REAL TALK: Developing a Nutrition Plan around your Life
Real Talk is a series on nutrition designed to simplify making healthier choices by learning the skills for nutrition flexibility. No more diets, no more shame or guilt, no more “jumping back on the ship”, just simple and thought out choices designed to make nutrition a little bit easier!
As summer is slowly ending, a new season arrives with a change in temperature, change in routine and back to normal life. Especially after the summer of travel, letting go, and taking time for yourself, maybe that also meant you cut back on your fitness & nutrition routine, but don’t get worried, its normal! Something I’ve learned from coaching for many years is most people tend to eat less during the summer. As we shift seasons, we should also shift our focus into new goals, with a sense of compassion.
So before we get started, lets breakdown nutrition into four simple skills:
1) Eating Enough Nutrients,
2) Choosing Better Foods,
3) Eating Intuitively
4) Eating Well Consistently.
Today we are covering one of the most important skills: Eating Enough Nutrients
When clients come to me for Nutrition Coaching, most the time, they were never taught how to eat properly, or why eating a certain way = weight loss or weight gain. So lets break it down so you can understand a little bit better about the foods you are putting into your belly!
EATING ENOUGH NUTRIENTS
This is our macro nutrients = Proteins, Veggies, Carbs, Fats. In that order.
PROTEIN
One of the most important foods to eat. Think of it as a freebie, no harm, no foul.
20-30g = 1 palm = 1 serving
To keep things simple, Protein should always be a priority, no matter your goals, whether its weight loss or building muscle, Protein should always be in your meal. I like to think protein as your freebie, the more protein, the better. Protein is made up of organic molecules made up of amino acids, which are the building blocks of life. When consumed, the body breaks down the protein into these amino acids which then goes into the bloodstream. Those amino acids then produce important molecules in our body like enzymes, hormones, neurotransmitters and antibodies.
Basically, without protein, our bodies cannot function well. If you want to lose weight, if protein isn’t a priority, good luck. If you are trying to build muscle and you aren’t eating enough protein, don’t even bother putting in all that work.
So how do I know how much protein to eat? How do I track how much? How many grams?
Let’s keep it simple, folks…
USE YOUR HAND AS YOUR GUIDE.
Your Palm = 1 Serving of Protein, which roughly equates to 20-30g of Protein.
Based off your biological sex, men should eat around 6-8 servings, women should eat around 4-6 servings. That’s it, don’t over think it. Obviously lean protein sources like chicken, fish, eggs, greek yogurt are all great options. If you are vegetarian or vegan, just know that your protein sources might not have a full complete amino acid chain, so make sure to take a vitamin B12 supplement!
Precision Nutrition Guide
So to make nutrition skills a habit, you need to practice. And instead of completing changing your diet, do one thing at a time. So start with your protein. Tracking is great in the beginning to know how much you are actually putting in your body. Once you have gained some awareness into your protein intake, if you below the recommended amount, start small, add one additional serving, and week-by-week, increase to the recommended amount. *Take note on how you feel with eating sufficient amount of protein*
Now that you got one thing on your plate, let’s move onto Vegetables 🥦
VEGETABLES
Although not an “official” macronutrient. Separate it from your carbs, and get adequate amount of it in your daily intake.
1 Fist = 1 Serving = aim for 6-8 servings
Keeping the theme of simplicity, using your hand again, make a fist. That is one serving of vegetables. I won’t go into too much detail on vegetables because we have more important things to talk about, so I’ll keep this simple and sweet.
Eat a wide variety of vegetables
Don’t worry about “superfoods” or “how they are prepared”
Just get them in. Frozen, cooked, raw, blanched, in a salad, as a side, in a smoothie, JUST EAT YOUR DAMN VEGETABLES.
Learn different ways to prepare and prep your veggies. It doesn’t have to taste gross.
If you barely getting any veggies in your daily intake, start small. You don’t have to fix everything all at once. Consistency is simple and easier to build off of rather than going on a veggie hunt and hating it in two weeks.
One of the best advice I still use today, is eat the things you enjoy. Create a running list of your favorite vegetables, that way it makes it easier to prep and prepare your foods!
Moving onto Carbohydrates, the most problematic macronutrient ever. 🥯🥪🍚
CARBOHYDRATES
A tricky macronutrient. But learning more about them, makes things easier to understand how to use them to your advantage.
20-30g = 1 cupped hand = 1 serving
Some say carbs are bad, others say carbs are good. So what is the answer??? Well, let’s first understand what carbohydrates are, and how can we make it simple?
First, what do carbs do? Carbs gives us energy. Not like protein, not like veggies, not like fats. Period.
We NEED carbs to be active, it is our primary source of immediate energy. We are unable to breakdown fats, proteins or veggies in a way that carbs can be broken down. Why? Because when digested, carbs break down quickly and converted to energy.
Okay?? 🤨 So why are carbs so bad? or cause issues like heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure?? The problem with carbs can be blamed on processed foods. Processed & refined foods, especially carbohydrates overtime can cause insulin resistance, bad cholesterol, and elevated blood triglyceride levels. So simple & processed carbs = will make it harder to achieve your goals.
Carbs can be broken down by simple and complex carbohydrates. Simple Carbs are smaller, more processed molecules usually only containing one or two sugar molecules, whereas Complex Carbs, which have two sugar groups linked together, are slower digesting.
SIMPLE CARBS = Think white breads, rices, pastas, juices, sodas, processed foods like donuts, bagels, pastries, etc.
COMPLEX CARBS = Think beans & legumes, oats, quinoa, whole grain sources, potatoes & sweet potatoes, fruit, corn, etc.
Is it possible to lose weight by eating carbs? Yes! Carbs if eaten correctly, quantity and timing can all help with weight loss! So let’s breakdown the guide for carbs.
By now, you should have mastered protein & still working on the veggies! When you are ready to add carbs, let’s get to work. Pull up that hand again, and make a cup with it. That’s 1 serving =20-30g. Recommendations for men = 6-8 servings. Women = 4-6 servings.
Precision Nutrition Guide
If you’ve ever done keto, or just kicked out carbs from your daily intake because someone told you it’s bad. Let’s break that stigma and learn how to eat carbs in a healthy way.
Now is a good time to mention, foods are not inherently bad or good. Eating a bowl of white rice won’t make you insulin resistant. Nor will eating a bowl of legumes will fix your nutrition problems.
If you are scared of carbs (I was that girl too!), start one serving at a time. Even though this sounds slow & might take a long time, you got a whole lifetime to eat, so spending two to four weeks on this will be a piece of cake in the grand scheme of things (and eat that piece of cake!) Use a journal to document how you feel before and after eating carbs. Notice how full you feel after eating carbs. Again, our guts & bodies are all different, so my advice might not work for you. Ultimately, it’s up to you, to know how your body handles carbs.
Last, but not least, let’s talk about FATS 🥓🥑
FATS
A powerhouse macronutrient that is commonly misunderstood.
7-12g = 1 thumb = 1 serving
Another misunderstood macronutrient, but super important when we think metabolism, cell signaling, health of various body tissues, immunity, hormone production and absorption of nutrients like Vitamin A & D.
First, I will say, fats are one of the smallest serving size….get your hand out, and raise your thumb. That’s 1 serving = 7-12g of Fat. Yup, that’s it.
Fats as a source can have many health benefits, and improve human performance. However, balance is important. Fat sources from whole foods are key. Foods like nuts, avocados, fish oils, oils (olive, extra virgin, avocado) nut butters, egg yolks, and seeds!
When we think of fat sources, especially in America, where food production by major companies made food cheap and to store for long periods of time, like corn oil, factory-farmed meats, eggs, and dairy, hydrogenated fats like margarine, or anything with trans-fat (usually in processed foods). So try to limit your intake of these types of fats.
Precision Nutrition Guide
So how much should I be eating? Let’s break this last macronutrient down. Men = 6-8 servings, Women = 6-8 servings.
My biggest tip for success: know how much one serving of fat is for you. No matter how “healthy” we eat, if we eat in excess, you will gain weight. It’s as simple as that, anything in excess will be weight gained if we don’t use those nutrients as energy.
Hope this post helped understand the complexity of nutrition a little bit. Stay tuned and subscribe to our newsletter to receive more great content on all things fitness, nutrition, stress management, and mindfulness.