Nutrition
"Exercise is king. nutrition is Queen. Put them together and you have a Kingdom" - Jack LaLanne
Weight Loss Nutrition 101
First let’s get something straight, nutrition is the primary driver of weight loss and optimal health. Can you lose weight without changing your nutrition habits? Sure, but it takes an extraordinary amount of work to do so and second most people don’t have the time in their life to exercise that much. Professional athletes can get away with it, although they would be better off if they didn’t and instead focused heavily on optimal nutrition. Outside of professional athletes most people don’t have the time nor the dedication to workout enough to counter the excess calories ingested. So, the trite statement, “you can’t outwork a bad diet,” isn’t completely accurate, but it does ring true for 99% of the population in reality. Because although anybody theoretically could outwork a bad diet (depending on just how bad) most people for all intents and purposes can’t. Even so, let’s assume you can outwork your poor diet then what? You may be lean and shredded, but the unhealthy foods you are consuming will soon start to cause other health issues. Your body is quite literally what you are made up. The food you ingest gets digested, absorbed and reconfigured into your very flesh and bone. Thus, the old saying you are what you eat is accurate. Granted, there is some high-level upper division physiology, biochemistry, and biology going to make a donut into something that doesn’t resemble a donut like fat on your human frame, but make no mistake it is still made up of donut molecules.
Second, nutrition is not as complicated as the thousands of books and diet programs would like you to believe. Every time a new diet program or book comes out is simply another chance for somebody else to cash in on one of the world’s biggest money makers—our unquenchable thirst for quick fixes to look and feel better. Jumping from one diet program to the next is the game the weight loss industry wants you to play. Getting results and never buying another book or diet program again would not serve the money-making machine. Stop buying the newest fad diet books, programs, pills, supplements. delivered meals made of fake food that taste like artificially flavored cardboard. Instead learn and more important implement the fundamentals of sound nutrition and health.
Third, consistency is the key to results. If you cannot or will not maintain consistency with a program there is no sense in starting said program. Without consistency you will not succeed. Optimal health and fitness are a lifelong game. Sure, you can do a few sprints here and there to drop a few pounds faster and shock your system, but they need to be based on foundational nutrition principles and you need to master these principles before getting cute with your nutrition. To learn to run you first had to be proficient at walking. Before you could walk you had to be able to stand. Before you could stand you needed the strength to pull yourself up. Before pulling yourself up you had to crawl to something to grab onto. Nutrition is the same way. Start with the first step and ignore the fads. Nail the fundamentals. For most people nailing the fundamentals and implementing them consistently is the only thing ever needed to achieve optimal health and fitness.
I hope I have convinced you of the importance of mastering the fundamental principles of good nutrition for weight loss, optimal health, and fitness. If I have not re-read the last three paragraphs until you are convinced. Mastering these fundamental nutrition principles is the key to weight loss whether you are going to go it on your own or hire a Boise Personal Trainer. Stop wasting your time, energy, and money on anything that is not foundational and fundamental until you have these principles locked in and integrated into your being. Now, let’s get into the fun stuff. Read the weight loss nutrition principles until you fully understand them and then get to implementing them!
Weight Loss Nutrition Principle Number One – Real Food
Weight Loss Nutrition Principle Number Two – Vegetables
Weight Loss Nutrition Principle Number Three – Protein
Let’s look at some examples of protein intake based on physical activity level and goal with a 200-pound person so we can see how the math is done.
A person who is sedentary (little to now physical activity) with the goal of optimizing health and body composition will need do use the following numbers to calculate optimal protein. Based on this person’s lifestyle and goals we want them to consume 1.2 to 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight. Doing the math for a 200-pound person equals 109 to 145 grams of protein per day to achieve their desired outcome.
Now let’s look at a two-hundred-pound person who is physical active and wants to optimize body composition. This person will need to eat more protein than our sedentary person between 1.6 grams and 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. Let’s do the math. 2.2 multiplied by 91 kilograms (200 lbs.) equals 145 grams to 200 grams of protein per day. The addition of physical activity increased protein synthesis and tissue damage leading to an increased need for protein. (This is a good thing as I will talk about when I discuss FLUX.)
Next up we have our already lean physical active person who wants to get even leaner. This person needs to increase protein consumption to maintain muscle mass as they decrease calories to lose body fat. The protein requirements for this person are 2.2 to 3.3 grams per kilogram. So, let’s take our 200-pound person (91 kilograms) and multiply it by 2.2 and 3.3. Our lean physically active two-hundred-pound person looking to lose body fat will need to consume 200 grams to 300 grams of protein per day to maintain their lean mass and lose body fat.
Now let’s take a look at somebody who is overweight and has a goal to lose weight while being physically active. This individual needs to consume between 1.2 and1.6 grams of protein per day. Same as our sedentary person at 109 to 145 grams of protein per day if they weigh two hundred pounds.
What about people trying to gain muscle mass? Do they need to eat more protein? Yes and no. They will need to eat more protein than the sedentary or overweight person, but the same amount as the lean person trying to get leaner. Studies have not shown conclusive evidence that anything over 3.3 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight to have increased effects on muscle growth.
Lastly, what about pregnant women? Pregnant sedentary women need to consume between 1.8 and 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight. They are building a baby which is composed of none other than lots and lots of proteins.
The two questions you need to ask yourself EVERY time you eat is where are my veggies and where is my protein. If all you do is ask yourself these two questions and make sure they are part of your meal you will be well on your way to a healthier, leaner, and more energetic you.
You may be wondering what foods you should be getting your protein from and that is another great question (you are full of great questions today, keep it up!). Animal proteins are the most bioavailable source, meaning a larger amount of the amino acids will be digested and put to use in the body. Plant proteins are less bioavailable and thus if the bulk of your protein is coming from plant sources (vegans and vegetarians) you will need to eat larger quantities of the plant proteins to ensure adequate amino acids for optimal tissue repair and body function. Either option, animal protein or plant protein sources, is fine as long as you are consuming adequate protein for your body weight, activity level, and goals.
Weight Loss Nutrition Principle Number Four – Meal Frequency
How do we arrive at the number of meals to eat? Yet again, another great question. You never cease to amaze me with your question asking abilities. Well let’s jump into the next principle so we can do the math. (Who knew there was so much math involved with eating?)
Weight Loss Nutrition Principle Number Five – Meal Timing
Next up is your feeding window. Your feeding window is a fancy way of saying the period of time during the day when you will be consuming food versus not consuming food which is your fasting window. For example, if you eat breakfast at 8:00 am then 8:00 am is when your feeding window starts and it ends when you consume your last meal for the day at which point your fasting window starts. We want to have a larger fasting window than we do a feeding window. We want this for a few reasons. Remember the whole “our digestive system needs to rest” thing? Yeah, that is one of the reasons. The second reason is the less time we have to stuff our faces the fewer calories we are likely to consume. Now, don’t get it twisted and think it is ALL about uber low calories. I will talk about calories in the FLUX principle, because it is not all about lowering calories as low as possible (in fact quite the opposite), but for now just remember eating for fewer hours in the day equals eat less food. The feeding window should be between six and ten hours for most people. So, let’s go back to our three to five hours that it takes to properly digest food and do the math with our six to ten hour feeding window. If we are going to eat for six to ten hours per day that gives us time to eat two to four meals. Voila, you have your meal frequency and meal timing dialed in. Remember what our Boise Personal Trainers say, “NO SNACKING.”
Weight Loss Nutrition Principle Number Six – Don’t Drink Your Calories
Drinking calories is usually mindless and happens in a short period of time or alternatively we sip on something all day lending itself to overconsumption and ingestion of excess calories (not to mention an environment ripe for calories and tooth decay). Meaning, even if the beverages we are consuming are uber healthy we need to be cognoscente of the caloric load we are putting into our bodies by consuming them. In other words, if you are going to drink calories it needs to be considered as a food, which most people find hard because they don’t fill us up like food because they lack bulk and they are digested rapidly.
What about smoothies you may say. Well, smoothies can be a good addition to your nutrition if they are treated as a food and you pay attention to the amount of calories you are dumping into that Vitamix or Magic Bullet or Ninja blender of yours. It is very easy to create a 2000+ calorie smoothie and think nothing of it. Since the blender is doing the first part of digestion, the mastication bit, it is easier and more convenient to slurp down more food than you would if you were the one having to chew up all that kale, protein powder, frozen blueberries and what have you.
Okay Debbie Downer thanks for taking all of the joy out of my life, but what about workout nutrition drinks like pre and post workout drinks? I am glad you asked. As long as they are treated as a food and considered as part of your overall calorie load then you are good to consume them.
The bottom line is this, if you are wanting to lose weight do not drink your calories unless it is with a well-controlled meal replacement smoothie or pre/post workout nutrition drink both of which need to be included in your total caloric load.
Weight Loss Nutrition Principle Number Seven – Eat More and Less: Introducing FLUX
If you reduce your calories to 1200 per day you are on the verge of underfeeding your body the vitamins and minerals it needs as well as the macro nutrients to function optimally. If you don’t feed your body what it needs to thrive you may survive but you will not thrive. So, we want to work on increasing the total calories we eat over time by increasing the number of calories our body metabolizes. This is FLUX. As we increase the number of calories our body burns we can then create a calorie deficit while still providing our body with enough food to get all of the required vitamins, minerals, and nutrients to for optimal functioning. Not only do you provide your body with the the what it needs to be healthy but it is also easier to maintain because you do not feel deprived.
So, the name of the game is to increase the number of calories your body burns through in a day. How do you do that? You have three options. Option number one is to increase your non exercise activity thermogenesis, NEAT for short. The simpler way to say this is find ways to move more throughout the day. The more your body is moving throughout the day the more NEAT you have going on and thus the more calories you are metabolizing because your body needs energy to move.
The second way to increase metabolism is through exercise. When you exercise you burn more calories. The more you exercise the more calories you burn. What is the best type of exercise for weight loss? Weight lifting is the foundation of exercise as it will increase muscle mass leading to a higher calorie need even at rest.
Lastly, increase your food intake. By increasing the amount of food, you consume your metabolism increases to process the higher caloric load. (Don’t do this for too long without adding more activity or you will gain weight). Once you have increased the number of calories your body burns through on a daily basis then you will create a caloric deficit to lose weight by decreasing the amount of food consumption. Cycle through periods of increasing calories to speed up your metabolism and periods with a caloric deficit to lose weight or lean out.
Weight Loss Nutrition Principle Number Eight – Carbohydrates
If your idea of a healthy carbohydrate is Cheerios or Frosted Mini Wheats then we have some room for improvement. Good carbohydrate choices include sweet potatoes (especially cooked and then cooled for the beneficial fiber), wild rice, legumes, beans, and root vegetables. Here I will remind you of weight loss nutrition principle number two – vegetables. In principle number two our Boise personal trainers at Kvell want you to eat non-starchy vegetables for at least half of your total food consumption.
We will get your carbohydrates from plant sources as well with the differentiator being starchy versus non-starchy. (Animal proteins, with the exception of milk, have inconsequential amounts of carbohydrates.) We want to consume less starchy carbohydrates than we do non-starchy vegetables.
The second piece about carbohydrate consumption is timing. The body is the most primed to digest and store carbohydrates as glycogen in the muscles either the first meal of the day or post workout. The reason for this is because we are in a state of glycogen deficit or depletion in the muscles at these times. The muscles are similar to a sponge when it comes to storing glycogen. During a workout we use our intramuscular glycogen stores by converting them into glucose and mobilizing them in the blood stream to use for energy. Thus, post workout our body is ready to convert glucose in the blood stream into glycogen for storage in the now glycogen depleted muscles for the next time we need to run for our lives from a saber tooth tiger. However, once the muscles are full of glycogen, they will no longer accept any more and the excess glucose will then either be used for energy or stored as fat. To sum up carbohydrates you want to eat minimally processed real food carbohydrates from plant sources post workout or first meal of the day. A post workout protein shake with carbohydrates will also work here as will milk if that is your thing, but I recommend the only people drinking milk are babies and people trying to gain weight. Milk is an excellent weight gain food.
Weight Loss Nutrition Principle Number Nine – Fats
Fats do pack a caloric punch and they are satiating. However, one issue that our Boise Personal trainers deal with on a regular basis is with people overeating things like nuts. Somewhere along the line a well-intentioned nutritionist, dietitian, and even one of our very own Boise personal trainers (gasp, shock, horror) suggested nuts as a good snack and the next thing you know people are eating three handfuls of nuts per day adding hundreds of calories to their diet without realizing it and wondering why they aren’t losing weight. Remember weight loss nutrition principle number five on meal timing and not eating snacks? Keep the snacks out and the nuts and seed consumption down and you should have no issues with overconsumption of these delicious micro-pint-sized power houses. A good way to control this naturally is to add one fat source to your meals. If you go with one fat per meal you will have no issues eating too many fats to lose weight.
Weight Loss Nutrition Principle Number Ten – Foods to Avoid
The first on the list is foods or meals that are high in both fats (above 15 grams) and carbohydrates. When we combine high fats with high carbohydrates into a food or meal, we have created a food that his hyper-palatable and also a food or meal that the body does not have the capacity to digest properly. Basically, eating too much fat with carbohydrates inhibits the body from the use of either one. This is not good. Foods or meals that contain high fats and carbohydrates are just about anything that the American diet has made popular. Some examples of high fat foods and meals are hamburgers with fries and pizza. Fun fact, there are no super high fat and high carbohydrates foods in nature. We were not designed to consume high fat and high carbohydrates foods, but we were designed to crave them. Therein lies the problem. They are hyperpalatable and short circuit our brain to eat more of them than is necessary so we can make it to the next time we get food which back in the day may be a few days. This leads to gorging and weight gain in today’s excess food climate.
Okay, next on the list is soda and other sugary drinks. Remember in weight loss nutrition principle number six – don’t drink your calories where we talked about eating instead of drinking calories? Well, it goes beyond that when it comes to these sugar and chemical concoctions which include Starbucks Frappuccino Crappucino. These foods are providing nothing in the way of vitamins and minerals (except maybe some protein from the milk) and on top of that that are pumped full of chemicals which we have yet to fully understand the ramifications of with a heavy dose of highly processed sugar. Stop drinking these poison cocktails.
Let’s see, what other foods can I demonize. Oh yes, breakfast cereal. Breakfast cereals are nothing more than highly processed junk food with a good hype man (hello Wheaties you marketing genius using professional athletes as spokespeople for your overly processed sugar and honey added junk food “Breakfast of Champions” slogan. You are to be commended for your marketing efforts turning junk food into healthy food in people’s mind, not in reality. In reality they did just the opposite. Good old General Mills took a healthy whole grain and turned it into an unhealthy sugar snack . Bravo!)
You know how the cereal companies lament on the cereals being fortified? The reason they say they are fortified is because all the natural goodness was stripped away in the process of making them and they had to put some of it back in (sometimes by government regulation). So now the food has synthetic vitamins and minerals instead of the natural vitamins and minerals that mother nature intended it to have. To go a step further nearly all fortified foods have this same issue, not just cereals.
Why are we fortifying foods, again? Let’s cover it again just for good measure to make sure you understand the absurdity of it all. Companies fortify their products because either they stripped them of all of their natural vitamins and minerals during manufacturing (I don’t know about you but I don’t feel like “food” and “manufacturing” should be in the same sentence together) or because we created a franken-food that didn’t have anything worthwhile in it in the first place so we had to artificially inject it with something to sell to the public.
Speaking of franken-foods, be wary of processed foods created for vegans (highly processed), gluten free (usually loaded with sugar and chemicals), dairy free (chemical laden), and any other boxed or packaged food promoting how healthy it is. This category is the overly processed “health foods” that are preying on the people buying into the latest diet and nutrition fad. Whenever, there is a new fad the food manufacturing companies start to salivate at all of the profit they can make from a new food that is low-fat, no-fat, low-sugar, no-sugar, gluten-free, grain-free, dairy free, vegan, keto, paleo, and the list goes on and will go on for eternity until we are like the Jetsons ordering our food in our houses and it is made on the spot for organic like food products. Now, with all of that said I do have to admit there are some good options out there that even though they are franken-foods and are highly processed they do hit the spot when you are craving something unhealthy. These healthier options are okay to have every now and again, but as per weight loss nutrition principle number one ensure that at least 90% of your diet is composed of real foods. When eating these franken-foods get really good at reading the ingredient list, knowing what the ingredients are, and knowing how the ingredients affect your body and goals. If you don’t eat them too often (less than 10% of your entire diet) and are picky and choosy with which ones you do consume based on the ingredient list then you should be okay and it may even help you stay on track instead of totally depriving yourself when you are getting a craving for something sweet or salty or desserty.
To sum it up, the easiest way to avoid these bad, evil, or whatever word you feel is relevant for something that is literally killing millions of people’s food is to focus on eating whole real foods at least 90% of the time.
There you have it. If you follow these ten weight loss nutrition principles consistently for the rest of your life you will achieve optimal levels of health and body composition. Do not try to implement them all at once and do not bite off more than you can chew, pun intended, of any of the them.
Start with the nutrition principle you feel will be the easiest to implement and build momentum with it. Once you have good traction with one of the nutrition principles increase the amount you are implementing that principle until it is mastered. Once you have mastered one principle then and only then move on to the next easiest nutrition principle. Keep doing this until you are nailing all ten principles. If you need help from one of our Boise personal trainers let us know by filling out the contact form.