IIFYM, or if it fits your macros, has had a huge wave of support in the last couple of years. Being able to eat pretty much whatever you want as long as it fits your numbers? Good deal, right? However, the term intuitive eating started making its name known in the last year or so. We are seeing more fitness influencers and experts talking about balance and listening to your body. So which one should you do? I am going to walk through each approach, explain the pros and cons, and you can decide for yourself!
Intuitive Eating
Intuitive eating is exactly what it sounds like. Eating according to the signals your body sends you. If you are hungry eat. Full? Stop eating. You want a burger? Go ahead and eat it. Want a salad? Down the hatch!
This approach to nutrition focuses on body signals. We suppress our own hunger ques from a young age. We eat on a schedule; breakfast at 8am, lunch at 12pm, dinner at 6pm. We eat things just because they are in front of us, or because we are sad, or because we are bored. We tell our kids to eat just one more bite. When we are born, we already know how to listen to our bodies. That is why babies cry when they are hungry, sick, tired, or annoyed. They react to how they are feeling.
Now, I am not saying that every time you get irritated you should sit down and have a tantrum. But what happens if you are aren’t hungry for breakfast at 8am? What happens if you eat lunch at 12pm, then are hungry again at 1:30pm? We place rules around food that guide us in our decisions. Intuitive eating takes these rules away.
Pros
There are numerous pros to intuitive eating. I am going to break a few of them down into a list that is easy to read.
- No worries while traveling because you have given yourself permission to eat what you are able to.
- Can focus more on health over the numbers in the food.
- Stress less about social events and food because you have given yourself permission to enjoy food.
- Learning to listen to your body, which will help you in all areas of your life.
- No more making multiples meals for you and your family.
- No more stress when you stray from a meal plan.
- Able to enjoy food.
- Freedom from food.
- More time to enjoy life.
- Extremely sustainable (a/k/a can do for the rest of your life without freaking out).
Cons
There are a few cons to intuitive eating that should be addressed. Nothing in life is perfect 😉
- Less able to make more precise adjustments if trying to cut/bulk.
- Could have a tendency to under eat.
- Could have a tendency to over eat.
- Has a large learning curve.
Who is Intuitive Eating For?
Intuitive eating isn’t for everyone at first. If you have never tracked your food or never worked from a meal plan before, and you have specific goals in mind, then intuitive eating isn’t the best option for you right now.
If you are sick to death of tracking, then intuitive eating is for you.
Maybe you are happy with where you are in your journey and want more freedom with your food, then intuitive eating is for you.
You are the type of person that obsesses about numbers and freaks out if you go over your calories by 1. Intuitive eating is definitely right for you.
If you have a specific goal to hit by a specific date, then intuitive eating isn’t the best option for you right now.
If you have no idea what a specific serving size of foods looks like, then intuitive eating isn’t the best option yet.
Even if intuitive eating isn’t right for you right now, it can be in the future!
Resources
Intuitive eating can be very tricky at first, because we don’t listen to our bodies well and have “dieted” for so long. In order to make this foray into intuitive eating a little easier, you can check out these resources:
-
Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Program that Works– Book by Evelyn Tribole
-
The Intuitive Eating Workbook: Ten Principles for Nourishing a Healthy Relationship with Food– by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch
- Hire a coach to guide you. This is what I did, plus I read the books! Having someone to talk to and answer questions is huge. Click here to schedule a free consult with me!
IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros)
The biggest mistake that people make when following IIFYM is that they prioritize less healthy food over healthier options. Just because your main goal is to hit your numbers, don’t forget about proper nutrition. IIFYM means that you have particular carb, fat, and protein goals to hit each day.
If you are wondering how to calculate your macros, I made a post about how to do that here!
Pros
- No specific meal plan so you can eat any food you want.
- Easy to make precise progress and adjustments.
- Teaches correct portions sizes.
- Teaches the nutrients in each food.
Cons
- Constantly tracking food.
- Easy to become obsessed.
- Hard to track things that are not homemade or packaged.
Who is IIFYM for?
This approach is great for people who have a specific goal to meet in a specific time frame. It is also a great approach if you have never tracked your food and unsure what a correct portion size looks like. If you like numbers and they do not stress you out, you might like IIFYM.
This approach is not great for people who are obsessive. It is very easy to become obsessed over the numbers. If you have been tracking forever and are thoroughly sick of it, then this isn’t a good idea either.
Resources
There are thousands of calculators out there and websites on macro counting. Here are a few of my favorite resources!
- Follow @themacroexperiment on Instagram
- Join the IIFYM Facebook group
- Check out IIFYM.com
- Hire a coach to help guide you through the changes in your macros and answer any questions you might have! Click here to schedule your free consultation with me!
Wrapping it Up
I hope that this post clarified a few things for you about intuitive eating and iifym! This distinction is very sharp, but sometimes unclear. If you have any questions about this, please drop them in the comments below!!
