I hope your week has gotten off to a good start. I want to start off this post with a quick poll: How many of you out there can name more up to ten diets/nutritional strategies/eating plans that are trending right now in the fitness community? Now, of those plans: how many of them can you describe and distinguish from others?! I can name at least ten, but asking me to tell the difference between most of them and I realize my knowledge sadly falls short. So, I decided to write a series of posts about some of the most jargon-y eating plans out there to demystify them once and for all. Heck, maybe I'll even take one for a spin and see how it works!
The first nutritional strategy I'm going to tackle here is "If It Fits Your Macros" or "IIFYM," for short. There is an entire website dedicated to this plan, and from what I've read, a pretty die-hard community of practitioners! In a nutshell, the "IIFYM" method makes eating for fat loss and improved body composition more pleasurable by permitting consumption of "dirty" or formerly forbidden foods as long as they fit within the individual's allotted calorie--and macronutrient--intake.
The website clearly states that this eating plan is "purely a means to improve body composition" and does not address health concerns of the heat, brain or other major organs. As such, if you have any health conditions that could be exacerbated by this type of approach to eating, you're likely better off trying something else. Alternatively, if you're a healthy, active person with some superficial goal of losing body fat and/or gaining muscle (hey, don't we all?!) and want to enjoy your food, this plan may be for you!
It's pretty simple to start this plan. All you need to do, according to the website, is the following:
1) Know how many calories your body burns in an average day (your TDEE)
2) East 10-20% less calories every day than that number
3) Split those calories up between fat, protein and carbohydrates (with adequate fiber and water intake) in a specific way that preserves muscle and encourages fat loss, without a drop in daily energy.
Ok. Numbers 1 and 2 are simple enough, but number 3?! How is the average person supposed to know how to split up her calories from the different macros in an efficient way that promotes fat loss? It seems to me that to get IIFYM to work for you, expect to do a lot of experimenting and trial by error. Fitness pro, coach, and blogger Jen Keck has found success with IIFYM, but admits that "figuring your macros" isn't as easy as plugging some numbers into an equation. Rather, she writes:
And don't forget to let me know how it goes :-)
Enjoy your week, everyone!
The website clearly states that this eating plan is "purely a means to improve body composition" and does not address health concerns of the heat, brain or other major organs. As such, if you have any health conditions that could be exacerbated by this type of approach to eating, you're likely better off trying something else. Alternatively, if you're a healthy, active person with some superficial goal of losing body fat and/or gaining muscle (hey, don't we all?!) and want to enjoy your food, this plan may be for you!
It's pretty simple to start this plan. All you need to do, according to the website, is the following:
1) Know how many calories your body burns in an average day (your TDEE)
2) East 10-20% less calories every day than that number
3) Split those calories up between fat, protein and carbohydrates (with adequate fiber and water intake) in a specific way that preserves muscle and encourages fat loss, without a drop in daily energy.
Ok. Numbers 1 and 2 are simple enough, but number 3?! How is the average person supposed to know how to split up her calories from the different macros in an efficient way that promotes fat loss? It seems to me that to get IIFYM to work for you, expect to do a lot of experimenting and trial by error. Fitness pro, coach, and blogger Jen Keck has found success with IIFYM, but admits that "figuring your macros" isn't as easy as plugging some numbers into an equation. Rather, she writes:
"[...] It depends on what you have been eating in the past, what you eat currently, what your goals are, what you weigh, how active you are, your training, etc. etc. [...] Your best bet is to work with a knowledgable coach that can help you set something up...or go ahead and give it a shot and manipulate as needed! Sometimes you just have to dive in and try it."This is very sage advice, and I think summarizes the point that I want to make about the myriad types of eating plans that are out there today: We are all unique and therefore we can't all expect to get the same results from the same plan. There are so many different nutritional strategies out there because individuals' biochemistry, genes, goals, body types, and lifestyles differ so dramatically. Variety is the spice of life, or so they say, so if you think IIFYM might work for you, give it a spin!
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| Werk it, girl :-) |
And don't forget to let me know how it goes :-)
Enjoy your week, everyone!
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