The Best Ways to Streamline Your Nutrition

This is a very different conversation that we are going to talk about today and I wanted to have this conversation because it is something I get asked about a lot. And it has to do with food! People are constantly asking me what I think about their food or what’s the best diet to follow because there is a lot of confusing information out there. We are being told so many different things and it is hard to get it straight! So, I am going to lay it out really simple for you!

What is the best way to start streamlining my nutrition’ Where do I start’ What do I think about’ What do I focus on’ These are the questions we all ask ourselves. We all want to make sure we are doing it. So I want you to look at it as a pyramid and you need to start at the bottom, at level 1. You are going to go back to elementary school with this, starting right at the beginning. And I am going to dumb it down so that we can speed it up!

No matter what protocol you follow, I am not advocating any particular diet to follow or do. I am talking about consistency. What can you do in your life right now that will bring you consistency’ That is what I want you to really focus on. It is my Fit Girl Magic formula, creating great habits which will create great routines that lead to consistency which will get you the results you want! And by repeating this, doing it over and over again, this is where you get results.

My goal, when I work with you is to get your own habits toolbox! You are going to become your own Home Depot! By creating these habits, you will be able to reach into that toolbox to create your process over and over again, so you what tool you need to reach for in order to hit your goals. But remember ladies, the process is very different from a diet. A diet is when you follow these rules or else, that is it! A process is, these are your rules and they can be refined and fine-tuned as you go on through life. And it is more important to track your consistency, not perfection because we are not perfect.

So, how I want you to start is to pick ONE thing that you are going to be consistent with. JUST ONE THING! Don’t pick 50 things! You are not going to be good at all 50 things day in and day out, not JUST YET at least! Now that you have picked one thing, remember that we are starting from the beginning. And beginnings are just downright messy, and everyone needs to be a beginner at some point! My mentor uses to say to me over and over again every master was once a disaster.

So, when you start, I want you to start tracking consistency because these are the building blocks. Consistency is the building blocks of your process and I will say this OVER and OVER again! Process OVER progress  If you are not tracking your consistency, how you will know what is happening, how will you know that you are on the right track  Robin Sharma said, If it doesn’t get measured, it doesn’t get done. And what gets measured gets improved.

Hunger Awareness

Before you say I am not losing any weight, I am going to ask you what your process is, and if you don’t have one, you can’t be complaining about the weight! A process helps you to become more aware of your body so that you can break free of the rules. This process I am going to help you with, helps you to become more mindful of what you are eating, how are you eating, how are you working out and really just taking a step back and saying, What the hell am I doing’ Am I hungry or just walking to the fridge because I would rather do this the Fill in the blank! Are you really hungry’ Can you eat without distractions’ Is it a habit to turn on Netflix and need a bowl of something’ Did that become a habit’ Can we detach and become an observer of our lives and notice things’ Then can you eat until you are 80% full or until you feel satisfied. THIS FIRST STEP IS TO BE MORE MINDFUL of being a healthy all-around person’

Energy

Now after this, we are going to move onto energy. Energy is a fancy way to say calories. I know that calorie counting can be a pain in the ass, but it helps. Basic calorie 101, I want you to make the rules, so when I say calories, you need to recognize what you are putting in your mouth. Every piece of food that you put into your mouth has some caloric value, and it is your job to keep it balance. A lot of us can get tripped up here, so you must know your process, and tracking will help you to see what you are eating.And this goes for eating healthy as well. I eat amazingly healthy, but it is really easy for me to overeat clean, healthy food! So, using an app like My Fitness Pal to track your calories is an easy way to see what you are eating and how many calories are in the foods you are putting into your body.

Try tracking your calories for a week! Eat what you normally would for that week and see what it is. Then change it up when you need it. I haven’t tracked in a while and when I did again it was very eye-opening to see what everything was. By tracking, it will help you to become a little more strategic with your food, how many calories should I eat on the day to stay within my goal.

How to figure out how many calories you should be eating in a day. Take your goal weight (if you have more than 20 pounds to lose keep it to 20 pounds for now. Take your goal weight say 150 multiply it by 10 and then by 13 this will give you your target range for calories.

I want calories to help you on your quest and better understand what is truly happening in your body.

Food Quality and Density

Nutrition density for me is about, are you eating foods that are giving you the most bang for your buck’ Nuts, you get a lot of bang for your buck, it’s a very nutrient-dense food and keeps you full between meals. Cookies, on the other hand, are not nutrient-dense and you can eat them for freaking ever and add a ton of empty calories to your daily intake without getting nutrients from them. Protein is a very nutrient-dense food. That is why I keep asking you to eat more protein.

Reading food labels is a great way to understand the calories, carbs, fats, proteins, etc. But you also need to READ the ingredients! This is huge and I read them first. Then I go and check the other stuff. The first ingredients are what the item will mainly be made out of, so be concerned with what you are bringing into your home and putting into your body. Read the freaking ingredients and become an ingredient detective!

Macros

Many people want to start at macros, but the first step is to be mindful of what you are eating, then let’s track the calories and what you are putting in your mouth, and the caloric load of what you are eating, then we can get into macros! Once you see what the calories are you will see the macros. The proteins, fats and carbohydrates are the macros. And when it comes to your macros, you want a good amount of them to be your proteins.

At the end of the day, I am working with my clients to balance out their hunger, their energy and their cravings. And then we know what to tweak. And by having protein as your macros for your daily intake, then this will help you with the other things we are working on. When I start working with clients, 80% of them are undereating on their protein, and you want to get 20-30 grams of protein in each meal. I challenge you to do this! (the My Fitness Pal app will be able to tell you all of this too!)

Nutrient Timing

Another thing I get asked about is Nutrient Timing. For this to really matter, everything else has to be going well for this to really move the needle. So until you have every other piece of your nutrition on lock. Don’t be so focused on getting in protein before or after your workout. Don’t get so focused there. I’d rather you focus on what are you doing consistently.

Fasted cardio is something I am not a huge fan of. The science doesn’t add up, it’s really 50/50. If you are an early morning exerciser, give it a try, if it bothers you, don’t do it, it’s not for you. What I recommend if you want to do this is to put a little something in your stomach to get you going and not feeling nauseous or what you might feel without having anything before your workout. Always focus on hydration during a workout too no matter what part of the day you workout. But don’t get so caught up in this nutrient timing just yet until we get everything else figured out!

Supplementation

The last thing I want to talk about is supplementation. I get asked a lot of questions on this as well, and until you get everything else situation and your ducks in a row, supplementation is just expensive pee! It is nothing to start thinking about until we have all of the above figured out. If you want to throw in a protein shake for a meal substitute, I am ALL ABOUT IT! Just make sure you choose one that does not have any artificial flavors, colors, sweeteners and ingredients into it. Would you like some suggestions, hit me up!

Just don’t get too wrapped up in all that pre-workout stuff just yet! Just focus on if you are doing everything else. The consistency, being mindful of what you eat, know what you are putting into your body, tracking your food and calories, and once you are good with that then we can move into the specialized supplementation. (And just ask me if you need a recommendation! I got you!)

But as always, I’d love to hear from you! Where is this landing with you’ How do you feel on these steps and where are you on this journey’ And let me know how can I support you on your journey!” I’d love to help!! Leave me a comment below or hit me up on Facebook