Poll: Do you eat "clean" or follow "IIFYM"?

[HowsMyClutch]

That guy is not natty.

Why would you even want that many veins visible on your body? It's just... weird...

[ninjex]

IIFYM
works for me
tried eating clean but i like this approach better

[ErikTheElectric]

Personally, teens (in my opinion) shouldn't be overly worried about the food their eating (unless in copious amounts).

This is the time for growth and not the time to turn down pizza out with friends because it's not "healthy". It can lead to extremes as it did for me
and can have a sever negative impact on ones life.

[Skeeeeet]

all i do is eat alot, count protein, check my weight to see if im gaining. keepin sht simple it aint rocket science

[2HeadedEagle]

I get the IIFYM idea, but why fill your macros with useless **** rather than real food? If I'm 400-500 calories off my target, I would rather go to the supermarket and by me some chicken or tuna rather than heading over to BK, buying a meal and telling myself it's okay because I'm filling my macros. If all you care about is muscle, then fine, but having a great body isn't all about whats on the outside. I expect some sarcastic/try-to-look-pro-calm-and-smart comments to this but whatever.

Also, I am confused at the concept because of this: Fast food meal has loads of calories, but little to medium amount of protein, loads of sugar, loads of simple carbs (don't tell me simple carbs and complex carbs are still both carbs), loads of sat and trans fats. This creates an unbalanced ratio of calories from good things and calories from bad things, which means that you are getting closer to your calories but not your macros.

A decent "clean meal" has a decent amount of calories, with high protein, high complex carbs, good fats, micro nutrients (which I find weird that people ignore) and fiber. You get some calories in there but those calories are worth something, and you are closer to your macro goal as well as your calorie goal. If you don't end up getting enough calories, I'm sure there is something healthy at home that will fill it.

I hope I communicated that in the right way.

If someone could tell me otherwise please do so logically and don't just have a cry over how terribly wrong my points are.

Saying all this, I don't count calories, I just eat decent food and monitor my protein to be around 1g per lb of bodyweight +- 10g.

[CynicalSphere]

If you eat "clean" you are still getting your macros in...and thats all that matters. For the most part I eat fairly clean foods (brown rice, chicken, turkey, veggies, peanut butter and so on) and I usually give myself like a meal or so a day that are "dirty" foods..but I fit my macros in.

i used to do the whole eat fackking 9 times a day thing...not fun, having to stay at home on a friday night (after the gym of course) to eat another 3 meals..when you can just have a bigger one and live a somewhat normal life and go have fun with friends that don't body build....IIFYM for life.

[spiderman997]

I get the IIFYM idea, but why fill your macros with useless **** rather than real food?

All carbs become blood glucose
All protein becomes amino acids
All fat becomes fatty acids

I must be missing something here. Why are the carbs from my low fat poptart different from the carbs in a sweet potato?

[CynicalSphere]

A decent "clean meal" has a decent amount of calories, with high protein, high complex carbs, good fats, micro nutrients (which I find weird that people ignore) and fiber. You get some calories in there but those calories are worth something, and you are closer to your macro goal as well as your calorie goal. If you don't end up getting enough calories, I'm sure there is something healthy at home that will fill it.

Micro nutrients you need a very small amount of..and not to mention I guarantee 75% of this forum takes a multivitamin (which I think are kinda BS, but what does my opinion on them mean)

I can fit 4 mcdoubles at mcdonalds into my cutting diet if I really wanted to..look at people like Matt Ogus and Nick Wright, they do it

[2HeadedEagle]

All carbs become blood glucose
All protein becomes amino acids
All fat becomes fatty acids

I must be missing something here. Why are the carbs from my low fat poptart different from the carbs in a sweet potato?

But what about the other things that don't apply to macros? Are you saying that simple carbs and complex carbs make no difference to the body (apart form composition), sat and trans fats being just as good for you as monounsaturated fats? I understand if this thread is primarily targeting mass growth and muscle development, but you have to think about internal organs, heart and other aspects of health. Isn't everything connected in one way or another, so having those things healthy will make it easier for you to develop muscles, which reverts back to the fact that it's more beneficial overall to eat clean?

Slightly confused because here's you guys saying all this, which goes against the things that guys like Kris Gethin and the sort have said.

[spiderman997]

But what about the other things that don't apply to macros? Are you saying that simple carbs and complex carbs make no difference to the body (apart form composition), sat and trans fats being just as good for you as monounsaturated fats? I understand if this thread is primarily targeting mass growth and muscle development, but you have to think about internal organs, heart and other aspects of health. Isn't everything connected in one way or another, so having those things healthy will make it easier for you to develop muscles, which reverts back to the fact that it's more beneficial overall to eat clean?

Slightly confused because here's you guys saying all this, which goes against the things that guys like Kris Gethin and the sort have said.

You basically said nothing here.

Tell me why, from a body comp or health perspective, whole wheat low fat poptarts are inferior to a sweet potato? Barring micronutrients, no one on a bulking diet is deficient unless they are literally goddamn retarded.

[Sprite11]

If it wasn't for iifym i wouldn't get the results I've gotten. after practicing iifym for awhile you don't really care what you eat as long as fits.

[Odzo]

yes. i eat clean.

[2HeadedEagle]

You basically said nothing here.

Tell me why, from a body comp or health perspective, whole wheat low fat poptarts are inferior to a sweet potato? Barring micronutrients, no one on a bulking diet is deficient unless they are literally goddamn retarded.

I would think that the ratio of sugars,sat fats,trans fats,simple carbs and (bad stuff) to complex carbs, protein and healthy fats and fiber is much worse in comparison to the nutritional ratios of a sweet potato. What I'm trying to say is, lets assume they both have the same amount of complex carbs, a pop tart still has unnecessary things like sugar in. Besides, without even going into depth, it would be clear that if you replaced something like sweet potato with pop tarts in your diet to get the equal amount of carbs its gonna be bad for you, even if its presumably low fat and whole wheat, its common sense isn't it?

Once again, I'm not trying to argue more so than trying to understand. By this logic anyone can eat whatever they want and be healthy, but then why all the fat, diabetic Americans? I don't think eating crap and then just working out and exercising will cut it. Unless it does?

[spiderman997]

I would think that the ratio of sugars,sat fats,trans fats,simple carbs and (bad stuff) to complex carbs, protein and healthy fats and fiber is much worse in comparison to the nutritional ratios of a sweet potato. What I'm trying to say is, lets assume they both have the same amount of complex carbs, a pop tart still has unnecessary things like sugar in.

Sugar still becomes blood glucose, and will do all the beneficial things carbohydrates do. Not sure what makes it 'unnecessary'. The nutritional facts are pretty comparable too. 300 calories from either has similar amounts of carbs and fat, sweet potatoes have slightly more fiber (5g more).

[2HeadedEagle]

Sugar still becomes blood glucose, and will do all the beneficial things carbohydrates do. Not sure what makes it 'unnecessary'. The nutritional facts are pretty comparable too. 300 calories from either has similar amounts of carbs and fat, sweet potatoes have slightly more fiber (5g more).

There are other points that I could make but I'll leave it at this, you clearly know more than me and I don't want to get shot down by a pro hahaha. In the end there is probably no problem in having some sort of "unhealthy" food once or twice a week. I guess even daily it wouldn't hurt, but I'm sure all these years of so many people stressing healthy eating aren't for nothing, so I'm going to continue making my gains on a diet which involves minimal processed foods sugars, simple carbs, bad fats etc.

[spiderman997]

I guess even daily it wouldn't hurt, but I'm sure all these years of so many people stressing healthy eating aren't for nothing.

The problem is that this tends to change every few decades. In the 50's, fat was the devil, lead to high cholesterol and triglycerides, made you obese, and killed you of a heart attack or stroke. In the 90's when the Atkin's and South Beach diets became popular, we were told it was not fats, but carbs that gave us bad health problems, and that they were making us fat and unhealthy and should be eliminated. Now fast forward to today, and carbs and fats are good for you, but certain kinds like high fructose corn syrup cause disease and fat gain. In another 10 years it will be completely different.

You run into problems even trying to DEFINE clean eating, much less argue for it. Realistically if you hit your macros, don't neglect fiber or phytonutrients, and try to keep "dirty" foods to a smaller percentage of your diet, you don't have much to worry about from a body comp or health perspective.

[spiderman997]

Low fat poptarts are high in micronutrients and have enough fiber that they essentially get processed as complex carbs by the body btw, similar to how fiber in fruit mitigates the effects of the fructose on blood glucose.

Low fat poptarts da gawd.

[gwerty]

3.2 liters of milk + 1000 calories of junk food. I rarely eat "clean" foods.

I didn't read the posts here, but I'm sure that it has been mentioned that there are no "clean" or "dirty" foods when bulking unless you're literally talking about soapy food and dirt-filled food, or something similar. "Clean" and "dirty" foods are only related to health, the difference between "clean" and "dirty" when it comes to bodybuilding is marginal.

[Mobster1995]

3.2 liters of milk + 1000 calories of junk food. I rarely eat "clean" foods.

I didn't read the posts here, but I'm sure that it has been mentioned that there are no "clean" or "dirty" foods when bulking unless you're literally talking about soapy food and dirt-filled food, or something similar. "Clean" and "dirty" foods are only related to health, the difference between "clean" and "dirty" when it comes to bodybuilding is marginal.

True, food is food. As long as it fits your macros and your dedicated to it
thing is, when you hit all your grams of protein and fats. You don't have too much calories for junk thats the thing.
but that depends if u done cardio or not
but hey if u can fit it in sure thing
just have the will power :P

[Miickk]

The question in this thread suggests that one simply eats clean and doesn't count macros. Go eat 10,000 calories worth of clean food and tell me how that goes.
Essentially, clean eaters, IIFYMers etc. eat foods that fit their macros. I don't understand why people keep debating food choices. Food is a privlage so why be selective and anal about your food choices.

[Mobster1995]

The question in this thread suggests that one simply eats clean and doesn't count macros. Go eat 10,000 calories worth of clean food and tell me how that goes.
Essentially, clean eaters, IIFYMers etc. eat foods that fit their macros. I don't understand why people keep debating food choices. Food is a privlage so why be selective and anal about your food choices.

Lol even if someone ate "clean" eating 10,000 calories worth of apples they will gain weight regardless
but as for junk, I do not see a problem iifym but my main concern about "junk" is the sodium
sodium, it tends to retain water making you bloated. But of course this is temporarily, throw in lots of water or sweat like a pig and it will be gone.

[BBqChicken1]

I get the IIFYM idea, but why fill your macros with useless **** rather than real food? If I'm 400-500 calories off my target, I would rather go to the supermarket and by me some chicken or tuna rather than heading over to BK, buying a meal and telling myself it's okay because I'm filling my macros. If all you care about is muscle, then fine, but having a great body isn't all about whats on the outside. I expect some sarcastic/try-to-look-pro-calm-and-smart comments to this but whatever.

Also, I am confused at the concept because of this: Fast food meal has loads of calories, but little to medium amount of protein, loads of sugar, loads of simple carbs (don't tell me simple carbs and complex carbs are still both carbs), loads of sat and trans fats. This creates an unbalanced ratio of calories from good things and calories from bad things, which means that you are getting closer to your calories but not your macros.

A decent "clean meal" has a decent amount of calories, with high protein, high complex carbs, good fats, micro nutrients (which I find weird that people ignore) and fiber. You get some calories in there but those calories are worth something, and you are closer to your macro goal as well as your calorie goal. If you don't end up getting enough calories, I'm sure there is something healthy at home that will fill it.

I hope I communicated that in the right way.

If someone could tell me otherwise please do so logically and don't just have a cry over how terribly wrong my points are.

Saying all this, I don't count calories, I just eat decent food and monitor my protein to be around 1g per lb of bodyweight +- 10g.

woah whats wrong with sat fats?

[gwerty]

Lol even if someone ate "clean" eating 10,000 calories worth of apples they will gain weight regardless
but as for junk, I do not see a problem iifym but my main concern about "junk" is the sodium
sodium, it tends to retain water making you bloated. But of course this is temporarily, throw in lots of water or sweat like a pig and it will be gone.

Shouldn't your main concern be trans fats? I've only learned this recently, but many junk foods that have "zero trans fat" actually contain around .5 trans fat so they round them down. But maybe that's just me since I bulk with chips everyday and noodles most days, so never mind if you avoid trans fats.

[Miickk]

Lol even if someone ate "clean" eating 10,000 calories worth of apples they will gain weight regardless
but as for junk, I do not see a problem iifym but my main concern about "junk" is the sodium
sodium, it tends to retain water making you bloated. But of course this is temporarily, throw in lots of water or sweat like a pig and it will be gone.

I'm not sure if you are agreeing with me or not, or if you even understand my contention.
Basically naturals don't need to worry about water retention, unless you go on an all out binge eat, like christmas day, you shouldn't have issues with it.

[Ccm644]

I try my best to eat clean, never have tired IIFYM