10 HABITS OF LIFESTYLE MODE

 

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.

 

Track and Journal

 

Food Journal

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.

 

Plan/Prep For Success

 

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 🙂

 

Drink More Water

Drink Water

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!

Eat Lean Protein At Each Meal

 

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.

 

Eat Veggies at Every Meal

Veggies

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

 

Stop Drinking Calories

 

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.

Earn Your Carbs

 

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.

 

Eat Healthy Fats Daily

 

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.

Eat To 80% Fullness

 

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.

 

Live The 90/10 Rule

 

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.

Ways To Lose Weight

 

 

We all want our fat loss transformation as fast as possible. The problem? While shortcuts and hacks appear like a magic solution, they’re often a first class ticket to failure.

Building muscle is hard. You’ll have to eat and train more than you want.

Fat loss transformation is tough. You’re going to be hungry, uncomfortable, and have to say “no”.

Some may see this as bad news, but I see it as a great opportunity.

Too many people quit earlier these days, leaving more room for the rest of us to NOT GIVE IN, to dominate, and to make our own breaks.

But the key  to results isn’t short-cuts, it’s understanding putting in the work, brushing off small failure, and getting back in the game.

You can’t undo years of bad choices with a 30 challenge, detox, or quick fix. Fat loss does not happen overnight. There is no easy way.

The best bodies take years of hard work, failure, and getting back up and taking action anyway.
If you're willing to accept the price knowing that it won't be easy, here's how you can make your ultimate fat loss transformation.

Lift Weights

(1) Focus on getting strong first. Utilize major movement patterns like the squat, deadlift, bench press, and row. Without a base of strength, no other workout will be nearly as successful whether you're trying to build muscle, lose fat, or improve performance. You must get strong first.

(2) Consistency over perfection. Don't search for the perfect routine. Instead, search for a routine you'll do consistently even when life gets crazy. Without consistency, even the best workout plan is reduced to rubble.

(3) Count your calories and learn the basics of portion control before hopping on the next fad diet.  All diets can work because they create a caloric deficit for fat loss OR a surplus for building muscle. No matter the marketing pitch, calorie balance is STILL the underlying key to any successful diet.  Diets have a purpose, whether it is losing weight fast for a wedding or toning up for a cruise, but the real key to long term results is knowing what to do when you are not trying to lose weight.  We call this phase in our life, lifestyle mode.  Learn more about LIFESTYLE MODE HERE.

Over Eating

(4) Don’t cash in all your chips for an aggressive fat loss diet when you haven’t learned how to put the fork down in the first place.  Aggressive fat loss will mean nothing if you can not keep it off.  The sad truth is that Americans are great at losing weight, but we are horrible at keeping it off.

(5) Extreme accountability. We all need someone to hold us accountable to reach our fat loss transformation. In fact, I have 1-2 coaches for business and/or training for this exact reason. Without skin in the game and having someone hold-us to the standard we need to hit out goals it becomes nearly impossible to lose weight and keep it off. You can have a workout partner or join a coaching program like our nutrition coaching programs, like Either way, without accountability and skin in the game you'll struggle to make progress.

So, which of the above is missing?

Is it the plan, the information, or the accountability?

No matter the answer, the ball is in your court and you hold the power to change.

Committed to your success,

Derek Ledwidge

 

Meal Prepping

Meal prepping sucks!!  There is no debating that.

It is a huge first in the path to getting results, but it is also one of the most time consuming steps.  Meal Prepping is also one of the most common trip ups when it comes to changing one's lifestyle.

I hear this all the time and I myself even have weeks where I just don't want to do it.  Some of the most common complaints are:

  1. Making a mess out of the kitchen and then having to take even longer to clean up.
  2. Spending hours on Sunday (most common) just to meal prep food.
  3. Making huge batches of the same food that you don't even want to look at anymore.
  4. Making too much food and in the end, just throwing most of it away.

We agree that you need to have a plan and be able to prep your healthy food in order to have control of your life.  So what steps can you take to counter the above complaints?

  1.  First, no one likes a kitchen that looks like a bomb went off.  Clean as you go.  Rinse things off, put dishes in the dishwasher, hand wash quickly before you start the next recipe or meal.  Even better would be to start cleaning while the next meal is currently cooking.

Meal Prepping Time

2.  To counter the hours spent meal prepping, simply make a time limit.  If you don't like meal prepping for hours, then don't.  Set the limit for 1-2 hours.  Do this 2-3 times a week and meal prepping won't be so time consuming and you won't feel like you are wasting an entire day.  I myself really struggle getting my veggies in.  I know this is an issue so I spend 2-3 nights prepping a head of cauliflower (or two) and some broccoli.  The prep does not take too long (about 30 min each), but I always have veggies at hand each day.

Meal Prepping Burn Out

3.  To attack the meal prep burn out issue, you really just have to realize that meal prepping does not mean you have to eat chicken, broccoli and rice at every meal.  Mix things up, add different spices, and make smaller batches of each.  Try picking a different recipe each week (or every two weeks).  This way you can have your fast and easy recipes at your disposal but you can still have some more elaborate (and tasty) meals that you can treat yourself with.

4.  Create meals with specific problems to solve.  For example, if breakfast is your most challenging meal to eat healthy, plan and meal prep 5 breakfasts rather then prepping for all meals.  My biggest problem (outside of veggies) is always lunch.  My breakfast is a fast and easy super shake and I am home for dinner.  During the day, I am at our Strive Fitness and Performance facility and have nothing for food except take out.  In order to counter this, my only focus is on getting a great lunch planned and prep for the week.

 

[EXPERT TIP]

One of the first steps to success is to figure out if you want CONVENIENCE, ELABORATE RECIPES or A MIX.  I 100% hate meal prepping.  My vote is for Convenience.  I break up my meals into macro nutrients (protein, carbs and fats).  If you don't know what these are, feel free to drop us a line and we can have a consultation.  Basically, I break up each meal into these three component and (with my goals in mind) I make my meals.  I pick one from each category and prep.

Maybe you want to make legit recipes.  Go for it!!!  Just make sure you are making good ones.

Others may want to mix this up.  Maybe you go for convenience for when you are busy and make elaborate meals when you have a bunch of time or are with your family.

The point of this expert tip is that whichever you choose, it needs to fit your lifestyle.  No one really wants to be making 3 different meals for 3 different people, each time you cook (all the mothers out there are shaking their heads right now in agreement).

 

Committed to your success,

 

Derek Ledwidge

 

Hidden Calories Destroy Weight Loss

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…

hidden calories

  1.  The ‘Un-Tracked Calories’

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.

Hidden Calories

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.

 

Time to Get Super Strict?

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.

 

How To Make Your Own Effective Meal Plan For Fat Loss

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.

 

1. Focus Your Carbs Around Your Workout

The Best Nutrition Meal Plan, starchy carbs

 

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.

2. Add More Quality Protein

The Best Nutrition Nutritonal Plan, Protein

 

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:

3. Eat Less Starch And More Whole Grains

The Best Nutrition Meal Plan, Carbs

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.

4. Eat Your Veggies!!!

The Nutritional Meal Plan, Veggies

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.

5. Fat Does Not Make You Fat 

The Best Nutrition Meal Plan, Fats

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

Why Fats Don’t Make Us Fat?

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.

The Takeaway

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:

  1. Protein and Veggies at every meal
  2. Try and Eat 4-5 Times a day
  3. Carbs After Your Workout
  4. Fats spread out through your meal....But watch the portions

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

Strive Fitness is a Customized Training Program designed specifically for people over 30 years of age. A Personal Training Gym in Clinton Township, Michigan
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