Clean Eating Versus IIFYM Zealotry

August 27th, 2014 by

There has become so much dietary polarity on the internet in recent times (unnecessary I might add) with the “IIFYMers” on one side and the “clean eaters” and “bros” on the other. And if you CHOOSE to eat “clean” you’re called a bro. IIFYMers, like clean eaters however, have become almost arrogant in their position, behaving like the enlightened and scoffing at anyone who takes a different approach.

“What’s that? You eat chicken and rice? Broccoli too? Wow! Geez man you’re such a bro. I didn’t know you eat bro foods. Wake up!”

I mean really, what kind of nonsensical comment is that? It’s so retarded and myopic. Now this isn’t everyone who adopts this style of eating, as the smart ones would likely say the same we’re saying here. Something like an 80/20 rule of whole vs fun.

Eating a diet of predominately single-ingredient, whole foods, does not make you a “bro” or someone not enlightened about nutrition. Hey in the context of fat loss, we can all agree that at the end of the day, macro totals and total energy intake is what sits atop the Fat Loss Priority Pyramid, yes. No one should argue that. And thus, that also means that food quality, again in the context of fat loss, is secondary to how much you’re eating.

Heck, flexible dieting and clean eating are not even mutually exclusive dietary positions. It’s not one or the other. You can subsist on a diet of predominately whole foods and STILL be a flexible dieter. I figured this was common sense, but you know what they say about common sense …

That said, it should be common sense that a diet that consists of predominately single-ingredient, whole foods is going to offer more nutritional bang for your buck; from dietary fiber, to micronutrients, phytochemicals, etc., this really should be common sense. Heck it should also go without saying that such a diet makes you feel better, perform better, etc., as well. I know for me, I FEEL much better when my diet is centered mostly around “food from the land” so to speak.

Before anyone misinterprets what I’m saying, we too believe in avoiding dietary rigidity, breaking down and eliminating the Good Food vs Bad Food rules, and having the dietary flexibility to build in some “fun foods” into one’s nutritional strategy. We’ve written about this several times.

Anyone who has been a client or has followed LBC for any length of time should already know this. But a disclaimer seems to always be required on FB since many seem to selectively read.

That’s a long way of introducing what I found to be an awesome, common sense video from Nick Mitchell on “”Bro Foods” & Flexible Dieting – The Truth About Common Sense Nutrition”. There’s one comment in this video that I don’t agree with where he commented that you could eat more of a “clean food” than junk (disagree of course) but I think he didn’t mean it that way since he pretty much corrected it with another comment shortly after.

There are about 5 F-Bombs in the video so if that’s an issue for you, well, I’ve given you a heads up. However, I thought Nick’s video about common sense eating was too good not to share.

Whatever you do, don’t be a tossbot! And if someone calls you a bro eater, just give them a slap around the chops.