IIFYM vs Paleo

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rachelthropology
rachelthropology Posts: 20 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I find myself time and time again having the same problem. As a biological anthropologist, I am very intrigued by and really like the idea of a paleo diet/lifestyle. The problem of trying to stick to that diet for me is that I find myself unable to get enough calories in for the day; now this is in part due to my laziness (that's what it really is even though I'll typically say it's a lack of time/prioritizing) when it comes to preparing food. When I take/have the time to do a little bit of meal prepping for the week, I'm usually pretty set and have food and am all good.

Then there's also some down sides of paleo dieting for me: 1. I love peanut butter 2. I love grains (bagels are my savior) Now I don't eat too many high carb foods but I like to not feel bad/ashamed about eating something that isn't "paleo approved"

Hence I had a stint with taking an IIFYM approach winter-early summer or so 2015 and felt like I was having a lot of success with it because I didn't feel like I was restricted in what I ate at all. Not that I would eat like *kitten* all the time because of it, but I could fit virtually anything I wanted into my diet and/or adjust how I ate the rest of the day.

I've also tried the "clean eating, intuitive, no tracking approach" and find that that leads to days of eating virtually nothing and then eating virtually everything in site. Both of which are obviously problematic.

Other relevant background information: I had my trials and tribulations with eating disorders during the end of high school and into my first part of college (I am now a senior, graduating in May!). I workout 4-6 days a week, occasionally twice a day and I typically take a bodybuilding approach to my workouts. (Lift every damn day!) I'm currently at about 28% body fat and am looking to drop that down to 20% or less while maintaining most if not all of my muscle.

Currently I am thinking that I will take a IIFYM approach, starting with moderate macros (think Mediterranean diet) for a few weeks and then slowly fine tune and dial that in as I go.

Any thoughts/takes/ideas on the whole thing (feel free to touch on gluten/lactose/legumes in the diet) would be much appreciated! Thank you for taking the time to read through all of this if you did <3
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Replies

  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
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    I'm confused. What's the question? IIFYM isn't a diet - you use it to fit whatever you choose to eat in to you macros which are determined by whatever goals you have. I hate food/diet labels so just eat food. Most of it could be clean/Paleo but I refuse to call it that.

    I eat foods I enjoy, I don't eat foods I dislike or have issues with.... Simples!
  • Yi5hedr3
    Yi5hedr3 Posts: 2,696 Member
    edited January 2016
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    Paleo much healthier for sure
  • LaurenAOK
    LaurenAOK Posts: 2,475 Member
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    I tried paleo a couple years back and, like you, didn't find it sustainable. It was too hard to get enough calories and I missed a lot of foods. Now I follow the IIFYM approach and it's great. I eat everything.

    My personal advice is to stop focusing on diets and certain foods that are deemed "bad." It's almost always woo and you're much better off just eating a healthy, well-balanced diet.
  • Wetcoaster
    Wetcoaster Posts: 1,788 Member
    edited January 2016
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    How to Really Eat Like a Hunter-Gatherer: Why the Paleo Diet Is Half-Baked

    http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-paleo-diet-half-baked-how-hunter-gatherer-really-eat/

    Also
    http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/08/150806133148.htm

    http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2013/09/10/3842158.htm

    http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2013/04/08/the-paleo-diet-debunked/
  • rachelthropology
    rachelthropology Posts: 20 Member
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    Livingleanlivingclean: I meant diet as in my method of nourishment as opposed to what specifically I receive nourishment from, if that helps to clarify? I was more broadly seeing if people have a preference towards one approach over the other and if so why. Thank you for taking the time to provide input :)
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
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    I don't necessarily think Paleo is a "bad" way of eating, but I find it unnecessarily restrictive and I think the whole "ancestral" thing is a giant load of BS designed to sell books and products.

    As far as gluten/lactose/legumes in the diet, I see absolutely no need to eliminate them (or anything else) unless one has an allergy or other diagnosed medical condition which contraindicates their intake, or for personal preference. All the junk science I've seen detailing why they should be eliminated for "health" reasons is exactly that - junk science. Usually perpetrated by crackpots who also have products, eating programs or books to sell to you to explain why it's the debil and how you can eliminate it and live forever.
  • rachelthropology
    rachelthropology Posts: 20 Member
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    LaruenAOK: I appreciate your thoughts and it seems like we're in the same boat. Except that yours set sail first ;)
  • Wetcoaster
    Wetcoaster Posts: 1,788 Member
    edited January 2016
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    And

    http://www.iifym.com/iifym-layne-norton-interview/

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6H2edyPLU8
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
    edited January 2016
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    rachelthropology wrote: »
    As a biological anthropologist, I am very intrigued by and really like the idea of a paleo diet/lifestyle.

    That's the thing about the Paleo diet. People hear about it and it sounds good to them, or they like the idea of it, but there's no science behind it. When it comes to nutrition you have to take a scientific approach. In my opinion when it comes to nutrition, the only real option that is effective, sustainable, and healthy is Flexible Dieting AKA IIFYM. When practiced correctly, Flexible Dieting has you eating 80%-90% minimally processed foods, or what some people would refer to as "clean foods", but it also allows for dietary indulgences and that is the real key to sustainability for a diet.
  • rachelthropology
    rachelthropology Posts: 20 Member
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    Wetcoaster wrote: »
    And

    http://www.iifym.com/iifym-layne-norton-interview/

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6H2edyPLU8

    Layne Norton is the man! :blush:
  • burtnyks
    burtnyks Posts: 124 Member
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    I followed IIFYM for about 2 years and this summer decided to try a Whole30 (basically super strict paleo for 30 days) and while I see the benefits of Paleo it just wasn't for me. I binged hard after since I cut so many foods I enjoy out of my diet. I went back to IIFYM because its more relaxed and I can still achieve my goals. I try to fill my macros up with whole filling foods but have treats where I can fit them in. IIFYM is really just nutrition targets anyhow. You could eat complete paleo if you wanted to but track macros.
  • Wetcoaster
    Wetcoaster Posts: 1,788 Member
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    Just one more

    http://www.alternet.org/personal-health/paleo-diet-only-makes-sense-if-you-dont-understand-human-evolution
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
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    rachelthropology wrote: »
    Wetcoaster wrote: »
    And

    http://www.iifym.com/iifym-layne-norton-interview/

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6H2edyPLU8

    Layne Norton is the man! :blush:

    I'm surprised that you seem to know who Layne Norton is, and that you think he's the man, yet you are unsure whether to choose between IIFYM or Paleo.
  • Wetcoaster
    Wetcoaster Posts: 1,788 Member
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    rachelthropology wrote: »
    Wetcoaster wrote: »
    And

    http://www.iifym.com/iifym-layne-norton-interview/

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6H2edyPLU8

    Layne Norton is the man! :blush:

    He is pretty fun to follow on Facebook also
  • errollmaclean
    errollmaclean Posts: 562 Member
    edited January 2016
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    Sounds like you already found what works for you. Why would you switch to something that makes you feel restricted if you already enjoy iifym.

    I prefer iifym, due to the flexibility and no guilt. Also it's worked perfectly for me. I've never found the paleo "science" all that plausible or convincing.
  • Kristin2626
    Kristin2626 Posts: 24 Member
    edited January 2016
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    I don't understand the whole "not getting enough calories" bit -- Paleo is meat, veggies and fruit. The meat and fruit are highly caloric?? I mean, fruit or a smoothie for breakfast, a pork chop or steak and side of veggies and a few bananas/pears/apples for dessert twice a day is more than enough calories, isn't it? It wouldn't have to be very large portions, and if that failed you, you could snack on nuts throughout the day.

    I cut calories after college and lost 104 lbs. and because severely ill. I have always had mild food allergies and I was staying away from those foods, but they became extremely severe and I started having allergic reactions to foods I had never had an issue with before, I also developed gallstones and severe digestive issues.

    Going on a strict Paleo diet was the only thing that 100% resolved these symptoms. Many of the people I have met who are sticking to Paleo have medical issues that have their doctors completely stumped. I guess it's often only worth the difficulty if it's something you need to do. Also, I've had no real luck with weight loss on Paleo.

    I guess the bottom line is that I am cutting calories again (hoping to re-lose some of that weight.) I am going to eat the remaining bread in my house and then wean myself the non-Paleo foods from there. So, I am basically hoping to do both -- though I will probably still eat the occasional beans or peas or butter on vegetables (80/20 or 90/10, as they say, right?)
  • Choxsta
    Choxsta Posts: 3 Member
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    Well paleo doesn't strictly include fruit as paleo is a diet very low in sugar. It does allow occasional berries I think! I did paleo for around 2 years and lost some fat initially but then stalled. So annoying as my boyfriend was visably dropping fat very consistently. I'm now on to IIFYM and think the general principal of high protein, high fat and low carb are still the winning combination, but have come round to thinking that cutting out whole food groups is not sustainable in the long term. It's just hard to live a normal life when you can never eat bread!!!
  • rachelthropology
    rachelthropology Posts: 20 Member
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    Choxsta wrote: »
    Well paleo doesn't strictly include fruit as paleo is a diet very low in sugar. It does allow occasional berries I think! I did paleo for around 2 years and lost some fat initially but then stalled. So annoying as my boyfriend was visably dropping fat very consistently. I'm now on to IIFYM and think the general principal of high protein, high fat and low carb are still the winning combination, but have come round to thinking that cutting out whole food groups is not sustainable in the long term. It's just hard to live a normal life when you can never eat bread!!!

    Ha can never eat bread/dairy/legumes/virtually all grains, it's certainly far from sustainable in modern society (or requires ridiculous amounts of will power and self control). The general macros of the paleo approach applied in the context of IIFYM without those restrictions seems to be what I'm discovering my sweet spot physically and mentally to be. Thanks for your thoughts on the matter :)
  • rejectuf
    rejectuf Posts: 487 Member
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    I did paleo for awhile, felt pretty good on it. Stopped doing it, still felt pretty good. For me, sticking to paleo allowed me to eat until I was full for each meal and end up right about where I wanted for my daily calorie allowance. That was nice.

    Stopped doing paleo, gotta watch my calories a little closer. I can really inhale carbs if I don't measure stuff out.

    As far as paleo's "historical" justification, it's irrelevant. Folks feel better on it either because a) they were eating like garbage before or b) they legitimately had issues with certain foodstuffs that were then cut out. One thing it did get right is to stop stressing about dietary fat. If other styles of eating aren't working for someone, paleo is worth trying.
  • evileen99
    evileen99 Posts: 1,564 Member
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    http://www.everywhereist.com/i-went-paleo-and-now-i-hate-everything/

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