If It Fits In Your Macros or better known as, IIFYM, is a very popular lifestyle in the fitness realm nowadays. Is it a good thing to incorporate?
What IS IIFYM?
Let’s first talk about what it is. It involves counting your macronutrients, which are protein, carbs, and fat. So whereas some people just say I’m not eating carbs, or I can only have this many calories per day..people following this have a set number grams of protein, fat and carbs they can have each day.
And it makes sense as to why this works for people needing to lean out or gain muscle, because by controlling your macros, you really are controlling your overall calorie intake. However you get the benefit of being able to also control your macros individually. And studies have shown the truth that certain ratios work best for certain body types and such. Anyways, not going to get into specifics there because that isn’t the main focus of this post.
But after coming across this article where it talks about it being the new eating disorder, I started thinking about what my thoughts are on it.
Do I think IIFYM is unhealthy?
Like almost everything, there are two sides to it.
Do I do it? No. I have found what is best and healthiest for my mindset with food is to simply listen to my body and eat intuitively. The last time I counted anything was when I had an eating disorder and was counting every little thing I put into my mouth and be very controlling over it as you heard in my story video..so the last thing that is healthy for me would be to go back to counting.
But do I think it’s wrong for others? Not really.
Every person is different, and different things work for different people.
If you’re prepping for fitness competitions, then I can see how this could be an awesome way to still keep foods in your diet that you love let get to that extremely lean physique that you need to get to. And it allows you to have some of the foods you love that may not be considered “healthy”, as long as you’re still hitting your goal number for each macronutrient.
But there is a point to where it can become unhealthy..