My Fitness Journey & IIFYM

 

I debated sharing these pictures, but I've finally learned to be more confident in my body and stop comparing myself to others...which is a big accomplishment because fitness and health is all about your own personal journey.  But I also decided to post this because I see too many people going about dieting and exercising the wrong way, so this is to prove a point and help others who may be stuck or in a similar situation. This is about 6 months progress. I've been going to the gym since I was really young but I usually just did lighter weights and I was more of a cardio bunny. And throughout middle school & high school I did a lot of sports so I've always been really active. When I got to college, I got into long distance running and ran 5 half marathons, still went to the gym and lifted weights but I pretty much was doing cardio and running allll the time. I've also always eaten fairlyyy healthy but I never paid attention to my macronutrient intake and I was an extremely picky eater so that meant a lot of pasta and bread and packaged/processed food too. Someone very close to me also had an eating disorder and I didn’t want that to happen to me, so I made sure I always ate whatever I wanted. Later I switched my major to nutrition and I started learning a lot about specific nutrients and how they influence our bodies, food labels, how the metabolism works—so many things I never really knew about or paid attention to before. I also got to take some fitness-related nutrition courses as well. I slowly started learning about "eating clean" and instead of eating packaged/processed food, I began to cook a lot more and experiment with recipes. I also started doing my own research on eating for my goals, which was to be strong & fit, instead of skinny and having no muscle from running so much! I started lifting heavier and doing a little less cardio, and along with completely changing my diet I slowly started seeing results. In the beginning it was a lot of experimenting for me, with different things like eliminating dairy, high protein/low carb, limiting my fruit, limiting my calories, 6-7 small meals a day, etc. and what I've found is a lot of these rules that we read about and start to follow are not the solution and just lead to unhealthy habits. For me, eliminating certain foods and following all those rules worked for a little while…I lost weight but I was low on energy and it affected my workouts, and I also found myself missing out on foods I liked. I craved things like pizza all the time, and when I did go out to eat or eat something unhealthy I'd eat too much, feel guilty afterward, and then I’d try to do a ton of cardio to make up for it. Because of that, I wasn't really enjoying my workouts anymore because I felt obligated to do cardio, and the focus was on burning off what I ate.  And I also wasn't really gaining much muscle because of this. Then I came across If It Fits Your Macros, a concept that focuses on the nutrients your putting into your body. You figure out and track macronutrient needs (protein, carbs, fat, and fiber), and you meet those needs while still able to incorporate foods you like. You still eat probably 80-90% "clean" because you still do need to eat tons of vegetables, fruit, lean meats, and healthy fats to meet those macros. And personally, I just really enjoy healthy food anyway. But you also still get to eat other things as long as it fits. Layne Norton has a ton of videos (highly recommend watching them! there's a directory of all of them HERE as well as other helpful videos) that explain this concept so I'm not going into detail....but when I started this I got way more energy, better workouts and more strength at the gym. The best part is that you don't have to follow any rules, eliminate anything from your diet, or feel guilty after you eat something “not clean."
IIFYM may not be for everyone, but it has worked for many people. I see too many people yo-yo dieting or restricting themselves and following all these rules like I did. When you do this, you either temporarily see results, or don’t see any at all. If you are one of those people that are frustrated with dieting this is definitely something I recommend trying.