggies that my mouth can handle without feeling like I'm going to heave in the middle of eating it. But for now I enjoy what I want to eat and just make sure that I work it off that day! I check my micros just to kind of get an idea of what is fitting in my mouth, but right NOW, I don't make it a priority. I'm more concerned with the sodium in my food and my calories.

And yes, I eat fast food quite a bit. But again, I make it fit in my calories and I drink a LOT of water to help flush the sodium. I hope you can find a balance that works for you