Meal Planning can be really time consuming and overwhelming at first. Motivation is so strong at first that you want to change literally everything that you view is wrong. Many times, this turns into a quick failure because it is simply too much and it will lead to some failures that you are not ready for. To be honest, failures come regardless and is a part of the journey to becoming better. The less opportunities for failure the better and the bigger chance you have to reach your goals.
Here at Strive Fitness and Performance, we track macros (read more on why). This helps our clients meal planning process go a lot smoother and helps them create their own unique meal plans.
To help our clients meal plan, we preach the 3-3-3 method. This method helps with meal planning, because it takes out the variables. Consistency is key (especially at the beginning). The more variables in your meals the harder it becomes to stay consistent.
Choose 3 protein sources, 3 carbs, 3 fats. Green veggies won’t count as one of your 3 carbs, have a free for all (but still log them)
Example:
Make all of your meals with only those foods. At first, you may say “ah that looks like a boring menu”. But think about how many different combos you can come up with. Different styles of cooking, different spices, interesting pairings etc
Why does this work?
It eliminates variables. One of the tricky things with logging food is a fault in perception and mismanagement of what you think you are consuming. This reduction in variables will allow you/your client to pinpoint exactly what’s going on. Essentially, it’s a way to mess up less, stay satiated, get in all the micronutrients, and get used to eating primarily nutrient dense foods.
Once we become mindful of the quantity and quality of the foods we are eating, we have officially reached and mastered LIFESTYLE MODE and can now start to fit in the good stuff like oreos and cake (sometimes).
This has been a game changer for people who have gotten comfortable on a diet or those just starting a more flexible approach. It’s not as fun as pizza, cheeseburgers, and wine, but neither is working hard for no progress, right?
Here at Strive Fitness and Performance, one of our main goals is to help our clients lose body fat. Most people focus on trying to lose body fat year round or are in DIET MODE. While people are generally good at losing weight, most are terrible at keeping it off. They have no idea what to do when they achieve their goal, go on vacation, or fall off the diet because it is too hard.
We like to call this phase of non-diet, LIFESTYLE MODE (read more about DIET MODE VS. LIFESTYLE MODE). Essentially, lifestyle mode is a time of the year when we made good decisions but losing weight is not the main focus. Lifestyle mode or "Maintenance" is when you do just that, focus on maintaining your weight instead of losing it. This mode is essential to a healthy life because losing weight is stressful and we should be able to live our lives without freaking out when you have a family function to go to. Diet mode is essential to lose weight and change your body composition, but that mode needs to be used sparingly. You should live in lifestyle mode for most of the year and only go into diet mode when your goal is to lose body fat.
There are 10 basic habits that we focus on when we get into lifestyle mode. If you can master these 10 habits, you will be well on your way to the body of your dreams without ever counting calories or weighing food. These habits should guide your eating choices and help you make the right decisions no matter the situation you are in.
You may already be following some of these habits. That is great! If you are, then continue to do so and read on a bit more about each of them.
You also may not be following any of the habits, and that is OK as well. We all have a starting point, and knowing that point is crucial to our success. If you are not following any of the habits, start with the first one and master it for the first week. Each week, continue to add in one habit until you have mastered all of them! If it takes longer than one week to consistently apply a habit to your life, no worries! Simply try again next week.
Don’t worry about your mistakes; instead, focus on what you did well each week, and build on those successes so that you can continue to grow and learn about your nutrition.
This does not necessarily mean tracking your calories, but journaling the process and actions you are taking in your training and nutrition plan can be a huge step in seeing results. This not only allows us to see what you are doing and adjust things when needed….It is also the best way to yourself accountable. Most of us can know exactly what to do, but if we have no accountability to stick to it….We won’t. So start to journal your daily diet and training, then let your coach know so they can help you with the accountability and give you steps to improve.
Fail to prepare, prepare to fail….This is HUGE. Planning and preparing your meals for the week is on of the biggest steps to reaching your fat loss goals. This does not mean every meal needs to be in a plastic container, but it does mean that you have to have a plan and know what your nutrition will look like for the week.
HUGE TIP: To have the best results you will always use food journaling and your plan to hold yourself accountable and make adjustments to get the best results. Over eating....Your food journal will be proof of that. You will need to make adjustments to next week's plan and prep. Not getting enough protein...Your food journal will be proof of that. You will need to make adjustments to next week's plan and prep. GET THE HINT 🙂
A good amount to shoot for, no matter your body type or goal is one gallon. It will keep you on the safe side and allows you to be sure that you are getting enough. Studies have proven, time after time, that drinking more water throughout the day leads to more fat loss, better performance, increased muscle and strength gains, and better health. Try drinking 12-16oz before each meal, this has been proven to increase metabolism and enhance fat loss!
To lose body fat and to build lean muscle, it is important to get a good amount of protein in your diet. This allows you to increase metabolism, burn more calories simply through digestion, and most importantly, improve muscle recover for better performance. Aim to eat 1-2 handfuls of protein with each meal.
I don’t think I need to explain why you need to eat more veggies, because you grandma probably did all of your life.
But just in case, we need the nutrients, minerals, vitamins and fiber from vegetables, and eating veggies is also a great way to fill yourself up and stay satisfied throughout your day. It is a proven fact that lean individuals eat veggies on a daily basis. Try eating them at each meal….If not, 4-5 cups per day
On any given day 50% of Americans consume sugary beverages. 1 in 4 get at least 200 calories from just a single drink….Now we can assume most don’t stop at one drink per day and even if they do, by the end of the week it can add up to a full day’s worth of calories in just drinks. So the goal in this principle is simple, stick to zero calorie beverages as much as possible. Think water, teas, black coffee and sugar-free drinks on occasion. This alone can dramatically increase weight loss.
Carbs are not the devil. No matter what your friends say, you should never demonize a food group. Carbs help with performance in the gym and recovery from great workouts. For enhanced your progress and lose body fat for effectively, time your carb consumption around your workouts. Doing so will lead to: Proper recovery, more fat loss, increased lean muscle, better carb consumption. Try focusing the healthy carbs within a 4-6 hour time span. Workout in the morning; have your carbs in the morning and none during the night.
Eating quality, earth grown, fats is an essential dietary principle when it comes to great health and massive fat loss. Most people forget about this or leave it out because fat can be calorically dense, but that is not a bad thing. Aim to eat healthy fats daily, more specifically 1-2 thumb size portions per meal.
This may seem simple, but it can be much more difficult then you would believe. This is huge because many of us simply over eat during a meal, whether it is a healthy meal or not…Over consuming calories will still lead to weight gain. Because it takes the brain around 20 minutes to realize that the body is full, it is very important to stop at 80% fullness. This will lead to less over eating and a natural caloric deficit, without tracking your calories at all.
We all have a life…And like to enjoy that life. Within our Nutrition Coaching Programs, we want the best results…But we also realize that following these exact habits 24/7 is unrealistic and does not allow us to truly enjoy our life as much as we would like. 90% of your days and week should be compliant with these 10 principles, and on track with your fitness goals. The other 10% should be enjoyed. Allow yourself to have a rewarding treat, wine with your sweetie ore a beer with a great friend.
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
Isn't it interesting how obsessed we get with losing weight?
Seriously, a LOT of people will start their day happy or sad based entirely on the 3-digit number they see flashing back at them each morning.
But what's even more interesting than our obsession with losing weight is the fact that "weight loss" isn't always the most useful marker of progress. You see, there are a buttload of things that influence your daily & weekly body weight....
🍕 A higher/lower salt intake than normal
😷 Food intolerance's
🙋 Where you are at on your cycle
💦 Hydration levels
💩 You need to good to the bathroom
🍔 Food still in your body
💉 Hormones
💊 Supplements
💪 DOMS from your heavy workout
You know what you don't see on that list? FAT LOSS
Reason being, fat loss doesn't happen over the course of a day or even a week (well, it does "technically", but not in a very noticeable or meaningful way.) Instead, fat loss happens over the course of multiple weeks and months.
So really, it is just a matter of understanding that weight loss and fat loss are not synonymous. Once you realize that, you can start taking steps that will put the power of the scale back in YOUR hands.
✅One way is by taking measurements:
Soooo many things influence your scale weight, which makes it difficult to know if you are making progress. But if you are losing inches, even at the same weight, it is a good sign you are losing fat!
✅ Another tip is to start analyzing your AVERAGE weight over the course of weeks and months.
The bottom line: Don't let your daily and weekly fluctuations in body weight discourage you. Instead focus on fat loss by tracking your measurements, weight averages and progress pictures
Losing weight is hard. We focus solely on the number on our scale (mostly because it is fast an easy to do). That number goes up, it goes down and so does our sanity.
Losing weight it involves spending time at the gym, stopping yourself from eating your favorite foods, and saying “no” to things that make you happy in general and “yes” to things that don’t.
If you’re like most people, you want to see results that justify your hard work. And that result, more often than not, has to do with seeing that number on the scale go steadily down. So you weigh yourself. Even though you know you shouldn’t, you weigh yourself every day because you need a reason to keep going.
Everything is fine, until the unthinkable happens: the scale stops going down. Or, after one “cheat day” you find yourself 8 pounds heavier and you think, “Oh no! Everything I’ve done for the past 2 weeks is for nothing!” Repeat this a few times and before you know it, you’ve given up on working out and you’ve dumped your diet and are back to squat one.
The truth is you were probable doing a great job. You were just overly focused on the wrong indicators. Wanting to lose weight is a great goal, but the scale is just a number. It tells us how much you weigh (water, fat, muscle, bones etc.) not how much fat you have in your body.
Here are some reasons why you should not depend on the scale.
First and foremost…
It’s a safe bet to assume that when people want to lose weight, what they really mean is that they want to lose fat. The problem is, many people use the words “weight loss” and “fat loss” interchangeably, which are two separate concepts.
Losing Weight is not hard– you’ll drop a few pounds if you sit in a sauna for a while. Fat loss is harder to achieve, depends on several factors, and it takes more time than you think to truly lose it. Here are a couple key points about fat loss to consider:
Muscle and water are two other components that make up your weight, and when you lose weight, you can lose some of each. How much of each you lose depends in part on how much fat you have to lose when you start. Overweight people have more to lose than thin people, and will be able to lose weight faster as well.
Many people set fat loss goals for themselves that are unreasonable (see any challenge/product that will get you to lose 30 lbs in 6 weeks). The truth is, without going on an unhealthy near-starvation diet, you can only expect to lose 1-2 pounds of fat per week at best. If you are unsure about whether you are losing weight or fat, contact us for a FREE INBODY ASSESSMENT SCAN
Don’t expect to lose 10 pounds in a week, because even if you do, that weight is not going to be all fat. Losing muscle is not good for your health, and you will want to preserve it as much as you can.
2. You’re retaining water due to your salt intake
Salt (or more accurately, sodium) is everywhere and extremely hard to avoid. It might not surprise you that a single patty cheeseburger contains over 500 mg of sodium (nearly a quarter of the daily recommended levels).
Sodium is linked with water retention, and it is the job of your kidneys to expel unneeded sodium out of your body. Until your kidneys are able to do that, you will temporarily be holding onto extra water.
So, if you were on a diet but flooded your body with more salt than you normally have, you can expect to see a temporary increase in weight. It doesn’t mean that all your hard work is for nothing; it just means that you’re experiencing additional water weight because of the extra sodium in your body.
However, there are other factors other than diet that can lead to fluctuating weight on the scale, including…
3. Your muscle gains are outweighing your fat loss
If you’re lifting weights as part of your strategy to burn fat and lose weight, you’re doing something right! Adding resistance training to your fat/weight loss plan is a great way to protect and preserve muscle loss as you subtract fat from your frame. This is why we focus on changing the body fat % of clients, so we focus on not only losing fat, but also focus on getting our clients stronger.
However, if you’re new to weightlifting and you’re pushing yourself hard, you’re going to see some things on the scale that may surprise you. Your weight might actually not go down; it might go up! Why?
This is because as you are losing fat, you are replacing that weight with muscle. Your weight may not go down, but your body fat percentage will.
There are so many things that can affect your weight, so you should never get into the habit of weighing yourself every day. So if not that, what should you be doing?
As difficult as it sounds, if you are using just a scale to determine your progress, you have to take the averages from your measurements. This will help us determine trends in your weight and will help you go against going all out for some quick fix or to get to a certain number fast in order to win a competition.
Because your weight is made up of many different elements and can fluctuate for so many different reasons, assessing your weight by tracking your body composition is a much better way to determine how you’re meeting your goals.
Don't let your daily and weekly fluctuations in body weight discourage you. It is completely normal and it does NOT reflect fat loss programs. If you diet and exercise properly with enough patience and determination, you will reach your goals.
If you need help reaching your goals, contact us here at Strive Fitness and Performance and we can set up a consultation to figure out the right path for you.
Committed to your success,
Derek Ledwidge
