IIFYMs What are your thoughts?
m2921
Posts: 15 Member
Hi everyone,
I have 30 pounds to lose (down 10 so far) to get back to me pre first pregnancy weight. I've seen IIFYMs mentioned a few times in various places and was wondering what everyone here thought about it? Have you tried it? Has it worked for you? I'm not lifting, just walking a lot with a double buggy, one 90 min yoga class and one spin class per week. I can't get to the gym any more than this at the moment as I have a 2 year old and a 6 month old.
Thanks for any input.
I have 30 pounds to lose (down 10 so far) to get back to me pre first pregnancy weight. I've seen IIFYMs mentioned a few times in various places and was wondering what everyone here thought about it? Have you tried it? Has it worked for you? I'm not lifting, just walking a lot with a double buggy, one 90 min yoga class and one spin class per week. I can't get to the gym any more than this at the moment as I have a 2 year old and a 6 month old.
Thanks for any input.
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Replies
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IIFYM isn't really a diet. It simply means instead of just counting calories and trying to hit a calorie goal, you count carbs, fats, and protein as in addition to calories. It helps ensure that the majority of weight lost during a diet is fat, and not lean muscle. Lifting weights is also a big part of keeping muscles while dieting down though. It works in so much as, if you are in a deficit and doing IIFYM you will lose weight, just like any other eating scheme or diet.0
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Thanks for the reply, fat loss is the aim as opposed to just general weight loss (as it is for everyone I guess) so I think I'll try it and see what happens. I hope to start a decent weights program soon if I can work out child care, so hopefully that will help things.0
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Eating to your macros will work but.....you still need to think about how you get those macros....say if you need to consume 100 g of carb, then getting them from vegetables , fruit and low gi grains is going to have a different impact on your physiology than say consuming two table spoons of sugar... Try to eat low gi unprocessed food0
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I tend to just aim for calories and its worked for me so far but now struggling to lose last couple of lbs0
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philwrightfitness wrote: »Eating to your macros will work but.....you still need to think about how you get those macros....say if you need to consume 100 g of carb, then getting them from vegetables , fruit and low gi grains is going to have a different impact on your physiology than say consuming two table spoons of sugar... Try to eat low gi unprocessed food
Why?
It will have a different impact on your hunger levels but that's about it0 -
Personally, I don't see the point of it for myself. Instead I just count calories, and make sure my protein intake is where I want it each day.
Fat and carbs I let fall where they may, and the only time I pay attention to them is if I have issues with my energy or hunger levels.
With flagging energy/ blood sugar spikes, I simply tweak the simple/ complex carb balance. If hunger levels are the problem, then I simply eat more fat and less carbs, for satiety.
I will add, I don't do a lot of intense cardio, but if that changes, I will simply eat more carbs around those activities for the requisite energy.0 -
The whole IIFYM ("If it fits your macros" for those who are wondering) has gotten so skewed!
Stick to the basics - eat lean protein, veggies and other useful carbs. Cook your own food, prep your meals, and don't eat processed junk food.
If you want to get into Macronutrients, carb loading, etc...read this thread - it helped me in the beginning of my journey0 -
I'm an IIFYMer and have seen great success. It makes tweaking your diet easy because you can cut macro ratios instead of calories to get different results. I try to get within 10g of protein and carb goal and within 5g of fat every day0
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http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=2845231
guess it would help if i posted the link #nightshiftbrain0 -
philwrightfitness wrote: »Eating to your macros will work but.....you still need to think about how you get those macros....say if you need to consume 100 g of carb, then getting them from vegetables , fruit and low gi grains is going to have a different impact on your physiology than say consuming two table spoons of sugar... Try to eat low gi unprocessed food
Why?
It will have a different impact on your hunger levels but that's about it
No, its much more than just having an effect on your hunger levels. Yes it does effect hunger levels in different ways (ie different effect on ghrelin and leptin) but the physiological response to different types of food is different. They can affect insulin, glucagon, leptin, ghrelin, and a whole range of other hormones and physiological processes. These can also have quite a big effect on you brain function and thus aspects such as cravings, happiness, depression etc
Apart from that, they also contain different micronutrients (ie vitamins and minerals) so you will be benefitting your body in various ways depending on your food choice
IIFYM can be good in the way on looking at the macros you are putting into your body, but can be a bad idea when people take it to the basic form of "as long as it fits my macros its all the same". Eating brown rice is generally going to be better for your body than eating icecream, even if the two things contain the same amount of carbs
Having said that it depends greatly on what your goals are. For some, watching macros is not important nor necessary. For others, it is.
Tis really up to you
But in summary, foods do elicit different physiological responses and (as much as people will hate this comment and will most likely protest it) a calorie is not just a calorie0 -
tiddles_yeah wrote: »IIFYM can be good in the way on looking at the macros you are putting into your body, but can be a bad idea when people take it to the basic form of "as long as it fits my macros its all the same".
I think this is a very good, often overlooked point, imo.0 -
Why?
It will have a different impact on your hunger levels but that's about it
Quantity and quality of your intake. Macronutrients gauge the former (quantity), while micronutrients gauge the latter (quality). All thats required for weight loss/ weight management, is management of macros. If you want good general health also, its about micronutrients.
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I honestly don't see the difference between MFP and IIFYM. It's the same thing... meeting your macros. The only difference is that by default, IIFYM has better macros (more protein, less carbs). Otherwise, same thing.0
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Thought is, most people don't really know what IIFYM means.....it isn't a specific calorie or macro formula.0
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Except you like many confuse the difference between a calorie is a calorie and not all calories are created equal.......the people that say a calorie is a calorie generally know that not all calories are create equal but for some reason we're confused, ok. loltiddles_yeah wrote: »philwrightfitness wrote: »Eating to your macros will work but.....you still need to think about how you get those macros....say if you need to consume 100 g of carb, then getting them from vegetables , fruit and low gi grains is going to have a different impact on your physiology than say consuming two table spoons of sugar... Try to eat low gi unprocessed food
Why?
It will have a different impact on your hunger levels but that's about it
No, its much more than just having an effect on your hunger levels. Yes it does effect hunger levels in different ways (ie different effect on ghrelin and leptin) but the physiological response to different types of food is different. They can affect insulin, glucagon, leptin, ghrelin, and a whole range of other hormones and physiological processes. These can also have quite a big effect on you brain function and thus aspects such as cravings, happiness, depression etc
Apart from that, they also contain different micronutrients (ie vitamins and minerals) so you will be benefitting your body in various ways depending on your food choice
IIFYM can be good in the way on looking at the macros you are putting into your body, but can be a bad idea when people take it to the basic form of "as long as it fits my macros its all the same". Eating brown rice is generally going to be better for your body than eating icecream, even if the two things contain the same amount of carbs
Having said that it depends greatly on what your goals are. For some, watching macros is not important nor necessary. For others, it is.
Tis really up to you
But in summary, foods do elicit different physiological responses and (as much as people will hate this comment and will most likely protest it) a calorie is not just a calorie
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philwrightfitness wrote: »Eating to your macros will work but.....you still need to think about how you get those macros....say if you need to consume 100 g of carb, then getting them from vegetables , fruit and low gi grains is going to have a different impact on your physiology than say consuming two table spoons of sugar... Try to eat low gi unprocessed food
This is not required. I've lost 20+lbs while eating plenty of junk food in this time. Of course I also eat way more "healthy" food because that's the best way to meet protein requirements, and helps me reach my fiber needs. Other than that, if I meet protein needs by lunch then if I want to eat caramel popcorn and popsicles and halloween candy, and if it fits into my calories for the day, I sure as hell will eat it. I am only strict with protein and try to get my fat minimum. Other than that I'm flexible as hell.0 -
harlequin0318 wrote: »The whole IIFYM ("If it fits your macros" for those who are wondering) has gotten so skewed!
Stick to the basics - eat lean protein, veggies and other useful carbs. Cook your own food, prep your meals, and don't eat processed junk food.
If you want to get into Macronutrients, carb loading, etc...read this thread - it helped me in the beginning of my journey
IIFYM is synonymous with flexible dieting, not brofoods. Meaning that if you can hit the last of your protein needs with a cheeseburger from a restaurant, that's fine. Or if you can meet your fat with.. idk, slathering butter on something, then that's fine.
There's also no reason you need to stick to only lean protein and veggies. I eat beef, pork, bacon, salmon/fish, and of course chicken. Although now I'm actually preferring red meat over chicken these days, probably because I prefer the flavour. And useful carbs? Okay, well I find my super sugary fruit to be useful. And that small bag of skittles I ate last night was pretty useful.
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tiddles_yeah wrote: »
IIFYM can be good in the way on looking at the macros you are putting into your body, but can be a bad idea when people take it to the basic form of "as long as it fits my macros its all the same". Eating brown rice is generally going to be better for your body than eating icecream, even if the two things contain the same amount of carbs
And yet the entire goal of IIFYM is that it allows your eating to be flexible. To say "oh well I can eat anything as long as it fits into my macros, but I cannot eat this list of foods because it is a bad type of carb" is not IIFYM's message. The message is basically that you can eat things you love and enjoy while losing weight (or maintaining, or gaining) and you do not have to stick with a boring bro-diet.0 -
IIFYM isn't a diet...it is a concept and that concept was born out of the fitness industry, not the diet industry. The original purpose behind the concept was to meet your macro-nutrient goals in order to optimize fitness performance. As such, there isn't some set, optimal macro ratio...it's going to be different for everyone. A marathon runner is going to have a starkly different macro ratio than a bodybuilder for example...
The IIFYM website isn't IIFYM...it is just capitalizing on the concept...and by and large the entire concept has been basterdized. IIFYM doesn't mean that you eat whatever the hell you want to eat...if you're trying to optimize performance, you want to optimize your nutrition...you don't do that eating *kitten*. People who follow the concept as it was originally intended do not sit around eating junk all day...for the most part, my diet is rich in whole food nutrition...but I can also have a bowl of ice cream for desert If It Fits MY Macros.0 -
Right now it works for me. When I get to a lower weight, I will probably change my macros.0
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I honestly don't see the difference between MFP and IIFYM. It's the same thing... meeting your macros. The only difference is that by default, IIFYM has better macros (more protein, less carbs). Otherwise, same thing.
The thing is, there is not magic formula...the IIFYM website is *kitten*...IIFYM is a concept, it's not a set formula...optimal macro ratios are going to vary from individual to individual and frankly can vary from season to season depending on what that particular individual is into...it's not some pre-set 40/30/30 thing or whatever.
When I'm doing endurance racing in the spring and early summer, my optimal macro ratios are starkly different than in the winter when I spend most of my time in the weight room...just as an example.
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Thank you for the input everyone. I now have a much better idea of what the concept of IIFYMs is. I have changed my macro goals on MFP to the ones calculated for me on the IIFYMs website (I inderstand that the website is capitalising on the concept) the main difference appears to be a higher protien percentage and lower carbs and fat. As a general rule I try to choose healthier (more natural, nutrient dense) foods when I can, but will admit I fail at that fairly regularly!
Thanks again for your replies0
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