From Paleo to IIFYM

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zannajune
zannajune Posts: 15 Member
in Introduce Yourself
I've been using MFP on and off for a few years now, but I'm finally sticking to it more permanently. Here's my story:

In late 2012 I took a long hard look at myself and realized I just wasn't happy with my body. I was 5'2" and 130 lbs which isn't bad, but I was skinny fat. I was terribly out of shape and just didn't look healthy. So I began looking around and started with doing some HIIT workouts I found through pinterest (bodyrock.tv). I found that I loved HIIT! It was the first time I enjoyed exercise. I was doing things I'd never done before: jump squats, burpees, pushups. I was loving it. I also began to eat a Paleo diet. By August 2013 I was down to 115 lbs. I hadn't counted a single calorie. I felt amazing. I held steady at 115 lbs until about April 2014. By July 2014 I was back up to 127 lbs. I was not happy. I think what happened is that I wasn't doing proper portion control.

So in August I began looking around MFP again and I've learned a lot. I bought a food scale and WOW! has that been eye opening. I have definitely been over eating in the past. I've also dumped the paleo diet and am sticking to IIFYM. I like the idea of not seeing certain foods as "bad" which I did on Paleo. It just seems like a healthier and happier mindset. Anyway, I've only been doing this for a couple of weeks, but I already feel much better. I've lost 3 lbs so far which is a lot for my stats. My pants don't feel like they're cutting off my circulation anymore either. I'm sticking to a 1400 calorie diet for now which feels just right. I began at 1200, but felt like I was starving so upped it to 1400. As for exercise, I'm doing strength training at the gym 2-3 days a week and cardio 3 days a week.


I'm looking forward to learning more on this crazy journey.

Replies

  • mckaytobe
    mckaytobe Posts: 56 Member
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    Our stories seem very similar and so do our stats! I am 5'3, 59kg at the moment but was down to 51kg at my lowest. My highest weight was 72kg.
    I have come back to IIFYM, but with a slightly lower carb goal as I want to focus on 'healthy' fats and getting my protein in.
    I was following a paleo/keto diet which worked initially but couldn't keep up the intensity and it began messing with my mindset.

    Send me a friend request if you would like to share successes and challenges.

    Good luck on your journey :smile:
  • zannajune
    zannajune Posts: 15 Member
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    Our stories seem very similar and so do our stats! I am 5'3, 59kg at the moment but was down to 51kg at my lowest. My highest weight was 72kg.
    I have come back to IIFYM, but with a slightly lower carb goal as I want to focus on 'healthy' fats and getting my protein in.
    I was following a paleo/keto diet which worked initially but couldn't keep up the intensity and it began messing with my mindset.

    Send me a friend request if you would like to share successes and challenges.

    Good luck on your journey :smile:

    Request sent! Even though I'm not doing strict Paleo anymore but I did learn some good habits from it such as eating more vegetables and healthy fats. It's something I hope to keep up even with the change in my dietary plans.
  • mckaytobe
    mckaytobe Posts: 56 Member
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    I agree. I have always eaten a lot of vegetables so that won't change. But I always avoided fat, which meant that I was on a low cal and low fat diet. I was always hungry and unsatisfied. Now, I am keeping to the fats to avoid that again!
  • becky_day
    becky_day Posts: 2 Member
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    Similar here too. Im 33, 5'1'' and currently at 59kg, my ideal weight when Im lean and running a lot is 48kg (I have a very small frame so don't look too skinny at this)
    Ive been doing keto for a few days and feel good, was in ketosis by end of day 2 and had dropped 3kg water weight which made me feel good even if not real weight loss- aiming for 10% carb, 70% fat, 20% protein and 3L water a day

    Im a doctor so find eating more fat screws with everything i was ever taught at med school about how bad fat is…..but when you look at the evidence, its all in favour of dropping the carbs and replacing with good fats!

    Add me if you're keen to share stories…..Im off to look at IIFYM as know nothing about it
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    Keep in mind that IIFYM is merely a concept that emphasizes tracking your macros...it was born largely out of the fitness industry and more specifically the bodybuilding industry. You could do any diet imaginable is still implement the IIFYM concept to it.

    While the concept offers some flexibility, it was never intended to mean eat whatever...that's really more of the modern bastardization of the concept. Remember that it was born out of the fitness industry, whereby performance is very much going to be impacted by the overall diet...so while nobody needs to get to ruffled up about a little ice cream for desert, someone who is truly following the concept as intended is going to overwhelmingly have a very nutritious and healthy diet.

    I would also add that IIFYM isn't a website or a calculator...they're just capitalizing on the concept. And there is no singular macro ratio that is universally ideal for everyone...it very much depends on what you're doing. As it was initially born out of the bodybuilding industry, it is generally associated with a higher protein intake..but someone who trains regularly for endurance events for example is going to have a far different macro ratio to assist in their performance.

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