Good morning everyone, the title today seems a little daunting because it is true. I hope everyone has had a wonderful week and had some incredible lifts and good food.
Last week we talked about how to maintain your weight and this was a very important topic when it comes to trying to keep the hard work you have put into losing any amount of weight. Maintenance is hard and if you have not read that article yet, it ties well with today’s.
There seems to be endless information about nutrition and what to eat and when to eat and what not to eat and when not to eat, but I want to dispel some myths about nutrition today that most people need.
Whatever your goal in your fitness journey is begins with your nutrition, not your exercise. When you set up a goal for fat loss or weight gain, your training may look almost identical with a few minor adjustments — but your nutritional goals will vary.
There are a lot of people who will tell you to stop eating carbs, stop eating bread, stop eating fruit, stop eating desserts, don’t eat certain vegetables, and so on. What they don’t tell you is that this is probably the worst thing you can do if you are trying to simply just make some changes in your life to feel better, lose some weight, or gain muscle.
Let’s break down a few things:
Bread is not your enemy.
If you have an issue with overconsuming bread when you are trying to lose weight, this may be your issue. Moderation but never elimination unless you have an allergy.
Fruit is not making you fat.
Overconsumption on total calories from fruit may prevent you from losing weight. Don’t consume if you have an allergy, not because some random said so.
Ice cream is not making you fat.
Overconsumption does. Eat this if you go out with your kids and don’t feel guilty about it.
Our bodies work on an energy system.
We eat food which give us energy, we all know this. Why would we make it more complicated?
Well, people who want to make money would complicate it. If you think that someone trying to beat around a bush to explain and then sell you a book has the answer, you’ve just been party to consumer marketing.
“Disturbances in energy balance cause changes in body mass, although the timeframe over which this occurs varies between individuals and may explain the large interindividual response to weight-loss interventions. A positive energy balance, in which energy intake exceeds expenditure causes weight gain, with 60–80 % of the resulting weight gain being attributable to body fat. In negative energy balance, when energy expenditure exceeds intake, the resulting loss in body mass is also accounted for by 60–80 % body fat.” 1
So if our bodies work on an energy system, what is to be done?
Fat Loss:
calculate your maintenance calories
remove 10% from your total calories coming from carbs and fats
be sure your protein is at minimum 2g/kg
We need an energy deficit to create a leaner looking body. This can be done simply from the bullet points I listed above with equations linked in last week’s article.
What the salesmen don’t tell you is that you need something or someone to hold you accountable week by week. This is why nutrition is the biggest battle.
Each week you need to check in with yourself, make a post on your fitness Instagram account or check in with your coach. This will keep you on a nutritional path that will help you to reach your goals.
Another downfall people see here is that they may not lose weight for a week or even two and then feel like it’s not doing anything for them and then go back to that salesman and buy into a nutritional program that does not have them in mind, just their wallet to keep them returning.
The basics of energy balance work, it may just be that you haven’t been adhering or tracking everything that you have been eating. The biggest part of the battle here is remaining in a deficit to elicit the result you want which is weight loss.
Muscle gain
calculate your maintenance calories
add 5-10% coming from predominately carbohydrates
set a weekly weight gain goal
This part is where people tend to go wrong.
In order to create the body you are looking for, you need to be able to get comfortable with weight gain for a while. Muscle does not appear from nowhere and you need surplus calories to translate into muscle tissue. If you do not eat enough, you can not expect to grow your glutes, get a bigger back, or look better.
Again, the salesmen here will tell you that you can gain muscle in a deficit. In a general statement, no. Unless you’re on steroids or obese this is not the case for most people.
Don’t buy into easy or fast results. You will be disappointed. Your dream body takes a while and you got where you are after years of having the habits you currently have. It’s time to take a look at them and make some small changes to move you to where you want to be.
So why is nutrition really the biggest part of the battle?
Because the fitness industry wants you to stay stagnant and spend your money on spinning your wheels when your progress is about as easy as going to the grocery store.
Because for the general population, simple calorie and nutrition education is what people need to be successful. Marketing schemes confuse people into thinking things are good for them. We have terms like ‘organic’ and ‘natural’ that (no surprises here) cost more even though there is supposedly less processing around them when something as simple as just buying fresh or frozen produce is a better option.
Because everyone wants to be a trendsetter and have their own niche of the market when in reality a good coach will set you up for future success and help you learn how to rely on yourself and not someone else who asks for your money.
Because the simple answer requires the most work and we live in a world where people would like instant satisfaction.
If you enjoyed this week’s article, stick around for next time and be sure to like this post and subscribe to get notified of future posts where I teach you everything you need to know in order to succeed in your fitness journey.
Now go eat some ice cream and do some squats
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6003580/#:~:text=A%20positive%20energy%20balance%2C%20in,60%E2%80%9380%20%25%20body%20fat.