new to iifym...how does it work?
amoods05
Posts: 32 Member
Hey everyone. I've successfully lost weight in the past using MFP but I'm prone to binge-ing. I've heard many say IIFYM was their life saver and they no longer binge or feel unhappy all the time trying to lose weight due to restrictions. can anyone give me some insight into how it works? TIA 
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I would start here if it was me. iifym.com/0
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Th3Ph03n1x wrote: »I would start here if it was me. iifym.com/
yes, i have actually been there already! i was actually hoping for some MFP members to give their accounts of how it worked for them.0 -
1. Figure out macros.
2. Set macros.
3. Plan day around meeting fat and protein minimums (and getting in micros as tracked/needed)
4. Fill in whatever calories I have left after step 3 with whatever I want.
5. Win0 -
These posts might be interesting to you:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/817188-iifym/p1
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/925464/fitting-it-in-giggity/p1
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It's a flexible approach to weight loss. I prefer the term 'flexible dieting'.
The title says it all really, if a food fits in with your calorie and macronutrient goals then eat it.
There's no bad foods, no good foods, just foods with nutritional data that will either fit in to your numbers or not.
Some people take it to the Nth degree and think it's about eating poptarts and choclate covered lard cakes all day. It's not. It's about arming yourself with sound knowledge of nutrition, eating a well balanced nutritionally sound diet and understanding that, for example, eating some ice cream isn't going to have an effect on your dieting, if that ice cream fits in to your numbers.
For me it's about being flexible and creating a healthy happy relationship with food and creating an environment where the only restriction is your numbers. I don't believe that long term or excessive restrictions work.
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1. Figure out macros.
2. Set macros.
3. Plan day around meeting fat and protein minimums (and getting in micros as tracked/needed)
4. Fill in whatever calories I have left after step 3 with whatever I want.
5. Win
Just curious is there a way to adjust your goal for a given macro on mfp? I know you can change which ones you track.0 -
I eat what I want in moderation to meet my calorie and macro requirements. That usually requires me to pre plan my food for the day, which I usually do the night before. I can still eat the food that I like but I make sure to mix and match the combinations to hit the right macros.0
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First I set my diary for the macros I wanted. I lift weights so I went for 1 gram of protein per pound of LBM and .35 grams of fat per pound of weight.
Every day I prelog my food. I put my protein in first. Usually fats take care of themselves (I like fat, what can I say?). Then I try to make sure I'm getting in some veggies/fruit. Ideally I hit my fiber goal, although due to some health issues I've been having more trouble with that lately. With whatever calories are left I fit in some ice cream, a cupcake, or similar.0 -
Th3Ph03n1x wrote: »1. Figure out macros.
2. Set macros.
3. Plan day around meeting fat and protein minimums (and getting in micros as tracked/needed)
4. Fill in whatever calories I have left after step 3 with whatever I want.
5. Win
Just curious is there a way to adjust your goal for a given macro on mfp? I know you can change which ones you track.
Yup!
http://myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/12035-can-i-customize-my-nutritional-goals-0 -
Th3Ph03n1x wrote: »1. Figure out macros.
2. Set macros.
3. Plan day around meeting fat and protein minimums (and getting in micros as tracked/needed)
4. Fill in whatever calories I have left after step 3 with whatever I want.
5. Win
Just curious is there a way to adjust your goal for a given macro on mfp? I know you can change which ones you track.
Yup!
http://myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/12035-can-i-customize-my-nutritional-goals-
Thanks!0 -
The people who talk about eating just poptarts and cake all day are usually the people who don't follow IIFYM and who are trying to "disprove" it by coming up with ridiculous examples. That kind of example gets cited on MFP all the time, but nobody who follows IIFYM eats like that.Some people take it to the Nth degree and think it's about eating poptarts and choclate covered lard cakes all day. It's not. It's about arming yourself with sound knowledge of nutrition, eating a well balanced nutritionally sound diet and understanding that, for example, eating some ice cream isn't going to have an effect on your dieting, if that ice cream fits in to your numbers.
OP, the general idea is that pretty much any food, within moderation, can be incorporated into a healthy diet. You can't just eat poptarts all day, because you wouldn't be hitting any kind of reasonable protein macro target. (And you'd eventually get scurvy). But if you've hit your protein and fat targets and have some carbs left over, there's no reason why you can't fill that with a poptart.
Most people I know who follow IIFYM do what ILiftHeavyAcrylics is talking about -- we prelog our food, making sure we're getting enough of whatever macro is hardest for us to hit (for me it's protein, although I occasionally have to make sure I'm eating enough fat). I have a target for the number of servings of fruits/vegetables I eat in a day, so I make sure I fit those in too. After that, I typically have enough calories left over that I can fit in something just because it tastes good and I want to eat it.
Tl;dr: IIFYM says that you hit your nutrition goals, then eat things that you enjoy if you have room in your day.0 -
does everyone here hit each one exactly every day? today it looks like I'll be just barely over on carbs, just barely under on fat but spot on with protein.0
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does everyone here hit each one exactly every day? today it looks like I'll be just barely over on carbs, just barely under on fat but spot on with protein.
you want to hit protein and fat minimums and the you fill the rest in with whatever you want..most usually choose carbs...
so yes, it looks like your day is "correct"....0 -
The people who talk about eating just poptarts and cake all day are usually the people who don't follow IIFYM and who are trying to "disprove" it by coming up with ridiculous examples. That kind of example gets cited on MFP all the time, but nobody who follows IIFYM eats like that.Some people take it to the Nth degree and think it's about eating poptarts and choclate covered lard cakes all day. It's not. It's about arming yourself with sound knowledge of nutrition, eating a well balanced nutritionally sound diet and understanding that, for example, eating some ice cream isn't going to have an effect on your dieting, if that ice cream fits in to your numbers.
OP, the general idea is that pretty much any food, within moderation, can be incorporated into a healthy diet. You can't just eat poptarts all day, because you wouldn't be hitting any kind of reasonable protein macro target. (And you'd eventually get scurvy). But if you've hit your protein and fat targets and have some carbs left over, there's no reason why you can't fill that with a poptart.
Most people I know who follow IIFYM do what ILiftHeavyAcrylics is talking about -- we prelog our food, making sure we're getting enough of whatever macro is hardest for us to hit (for me it's protein, although I occasionally have to make sure I'm eating enough fat). I have a target for the number of servings of fruits/vegetables I eat in a day, so I make sure I fit those in too. After that, I typically have enough calories left over that I can fit in something just because it tastes good and I want to eat it.
Tl;dr: IIFYM says that you hit your nutrition goals, then eat things that you enjoy if you have room in your day.
I pre log too and see what my day looks like..unless I am going out to dinner then I pre log lunch and breakfast and try to see if I have hit my minimums and go from there...
and yes, most people that say IIFYM is eating donuts all day tend to be the ones that are not doing it, clean eaters, or people that just don't know what IIFYM is...0 -
does everyone here hit each one exactly every day? today it looks like I'll be just barely over on carbs, just barely under on fat but spot on with protein.
you want to hit protein and fat minimums and the you fill the rest in with whatever you want..most usually choose carbs...
so yes, it looks like your day is "correct"....
Yep. I'll also add to not worry too much if a day here, a day there, you miss a target. As long as the "miss" days are vastly outnumbered by the "hit" days, you'll likely be fine.0 -
I'm new here and just learning about things like IIFYM and TDEE and now I have come across the term clean eater twice? What does that mean?
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TDEE = Total Daily Energy Expenditure
IIFYM = If It Fits Your Macros0 -
Thank you ndj19790
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I'm new here and just learning about things like IIFYM and TDEE and now I have come across the term clean eater twice? What does that mean?
Generally, people who say they eat "clean" mean that they don't eat processed food. The definition depends on the person's beliefs about which foods are "good" or "bad" though. For example, some people might see dairy as "clean" but for others it's off limits because it does have some processing. For still others, whole milk would be okay but skim would not. Some people thing bread is okay as long as it's made at home and uses wheat flour, but stricter "clean" eaters would say that all bread is bad because flour is processed.
http://wannabebig.com/diet-and-nutrition/the-dirt-on-clean-eating/0 -
So I have a question regarding IIFYM and sugar.. Do you keep an eye on it at all, or do you just treat it like any other carb? With the overload of contradictory information on sugar lately, I'm a little lost.0
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So I have a question regarding IIFYM and sugar.. Do you keep an eye on it at all, or do you just treat it like any other carb? With the overload of contradictory information on sugar lately, I'm a little lost.
just treat it like another carb ..
hit your protein/fat/carb minimums fill the rest in with what you please….0 -
Generally people that understand and follow IIFYM correctly don't worry about refined sugar consumption because they know it needs to be a minor player in the diet, but also understand that eliminating whole food groups, which ever those may be which include ones that contain refined sugar is in direct conflict with IIFYM which, supports my first statement.So I have a question regarding IIFYM and sugar.. Do you keep an eye on it at all, or do you just treat it like any other carb? With the overload of contradictory information on sugar lately, I'm a little lost.
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neanderthin wrote: »
Generally people that understand and follow IIFYM correctly don't worry about refined sugar consumption because they know it needs to be a minor player in the diet, but also understand that eliminating whole food groups, which ever those may be which include ones that contain refined sugar is in direct conflict with IIFYM which, supports my first statement.So I have a question regarding IIFYM and sugar.. Do you keep an eye on it at all, or do you just treat it like any other carb? With the overload of contradictory information on sugar lately, I'm a little lost.
and this too ….0 -
So I have a question regarding IIFYM and sugar.. Do you keep an eye on it at all, or do you just treat it like any other carb? With the overload of contradictory information on sugar lately, I'm a little lost.
I find that refined sugar is kept pretty low automatically because I'm choosing mostly whole foods in order to hit my macros. I don't track it and just look at carbs, but when I have tried to add it up out of curiosity it ends up being pretty much in line with most recommendations I read.0 -
Ok awesome then I understood it right, thanks guys.0
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Step 1. Buy twinkies
Step 2. Eat them
Just kidding.
It just means that your diet is geared towards your macros, which is geared towards your own personal goals. Nothing is off limits but the priority is fitting making sure you hit your targets. For example, I shoot for 100+ grams of protein a day and I'm on a 1410 calorie diet (without exercise). Once I hit my protein goal, I pretty much eat whatever. But, it's hard to hit that goal while eating calorie dense stuff so my diet is a lot of chicken, pork, fish and eggs. And then dark leafy greens (because I like them) and sweet potatoes (because I love them). And butter. Lots of butter.
And also beer.0 -
neanderthin wrote: »Generally people that understand and follow IIFYM correctly don't worry about refined sugar consumption because they know it needs to be a minor player in the diet
Isn't this rather contradictory? If it fits, it fits, no matter if it's candy or oatmeal. Once you start with the "good food" / "bad food" division it isn't IIFYM any longer.0 -
No, if it fits it fits, period. There are no good or bad foods. Calorie requirements are different for everyone and overall consumption of foods, whatever they may be will vary considerably from person to person based on lifestyle. I need 3000 calories and I can consume more candy. if \I had the desire to do that then my wife that consumes 2000.neanderthin wrote: »Generally people that understand and follow IIFYM correctly don't worry about refined sugar consumption because they know it needs to be a minor player in the diet
Isn't this rather contradictory? If it fits, it fits, no matter if it's candy or oatmeal. Once you start with the "good food" / "bad food" division it isn't IIFYM any longer.
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