clean eating vs iffym

People who are clean eaters focus on eating whole foods… lean meats, healthy fats, veggies, fruits. They typically don't eat processed foods like cookies, chips, fast food, etc.

People who follow IIFYM focus on hitting their macros all while incorporating foods like cookies, chips, and fast food into their diet.

*Edited because of the MFP police.*

Actually, most 'clean eaters' diaries and the diaries of IIFYM'ers actually following IIFYM (rather than people's percieved notion of what IIFYM is) will be very similar.

IIFYM is not only about hitting macros.

Yes, I am aware that many clean eaters also follow IIFYM.

You should probably tell that to cwolfman.

People who are clean eaters focus on eating whole foods… lean meats, healthy fats, veggies, fruits. They typically don't eat processed foods like cookies, chips, fast food, etc.

People who follow IIFYM focus on hitting their macros all while incorporating foods like cookies, chips, and fast food into their diet.

*Edited because of the MFP police.*

Actually, most 'clean eaters' diaries and the diaries of IIFYM'ers actually following IIFYM (rather than people's percieved notion of what IIFYM is) will be very similar.

IIFYM is not only about hitting macros.

Yes, I am aware that many clean eaters also follow IIFYM.

You should probably tell that to cwolfman.

That was not my point.

People who are clean eaters focus on eating whole foods… lean meats, healthy fats, veggies, fruits. They typically don't eat processed foods like cookies, chips, fast food, etc.

People who follow IIFYM focus on hitting their macros all while incorporating foods like cookies, chips, and fast food into their diet.

*Edited because of the MFP police.*

Actually, most 'clean eaters' diaries and the diaries of IIFYM'ers actually following IIFYM (rather than people's percieved notion of what IIFYM is) will be very similar.

IIFYM is not only about hitting macros.

Yes, I am aware that many clean eaters also follow IIFYM.

You should probably tell that to cwolfman.

That was not my point.

Don't know what your point is then.

Most clean eaters also follow IIFYM because they are tracking calories, staying under their calorie goal, and still hitting macros.

My point is what I wrote - the focus was not on 'clean eaters' following IIFYM.

People who are clean eaters focus on eating whole foods… lean meats, healthy fats, veggies, fruits. They typically don't eat processed foods like cookies, chips, fast food, etc.

People who follow IIFYM focus on hitting their macros all while incorporating foods like cookies, chips, and fast food into their diet.

*Edited because of the MFP police.*

Actually, most 'clean eaters' diaries and the diaries of IIFYM'ers actually following IIFYM (rather than people's percieved notion of what IIFYM is) will be very similar.

IIFYM is not only about hitting macros.

Yes, I am aware that many clean eaters also follow IIFYM.

You should probably tell that to cwolfman.

That was not my point.

Don't know what your point is then.

Most clean eaters also follow IIFYM because they are tracking calories, staying under their calorie goal, and still hitting macros.

My point is what I wrote - the focus was not on 'clean eaters' following IIFYM.

Then why did you say that if you were to compare the diary of a clean eater and the diary of someone who follows IIFYM, the diaries will be very similar? Sounds like that's what you were getting at to me.

This is probably the 198,255th time this post has been made here. Lol. But I'll bite. IIFYM means calorie counting. Clean eating means eating foods you believe to be healthy and good for weight loss, but maybe not actually counting your calories. While clean eating is fine, IIFYM is superior because it means you are tracking your calories and doing the math, which will ensure that you do lose weight. Because, at the end of the day, it does not matter what you eat. All that matters is the number of calories. And, you can overeat "clean" foods and gain weight. Doing the math, to ensure you are in a caloric deficit, is the smart way to go.

Clean eating means calorie counting as well. :huh:

No, IIFYM is not superior. Neither is clean eating. One is not better than the other. It's all personal preference.

Yes, what was stated here is in truth the exact opposite.

If you are relying solely on Macro percentages, then exact calorie counting is futile. If you are consuming Oatmeal vs a Snickers bar, the calories are much different, yet...

100 carbs will always be 100 carbs.

If you are relying solely on macro percentages, then you are not really following IIFYM properly (or at least how it is meant to be followed).

Correct. I'm not familiar with " IIFYM". It is simply a fancy way of marketing Macro ratios for the general public. I'm speaking merely of calculating macro ratios the way fitness experts and bodybuilders have been doing for decades. The basic premise is very simple, everything else is marketing fluff.

If you are not familiar with IIFYM, why are you commenting on it?

OMG, not ANOTHER "clean eating" post.
Did you all not learn your lesson with the last post that rolled and then was locked??
:noway: :grumble: :explode:

People who are clean eaters focus on eating whole foods… lean meats, healthy fats, veggies, fruits. They typically don't eat processed foods like cookies, chips, fast food, etc.

People who follow IIFYM focus on hitting their macros all while incorporating foods like cookies, chips, and fast food into their diet.

*Edited because of the MFP police.*

Actually, most 'clean eaters' diaries and the diaries of IIFYM'ers actually following IIFYM (rather than people's percieved notion of what IIFYM is) will be very similar.

IIFYM is not only about hitting macros.

Yes, I am aware that many clean eaters also follow IIFYM.

You should probably tell that to cwolfman.

That was not my point.

Don't know what your point is then.

Most clean eaters also follow IIFYM because they are tracking calories, staying under their calorie goal, and still hitting macros.

Wut? Perhaps most clean eaters that track calories on MFP or with other tools follow a macro approach. But in the real world, outside of MFP, most "clean" eaters don't track and if you don't track in some way (even if it is guesstimating in your head) you aren't following IIFYM.

Or are you now magically defining that "clean" eating includes macro tracking? Because it doesn't.

OP - "clean" eating considers ice cream is bad but yogurt and cheese might or might not be. (I still haven't had that one explained - I should start a thread). IIFYM is neutral on the question with a specific caveat - it focused on a calorie range for weight loss or gain and was initially a response to a "clean" eating style that would denigrate "bad" food. It isn't telling you that eating X is healthy or not - you actually have to add a more thinking.

Eating only fast food might fit IIFYM (but it isn't what IIFYM is recommending) - not very healthy with regards to micronutrients.
Eating "clean" means you can't have pizza or bread or hot dogs or noodles - eating only chicken might fit a "clean" definition but that too would not be very healthy (and it isn't what "clean" eating is recommending, either).

Reasonable approaches include a large food variety of fresh produce. One tells you never eat pizza, the other one tells you it matters less. One has an inconsistent definition of what is "clean".



The dietary style that is the most effective is the one that allows you, personally, to have long term adherence.

That is incorrect. Not everyone who does "clean eating" counts their calories or tracks macros. However, the counting is an essential principle of IIFYM. Duh.

Edit: And what you said about you following clean eating and IIFYM means that you follow BOTH. Not everyone who does clean eating follows IIFYM.

Clean eating means calorie counting as well. :huh:

No, IIFYM is not superior. Neither is clean eating. One is not better than the other. It's all personal preference.