What You Need to Know if You Want to Hire a Personal Trainer

Just because a trainer has a certification, does NOT mean they have any clue as to how to properly train. It just means they’re competent enough to not injure you (and even that's a stretch).

Cookie Cutter or Individualized Approach?

Not all trainers are the same. They all have different approaches, and you need to make sure their approach fits YOUR needs. After all, you are the one paying for them.

Some general things I recommend looking for in a good trainer are:

Assessing - they should be doing an initial assessment on you. If your first session with a trainer they just start you right off on a program, run. That is not a good trainer

Injuries - A good trainer should be taking notes, and asking what previous injuries you had, range of motion, etc. They should not have you maxing out on squats if the whole reason you came in was to fix a knee injury.

Goals - Having said that, have they even asked you what your goals are? What about current eating habits? The first session rarely should even be on the gym floor. It should be asking a ton of questions on your daily habits, environment, and all the aforementioned stuff.

Metrics

What gets measured gets improved. Is the hard work paying off? They should be:

• Checking for adherence to the SMALL nutrition behaviors they’ve given you

• Measuring your body so they can see if you’re gaining size/losing weight

• Tracking performance in the gym - are you stronger? Faster?

• Photos - can we look back week to week and see how far you’ve come since when you first started? Accountability.

• A Plan - did they even go over an outline for how they plan to help you achieve your goals? Or are they winging it?

Continued Education

Anyone can get an ACE or NASM certifications. They really aren’t that hard to pass if you just set aside some time. What have they done BEYOND the bare minimum?

• What mentorships or internships have they done?

• They may have other certs, but are they respectable, quality ones?

• Do they read? An elite trainer is CONSTANTLY reading and seeking out information from those he/she aspires to be to get to that level

Don’t be afraid to ask them these questions. If they get offended, that’s a red flag. They should LOVE talking about what they do. See if you can get a feel for what kind of continued learning they do outside of the gym. Some trainers will light up wanting to talk about the new science they’ve read about. One caveat - while it is great to be a constant learner, don’t let them use that as an excuse to constantly change up your workout routine and plan because every week they learn something new. It’s great to experiment, but at the end of the day you should still be following a consistent plan that caters to your goals.

Lead By Example

They don’t need to look like Ronnie Coleman, but generally speaking, they should look fit and have practiced what they preach. You may not always be able to find this, but generally, I’d want a trainer who's been through what I’ve been through. That way I know, especially when it comes to the sticking points, they will anticipate how you’re feeling and how to adjust. If they haven’t been through it, hopefully they can prove they’ve worked with enough clients that have.

Caring About You

Helping you lose 10 pounds is their job. Implementing the daily habits week to week is your job.

They need to be slowly implementing new behaviors that allow you to achieve results. This is a marathon not a sprint. If they can’t help you make changes you see yourself still doing a year after they’re gone, then they haven’t done their job. I always used to tell my clients, my goal is for you to not have to stick with me forever. If I’ve my job correctly, I’ve helped you hit your goals while also teaching you the skills along the way so that eventually you can go off and do it on your own.

At the end of the day it’s not about the money. It’s about you. They NEED to be caring about your wellbeing and overall mindset throughout the process. A great coach makes his or herself available those other hours of the day to help keep you accountable, and answer any questions you may have. After all, they know more about this process than you. (wait….they DO know more than you….right?)

The Final Tip: A great coach is willing to tell you straight up if you’re ready for the change you’re seeking. They don’t say yes like a robot because they see you got a fat wallet. At the end of the day it’s about what's best for you even if it means saying you aren’t ready.

Source:https://www.mindpumpmedia.com/blog/what-you-need-to-know-if-you-want-to-hire-a-personal-trainer

Are Spin Classes Effective for Weight Loss?

Working out for weight loss is about more than finding the exercise that burns the most calories. Yes, losing weight is a matter of creating a calorie deficit. However, our bodies are complex, and losing weight is not as straightforward as doing a particular exercise over and over. The human body is designed to do everything possible to keep you alive. For example, if you go for too long without eating your body will adjust to the lower number of calories by slowing down how quickly you burn them (reducing your metabolism). This complexity impacts how certain types of exercises impact weight loss. One type of workout that many people think about trying in order to lose weight is spin. Spin classes have become a standard offering at many gyms throughout the country. There are a number of benefits to taking the occasional spin class but this form of exercise also comes with drawbacks.   

The Benefits of Spin Classes

Spin classes provide participants with a high-intensity aerobic group workout. You join others in a room full of specialized exercise bikes. On these bikes, you can adjust the resistance in order to increase or decrease the difficulty of your ride. Spin bikes are also designed to allow you to move from sitting to standing regularly as part of your workout. Modern spin bikes will track your distance and other factors such as estimated calories burned. If you are looking to sweat, improve your heart health, interact with others, and burn some calories then a spin class is something worth trying.

The Drawbacks of Spin Classes

Spin classes focus heavily on cardio. These classes are designed to get your heart rate up and maximize your calorie burn. These are both great things. Going to an occasional spin class can add variety and some fun to your workout routine. However, going regularly to spin classes will start to provide you with diminishing returns. As with any form of cardio, doing spin regularly can signal to your body that it is time to adapt. When your body registers that you are regularly burning a lot of calories in your spin sessions it will respond by trying to hold on to more calories. This means that you will start to burn fewer calories with each subsequent spin class. As your body adapts you will have to spend more time in spin classes to burn the same number of calories. Spin classes are hard work and it can be extremely frustrating to put in the effort without seeing the results.

The Best Way to Effectively Lose Weight

The key to effective weight loss through working out is to keep your body from adapting. Any type of cardio that is done for an extended period of time will signal your body to adapt. If you want to include spin classes in your workout routine, make them an occasional part of what you do. Mix in other types of cardio and vary the intensity and well as the duration to keep your body guessing. Putting your primary focus on resistance training is the most effective way to lose weight and keep it off. Resistance training can help improve your metabolism so you naturally burn more calories. A focus on resistance training with occasional cardio sessions on the spin bike can provide you with a balanced approach that allows for continuous progress toward your goal.

The first few times you hop on your spin bike and make it through a class you will be rewarded with a significant calorie burn. Your body will quickly catch on, however, and adapt to your new level of activity. In order to prevent plateaus and continue losing weight, it is best to focus primarily on resistance training in your daily workouts.

SOURCE: https://www.mindpumpmedia.com/blog/are-spin-classes-effective-for-weight-loss

Why You Need to Get off The Elliptical And Hit The Weights

What is your goal? Do you just want to have overall cardio heart health? Do you want more muscle? Do you want to lose fat? I think more often than not people default to hopping on the elliptical or going out for a run because it requires no skill to take on. Lifting on the other hand, can be intimidating between all the big gorillas in the gym using more weight than they can actually handle, as well as how overwhelming the exercise selection can be to someone just starting out.

I remember how intimidated I was when I first started working out. I stuck exclusively to machines, and maybe some light dumbbells because I didn’t want to get in anyone's way or make myself look like an idiot. If the gym seems intimidating to you, realize that that’s totally okay. You don’t have to start this journey jumping all in. While it’s not ideal, even if you did just as I did, and started with the machines, at least you can get yourself comfortable easing into the weight section.

Retaining Muscle vs Losing Muscle

Yes, cardio is great for a short term, immediate caloric burn. Over the long haul, it may work against you. Especially if you aren’t accompanying it with any resistance training.  

Working out even 2-3 times a week sends a signal to your body to adapt. That adaptation can either add muscle to your body (if you are in a caloric surplus), or provide a stimulus to hold onto the muscle you’ve got (in a caloric deficit such as a diet). Either way as you can see it makes sense to have some sort of weight training in your routine. The elliptical and most forms of cardio aren’t going to add the kind of muscle you are probably looking for. You need to progressively be getting stronger and stronger in order to see a physical change in your body over the course of 2-3 months.  

Posture - adding resistance training will help improve your bad posture that you no doubt have from sitting at work all day, or in your car and on the couch. Incorporating back exercises such as rows and pull-up variations, as well as compound movements like the deadlift, all (when done with proper form) help teach the body to keep the shoulder blades down and back, and not rounded forward. This is vital if you want longevity out of your body.  

Muscle - lifting weights obviously as mentioned before, will help pack on muscle to your frame giving you the desired physique you want, which also will carry over to being stronger in everyday life. Even if it’s moving boxes around and picking your kids up.

Bones - as we get older our bone density, and our muscle starts atrophying unless we do something about it. If we don’t use it, we lose it. Half the reason you see older people get so many falling injuries has to do with lack of upkeep on their body. They accept their old age as wasting away. The reality is adding even two days of resistance training will provide a strong enough stimulus to keep your bones strong and muscles on your frame (or at very worst help significantly reduce the rate at which it slows down versus if you did nothing).

Metabolism - having more muscle on your frame means burning more calories at rest. It takes energy to keep muscle, and thus allows you to get away with slightly more calories than usual in order to retain that muscle. 

Mobility - having good mobility isn’t just about being flexible like a yoga instructor. If you truly want to prevent injury, you need to be able to express those full ranges of motion with stability and under load. Being able to bend down and touch your toes, or half-ass squatting down to pick something up means nothing if the moment I add any bit of load, your body can’t handle it and you’d get injured. You need to be able to handle resistance throughout the entire range of motion. This is another reason people get injured so much.  

That’s not to say you should forgo any cardio. There is a way to implement both. Ideally, we’d want a mixture of both to take care of our muscular frame as well as our heart. 

The solution:

2 days - these can be done after a workout or on their own day - 30 minute steady state cardio (could be jogging on treadmill, playing basketball, swimming, etc. Enough to get your heart rate up but you can still carry on a conversation just a little bit)

1 day - HIIT Cardio - on a non-workout day - For those just starting out focus more on doing HIIT cardio in the form of sprints on a bike, rower, or even outside on the track. 5 minute warmup, 4-6 30 second sprints with 1-1.5 minute break in between, then cooldown for 5-10 minutes. 

3 Full Body Workout days - 1 exercise per muscle group - 3 sets of 6-8 repetitions (choose a weight where you can hit that rep range and only have 1-2 reps left in the tank). 

If you incorporate a balanced plan of 3 full body days, with 2-3 cardio days (to start), you should be well on your way to seeing a fat loss of about 1-2lbs a week. If you have already been doing this much cardio, it may take more though so keep that in mind. Also, don’t forget the third option of just increasing your NEAT through more steps throughout the day.

Source: https://www.mindpumpmedia.com/blog/why-you-need-to-get-off-the-elliptical-and-hit-the-weights

How Should You Workout Before and During Pregnancy?

Are you gearing up for building a family and feel excited and ready to take the next step to plan for becoming pregnant? Maybe you are not sure about how you should work out while pregnant, or, what is the best type of exercise? If your answer is yes to either, keep reading as I'll unpack some of these common questions and concerns around exercise and pregnancy.

It's essential to know more about exercise in each stage of pregnancy, including your current preconception health (time before you conceive), as well as continuing a workout regimen during pregnancy. Exercising during pregnancy reduces the risk of complications and the severity of common pregnancy symptoms like backaches and bloating. Exercise likely boosts your baby's brain development and heart health as well (1).

Preconception

These days, many women ask how they can prep their bodies before becoming pregnant, to ensure that they have a healthy environment for a growing baby, as well as a smooth delivery. This preconception stage is a great place to address your health-related lifestyle choices and strengthen your body with an exercise routine for what's to come. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommend 150 minutes a week of physical activity while trying to become pregnant, as well as throughout pregnancy if you are cleared by your doctor (2). The intensity of exercise throughout the stages of pregnancy is meant to be moderate and not geared towards setting a new personal best in a lift. Remember, your goal with exercise is to provide adaptations of strength and stamina, not overloading your body and creating a stressful environment for a growing baby.

As a trainer, I have had many female clients come to me before becoming pregnant to get stronger and more mobile before they move into the next stage. Some clients are fearful their bodies aren't capable, or some old injuries may be an issue while carrying their baby. This is a great time to address any concerns and develop a consistent resistance and mobility routine. I like to think of this stage as an opportunity to work on improving your functional movement before approaching the next stage of prenatal care and development.

However, many women do not know where to start. How much, or what type of exercise is best? It is important to note that this is not a time to overstress your body with prolonged, strenuous exercise, that can disrupt the delicate balance of hormones needed for ovulation and conception. Rather, it is good to begin a resistance training program, especially if you have not exercised regularly before to improve your overall health.

Beginning with moderate resistance training two to three times a week and focusing on functional strength and stability is a great place to start. Exercises such as squats, deadlifts, lunges, chest press, overhead press, and rows are key to building a strong base. These compound movements will help you not only get stronger, but you will feel more resilient and capable as you progress with your workouts. Many clients I've worked with often told me how much their overall physical ability, stability, and confidence in their body improved with these workouts prior to getting pregnant.

During the preconception stage, as well as the early stages of pregnancy, it is a great time to work on your mobility, as well as practice a routine that focuses on improving your postural stability and strength. During pregnancy, postural adaptations happen naturally, as well as holding and caring for your child after birth. In this preconception stage and with early pregnancy, you can take advantage of positions, such as face down exercises, that target specific postural muscles. You can also add hip mobility exercises like the 90/90, which increase control of the ranges of motion for your hips, which can help mitigate low back issues down the road.

First Trimester

Exercising in your first trimester can be a wild ride of emotions and hormone changes, so it's good to get clearance from your doctor throughout your pregnancy for exercise as things can change. But most of all, it's important to listen to your body no matter what exercise program you are following.

If you're cleared for exercise, then this stage is a great time to work on split stance stability exercises, which later become harder to do as your tummy grows with your baby. Exercises such as variations of weighted lunges, step-ups, and split squats are great for also building balance and stability. It's also important to work on core stability in exercises such as a Palloff press, side planks, and dead bug variations from a four-point position to create more stability.

Just like with the preconception stage, mobility is important throughout your pregnancy journey. During the first trimester, the hormone relaxin is released and causes the ligaments that support your joints to become relaxed (3). Often women can overstretch or move beyond normal ranges as the joints are more mobile and at greater risk of injury. It's not the best time to do jerky, bouncing, or high impact motions but rather add control with your mobility work.

When it comes to core work, at the end of the first trimester is when you should stop doing any crunch movement as your abdominal wall is beginning to expand as well as your uterus. The pressure you can put on the expanding abdominal wall can cause diastasis recti; this separation and gap between the left and right sides of your abdominal muscle. It's important to know that this is not the time to aim for a six-pack but rather focus on stabilizing your body. We don't want to overstress your body but instead build stamina and strength, especially if you're planning on natural birth. Think of this stage also as another building block towards your body, getting stronger, and improving your balance. But if your hormones are taking you for a ride where you are not up for an entire workout, you can take advantage of going for a swim or a light walk.

Second Trimester

Many women settle into their body around the second trimester and become more motivated to exercise with increased energy. Be mindful that it is not a time to go more intense with exercise, but instead stay consistent and keep up a resistance training program. This is a great time to continue to work on more postural strength training exercises, such as weighted seated row variations and face pulls, to add more strength and stability for the upper back extensors and rear shoulders. You can also incorporate more rotational exercises, like a wood chop on a cable machine, to help increase trunk and hip stability while using the obliques. For a chest press, an incline bench can work to avoid being on your back, and you can do an incline pushup as well for the chest. As far as squats go, you can incorporate more front-loaded goblet style versions that mimic lifting up a baby and are very functional. Remember, the relaxin hormone is released so it's good to keep up with your mobility routine to help add control to your joints range of motion.

Third trimester

This is the home stretch, and it's a great time to focus on what your body needs as your baby is still growing. My clients often told me that incorporating swimming and light cardio and their resistance training allowed them to give their bodies a break from the extra weight at this stage in the game. For resistance training, it's great to focus more on wider stance squats like a sumo stance versus a split stance lunge, which is harder to achieve with a growing belly. Squatting will help strengthen your legs and pelvis muscles and prepare your body for giving birth naturally. Rotational cable exercises and postural row variations are still important to keep those areas strong. You can also incorporate sitting on a stability ball and perform single-arm rows and rotational movements, creating more of a stability challenge. It's also a great time to focus on side-lying glute work such as clam variations and leg abductions for hip strength.

You can work out with resistance training and mobility in each stage of pregnancy and modify exercises as your body changes in each one! The most important thing is to listen to your body and make sure you are cleared for exercise from your doctor as you progress in your pregnancy. Exercise will help you feel stronger and more physically capable throughout your pregnancy journey and prepare you for your delivery.

1) Baby brain: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27622854/

2) Exercise weekly: The American college of obstetricians and gynecologists

https://www.acog.org/patient-resources/faqs/pregnancy/exercise-during-pregnancy#:~:text=Ideally%2C%20pregnant%20women%20should%20get,arms)%20in%20a%20rhythmic%20way.

3) Relaxin: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4282454/

Source: www.mindpumpmedia.com/blog/how-should-you-workout-before-and-during-pregnancy

Top 3 Tips for Women on How to Get a Flat Tummy

Just about every person out there has a ‘problem area’ on their body. It’s that spot where you seem to gain weight the quickest and lose weight the slowest. For many women, that spot is the tummy. Pregnancy, hormones, age, and the natural shape of your body can all contribute to a tummy that is not as flat as you want. It can be frustrating to feel like you are doing all the right things and seeing little to no progress. Before you give up on your goal of getting a flat tummy (or start considering surgery) take a few minutes to read about the top 3 tips for women on how to get a flat tummy.

Cut out processed foods

Those convenient, prepackaged meals and snacks in your kitchen can sabotage your efforts to get a flat tummy. Processed foods are designed to be enjoyable and easy to eat. This is a big problem because they are often full of chemicals and calories. Processed foods lack the element you find in more natural options that lead to satiety – such as fiber. You can mindlessly eat hundreds of calories in processed foods. It would be much more difficult to eat the same number of calories in a more natural option that is full of fiber and nutrients. For example, to eat 100 calories of broccoli you would have to consume over three full cups of chopped broccoli. Conversely, a 1 ounce serving of potato chips comes in at 150 calories. Think of how much easier it is to eat 1 ounce of potato chips compared to 3 cups of broccoli! That difference is one of the things that makes processed foods so detrimental to weight loss. Cutting out the processed foods in your diet will help you lose weight overall and put you on the path toward getting a flat stomach.    

Drink more water

If you replace calorie rich drinks like sodas, fruit drinks, sweetened coffee, and energy drinks with water, you can quickly reduce your overall calorie consumption. Sweetened drinks – as with processed foods – make it easy to mindlessly consume excess calories. If you drink alcohol regularly, giving that up in favor of water will also help you move toward your goal of getting a flat tummy. Beer and mixed drinks can add unnecessary calories and carbs to your diet. These elements can work against your efforts to get a flat stomach. If you replace the sugary and calorie laden drinks you typically have with water, you will start to see an improvement in your weight and in how you feel.

Focus on strengthening your core

Some women who want to get a flat tummy mistakenly believe that the answer is to do hundreds of crunches and sit-ups each day. Exercises that target your abdominals and surrounding muscles have a place in your workout routine but they are by no means the key to a flat tummy. When it comes to getting a flat tummy, you need to focus on strength training. Building strength in your core (the muscles surrounding the trunk of your body) will do more for flattening your stomach than endless crunches. Strengthening your core involves doing compound movements that engage several muscle groups at once. For example, the glute bridge engages your gluteus maximus, thighs, hips, core, and hamstrings. As you build muscle you will increase your metabolism and your ability to burn fat. This process will help you get and maintain the results you want.

It’s normal to zero in on a part of your body that you do not like and set your fitness goals around improving that problem area. The reality is, however, that you will get better results if you focus instead on improving your overall fitness. Cutting out processed foods, drinking more water, and focusing on strength training will all help flatten your tummy but the results will not be limited to that area of your body. If you commit to the steps outlined above, you will see changes in how you look overall and how you feel.

If you are thinking it’s time to start a plan towards getting in better shape, think about online training with Coach Jamie or Coach Beau.

Source: https://www.mindpumpmedia.com/blog/top-3-tips-for-women-on-how-to-get-a-flat-tummy

Best Exercises if You Want to Build a Great Physique

Building a great physique doesn’t have to be as complicated as lifters make it out to be. If anything, we tend to focus too much on the smaller muscle groups hitting them from every angle possible instead of practicing and getting better at the bigger lifts. Don’t get me wrong, isolation exercises have their place, but anyone trying to build a truly great physique should be focusing on the bigger compound lifts first.

The reason you want to focus on the bigger lifts vs the isolated, is that they’ll stimulate more muscles in that given exercise than the others. This is obviously advantageous because it allows you to get more bang for your buck in less time. They will also have better carry over to everyday life situations. The last thing I would like to note is that you should be sticking with the exercises for an extended period of time. Too often I see people cycling out exercises before they’ve even gotten good at them. I mean truly good to where they are pushing a respectable amount of weight WITH good form. If you look at any bodybuilder with a truly great physique, what you should notice is their form, and attention to mind muscle connection is on point. 

Squat

The squat, sometimes deemed, the “king of all exercises”, is one of the most fundamental movements. Most see a squat as an exercise that just hits the quads, but if done correctly, it is hitting the hamstrings and glutes, while also giving an isometric stimulation towards the upper and lower back. Also, the fact that you can work up to such a high amount of weight compared to say a bicep curl, means your body is getting a bigger central nervous system response which can allow for a bigger adaptation towards overall strength. This can even translate towards the upper body.

Deadlift

The other exercise some may put priority in front of the squat is the deadlift. With the deadlift, you can’t really get stronger at it without having a really strong core, a tight kept upper back, and strong hips. The squat is going to be a little more quad dominant while the deadlift is more posterior chain dominant. I have most of my clients run through at least some version of the deadlift because most people forget how to use their hips. We sit around all day, hunched over tightening our hip flexors and pec’s causing us to have this rounded out posture. The deadlift corrects all of that. It hits all the muscles you can’t see in the mirror and thus often neglect, but is a necessary movement if you want a complete physique and overall functional strength. Being able to correctly fire your hips and pull your shoulder blades back is one of the best things you can do to prevent future injury in the lower back.

Overhead Press

A lot of people like to go to the bench press next, but I find the overhead press has more carry over to everyday life. We tend to need strong shoulders for picking stuff up over our heads. Done with strict form, the press also has the added benefit of keeping your core braced and tight. Performing this movement will also hit the triceps and provide low back stability as well.

Pull-Up

Part of the “yoked” or “superhero” look that lifters usually seek out is a nice V tapered back. The pull-up will achieve this. Working on the lats and biceps, this exercise also challenges you to get really good at moving your body weight. You can go on a lat pulldown to get stronger, but I advise learning to get really good at body weight pull-ups first. A lot of gyms have pull-up assistance machines if you find you aren’t able to perform 6-8 reps with good form of just your body weight so give those a try if you are struggling. 

Bench Press

The classic staple of every bro’s workout routine, the bench press will hit the chest, shoulders and triceps. For how popular it is utilized the one issue I have is it is done with horrible form too often. Elbows should be flared to 45 degrees not 90. Shoulder blades should be pinched back like you are trying to touch them together not laid out flat. The chest should always be leading in front of the shoulders so that the shoulders don’t dominate too much during the lift. Not following these cues causes a lot of shoulder impingement pain for lifters. Make sure your hip does not come off the bench either. 

Row

While the pull-up will hit the lats of the back, the row will hit the rhomboids as well as biceps. And we want to stimulate as much as the body as we can for a nice balanced physique. I suggest getting good at barbell rows, but if it is fatiguing the low back too much you can switch to a seated row. Just make sure you are sitting up right and again, pinching the shoulder blades back making sure most of the tension stays between the shoulder blades. 

Sample Routine

Here’s what a sample workout could look like putting this all together.

Workout 1

Squat - 3-4 sets of 8-12

Overhead Press - 3-4 sets of 8-12

Pull-Up - 3-4 sets of 8-12

Workout 2

Deadlift - 3-4 sets of 8-12

Bench Press - 3-4 sets of 8-12

Row - 3-4 sets of 8-12

Make sure you stay 1-2 reps shy of failure, and maintain good form throughout the movement.

Source: https://www.mindpumpmedia.com/blog/best-exercises-if-you-want-to-build-a-great-physique

Should I do the Keto Diet if I Want to Lose Weight?

I’m not into telling people what to do. But with the mistakes I’ve seen, I AM into educating people as much as I can on a topic. From there, they can not only make the best decision for themselves, but know the positives (which is all anyone usually focuses on) AND the negatives of following a new diet. Then from that, you can make a way more objective decision for yourself, and see how you feel. Before we get into this I will say my approach that works best for most people is always somewhere in the middle. We’re omnivores. We have evolved to eat both animals and plants as well as fruits. To restrict our bodies from any one category exclusively limits what we can eat and never does as well as the diet that allows for more flexibility.

One more thing, before you approach ANY diet, I want you to make sure you ask yourselves two very important questions:

How many other diets have I tried and not stuck with?

What are the downsides of me not sticking to this one?

Keep these in mind as I now get into the pro’s and con’s of trying to use a Keto diet to lose weight. 

PRO’S

Gut Issues - Alot of people who have gone keto, have noticed it has helped them with their gut issues. By lowering your carb intake you are presumably lowering the intake of food that feeds the bad bacteria in your gut. 

Mental Clarity - 25% of the fuel used by the brain comes from fats. They are classifying Alzheimer’s as Type 3 diabetes. The sheath that coats your nerves are made from fat. So clearly, fats play a big role in cognition. Clients have noticed a huge jump in mental clarity and energy when they switched to high fat. By not having the insulin swings from carbs in each meal, their energy is kept more sustained.

Satiety - Eating more protein and higher fats is very satiating. Think of the last time you ate a big steak (which is all protein and fat). It is extremely filling, and not only that, hours later you’ll find that you are still feeling the satiety effects of that meal. Protein takes awhile to breakdown, and fat provides a lot of energy so it makes sense that this would sustain you longer than a regular meal. And if you are feeling fuller longer, there’s a good chance you’ll naturally eat less (thus putting you into a deficit and why so many people find it’s easy to lose weight on keto). 

Learning true hunger - When I went higher fat, lower carb, I did it because I wanted to curb my snacking. I ate chips all day and night and nothing could stop me. I thought nothing would ever end this snacking. Switching to this lifestyle of eating, I noticed I was no longer craving snacks. The fullness I got carried me throughout the day, and I found the immense value of eating whole foods versus processed garbage and the effect they had. It showed me what actual hunger feels like and not just eating for the sake of it.

CON’S

Super Restrictive - Any time you go on an elimination diet you are limited as to what you can eat. Going keto means you’re basically only eating butter, bacon, avocado, nuts, oils, meat and fish. That can get old after awhile and have you feeling bored with your meals

Weight Gained Back - When you decide to finish your keto diet and add other foods back in, you might have a huge bounce back in weight. This is because you restricted carbs for so long, that your body might not be able to handle the big influx of carbs when you introduce them back in.

Keto Flu - If you do go keto, make SURE you cycle carbs in once and awhile. This isn’t a diet that is made to be adhered to long term. As such, you want to keep your body metabolically flexible to handle carbs or fats at any given time. If it can’t do that, then you aren’t optimal. After all, what’s going to happen when you’ve finally become fat adapted, and show up at a wedding only to binge hard on carbs? Your body won’t be able to handle it. Trust me, once you have a taste of carbs, you are GOING to want to binge. 

Social Acceptance - This isn’t a huge deal but for some it might be. Keep in mind when you go out to restaurants, because your meal plan is limited, you might have to special order from the waiter, or even bring your own foods. Not exactly the life of the party. 

Calories - Fat while satiating is also almost TWICE the calories per gram as a protein or carb. One calorie of fat is 9 grams while one calorie of protein or carbs is only 4 grams, so just keep that in mind as it’ll be very easy to over eat high fat foods versus a carb source (think oils, and nut butters versus eating oatmeal or a sweet potato).

Performance - Anything explosive or weights based in the gym recover better off of carbs. Fat’s are better utilized for longer endurance events. In other words, if you are a lifter, your body will grow and make more progress having had some carbs in your diet. If you lower this too much you may see your performance in the gym drops. Just be aware. Carb cycling can help with this.

It’s Ultimately Up to You

When it comes to any diet let alone keto diets, don’t just do it because it's trending, and your friends or favorite Instagrammer are saying it's great for weight loss. If you DO try it, realize no diet should be followed indefinitely. It should be cycled out. Your body is built for survival. If you restrict for too long, when you finally do eat your body is going to build new fat cells because it does not want to be kept in that starving state again. Going on an accidental carb binge, your body will do whatever is necessary to prevent that. And because your body is built for survival and stuck in a deficit for so long it’s going to want to be prepared for the next “famine”. So it’ll increase its potential for fat stores during the binge to prevent you from dropping all the body weight you didn’t want in the first place. At the end of the day, it’s good to safely experiment with your body to learn how it works and over time what works best for it. So try it out, and see what you think.

Source: https://www.mindpumpmedia.com/blog/should-i-do-the-keto-diet-if-i-want-to-lose-weight

Common Signs of Low Testosterone

Testosterone. It’s responsible for sex drive and plays a vital role in sperm production. It also affects bone and muscle mass, the way you store fat in your body, and even influences red blood cell production. Your testosterone level also impacts your mood and mental function. It’s the quintessential male hormone.

Some scientists believe we are in the middle of a low testosterone epidemic. One study showed that since the 1980’s, average testosterone levels have been declining by about 1% every year. Another study of Danish men showed double digit drops in testosterone when comparing the average man’s testosterone from the 1960’s to those of the 1920’s. As alarming as this is, it’s also a mystery. Scientists can only guess at this point why the average man’s testosterone levels have been declining. Some of the symptoms of low testosterone include low sex drive, less energy, weight gain, depression, loss of mental drive and motivation, lowered strength, diminished muscle mass and thinner bones.

If you’re reading the symptoms of low testosterone and your nodding your head, don’t feel bad, I have some good news. Testosterone is pretty responsive to changes in lifestyle. In other words, your diet and lifestyle can have a pretty dramatic impact on your testosterone levels. Before I continue, I think it’s important to make the following point. Your symptoms of low testosterone may not be caused by low testosterone at all. You could be stressed, lack adequate sleep or just have overall poor health. Although those things can cause low testosterone themselves, they don’t always. But they can cause the same SYMPTOMS. This is why I recommend you get a hormone test just to be sure. The range of what is considered “normal” for men is usually 270-1070 ng/dl. One more note, regardless of where you fall with testosterone, it can go up or down due to lifestyle and diet and still stay within range. In my experience, it’s probably more desirable to be in the higher end of normal than in the lower end.

A diet that is too low in any macronutrient (protein, fat or carbs) can have a lowering effect on testosterone. If you’re on a low fat or low carb diet, try bringing the levels up to see if it has an impact. Calories that are too low can also cause testosterone levels to drop. On the flip side, eating so many calories that you are obese can also lower testosterone. With diet, it seems that balance is key.

Being inactive can also cause testosterone levels to lower. Any physical activity that improves health will likely increase testosterone levels; resistance training is by far the most effective. Lift weights to build muscle and get stronger and your testosterone levels will likely increase.

Sleep is another big testosterone factor. If you aren’t getting adequate sleep, or if your sleep is of poor quality (waking up at night or feeling restless), your testosterone levels will dip. To maximize the beneficial effects of sleep, I suggest following a “sleep routine” before bed. Set yourself a bedtime that allows you to get 7-8 hours of sleep. About 1-2 hours beforehand, turn off all electronics or wear strong blue blocking glasses to mitigate the negative effects that the blue light from those electronics can have on your sleep.

Finally, get appropriate sun exposure. Lack of sun has been linked to a whole host of health issues with one of them being low testosterone. Low vitamin D levels are consistently connected to lower levels of testosterone and one of the most effective ways to naturally raise vitamin D levels is through sun exposure. If you live in a part of the world without much sunlight, or struggle to find time to get some sun, you can supplement with vitamin D (although supplementing is not as good as actually being out in the sun).

Source: https://www.mindpumpmedia.com/blog/common-signs-of-low-testosterone

Why I Caution People to Stay Away from CrossFit

It seems like trends and fads have plagued the fitness industry from the very beginning. Some of these fads came and went like the vibrating belt machines of the 1960s while others left a permanent mark in how we workout like the introduction of aerobic classes in the 1980s. The most recent big trend in the fitness space didn’t just leave a mark, it fundamentally changed how mainstream gyms look and operate. Of course, I am talking about CrossFit.

CrossFit came onto the scene and EXPLODED. I would argue that there has been nothing as influential in my fitness career than CrossFit. In 2005 they only had 13 affiliated locations. Today there are over 13 THOUSAND.

Before CrossFit, it was extremely RARE to see anyone do a barbell squat. Squat racks collected dust and many gyms didn’t even have one. Barbell deadlifts were even more rare. In fact, I have spoken with many senior trainers that say they would deadlift in a mainstream gym in the ’90s inevitably an adult would come up to them and scold me for damaging their spine. Additionally, there were very few women that did any resistance training, and when they did, they stuck to machines and light weight high rep work.

Nowadays most mainstream gyms have multiple squat cages and women make up one third to half of the people in the free weight room. These are very GOOD things. Squats and deadlifts are two of the most effective and beneficial resistance training exercises known to mankind and weight training has tremendous health benefits for everyone, including women. I can confidently give CrossFit the credit for those amazing changes.

If you read any of my content you know I am not the biggest fan of Crossfit and I almost alway recommend people stay away if they ask for my opinion. I haven’t changed my mind. The vast majority of those of you who are reading this article should stay away from CrossFit. Although it did contribute some good to the fitness space, it also brought in some real bad. Two bad things to be exact. Below I list the two main reasons why CrossFit should be avoided.

It promotes an “intensity at all costs” mentality

I can’t stress this enough, harder is NOT always better. In fact, oftentimes harder is worse. The fitness principle of intensity (how hard you work out) is a very important one, however it must be used appropriately. In order to progress you need to train the RIGHT AMOUNT of hard and this measure is not only different for each person but its different for you today vs the right amount for you yesterday. One of the most important concepts a trainer can teach a client is to learn how to listen to their body to determine how hard they should train.

Workouts can cause muscle damage, and its largely believed that muscle damage is one way we signal the body to get stronger, build muscle and adapt. Your body does this as an attempt to prevent further damage from the same physical insult. This is great except that the healing and adapting process can easily be overwhelmed in most people, and always chasing intensity is a sure-fire way to do this.

Although the CrossFit instructor ultimately is responsible for proper training, the CrossFit environment and class-like structure promotes competition among trainees and rewards intensity. You are encouraged to beat the scores of others and many of your workouts are done for time. It’s a culture of intensity and breaking personal records which can increase risk of injury and cause people to over train regularly, resulting in sore muscles and less long-term results.

Olympic lifts to fatigue

Of all of the barbell and dumbbell exercises that exist, the most complex and difficult to master are the Olympic lifts. They can take fit people many months or sometimes even years to accomplish with good form. It can take much longer for a beginner. They are also some of the riskiest to perform. Not because they are inherently dangerous, but rather because they leave zero room for error. A perfectly performed snatch or clean that is done by a healthy capable person is safe, but if their form deviates even a tiny bit, those exercises become extremely precarious. The risk of injury combined with the high level of skill required to perform them is the reason very few experienced personal trainers and coaches teach Olympic lifts to their everyday regular clients.

If you want to see someone’s form break down in any exercise, just get them really tired. As you fatigue, your body compensates and your form begins to change. Not a big deal with exercises that don’t need to be done absolutely perfectly in order to be safe (like a curl), but any compensation can be a very big deal for some exercises and chief among them are the Olympic lifts.

CrossFit puts Olympic lifts in circuits (multiple exercises strewn together without rest) and has people doing them for time and/or high reps. This is a DISASTER. In this format, your form is going to break down, and each time it does you run into inappropriate levels of risk. Besides the risk of injury, doing Olympic lifts in this way almost completely negates the benefits these lifts are known for, namely explosiveness. In order to build explosiveness, you need to train explosive, and this can’t be done when you are fatigued. The bottom line is that CrossFit writes and programs terrible workouts that tend to have higher than appropriate levels of injury risk.

Unless you plan on competing in a CrossFit competition or you find a CrossFit coach who is also an Olympic lift specialist AND you are already very fit and mobile, I suggest you stay away from CrossFit. Instead, opt for traditional resistance training and adapt it to your goals and your body.

Pros and Cons of weightlifting vs Cardio

A common question I get asked by my clients is whether they should prioritize lifting weights or doing more cardio. The “CHOOSE ONE” answer is lifting. The real answer is both. Ultimately there are pro’s and con’s to each.

Cardio 

The Good

You can’t build a good aerobic capacity without some cardio thrown in. You will definitely want a good aerobic capacity if you are seeking not just health and fitness, but longevity with your life. Cardio is going to be great for increasing lung capacity, strengthening the heart, and helping blood flow. Between lifting weights and doing some form of cardio, cardio will also burn more calories within the same allotted time. This is great if your short term goal is to lose some body fat. 

You also don’t need much or any equipment for cardio and there's tons of variety. You can do anything from running on a treadmill, going on a rower, to playing basketball with friends or any other sport you enjoy. It’s why I figure many of my clients gravitate towards cardio vs weight training - they can implement it immediately and anywhere. There is no skill set involved in just going for a jog, or intimidation being in a metal clanging room with a bunch of testosterone. 

You also have different forms of cardio. HIIT cardio is great when you are short on time or want to burn a ton of calories in a shorter time frame. Steady state cardio is great if you want an easier time preserving muscle mass, and not taxing the heart as much. 

The Bad 

It’s great for the short term but bad for the long term. Sure, it burns more calories in the same time span as a normal lifting session, but that's where it stops. Long term, your body is built for survival. It learns to adapt (especially if you are doing cardio to lose weight and are in a deficit of calories). It’s better for your body to make you more efficient at burning less and less calories each week that you keep doing cardio on a diet, so that you don’t burn through all your muscle and fat. It doesn’t know you want to look good at the beach, it just senses you are in starvation mode and need to stay alive. 

The other issue is with certain forms like HIIT cardio, a lot of people tend to overdo it. With OrangeTheory, Soul Cycle, etc. it tends to attract a certain type of personality who likes intensity. That’s all fine and dandy, but if you are doing HIIT 4-6 times a week AND eating a low amount of calories because your girlfriends told you it was the quickest way to lose fat, you are burning yourself into the ground. It simply isn’t sustainable, which is why I get so many clients end up coming to me, who complain they aren’t losing any more weight even though they workout so much and eat so little. 

Resistance Training

The Good

On the other hand, resistance training creates positive, long term metabolic effects on the body. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn at REST. Every time you lift weights you send a signal to your body that it needs to GROW in order to keep up with this stress you keep giving it. Again, your body is built for survival so it will adapt according to the signal placed on its body. 

Lifting weights also allows you to get stronger in a functional way. Functional meaning loading strength through a fuller range of motion. All those knee issues, and aches you might get from running can be worked out through a proper lifting program. This is due usually to imbalances and muscle weakness on the body. Cardio can’t provide enough of a stimulus to continually grow your muscles. 

The Bad

The downside to lifting is if that’s ALL you do, you are completely negating taking care of your heart health. Just look at those heavy powerlifters. Strong as hell, but if they don’t throw in cardio they can barely make it up a flight of stairs without having to take a breath. Resistance training doesn’t provide enough stimulus to increase your aerobic capacity and challenge your endurance. 

The Solution

You need both! By throwing in cardio you can build up that endurance that will translate into your weight training days. If you create a bigger metabolic capacity you’ll be able to perform longer in the gym and in life. You can even combine the two, and do movements like supersets, or circuits, that give some of the weight training stress coupled with the stamina earned doing these movements in succession of each other with little to no break. Just be careful not to go overboard. 

Try This:

3 Full Body Workout days - 1 exercise per muscle group - 3 sets of 6-8 repetitions (choose a weight where you can hit that rep range and only have 1-2 reps left in the tank).

2 days - these can be done after a workout or on their own day - 30 minute steady state cardio (could be jogging on treadmill, playing basketball, swimming, etc. Enough to get your heart rate up but you can still carry on a conversation just a little bit)

1 day - HIIT Cardio - on a non-workout day - For those just starting out focus more on doing HIIT cardio in the form of sprints on a bike, rower, or even outside on the track. 5 minute warmup, 4-6 30 second sprints with 1-1.5 minute break in between, then cooldown for 5-10 minutes.

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Source: https://www.mindpumpmedia.com/blog/pros-and-cons-of-weightlifting-vs.-cardio

What is the Best Diet for Weight Loss?

“What is the best diet for weight loss” is easily one of the top questions that fitness trainers get asked. This makes perfect sense when you consider the fact that weight loss is the number one fitness goal. Before I answer this question, I think it’s important to create some context around this question in order to better inform you.

To start with, let’s define ‘weight loss’. Most people (this includes you) aren’t necessarily interested in weight loss. Most people want FAT LOSS. This is a VERY important distinction. For example, you could cut off your leg and instantly lose pounds of body weight. Losing the wrong kind of tissue is far from ideal. Losing muscle will slow your metabolism down making maintaining fat loss far more difficult. A slow metabolism burns less calories than a fast metabolism. If fat loss is your goal you do NOT want a slow metabolism.

We should also define whether or not you want temporary fat loss or PERMANENT fat loss. Do you want to lose fat then gain it back or do you want to banish it forever? I would bet my house that the vast majority of you want long-term, life-long fat loss. No one wants to get caught in the cycle of losing and gaining excessive body fat.

Now that we are clear that you want PERMANENT FAT LOSS we are almost to the point where we can figure out the best fat loss diet. Before we dive into diets, it’s extremely important to understand that fat loss ONLY happens under the following condition: a caloric deficit. In order for fat loss to occur, you absolutely MUST be consuming LESS calories than you burn, or to put it another way, you MUST be burning MORE calories than you consume. Without getting too technical, just understand that this is a rule of physics. Energy does not get created out of nothing and it doesn’t get destroyed. It gets CONVERTED. When you eat food (energy) it gets turned into energy to be burned and used. If you eat more than the amount of energy your body needs, then your body stores the excess. On the flip side, if you are eating LESS calories than your body burns, then your body uses its energy stores (body fat) to make up the difference.

Rule number 1 with ANY fat loss diet: it must be made up of less calories than you burn.

This is what every single fat loss diet has in common. Doesn’t matter if it’s low carb, high carb, low fat, high fat, paleo, vegan, carnivore, keto, or ANYTHING ELSE. If it causes fat loss, it’s because the diet provided less calories than your body burned. Now that we understand that a calorie deficit is a must for fat loss, let’s look into other factors that can make a diet more or less effective.

Studies consistently show that a high protein diet is more effective for fat loss than lower protein diets. What is considered high protein? Roughly half your body weight in grams of protein to your body weight in grams of protein if you aren’t obese. This would be 70-140 grams of protein for a 140lbs woman or 100-200 grams of protein for a 200lbs male. If you are obese, use your lean body mass (fat mass minus lean mass). A high protein diet isn’t the only way - any diet that puts you in a caloric deficit will cause fat loss – but, high protein diets have been proven to preserve more muscle versus other diets (muscle burns a lot of calories) and high protein diets are proven to help with appetite control. Protein is also an essential nutrient meaning you NEED to eat protein just to survive. A high protein diet will help you eat less and keep (or gain) more muscle. All that being said, a diet containing much lower amounts of protein can be very healthy and you can still lose a considerable amount of body fat without eating lots of protein.

Throughout the ’70s, ’80s and most of the ’90s fat was blamed for heart disease, cancer, and the growing obesity epidemic. Our own government guidelines told us to not eat too many fats and especially saturated fats because they were “so unhealthy.” This turned out to be mostly false. Studies show that a high fat diet in the context of a diet that is low enough in calories to maintain a lean body is typically perfectly healthy. There are also a few examples of cultures that consume diets that are very high in fat who are also very healthy. The Inuit people of northern Canada and Alaska and the Maasai tribes of Kenya and Northern Tanzania consume most of their calories from animal fats and they both display incredible health. Of course, their diets are also relatively low in calories for their caloric energy output. Fats are also essential meaning you MUST consume a certain amount of fats just to maintain normal bodily functions and health.

Over the last couple of decades carbohydrates have gotten some bad press. They have been blamed for the obesity epidemic and for most of our modern chronic health problems. The science on carbohydrates doesn’t really back this up. There are numerous examples of long living societies and cultures that consume a good deal of their calories from carbohydrates. Okinawans are among the longest living people on Earth and they eat a diet that is largely made up of carbohydrates. How is this possible??? They don’t eat many calories. In the context of a diet that is high enough in calories to cause fat gain and obesity, carbohydrates can have devastating health effects, but in the context of a diet that is low enough in calories to maintain a relatively lean body they tend to not pose many health issues. Carbohydrates are not an essential nutrient meaning you don’t have to eat a single carb to survive.

Notice a trend? Most diets can be very healthy if calories are appropriate. Does this mean it’s all about calories? Are all foods healthy so long as calories are low? The short answer is no. There is one category of food that has been consistently connected to bad health and to fat gain. Heavily processed foods. These are foods that typically come in wrappers, boxes or have lots of hard to pronounce ingredients.

Heavily processed foods aren’t necessarily inherently unhealthy (although most are less healthy than unprocessed natural foods) but they do have one quality that makes them almost always a bad choice. They make us eat more. A lot more. In fact, studies show that people will eat 500-600 more calories per day on average when their diets are largely comprised of heavily processed foods. That is a ton of extra calories every week and this equates to pounds of fat on our bodies. This is because heavily processed foods are specifically engineered to make us eat more. Ever notice how you will eat cookies or chips far past the point of feeling full? Most of you know exactly what I am talking about. Heavily processed foods are the likely culprit for our modern obesity and health related issues.

The best diet for fat loss for you can be different than the best diet for the next person. It can be low carb, high carb, low fat, high fat, paleo, vegan, carnivore, keto, or almost anything else so long as it contains adequate amounts of the essential macro nutrients (proteins and fats) and so long as it is largely devoid of heavily processed foods. This is great news because it gives you lots of flexibility. I have seen people succeed long-term with many different types of diets, but I’ve never seen long term success with a heavily processed food-based diet. Eat appropriate calories, eat the foods that make you feel best and stick to whole natural foods and your odds of long-term fat loss will be much better than the average fat loss orientated dieter.

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Source: https://www.mindpumpmedia.com/blog/what-is-the-best-diet-for-weight-loss

What if Macro Counting is Too Hard For You?

 Macro counting is one of the simplest, black and white ways of eating the appropriate levels of calories, proteins, fats and carbs. It can help you reach your fat loss or muscle gaining goals but it still poses many challenges. Some people can dive right into macro counting with a good macro counting app and have no issues, while others find the constant counting, structure and guidelines a pain in the butt. Some people may even find that counting macros encourages them to strengthen or create bad eating patterns or develop a poor relationship to food.

For example: Counting macros can sometimes send the signal that macros are ALL that count when it comes nutrition. When this happens, people work hard figure out all kinds of crazy ways to fit junk food or “unhealthy” foods into their daily diets. Just because something fits your macros doesn’t mean it’s a great choice.

If macro counting is too structured or rigid, or if you find that macro counting is leading you towards an unhealthy relationship to food, keep reading. In this article, I will give you some initial non-macro counting steps that many of my clients have followed with great success.

Add food

Years ago, I tried something with my clients that was truly counterintuitive. I had my clients who wanted to lose fat ADD food to their diets rather than take food away. Sounds crazy at first, but it works and it makes perfect sense when you stop to think about the psychology of our relationship with food.

After about 10 years of working in the fitness space, I had a tough self-reflection event. One day, I was going through my client files and something became painfully clear. I got most of my clients to lose weight, but very few of them actually kept the weight off successfully. Most of them gained the weight back and many would just start the weight loss cycle all over again.

My initial thought was “They just lacked discipline and motivation. I need to figure out how to keep them motivated and inspired.” Then something clicked for me. I realized that motivation was a FEELING. Not so different from happiness, sadness, anger or any other feeling. NO feeling is with us forever. As much as we would love to feel super happy all the time, life just doesn’t work that way. We are supposed to experience a wide variety of feelings. That’s when it all made sense. Discipline is what we need when we aren’t feeling motivated, but discipline will ALWAYS eventually give way. Willpower is literally FIGHTING with yourself. What a miserable way to live. Of course my clients were failing.

This is when I made a small but VERY impactful and powerful change.   Instead of having clients immediately restrict their diets, which is always a challenge of willpower, I had them ADD certain healthy foods to their diets. Adding healthy foods provides a totally different feeling and experience. Why not focus on adding vegetables, water and some good proteins to their daily diets? It worked. My clients followed my advice and they started NATURALLY removing certain “unhealthy” foods, without any prompting. When you are aiming to eat a large bowl of cooked veggies and proteins, you find that you have less room for other foods. When you are aiming to drink half to a gallon of water a day, you naturally drink less soda and juice.

Start slow with this technique. I suggest adding something small to your diet. Cooked fibrous non-starchy vegetables is a great first step. A close second is to add lean proteins to your diet in the form of whole natural foods (not protein powders or bars). Aiming for half to a gallon of water is also a great step. Add one of those things to your diet and make sure you hit your targets every single day and it’s likely that other changes will happen as a natural side effect.

Eliminate Heavily Processed foods

When it comes to fat loss you absolutely MUST consume less calories than you burn. This is a rule of physics. In other words, regardless of whatever diet you follow, if you overeat you will gain body fat. That being said, it’s far easier to overeat on some diets while other diets naturally make you want to eat less.

Studies are now making one thing crystal clear; heavily processed foods make us eat more. A lot more. They are explicitly designed to do so. Heavily processed foods come in wrappers and boxes, are sometimes frozen and they all have a long shelf life. In addition, they usually contain many ingredients. Think chips, crackers, cookies, and frozen pizza.

The vast majority of a heavily processed food company’s research and development budget goes into making their foods as palatable as possible. Palatability refers to the hedonistic qualities of a food (how amazing a food tastes and the experience of eating it). Studies show that people will automatically eat between 500-600 calories EXTRA every single day when they consume heavily processed foods. On the flipside, AVOIDING heavily processed foods usually results in the opposite.

If you get rid of heavily processed foods and do NOTHING ELSE, you will likely eat less food and lose body fat. It’s a great black and white first step.

Eat ¼ less than normal

Another option is to not to change your food choices but simply eat less. Every time you make yourself a plate or you eat a meal ask yourself the following question, “how much would I normally, honestly eat?” Then just eat ¼ less than that.

In order for this to work, you have to be brutally honest. You know yourself better than anyone. Eating ¼ of the food you normally eat should result in a decent caloric drop. In my experience, this approach usually results in a respectable weight loss over the course of a few months.

You don’t have to count macros in order to get to your goals. Although macro counting is a great tool, it’s not absolutely necessary and, if you know it will make your goal HARDER to accomplish either in the short term or the long term, don’t do it. Listen to your body and mind and see if one of the suggestions above works better. One thing is for sure - when it comes to fat loss and dietary changes - slow and steady wins the long race. Take your time, be patient and kind to yourself and take it one step at a time.

Source: https://www.mindpumpmedia.com/blog/what-if-macro-counting-is-too-hard-for-you