IIFYM: My Thoughts

If you follow me on my instagram then you probably saw this post the other day:

Saw this post by @shreddedbyscience and it really opened my eyes tonight - I asked myself that [above question] and the answer was "no". The past few weeks I've been searching for the "perfect" foods to have in my diet to reach my goals - and in all honesty I'm tired. Tired of trying to find what works for everyone else and apply it to myself. Time to stop over thinking it. If you don't enjoy the changes, how the HECK you gonna stay in it for life, lose the fat, and keep the fat off? It has to be ENJOYABLE. This was a good slap in the face for me. No restrictions. Just go with the flow and let the chips fall where they may! Oh trust I'm still going to be healthy, but no low carb low fat low cal zero this blah blah that. NOPE.  FOOD IS THERE TO FUEL ME AND KEEP ME ALIVE, NOT there to make me obsess over every little thing, constantly on the mind, Food will NOT control me!



But seriously, IT'S SO TRUE!
How do you expect a maintainable lifestyle once you reach your "goal" if you can't see yourself eating the same way 5 years from now?

No wonder I fell off the "clean eating" train! I was restricting WAYY too much, and every little food off plan or that deviated from the "Safe" foods made me go crazy, and hence, the BINGES started.

I had let myself slip and slip ever since around October when I fell into the habit of binge eating/eat strict clean/binge eating again. It was horrible, I didn't know what to do, I had moments of STOP WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU'RE MAKING IT HARDER FOR YOURSELF TO GET BACK ON TRACK! And then moments of "eh you already ate that, might as well finish the damn box" uck Horriddddd I know!

Currently "trying" to gain this lifestyle back under control, one day at a time. Get to a healthier weight and body fat. But it IS harder after yo-yoing a bit - set point seems to be perfectly content at where it is now! But that DOES NOT MEAN I'm going to quit.

Watch this video by Layne Norton about IIFYM vs Clean eating - what he said about the connection of binges to clean eating really hit home for me, because that's exactly what happened. 

As of Saturday May 18, I started IIFYM

IF IT FITS YOUR MACROS

and can I say I actually ENJOY IT!

Basically if it fits my macros, I can eat it.

NOW I KNOW IM GONNA GET LOTS OF HATE, but HEAR ME OUT. This doesn't mean I'm eating CRAP ALL DAY EVERY DAY.

I choose majority healthy foods, I'm eating MORE carbs than I was before, and I KNOW that I can fit in treats, although I haven't had anything too majorly unhealthy yet! I'm still keeping it around 85% CLEAN clean (no processed), 10% healthy (so those low carb tortillas and Ezekiel breads), and if I WANT TO I can do 5% not particularly healthy. So please DON'T judge me because I'm advocating "STOP EATING CLEAN AND JUST FIT YOUR MACROS", that's NOT what I'm saying!!!

It's about knowing WHAT you're putting into your body nutrient wise:
The proteins, fats, carbs, fiber

I feel like I can LIVE THIS LIFESTYLE. I can be social, attend events and not FREAK when I deviate from "the plan". Ever since I started iifym,

I have NOT BINGED, 

And I've enjoyed my food! Even though its still the majority, healthy!!!

It's just the MINDSET of iifym that I've fallen in Love <3 with!


I know I say I don't like counting calories because I don't want numbers controlling my life, but honestly, I don't feel like they are! I feel like I have FREEDOM in the foods I choose now! I kinda like plugging in the numbers, seeing what I can fit in here and there! Like if I wanted a treat, I could fit those in my macros just fine! And not feel the NEED to binge on them because I've had my fill for the day!

And honestly, again, IIFYM is NOT all about being able to stuff your face with donuts, cookies, poptarts, icecream, etc.

And my food choices aren't even BAD, but I feel like I'm enjoying them more! Weird huh?

Like I've been able to incorporate white rice, delicious delicious rice, without any weight gain!
And turns out I wasn't eating ENOUGH carbs, YAY! So I've been adding more HAPPILY to my foods.
 
I feel this way is DEFINITELY a maintainable lifestyle route for me. I don't feel deprived, I'm not binging anymore, I'm not feeeling guilty - it's great!

And maybe one day I won't even need the app anymore, and just be able to eyeball everything using my own kinda tuned in calorie/macro counter in my head haha!

This way, I can go out with my family and friends, eat at Outback or some other restaurant, and not feel GUILTY over every little thing.

I can have some M&Ms and not feel - "ah I already screwed up, EAT THE WHOLE BAG PLUS 5 MORE!" - NO! Because I've already fit them in my macros and there's no more room left to add more! But I'm ok with it because I finally feel SATISFIED, physically and mentally. I don't know... I guess before I could have stopped at 5 m&ms... but for some reason my mind felt... DEPRIVED. When I was strictly clean eating... I felt like whenever I deviated.. got off track... slipped up.. I saw it as an opportunity to just KEEP EATING BAD. Shake my head, so bad. How it psychologically messed me up. But now knowing how they fit into my macros, I'm not sure, something in my mind just SWITCHED. Like, I can STOP because they've fit and I don't want to go over my macros! It's really hard to explain, as you can see haha. All in all, it's changed my mind.

Like, 

"hey girl, after these 5, you're good! You don't need anymore" and I'm all, "Ok body! Thank you!" 

So YES those are my thoughts on this whole IIFYM thing, or "flexible dieting".

2 thumbs up from Josie!

I figured out my macros from IIFYM.com calculator! Also here are some articles on IIFYM in detail:

http://doyoueven.com/2013/01/iifympart1/
http://www.cutandjacked.com/Getting-Shredding-through-IIFYM-If-It-Fits-Your-Macros

I've been maintaining well so far, so we'll see how well iifym works in leaning me out!

I believe IIFYM will work SPECTACULARLY with either bulking or maintaining...

However if I REALLYYYYYY want to lean out, I'm wondering if I have to choose cleaner macros....
But I will be a guinea pig and see if I can do it!

<3 <3
Love you all!

Josie