[quote]flipcollar wrote:
[quote]pwolves17 wrote:
Thanks for the kind words Flip, but re-reading my original post I did come across a bit douchey, and should have just explained my opinion/position. The majority of successful contest prep coaches in natural bodybuilding are utilizing IIFYM these days. Now, that doesn’t mean just eat whatever crap you want to fill your macros every day. Clients are still expected to eat responsibly and not fill all 300 carbs with candy and pop tarts, but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with fitting in a few of these every day if you’d like.
I completely agree with you that for a short cut or for an offseason, there’s no reason someone with a good understanding of nutrition couldn’t adjust their own macros successfully. But a good coach really has value in knowing when to push the envelope, or when to simply not change anything despite progress seemingly slowing. It’d be the natural tendency for many dieters to be extremely aggressive and want to slash too many calories/add too much cardio early in prep, essentially blowing their load too early and limiting their potential for how lean they can get.
contests, it’s extremely rare to see someone bring truly great conditioning who did not work with a coach. Many people just aren’t willing to absolutely grind themselves, and it takes a coach to be the bad guy at times, lol. It’s tough be objective with yourself dieting for 20+ weeks! And when it comes to wanting more than just a set of macros and cardio updates, the way I see it, I’m paying for results not a fancy plan. For someone that prefers following a meal plan, they could just set up a meal plan and follow that daily using their assigned macros.[/quote]
I’m 100% with you on the importance of a coach for contest prep. If I ever ventured into bodybuilding, I would absolutely hire a coach. No question.
It seems that I took the concept of IIFYM too literally. I was under the impression that it literally meant eat whatever the fuck you want, as long as protein, fat, and carb content match up with the numbers they’re supposed to. The ‘Now, that doesn’t mean just eat whatever crap you want to fill your macros every day’ part eluded me. If it doesn’t mean that you can eat whatever the hell you want, then it’s a more reasonable approach than I believed.
[/quote]
my understanding of IIFYM and diet coaches was exactly the same as yours. Needing a coach for it had me scratching my head, too.