Austin Guberer
Prof. M. Saraco
English Composition 111
Out of Class Essay 3
12 March 2015
Zinczenko and IIFYM Dieting
If something works, and works well, people flock to it by the thousands. That is the sole reason If It Fits Your Macros, better known as “IIFYM” has gained so much traction the past few years in the fitness community. Macros are macronutrients, macronutrients are Fats, Carbs, Protein, and fiber; and this type of dieting is more commonly known as flexible dieting. Essential concept being that, regardless of what you eat, if you’re hitting specific and targeted macronutrient daily goals, you will achieve the physique you desire. This is a science that has been proven to work and for that reason it has become a cultural trend in the fitness community. Opposite to the side of science, there is David Zinczenko who wrote an article titled “Don’t Blame the Eater” in which he explicitly claims that it’s almost never the individuals fault, but rather the companies providing the food. Zinczenko thinks that we shouldn’t blame eater but rather the fast food companies for the growing obesity rates in America, and in most scenarios IIFYM debunks his thoughts. The IIFYM diet debunks Zinczenko's idea that we shouldn't blame the eater for weight gain by explaining the principles of flexible dieting, what macro and micro-nutrients are, and why the fast food companies aren't to blame. While IIFYM is just an extension of the infamous 80/20 rule (eat 80% healthy and 20% junk), the terminology and the social media push is what drove people to this concept. In no time at all there were multiple top bodybuilders posting pictures of them eating pop tarts, fast food, and things of the sort right before a major contest or photo shoot, and to no surprise, the common folk wanted in. All of the sudden different foods weren’t being labeled as “clean” or “dirty” but rather being discussed in terms of numbers and the effects those numbers have on body composition. Anna Wallace who is a nutritionist says it best when asked what type of diet regiment she follows; she responded “I don’t diet; I just eat according to my goals” (Wallace). That truly encompasses the entire idea of IIFYM and why people are so drawn to it. Another thing to consider is that everyone has that one crave food they can’t live without and that one food usually makes them initially cheat on whatever diet they’re on; once they “cheat” on their diet with their crave food they just throw their hands up and say “oh well maybe next time” and proceed to eat everything in sight. Not only is this type of behavior problematic and unhealthy, it is impossible to achieve ones goals when doing these “swing diets” as many people do. The responsibility to be aware of this knowledge and information that’s out there is the eater’s job, in almost all cases. While even the strongest supporters of IIFYM may concede to Zinczenko that there are certain highly specific situations in which you can’t blame the eater for their weight loss or gain, generally speaking they assign the accountability to the eater. The reason we can’t in fairness blame every eater is because there are occasional genetic factors that come into play, whether it be a ridiculously slow metabolism or something similar. But now we can move onto the 99%, including Dave Zinczenko, who believe that “there’s a lack of alternatives” (392) when referring to why teens eat so much fast food and gain weight; which is the first argument that needs to be dismissed to get to the core of the problem. Whether it be for money or locational reasons, people will always try to use the old “well there’s no other options” when making diet decisions. One extremely quick way of dismissing this entire argument is asking if they have any sort of market or store that sells sweet potatoes, and ten out of ten times they do. This is relevant because sweet potatoes are one the “cleanest” foods you can eat and one can buy a week’s worth of them for the