How Do You Get Started on IIFYM? How Do I Know if It's Right For Me?

lablamires
lablamires Posts: 83 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi there.

My name's Lindsay, I'm a recovering anorexic. Long story short, my metabolism is shot from the anorexia, but also from years of yo-yo dieting after my recovery (trying to lose the excess weight I gained from my slow metabolism as well as weight I've gained from having my baby).... How would I get started on IIFYM? It sounds like the healthiest option and I really want to do this right (instead of falling back on my anorexic tendencies)... Right now I could lose anywhere between 50-100 lbs... So I have a lot to lose. How do I start? How do I know how much carbs/fat/protein to eat and how many calories? Thanks!

Also, along with the above information, I'd love to see any success stories from people doing IIFYM :smile:

Replies

  • jett69
    jett69 Posts: 60 Member
    Check out this video by Brandon Fitness. Let me know if you have any questions.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDANtU4LUkc

    Good Luck
  • lablamires
    lablamires Posts: 83 Member
    Thanks

    Bump
  • lablamires
    lablamires Posts: 83 Member
    jett69 wrote: »
    Check out this video by Brandon Fitness. Let me know if you have any questions.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDANtU4LUkc

    Good Luck

    What is "cutting?" can I do "cutting" even though I'm not near my goal at the moment?
  • asdowe13
    asdowe13 Posts: 1,951 Member
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1
  • Linvala
    Linvala Posts: 53 Member
    Cutting is losing body fat and trying to maintain muscle. Look on the iiym website and look on the forums and FAQ. It should help you out a lot.
  • Nony_Mouse
    Nony_Mouse Posts: 5,646 Member
    edited March 2015
    Hi there :)

    You can totally do iifym, really what it boils down to is eating the foods you like, including occasional (or every day if you can work it in!) treats, so long as you are meeting your nutritional goals - ie macros (carbs, fat, protein) and micros (vitamins and minerals etc). No unnecessary cutting out of food groups, no weird ideas about 'bad foods'. Sounds darned sensible, right?

    And yes, this approach is great for those who have suffered from eating disorders (raises hand).

    You may like to check out this little group too, for support with not slipping back into old unhealthy ED habits: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/100766-eating-disorder-support-group
  • jett69
    jett69 Posts: 60 Member
    lablamires wrote: »
    jett69 wrote: »
    Check out this video by Brandon Fitness. Let me know if you have any questions.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDANtU4LUkc

    Good Luck

    What is "cutting?" can I do "cutting" even though I'm not near my goal at the moment?

    Yes
    Cutting means you're losing weight, bulking means adding weight.
  • lablamires
    lablamires Posts: 83 Member
    Thanks everyone :)
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,876 Member
    IIFYM is simply a more flexible eating concept...it doesn't demonize foods and groups of foods...that's it. The website is just a TDEE calculator that is capitalizing on the concept.

    The concept was born out of the fitness industry, not the weight loss/diet industry...and more specifically, the body building industry. Basically it was a standard answer to questions like, "hey brah...if I have oatmeal in the morning, is that gonna wreck my gainz?" To which the response would be..."IIFYM."

    It doesn't mean just eating chips and sodas and other "junk" type of foods...anyone with a respectable macro ratio (there is not a one size fits all) is going to be eating a whole lot of nutritious foods to hit them. Basically with IIFYM you're watching calories and macros targets.

    In RE to the calculator, it's just a TDEE calculator...the only difference between it and MFP is where you account for exercise. With a TDEE calculator exercise is included in your activity level and thus some estimate of those calorie requisites are included in your calorie goal...whereas MFP you account for exercise after the fact when you log it and get calories to eat back. If you're doing it correctly and comparing apples to apples in RE to loss rate goals, the two methods are basically 6 of 1, half dozen of the other.
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,624 Member
    Estimate caloric needs and then eat food that helps you meet your macro needs. Macros are not set in stone, you can adjust them however you'd like. They also aren't necessary for straight weight loss, but if you have body composition goals or endurance goals then they are worth tracking.

    Basic rec for protein grams is 0.8x your total weight (or you could just do 0.8-1x your goal weight for now) in lbs, fat would be 0.35x your weight for minimum. Then carbs are the rest. But you can go over on macros, just stay within caloric needs. I go over on fat plenty of times, but I just really like fat. I'm also usually a bit over on protein.

    If you have a poor relationship with food then that is something you should be working on first or at the same time. So losing any ideas about good vs bad food. Food is just food, eat it, enjoy it, be honest with your logging (even if that means super high or super low days, you need to be able to see the patterns).

    As far as estimating caloric needs goes, you can use the MFP method (eating your daily-life calories and then eating back 50% or more of your logged planned exercise calories) or the TDEE method (exercise already accounted into your daily caloric average). I prefer the latter but I'm pretty consistent with my routine and prefer eating the same daily.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
    lablamires wrote: »
    What is "cutting?" can I do "cutting" even though I'm not near my goal at the moment?

    You're already doing it. The rest is macro allotment (adjusting them to your needs).

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