IIFYM: Dieting the Flexible Way

Wouldn’t you love to diet and still eat the foods you like? Sounds like a fantasy doesn’t it? Well what I am about to share in this article can somewhat turn that fantasy into a reality. Enter the IIFYM diet. IIFYM stands for If It Fits Your Macros. It is a diet based on manipulating macronutrients. The macronutrients consist of Protein, Carbs and Fat. The thought process on this diet is that to a certain degree your body doesn't know the difference between a carb coming from a piece of fruit or a piece of pizza. They both have the same calories. Obviously the fruit will be a bit healthier and have more micronutrients, however in regards to body composition they will pretty much give the same effect. With this diet you are given a certain number of each macronutrient to eat everyday. You can eat whatever you want as long as you hit your macro numbers. Anyone on a diet knows that feeling of not being able to eat what they want. Psychologically this can break you down and even socially it can be burdensome. Let’s say you are at a party and all they have is pizza. You will have to say the classic “I am on a diet, sorry I can’t eat any.” People give you odd looks and you sit there hungry. With the IIFYM diet you can still eat that pizza as long as you get it to fit your numbers for the day. An example day could be 150 grams of proteinrn100 grams of carbsrn55 grams of fat Typically your biggest macronutrient will be protein, this is followed by carbs and then fats. This can alter person by person but it is a good general rule to follow. If you type IIFYM Calculator into google you will find a lot of different websites that you put in your goals, weight, activity level etc… It will then spit out your proposed numbers. I personally like starting the carbs a bit higher and then gradually decreasing or increasing depending on your goals. So if you were looking to lose weight, maybe one week you start at around 150 grams a carbs/day. What you should do is weigh yourself in the beginning of the week, in the morning and on an empty stomach. A week later you can weigh yourself again and see if you lost weight. If you did, then keep the numbers the same. If you are stalled and did not lose weight you need to adjust your numbers. As I mentioned I like to start with the carbs. So keep the fat and protein the same but reduce the amount of protein. For the carbs, lower them to 125 this week. Then at the end of the next week check again to see how your weight is doing. You may be thinking, “This sounds cool but how do I track these numbers?”. There are a couple ways to go about it. The easiest way I like to do it is to use an app called MyFitnessPal. With this app you can scan barcodes of food or put it in manually. It will track everything perfectly for you. Now when I said you can eat whatever kinds of foods you want, I meant it but within reason. You can't eat entire pizza and hope to hit your macros. However, you can have a slice of pizza or a doughnut and certainly still hit your macros. You will find that the majority of your food will come from “clean” sources, which is great. But you will still get to satisfy cravings with a cheat meal here and there without ruining your diets progress. You aren’t stuck to eating chicken and broccoli all day. Here are some clean types of food that I would recommend you make the bulk of your diet. Carbs: OatmealrnRicernQuinoarnSweet PotatoesrnVegetables Fats: NutsrnCoconut OilrnAvocadosrnEggs Protein: EggsrnBeansrnChickenrnLean MeatrnFishrnShrimp What about supplements? One issue with supplements is that people start to take more supplements than normal food. They are called supplements for a reason. They are there to supplement your regular diet. I wouldn't go too crazy with these. The only one I would really recommend is protein shakes. The reason is that it's pretty hard to hit your protein number everyday. If you double scoop a protein shake you can easily get 40+ grams of protein. By doing this you do not have to worry too much about the number. Whey protein is the most popular option. It is pretty decent. For whey I recommend ON Gold Standard. You can find them at any major supplement seller online. Personally I think plant based proteins are a lot healthier for you. In addition to protein they include a lot of other goodies for your health. As I stated before it wont make much of a difference in your body composition, but it will help overall in the long run. Whey protein seems to mess with people’s stomachs Meal prepping can save you a lot of time and stress. I recommend on a Sunday you cook the majority of your meals for the week. Bake a ton of chicken, grill meat, bake meatloaf etc… And then put them in different containers. If you space it out correctly you will know the exact macros in each container. Further making it easier. A lot of times if you don’t meal prep it is easier to fall off track in your diet. You will go for what is more convenient to eat. I believe this diet helps your sanity when dieting. It makes it easier to sustain long term. On top of this, by tracking you gain a vast knowledge of what certain foods are made of. You can start to look at a random plate of food and guess how many calories and macros are in it. Give the diet a try, I am sure you will love it!