What is flexible dieting (IIFYM)?

So here we are. It's a new year (2018, I know, right?) and full of opportunities to make some headway in regard to your health/fitness goals. Generally speaking, many people simply want to look a little better naked. Hey, who doesn't, right? Well, if you are also like most people you have probably tried countless diets that never seemed to work out in the long-term. Sound familiar?

This isn't a click-bait read either, no. In this article, I will go over a lifestyle approach that will hopefully be of some interest to you and your health-related goals.

What is flexible dieting?

Flexible Dieting is not really a diet per se. Flexible dieting, or If It Fits Your Macros, is an approach to life itself. You see the word diet can give off the wrong vibe or maybe carries a negative connotation to it. Diet is simply the foods that you eat on a regular basis. I also think the latter of those names gives off a mixed message to those that don't know any better. If It Fits Your Macros, aka flexible dieting, was never meant to be this idea that you can eat whatever you wanted so long as you hit your caloric and macronutrient intake for that day.

That is not a healthy long-term approach to take with food. Flexible dieting is taking a look at your entire caloric needs/macros for that day (macronutrients, in this case, meaning carbs, fat, and protein) and trying to eat mostly minimally-processed, nutrient-dense whole foods, but allowing room for processed foods or, what we typically call junk food. So, this theme of moderation appears right out of the gate with all of that being said beforehand.

Why should you care about flexible dieting?

Good question. Personally, I think this approach is one of the easiest to adhere to in the long-term. And we are talking about long-term here when we are speaking in terms of health and longevity. Adherence to a diet is one of the crucial keys to losing body weight, but also in keeping that lost body weight off.

Flexible dieting affords you the opportunity to live a healthier lifestyle overall, but also allows you to have some of the more processed foods we so dearly love and crave, but just in moderation.

Now, you're probably wondering how you are supposed to find out your caloric needs, and what the heck are macros? That is better left for a whole separate article altogether. My goal in writing this article was to give lay people a very brief introduction to what flexible dieting is and conversely what it is not. I also wanted to attempt to let people know who have struggled in the past, or who may be currently struggling, that there is another approach to dieting if you're willing to take some responsibility and make a few lifestyle adjustments. It does work.