Weighing In: If It Fits Your Macros

A diet where eating Pop-tarts, donuts, and McDonald’s is encouraged? It sounds too good to be true, but the IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macro’s) diet claims you really can eat whatever you want.

The main problem with any diet is that it usually involves cutting out certain foods. Whether it’s the Atkins, South Beach, or Paleo diet, they all attribute success to removing one or more of the 3 essential parts of someone’s diet – carbohydrates, fats, and protein – the macronutrients.

This is why the IIFYM diet is truly revolutionary. Each individual requires a different amount of calories each day, and each individual burns those calories at a different rate, depending on gender/age/activity level/height/weight.

It only makes sense that each person requires a different amount of macronutrients.

To find out how much you need, you can figure out your BMR (how many calories your body needs a day) by using a specific calculation and then adding in your activity level.

For the time being, stick to the 40/40/20 rule: 40% of your calories coming from carbohydrates, 40% coming from protein, and 20% coming from fat. (Download the MyPlate Calorie Tracker app and it’ll do all the work for you). Once that’s complete, you’re free to experiment with foods as long as it “fits your macros.”

But don’t take this as just an opportunity to eat pizza, fries, and burgers.

Valley asked Matthew Schweitzer, sophomore Chemistry major at PSU and an advocate for intense lifting, what he thought about IIFYM.

“I’m honestly not sure how effective this diet is because I don’t do it. I just think it’s not healthy to be eating chips and donuts every day to fill your requirements. I think you get better results and feel generally better eating vegetables and lean meats,” says Schweitzer.

The IIFYM diet is used mostly by athletes, bodybuilders, fitness models and people who lift daily, but are sick of clean eating. You should follow a healthy diet, and eat junk food sparingly. This is a “flexible diet,” but still requires dedication and hard work.

“I obviously wouldn’t recommend it to people who aren’t physically active. I wouldn’t recommend it to people who aren’t dedicated to counting their macros every day. And I would not recommend it to beginner lifters,” says Schweitzer.

Is IIFYM revolutionary, or just another trendy fad? You be the judge.

For now, go have a Pop-tart.

But only if it fits your macros.