nutrition

Have you ever wondered how top fitness gurus maintain a lean body-fat percentage year round? Or how celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Chrissy Teigan lose their baby weight within a few months, while the rest of us take years to get back to our ideal bodies? The answer is simple.

• Detox Tea
• Waist trainers
• Fat burning pills
• 800 calories of organic produce a day
• Photoshop

SYYYKEEE!! The last one says it all. Apart from the wonderful instagram models of our generation who are far too quick to recommend supplements for all of the wrong reasons, celebrities actually do have a HUGE advantage by having access to personal chefs, trainers, dietitians and medical professionals. That alone puts them in a league of their own and increases their likelihood of success beyond any of us mere mortals. However, before you get discouraged, I’m here to provide you with some tools and strategies on how to pursue YOUR ideal health and fitness goals.

While there is no quick way to achieve and sustain a desired weight loss, there are THREE influencers that determine just how successful you will be and just how sustainable it will be for you.

1.Proper Nutrition-

Here’s the truth people. ANY diet that produces a sensible caloric deficit will result in weight loss.

Now let that sink in.

Whether that be Atkins, The Ketogenic Diet, Paleo, Clean Eating, Flexible dieting, Zone, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig or you eating 1200 calories worth of donuts a day- you WILL lose weight.

The MAJOR difference will be which program you could comply to, which will make your energy levels soar, your digestion rock, keep your muscles preserved, your skin glowing, your organs functioning properly and which will keep you fueled and satiated enough while in a caloric deficit.

Sure, you might lose weight crash dieting on a quick fix program but before you jump the gun on that brand new 30-day weight loss e-book you’ve been saving up for, PLEASE think about whether it is something you can sustain long-term.

I assure you, if you think that you’re going to lose 30lb in 6- 8 weeks and keep it off through crash dieting- you are mistaken.

Not only will you waste away your precious muscle and in turn decrease your metabolism but you will also make it harder each time you diet down to get to where you want to be and get frustrated in the process.

Soon enough, you’ll back to your old habits, eating the same foods that had you gaining weight in the first place, except this time, you’ve gained back 40lb, messed up your gut flora (those healthy bugs in your gut that help you break down and absorb your food) and are less motivated than ever before.

There is no quick way. Do it the right way! Change your habits and behaviors over the long term, figure out your macronutrient and micronutrient requirements, eat fresh nutritious foods, decrease your stress load and splurge occasionally.

2.Physical Activity-

It is in fact true that weight loss is very plausible without any intentional activity. You will however lose a larger percentage of muscle mass during the weight loss process. On any weight loss program you will lose a certain ratio of both fat and muscle. Participate in resistance training and follow a high protein program and that ratio is close to you losing 70-80% fat and 30-20% muscle. Don’t participate in resistance training and eat a low protein diet and you’ll be losing 50% fat & 50% muscle. This is FAR less than ideal for your metabolism, hormones, long term success and over-all health.

Exercise also speeds up the process by increasing your caloric deficit and adding to your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) leading to greater weight loss. Depending on your goals, you can manipulate activity to best suit your main motivator, whether that be to fit into a smaller size, attain toned legs and arms, increase your endurance or improve your over-all health, all whilst losing weight faster.

Although I do encourage weight training and building muscle as a long term investment for weight management as well as over-all health (I will leave that for a different post ;)), there are many people who have no interest in weight training and would prefer to just be smaller in size no matter how “toned” or “untoned” they feel. One thing is for sure though, get your body moving. Walk more, park further, take the stairs, clean your house, just get off the couch and do what our primal bodies crave- movement.

3. Happy Hormones-

Exhibit a and b largely influence exibit c. More specifically, the quality of the foods that you eat, the nutrients you’re consuming or not consuming, your stress load, viral load, total inflammation, genetics and even the type and intensity of physical activity that you are doing or NOT doing, largely impact your hormones. (I’m talking to you HIIT lovers.)

Along with diet and exercise, the aging process is not working in our favor and neither is being a women (testosterone and growth hormone I’m talking to you!!) Throw on top of that environmental, physical, chemical and psychological stressors, toxins, burnout or fatigue, consuming chemicals, preservatives and processed foods. Getting too little quality sleep and drinking a little too much you’ve got yourself a recipe for disaster, breakdown and a hormonal sh** show.

Are you tired all the time? Do you get bad PMS symptoms? Do you struggle with sugar cravings? Do you fail to feel full very frequently or are you hungry all of the time? Is your body achy? Do you suffer with brain fog? Are you regularly bloated?……

Wake up and smell the coffee…your weight loss program isn’t working because your body is out of alignment and your hormones need some attention and TLC.

Another way of knowing whether your hormones are off, is if your nutrition has been on point, you’ve been flogging your workouts but the results just aren’t there or it’s taking far too long to get there. If you find yourself in this situation, yoyo dieting will make matters so much worse.

Confused with where to start? Choose any of the below strategies and focus on one for 1-3 weeks before implementing another.

• Reduce stress and incorporate stress reduction techniques i.e yoga, meditation , deep breathing or mindfulness techniques.
• Fuel your body with good quality nutritious foods focusing on an abundance of fruits and vegetables.
• Reduce or eliminate artificial foods, genetically modified foods and any foods that will disrupt your gut flora or act as an endocrine disruptor i.e non organic foods sprayed with herbicides and pesticides and the use of plastic.
• Get more high quality sleep by improving your sleep hygiene i.e incorporate an unwind routine and invest in some blue light blocking glasses.

** Side note, don’t be quick to jump to conclusions regarding your hormones, it would only come down to this if you REALLY, TRUELY have attempted following a weight loss program to a T and still see no success. Don’t throw up the hormone card if you haven’t given it a good shot.

Want me to elaborate on a specific topic? Let me know!

Stay posted for Part 2….it gets better from here!