LEANER & STRONGER is greater than WEIGHT LOSS
Reducing body fat, maintaining or building muscle, and feeling more confident in your body. The basics are here - and I know you’re familiar with them. What were the fundamentals these clients applied? Keep reading!
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Energy Needs with Consistency
Calories play a role whether you focus on them or not. To lose body fat, create a caloric deficit by consuming fewer calories than your body needs. To build muscle, ensure calories are closer to maintenance or a slight surplus to support growth.
Use this for a quick check:
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Maintenance/Performance: 12-13.5 calories/pound
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Moderate weight loss: 10.5-12 calories/pound
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Rapid weight loss: 9-10.5 calories/pound
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Prioritize Protein and Fiber
Make protein and fiber a cornerstone of your diet.
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Protein intake is crucial for muscle preservation during fat loss, recovery from workouts, and essential for muscle building. Aim for 0.7 to 1.0 gram of protein per pound of goal body weight.
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Fiber is crucial for gut health, promoting satiety to support body composition goals, plays a role in stabilizing blood sugar, reducing cholesterol levels, and, again, fostering a healthy gut microbiome, contributing to long term health. 25-35 grams of fiber is a great goal - more specifically 14 grams of fiber per 1000 calories you eat.
3
Resistance Training & Movement
Resistance training is integral to body composition goals contributing to a more defined and sculpted physique - vs only losing body fat and getting smaller. Muscle is metabolically active, enhances overall calorie expenditure, supporting body composition goals.. Muscle mass is associated with improved metabolic health, insulin sensitivity, and longevity, making resistance training a cornerstone for optimal body comp and overall long term health..
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Muscle Maintenance: resistance training at least 2-3 times per week. This stimulates the muscles and prevents muscle atrophy.
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Muscle Growth (Hypertrophy): training the same muscle group 3-4 times per week with a focus on progressive overload—gradually increasing resistance or intensity over time.
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Prioritized Lifestlye Habits
A Prioritized Lifestyle includes the above, of course, but also the concepts of mindfulness and satisfaction with food choices, hydration, sleep, and stress. This includes the understanding of how it all applies to your lifestyle while traveling, eating out, with family and friends, difficult moments, etc.
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Sleep 7-9 hours per night, quality matters
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Hydrate early and often, half your body weight in ounces per day
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Manage stress by setting boundaries and including outlets for your physical and mental health
You want to lose body fat and build muscle? You want to feel more confident in your body? You’re defining what you want as weight loss - but you know that your physique and how you feel is important too.
With a focus on a Prioritized Lifestyle, we tailor nutrition to meet your complete needs:
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Biological needs, ensuring the right balance of calories, macros, micronutrients, quality sleep, hydration, and purposeful activity.
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Guide you to recognize satiety cues, establish structured routines, and foster mindfulness for a sustainable approach.
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Most importantly, we believe in the power of satisfaction and fulfillment, incorporating foods and habits you enjoy, ensuring your journey towards improved body composition and health is not only effective but genuinely fulfilling.
Focusing too heavily in one of these areas can easily push you into unsustainable and even detrimental habits.
WHAT KEEPS STOPPING YOU?
Challenges and Pain Points
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Restrictive Diets and Inappropriate Expectations: Striving for a leaner physique may lead some individuals to adopt restrictive diets. This restriction can trigger intense cravings and, in some cases, lead to binge eating episodes as a response to perceived or actual deprivation. Restriction leads to rebellion!
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Inconsistency and Lack of Patience: Inconsistent adherence to nutrition and exercise plans can impede progress. Expecting rapid results may lead to frustration and abandonment of sustainable practices. This is why finding satisfaction and fulfillment in the process can support the end goal - which in many cases is forever moving.
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Perfectionism and Overemphasis on the Scale : Individuals with a strong desire for a perfect physique may set unrealistic standards. Falling short of these expectations and not allowing room for error can result in feelings of failure, potentially triggering habits like binge eating as a way to cope with disappointment. Relying solely on scale weight can be demotivating and doesn’t reflect overall body composition changes.
Know that if it’s working for you, your health, your mindset and your definition of success, you do you. No one deserves to tell you different…
…keep in mind that sometimes the way we go about doing it with quick fixes or overly restrictive rules may bring additional long term challenges we may not be aware of.
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Keto Diet: Induces ketosis when done correctly, potentially aiding rapid weight loss and improved metabolic markers. Sustaining a very low-carbohydrate intake can lead to nutrient deficiencies, and the restrictive nature may make it socially isolating and challenging to maintain over the long term. The initial weight loss often includes water weight, and adherence may be difficult.
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Paleo Diet: Promotes whole, less processed foods and eliminates many ultrapalitable products. Excludes entire food groups, like dairy and grains, which may lead to nutrient deficiencies. The historical accuracy of the “Paleo” premise is also debated, and the diet’s sustainability may be challenging for some individuals.
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Intermittent Fasting: Simplifies eating patterns, aiding in weight management. Can be difficult to adhere to, especially for those with a history of disordered eating. Overeating during non-fasting periods and potential nutrient deficiencies can occur without careful planning.
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Veganism: Ethical and environmentally conscious; emphasizes plant-based foods and fiber. Requires vigilant planning to ensure sufficient intake of nutrients like vitamin B12, iron, and omega-3 fatty acids. Social challenges may arise in non-vegan-friendly environments, and some individuals may find it difficult to meet protein needs.
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Carnivore Diet: Promotes protein intake, may lead to weight loss and improved metabolic markers. Excluding all plant-based foods raises concerns about fiber intake, essential vitamins, and minerals. Long-term adherence may lead to nutritional deficiencies, and the diet lacks scientific consensus and is often seen as extreme and potentially harmful.