Latest / Fit for Hiking / Ep. 113 Nutrition Hacks for Fat Loss that Actually Work
Transcript
- Hi, my name is Brady and I'm a long time fitness professional and Midwest girl turned mountain living hiking addict. In combining my knowledge of fitness and passion for hiking, I've helped hundreds of women get lean and strong for the trails. Think of this as your one stop shop for both education and inspiration on all things female wellness, trail talk and adventure. Hiking, female metabolism, motherhood, nutrition, travel and fitness are all topics you'll hear discussed here. If you are outdoorsy and active, looking to level up your health, unlock your potential and become inspired to live your most vibrant life, you're in the right place. You're listening to the fit for Hiking podcast. Hello and welcome back to another episode of the fit for Hiking podcast. This is your host, Brady. So happy to have you joining us today. We're going to be diving into nutrition. Um, so specifically we're going to talk about some really helpful nutrition hacks for fat loss that are actually going to make a difference in getting results, adhering to a deficit. Because the reality is nutrition is so important and crucial when you're looking at losing weight or losing fat. Um, a lot of people kind of are still of the mindset that as long as you start a workout routine, that's going to get the job done, but in reality, we're really not burning a ton of calories. In comparison to how fast we can consume them when we're working out. Right. So say you do a workout for an hour. An average person might only burn about 400 calories completing that workout. And do you know how easy it is to eat back 400 calories? I mean, that's like one sugary coffee drink that's, you know, one high calorie snack that's, you know, two cookies. It's really, really easy to just mindlessly consume back those calories. So it's tough to get into a calorie deficit if we're only focusing on your energy output. If you're only focusing on exercise and how many calories you can burn. We have to focus on how many are we in taking two, because a lot of people will spin their wheels for years by just really avoiding doing the hard work when it comes to nutrition. And trust me, I know this is the hardest part for me. This is always been the toughest part, especially when I was in my 20s and really feeling stuck. I was up £25 from what I am now and I was working out like a fiend. I was working out like six days a week, oftentimes doing two days really intense workouts. And yet I still was not losing weight for many reasons that I've talked about on this show before. But one of them was just I didn't have my nutrition figured out. I was getting it majorly wrong, and I was not staying in a consistent deficit despite doing all these diets, doing things like Whole30, cutting sugar, cutting carbs. It wasn't getting me where I needed to be with my calorie intake. Okay, so we're going to talk about nutrition hacks for fat loss today. And hopefully you can take away a few of these at least and just immediately start implementing them. So it's important to note right from the top that you have to be in a calorie deficit in order to lose weight. There's no way around it. That's just the law of thermodynamics. We must be in an energy deficit in order to see fat loss, and that can be created through, um, eating less right than what we are needing for maintenance just to keep our body going. We got to be in a slight energy deficit. Um, and that can also be created through energy output with exercise, with our non exercise activity like walking, moving, fidgeting throughout the day and pairing that with a deficit. That's typically when we're getting the best results is when we're doing both of them. Because it's really hard to consistently burn enough calories unless you're just not eating a ton to begin with. Right? So we got to be in an energy deficit, but there are a lot of tips and tricks that will make staying in that deficit consistently a little bit easier and more satisfying, so that you're not constantly hungry and cranky and having low energy. All of these things that can happen when you're in a deficit, especially if you don't go about it the right way. So let's dive into it. Number one. Protein first. Always. Okay, so you probably have heard so many people get on this high protein bandwagon on social media, things like that, and there's definitely a reason for it. Protein is going to be the most satisfying macronutrient out of the three different macronutrients, which are carbs, proteins, and fats. So basically, you're going to get more bang for your buck with protein because it's going to fill you up a whole lot more than just having a ton of carbs or even a ton of fat will do, and it's going to be less overall calories as a result because you're going to fill up faster. So it's really important to make sure that you're getting 20 to 30g of protein at every single meal. Um, if you're only eating three meals a day without any snacks, you might need to get even more than that. And this will depend on several factors, such as your starting weight, kind of your general body size, your activity level if you're lifting weights, things like that. So it's definitely not one size fits all for every single person. This is where working with a coach is definitely, really, really helpful. But in general, you want to shoot for at least 20 to 30g, maybe more, depending on those factors I just discussed at every single meal. This is going to help keep you full help protect your muscle, because we don't want to lose equal parts muscle and fat when we're in a deficit, because that's how we kind of end up with that skinny, fat body type that a lot of people are not shooting for, right? If you're wanting to be toned lean, then you need to hang on to as much muscle mass as possible while you are in a deficit. This will also ensure that your basal metabolic rate is not dropping too much. It's going to naturally adapt a little bit. If you lose weight, then your set point will come down. That's just how our bodies work. The smaller you are, the less calories you need to just exist at rest. However, we don't want too much adaptation to take place, and muscle plays a really key role in that. So examples would be having things like eggs, turkey, bacon, cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, um, protein, oats, overnight oats, things like that at breakfast. Um, having lean sources of meat like salmon, tuna, chicken, ground beef, uh, ground bison, ground elk, um, you know, your basic chicken, things like that. Protein bars, whey protein throughout the rest of your meals. Always prioritizing those sources at your meal times. Beans and lentils can also be a great non-meat protein source. Um, so also things like tempeh and tofu. So there's a lot of different options that are not all meat oriented. Um, and there's so many different hacks that we help our clients with in Mountain Metabolic Coaching to help you get more protein without tons of excess calories, because that's kind of the tricky puzzle piece here when fat loss is the goal. Um, number two, kind of going along with that is volume eating. So what does that mean? That means you want to load your plate with high fiber, water rich foods like veggies and fruits. This is going to make such a big difference in terms of your satiety and getting a lot more food for less calories, because if you're just loading up on things that are calorie dense, then that's going to definitely make it harder to stay in a deficit while still being satisfied, right? Like if you're just eating, um, you know, tons of calories worth of, like, ice cream or sweets or high calorie drinks, you're going to reach your calorie target really dang fast, and you're probably still going to be hungry at the end of the day, because those are not foods that are going to keep you full or balance your blood sugar longer than maybe an hour or two, right? So it's important to look at what you're eating as far as the volume. And not only are fruits and veggies extremely high in micronutrients, which are going to be so much better for your gut health, your overall health markers, hormone health, but also they're going to help keep you satisfied while keeping calories low. So I definitely would shoot for a couple servings a day of both fruits and veggies. Um, and just make sure that you're prioritizing those to get your volume. Number three is pre tracking your meals. Now this does take some planning but I would argue that when you're looking to lose fat you just have to plan a little bit more. When it comes to your nutrition. So what I like to do is I like to plan out my day the day before. So the night before I'm going to look at, okay, what am I doing tomorrow for my breakfast, lunch and dinner? And do I have all that stuff prepped at least enough that I can make it through the day fairly quickly with my nutrition, without a ton of roadblocks? Do I have what I need packed if I'm going somewhere and then go ahead and track it for the next day in a tracking app like My Fitness Pal. This is going to be really helpful because it takes the guesswork out. It takes the brain workout the next day when maybe you've reached decision fatigue or you're overwhelmed, or a lot of things are going on, then you don't have to worry about it. It's already planned out and all you have to do is execute. Okay, so it's just all about the implementation at that point. Definitely. It makes a really big difference. I've seen for my clients and for myself. Number four is having five staple meals on rotation for your breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack options. Why is this helpful? Again, I think we spend so much time trying to figure out what the heck to eat, right? Like, what are these healthy meals that I can be eating? And you think you need to have all these elaborate recipes? But in reality, a lot of us are busy, especially if you have tons of kids or a really demanding schedule. It's hard to always be cooking. Then you just feel like you're non-stop cooking, doing dishes, meal prep, all of these things instead. What I like to do in this season of life, of having two little kids and being super busy on the go is have a few staples and then rotate through them. So I have like 3 to 5 main breakfasts that I already have tracked. I know exactly how much protein is in them, I know exactly how many calories, what I'm getting, and then do the same thing for lunch and dinner. This is going to help you so much where you're not having to think about what you're going to eat. You just have those things ready, and then you rotate through them. And then every few months, when you start to get sick of that, then you rotate new things in, right then you only have to be creative like once, once every few months, and maybe do it while you're in ovulation, when you're feeling the most creative and you're not feeling burnt out. Okay, so that will really make a big difference. And then ordering groceries every Sunday with these key things in mind. And that will make it so much easier because typically these grocery ordering apps actually will remember. So then you're just kind of clicking through like, okay, yep, I need a I need a refill on all of these things. And when you're tracking your tracking app is also going to remember the things that you're typically eating. So it's going to make everything so much more seamless. And you're going to have to try way less hard in order to hit your targets, get what you need, and get healthy meals in. Okay. Number five is front loading your veggies. Um, so basically at the start of the meal, instead of going straight for a carb source or a sugary thing, start with your veggies and fiber source first. This is going to help you again, kind of going back to that high volume concept, you're going to naturally eat less of the calorie dense foods that might come after when you're filling up on the good stuff first. And this tip is so helpful if you are going to a party or a social gathering or eating out, because otherwise, how easy is it to just start like mindlessly snacking on things like chips and salsa or sweet things, or getting sweet drinks and just kind of going overboard with that. But if you start with the good stuff, you're more likely to kind of keep going with that and you're going to fill up on high volume, healthy foods before all of the kind of higher calorie things that maybe you don't want to eat quite as much of. If fat loss is your goal. Number six, a fiber and protein snack combination. The reason this is so helpful is because it's going to help keep your blood sugar stable and reduce cravings when you're pairing protein and fiber together for your snacks. If all we're doing is going for just high carb or kind of sugary snacks, then we're going to crash and burn. You're going to send your blood sugar on a wild ride, and that's why you're hungry again one hour later or exhausted and having these energy crashes. So an example of this would be, um, something like an apple with string cheese, hummus and carrots, tuna and wholegrain crackers. Um, a little Greek yogurt cup with berries, things like that. Have some go tos that you know you have on hand, and you can just eat those in a small amount to get your snack in. Very much going along with that one is number seven, which is to avoid what I call naked carbs for blood sugar purposes as well. So what a naked carb is, is essentially having a very like high carb or high sugar item without pairing it with protein. So that means you need to get protein with every single high sugar or carb meal or snack. So, for example, say you're going to Starbucks in the morning and you're getting a mocha or a frappe or some sort of like very sugary drink or like a pastry or something like that, instead of just having those very high sugar items. Make sure you pair it with a high protein option like the egg white bites or something that's going to have a high amount of protein. And typically you can even look at their menu and it will tell you the nutrition facts. Or you can put it into a nutrition tracking app, especially if you're going to a very popular place like Starbucks. So even if you're not going out to eat, the same principle applies at home. Making sure that you're not just having fruit. Because even though fruit is a great source of fiber and it's really healthy despite being high in sugar, you don't want to just have that by itself without pairing it with protein. All right. Number eight. Learn how to balance your plate in all scenarios. This is such a life hack. If you can get these portions down and then kind of scale it to what your calorie range is looking like for your deficit, which again, is different for everyone, then you're going to have so much more success. So for every single plate that you are building, you're going to pick a protein option that's going to take up ideally about 50% of your plate, 25% veggie, 25% carb source. And then typically you're going to have your fat either over top of your veggies or cooked with for your protein or something as an add on. In general, you only need about a thumb size amount of fat at each meal because that can really add up quickly. As far as calories, fat is the most calorie dense per gram out of all of the macronutrients, so you just want to be mindful with your fat sources. So typical fat sources are going to be things like salad dressings, oils, butter, avocado, cheese or nuts. Okay, so maybe you're sprinkling some cheese and shaved almonds over a salad with a little bit of olive oil. You're going to really want to be mindful of those portion sizes. So start trying to do this even when you're eating out or at social gatherings, even if you're not able to be perfect with it, simply attempting this is going to help you so much more towards your progress than if you just were like, not even mindful of it whatsoever. Which leads me to number nine mindful eating. Um, so basically what this means is that when you sit down to eat, you're doing it without screens. You're chewing slowly, really trying to intentionally chew your food like 20 times before you swallow, putting your fork down between bites. And you're not distracted. You're not just eating in the car or standing up. And trust me, I get this. I am on the go so much lately with trying to get my toddler to preschool on time, trying to get out the door with a little baby, and trying to go in between activities and work and all of the things. It's tough sometimes, and I do end up eating on the go a little bit more than I would like in this season of life. But when you can try to eat mindfully by sitting down or removing distractions and really being aware of what's going on, really chewing your food, this is going to help you feel more satisfied with your food, because you're actually aware of every single bite. Instead of just like wolfing it down and having no idea how much you just consumed. And it's going to help improve digestion, the more that you can start the digestive process in your mouth with your saliva actually chewing thoroughly instead of chewing twice and then trying to swallow and digest. Also, there's a concept called rest and digest, meaning that your nervous system is if it's relaxed, you're actually going to be able to digest your food properly. If you're eating in a stressed out state, in a stressed out nervous system, then you're not going to have very good digestion. That's just the facts. So you have to make sure that you are really prioritizing this, especially if you're prone to bloating or gut issues or digestive discomfort, especially after eating. Okay. Number ten avoiding strict meal plans or cutting food groups. This is definitely a controversial thing, because a lot of people have kind of been conditioned to think that in order to lose fat, you need to go on some sort of diet with a name or, um, you know, follow a really strict meal plan. But the reason I'm not a fan of either of these methods is because it's almost never sustainable. It's not flexible at all to your life circumstances if something comes up or if you're going out to eat, if you're socializing, if you have a holiday or a vacation. And it definitely promotes this like on off mentality, which does not bode well for long term leanness. If you have to be either on with following your meal plan or off, then you are way less consistent than if you just have kind of like a calorie range that you're shooting for a protein target and you know how to balance your plate with moderation. It's tough because I think in life we look for these like cheat codes of like, okay, how can I just make this as easy as possible? I don't want to have to think. But the reality is you have to do the hard work when it comes to nutrition, to learning what portion sizes work for you, how not to overdo it, how to eat in social settings without freaking out and being on or off. And how to figure out what your maintenance calories look like long term, so that you can stay lean when people just rely on meal plans, or cutting out sugar or carbs or things like that. Then once they're done with that, they have no idea how to actually sustain the results that they might have achieved. So yes, you might get faster results, but they're typically short lived and it's really tough to maintain and just actually have a flexible, reasonable lifestyle. Number 11 if you're not losing weight despite eating healthy and exercising consistently, it may be time to track your calories for a bit. This is really the best and most proven method for fat loss. Tracking calories is the number one thing that leads to fat loss more than anything else, even exercising everything. Okay, so while it doesn't have to be forever, even doing this for a few weeks can be very enlightening as to how you might be going overboard with your calories, because if you're not seeing the progress, then you're likely not actually in a deficit. Even if you're eating healthy, calories can still sneak up on you even if you're eating healthy foods. For instance, if you're eating kind of high fat without realizing it, you're having a ton of oils. You're having a lot of avocado, nuts, cheeses, things like that, or high fat protein sources like beef or steaks. All of that can really add up. So you just have to become aware of how much you're truly taking in and be as precise as possible, and then create a deficit from there. This is honestly probably the number one thing that you need to do if you're not losing weight despite eating quote unquote healthy, working out, getting your steps in doing all of these things right. All right. Number 12. When eating out, do the pick one method. So this is a method that I love. I kind of just made it up because I find it so helpful. If you're going know what to eat, you're going to order your main meal and you want to practice doing your portion sizes, like what we talked about, of balancing your plate. Well, but then when it comes to extras, I want you to just choose one. So either a drink like an alcoholic beverage or some sort of high calorie drink, an app or a dessert, you're picking one of those with your meal instead of having all of them or two of them. Because I think sometimes we just go into eating out situations and treat it like a free for all, and then we wonder why we're feeling stuck, but we're doing that multiple times a week that can really add up and kind of cancel out any sort of deficit that you're hoping to create. So doing the pick one method will definitely make a very, very big difference. Um, okay. Number 13, if you struggle with late night binging, I want you to actually plan ahead for a treat every single night. Now, this might sound counterintuitive, but this is actually changed my life because I used to be someone who would, like, eat really well all day, and then at night I would go way overboard with treats or snacks or things like that. And what I realized is it's because I was telling myself that I couldn't do it. I was trying to eat, quote unquote, perfectly throughout the week and then at night or on weekends, then I would go overboard and I would binge. So by planning ahead for it in a small amount. So say I factor in 200 calories for ice cream or wine or chocolate or chips every single night. And I proportioned it out and I stick with that amount. It desensitize me to that particular treat that you used to kind of have a hold on me where I felt like if I had it, I had to go overboard because I didn't know when I was going to get it again. This might take a while to kind of even out if you're working on your relationship with food, but it's worth doing the work because now I'm able to have those treats in moderation without feeling the need to go overboard. It's completely changed. My relationship with food is completely change my body composition. So just plan for it. Factor it in to what you're tracking as you're getting your tracking in and focusing on fat loss. Okay. Number 14 plan for refit periods after eight weeks maximum of being in a fat loss phase, you really don't want to exceed eight weeks of being in a deficit because one for mental purposes that can be really tough and you don't want to just live in a calorie deficit. Also, for your metabolic metabolic health, your metabolism does not do well being in a low state for that long. So basically, if you're constantly under eating, your body will adapt. Okay, so that's where refits are important. And kind of cycling in and out of fat loss phases. You don't want to just live there because your metabolism will adapt over time, and then it's going to be harder to maintain your new body weight without eating a very, very small amount. That's what we don't want to have happen. And that's why approaching fat loss strategically with a coach who knows what they're doing, makes all the difference with actually being able to keep the weight off. You really need to support your metabolism as you are focusing on fat loss. So have a strategic cut slash re feed cycle so that you can keep seeing progress without those metabolic adaptations occurring. Okay. Number 15 are the last one cycle deficit and maintenance days throughout your week. This is kind of a higher level strategy, but if you are keeping track of your calories, you're trying to hit a deficit. Focus on a more intense deficit during the week when you know it's going to be easier to nail, that you're cooking at home, you don't have a lot going on. You're just kind of doing your thing and then focus on maintenance calories on the weekend. So that's going to be slightly higher depending on if you're trying to do like a 250 daily deficit or a 500 daily deficit. It will depend on that. But you can just kind of chill at maintenance during the weekends when you know that you're going to have social events. This might help you not feel quite so deprived, and it might just work a little bit better with kind of like your natural eating patterns. If you find that like during the week, you're not as hungry anyway because you're focusing on work, you're doing your thing, and then on the weekends you want to enjoy more food. This might work better with your lifestyle. You don't have to eat the same exact amount every single day. It's all about hitting that average at the end of the week that still has you in a deficit. So just remember that the more intense the deficit and the more consistent you are, the faster results you're going to achieve. However, if you want to enjoy the process a little bit more and you don't have a specific deadline like a wedding or an event or something, you can go slower with a less intense deficit and give yourself more maintenance days, more refits, things like that. So that's something I always discuss with my clients who have that last as a goal. I'm like, okay, how how intense do you want to go here? Because yes, we can create a higher deficit right off the bat, but if you can't follow it consistently or if you're miserable, it might not be worth it to go that hard, and you might want to create a smaller deficit and just take a little bit more time. So it's important to gauge your expectations based on your mindset and how intense you're willing to go with your fat loss phase. Okay, you guys, that's your 15 Nutrition Hacks for Fat loss that will actually work. I hope that these are helpful. Let me know. Send us a DM at the Fat Underscore for Hiking Instagram page. If any of these are really helpful for you. If you try them out and you're like, yes, this is working, I would love to hear about it. And as always, please let us know if you are interested in our Mountain Metabolic Coaching program. We actually have a few spots opening up in the next few weeks. for women who want to get leaner for life and do it the right way, supporting their metabolic health along the way. So if that sounds like you and you want to just kind of figure out how to do this on your own long term without having to constantly guess and, you know, just have this one step forward, two steps back type of thing, then coaching is going to be a really, really great avenue to achieve that and to make this process so much shorter and easier for you. So you can apply at the link in the show notes, or you can DM us right now if you DM us at the fit underscore for hiking Instagram page results, then we will know that you're interested in applying and we will reach out and go from there. Thank you so much for tuning in today and I will chat with you in the next episode. Thanks for tuning into this episode of the fit for hiking podcast. As always, I hope it leaves you feeling inspired and informed on how to take your health and adventure into your own hands. For more content like this. Be sure to follow along with my daily posts at Ponytail Underscore. On a trail that's ponytail underscore on a trail. You can also stay up to date on my new episodes being released at Fit Underscore for hiking, and find more free resources at ponytail on Etrailer.com. Happy and healthy trails.