Latest / Motherhood Alliance Podcast / Nutrition, Simplified: Tips for Long-Term Health w/ Maria Bearson | Bearson Fit
Transcript
- Britney: Hello everyone. Welcome back to the podcast. This is Drea and Britt with motherhoodalliance.com and we are excited to welcome Maria Bearson to the podcast. She is a certified online functional health coach, a nutrition coach and the founder of Bearson Fit, where she helps women lose fat, build strength and create sustainable habits that fit into real life. Maria is known for taking a practical, tailored approach to coaching, combining evidence-based nutrition, mindset work and strength training to help women feel strong and confident without extreme dieting. Hey everyone, welcome to episode four. Maria, we're excited to have you back for our last episode together. Maria: Thanks for having me. Britney: I've really enjoyed our conversations. know our first couple episodes are really a mishmash of talking about mindset as well as weight loss and just this overall topic of nutrition and how it really is a struggle for so many people. our last one we really honed in on the mindset aspect because that is something that's so important not only for a weight loss journey but really just how we should think about food in general and how we can ⁓ Maria got into the field after experiencing firsthand how confusing and extreme the fitness industry can be. I'm really excited about diving into this in episode one. So make sure you check out that episode. She became passionate about simplifying the process and teaching women how to fuel their bodies properly, move their bodies with intention and develop a healthy mindset around food. Maria is a wife and mom of two young kids. So she understands the challenges of balancing motherhood, business and personal health and wellness. treat and talk to ourselves anytime we make mistakes in life. So that was such a great episode. If you guys have not listened to that one yet, make sure you go back and listen to those. In this episode though, I really wanted to kind of take a step back and a 10,000th of view about just living a healthy, joy-filled life. I have a ton of questions around current fads that are going on just to get your take. We're just going to have an honest conversation around a lot of things that people struggle with as well as just tips for making your life easier. So let's just start with sticking with the nutrition. ⁓ And outside of coaching, she loves strength training, spending time outdoors with her family, running the mom walk collective events and living the fun, but balanced lifestyle she teaches. We are so excited for you guys to learn from Maria today. piece of things. What would a balanced plate look like? We keep talking a little bit about protein. know carbs are always a big topic in the nutrition world, whether you're talking about dieting or just, you know, eat your carbs based on your number of activity. So let's talk a little bit about macros and a balanced plate to start with. Maria: Yeah. And even like before macros, I think just talking about like a balanced plate first is we always go back to the concept of whole foods and getting as many foods as possible from whole natural, if possible, organic foods. And that's really like the starting point for everything. Now talking about macronutrients. It's going to vary based on the individual, male versus female age, active they are and all those sorts of things. really getting, I always say protein first because ⁓ ⁓ majority of us are not getting enough protein in our diet. So I usually say 30 grams of any protein source, having some healthy fats in there. getting in some fruits or vegetables or both would be great, but also having a carbohydrate source, preferably something that's starchy or going to be, is going to be a little bit more, like have some fiber in it as well. Britney: Okay, what about snacking? Would you have the kind of the same ratio for that? Like snacking should always have protein involved and things like that. Maria: I usually say a protein and or fiber source for a snack because oftentimes I find that people if they're snacking it's not, it's usually going to be a packaged, that is ⁓ little bit more processed. So having something that has protein and fiber in it would be ⁓ Britney: What are your go-to snacks when you're saying something with fiber in it? Maria: I mean if you are doing even just like some fruit that'd be great, you know a cup of strawberries or You know and you can even ⁓ add some ⁓ some or something to have it like have a little bit more calories and ⁓ Some fats in it as well Even like a yogurt that I mean that's going to be your your protein source if you will if you want to add a little bit of granola on top that has you know, grams of ⁓ fiber Britney: What would you, what's your guidance for helping to make meal planning easier? Cause I think a lot of this falls on women stereotypically. Um, but whether it's a woman or a man, like our lives are so busy right now, especially if you're a parent and you have kids going to different activities and different things like that. Maria: Thank Definitely. Britney: How does somebody meal plan? How do you meal plan? Do you meal plan all three, like meal, breakfast, lunch, and dinner? Do you meal plan snacks? Do you meal plan one thing? Let's just dive into that a little bit and give a couple tips to make this a little bit easier, because this is a pain point for a lot of people. Maria: Yeah. So I personally, and I find with my clients that are the most successful, they do meal prep in some sort of way. So it doesn't necessarily mean breakfast, lunch and dinner, but they do always have every time they open their fridge, that they can eat that they can just ⁓ right away because it's already prepared for them. I love, as I was talking about with protein, I will you will go in my fridge any point in time and I always have protein sources that are readily available. Britney: What are some of your go-tos? Maria: Yeah. So I love chicken and I make that in a variety of ways. So I do not get, lot of people are like, Oh, I get so burnt out on chicken because it's chicken, know, but you, so just this last week I, uh, I had chicken that was just like, I had salt and pepper and I baked it. And I was also getting sick of what I had had. And I had already had it for a couple of days. I dice it up really, um, really small. And then I ended up like throwing in a little bit of mayo and pickles ⁓ it made like a sandwich type like spread. Yeah. ⁓ then it totally changes the taste of what it is or you can add it on salads and all sorts of things, but there's different ways to prep it. Right. I'll like these turkey meatballs where my daughter, ⁓ my loves vegetables. My daughter. Britney: Mm-hmm. Chicken salad. Mm-hmm. Maria: I have to hide them and everything. Otherwise, actually yesterday or like it's hit or miss for her, but I want to make sure that she gets them in. So I'll do, turkey meatballs ⁓ I will dice up vegetables really small and put them in. And then I will, ⁓ have them that way. And she loves that any sort of meat she just absolutely loves. So I'll have that ⁓ We do often, we try to do salmon, like at least once a week, but I actually do like smoked salmon as well. So I just get it at Bearcats here. And I love that. all my kids and everyone in my family loves the salmon too. So not only are you getting a protein source, but it's also a healthy fat with high omega-3s, which is critical for us too. And something that we're also typically deficient in as Americans. Britney: Sounds like your kids like variety of meats. would be some protein sources that you've recommended for clients that might have some picky eaters in their houses? ⁓ Maria: Yeah, well even like if they didn't want meat having like ⁓ quinoa, you're going to get some, you know, like side protein in it. And, you know, if they like yogurt, cheese, I mean, there's there's all sorts of options for them just kind of based on what they, you know, if they aren't, they don't eat meat, for whatever reason, which I don't typically recommend, unless it's something like they're very set on not having it. totally fine. But there's some ⁓ micronutrients that you have to be very well aware of as somebody who's going to be vegetarian vegan. having something tofu could be another option as well. Britney: Okay. Yeah. That's the way I feel like people are always just looking for like easy tips and tricks, right? And then like boiled eggs and different types of nuts and nut butter and yeah, yeah. It's, but protein is hard. And that's probably why it's always the conversation that's first, right? Is like focus on your protein because that's all honestly, the one that people reach for the least they want to reach for the carbs. So the protein is the one that takes effort, especially for our kids. What are your thoughts on protein powders? Maria: Yeah, eggs are great. Yep. Yeah. Yeah, I think it's a good to add in if you aren't hitting, I say, and I'm going to loosely say this because it's like, how many grams of protein should you be getting in? If you aren't getting at least a hundred grams of protein in your diet every single day, adding in a protein powder can be beneficial. I would say pay attention to how your digestive system reacts or responds to ⁓ whey protein and not only the whey protein, but also what is in ⁓ whey, like what else? Typically when you are looking at whey protein, there is ⁓ ingredients, ⁓ a lot of artificial ⁓ additives, just things that your body doesn't necessarily need is, ⁓ if there's too much of, which is... contributing to some digestive issues. So I would say be careful with that and try to choose like a cleaner option if you can. Otherwise, again, if it's something that you love and you're like, you know what, it's worth it to me to have this sweetened whey protein, that's fine too. It's all about balance with that. And I go back to the 80, 20 year old where it's like, that's cool. Britney: Do you have a favorite brand that you use? Maria: So actually my brother owns a whey protein company, so I use his. It's called Pure Choice Whey. Yeah. Britney: Okay. Okay, cool. So I know something that we talked a lot about in our prior episodes was just finding this like mental balance between allowing yourself to have things that are not necessarily whole foods while also 80-20 like we talked about. What about going out to eat? What are some tips that you have for when you're going out to eat and you're looking at this menu and everything looks delicious because things look extra delicious when you don't need to cook them? ⁓ How do you kind of stay on track with your nutrition, especially for someone who goes out to eat a lot? Like my husband goes out to lunch pretty frequently for work. So if it's a rare, you know, rare instance, that's one thing versus a regular part of your diet. How do you maintain still achieve your goals? Maria: Yeah. So first, if it's a rare instance, I'm like, Hey, go out, enjoy what you want. If you want the pasta or the linguine or you know, what, whatever, maybe that higher calorie, um, food is that's okay. If it's every once in a while, if you are going to be going out very regularly, I would usually, I like to stick to, I think of the idea of making it more simple for yourself. So Is there an option on the menu where you could have like a chicken breast or a salmon or whatever protein source, like protein number one, can you get a vegetable with that as a side? And then a carbohydrate source. So maybe that's rice and beans and chicken, just as an example. In that way, you're making it very easy where you're hitting, you're getting the amount of protein that you need. you're getting a vegetable in your diet, which is also gonna help with increasing the number of micronutrients and fiber. And you're also getting some rice, so a starch as well. And it creates more of that balance. And generally with these types of foods, when you are out, they're cooked in oils and they have a lot of extra butter or something where you're already getting that fat in. So I don't say like, try to go out of your way and also get an additional fat source in that case, but it's not like it's a bad thing to do so. You could also opt for, you know, I just think of like many women who might be dieting is get us a salad. know, a large salad, often have so much, there's so much in these salads, right? There's a lot of calories. If you are looking like sometimes they have nuts and Maybe they have cranberries and different, different things, quinoa, maybe even. And so you could get a salad dressing on the side could be an option for you in limiting like the amount of condiments. I also say like, yes, you can allow yourself, you know, an appetizer if you want something, but limit that because generally the appetizers are going to be mostly fried food. ⁓ It's just not going to be as satiating for you. Very high in and fats that we don't necessarily need more of with our main entree. Britney: Yeah, yeah, it can be a tricky thing to navigate, right? Because I feel like that's where so many societal pressures come in. It's like, well, that table over there is eating cheeseburgers and pizza. That's kind of what I want to. And like you said, have it. Have it periodically, but just if it's a frequent thing, just being aware. And that's where the mindset piece that we talked so much about in episode three comes in is if you have goals or you just look at yourself differently than maybe you used to, you'll make choices to reflect that, right? Maria: Yeah, I think one other thing to add to that too is like if you know that you're going to be out that often is getting a to-go box before you finish your meal and allowing yourself to put half of that away. If you know that you're someone that's like, no, I feel like I need to always eat all of it ⁓ is yourself to eat all of it. But maybe tomorrow you eat all of it versus and so that way you're kind of doing some Britney: Sure. Maria: and audit on yourself and some portion control. Britney: Well, I guess that's whole different topic that I don't think we've really touched on much yet is portion control. mean, we talked about it a little bit with the Oreos and the sweets conversation that we had, but in general, how do you know what a good portion for you is? Is it really just based on the calorie count of specific things? Are you recommending for someone who's in like not a weight loss phase or more of a maintenance phase, they have a pretty good mindset. Are they, should they still be tracking calories in macros? So kind of walk us through these types of topics. Maria: Yeah, and I think it sort of depends on the goal, right? Because if they don't have a weight loss goal, tracking still can be beneficial in certain senses. Like if ⁓ had mentioned before, they weren't and we didn't see what their micronutrient status was, and we're like, ⁓ my gosh, like I'm low, like I said, on B12 and my energy has been super low. There may be certain things in their diet that they're not consuming that would be beneficial for them to add in. having a protein source first where you're getting at least 30 grams of protein. So, I mean, that's going to be 120 plus calories approximately. Um, and getting your, your vegetables in and getting another some source of fats and carbohydrates. But with that too, back up and say, how do you, how are you feeling ⁓ eating that amount of food? I mean, are you feeling totally stuffed where you like, cause we never want you at a spot where you're like, ⁓ I'm at 10 out of 10. It's just like, I'm awful. My, or like, feel awful. My stomach is distended and you're, you're experiencing some of these symptoms. well then maybe we are eating a little bit too much. And then on the flip side, are you just feeling like not satisfied at all after that meal? Well, maybe we do need to actually increase some calories a little bit there. That is something that's built into my coaching that we ask on a weekly basis, like how are you feeling hunger wise? Because if you're just starving all the time, we need to have a conversation about that. Britney: Yeah, for sure. Man, this is, this is why we are having these conversations, right? Because this is something that everybody, everybody honestly does struggle with periodically. And I love that we've talked about mindset being a huge part of it, but what would you say for someone who maybe has been in a really good like maintenance level, they're pretty happy with where they're at. And then they start to either slowly gain weight or flip side somebody who's been losing weight and they kind of like hit this plateau. It's just like almost this like level of I've been feeling really good lately, but now I'm not so sure and I'm not so happy. So how does the mindset shift change in that time frame? Maria: Yeah. And I think like here is where the very valuable tool comes in with data and talking about, well, what is, you're saying that you're, you're gain. So gaining weight. Okay. Well, did you recently start strength training in the gym or you're, training a little bit more regularly and there's some progressive overload that like, that's actually causing you to gain muscle and it's not fat ⁓ in, in Britney: Yeah. Maria: like are we taking pictures? Are we taking measurements? And also are we tracking our food at all? Like has something changed from that perspective? And like overall, how are you feeling hormonally wise, stress level wise, all of that stuff, because maybe there was a recent very event that happened in their lives where that's impacting. Maybe they don't realize it, but their actions and they they didn't realize like, am snacking actually a lot more than I used to. Well, that's data, right? We're like, okay, well, maybe we weren't tracking that before, but now that we're paying attention a little bit more, okay, I'm snacking like four times throughout the day and maybe before it used to be two on average, just as an example. So I think it does come back to the data side of things and what we need to move the needle on. Britney: no, that's a great answer because if you don't know where you're coming from, then how do you know where you're going? Right? Or what's changed? Yeah, for sure. All right. Well, I'd love to finish this episode with some kind of like fire away things for you. So, you can say either yes or no, ⁓ or, add like a brief explanation and just, we're just going to see where it goes. I've never done anything like this, but I have a bunch of different things. I just want to get your opinion on. ⁓ So, one is creatine. Maria: Good. Yeah. Yes. Love it. Many great for many functions in addition to, you know, like helping with muscle and brain function. Absolutely. It is a yes for me. Yes. Britney: daily. okay. Branched chain acids or essential amino acids. So those are BCAAs or EAAs. Maria: can be helpful, not a necessity. Britney: caffeine. Maria: ⁓ yes, as in I have caffeine every day. ⁓ you necessarily need it. would say maximum threshold, know, maybe 150 milligrams, especially as you get in later to the day, ⁓ can impact sleep. Britney: Okay, electrolytes for the average person. Maria: Yeah, I do think they can be beneficial. Britney: Do you have a favorite brand? Maria: use instant hydration. Britney: GLP-1s. Maria: What about them? this is a topic we could have a whole conversation on. think it depends on the person. ⁓ that the system is, I'm a little bit nervous and concerned from the standpoint of there's, ⁓ addition to the weight loss happening, there's a lot of muscle that is being lost when people are getting on GLP ones. Britney: fan or not a fan. Maria: because they're not changing their habits and they are not strength training and they are not prioritizing protein. With that said, ⁓ in eight Americans are on GLP-1, so I wanna be very cognizant of the fact that a lot of listeners are on them. And I don't think that that is a bad thing at all, but I think getting some additional education and having the right tools, mindset perspective, I have clients that are on them that still do coaching. And I think they can be a very beneficial tool, but it's not a long-term health strategy. And I think building in those habits that'll help you with your longevity is very important. Britney: What about strength versus cardio? Maria: I think a combination of both is great. I think the statistic for cardio is that the talking about movement in steps, like the average American is around 3,500 steps a day, which is significantly lower than what we need to be at. So I'm going to say cardio for sure. Like we do need to increase the amount of just activity that we have through the day. But strength training is also important, especially as we age, bone density, muscle mass, all of that stuff declines later in life. So we want to make sure that we're preserving that as much as possible. Britney: All right, and then last one is more of just an open-ended question, but are there any supplements that you feel like most people are lacking in and they should be taking in supplement form? Maria: Yes. threes I is ⁓ a one. There's been quite a few studies that have been that show number one that we're deficient, but that it can really impair mood, can play into so many things from a brain health and cognitive perspective. So Omega's is one we tend to be deficient in vitamin D as well. sometimes B vitamins, if we're going into like supplements with like whey and stuff like that protein, know, amino acids, I think, ⁓ you know, adding that in as well. But if we're prioritizing a mostly whole foods diet, it will help. But usually with those things that I had mentioned with like omegas, vitamin D, sometimes magnesium as well. it's still a good thing to have in your day-to-day supplement routine. Britney: Yeah. I would agree with everything that you just said. And I, it's funny because we make fun of like, when we were young, we'd make fun of our grandmas because they would have all these like vitamins are taking and we're like, ⁓ my gosh, you have so many. And then my husband and I were laughing the other day. like, look, we're already like our grandmas. But, it's, and it's like, when you're, when you are eating foods that are more whole food, that's when people are questioning, well, do I need to take supplements? But I think our food is just different these days than it used to be. And then also living in Wisconsin, like we don't get the sunlight that other places get. And so. Maria: Ha ha! Britney: there are things that can be beneficial for a lot of different types of people. Well, to finish out this episode, I mean, if we're talking about living a joy-filled, maybe simplified, and just overall healthy lifestyle, what last words of advice would you have for the audience? Maria: You know, I think getting out and doing things that you enjoy in your life, matter what that is, is so important. And I think that it will only help you with wherever it is that you want to go. And it doesn't matter if it's weight loss or, you know, it doesn't need to be something that's a physical change in your body, but for me and I just think that happiness is also just so incredibly important and connecting with people and yeah, I think that's kind of like the big thing is go do things that you enjoy and also be willing to get uncomfortable because anything that you do that you're not currently doing that you want to do that you haven't done is going to be uncomfortable at first, you know, and it's like being willing to put yourself out there. And I promise you, like it does relate to your mindset and how you operate in the kitchen and in the pantry and it's all intertwined. So it all helps you with your overall health. Britney: Yeah, I would agree. these were great conversations. I appreciate you coming on, Maria. And last question, because we always like to finish our series with this question, but what is the future of, for you? What does the future look like for you and your business and your coaching? Maria: That's a great question. Yeah. Well, hopefully just growing and continuing to do what I'm currently doing, you know, being on more podcasts and getting the word out there about how mindset quite literally controls ⁓ everything we do. ⁓ And didn't mention this before, but the book ⁓ is Power Versus Force by David Hawkins. He talks about how our thoughts control, it can contribute to illness and to so many different things just based on how we perceive ourselves and the world. ⁓ if we can change that, we can literally alter ⁓ lives. Britney: Yeah, I love that. Well, and doing your walks with the Mom Walk Collective. This is something we also haven't mentioned yet is that you are a host for that. Why don't you just share a little bit about that program so people can join you if they're interested. And we're the end of these. Maria: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, thanks for that. Yeah, so that's another another thing is to continuing the mom walk collective. It is a national organization where there's hosts in different cities throughout the US and I am the host of the the Green Bay community here and it's just been a wonderful way to connect with moms and their littles often like ages zero to five, but there's really no limit any any ⁓ one kiddos can come and join and local businesses have the opportunity to sponsor the events too. So it's a really unique opportunity for sponsors to showcase what they have to offer, but also for moms, if they haven't been to certain businesses around the area or heard of them to really just get in front of them. And, ⁓ you know, there's different play dates and all sorts of things that we have every month. And that can be found on Instagram if you're interested is the mom walk. co.greenday. Britney: Awesome, well I hope lots of moms will join that because as we talked about a lot in here, we talked a lot about personal journey, but having a community to do it with is ⁓ incredibly important So that's where you can meet a lot of other moms and make some friends too. So thank you Maria for everything you're doing and you work with people both, ⁓ you work with people, is that correct? Maria: Yeah, yep, all online. Britney: Okay, so really anyone, anyone, like if somebody is listening to this and they have a sister who's in Oregon and they, so they could work with you as well. So that's so great to know. Yeah. Thank you for your expertise, Maria. We really enjoyed having you on. Maria: Absolutely. Thanks, Brittany.