It’s been said that 80% of your fat loss results are made in the kitchen, so it’s no surprise that DIET MISTAKES are what get most of us off track with our fat loss efforts.
You can exercise hard every single day, but if you are making these 3 common mistakes then fat loss is going to be slow or nonexistent…
Diet Mistake #1: Not Eating Enough Wholesome Calories
Starvation diets simply do not work. Restricting too many calories slows your metabolism to a grinding stop and causes your body to store those precious calories instead of burning them off.
But that’s not all…
Starvation diets inevitably lead to rebounding with overeating that causes you to gain even more weight. There is a huge benefit to eating the right amount of wholesome calories, spread out throughout the day.
Your metabolism is revved up and fat loss becomes automatic. Of course, these must be WHOLESOME calories and not junk!
Diet Mistake #2: Not Eating Enough Protein
Protein is important for a variety of reasons, and sadly most of us simply do not get enough protein in our daily diets. When it comes to losing fat, getting adequate protein is a must.
It takes more calories to digest protein versus fats or carbs, giving your metabolic rate a boost. It’s also essential to supply your body with the dietary protein needed to build and maintain your muscle mass - as muscles increase our resting metabolism.
Protein keeps you feeling full, boosts your metabolism and prevents you from turning to snacks that are full of fat, carbs and sugars.
Diet Mistake #3: Drinking Sugary Beverages
One of the BIGGEST diet mistakes that most people make today is drinking sugary beverages throughout the day. Liquid calories add up and stubbornly stick to our waistlines.
Whether you’re drinking soda-pop, sweet coffee drinks, or alcoholic beverages, liquid calories are habitual and detrimental to fat loss and health.
A great way to avoid liquid sugary calories is to carry liquid stevia with you. Add a little squirt to your coffee or tea throughout the day to please your sweet tooth while avoiding liquid calories.
Don’t forget that a challenging and consistent exercise plan is half of the equation when it comes to losing weight, getting fit and feeling great! That’s where I come in…
I would love to be your fitness coach. Together we will get you to your goals with my results-driven method.
Simply call or email me today to set up your first workout.
How would you like to get rid of your bathroom scale? To never again subject yourself to the angst and humiliation of stepping on and waiting for the number-that-will-determine-your-self-esteem to light up the screen.
Sounds awesome, right?!
It’s been ingrained in us from an early age to worry about our weight, however today I’d like to show you how the number on your bathroom scale is an unreliable measurement of your progress that should really be thrown out the window.
Bathroom scales are unreliable.
Take that number with a grain of salt. Your typical bathroom scale is a digital gadget with serious limitations, attempting to measure your gravitational force.
Digital scales must be recalibrated after every move. This means that if you pick up your scale and the place it down again you must press on the scale for a reading, wait for the numbers to clear, and then proceed with weighing yourself. Most people miss this step and end up with inaccurate readings.
Digital scales must be placed on a hard, flat surface. Since the reading is coming from gravitational force, the slightest inconsistency with the weight distribution into the floor could skew the reading.
Accurate scales only tell part of the story.
At the doctor’s office you’ll encounter the more accurate balance beam scale. This scale directly compares your weight (gravitational force) to counterweights. The readings from balance beam scales are more consistent and accurate than digital scales.
However…
Even an accurate reading of your weight only tells part of the story. Your weight (gravitational force) naturally fluctuates throughout every day due to in the intake and excretion of fluids and food.
A pound gained from drinking a large glass of water has no distinction from a pound gained as a result of fat storage on your body when measured on a balance beam scale. However, these two weight sources will lead to two very different bodies!
Body composition is what you’re after.
Your body is composed of three things: fat, lean mass and water. An attractive, fit body is composed of a low amount of fat, ample lean mass, and healthy water levels. When you walk into the gym and tell me that you want to lose weight, what you’re really telling me is that you want to lower your percentage of body fat.
When you begin the process of fat loss, the initial drop that you see on your scale is mostly water weight. This happens as your controlled diet empties out stored energy that releases the water that is held with it. This initial drop in weight makes you feel good…
Until you get back on the scale the following week to see that your weight has barely even budged. This normal ebb and flow of body transformation nearly always brings discouragement. You feel like somehow you’re failing since that initial weight loss has now slowed to a crawl.
What’s crazy about the psychological mind game that the scale plays is that during the third week of a body transformation, when the scale shows the least impressive change, your body composition is actually cranking up to very impressive levels. So while you saw half a pound lost on the scale, behind the scenes you lost three pounds of fat.
Remember that all weight is not bad. What you don’t like to see and feel on your body is fat. As noted above, fat is not the only thing measured by your weight. Those toned muscles that you want to have will bring up the number on your scale, but as long as fat is converting to lean mass, the result is a stunning body transformation.
Pictures are more powerful than numbers!
It’s possible to measure your body fat levels using different tools. These readings will give you a clearer picture of what is taking place beneath your skin, as your body composition shifts to a lower percentage of body fat.
However, pictures are what I have found to be the most powerful measure of body transformation. A picture is truly worth a thousand body composition number readings!
When you see two images of yourself, side-by-side, and your eyes take in the differences in the shape and appearance of your arms, legs and stomach it is truly a magical moment; a moment when you understand how silly the number on the scale really is in the face of your undeniable, stunning body transformation.
If you’re ready to begin your own stunning body transformation, with the goal of lowering your body fat, feel free to reach out to me. I’m here to get you into the most spectacular shape of your life!
Call or email me today. Let’s do this!
Out With The Junk
Today is a great day for going through your kitchen and removing any and all junk food. If you don’t have junk food in the kitchen then you won’t eat it! Instead stock your fridge with healthy and vibrant whole foods that will support your fitness goals and your health.
Sure, you do your best to eat healthy and live a fit and active lifestyle, but you’re still not satisfied with your body. Day after day of eating salads and hitting the gym and your body isn’t changing.
It’s frustrating.
And yet there are people, whom you know personally, with phenomenal bodies and very little body fat. What are they doing differently than you? You work out and eat healthy too! Why doesn’t your body look like theirs?
What’s the big secret that they know about losing fat, getting lean, and looking amazing?
The answer is as simple as it is difficult: Avoid Sugar.
While you do your best to eat healthy, do you know how much sugar you are actually consuming everyday? The answer will surprise you.
The average American consumes over 80 grams of sugar everyday, an amount that’s easily three times more than is safe and healthful. How much sugar do you eat? Write down the sugar count on everything you eat for the next few days and then find your average sugar gram intake. Now work on slashing this number.
Part of the problem is that food items are often sneaky about how much sugar is really hiding within. Deceiving messages on the packaging imply that the contents are beneficial, causing us to ignore the high sugar content. In the end whatever supposed benefits being advertised are overshadowed by the negative effect of the sugar.
What’s the big deal about taking in a lot of sugar? Well, you won’t achieve a lean body while consuming a lot of sugar. So if you choose to indulge in sugar then forget about strutting your stuff on the beach this year.
Aesthetics aside, a high sugar intake is detrimental to your health as it causes your cells and organs to become acidic and a breeding ground for disease.
Going back to that guy or gal that you know who is perpetually lean…you can bet that their diet is extremely low in sugar. A low sugar diet is the key to keeping lean and it’s not had by simply avoiding the high sugar items, like candy and cake, it’s had by avoiding items with even low amounts of added sugars.
Take the next week to cut out all added sugars from your diet. Check in with your weight and your energy levels at the end of seven days and note any difference. You’ll be pleasantly surprised how quickly you’ll see results in both your weight and energy levels by making this simple, conscious move to avoid sugar.
Diet is only half of the equation when it comes to having a sexy, fit body. Exercise is the other half of the coin, and that’s where I come in.
Call or email me today to get started on an exercise program that’s designed to transform your body once and for all!