Fitness Inventor
Mark Gilbert
BSc (Nutrition)
Mark is an expert in sports nutrition and dietary supplements. He has over 20 years of experience working with the biggest names in the bodybuilding industry.
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IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros) diet and getting shredded
Question: Can a guy really get ripped doing the If It Fits Your Macros (IIFYM) diet?
ANSWER: The simple answer to this question is “yes.” However, as with most things in nutrition, there’s much more to this story. First, a little definition is in order. “If It Fits Your Macros” is a diet theory that stipulates that as long as you eat the right amounts of daily carbs, fats, and protein, it doesn’t matter what form those foods come in or when you eat them—your results will be the same. But there are exceptions to this concept:
IIFYM: EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULES
- Certain proteins cause greater reductions in hunger, increases in metabolic rate, and decreases in body fat than others. These include whey protein and quality proteins in general. So if you are, for instance, a vegetarian and you don’t eat quality proteins, your metabolic rate will not be stimulated as much as a meat eater.
- Foods (especially carbs) cause a more moderate insulin spike in the morning than if eaten at night and are less likely to be stored as fat and more likely to be stored in muscle cells. Also, food and calories decrease hunger in general when eaten in the morning, and more morning eating results in greater body fat losses.
- High-fibre, lower GI carbohydrates cause less severe insulin and hunger response, and less insulin means that there is less interference with fat burning.
- Smaller, more frequent meals avoid excessive hunger.
- Food eaten after training is less likely to be stored as body fat, and protein eaten before training increases metabolic rate both during and after exercise.
- Some fats are substantially more “lipogenic” than others. So some fats are more likely to be oxidized as fuels or for heat, and some are more likely to find their way into your fat cells.
Generally, the IIFYM can work okay for young guys who are active and have fast metabolisms, but for others who find dropping fat more challenging, this is too simplistic an approach and would impair their chances of success.
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