"IIFYM" - EAT JUNK FOOD & LOSE WEIGHT? THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO FLEXIBLE DIETING. | Fit'n'Flexed - The Ultimate Health, Strength and Fitness TV Show

By Dayne Hudson

The "IIFYM" crowd, which stands for "If It Fits Your Macros" - have been in full voice right around the world on social media, claiming that you can still eat sugary foods like cupcakes and ice cream everyday - and lose weight.

How could it be possible?

Well - providing you have worked out your daily macronutrient breakdown - it is very possible indeed, but it isn't all quite as rosy as it seems.

IS THIS A NEW FAD?

No. This style of dieting has been around bodybuilding circles for decades - known as "flexible dieting".

Somewhere, flexible dieting has been given the tag IIFYM - but the idea is exactly the same.

It can be a VERY effective way of losing body fat, providing one doesn't overdo it, and understands HOW it works.

THE BASICS - WHAT IS A MACRONUTRIENT?

A macronutrient is a chemical element that humans consume in the largest quantities. Despite the fancy definition, the macronutrients in this context are protein, fat and carbohydrates.

Alcohol is too a macronutrient, but we'll focus on the below in this article.

protein-carbs-fats

The MACRONUTRIENTS.

Both carbohydrates and protein contain 4 calories per gram.

Fat on the other hand - the most energy dense macronutrient - contains 9 calories per gram.

SO HOW DOES IT WORK?

If you figure out your TOTAL DAILY ENERGY EXPENDITURE (TDEE) (1) and work out how many calories you burn everyday - then you'll know exactly HOW MANY calories you can consume everyday to either GAIN weight, or LOSE it.

TO GAIN WEIGHT: You'll consume about 20-30% MORE calories then your TDEE.

TO LOSE WEIGHT: You'll need to have about 20% LESS calories then your TDEE.

Here's the FIT'N'FLEXED if it fits your macros calculator:

FIGURING OUT YOUR BASAL METABOLIC RATE (BMR) BMR = 66.5 + (13.75 x Weight in KG) + (5.003 x Height in CM) - (6.775 x Age in YEARS)

EXAMPLE Let's say Jim is 45 and weighs 91 kilograms and is 183 cm tall: 66.5 + (13.75 x 91) + (5.003 x 183) - (6.775 x 45) = 1928 calories a day.

girl

BUT WHAT ABOUT IF JIM IS EXERCISING TOO?

Here's where we work out the TDEE.

Let's say Jim goes for a 45 minute jog in the morning before work.

Jim would need to MULTIPLY his BMR by the PHYSICAL ACTIVITY LEVEL that is appropriate.

Those numbers are as follows:

SEDENTARY or LIGHT ACTIVITY = 1.53
ACTIVE or MODERATELY ACTIVE = 1.76 (definitely those of you who pump iron!)
VIGOROUS ACTIVE = 2.25

So Jim woud MULTIPLY his BMR (1928 calories per day) by his PHYSICAL ACTIVITY LEVEL number which is 1.76 (1928 X 1.76) = 3393 calories

This is also what's known as maintenance calories - the calories you are burning each day with exercise. You can eat this amount and not lose or gain weight.

Therefore Jim needs to eat 20% LESS than 3393 calories per day to prevent weight gain!

NOTE: The VIGOROUS ACTIVE person is one who trains more than 2 hours a day.

IF IT FITS YOUR MACROS - WHERE IT COMES IN

So we know that for Jim to lose weight - he must consume around 2700 calories to create the 20% deficit - a healthy number for slow and steady fat loss without risking the loss of muscle mass.

We also know that Jim could simply eat 2700 calories consisting of donuts, and chocolate bars, and still lose weight.

Yes. We know it to be true because people have done it before (2).

leann

Donuts and chocolate - and still lose weight with if it fits your macros.

But there would be one problem - Jim's health would suffer, and his RECOVERY due to the lack of good quality protein and amino acids, would fail immensely.

The amino acid leucine seems to be the man behind protein synthesis (3) so without this bad boy - his gains are going to be hindered enormously.

DOING IT RIGHT

The donuts and chocolate bars can still come into the picture - but here's how to implement them PROPERLY.

First - Jim must figure out the following guidelines for the BEST weight loss results and more importantly - MUSCLE PRESERVING results.

PROTEIN

2.3-3.1 GRAMS OF PROTEIN PER KILOGRAM OF FAT FREE MASS PER DAY (Minus the body fat pecentage of Jim, which we will estimate to be 17%)
3 x 73 (73kg is Jim's FAT FREE MASS) = 219 grams of protein everyday
CALORIES FROM PROTEIN = 876 calories

FAT

0.33 GRAMS OF FAT PER POUND OF BODY WEIGHT PER DAY
0.33 x (91 x 2.2) = 66 grams of fat everyday
CALORIES FROM FAT = 594 calories

The total here is now 1,470 calories.

The remaining 1230 calories are to come from carbohydrates, which means Jim can eat 300 grams of carbohydrates on his training days.

Sounds like a lot, but remember, he's jogging his heart out!

So Jim's "macros" as they say are:

219 grams of protein
66 grams of fat
300 grams of carbohydrates

All of these macronutrients add up to 2670 calories - just what Jim needs.

Ok.

Now for the moment you've been waiting for.

THE DONUTS and the CHOCOLATE BARS

The whole idea of "flexible dieting" and "IIFYM" is that you can eat a donut, providing it's FAT and CARBOHYDRATE content fits into your daily macronutrient outline above - and still lose weight.

So yes - you can from time to time eat a delicious sweet and still drop body fat.

machine

Carbs from brown rice are broken down into glycogen - just the same as the donut, and protein from a big greasy hamburger will still be broken down into the amino acids in the same fashion as a piece of lean fish would.

THE DOWNSIDE

With every rose - there's always thorns.

Some people on social media have all bragged about how they tuck into copious amounts of ice cream and other things everyday, within their macros, and still lost weight.

Now for body composition - it will make NO difference.

But for your all round health? Well - it could spark some big problems.

IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT HOW WE LOOK - BUT HOW HEALTHY WE ARE AS WELL.

Eating ice cream everyday to meet your carbohydrate numbers can lead to a number of health problems.

One of the issues here is FIBRE intake, which you need enough of everyday.

Without it you're not doing yourself many favours.

Also - it's the MICRONUTRIENTS (vitamins and minerals) that play a huge role in our health and recovery and we get less from junk foods like this.

It's all about moderation!

Not to mention the possible chronic diseases we could be at risk of from consuming carbohydrates consistently (4) and the risk of cancer from processed meats found in some hamburgers (5).

Obviously you wouldn't do what the twinky professor did, but it's about moderation and getting enough fibre and micronutrients.

If you eat 10 grams of carbohydrates from BROCCOLI - you'll score some glycogen whilst ALSO benefiting from the:

Vitamin C
Fibre
Iron
Cancer fighting compounds
Feeling of satiety that comes with it due to the slowing of food absorption. It's easier to lose weight when you feel full!

But with the donut?

donuts-broccoli-610

Sure - you'll get the glycogen too - but you'll also get the:

Trans fats
Less micronutrients and fibre

CONCLUSION

Every now and then, feel free to throw in a little treat - providing it fits into your macronutrient intake for the day. Even a little treat everyday is fine - providing you're getting enough micronutrients and fibre as well.

It's a GREAT way to prevent huge gorging patterns, where one keeps away from junk food for so long that when they get exposed to it again - they just can't slow down.

It certainly beats having the one HUGE cheat meal every week - that ends up putting you in a calorie SURPLUS - and momentarily destroying your fat loss progress.

REMEMBER: You need the micronutrients for optimal recovery/muscle growth from your gym sessions - but more importantly - for optimal health.

So enjoy your favourite treat here and there and still lose weight - but just make sure you do it right.

"IIFYM" - EAT JUNK FOOD & LOSE WEIGHT? THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO FLEXIBLE DIETING.