IIFYM? What the hell does that mean? At first I thought it must be a new YOLO or some crap, I mean it looks like it’s telling me to seize the moment and act like a dumbass kid. However, when I saw this all over Instagram, I saw a pattern…everyone using it was a babe.
Then I thought, “I want to be a part of this club. How can I use this tag too!?”
Obviously any one can use the tag that wants to but I wanted the effects of using the tag. The six pack and the toned legs and all that jazz. So…because I know you’re all dying to know now:
IIFYM= If It Fits Your Macros…
…meaning if whatever you’re eating fits into the designated gram amounts of the macro-nutrients of protein, carbohydrates and fats you are allotted each day, go ahead and friggin’ eat it.
To give y’all a little background there are MACRO-nutrients and MICRO-nutrients. The macros are what these babes are counting throughout their meals. Macro-nutrients consist of carbs, proteins, and fats. Micro-nutrients are actually vitamins and minerals, which don’t carry calories like macro-nutrients, but we obvi still need them (so take your One a Day Women’s, girl).
The first step to trying this out is figuring out what your ideal grams are for each macronutrient depending on your goals. You can use this website here to determine that and it’ll spit out what your counts should be. They’re also pretty responsible and tell you what numbers would be kind of dangerous to shoot for, which is really good for keeping us all healthy.
For example, the site could tell you to get…
180 grams of carbohydrates
130 grams of protein
45 grams of fat
…per day.
So, when I first started looking into this I was pretttttty turned off by all these numbers. I mean, I’m a words kid, not a numbers kid.
It does get a little easier once you do it for a day or two, especially because we’re all creatures of habit and eat the same thing probably, like, five times a week, so you’ll memorize those numbers fast.
Basically, on the nutrition label of any food (or in any online database when you’re eating fruit and vegetables and other non-labeled items) it gives you the numbers that you need to log. I could eat some crackers that have 10 grams of carbs, 5 grams of fat, and 2 grams of protein per serving, and let’s say I have two servings (becauuuuse I do that a lot, don’t hate). I’d just subtract 20 grams of carbs, 10 grams of fat, and 4 grams of protein from each of those numbers and go about my day. Each time I eat I subtract the amounts of each macronutrient I just ate.
For the most part this way of eating is going to give us a semi-low amount of carbs with a high amount of protein. This might scare a lot of people off, but it really does work. A lot of us eat more carbs than we really ever need. But the amount of protein counteracts that and gives you more than enough energy and it helps you lean up really successfully (as you’ll see below).
What’s really cool about this way of eating is that a lot of people add the hastag #flexibledieting onto their posts. Although I hate the word diet, this variation seems fair. The reason? Although it is important to fill our bellies with good, nutritious, REAL foods, many people on this plan give themselves multiple cheat meals a week, they just insist the cheat meal fits in with their macros. So, you can save all of your carbs for the end of the day for that Olive Garden date. Just eat a huge piece of chicken over greens and a protein shake at work before hand to save your carb grams. This is a great way to teach ourselves (1) there is no need to stop eating your favorite foods just because you want to get healthier and (2) moderation is the key to pretty much everything.
If you think about it, this isn’t really a diet in the sense of restriction. We’re still giving our bodies the three core macronutrients they need to survive. It is simply teaching you to only give your body the amount of what it needs to perform the best it possibly can. This makes perfect sense when you think of all the unhealthy people in the U.S. (and the rest of the world) who just simply eat too much.
I know that some of you may still not be convinced, but I really feel there is something to this. Search Instagram for the hashtag #IIFYM to see all the healthy babes out there who are using this method to stay lean and healthy!
[Lead image via]
