IIFYM for weight loss and cycling

[madindehead]

Hello,

I am looking to start eating based on IIFYM to try and kick start my weight loss regime again.

I've dropped from 84kg last April, to 67kg now, but I've stalled a bit, and keep to get strict with myself again. My goal is at least 60kg, preferably 58/59kg. I am 5 foot 4 (163 cm).

I read some of the weight loss and diet threads here, and someone mentioned IIFYM. I entered my data in there, and it comes out with the following, based on exercising for 60 mins a day, 5 days a week and a sedentary lifestyle:

118 protein
52g fat
210g carbs

Which is around 1777 calories. I'm on my turbo trainer every morning for an hour. And I will be getting out on the bike on the road as the weather gets better. I eat a reasonably clean diet, no pre-packaged or processed foods (except cereal/pasta).

My worry is: for my goals, weight loss and cycling, the quantity of protein feels quite high. Should I adjust the macros for less protein/more carbs? Or is this a decent level for losing weight at a good rate and building some strength on the bike. Would a balance of 15% protein/20% fat/65% carbs be better for cycling and my weight loss? The IIFYM levels are 27% protein/30% fat/44% carbs.

I know I could ask this in the Pedal Powered sub-forum, but I feel I might gain more by asking in the general sports arena area. If you need anymore data, please don't hesitate to ask me.

The other option is that I'm just totally over thinking all of this. I just want some idea of what quantity of macros I should be consuming without going overboard and eating too little or too much to lose weight at a decent level. Once I get to maintaining the weight, I feel this all becomes a bit easier.

 

[Somnambulist]

IIFYM isn't a diet per se, it's just an acronym that originated on BB.com when people were asking if they could still eat xyz food during their diet and one poster got fed up of typing the same 5 words over and over again. The IIFYM calculator is just one of the more popular ones on the web.

Protein needs to be high on a diet because it's both muscle-sparing and you have to bare in mind not all your dietary protein will actually get to be used for repair etc due to being in an energy deficit. 118g isn't particularly high either. I'm not sure how it works for cycling (since you're losing bodyweight it might make it easier) but with resistance training, dieting typically involves trying to maintain your performance and doing enough to maintain training adaptations, not driving yourself into the ground trying to improve (since performance and recovery will be impaired compared to an energy surplus).

Calculators are only educated guesses based off formulas; they don't really know how much energy you expend through NEAT and planned exercise, and typically the activity multipliers are far too optimistic; all you can do is try the suggested macros (I'd work in ranges though, like 1750-1800cals, aim to hit protein +/-5g and be a little flexible with the other two without dropping carbs too much... it's supposed to be Flexible Dieting after all), and track your weight. The golden rate is usually advised these days as a loss of 0.5-1% of your total body weight a week, on average (since weight can fluctuate daily based on a variety of things) so you'd just adjust your intake to stay in line with the recommendations.

%'s are meaningless - you base numbers off your own stats, so when dieting it's stuff like
protein (always first as it's most important) - between 1-1.4g/lb of lean bodyweight
fat - between 15-30% of calories
carbs - the rest

The carb fat ratio will largely come down to preference in terms of food choices, although typically if you're doing anything at a high intensity you wouldn't want to drop them too low (say, below 150g).

 

[BennyC]

Following on from Somnambulist...

Establish your own 'maintenance' calorie intake with accurate tracking. Calculators are a guide, as established but you need to see what YOUR body maintains on based on your own activity levels.

Is there any reason you turbo for an hour every day? 'Less is more' can apply when it comes to weightloss. Increasing your activity from an hour a day plus ride roads, or reducing calories, to further a deficit when needed will be hard to do if you are already highly active.

Your macro split would largely depend on the intensity of your turbo session and road rides. Loosely speaking higher intensity riding will utilise more energy from glycogen and carbohydrate stores where as steady easy rides utilise fat primarily. Macronutrient manipulation can influence this over a sustained period however some of us are predisposed to utilising certain fuel sources are certain intensities than others. 2 part article here:

http://cyclingtips.com/2013/08/high-fat-low-carb-diets-good-for-you-and-your-cycling/

With regards to IIFYM, yes, it is a perfectly fine method to use to create a calorie deficit. Providing you can exercise moderation and maintain a healthy relationship with food I would certainly recommend it, being an advocate myself.

The basis of your diet, as it is now, should be around whole foods. The 'Flexible' benefit of it is that you realise, providing macronutrient goals have been hit (including fiber, which forces the inclusion of whole foods in the diet to achieve sufficient levels), that some chocolate, chips, ice-cream, sweets, cake etc in moderation will not harm or hamper your weight-loss efforts whatsoever.

In fact by not restricting foods you enjoy from your diet you make the journey not only enjoyable but also sustainable.

Generally speaking I would advise:

Protein: 1.5-2g/kg bodyweight
Carbs: balancing figure
Fats: 0.8g/kg

On any given day you happen to be sedentary then carbs can be reduced and protein or fat increased to compensate and balance. Likewise when highly active, with a very hard or long ride then fat can be reduced and carbs increased.

Bear in mind these are targets, not limits, and individuals may well find they have a natural adverseness towards a high fat/carb diet, their food choices/portion sizes and tastes can create an imbalance..

No single macronutrient is more predisposed to weight gain or fat loss than any other but from a performance perspective it is wise to try and establish an optimal ratio so you can still recover, perform and achieve your goals.

 

[madindehead]

I get an hour on the turbo most days currently, because I feel I need the exercise. If I have too many days without exercise I start to feel a bit "meh". Also, we have a deadline at work, so getting an hour in the morning is all the exercise I get except for walking to and from work (getting lighter, so cycling to and from work will follow, and more evening and weekend rides). I realise that my current levels of exercise could cause a problem later, as like you say creating a deficit becomes harder. I will just need to work harder on the turbo! I do power based workouts, so it's easy enough to increase difficulty

All the food I eat is homecooked, with good quality ingredients. I probably eat 6-7 portions of fruit and veg a day: primarily vegetables. As for my relationship with food, I don't think it's ever been in a better place than it is. I enjoy eating "clean" food, and I don't really find myself craving chocolate or cakes. if anything, they are a bit too sweet for me now. My main indulgance would be chocolate milk!

I've managed to maintain my current weight since around October now. But I must admit I haven't been super strict, sometimes indulging in a hot cross bun or three at the weekends. And I haven't keep a super strict eye total macro/calorie intake during that time. Just trying to eat healthily.

 

[BennyC]

I get an hour on the turbo most days currently, because I feel I need the exercise. If I have too many days without exercise I start to feel a bit "meh". Also, we have a deadline at work, so getting an hour in the morning is all the exercise I get except for walking to and from work (getting lighter, so cycling to and from work will follow, and more evening and weekend rides). I realise that my current levels of exercise could cause a problem later, as like you say creating a deficit becomes harder. I will just need to work harder on the turbo! I do power based workouts, so it's easy enough to increase difficulty

What I am saying is, for continued sustainable weightloss it would be beneficial if, just like caloric intake, expenditure can controlled too.

With a ride to/from work, dependent on distance, the need to turbo should be largely reduced.

It's also worth noting the detrimental effects to your weightloss efforts that over exercising (under recovering, whichever way you want to look at it) will have.

All the food I eat is homecooked, with good quality ingredients. I probably eat 6-7 portions of fruit and veg a day: primarily vegetables. As for my relationship with food, I don't think it's ever been in a better place than it is. I enjoy eating "clean" food, and I don't really find myself craving chocolate or cakes. if anything, they are a bit too sweet for me now. My main indulgance would be chocolate milk!

That's great but as explained you need to be aware of the caloric content of these home cooked meals. So it can require keeping tabs on what exactly is going in to a batch and how much of that batch you are consuming at a time.

You don't have to be quite so critical but removing variables makes identifying discrepancies such as stagnation in weightloss or poor recovery easier.

IIFYM doesn't mean you HAVE to eat processed foods at all, just that you flex your food sources to eat what you want to, in moderation. There's nothing superior nor inferior about eating processed/unprocessed foods, if macro's & micro's are hit.

I've managed to maintain my current weight since around October now. But I must admit I haven't been super strict, sometimes indulging in a hot cross bun or three at the weekends. And I haven't keep a super strict eye total macro/calorie intake during that time. Just trying to eat healthily.

As I say, for some people it can just be a case of 'Yolo-ing' it eating a little bit less (and mindfully) and moving a little bit more. As long as focus doesn't become an obsession and ignorance isn't used an an excuse for failure IIFYM/Flexible Dieting works well for many.

Ironically everybody has a macronutrient based diet just a large proportion of society don't monitor, track or even know what macros are

 

[madindehead]

I should also say: I dislike the word "diet" in this sense. I don't see this as a "diet" in the sense that this is something to only do whilst losing weight. I see this as a wholescale change to my diet, and a lifestyle choice that will persist after losing the final bit of weight that I want to lose.

Oh yeah. I think with regards to what goes into my food, I probably do need to pay more attention. What goes in is all healthy, but you're right, portion control is important too!

I guess my main focus was to get a baseline for macronutrient quantities, see if it is acceptable, and then work around that Especially as I feel like I'm maybe not eating enough protein on some days.

Regarding a ride to work: I will be doing more when the weather gets better. I'm only 1.8 miles from my office, so I will need to add a large part to it to get decent exercise The turbo sessions are TrainerRoad sessions, so varied and with a focus on sustained power increase i.e. building strength and endurance on the bike.

 

[madindehead]

I think I'm going to try and stick to a roughly 30% protein/20% fat/50% carb split for now, and monitor how much weight I'm losing. This is will be on a 20% deficit for my TDEE. The turbo sessions will show me how many calories I'm burning (fairly accurate considering it's power based and I use my HR monitor). And I sit on my backside all day at work.

 

[BennyC]

I find my Garmin to be a more accurate measure for calorie burn than TR (don't ask, but whatever works) or a % of TR projection.

I'd start with the minimal amount of deficit required to create a loss and then increase from there as necessary so you keep the maximum reserve buffer possible you might well see the same initial loss on a 10% or 5% deficit as 20%, for example.