What the Heck is iifym?

So, if yall are anything like me...when you see anything about iifym (aka if it fits your macros aka flexible dieting), you are totally confused.  What's a macro?  Dieting and flexible go together?  Huh?

Well, my coach does iifym, and I clearly remember her sending me a text at the end of December last year suggesting that I look into it.  She said I could still go out to eat and have treats and stuff.  I was like pshhh, yeah OK.  Totally blew it off.  At that time, I was stuck on the “gotta eat CLEAN” bandwagon, and I didn’t care about trying to eat a different way.  I was perfectly content planning out my meals for the week on a spreadsheet, and cooking the same exact thing every single day.  If it wasn’t on my spreadsheet, it wasn’t on my plan.  And if it wasn’t on my plan, it was BAD!  That means every time I ate chocolate, pizza, ice cream, or anything “not clean” that I was “being bad”.  Which lead to feelings of guilt followed by more junk food.  Restricting myself to stay away from bad stuff just made me go crazy.  When the weekend would arrive, I’d start it out with a mocha cookie crumble frappuccino from Starbucks.  Then I would eat everything under the sun – frozen pizzas, cookies, chocolate, ice cream, nachos, etc.  I’d tell myself “hey, it’s the weekend – I deserve a break...it’s only a couple days, it’s not a big deal...I’ll be good again starting Monday”.  This was a vicious cycle...workout and eat according to my spreadsheet all week, then go crazy on the weekend.  I’d gain 3-5 pounds between Friday and Monday, then I’d lose it by the time the weekend came again.  Finally, one day I was just like what the heck am I doing?!  I’m paying for boot camp, working by tail off all week, blowing the weekends, and then feeling like crap about myself.  Something has got to change.  Then, I remembered an email my coach had sent out a while back saying something along the lines of “...if you’re not seeing the results you want, you know it’s not the workouts – it’s got to be what you’re eating.”  And I got curious. 

I started to wonder, what this iifym crap is all about anyway?  So I researched – for a couple of weeks.  I read all kinds of stuff online, joined a group on facebook just for iifym women, and I still couldn’t figure out how in the world to do it.  Then, my coach put up a blog post laying it all out there.  After reading it, I was like hold up...soooo I can eat whatever I want as long as it fits my macros?  I don’t have to “eat clean” anymore?  WHAT?! 

 

......and then it allllll started!  I got the My Fitness Pal app on my phone, changed my goals online according to the iifym calculator, and started tracking everything I ate.  At first, I was still a little confused because I just couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that I could actually eat things like candy, pizza, sandwiches, etc. without losing my progress and “being bad”. I had the “eat clean” mindset for so long that shaking it was a little difficult.  But once I got the hang of it and started noticing changes physically and mentally...I was hooked!

Before iifym, I would stress about food ALL the time.  If I didn’t follow my little eating plan, I’d just throw caution to the wind and eat junk.  Now, I don’t have a plan.  I wake up and eat what I want, grab some stuff for lunch, then I figure out the rest of my day by using the my fitness pal app.  It doesn't take as long as I thought it would to track food, and I do it because I WANT to not because I HAVE to.  I don’t restrict myself anymore, which means I don’t go nuts on the weekend anymore. Last weekend was the first weekend in months that I kept track of what I ate, worked out, and actually enjoyed myself. Don't get me wrong here - doing iifym doesn't mean I eat junk all day long. If I did, I would never be able to hit my macros. It's all about moderation.   If a co-worker brings me chocolate mints from Olive Garden, I can eat them.  If I wake up late and only have time to grab a pop tart out of the vending machine, I can do that.  If we are planning on going out to eat, I can actually enjoy it instead of stressing out.

It. Is. AWESOME!

Not only do I have a better understanding with food now, but I am also noticing changes physically.  My back fat is slowly disappearing, I can actually see 2 or 3 of my abs, I’ve got muscles poppin up that I would have never expected, my clothes are starting to fit differently, and most importantly – I’m starting to feel comfortable in my own skin.  I am by no means perfect nor do I want to be, but I am learning to embrace who I am, and I like it! 

For some of yall, this whole thing is still confusing - I get it!  There's so much stuff floatin around these days about how you can or can't eat this or that to be healthy - that it's hard to know what to do.  I was the same way.  I thought it sounded weird, too good to be true, and I just didn't think it would work.  All I can say is, if you are unhappy with how you are eating now and with your progress...do some research on iifym, and don't be scared!  Try it out for a week and see how you feel.  You might be surprised!  :) 

 

I am not an expert at this getting fit and healthy thing, and it is a constant learning process, but I think I am finally starting to understand it.   It’s not about doing it this way or that way, or being good or bad, or whatever...it’s about balance and doing what works for you!   For me, that’s boot camp and iifym.   Simple as that.

...and if you are curious about what I have been eating lately, feel free to check out my food diary here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/losingfluffwithkelli :)