Category: Goals

Posted on by

Vacation Nutrition Tips

Vacation Nutrition
Vacation Nutrition Tips

Afraid of the feeling that you’ll be “starting over” on your goals after vacation? By planning and setting reasonable expectations, you’re more likely to stay on track during your trip. Here are some vacation nutrition tips to maintain healthy balance.

#1 – Pack helpful snacks.

Having healthy options accessible in the car, your bag, and other places can prevent unplanned detours for fast food. You’ll also save money by skipping these extra stops. A few options to consider packing include single serve yogurt cups, jerky, protein bars and drinks, fruit and dried fruit, packs of nuts and pretzels, roasted edamame, and string cheese.

#2 – Do some restaurant recon.

An app such as Yelp is helpful to identify restaurants local to where you are staying. Review the pictures of the food they serve and what sort of options they have that will meet you needs.

#3 – Review menus and make selections in advance.

Most restaurants provide menus on their website. By choosing what you want to eat ahead of time (along with potential substitutions you might ask for) you’ll remove uncertainty. If a certain restaurant doesn’t look exciting, perhaps decide to stick with a healthier option and treat yourself at another time.

#4 – Take advantage of hotel room amenities.

If your hotel room doesn’t already have a small fridge and microwave, ask for them. It provides you the option to make a trip to the local grocery store to keep some perishable snacks (yogurt, hard boiled eggs, pre-prepared meat, fruit, cut up veggies) as well as microwavable options (e.g., popcorn, steam bags of edamame, oatmeal). Having these items will not only help you stay on track, but save money considering the expense of food at common tourist attractions.

Handy Guide to Food Portions

#5 – Use the “handy” guide to estimate portions.

It’s not practical (nor relaxing) measure food portions with a scale on holiday. Instead, use you hand as a close approximation to maintain a general sense of your caloric intake and how foods are contributing to your macronutrient levels.

#6 – Create a daily game plan.

Visualize your day to decide on your food strategy and maintaining balance. For example, if you know you’ll be having a special dinner that is larger and perhaps higher in fat and carbohydrate, consider eating a little bit lighter during the day, and focus on higher protein and vegetable intake.

#7 – Prioritize special and unique places for indulgences, and enjoy them fully!

During vacation there will likely be “special” meals – dishes that are locally famous, known to be the best at a certain restaurant, etc. THESE are the meals to prioritize for enjoyment – you can’t get them at home.

You’ll remember that meal as you reflect back on your vacation years from now, so practice mindfulness and being present in the moment. You are not distracted or in a rush, so take your time eating. Not only does this ensure you fully enjoy and taste the food you are eating, it gives your stomach the proper amount of time to tell your brain you are getting full and makes it easier not to over-indulge.

#8 – Be mindful of liquid calories

Liquid calories in general add up fast….even faster in fruity alcoholic beverages. These drinks can add hundreds of calories to your day without really contributing to fullness. Limit intake of high sugar drinks such as fruit smoothies and pina coladas, or swap for more calorie friendly drinks such as hard seltzers, neat drinks, or mixers with diet soda.

#9 – Up your NEAT

On vacation, you may not have the time (or desire) to train or exercise as you do at home. If it’s not in the cards, boost up your daily energy expenditure through walking and other general activity. Plan some activities that keep you on your feet versus sitting down…it’s a great opportunity to take in the local sights. This NEAT (Non-exercise Activity Thermogenesis) will help maintain a reasonable daily energy expenditure.

#10 – Don’t focus on the scale.

It’s not particularly informative to weigh yourself on vacation. The scale you use at home is different from the scale you are using while away and therefore the numbers are unlikely to provide you with meaningful insight. When you return home, take the first few day weigh-ins with a grain of salt. Travel, hormones, hydration, and change in training can all contribute to sometime very significant fluctuations (up OR down) and so aren’t providing a clear picture of the net impact of your vacation. Give it a few days before assessing if you have gained, maintained, or lost weight during the trip.

I hope some of these vacation nutrition tips are helpful to you! Reach out anytime if you’re looking for some help.

I am an Amazon Associate and earn from qualifying purchases. This keeps the website ad-free.

Posted on by

Breaking a Fat Loss Plateau

It’s frustrating to be consistent with nutrition, make amazing weight loss progress, but then for no reason hit a wall. Many give up when the scale stops moving. A fat loss plateau is disheartening.

You may be a bit relieved to hear that you’re not alone. A fat loss plateau – two or more weeks where the scale doesn’t move – is almost EXPECTED during a dieting phase. The good news is there are fundamental reasons why it happens, and there are methods to break through.

Need a plan and support to improve your physique, strength and energy? Contact me to explore options.

Why We Plateau

Human metabolism is dynamic and adaptive to changes in energy intake. Total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) aka “calories out” decreases in response to a sustained reduction in calorie intake. Two adaptations are primarily responsible:

  • Reduction in basal metabolic rate (BMR). BMR is the energy we expend to breathe, move blood through our bodies, maintain organ function…basically to keep us alive. In a sustained calorie deficit, BMR slows down as we lose weight – the body is adapting to the calorie deficit. You don’t have much control over BMR.
  • Reduction in non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT).  Whether you are aware of it or not, in a sustained calorie deficit you will expend less energy throughout the day – sitting for a bit longer than normal, less fidgeting, etc.

The body is driven to maintain balance. Therefore, when we place our bodies in an energy deficit through consumption of fewer calories (energy in < energy out), there are regulatory drivers that act to restore neutrality. For example, reductions in energy intake influences the rate of release of certain hormones. Ghrelin hormone is upregulated in an energy deficit, promoting increased feelings of hunger. Satiety hormone leptin is downregulated (due to shrinking size of fat cells and fatty acid mobilization). Further, “stress” hormone cortisol increases which can lead to reduced energy expenditure, and insulin sensitivity of fat cells increases (easier to assimilate glucose and store fat).

Calories in and calories out are not independent variables – they are influenced by one another. Energy intake level impacts energy expenditure level. Fat loss is not just a matter of calorie counting, NOR can we simply blame our hormones.

As you diet and lose weight, what was once calorie deficit becomes maintenance calorie level through metabolic adaptation. Therefore, it’s expected at some point there would be a fat loss plateau. To again achieve an energy deficit, energy intake and expenditure require adjustment.

We also need to consider that downward scale movement may not be the best indicator of fat loss. If you have recently initiated resistance training, are noticing your measurements change and/or you look different in photos, you may be building muscle while losing fat. In this case, the scale is not directly providing fat loss feedback.

Overcoming the Fat Loss Plateau

Before considering adjustments, perform an audit of current dietary compliance. There’s no need to reduce nutrients if energy intake is actually higher than the calories you are accounting for.

Dietary Compliance Audit

  • “Extras”.  Assess use of condiments and sauces – these can add 100’s of calories per day.
  • Nibbles. Are you doing fly-bys of the fridge, and “just” having bites? It’s easy to lose sight of these unaccounted-for bites, but this accumulation of small amounts of additional calories throughout the day may take you out of a calorie deficit. Utilize mindfulness – all food consumed on a plate sitting down, with minimal distraction. Personally, I’m still working on this habit!
  • Variability in dining out portions. Restaurant portion size and nutrition information is not tightly controlled. It may vary significantly depending on who is preparing your food. If you are eating out frequently and the cook is regularly overserving on portions, this could also be adding 100’s of additional calories per day or week
  • Tracker inputs. Food entries in programs such as MyFitnessPal are user-generated, and potentially have errors. To be safe, double check your inputs against the nutrition information on the products you use. The USDA database is also an excellent source of nutrition information.
  • Food Measurement – there’s a tradeoff between accuracy and practicality in “eyeballing” portions, using measuring cups (volume), and weighing food. If you feel that your portions may be off, consider weighing food for a period to make sure portions are accurate.

If the scale hasn’t budged for about 2 weeks and you’ve passed your audit, it’s time to consider adjusting your plan. We don’t want to do anything extreme or non-sustainable. Rather, make small changes to energy intake and expenditure.

Adjusting Energy Intake and Expenditure

  • Small reduction in energy intake: reduce your calories in small steps versus large jumps  – 50 to 100 calories/day is a good place to start. Wait a week or so between each step before deciding on further adjustment. You may find that in order to reduce calories it will require swapping out some higher calorie density foods for lower calorie dense foods to feel full.
  • Increase daily movement (increase NEAT): it’s not sustainable to continually increase exercise to offset metabolic adaptation. You can’t out-exercise your diet. Rather, consider a few easy NEAT habits! Assuming you are sleeping 8h per day and training 1 hour per day, that leaves more than 60% of your waking hours to get in a bit more movement! Some examples of NEAT are walking when you’re talking on the phone, parking further away while out shopping, going for a dog walk, cleaning the house, and of course doing a quick happy dance for no reason. You may find that this extra movement helps your mood and overall energy stability throughout the day as well.

Final Thoughts on the Fat Loss Plateau

If you are experiencing significant fatigue and stress, gym performance has crashed, have negative changes in sleeping, or are noticing unhealthy feelings about food, a plateau may be a sign to take a break. By shifting into maintenance, you’ll provide yourself with breathing room to enjoy more flexible eating. This has physical and psychological benefit. It’s perfectly acceptable to hit the pause button on fat loss and focus on stability. Likewise, if you’ve been dieting strictly for an extended period of time, consider taking a couple of months in energy maintenance before proceeding with further fat loss.

Posted on by

Initiating Healthy Habits

For many people, the new year brings the opportunity for a fresh start towards nutrition and fitness goals. With this opportunity usually comes a great deal of HOPE – the hope of a way to quickly shed holiday pounds, get killer abs, set new personal records in the gym, or have more energy to go about the day.

I get it – we all want to look good, feel good, and we want the results immediately. Unfortunately, there is a portion of the “health community” that preys on your short-term emotions to get you to buy a 30-day crash diet with juice cleanse, tea, or other bogus supplement. The only cleanse going on is in your wallet, and the marketing around these quick fix systems has only gotten worse as our digital attention expands. Please, treat all information you read with a healthy dose of skepticism – check facts.

The sooner we accept that the path to success has no shortcuts and is instead built on a foundation of healthy habits we execute day in and day out, the sooner we achieve sustainable, real results. To kick off the new year, rather than committing yourself to a crash diet, I instead encourage you to initiate one or more of these five keystone healthy habits:

Cooking at home is more frequently associated with higher dietary quality and lower body fat. A large population study of healthy adults conducted in 2017 [1] indicated that those who ate five or more meals cooked at home per week (versus 3 or fewer) ate more fruits and vegetables, were less likely to be overweight, and less likely to have an excess amount of body fat.

How to start the habit: On Sunday mornings, map out a week’s worth of dinners and then hit the grocery store. Take a different route home from work to avoid temptation to stop at your usual haunts. As an added benefit, you will quickly realize you are saving quite a bit of money on food every week!

Ultra-processed foods are engineered to be hyper-palatable via addition of added sugar, salt, and/or fat so that you buy more and eat more. It’s clear to see how this could lead to weight gain. In one recent study [2], subjects on an ultra-processed diet for two weeks consumed over 500 additional kcal/day, resulting in an increase in bodyweight of 1.8 lbs. When the same subjects were then transitioned to a diet comprising unprocessed foods, weight decreased by 2.4 lbs.

If you are daily consumer of ultra-processed, pre-prepared foods, take the transition to less processed options in steps. How to start the habit: make a small swap first, e.g. an afternoon bag of chips for a piece of fruit or chopped up veggies. After this gets comfortable, try transitioning dinner. If you are committed to more home cooking as well, make sure your Sunday grocery list includes more fresh/minimally processed items. Purchasing pre-cut vegetables is one way to save a few minutes in the kitchen; I have a few meal prep recipes in the resources section of this site for some batch cooking ideas.

As a society, we are becoming more obese and sleeping less. Evidence from a number of epidemiological studies suggests that chronic partial sleep loss (generally <6 h per night)  is associated with an increase in the risk of obesity in both children and adults.[3] [4] Practically speaking, how does chronic sleep deprivation cause fat gain?

Unfortunately, it hits us on both the energy expenditure and energy intake sides of the equation. On the energy expenditure side, it increases the likelihood that we are too tired to hit the gym and that we spend more time sitting/not moving about because we are exhausted. On the energy intake side, if we are awake more hours, there are simply more opportunities to eat. Secondly, sleep deprivation disrupts the key hormones that control our appetite (decreases in hunger suppressing leptin, elevation of hunger. Further, chronic sleep debt increases the stress hormone cortisol. Elevated cortisol levels put your body into a state of energy conservation (reduced energy expenditure), making it more difficult to maintain or lose weight.

How to start the habit: 30 minutes earlier than usual (or longer if you can manage it), make sure you are cleaned up and ready for bed. Turn off the TV and put your devices in sleep mode for the night. Making sure your room is dark and relatively cool, get into bed and try to fall asleep. If you still can’t after 10-15 minutes, try reading a book until your eyes are tired, then try again. I’ve found I can fall asleep easier if everything I need for the morning is already prepped the night before – you may want to give this a try.

Note on alcohol: Falling asleep quickly is not the same as good sleep quality. While alcohol may help you fall asleep, it is deleterious to sleep quality. Consider ditching it completely for a little while. Journal any changes in your sleep, eating habits, and overall energy level. You will likely find you feel more rested overall.

No surprise – a sedentary lifestyle is associated with obesity and increased all-cause mortality. Both obesity and insulin resistance are the result of caloric surplus in combination with reduced physical activity. For more sedentary individuals, recent studies have suggested daily physical activity, including non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT), to be favorably associated with metabolic risks and mortality. [5] [6] Simple increases daily physical activity, for example going on a walk on your lunch break, taking the stairs instead of an elevator, and walking across the hall to speak to a co-worker instead of texting them can all contribute to weight management.  How to start the habit: stack a simple activity onto an existing activity at work. For example, after a trip to the bathroom or coffee machine, do a lap around the office before returning to you desk.

If you you already go to the gym or get some form of regular fitness – congratulations on forming this amazing habit! And since you are already there, we can build or “stack” another good habit on this habit. After your training, add on some finishing moves! How to start the habit: Do something simple, requiring little time, for example for example 10 air squats, 10 push-ups, and 2 minutes of jogging or stationary bike. Week over week, gradually add additional reps or time as possible. You would be surprised how these small adders accumulate to your benefit over time!

If you are looking for accountability and help reaching your goals, please reach out.

[1] Mills, S., Brown, H., Wrieden, W. et al. Frequency of eating home cooked meals and potential benefits for diet and health: cross-sectional analysis of a population-based cohort study. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 14, 109 (2017)

[2] Hall, K.D., Ayuketah, A., Bryctha, R. et al. Ultra-Processed Diets Cause Excess Calorie Intake and Weight Gain: An Inpatient Randomized Controlled Trial of Ad Libitum Food Intake. Cell Metab 30, 1, (2019) 

[3] Patel, S.R., Hu, F.B. Short sleep duration and weight gain: a systematic review. Obesity 16, 3 (2008)

[4] Beccuti G, Pannain S. Sleep and obesity. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care 14, 4 (2011).

[5] Loeffelholz C, Birkenfeld A. The Role of Non-exercise Activity Thermogenesis in Human Obesity. [Updated 2018 Apr 9]. In: Feingold KR, Anawalt B, Boyce A, et al., editors. Endotext [Internet]. South Dartmouth (MA): MDText.com, Inc.; 2000-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK279077/

[6] Hamasaki H. Daily physical activity and type 2 diabetes: A review. World J Diabetes. 7, 12 (2016)

Posted on by

How to Set Your Nutrition and Fitness Goals

A common trait of high achieving individuals is that they set relevant and concrete goals – goal setting for health and performance is no exception.

Why do we need to establish goals? Simply, they are the markers along our journey towards long term success. When we are feeling lost or aimless, we can return to our goals to solidify our direction and purpose. They help us focus our attention on efforts that are most beneficial and they also help us prioritize our time to make the most out of every day.

It takes some careful consideration to set relevant and tangible goals. To help you identify and articulate your goals, let’s walk through the process and an example.

First, establish a vision statement – what longer term success looks like. In essence, it’s a snapshot of your future self that captures your big dreams and aspirations. The only standard to measure against is what will provide you the most meaning, personal satisfaction, and wellness. Vision statements are a source of motivation – when the going gets tough, return to yours to remind you why you started.

I have several vision statements spanning my personal and professional life. It does not have to be as concrete as a goal. Here is my personal nutrition and fitness vision statement:

Ten years from now, I will remain lean and at a healthy body weight, have excellent health markers with low risk for disease, and be stronger and faster than I am right now.

Once a vision statement has been established, how does one achieve the vision? This is where goal setting comes in. To effectively set goals, use S.M.A.R.T. goal setting. This is a tried and true method I’ve used and implemented both in the corporate world as well as personally. It is so well-known, you may already be familiar with it at work. The S.M.A.R.T. criteria dictate that goals must be:

S – Specific. What will you accomplish and what actions will you take?
M – Measurable. What metrics will you use to measure the goal?
A – Achievable. Is the goal reasonable? Do you have the skills and resources necessary to accomplish the goal?
R – Relevant. Does the goal align with your vision?
T – Timely. What is the time frame for accomplishing the goal and is it realistic?

Why is S.M.A.R.T. so important? By setting clearly defined goals, you can then track progress, celebrate tangible achievements, and be more confident in your own capabilities. If your goals are too general or open to interpretation, you may not be able to plan a course of action to meet the goal, or be confident that you actually achieved the goal. Let’s walk through an example of a nutrition and fitness goal:

In three months, lose 10 lbs and be able to run five miles by eating healthier and working out more.

Let’s test how well this goal is written against S.M.A.R.T.

Specific? Not quite. This goal tells me what needs to be accomplished (drop 10 lbs and run five miles), but it is too general about HOW this will be accomplished. It needs to define how you would eat healthier and work out more. For example, If I just add more vegetables to my diet, that’s probably healthier, but will it truly allow me to meet my weight loss goal? Likewise, if I work our more by only lifting weights, will it make be a better runner? It will certainly be overall, but unlikely to be the most efficient course of action. We need to be laser-focused on the activities that get us to our goal most effectively.

Measurable? Yes. Progress can be tracked over the three months based on the scale and how your clothes fit. You could even buy a pair of pants one size smaller and see how they are fitting over time.

Achievable and reasonable? Yes. Assuming: 1) free of injury or pain and are able to jog, 2) access to information or a resource to establish a run training plan, and 3) access to information or a resource to establish a fat loss plan.

Relevant? Yes, assuming part of your long term vision is to achieve the physique you want and improve cardiovascular health.

Timely? Yes. This is clear – three months to meet this goal. We’ll assume it’s a reasonable amount of time based on current state.

Conducting this analysis, looks like the goal needs to be improved by adding some specifics about how the goal will be achieved and available resources to ensure you have the right systems and processes in place to meet your goals. Here is how the goal would be updated based on S.M.A.R.T. :

In three months, I will lose 10 lbs and be able to run five miles following the specific fat loss nutrition plan designed to lose 0.8-1 lb per week while keeping my energy up for running, and a 3x/week run training plan established by my coaches.

Aah….now we have it! The goal now provides information about how we will be able achieve it, and we now also can also track progress within our training and nutrition plans.

Ready to start developing your goals? Use this downloadable S.M.A.R.T. Goals Worksheet to help.

To sum it up: goal setting is a critical part of your health and fitness journey. It should not be taken lightly – spend some time questioning yourself and clearly articulating your goals. The rewards for taking the time to set specific goals are immense – direction, clarity, purpose….and increased confidence as you achieve them. Let me know if you found this useful, and I’d love to hear about your vision and goals!

Note: Goal setting is one part of the equation – effective execution is the other. In the next piece, we will discuss the importance of systems as a key element for goal achievement and habit formation.

Contact me if you need some coaching to help you achieve your goals.