With the influx of questions I have received from my recent debut on Eat to Perform and all my facebook photos that have gone viral, people have asked me how to eat to lose weight and look like a million bucks! I require that all new trainees to submit a three day food log to me so a) I have an idea of how they are currently eating and b) what needs to change within a given time frame in order to help them all lean out. From there, it is all about fine tuning certain things in order to be darn sure that they are getting the results they want without feeling deprived. When you become a member at Primal Fitness Pittsburgh, you receive a nutritional manual that is straight forward, cut to the chase, and simple to understand. Fat loss isn’t rocket science, it just requires some effort on your part. Today, I want to help address all this confusion and hopefully, lay it all to rest!
80% of how you look is determined by what you eat. <—– FACT! Now, that means the other 20% is exercise, which is easy to do when you get your Burgher butt to Primal Fitness Pittsburgh! 😉 Due to the number of inquiries I have received recently on the whole fatloss subject, I decided to do yet another post on what to eat if weightloss is your top priority. I am going to start this post with a certain macronutrient that has been bashed for far too long in my opinion.
Carbohydrates. CARBS. <—-Look at this word!
I don’t recommend the ultra low carb diet stuff. Those particular ketogenic diets are great for people who are extremely overweight and aren’t exercising intensely. Ketogenic diets are also great for diabetics and people with certain health complications. Ketogenic diets are TERRIBLE for high volume training. I have made some mistakes in my past by going wwwwwwaaaaaayyyyyyyy tooooooooo lllloooooooowwwwwww carb in the past with high intensity training. It resulted in a host of emotional outbursts, poor athletic performance, and general feelings of garbage. Please, dial IN the carbs when exercising. That being said, you’re going to want to eat your carbs around your training when you are going for fatloss. Generally speaking, when fatloss is the goal your starchier carbs sources should come after you exercise. This will help replenish glycogen and help repair and build lean muscle.
When you aren’t exercising keep the carbs to veggies only with possibly some mixed berries in for good measure. If you train 3 days a week, I recommend carbs only on the training days and at a minimum on non training days (again, veggies and berries). That might sound a bit aggressive but if you have a lot of weight to lose, I have found this carb cycling to be much better as opposed to ultra strict low carbing. Just saying.
Now on to. . .
FATS!
I am still shocked by how much fat phobia is out there these days. Have we not come to a consensus yet that fat is not the devil? *sigh*. At any rate, here’s the one-two punch on the fat sources. Eating health fats, like olive oil, coconut oil, avocado, nuts, etc will actually help keep you satiated longer. Fat also, contrary to a still ever popular belief, will help keep your cholesterol levels in check and thereby helping your heart stay healthy. Last but not least, fat is actually a solid energy source that will help keep your blood sugar levels . . .well. . .level. You will not have to worry about the spike and plunge blood sugar issues with a solid amount of fat in your diet. That being said, I am NOT an advocate of eating crappy fats. Get the hydrogenated oils out of your life ASAP! You will look and feel better for it. Believe me!
And now for PROTEIN!
Protein is a building block for lean muscle. More muscle means less body fat. See how that works? As a rule of thumb, you’re going to want 0.7-1.0 gram of protein per pound of body weight to shed body fat and build muscle. I gave this a particularly bigger range here as I have found that protein consumption tends to vary more on an individual side. Personally, I normally get about 0.8-1.0 grams of protein per pound of body weight on a daily basis depending on my training volume. Some of my clients do better on the 1.0 gram/pound marker, while others favor slightly less protein for the overall physique. At any case, this range of 0.7-1.0 grams of protein per pound of body weight is what you’ll need to cut some poundage off and begin the process of looking awesome 🙂 If you need more information on protein consumption, take a looky here at this post.
If you need more customization with your particular eating plan, please feel free to contact me at janelle@primalfitnesspittsburgh. If you reside in or around the Greater city of Pittsburgh, I will meet with you personally for a free nutritional evaluation to assess your current diet and make a plan of action to get your body to where it needs to be! Again, feel free to contact me to set up that appointment! I’m here to help you reach your wellness goals!
Until next time. . .
and master your instincts! 😉
