Eating Strategies....

Eating Strategies.

How do I incorporate eating with my exercise schedule so that I lose weight? Regardless of what type of nutritional plan or diet you are on, you need to make sure you are eating ENOUGH or the RIGHT food at the correct TIMES in order to optimize weight loss success. **NOTE, these strategies are pertinent to weight and fat LOSS. I will repost at a later date with lean muscle gain or bulk!**

Let’s talk about my basics to eating to lose the most fat. Now this is designed to be coupled with a targeted strength and cardio plan, so if you are not exercising you can ignore all these strategies. Exercise and nutrition are two halves of the whole that will make up your dream physique so unless you're willing to step into the gym, save yourself the time and stop reading now.

1. Eat every 2-3 hours; about five to six meals a day. Each meal, or eating opportunity, should be similar in size and calories.
2. Eat complete, lean protein each time you eat. Complete proteins are: lean read meat, poultry, eggs, seafood, and dairy products. Protein Powder (whey) can be used but whole food is preferred for the majority of your meals.
3. Eat two servings of vegetables during as many of your meal opportunities as you can. Fruits can be eaten 1-3 times a day, but veggies should be your primary source of good, fresh, wholesome foods. Don’t drink juice- too high in added sugars and calories. If you want Vitamin C…don't be lazy, peel an orange.
4. Eat the starchy carbs (potatoes, oats, rice, grains, breads, cereals…not beans, carrots, and corn because you can have them anytime) within three hours POST exercise OR first thing in the a.m.
5. Learn to love healthy fats. Enjoy mixed nuts, olives, and olive oil. Incorporate flaxseed oil, fish oil, or ground flax seed into your daily regime.
6. Rather than having a treat (100 cal snack pack, pudding, Skinny Cow, etc.) each day, have one or two free meals a week where you eat rich satisfying foods. Then get right back on track. **For more info on free meals you can always email me AllisonMoyer@live.com as this concept becomes confusing for most**
7. Develop food preparation strategies. I will address this in another post!
8. Have healthy variety but make sure you can live with it. I eat the same foods day in and day out for my contest prep, but when I'm not prepping for a show I incorporate different sets of food, different carbohydrate sources, protein sources, food combinations, etc. This helps to keep me from getting bored and nutritionally in a rut.
9. When you workout, get in a protein/carb shake IMMEDIATELY after your workout. Around 200 cals should do it for most people. Not eating after a workout of more than 30 minutes of moderate-high intensity will cause you to burn LESS CALORIES during the next 24 hours.
10. Plan your food for the week. This is SO important! Again, I will address this in another post.

Try doing the above without counting calories. If you are math nerd and need the facts…I rarely advise a client to be under 1400 cals a day unless their goal is extreme fat loss or contest prep. Most active women should eat between 1400-1750 cals a day. 1400 for non-active days and 1750 for active days. Non-active days are your days off and active days are considered as 30+ min. of moderate-high intensity work or better. When I work with clients I rank them in terms of activity levels which go more in depth then just active and non-active in order to give me a more accurate caloric profile.

If you take your diet a step further (but is not necessary following the guidelines), you will eat your macronutrient breakdown into: 25-30% fats, 30-40% protein, 30-40% carbs. If you're in contest prep this may change- your protein will more then likely increase and carbs and fats may decrease.

This is the nuts and bolts of eating. Let's talk now about the other side, the mental side of healthy eating. I know PLENTY of trainers/coaches who neglect the mental side of eating, which I think is a HUGE dis-service to their clients. So much of adhering to an exercise program or nutritional plan is mental.

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Eating for Health vs. Eating for Pleasure
Changing your body to arrive at a fit and healthy look means eating for optimal body function. Fueling your body with the right foods makes your workouts more effective, your sleep more sound, your body functions more timely, and your skin, nails, and hair shine. The right foods can make an incredible difference in how you feel and act all day long in addition to positively changing the way you look.

However, the reverse is true. Feeling lethargic and no strength as a result of following a poor diet is common. Eating for pleasure versus eating what your body needs can sometimes lead to eating useless junk that the body derives no pleasure in processing. While it might feel good or taste good in the moment, your mood, weight, and body functions will be altered by this useless junk that we also tend to overeat when we start. In the end, eating crap all day makes you feel like crap and your workout will be crap, too. It's as simple as that. The age old saying "Junk in junk out" has truth to it.

Get Out Your Journal
You need to create an effective eating plan based around your lifestyle and how you intend on fitting your healthy eating around your work or family schedule. Plan it out on paper or purchase a journal. List when and what you are going to eat so that you don't have a reason to get off plan. Also, it is important to plan for any obstacles that might occur and mess up your plan. Always having some rice cakes, raw veggies, meal replacements or even fruit available will help you compensate for any shortcomings that might challenge your eating plan.

Every day record your diet and the timing of your meals. If you're a client of mine on my Lifestyle plan you'll record your food and discuss with me. Journal what you can do better or differently. Talk about what works for you and get help from your friends, family, trainer or coach.

Keep Your Goals In Sight
Always have your goals in sight. Put them on the fridge, on your desk at work or in your car. Just so that you are constantly reminded what you really want to achieve. This may be a photo of a physique you admire, a picture of your past self, a photo of a reward you'll give yourself when you reach your goal. This will help keep yourself focused and help curtail any urges that might creep in to spoil your healthy eating day. Whenever you feel weak mentally and just want to pig-out on junk food visualize how you want to look and you'll soon come back in line with your diet plans. The thought of having a great physique that you're proud of or shimming back into your skinny shorts, sure outweighs the short-lived enjoyment of junk food.

Have a Support Team
Although losing weight or maintaining our weight is up to us, we all need a good strong support team who will help us through the mentally and physically tough times. By including your family and friends along with your coach or trainer they will soon become apart of it. They will be there to stop you when you feel like eating un-planned junk meals, and if they're really great they might even make some nutritious meals for you! They will help to motivate you when you need encouragement and will push you to move forward when you fall into a slump. So make your quest for physique improvement a team situation and you'll feel much better for it.

Be a Mentor
Another great way to keep yourself on track is to become a mentor to someone else close to you who wants help improving his or her body. Firstly, they will turn to you as they will view you as a trusted source of information and advice on how to achieve their goals. Then furthermore you will become a role model to them. They see you being strict with your diet and training and achieving great results and they want to do the same. In this situation, being a role model makes you more accountable for your actions as you want to set an example. It is always harder to let someone else down who is counting on you for guidance and motivation, than it is just to let yourself down. Furthermore, you'll feel great by actually making a difference in someone else's quality of life.