#calories

Calories are the sneaky creatures that cause our clothes to fit tighter….. why count them? Outsmart them!

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Calories. Calories. Calories. Calories. Calories. Calories. Calories. Calories. Calories. Image Yes, your caloric intake is important….. but it’s not the ‘end all be all’ of weightloss, and it’s DEFINITELY not the answer for a healthy body!!! Listen…. If you calculated your caloric range to be 1300-1500 and adhere to that…. Good for You!  Are you entering every food item into your smartphone & unable to eat dinner because you ate a big lunch?  Maybe your body NEEDED that big lunch, hence why you were so hungry!! I could stick to that caloric range and eat cereal all day too!  Have you ever thought about that?  Just because you stay within a caloric range does NOT mean you are doing justice for your body.  I pity your heart muscle…and well, all your muscles to be honest. It is true – there should be a deficit in the number of calories to create weight loss.  But, strictly counting your calories isn’t the answer.  There are MANY methods to eating that create weight loss.  Have you heard of the ‘Zig Zag Method?’  I’ve taught it in a few of my challenge/accountability groups on facebook.   Point being……. The same caloric intake every day is NOT good…… especially when you shoving your face with junk and don’t even know it!! Instead of ‘calories’ let’s focus on your NUTRITION and CHOICES!  Have you eaten ANY fruit today???  How about a vegetable??  Did you include protein in that last snack/meal? Before I took nutrition courses, I would go the entire day and think….. “What vegetable did I eat today?”  (And, no…..the tomato & wilted lettuce on your fast food burger doesn’t count).  We go through our entire day eating and yet make TONS of food mistakes!! People don’t know how to feed their bodies!!  Does any of the below points sound familiar?

  •  We are addicted to ‘sweet’ foods (thank you, Mr. Food Companies)!
  •  We think ‘low fat/low sugar’ is healthy.
  • We fear carbohydrates (South Beach Diet ruined us) because we don’t know the difference between a simple carb (bad) or a complex carb (good).
  • People don’t believe in ‘healthy fats’.
  • Our taste buds are too picky.  (Teach them differently)
  • We eat too large of portion sizes (Would you like to supersize that for $1.00 extra?)
  • We eat too much at one sitting (‘I feel stuffed!’)
  • We grew up being told to ‘clean your plate.’
  • Soda (no need to say anything more)
  • We are told to watch caloric intake vs. food choices.
  • We have NO IDEA how to prepare fresh fruit/veggies.
  • We seem to think our plates must be FULL of 4+ different food items at each meal.
  • ‘Gluten Free’ has taken on a life of its own.  (Hellooo carbs and sodium: processed foods).
  • Pretty packaging at the store tricks you into thinking it’s healthy.
  • Laws are getting stricter, but food marketers can make dog feces seem healthy if they word it right (tricky bastards).

Here are some very basic rules to think about when preparing meals or eating. 

-Would my Great Great Grandmother recognize the food item on my plate?

-The closer to nature, the better.

-Have a plate of fresh cut veggies at each meal.

-“Low Sugar/Low Fat” = Chemical Shit Storm

-Review your daily food intake…. Are you missing something?  If Yes, eat it at dinner!

-Drink Water.  It’s cheap & it’s good for you.  End of story.

-Plan ahead.  Meal prep is key.  Even if it’s just thinking about what you are going to make for dinner.

-Make SURE there is a protein source at each meal/snack.

-Make sure your family meal has a protein and veggie/fruit at mealtime.  Green Bean Casserole doesn’t count…. I’m talking steamed, roasted, raw, boiled.

-Your kids will live just fine if they don’t eat pasta & cereal 3+x/week.

-Just because YOU ate it as a kid & turned out just fine doesn’t mean they will!  Today’s world and ingredients are far different than when we grew up!  And….. who’s to say you turned out ‘just fine?’  You never know when diabetes, a colon disease, or worse is waiting around the corner.   If you still have trouble eating well……. For goodness sake, try a healthy meal replacement.  (Nope….slim fast is not one of them).  I highly recommend Shakeology because it has super foods and is nutrient dense.  Do you know what that means?  It means, even if you screw up and don’t get all your vitamins/nutrients in for the day, it’s got you covered. You’ve seen me preaching about the new food/fitness program called the ’21 Day Fix.’  It will help you with ALL the problems above….. in as little as 3 weeks.  Think you will starve?  THINK AGAIN!  It clearly lays out how many containers of which food group you should be eating each day.  The book helps you figure out how many of each containers and that’s ALL you worry about.  You won’t miss a single food group during the day, and you will learn portion control!  You can still have chocolate too…… because I think it’s more of a habit than craving to say “I need something sweet’ after a meal. No Calorie Counting!! No Weight Watcher Points!! No weighing food! No strict food plans!! You can still eat at restaurants!! >>>>>>>Baseline price is $60 for the program!!! <<<<<< So…. To paraphrase = stop ‘thinking’ you are eating well and feeding your family well and simply learn the real truth!  Stop obsessing about those pesky little calories!!  If you eat ‘clean’ – you don’t need to worry about those numbers! Find me on social media and Say “HELLO!”  (Click on the below words to find me!)

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A little “Zig-Zag Method,” anyone??

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A little ‘411’ on the the Zig-Zag method of fat loss –

BMR = Basal metabolic rate: the rate at which your body burns calories while a complete rest, not sleeping, but laying down over a 24 hour period.  (You want that number to be HIGH! 🙂

You want the body to lose fat and still maintain a high BMR without worry of plateau.  This Zig-Zag method can be permanent if you cont. to eat 5-6 meals per day and exercise regularly. Now, if you have been in my accountability groups, I’ve taught you the importance of eating well, shown you how to do it, and helped to teach you proper nutrition.  And, YOU have experienced how good exercise makes you feel, so these 2 things should be a part of your lifestyle by now.

You will notice that when you reduce your caloric intake and increase your caloric burn, your body fat % drops accordingly.  But, so does your BMR.  Then, to force the BMR back to a normal level, you begin eating normally again for a brief period.   What happens is that your body fat level again begins to climb, but not as high as it was in the beginning.  Then you lower the caloric intake again, and down goes the body fat.  Eat normally; the body fat goes up….again, not as high as it was before.  This process continues until your body fat% is at a healthy level.

By zig-zagging your caloric intake like this, you allow periodic BMR adjustments to take place, bringing it back to a level with is corresponding with your new (lower) bodyweight.  Then, it’s easy to begin losing fat again – and again.
If you simply try going down, down, down, with your body fat, your BMR never has a chance to adjust and your fat loss becomes harder and harder until, in frustration, you binge and then gain fat again….forever because you’re messing up your metabolism.  The Zig-Zag method is supposed to stop the plateaus.  When most people hit a plateau, what do they do?  They reduce calories…which is wrong.  (You all should know that by now too, otherwise, I have not done a good job teaching you!).  Reducing calories only adds to the problem because it drops your BMR.  Zig-Zag your calories and your BMR will readjust to the higher level to burn more calories.

An important part of this is weight training.  Without weight training, your lost weight will be from lean tissue, not fat!!!!  And, don’t try to do it too quickly……. Even w/ weight training, starvation diets will cause too much muscle loss rather than fat reduction.  Walking and cardio exercise is ok, but weight training is the single best method for ensuring that gradually lost weight will come from fat stores and not muscle.  WHY?  Because aerobic training alone will reduce your lean body mass and drop your BMR.  Remember…. Muscle burns more calories at REST.  So muscle increases your BMR.  Did that all come together nicely for you??

The ‘down zag’ should last about 3-5 days, and the ‘up zig’ should be a day or two.
I bet your next question is:  how many calories should I add and how many should I decrease?  I would recommend knowing how many calories your body needs for a typical training day (this is another reason why daily exercise is important for an accurate/consistent number)…….and then decrease that number by 600-800 calories for fat loss.  That new number is your daily caloric goal.  I’d start with using that number as the lower one for 3-5 days and then increase it by 300-500 calories for the ‘up’ 1-2 days.  But, it’s something you may need to play with in order to see what works best for your body.  Remember:  you never want to cut your calories and keep them low in hopes of losing fat.  It will not work for a long period of time, messes up your metabolism, and the body starts losing lean muscle vs. fat.
Look me up at YourFitness-411.com and find me on social media for more tips, techniques, and motivation!