IIFYM – If It Fits Your Macros the Pros and Cons!

Just the facts on IIFYM

If you had the choice of eating a big plate of vegetables or anything else you wanted with the promise of both achieving a lean ripped physique, what would you choose?

Enter the world of IIFYM….

What Is IIFYM?
IIFYM diets, which stands for “If It Fits Your Macros”, is a popular trend that is followed by thousands of gym goers across the world.The million dollar question is…Does it work? Taking into consideration that trends are not always that good for us and are often followed by sheeple (those that follow because others follow).

The concept behind IIFYM is as long as your daily food intake meets your required macro-nutrient levels it does not really matter what those foods are. Now this is why IIFYM does not work for many people because some “coaches” not all, are advising their clients to do it all wrong!

In fact it’s not that IIFYM does not work, it’s how it is being presented and interpreted by some trainers and individuals that is the issue!

IIFYM confusion
Thousands of people are making two BIG mistakes while following an IIFYM nutrition protocol.So let’s cut through to the facts and try and eliminate some of the confusion behind IIFYM.
The biggest mistake is believing that all foods are created equal, specifically carbohydrate foods as nothing could be further from the truth. In fact carbs as we all like to call them are always the Achilles’ heel when it comes to achieving a leaner, more muscular physique.

A bag of crunchy potatoes chips is not equal to a whole potato. A glass of orange juice is not equal to a whole orange. I could go on and on with this and some coaches will take it to the extreme even suggesting half a pizza is equal to the carbs in a cup of brown rice! Sounds like a really appealing diet plan potato chips, pizza and
anything else that fits your macros. But and there is one BIG but, and it may be your butt if you get suckered into believing that this will work for you!

Let’s take a closer look
Those that have some in-depth knowledge in nutrition will understand that not all foods or calories are created equal. Although there are still a few dieticians that believe a calorie is a calorie! But generally this type of dietician does not specialize in fine tuning the human body for the competitive stage, they are merely looking to help the average person lose weight. And it goes without saying most people that read our magazine don’t fall into that average category.You and I want to take our bodies to the next level and beyond, to get ripped, shredded and actually change our entire body composition aka we want to build FFM (Fat free mass).I will make it abundantly clear right now that if you are under the belief or have been told that you can achieve anything remotely close to the above while eating any type of food you are in for a great deal of disappointment.

Healthy Macros Matter
Let me tell you straight, you will not get lean and ripped on pizza, fruit loops, candy bars. It just ain’t going to happen, full stop. Your body is a highly advanced chemical processing factory that is designed to extract key nutrients from the food you eat and use it to provide energy, repair and build new cells, hormones, enzymes. Throwing in junk food just because it meets your macros is an insult to the human body, it’s an amazing machine and deserves more than pizza and twinkie bars!

What really matters are where those macros come from. Clean, healthy food and foods that have a proven track record when it comes to getting ripped and shredded. As they old saying goes “don’t try and re-invent the wheel”.  I have seen people establish macro goals of, say, 200 grams of carbohydrates per day and then eat a pizza every day which contains 190 grams of carbohydrates, then starve themselves of carbs for the rest of the day. That just ain’t going to cut it and its simply a sad attempt at justifying bad eating habits.
You put junk in, you get junk out and that’s a fact.

How can you possibly compare 190gms of carbs from pizza to 190gms of whole grain brown rice!
You can’t but some feel that they can get away with it yet still get the same results as they would from eating the high fiber brown rice.
For sure macro nutrients are the foundation of a solid nutrition plan but its where those macros come from that really makes the difference. At the same time there are even distinct differences between what appear to be healthy foods. Certain types of carbs work better than others when it comes to achieving a lean muscular look. Even various types of protein foods work better for some than others.

Exception to the rule
Don’t be fooled by results of those following a stretched IIFYM with pizza, chips and candy if that individual is blessed with god like genetics! They are a lucky few, and there are not too many as most folk fall into the 98% realm that have to pay attention to everything they eat. That lucky 2% can eat pizza, chips, drink coke and still look amazing. Please don’t use these people as a bench mark or a success story for IIFYM. They are the minority.

Using myself as an example, and I have been training for over 30 years. I can’t eat what I like and get away with it…hell no. I have tried to at times but it comes back and bites me in the ass in the form of body fat in all the places I don’t want it to be. Yes I have better than average genetics but even I can’t get away with cheating myself into thinking I can eat anything and get results.

To read the full article “IIFYM – If It Fits Your Macros the Pros and Cons” purchase Volume 7 Issue 2 of Natural Bodz magazine Click here