My Very Brief Experience With IIFYM

Ok, let me start off by saying I am NOT a doctor. I do NOT have medical knowledge, and this is MY PERSONAL experience only.

Now that we have that out of the way, I considered trying IFFYM (If It Fits Your Macros) previously this year. But at the time I just wasn't really committed to giving it my 100%. But previously this summer, I decided to give IFFYM another try.

For me, it was like calorie counting on steroids. Not only do you need to stay within a calorie range but now you need to stay within a certain range of macros. I thought it would be super overwhelming, but it really wasn't all that difficult to come pretty close to the macros. I never hit them perfectly each day. But I felt that I was coming close enough. For the first 3 days I was doing ok, but then well.. you know.. that thing called life... and I didn't have my planned food available... so I ate what was available... and then I went over... and because I went over... well why not... and before I knew it... I was bingeing. I am embarrassed to type that but it's the truth. I told myself to just start over the next day, and I did... for the first part of the day... then it was ice cream followed by s'mores followed by chips.. I mean why not? I was already over my goals and had blown it for the day right? And here we are again.. back to square one..
 Well, actually worse than square one because my eating was truly out of control.

And I had to stop and think what got me here in the first place... and it all began when I started calorie counting and dieting after I had my son. For me, that's when all of these eating issues really began.

Calorie counting works. Drinking shakes work. Taking supplements, magic pills, whatever the latest and greatest thing is.... it can work.. and it does for a lot of people. And I know several people who have had success with IIFYM, and I truly believe they will continue to have success. And if those people continue to do it for the rest of their life, I'm sure they will continue to reach and obtain their goals.

But calorie counting doesn't work for me personally..... it never has... yes maybe short term...but not in the long run.. and at this point it has helped create a very unhealthy relationship with food. Once again this is MY PERSONAL experience.

As far as some of the other programs go, yes I have tried some... no I won't bad mouth any of them... but after using the shakes I developed a sensitivity to certain ingredients. And I still have a sensitivity to them. I have food allergies. I should have known.

I've literally said that I don't know what to eat anymore. But do I really need an app to tell me what I should and shouldn't eat? So how does a person in my position get to where she wants to be when she doesn't trust her own body?

Well step one I think is learning to trust your own body again. I mean truly trusting it - knowing when to eat - when not to eat - and using common sense when it comes to what I put in my body.

So after my brief experience with IIFYM and tracking again, I'm working hard on EATING WITH A PURPOSE. (a quick google search will give you several blogs with this title or close to it. Honestly, as I was writing this post, those words just came to me, I didn't know those sites existed)

Eating to fuel my body. Eating to be healthy. Yes, eating to enjoy the taste of certain foods without guilt. But stopping and asking myself WHY I am eating WHAT I am eating, and will it HELP or HARM my body.

I've been doing this for about a month now, and what I realized is that old habits don't end overnight just because you want them to! So realistically it's the been the last few days or so that I've been fully committed to giving this a try. (after my diagnosis of arthritis)  I'm still working through emotional eating and the occasional setbacks (especially while dealing with this) but I've lost 2 pounds so far.

It's a start and it's a step in the right direction ...

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