Flexible Dieting Secrets: Enjoy Your Favorite Foods While Crushing Your Fitness Goals!

Have you ever dreamed of a "diet" where you can still enjoy your favorite foods? Well, flexible dieting might just be the answer you’ve been looking for. It’s an approach that seems almost too convenient - and it satisfies taste buds too. Flexible dieting, also known as IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros), allows you to indulge in your cravings while still achieving your fitness goals.

Let’s be real, the word “diet” can be intimidating to most people. For all the food lovers out there, the idea of cutting out your favorite foods can feel like torture. Flexible eating is the solution to this dilemma, allowing you to enjoy your favorite treats without guilt.

Introduction to Flexible Dieting

This article will introduce you to flexible dieting, explaining its principles, benefits, and how to get started. You'll learn how to track macronutrients, debunk common myths, and compare it to clean eating. Flexible dieting is a dietary approach that allows you to meet your calorie and macronutrient needs while eating the foods you enjoy.

Unlike most diets, flexible dieting does not restrict certain foods or food groups, and does not label foods as “good” or “bad”. Instead, it focuses on monitoring your macronutrient intake, also known as “counting macros“, to reach your health goal, be it to lose weight, gain weight, improve performance, improve body composition, or other.

With decades of combined coaching experience, we’ve created the ultimate guide to flexible dieting. This scientifically backed approach lets you eat anything (yes, anything) while still achieving your health and fitness goals. This method has been proven to enhance your ability to stick to a diet, and we’ve taken it a step further by weaving in expert tips and insights gained from working with over 35,000 clients just like you.

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The Principles of Flexible Dieting

You may find yourself thinking “If only I didn’t have to restrict myself, I could get in great shape.” As you enjoy that delicious donut in guilt, you can’t help but wish there was a better way. With flexible dieting, you can have your cake and eat it too!

In the fitness world, the old saying goes “You are what you eat.” But who wants to be a chicken? With flexible dieting, you can be a well-balanced individual who enjoys a variety of foods. Flexible dieting removes the concept of “good” or “bad” foods. Every food can serve a purpose - whether for nourishment, performance, or simply enjoyment and sanity! Flexible dieting allows you to shape your eating around your lifestyle, not the other way around. No more stressing over rigid meal preps and having to eat the same regimented meals day after day.

Dieting is arguably the most challenging aspect of any physical transformation. It can become so grueling that you might witness bodybuilders shedding tears of joy when they finally get to relish a treat meal after weeks of restriction. Flexible diet eliminates the need for such extreme measures, allowing you to indulge in moderation.

But does it have to be that way? Categorizing foods as “good” or “bad,” “clean” or “cheat” can lead to some problems down the line. It fosters an unhealthy relationship with certain foods, which can lead to intense cravings when you deny yourself for too long, and often results in overeating during those long-awaited cheat meals. Flexible dieting helps you maintain a balanced relationship with all foods.

More importantly, having “forbidden” foods just makes you want them even more - just ask Adam and Eve! Flexible dieting is also known as “If It Fits Your Macros” (IIFYM) or counting macros. You might be wondering - but what about calories? Isn’t counting them the most crucial part of any diet?

Read also: Is Flexible Dieting Right for You?

While calories are important for overall weight management, if your primary goal is changing your body composition and building muscle, a macro-focused approach may serve you better. That said, you still need to know roughly how many total calories you’re consuming each day.

Understanding Macronutrients

All foods are made up of one or a combination of three macronutrients, or macros: protein, carbohydrates, and fat. The macronutrient content of a food determines its caloric value. Carbohydrates and protein both have 4 calories per gram, and fat contains 9 calories per gram. Calories don’t exist outside of these macros (excluding alcohol, which contains 7 calories per gram). Each macro has a different use in your body. By tracking how much of each you consume, you can impact many things such as body composition (fat vs muscle mass), energy level, and even your mood. No single macro is responsible for fat gain or loss (you gain fat by eating more calories than you burn).

The calorie values break down like this:

Protein = 4 calories per gram
Carbs = 4 calories per gram
Fats = 9 calories per gram

So, rather than just aiming for, say, 2,000 calories with no regard for nutrients, your target should be something like 150g protein, 80g fat, and 170g carbs - which adds up to those 2,000 calories, but with the macros properly portioned out. This idea of just hitting your macros might sound “too lenient.” You’re probably shaking your head thinking “There’s no way I can eat whatever and still get results!”

Protein

Protein is found in nearly all of the tissues in our bodies, and consuming adequate protein is essential for life. Consuming the right amount for your activity level and body composition goal is vital for achieving the physique you want. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein. There are 20 different amino acids, and of these 20, your body can manufacture all but 9 of them on its own (these 9 are called essential amino acids, because it is essential to get them from your diet). Some protein sources are more complete than others, meaning they have more or all of the 9 essential amino acids that your body can’t make itself.

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Carbohydrates

While carbs are not essential (meaning humans can function without them), they are useful as a source of energy for the body. Many carb sources such as fruits and vegetables tend to be very nutrient dense (containing vitamins and minerals), and some contain dietary fiber, both of which are important for optimal health.

Fats

Unlike carbs, fats are essential - meaning the body can’t function without adequate fatty acid intake. It’s important to point out that consuming dietary fat doesn’t contribute to fat gain unless total calories are in a surplus. Adequate intake of dietary fats is important for proper hormone function, proper absorption of certain vitamins, the production of cholesterol (vital for health), and also as a source of energy for certain activities such as distance running and other low to medium intensity cardiovascular activities. There are several types of dietary fat, including trans, saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated (includes omega-3 and 6). Trans fats are harmful and generally should be completely avoided. Saturated fats may have some negative health effects if consumed in excess, but they need not be completed avoided and even have benefits such as the production of testosterone.

Getting Started with Flexible Dieting

Here's how to start flexible dieting:

Find your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) - the total calories your body burns each day.
Next, you’ll determine your target macronutrient ratios - the grams of protein, carbs, and fats that make up those calorie goals. Someone focused on fat loss and muscle gain may go higher in protein, while an endurance athlete may need more carbs for performance.
Fiber intake is also tracked in flexible dieting, even though it’s not technically a macro. Recommendations are 38g per day for men and 25g for women.
Logging everything you eat can feel like the toughest part, but it doesn’t have to be a hassle.

The great flexibility comes from being able to hit your calorie and macro targets however you want - no foods are off limits as long as the numbers fit. And don’t forget fiber! While not considered a macro, getting enough daily fiber is important.

Once you’ve calculated your calorie and macronutrient targets, the next step is diligently tracking your intake to ensure you stay within those prescribed goals. There are several convenient methods for this tracking.

The most popular method is using one of the numerous calorie and macro-tracking apps available. Most have extensive food databases that allow you to quickly search for any food item or portion size and log the nutrient details in seconds. Apps make it super easy to log your meals and snacks wherever you are, without needing to manually write everything down. Some of the most widely used tracking apps include MyFitnessPal, MyMacros+, and Cronometer. These apps let you easily monitor your running totals for calories, protein, carbs, fats, and other nutrients throughout the day. You can scan barcodes, save frequent meals, and get breakdown percentages to ensure you’re hitting your prescribed macro ranges.

Benefits of Flexible Dieting

Here is a list of the some of pros of flexible dieting.

With no foods off-limits in IIFYM, you avoid developing an unhealthy obsession or deprivation mindset. When you constantly deny yourself favorite dishes, it often leads to uncontrollable binging. Flexible eating allows you to satisfy cravings in moderation, promoting a healthy relationship with all foods.
If you’ve ever tried eating out while following a very restrictive diet, you know the ordeal. Calculating, and meal-prepping for the entire week - it’s a massive time drain. With flexible dieting, you don’t have to scout restaurants for “diet-approved” meals or pack Tupperware for every social event.
Speaking of social events, you can finally stop being that awkward bro bringing sad meal-prep containers to all the parties. Unless you’re prepping for a bodybuilding show, there’s no need to deprive yourself of enjoying a normal dining experience with friends and family.
When you relentlessly restrict yourself, you’re setting up a cycle of deprivation and overeating. With IIFYM Diet, you can work your favorite treats into your plan. This will diminish the power those foods can have over you. In the end, flexible dieting is an intuitive, sustainable approach that allows you to achieve your goals without extreme restrictions or paradoxical food obsession.
IIFYM Diet is great for those new to closely tracking their food intake. The dedication required to weigh, measure, and log everything builds an awareness of nutrient contents that can quickly lead to weight loss results. You learn about various foods and their nutritional content i.e.
IIFYM Diet or flexible dieting lets you work with foods that may be limited to other diets.

Easy to follow: Although it does require tracking, a flexible diet is easy to follow because there are so few rules, no “off-limit foods”, or complicated meal plans to adhere to. You can make food choices based on personal preference, track them, and get on with your day.
Provides more freedom: While most diets require specific food restrictions, flexible dieting allows for a lot of food freedom as it allows the dieter to eat anything they want as long as they hit their calorie and macro targets. In doing so, flexible dieting can help to promote a healthy relationship with food by demonstrating that all foods can be included in a healthy diet, even if your goal is to lose weight, which has been shown help to prevent binge eating (1).
Focuses on macronutrients: Unlike other diets, especially weight loss diets, flexible dieting focuses on calorie intake and macronutrient intake. While calories are king for weight loss, macronutrients play a vital role in energy levels, satiety, digestion, body composition, and overall health (2, 3, 4). For example, consuming adequate carbohydrates is essential for performance goals, adequate fiber is essential for gut health, and adequate protein is essential for building and maintaining muscle mass and promoting satiety.
Can be very educational: If you’ve never tracked your food, it can be a very educational and enlightening experience. Not only can you learn more about the calorie content and macronutrient breakdown of your food choices, but you can learn more about portion sizes, how much to eat for your personal goals, and how the food you eat makes you feel. The sheer act of tracking foods and portions creates a level of awareness that can help create healthy eating habits you can maintain for the long term.
Promotes sustainability: The number one reason diets fail is because they are unrealistic for the long term. Research has repeatedly shown that any diet that restricts calories will support weight loss, however, research has shown that people who follow diets with greater flexibility have greater long-term success. (5, 6) While many diets are easy to follow for a couple of weeks or months, they often overly restrict foods or specific food groups, which makes them difficult and unpleasant to stick to over time. Fortunately, the flexible dieting approach begins with an “all foods fit” mentality, which tends to increase overall adherence.

Potential Drawbacks

Here is a list of some of the cons of flexible dieting.

Meticulously tracking, measuring, and weighing every single bite is time-consuming - the opposite of being flexible. You need to have a food scale, measuring cups, and spoons to accurately log what you eat. It even includes tiny tastes while cooking or biting off others’ plates.
The calorie and macro counts you’re meticulously logging may not be accurate. Food tracking apps use crowdsourced data that can vary wildly. Food quality factors like farming practices also impact true nutrient content in a way you can’t precisely measure.

Does not ensure food quality: While flexible dieting emphasizes macronutrients, it does not emphasize micronutrients. For this reason, dieters can hit their macro targets without choosing high-quality protein, healthy fats, and fiber-rich carbohydrates. While healthy food choices are encouraged, they are ultimately left to the dieter to decide.
Requires consistent effort: Tracking, weighing, and measuring foods can be very time-consuming, especially if you are new to it. To accurately track macros and caloric intake, you must weigh or measure everything you eat and drink. While using apps can help to make this easier, and even be enjoyable for analytical people, it can feel anything but flexible for some.
Requires nutrition knowledge: Although the process of flexible dieting can be educational, it also requires a basic level of nutrition knowledge. Unlike other diets with black-and-white rules, flexible dieting requires a basic understanding of calories, macronutrients, and hand portion sizes, as well as how to adapt your calorie needs and macro targets as you progress or if your goal changes.
May promote unhealthy habits: Flexible dieting can be slippery for some people. If you’ve ever struggled with disordered eating, the level of attention to food and tracking required in a flexible diet may be a trigger. While not encouraged, intense food restriction has been linked to eating disorders including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder, which can all lead to major health problems (7, 8).

Flexible Dieting vs. Clean Eating

Let’s face it - flexible dieting’s focus on meticulous tracking and “making it fit” stands in contrast to the more intuitive “clean eating” approach that only focuses on minimally processed, nutrient-dense food sources. As with anything, extreme perspectives tend to polarize the discussion when a moderate approach is likely the healthiest mindset.

Is Flexible Dieting Right for You?

IIFYM: If It Fits Your . . . Metabolism? The concept of flexible dieting seems to make logical sense. No one desires a life of total deprivation, unable to ever enjoy ice cream or pizza nights with friends. From a psychological perspective, focusing on what you can include rather than exclude tends to work better - human nature innately craves what it “can’t” have.

That said, after guiding thousands of clients on their transformation journeys, the IIFYM team advises considering a few factors before fully committing to the “if it fits your macros” approach. First and foremost: What’s going on inside your body?

Our IIFYM coaches spend time coaching clients while closely monitoring changes in their lab markers - blood sugar regulation, cardiovascular health, vitamin/mineral levels, hormone balance, and more. The goal is to ensure that your nutrition supports your overall health. Along with consulting medical teams, they track whether lab numbers are moving into optimal ranges as clients lose fat and build muscle. They also check in every 8-12 weeks on subjective feelings like energy, sleep quality, mood, and overall outlook.

This is crucial because, more frequently than you’d think, people with lean physiques come in struggling with issues like poor exercise recovery, intense cravings, digestive problems, exhaustion, and insomnia. Aesthetically they look healthy, but their labs tell another story.

Consider these real examples:

A 35-year-old new dad’s “dad bod” and psoriasis cleared up dramatically on an elimination diet free of common inflammatory foods.
A 45-year-old woman tracked her “perfect” macros for years with no results. Tests showed gluten sensitivity and low iron were likely culprits. Avoiding gluten and boosting iron-rich foods resolved her fatigue, bloating, and sleep issues.
A 40-year-old woman finally found relief from severe gas, bloating, and diarrhea by going low-FODMAP to address an SIBO diagnosis.
A 20-year-old girl ditched dairy, upped her fiber, and improved her hormone balance, leading to acne clearing and normal menstrual cycles.

In all these cases, rigidly sticking to just “flexible” macros and including any foods would not have yielded the same transformative results. You know your body best. If you’ve diligently tracked macros for an extended period, are seeing progress, and are feeling energized, then flexible dieting is a good fit for you. But if you’re not progressing or feeling your best, it’s time to explore further.

Factors like chronic stress levels, hormonal imbalances, gut health issues, and inflammation could be holding you back despite nailing your macros. Flexible dieting isn’t a diet in the traditional sense - it’s more of a lifestyle philosophy approach. It puts you in control by avoiding strict meal plans or off-limits foods.

How Flexible Dieting Works for Different Goals

Unlike many other diet approaches, flexible dieting can support nutrition goals beyond weight loss. Calorie and macro targets can be adjusted to support everything from marathon training to pregnancy to general health. Depending on the person’s specific goal, calorie intake can be increased or decreased and macro targets can be adjusted to provide more or less protein, carbohydrates, and fat to ensure the individual is consuming the most optimal ratios for their personal goal. To support general health, the calorie target can be designed to meet daily energy expenditure, and the macro targets can be divided in a balanced manner that suits personal preference while maintaining ranges that support optimal health.

Tips for Success

Prioritize whole foods: Aim to consume 80-90% of your calories from high-quality foods, such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains, beans, lentils, dairy products, meat, poultry, and seafood. This will help to ensure you are prioritizing micronutrient intake while meeting your calorie and macronutrient targets. Be sure to read food labels and refer to the ingredients list to ensure you are focusing on minimally processed foods.
Focus on protein: If you find hitting your macro targets difficult, at least, focus on your protein intake. Protein is the most satiating macronutrient and will help to make you feel fuller and more satisfied, especially if you are in a calorie deficit. Look for ways to increase your protein intake at meals so you never miss your protein target.
Track your fiber: While fiber is not one of the primary macronutrients, tracking your fiber intake is highly beneficial for overall health, gut health, and satiety signals. Include high-fiber foods, such as beans, lentils, fruits, and vegetables, to ensure you are consuming adequate fiber within your calorie and macro targets.
Plan ahead: Planning your meals in your app the day before or in the morning can help reduce stress around decision-making and make hitting your targets much easier. If you wait until the end of the day to log your food, you may be left with a less-than-ideal number of calories and balance of macros to make a meal. If you know you’ll be visiting a restaurant, look up the menu beforehand, log your meal choice, and build your other meals for the day around it.
Treat yourself: The point of flexible dieting is to be flexible. While you want to prioritize healthy food choices overall, because there are no “off-limit” foods, you can (and should) enjoy your favorite foods. Once you’ve prioritized whole foods, enjoy the 10-20% of your remaining calories to eat the foods you love and celebrate life.
Don’t neglect activity: While flexible dieting is all about what you consume, don’t forget that how you spend your time is important.

Why Flexible Dieting Works: Personal Perspectives

Here are some personal perspectives on why flexible dieting works:

At the end of the day, being in a calorie deficit is required for fat loss. While food quality matters, quantity is the driving factor. You can eat all the nutritious foods possible, but if you’re not in a deficit, you won’t see changes. Flexible dieting takes the guesswork out by tracking every calorie that goes in. It puts you in control of reaching your goals effectively. A 2021 study even found flexible dieters lost the same amount of weight as those on stricter plans while preserving more lean muscle mass.
One major challenge of dieting is the social element and constantly turning down foods. With flexible dieting, you can still join family/friends for meals out as long as you log what you’re eating.
For years, I was stuck in that vicious “diet-binge” cycle. I’d do something extremely restrictive for a while, then inevitably burn out and binge. I had developed an unhealthy relationship with food. Flexible dieting is the first approach I’ve stuck with over an extended period because it kills that deprivation mindset. Since no foods are off-limits in moderation, it’s mentally and physically sustainable as a lifestyle - not just a temporary diet.
I’ve realized food isn’t just physical - there’s a huge psychological aspect. Flexible dieting lets me enjoy what I love while still progressing, without the constant restriction and rebound.

Is Flexible Dieting a Diet or a Lifestyle?

Flexible dieting is a popular nutrition approach in the health and fitness community, but what exactly is a “flexible diet”? Flexible dieting is a diet approach that can be used to lose weight, gain weight, increase performance, or support general health. Flexible dieting involves tracking your food intake, by weighing and measuring your food and drinks, to ensure you are eating to a calorie target and macro targets. Flexible dieting is not a diet. It’s more of a lifestyle. It puts the control in the hands of the dieter, meaning there are no meal plans or food restrictions that need to be followed.

You might wonder how weight loss happens if you can eat whatever you want. When you’re following a flexible diet, your calorie and macronutrient needs are calculated according to how much weight you want to lose. Resting energy expenditure accounts for more than 60-70% of an individual’s total daily calories burned (2). The great thing about flexible dieting is that dieters can tweak their macronutrient ranges depending on their lifestyle and weight loss needs. A dieter looking to shed significant weight may want to go with a lower carbohydrate range, while an athlete may want to opt for a higher carbohydrate range (9, 10).

Conclusion

Flexible dieting is a simple and effective approach to eating that can help you achieve your health and fitness goals while still enjoying the foods you love. By focusing on balance, variety, and moderation, you can create a sustainable and healthy eating plan that works for you. Flexible dieting lets you work on those cravings without guilt. It’s a sustainable lifestyle, not a quick-fix diet. Start simple by building habits like reading labels, drinking enough water, and getting veggies in before diving into full macro counting. Aim for 80-90% of your intake from whole, minimally-processed foods for optimal health.

If you constantly struggle with rigid diets that force you to obsess over food, I highly recommend giving this balanced, flexible approach a try. It’s a true lifestyle - not a fad diet. It helps you develop an intuitive, healthy relationship with all foods. So what are you waiting for?

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