I'm starting the IIFYM lifestyle

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adescio
adescio Posts: 8 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
My question is, you can actually eat whatever you want as long as it fits your macros? Also, I'm not planning to build muscle, I have a booty and thick legs so I'm actually trying just to slim down and some toning; do I have to eat more protein than carbs? I got a 35% Carb 35% Fat and 30% Prot on a 1600 kcal daily intake... Does that make sense?
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  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
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    Where did you generate those % from?
  • adescio
    adescio Posts: 8 Member
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    Since I just started this week, and I'm looking for a good coach to give me specific % according to my goals, I didn't want to waste more time and started by myself... I bought a book and read a ton online and used the formula and all these stuffs you need to calculate and then adecuated it to my goals according to what I read (0.6 g of prote per pound of lean mass, 0.5 g of fat and the raimining for my carbs) so I don't know... 1600 kcal is definetly a deficit because my IBM is 2300 so I went down under the recommended 20% less for weight loss
  • adescio
    adescio Posts: 8 Member
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    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »
    Where did you generate those % from?

    I answered up there without quoting
  • shinycrazy
    shinycrazy Posts: 1,081 Member
    edited February 2016
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    I've been doing iifym for a while now and it's so much more satiating to eat and know that there is nothing off limits. I'm down 92lbs.
  • Valpinglow
    Valpinglow Posts: 31 Member
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    Interesting. This is the first I have heard of this plan.

    Good work Shiny. Any other success story out there?
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
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    vbikenclimb wrote: »
    Interesting. This is the first I have heard of this plan.

    Good work Shiny. Any other success story out there?

    80 pounds and i eat whatever i want and drink like a sailor at times ;)
  • 970Mikaela1
    970Mikaela1 Posts: 2,013 Member
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    I'm down 80. Bulked twice and on my second cut right now. I eat what I want . watch my macros. Pick stuff up. Put stuff down. Going on 4 + years.
  • cuhris
    cuhris Posts: 12 Member
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    The real IIFYM is meant to show that anything is fine in moderation. Now if you're getting the majority of your carbs from poptarts and pizza... you're abusing it.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    GuitarJerry wrote: »
    Iifym is so misunderstood.

    However, mostly eat clean. Use the 80/20 rule. 80% clean, 20% whatever you want. Works great. Iifym is not an excuse to eat like crap. That's not the intent of it.

    At 1600 calories, it would be a challenge to "eat crap" and still hit your macros....
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
    edited February 2016
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    3dogsrunning wrote: »
    GuitarJerry wrote: »
    Iifym is so misunderstood.

    However, mostly eat clean. Use the 80/20 rule. 80% clean, 20% whatever you want. Works great. Iifym is not an excuse to eat like crap. That's not the intent of it.

    At 1600 calories, it would be a challenge to "eat crap" and still hit your macros....

    This is the key point here.

    Yes, you can technically eat anything you want as long as you're hitting your macros. good luck with that though if most of the foods you are eating AREN'T "healthy" fruits/veggies/lean proteins.

    For some reason people think iifym-ers are eating oreos and ice cream for every meal, when in all actuality actually tracking your macro intake might let you have a small portion of these foods vs. not having them at all (*gasp* unhealthy!)

    I personally have always eaten in this style since tracking even before i knew iifym was a thing. People still flip out when i have a slice of pizza or an ice cream sandwich. XD Believe me, the rest of my diet always makes up for it. If you see me "indulging" i'm more than likely eating some crazy macro-acceptable combination later on in the day.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    GuitarJerry wrote: »
    3dogsrunning wrote: »
    GuitarJerry wrote: »
    Iifym is so misunderstood.

    However, mostly eat clean. Use the 80/20 rule. 80% clean, 20% whatever you want. Works great. Iifym is not an excuse to eat like crap. That's not the intent of it.

    At 1600 calories, it would be a challenge to "eat crap" and still hit your macros....

    Understood. Just pointing out that IIFYM doesn't mean eat pop tarts and soda. It really doesn't. It actually started out as a joke between body builders I think. I was looking for the article about the guy that made up IIFYM. It's interesting to hear what he really meant by it. And, it was more of a joke as an excuse to have a treat.

    Obviously, it's taken on its own interpretation. But, I feel like people new to it should understand its history and what it means. Flexible dieting works when combined with discipline to mostly eat nutritiously.

    Yes, I've read the background and saw the video, Layne Norton or whoever.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    Ah, it was Alan Aragon

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNcsHKOQX1E

    Layne Norton does talk about IIFYM too.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
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    Love Alan of Aragon.

    I basically follow this style of diet. I've lost, maintained, and am currently bulking. Like Alan mentions, it's not the name of a diet. It's a way of eating. And it's not about eating as much junk as you want.
  • adescio
    adescio Posts: 8 Member
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    3dogsrunning wrote: »
    Ah, it was Alan Aragon

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNcsHKOQX1E

    Layne Norton does talk about IIFYM too.

    Thank you!! Pretty useful comments! :)

  • adescio
    adescio Posts: 8 Member
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    970Mikaela1 wrote: »
    I'm down 80. Bulked twice and on my second cut right now. I eat what I want . watch my macros. Pick stuff up. Put stuff down. Going on 4 + years.

    That's amazing!! Did you do it with a coach or by yourself? I've been loving this eating style but I wanna make sure I'm doing it right and still on the search for a good coach

  • adescio
    adescio Posts: 8 Member
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    vbikenclimb wrote: »
    Interesting. This is the first I have heard of this plan.

    Good work Shiny. Any other success story out there?

    Do some research! Is definitely a game changer!
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,020 Member
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    adescio wrote: »
    Since I just started this week, and I'm looking for a good coach to give me specific % according to my goals, I didn't want to waste more time and started by myself... I bought a book and read a ton online and used the formula and all these stuffs you need to calculate and then adecuated it to my goals according to what I read (0.6 g of prote per pound of lean mass, 0.5 g of fat and the raimining for my carbs) so I don't know... 1600 kcal is definetly a deficit because my IBM is 2300 so I went down under the recommended 20% less for weight loss

    One thing that's been missed here is that 2300 less 20% is 1840, not 1600.

    I'm not familiar with IBM in this context. Maybe you mean TDEE?

    Yes, for weight loss it doesn't matter what kind of foods you eat, so long as you are in an energy (calorie) deficit--except, of course, that some foods may make you feel fuller, longer, for the same or fewer calories than other foods, so sticking to your calorie goals on foods that have lower satiety values for you can be a lot harder. You need to experiment and observe if you don't already know which foods work better for you in terms of satiety.

    Macros are important for some aspects of overall health and for optimizing muscle retention while in a deficit. (And, IMO, your method of setting your percentages, by first figuring out in raw grams how much protein and fat you want, then adjusting your percentages to fit those goals, is the proper methodology, since just choosing a percentage without reference to the desired grams has the bizarre result of shooting for less protein just because you're at a deficit.)

    Micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) are important for health, and different foods have different micronutrients, so for overall health, what you eat does matter. But it doesn't matter what you eat for weight loss.
  • shinycrazy
    shinycrazy Posts: 1,081 Member
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    I view all food on a nutrition spectrum. I can eat more nutritionally dense (generally lower calorie, but not always ) than nutritionally light chips and cookies. I like cookies, but they are a treat that I make fit after my pollock and broccoli with shallots. Today was a beer and a Reese pb egg! Yum.

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