Weight loss can be frustrating. Many times you think you are following the plan perfectly but are not the results you want because of hidden calories that you do not even notice.
It has to be the diet right?
What do most people do in this situation?
Most end up stopping the lifestyle change all together or go back to their initially bad habits because they think nothing is ever going to happen.
You know you’re not eating the ‘wrong’ foods, and you’re sure that you’ve been hitting your fat loss macros.
So what gives?
You’re probably consuming hidden calories that you don’t even know about…
Have you ever been offered something to eat by a friend and thought, “that looks good, I’ll track it later” only to forget when you get home? Or upon reaching the day’s end with a slew of leftover macros, you decide to throw caution to the wind and eat roughly what you’ve got left?
Chances are, neither of these situations will make a huge difference to overall progress, but if you’ve hit a wall and you’re stumped and confused as to why you’re not progressing, then these untracked or loosely estimated calories could be the culprit.
“That looks good, I’ll track it later“
This is why it’s so important to log everything, and not just rely on your intuition. This is especially true the closer you get to your goal.
2. You Eat Out Too Often
Eating out can (and should) be part of a flexible diet. After all, what kind of life is it if you always have to say no to friends and turn down invites to dinner?
But the thing is, there’s a lot of room for error when eating out. It’s not easy to accurately estimate calories at restaurants, and the larger and more junk-like the meal, the further off you’re likely to be. Not to mention you have almost zero control or knowledge on how the meal was made, how much it was made with etc. This is especially true with beginners (people beginning their new habits generally do not know how to intuitively eat just yet)
You’ve got strategies you can use to help you hit your macros when eating out, such as asking for sauces and dressings on the side, picking simple dishes to make estimation easier, requesting that meats be grilled rather than fried, and looking at nutritional data on websites. But chefs can vary in how they prepare your dish, and you still don’t have total control over how your food is cooked.
3. The Macros are WRONG
Shock, horror! How can macros be wrong? Aren’t there laws about the information that goes on food packages?
When you learn that labeling laws allow for “caloric rounding”…
There are, but manufacturers are sneaky and there are loopholes they can get through. Take the popular sweetener Splenda for example:
While it’s listed as calorie-free, each packet actually contains around 1 gram of carbohydrate and 5 calories! This means that if you have a couple in your morning oatmeal, one pack in every coffee you drink throughout the day, a few more in some Greek yogurt, and so on, you can rack up an extra 15 to 20 grams of carbs and close to 100 calories.
The same goes for calorie-free sauces, spray butter, sugar-free jello, and similar items. The suggested serving sizes are often so small that even though the label says ‘calorie-free,’ but the actual amount you have is closer to 15 or 20 calories. While there’s no need to ban these items, you need to realize that they do still have calories. If you eat a lot of them (as many dieters do in an attempt to combat cravings) then your calorie count will start to add up.
Be on the lookout for sugar-free gum, diet drinks, and even some protein bars too, as these can often list ‘net carbs’ which is the total carb content minus the fiber. To hit macros precisely, you should be tracking the total carb content, fiber and all.
4. Drinking Your Calories
Coffee doesn’t need to be counted in your macros if it’s black. If not, you’ve got to count it.
We’ll leave out coffees like cappuccinos, mochas, and frappuccinos that obviously have calories in them for the moment, but did you know your plain old coffee made at home can increase your calorie intake without you realizing it?
When you add anything to your coffee, be it milk, half-and-half, or other assorted varieties of creamer, that’s calories you’re adding in. These macros should be counted.
5. Mindless Snacking
When people mindlessly snack, they really do not even pay attention how much they are eating. They eat 2 oreoes here and a handful of popcorn there and so on. This causes a massive amount of calories because everything adds up (not too mention, "snacks" are usually not that healthy). Here at Strive Fitness and Performance we do not use the word "snack". Most people think of "snacks" as an apple or a piece of cheese.
Instead we want to think of each moment we eat as a meal.
How would you make the "snack" into a meal?
By counting the macros in the meal. Take the apple. It is a carb. So what is missing? Fats and proteins are the missing component in the equation. In order to make this "snack" into a more nutritious meal, we could add some peanut butter (fat) and a protein shake (protein). Now not only are we getting enough food, but we are also more full, which eliminates cravings in the long run.
6. You Are Eating From A Bag
We’re all guilty of this one:
You eat a handful of trail mix, nuts, chips etc. No measuring, no portion control. This may sound harmless, but
A. You have no idea how much you actually just put into your mouth
B. You never really stop with just one handful
C. Think about how many mindless calories the many handfuls throughout the day will add up to.
So what are we saying? That you can never eat out? That you have to weigh your veggies to the precise gram? That you must enter every single packet of Sweet n’ Low into your tracking app?
No, not at all…unless you’ve hit a plateau.
Plateaus are going to happen during any fat loss diet, and the go-to step is generally to either reduce calories or add cardio so you stay in a deficit and carry on progressing.
However, if you’re already on low macros and struggling to see why your body isn’t changing in the way you want it to, the first step should be to make sure you’re being honest with yourself and not eating any hidden calories that aren’t being accounted for.
You need a Meal Plan for fat loss. You are on a diet. Whether you think so or not, it’s true. Your diet could consist of chicken nuggets, nachos, and diet soda. Or maybe it's a Muscle Milk for breakfast, pad thai for lunch, and frozen pizza for dinner. Whatever goes into your mouth on a regular basis is literally, your diet.
More often than not, people think that a diet is a resolve to all their health issues; that a 30-day challenge Detox or Strict Diet is the thing that is missing. Many people believe that these challenges will finally get them the body they want (Read More HERE On Why This Is Not True). They may survive this Detox or challenge and get the quick results. But what happens when the diet ends? If you are like most people, when the diet ends....The plan ends. You gain the weight back, you feel like shit, and you’re right back to where you started. I hear this same sad story over and over again. Most diets are just quick fixes. Limiting your food intake to grapefruits, high amounts of fat, or portion sizes that couldn’t feed a newborn, are unrealistic expectations and do nothing but set you up for failure.
Reaching your goals requires more than just a diet you practice intermittently when you feel like losing a few pounds. It requires an entire LIFESTYLE change, commitment, and most of all CONSISTENCY.
Watch the video below and read through this post to learn some helpful habits that you can instill easily into your lives and get the results you want without restricting yourself to insane limits.
Over the last thirty years, the average American diet has increased by 500 calories per day, with nearly 80% of those added calories attributed to simple carbohydrates or sugar starches. The simple reason; packaged and processed foods are more easily accessible than ever and it’s cheap. Donuts, fries, pastries, pie, sodas, and chips flood grocery store aisles and provide a quick fix to your hunger.
So what should you do? Eat the right carbs is what.
Carbs can be distinguished into two main categories, simple and complex.
Simple carbohydrates are simply sugar and come in the form of glucose and fructose. Glucose raises blood sugar quickly and foods that are higher on the glycemic index (GI) has a greater impact on blood sugar.
Complex carbohydrates are the type of carbohydrates you should be eating. As opposed to simple carbohydrates, which is simply glucose and fructose, complex carbohydrates are composed of multiple sugar molecules that keep you fuller for longer. Foods like sweet potatoes, brown rice, whole-wheat grains, whole-wheat pasta, and butternut squash provide you with the proper nutrients you need to keep you satiated. When you’re full, you eat less.
Carbs help us have the energy for some awesome workouts and help with recovery after workout. They are great for people looking to get that lean full look for summer.
Protein gets a lot of play in the media, for good reason. Today, you are going to explore how protein is your friend when it comes to weight loss.
Protein helps you lose weight for a few main reasons:
Starch is found in carbohydrates like white rice, white bread, and pasta. Starch is made of long chained sugar molecules, held together by a weak chemical bond. Once digested, they’re absorbed more quickly and will cause your blood sugar to spike, creating a roller coaster like we talked about earlier. The simple solution - replace them and eat more whole grains, complex carbs, vegetables, and fruit. Produce contains a ton of essential vitamins, minerals, and fiber to help your body function at a more optimal level. The average American intake of vegetables consists of just two well-known culprits; potatoes and iceberg lettuce. You need to diversify. Go to a local market that has fresh fruit and vegetables and try new things. You’d be surprised at how many pounds you can drop, by just cutting back on your starch intake and replacing it with quality sources of organic produce and whole grains.
Greens, meaning any kind of “leafy” vegetable like spinach, kale, and lettuces, are awesome but you probably already know this. Its our job to simply remind you 🙂
Greens are well known for being some of the healthiest foods on earth -- and there is good reason for this!
Studies show that eating 7 servings of these veggies a week can decrease your risk for cancer by 50%! While many nutrition experts disagree about which exact foods may be the healthiest, eating a lot of greens is the one thing that nearly all nutritionists agree on.
So with each meal, your focus should be on adding in a variety of vegetables (2 fists worth). You may want to think about throwing extra greens in! Simple, right?
Greens...
Greens are high in VOLUME, but have a very LOW CALORIE DENSITY, so you can eat loads of them. This means you can eat large portions of greens without consuming too many calories or gaining weight (which is ideal for any effective meal plan)
Greens (and all vegetables) help to “crowd out” other foods, especially junk food. For example, picture number of fries you could have for 100 calories versus the amount of kale you could have for the same calories. Now, consider how full you would feel after eating each. This is an example of how your stomach responds to the feeling of “filling up” on high volume, low calorie foods. Your stomach works with your brain to turn off your hunger signals based on volume consumed, allowing you to eat fewer calories overall.
Greens of all kinds are definitely your friend. If you miss everything else in these lessons about nutrition, remember this: eat more greens! Add them to omelets and soup, toss them in a stir-fry, make big salads using them as a base, or cook them down and serve your other food right on top of them.
Out of all the macronutrients, (carbohydrates, protein, and fat) fat is the only one that does not cause insulin to release. Despite its villainous name, fat is only guilty by association. Most diet meal plans restrict fats and carbs all together (among other things). Fat does not make you fat, carbohydrates and added sugars do. But with all the different types of fat, it can be confusing which ones you should include in your diet and which ones you should stay away from
One thing you may not know about fats is how they affect our energy, especially if we are training hard.
Omega-3 fatty acids are also considered a good or healthy fat as they help with inflammation, boost brain function, help fight heart disease, and even decrease signs of aging. Fish, walnuts, and avocados are great sources of omega-3 fatty acids. The easiest way to get your essential Omega 3 fatty acids is through supplementation. Opt for Fish Oil Or Krill Oil.
Creating a healthier life to look good and feel great is more than just temporary change. All diets work to a certain degree short term. But the reality is that no diet is sustainable unless you make a complete life change. With so much misinformation on TV, the internet, and from misinformed friends it can be hard to pave a path through what’s good information and what’s just plain disinformation.
Rule Of Thumb:
If you want to know how to create your own EFFECTIVE meal plan that is right for YOU!!! Watch the video below to create your own
Nutrition is awful. It is confusing, frustrating and it is beyond annoying on how many different diets and nutritional theories there are out there.
As a nutritional coach, it is very hard to talk about nutrition here at Strive Fitness and Performance. Why? Because of all the new diets and fads coming out every other day. The media has made it so hard for people to figure what to believe, people are willing to believe literally anything....See waist trainers...That is all.
Even though it is such a controversial issue in the world today, I actually love talking about nutrition with clients. The main reason I love it, is because I can help people open their eyes a little at a time.
Below are the top 5 questions that I always get here at Strive.
Well first let’s define “that much” because it is generally different on who is consuming it. But more than likely the answer is yes, you do need a little bit more than what you probably had expected.
I would say about 75% of the people that come to Strive Fitness and Performance tend to be low on protein and high either in carbs or fats or both.
That being said, you do not need to be stuffing your face with protein every waking moment like a pro bodybuilder going through a prep. A good recommendation from us here at Strive is anywhere between .7-1 gram per pound of body weight. The more weight you want to lose, the lower you should be on the ratio.
Protein is huge when it comes to body composition change. It helps us stay full while dieting, it has low calories, it helps us build lean muscle and it has the highest TEF (Thermic Effect of Food), which means it burns more calories during digestion (burn more calories by just eating).
Say it with me…Carbs are not the enemy. They help with recovery and help you have kick ass workouts in the gym.
Here are my tips to follow with carbs…
How many meals fit into your life? Perfect, eat that many meals and be happy. Just make sure you are getting enough nutrients in.
The whole “you have to eat 6 small meals a day to keep your metabolism going strong” is very false. It turns out that the calorie intake a main factor in how your metabolism works.
This means you can help your metabolism go by eating 2 large meals, 3 medium meals or 5 smalls meals. The biggest thing is consistency. Whatever you can do consistently over the long run is what is going to matter for YOU.
Sadly, this is a very hard question to answer over a blog, phone or email. I would be a horrible coach if I said I had the perfect answer for you without taking the right steps. Everyone we work with here at Strive is different. They live different lives and they are coming to us at different states of mind and food intake.
If we are looking for a general approach on what should work in a perfect world, someone with a healthy metabolism would look like this.
Weight loss= 10-12x Bodyweight in calories
Muscle Gain = 14-16x Bodyweight in calories
In most cases, however, we do not live in a perfect world and many people have terrible metabolisms.
So most will tend to be at the 8-10x bodyweight range. The important thing to remember is that we want to be at the highest range possible, while still losing weight.
This allows for more flexibility, better performance, better sustainability and of course better health.
The preferred option for us here at Strive is to start recording your intake either via food log or an app like myfitnesspal. Do this for about a week but at very least 3 days. After that time, you can get the average intake and see what your weight is doing during that time. If you are losing weight, you are good, if you are gaining weight….eat less.
It is important to note, that with any REAL nutrition weight loss plan, it is a work in progress. We will always need to make nutrition adjustments along the way. One of the many reasons having a coach is so important. Give use a call by clicking HERE and we can set up a free consultation.
To put it bluntly…If calories are in check, you do not need to eat breakfast technically.
There are some things to consider however,
If you have gone through the roller coaster of yo-yo dieting, if you “eat clean” but have plateaued and are starting to not see results. Take control of your eating, nutrition and lifestyle and set up a free consultation with one of our nutrition coaches. No strings attached…Let’s get you started on the right path.
Around the New Year, The masses start to make "New Year Resolutions" and begin to think about how they can make the next year better. One of the most common "New Year Resolutions" is to get healthy and this leads to a large surplus of people joining gyms. While these new go-getters are certainly well-intentioned, sadly for the majority, the motivation doesn’t last. Quora.com reports that 80% of resolution gym goers will stop attending by the second week of February.
There are lots of reasons, and many of them are specific to the individual, but one overarching reason is that for most people, a gym is simply a place to work out, and that isn’t enough to entice most to make it a regular part of life. People join gyms and become a number and are not provided with direction or even acceptance in some cases. If you stop showing up, no one else notices or cares; and soon, your yourself stop caring, because the space adds no value to your life. After a few weeks, once the fire of the new years resolution fizzles out and the desired results have yet to show up, it’s difficult to drag your butt out of bed at the crack of dawn (or before) to go to a place where you are alone, physically uncomfortable, and nameless to the other bodies sweating next to you.
Here are four reasons why it’s important and in your best interest to join a gym – or enroll your kids in a gym – that is more than just a gym.
1. A gym that is more than a gym helps you train to become better, not just workout…
…and yes, there is a difference, both between working out and training, and a gym and a training center. Any local gym will be a decent fit if you are the type of person that enjoys exercise in itself – the discomfort and the exertion wrapped up into one 60-minute sweat fest. Some people think exercise is fun, and this direct pay-off is sufficient to propel them to create their own discipline and accountability. But for most of us mere mortals, the individual sweat sessions are just not enticing enough. And if you are just hitting the gym with no direction or the latest Pinterest workout in hand, the sessions start to seem disconnected and purposeless, making you question if the discomfort is really worth your time.
That’s why it’s important to join a gym that is, specifically, a training center. Meaning that the institution has a mission statement that hinges on coaches who come alongside you to help you focus and adapt your sessions toward a clearly defined goal.
is the key idea here. We would all laugh if, while we were driving, we saw a man in a field throwing darts in different directions, aiming at nothing. Throwing darts only becomes meaningful and recognizable as a sane activity when there’s a target involved. This illustrates the distinction between working out and training. It’s easy to quit showing up if you’re not sure where you’re aiming. Working out is simply a task; training is a goal-oriented process, spilling over and reaping its benefits into other areas of life.
A great coach helps you identify and define that target, articulate WHY it’s important in your life, and then works with you to create a path for your journey and helps you form tactics to adjust when hardships come about. A training center operates daily with the purpose of helping its clients embrace an improved quality of life, whereas a gym simply exists to make money. In short, a training center cares about YOU, while a gym may not.
2. Such a gym can become a second home
A gym that is a second home is composed of staff and members who create community by fostering and maintaining meaningful relationships. If you join any local gym, chances are, you’ll see the same people a few days per week...You may say hi or introduce yourself....but you’ll never actually get to know them and connect. It is no more to you than space with weights and faces that have no significance.
As a coach on the floor at 5:30 every morning, I relish the opportunity to be the first positive interaction in a client’s day. As Strive coaches, we focus our efforts on staying in tune with every important aspect of our clients’ lives – family events, work changes, surgeries, and victories both inside and outside of the gym.
At most gyms, you’ll walk in and out of the door without anyone acknowledging your presence. Make sure you find a gym that can also be a second home.
3. Community creates accountability
Belonging to a gym that feels like home entices you to make training a habit. Community fosters accountability. Period. When you know you will be missed, you are more likely to go. You are far less likely to skip when you know a coach will be calling or emailing you, checking up to make sure everything is okay if you don’t show up.
Here at Strive Fitness and Performance, your coaches are just as serious about your goals and training as you are. They are consistently positive and relentlessly demanding, and they, along with the clients who have become your friends, will remind you of what you really want even when you don’t feel it. They’ll help you maintain focus when your own vision of your target gets blurred by other life stresses or periods of low motivation.
The truth is, we aren’t wired to be our best on our own. We need accountability where discipline wanes. Join a gym that fills that need.
4. Enrolling your children in such a training center provides them with positive role models
If you want your child to become a more well-rounded athlete, seek out a training center with coaches who are positive role models. Sending your kid to the gym might make them stronger and better at their sport, but being regularly under the guidance of coaches who are relentlessly positive, demanding, as well as caring, will reap a much vaster benefit. Kids adopt the habits and mannerisms of people they look up to, so placing them under the guidance of coaches who are excellent role models is a move that has the power to transform the way they think, see, and conduct themselves on and off the field.
For parents with young girls especially, it’s a great moment when your fourteen year-old daughter comes home from her training session and says, “Mom, I want to be STRONG,” instead of “Mom, how can I look like a Victoria’s Secret model?” Entrusting your female athlete to the care of coaches who emphasize the importance of feeling strong instead of being skinny – both through their coaching and their own habits – has the power to reverse the damaging societal norms associated with female body image.
If you want your child to get stronger, buy them a gym membership. If you want your athlete to become stronger, more inspired, increasingly confident, and a better teammate, entrust them to a training center with coaches who are positive role models.
Contact us Today and set up your FREE Success Session
Committed to your success,
Derek Ledwidge
Weight loss is hard!! Not only are you trying to accomplish something that is not your normal...Often times life gets in the way.
When our clients here at Strive Fitness and Performance become insanely busy, it can be tough to focus on your goals in a healthy, sustainable way, let alone work towards them at all. It’s easy to fall into pitfalls. Here are some helpful tips that you can avoid as you start your weight loss journey.
1. FOCUSING ON WHAT YOU CAN’T EAT
So many people embarking on a weight loss journey focus on what they can’t have. Examples are things like no sugar, no alcohol, no dessert, no bread, no cheese. They restrict everything that they usually have...This often causes the relapse after a couple of days or weeks as they start to crave those foods.
Instead, people should not necessarily worry about eliminating the bad foods, but adding some healthy foods. As you add healthy foods, you will start to eat less of the bad foods.
2. ADOPTING AN ALL-OR-NOTHING ATTITUDE
The all-or-nothing attitude is very similar to the above tip. Too many people who are trying to lose weight develop the all-or-nothing attitude. This way of thinking can be detrimental in the long run. Instead of depriving oneself of foods they love, they should learn how to incorporate them into their diet in a healthier way. For example, love pasta? Instead of adding a creamy high fat sauce, add lots of veggies, grilled shrimp, and toss in olive oil and garlic. Can’t live without bread? Well, you shouldn’t have to. Make a healthy sandwich for lunch on 100 percent whole grain bread with grilled chicken, avocado, lettuce, and tomato.
3. EATING TOO FEW CALORIES
The biggest pitfall I constantly see my clients falling into is the calorie counting trap. Many women come to me struggling to follow a 1,200 calorie per day diet and ask me what would help them to feel more full during the day. My answer is always to eat more! We live in a culture that is so obsessed with calorie counting that oftentimes we are depriving our body of the very nutrients that will actually help us not only to live healthier, but lose more weight.
4. TAKING THE WEEKENDS OFF FROM HEALTHY EATING
You should take the weekends off from your job, not your diet. Sure, you can still have fun and go out to eat on the weekends, but make an effort not to stuff yourself to the brim with food or drink. Getting away from the healthy habits of the week and going the exact opposite way can be very disastrous. A simple weekend day can easily amount to 5,000 calories (beer, pizza, wings etc.).
Simply eating mindfully when you are enjoying good food can be enough to not wreck your hard work during the week. If the weekends are a problem for you, consider eliminating one of the party days
5. Not Having A Plan
Not having a solid, realistic plan is a huge mistake. People should set themselves up for failure by going all in and not having a set plan of action....They just know that they want change. Start off with a few actionable and specific goals for the first week. Once you master those, keep adding on. Before you know it, those action steps will become lifelong healthy habits.
If you need help with organizing your plan feel free to contact us here at Strive Fitness and Performance and we can go over your nutritional breakdown
