nutrition

Erik's Weekly Fitness Tip | Performance & Staying Motivated

 

A Show Of Hands

Do you ever find yourself bored with your exercise routine, not wanting to go to the gym, or experiencing a complete loss of motivation?  Sure, you have, we all have.  It’s how life works - there will always be ups and downs.  If you are finding yourself more on the down side you need to find a performance goal to go after.  It can be an actual event or a solo performance just for you to know of. 

Get Back On Track

The goal is to set a target that is hard enough that you must put daily work into reaching it, but can’t be something totally out of reach.  Performance goals help you show up to the gym when that’s the last thing you want to do.  Performance goals will make you accountable!

These types of goals require a plan; a plan helps you stay on track with proper training, rather than showing up to the gym not having a clue what you are going to do besides making it there.  Performance goals should excite you and give you that feeling of butterflies in your stomach when you think about that big day that is coming up! 

It’s these types of workouts that will put your training, sleep, and nutrition right back on track.  Last but certainly not least these types of goals should get you out of your comfort zone, both physically and mentally.

Go get ‘em!

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Erik's Weekly Fitness Tip | If It Fits Your Macros

 

If It Fits Your Macros (IIFYM)

IIFYM is an approach you can take when it comes to losing or gaining weight.  IIFYM might be a different approach than what you are used to hearing. Read more about macros here.

Most people associate dieting with clean eating and exercise. It has been proven many times that you do not have to exercise and eat healthy to lose weight.   IIFYM gives you freedom to eat the food you love.  

Say What?

You heard me right, wine, pizza, or ice cream = no problem.  Here’s the caveat… you can eat whatever you want but you cannot overeat.  Put yourself in a safe calorie deficit of 10-15% and make sure that you do not go over the amount of calories you are allowed to eat.  So if your calorie deficit number is 1800 calories per day you can not go over this number.  

Now I know what you are thinking, come on Erik, chicken, broccoli, and oatmeal should be the staple of anyone’s diet, especially if you are trying to lose weight.  Not that this isn’t true, but for many people it is very difficult to sustain this type of eating regimen for the long run without having foods that they enjoy.   And to be perfectly clear and honest, I would prefer people eat a fairly clean and balanced diet!

How IIFYM Works

So how does IIFYM work?  If your goal is weight loss, you first need to figure out how many calories you have been eating each day. Track your calories for 3-4 days so you can see how many calories you average per day.  Let’s say you average 2500 a day, take 10-15% off of 2500. This is the number you are going to subtract from 2500.  2250 or 2125 will be your new daily allowance in calories.  

Now keep in mind this is the simplest form of cutting calories, there are many other factors that can be included in this:

  • workouts
  • activity level
  • basal metabolic rate

But if you are having issues losing weight, IIFYM is a great place to start without the hassle of changing what you eat. If you don’t believe me that you can lose weight with eating whatever you want, read about the Twinkie diet here.  

Call me if you'd like help with your very own personalized nutrition plan 310.251.7420

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Erik's Weekly Fitness Tip | How To Eat Out & Lose Weight

 

TGIF

It’s Friday and you have had a long week at work and you want to meet up with some friends for dinner and drinks.  Sounds fun! But oops, you forgot you are in the middle of making some changes for the better. You are working on getting fit, healthy, and trying to lose some inches.  Hmmmm, what to do?

 

The Choice Is Yours

The way I see it, you have 2 options.

1. Go have a good time and completely blow up the amount of calories you eat that day and finish up with an 800 calorie surplus.  And lets be honest, sometimes that’s okay, and you shouldn’t beat yourself up about it.

2. You think ahead and have a smaller breakfast, a lighter lunch, forgo any snacking, and double down on your h2o intake. So for breakfast you reach for eggs whites instead of whole eggs, for lunch you eat grilled chicken or tuna with a side of raw or grilled veggies.  Now you have seriously saved up some calories.  By the time dinner rolls around you might be hungry but you have stored enough calories to have a nice dinner with a drink.

 

The Double Win

You finish up the night not enjoying time with friends, savoring the food and drink and you leave without your pants unbuttoned being in a bloated calorie surplus. Who doesn't want that?

If you need help with your nutrition, give me a call 310.251.7420 and I can design a program just for YOU!  

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