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The Most Annoying Nutrition Tips ( 7 Things That Actually Work)

The Most Annoying Nutrition Tips ( 7 Things That Actually Work)

by | Jan 12, 2025 | Blog, Diet

“It’s not my workouts. It’s my diet.”

I struggled to make the nutritional changes I needed to see the fat loss and muscle definition I wanted for the longest time.

I tried to out exercise my diet.

But you can’t. At least not for long.

And the more we try to, the more we sabotage our long-term success. Not to mention the more we make it harder and harder to lose the weight and stay lean as we get older.

So as much as we may try, there is no way around making changes to our diet if we want to see results.

That’s why I’m going to break down adjusting your diet into 7 steps to follow and follow IN ORDER to start.

These nutrition tips are going to be annoyingly simple and unsexy and things you probably don’t want to do.

You may even think you’re above them.

But guess what? You’re not.

No one is above the basics and too often we think we’re advanced and lose focus on them which is why we don’t see results.

So suck it up buttercup. Take things back to basics and embrace the changes.

What ultimately feels sustainable and like a lifestyle balance doesn’t always start out that way.

And these changes will help you lower that mental barrier against change to create habits you can actually be disciplined with and see results snowball!

But remember, nothing changes if nothing changes.

So step #1…Get to tracking.

I know some of you are about to click back because you don’t want to track.

You hate tracking.

It’s tedious. Boring and time consuming.

It’s restrictive.

But guess what?

Your desire to avoid this ESSENTIAL habit is why you’re stuck feeling like you’re working hard without seeing results ever build.

And the thing is…tracking isn’t restrictive…although I do agree…it’s not the most fun or exciting of habits.

What’s restrictive is how we’ve cut stuff out in the past when tracking. JUDGED our own diet.

That’s why when you first start tracking you’re not going to cut anything out.

You’re not going to restrict or judge.

You’re simply going to TRACK.

Because then you’ll know what your diet looks like.

You’ll see areas that could use improvement but also truly understand how you’re fueling and how that makes you feel.

Tracking is truly EYE OPENING.

Then based on what you’re during currently, you’ll make changes that match what YOU need.

Not changes based on some “perfect” figure competitors’ diets that are totally unrealistic for your lifestyle.

But changes that meet you where you’re at to move forward.

Tracking will help you make SMALL changes that build over sabotaging yourself by doing so much you ultimately fall off because the EFFORT doesn’t equal the OUTCOME.

Too often we try to out diet time and ultimately just make ourselves give up because results don’t happen faster or equal to the effort we feel we are putting in!

Then step 2….add 10 grams of protein to 3 meals.

When we “go on a diet,” we jump right to cutting things out, and often the things we cut out, are the things we truly love the most.

But we’re not going on a diet with these steps.

We’re ADJUSTING our diet.

Which is why we want to focus on nutrition by addition.

This not only helps us feel more successful with the changes to want to do more, but it lowers our mental resistance against making harder changes as we go.

So first, add in about 10 grams of protein to 3 meals.

And if you’re like “10 grams?! What does that look like?”

It can be two eggs at breakfast with your toast. Or ½ cup of greek yogurt added to your oatmeal.

At lunch it could be adding another ounce of chicken breast on your salad. Or 2 tbsp of nutritional yeast used as seasoning on your current protein source.

It could be ⅓ cup of cottage cheese with ranch seasoning blended into a dip instead of ranch dressing for carrots as a snack.

It could be a serving or 85 grams of edamame added to your stir fry at dinner…Or a cup of bone broth swapped in to your soup or stew.

The key is SMALL changes to meals you already enjoy.

These small changes add up to a 30 gram boost over the day and helps us build our protein to between 30-35% of our calories for the day, which will help us lose fat as we retain lean muscle.

This protein increase can also help us feel fuller and more fueled to see better results from our training.

This ADDITION too of protein can even help us start to create a calorie deficit without technically adjusting calories.

Because protein has a higher thermic effect, requiring our body to expend more calories to digest and use it.

So while we’re adding, we’re also adjusting our calories in a way to start losing fat!

Step 3…Fiber swap.

The health of our gut has a huge impact on our fat loss results.

And fiber is key to our gut health.

It feeds and maintains our gut microbiome, which has beneficial effects on metabolic health, such as improved glucose and insulin levels.

Not to mention it helps keep us feeling fuller as we create that small calorie deficit.

So your next step, is to swap a food at 2 meals for something higher in fiber than what you’re eating currently to help you boost your fiber intake by 5-10 grams to start per day.

This helps us adjust our food quality with a focus on adding over restricting or cutting out.

It empowers us to make healthier choices but in a way we don’t have to first jump to eliminating things we love and want to include.

And these changes can be super small and as simple as swapping lentil pasta for white pasta.

Quinoa for white rice.

It could be using raspberries or blackberries over bananas in your oatmeal.

It could be a whole grain bread over a white bread for your sandwich.

Or adding in chia seeds to your greek yogurt dessert or breakfast smoothie.

It could be cutting your portion of potatoes at dinner to add a small side of broccoli.

But it doesn’t have to mean us not still including the foods we love or recipes. It can just mean small adjustments in how we make those dishes or the exact portions we consume!

Step 4…Drink more water.

Proper hydration is essential as we increase protein and focus on fiber.

If we’re dehydrated we won’t see fat loss happen as fast as we’d like not to mention we can find ourselves actually feeling hungry when we aren’t.

Drinking at least 50% of your bodyweight (weighing in pounds) in ounces of water can help increase your metabolism and make sure you’re not suffering from cravings.

If you’re nowhere near this intake now after tracking it for a few days, focus on one habit shift you can make to get in an extra few ounces or two.

As a person that struggles to drink water at times, I’ve helped myself improve the habit by putting out a water bottle the night before by the coffee maker to remind me to drink as I get ready for the day!

I also find that infusing water or having Ultima always on hand and in my backpack, I have more of a desire to drink the water because it tastes good.

Ultima and things like Cucumbers or Oranges infused into your water can help you boost your electrolyte intake and improve your hydration as well!

Focus on increasing your water intake by connecting drinking water to even a routine you’re already doing and by even getting a fun water bottle you have out so you’re constantly having that visual reminder!

Step 5…Swap out ONE food that’s not serving your goals.

As you’re making these changes and seeing the daily implementation of these habits building, you want to push out of that comfort zone just a bit more to get results building a bit faster.

Swap out something that you know isn’t serving your goals to help you cut calories by 50-100 from your daily intake, increase your protein, and improve your food quality and micronutrient diversity.

This doesn’t mean jump to the food you love the most even if it isn’t the healthiest.

But it does mean pick something you won’t miss as much to swap it out or adjust the portion.

And start with ONE meal or food.

You want to focus on something that will start to create that small calorie deficit off of what you were doing when you just started tracking your natural diet.

So take a look though at your daily food intake.

What packs a bigger calorie punch? What’s a large portion you could cut back on?

And no you can’t say your protein source.

Although this COULD be a chance to swap in lower fat cuts of meat, moving from chicken thigh to chicken breast or 85% lean ground beef to 96%….

Also note healthy but calorie dense foods that you’re consuming over the day.

Things like nuts, while healthy, can pack a real calorie punch and may not be the best option for us as we are looking to lose fat. They are easy to overeat.

So swapping out nuts as a snack for a greek yogurt dip and veggies can help us lower our calories, increase protein and even feel fuller because we’re including a great food volume over the day.

Adjusting even things like your pasta dish from a full cup to ¾ cup of pasta while adding in veggies or another ounce of protein.

These little swaps can keep pushing us to create the balance we need, increasing protein and creating that small calorie deficit needed for fat loss.

But with this, more is NOT better!

Don’t get cut crazy and start eliminating more than 100 calories a day to start.

Eating too little can backfire and sabotage not only our adherence to the plan, which is so often why we feel like dietary changes aren’t sustainable or possible, but also result in us losing muscle, creating metabolic adaptations and not getting more muscle definition!

Start swapping things you know may not be ideal or adjusting portions to further prioritize protein and reduce your calorie intake by just 50-100 per day.

Step 6…Keep tweaking!

As you see progress build, keep adjusting and making improvements, going back through steps 2-5 to improve.

Where can you increase protein?

Where could you try adjusting carbs of fat to see how each macro impacts you?

Could you improve your hydration?

Even start to assess other aspects of your diet including your meal timing.

Focus on changes that even feel doable on the worst of worst days as you build.

And KEEP TRACKING.

Also own when your LIFESTYLE has changed.

What you do at one time of year when you’re motivated may not be the habits you need at another.

Allowing an ebb and flow to how you do the habits, focusing on even one of these steps more or less at times can be key.

At times we may be more motivated to really focus on those whole natural foods. At another, we may try to find ways to work in more foods we love because that is the only way we will stay consistent.

But we want to keep tracking and adjusting to meet ourselves where we are at.

Which brings me to Step 7…Don’t Excuse 1%.

Too often as we make changes and see results snowball, we get complacent. We start to self sabotage by excusing inconsistencies and deviations.

Or our priorities shift and we don’t use Step 6 to fully OWN them and adjust.

But there is nothing that can sabotage us more than saying, “Well I’m being good enough.”

Because often when we say that…we aren’t.

We’re ignoring all the little deviations that add up and slowly take us off course.

Instead keep focusing on tracking EVERYTHING to find a balance…

Track the good, the bad and the ugly.

This helps us avoid letting negative judgements creep in and truly helps us keep building.

It’s an acknowledgement of what is going on so we can see why our results are what they are.

Because so often we feel like we’re still working super hard with habits while things actually slide and this leads to us being frustrated when results don’t add up.

So don’t excuse deviations and keep tracking as you progress toward your goals.

Use these 7 steps to help yourself see the fat loss you deserve. And even spend a week really focused on each one before adding.

While this may feel painfully slow, it is key to creating that discipline and success mindset that makes us keep wanting to do more and feeling disciplined with the changes!

Because fat loss results and muscle definition happen from the daily habits we CONSISTENTLY do!

Success is never owned. It’s rented. And rent is due every single day!

Dial in your diet to match your workouts and build your leanest, strongest body ever with my Metabolic Shred…

–> LEARN MORE

5 Golden Rules to Lose Belly Fat

5 Golden Rules to Lose Belly Fat

by | Jan 5, 2025 | Blog, Diet, Exercises

I’m going to give it to you straight – the places we want to lose from first are often the LAST to go.

And in the process of losing fat, they often look WORSE before they look better because areas around them shrink as they stay EXACTLY THE SAME.

This makes losing belly fat even more frustrating on top of the fact that the area is scientifically more stubborn!

Yup…I say scientifically more stubborn because the lack of blood flow and the breakdown of alpha and beta fat cells in the area, make this area very hard to lose from.

Not to mention changing hormones levels can impact where we store fat, causing us to gain more around our middles!

So all in all…belly fat is annoyingly challenging to lose and while it’s the first place we gain, will be the LAST place we lose from.

That’s why I wanted to share 5 golden rules to help you lose belly fat.

I call them “golden rules” because these aren’t the shiny object, magic pill, quick fixes we get distracted by…

They’re the basics we need to go back to. The foundation off of which our healthy lifestyle is built.

Because too often the longer we’ve been working to see results, the more advanced and knowledgeable we even are, the more we get distracted by new things and details that only take us away from a focus on the fundamentals.

1% deviations in our habits add up. And 1% deviations can make all the difference in where you end up.

1% off in your heading on a flight from New York to Japan lands you smack in the middle of the ocean drowning.

So let’s refocus on these 5 golden rules to lose that belly fat…

Starting with our mindset.

And while some of you may groan at this or consider clicking back because you just want to be told WHAT to do, some magic tactic…Pause. And don’t/

This desire to just DO without reflecting on your mindset or attitude is why you’re stuck.

You’re stuck constantly trying to find an easy fix. Some magic program.

You’re stuck forcing yourself into habits you can’t maintain long term so ultimately give up on because they just aren’t sustainable.

And this is why you lose the weight only to regain it. It’s why you feel like you’ll just never lose the belly fat.

Don’t repeat this cycle…

This is why Golden Rule #1 is Ditch the all or nothing attitude.

We get super motivated…we see a picture we don’t like of our midsection or have that beach vacation coming up.

So we go all in.

We make a bazillion and one changes.

And then when the effort doesn’t feel worth the outcome, when we don’t see results fast enough…

We quit.

Or maybe the changes just even feel so overwhelming we never actually get started.

We don’t feel it is worth it to do something.

But A. Something is better than nothing.

And B. We have to make changes that build if we want to create something we can do consistently.

Because not only do we get good at what we consistently do….

We ARE what we consistently do.

Your current situation is a result of the habits you do daily.

So in order to get leaner and stay leaner, we need to create habits and changes we can repeat consistently day in and day out.

While not all changes will be easy, especially to start, we need to ditch this all or nothing mindset and instead focus on what we can do today to build.

And then even own that at times, less is more!

We can’t out exercise or out diet time.

Trying to is what leads to that feeling that the effort just isn’t worth it.

Not to mention, you can’t see true fat loss any faster by trying to train for longer or eat less.

These practices honestly only lead to worse results and burnout.

Which leads me to Golden Rule #2: Macros matter most.

You can’t out exercise your diet and you can’t out diet time but just cutting your calories lower.

Honestly we often need to go less extreme with the calorie deficit and eat more to fuel our muscle.

Because while calories in vs calories out matters for WEIGHT LOSS, macros matter if you want to truly focus on FAT LOSS and retain that amazing magical and metabolically beneficial muscle.

If you think I’m about to now tell you that protein is key, you’d be right.

Especially the leaner we are, and the more we want to lose those last few pounds, the more we need to avoid a more extreme calorie deficit and focus on protein.

This is where having 40% of your calories or even slightly more coming from protein is key.

Because protein will protect your lean muscle and actually cause you to expend more energy to digest it.

Now…as important as protein is, we can’t demonize other macros.

Fats don’t make you fat. And carbs don’t make you gain belly fat either.

Extreme restriction of either is actually holding you back from losing that stubborn belly fat, and putting you at greater risk to regain the weight you lost faster than you lost it!

Healthy fats are the building blocks of hormones, especially sex hormones like estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. They also help regulate inflammation and keep cortisol (a stress hormone) levels in check.

And carbs play a critical role in thyroid function, providing glucose for energy and regulating cortisol levels. Eating enough carbs helps balance insulin and cortisol, providing your body wtih the energy it needs without spiking stress hormone levels.

So focus on tracking your macros and, while keeping protein high, cycle higher or lower carb over the weeks and months to create balance!

Now, as much as I am a huge advocate of including foods you love and not demonizing any foods, and I practice what I preach, I also know the importance of focusing 80% of my diet on whole, natural foods.

Because the quality of our food has an impact!

That’s why Golden Rule #3 is Focus on quality fuel.

Not only are whole natural foods more micronutrient dense, providing the vitamins and minerals we all know we need for our body to function well and recover quickly, but they also often make the weight loss process easier for 3 other big reasons…

They have a higher thermic effect, meaning we burn more calories at rest to digest them over processed foods.

They are often less calorically dense and more nutrient dense, meaning we can eat larger volumes of them to make us actually feel fuller and more satisfied even while in a deficit.

Whole natural foods promote optimal gut health, containing fiber and pre and probiotics, among other nutrients, that are essential to a balanced gut bacteria. And a healthy gut is key for fat loss as it improves fat metabolism and our metabolic rate overall!

So while you want to work in foods you love to create something you can be consistent with, as the second we feel restricted we often find our willpower and motivation fading very quickly, we also want to recognize that this focus on whole natural foods will improve our results.

And we need our body functioning optimally to embrace losing that hard to lose fat while allowing us to train intensely.

Especially with being in a deficit to lose, we want to be conscious we aren’t creating nutrient deficiencies so pay attention to eating that rainbow.

And then don’t forget to focus on fiber!

Fiber will help you keep your gut healthy which can often pay off more than we realize in reducing inflammation and bloat that causes us not to see the ab definition we want!

For fiber, focus on 25g for women (or 21g if you’re 50+) or 38g for men (or 30g if you’re 50+) is the fiber intake you want to shoot for!

While diet is key for fat loss, the best results happen when your diet and workouts work together.

And so often we adjust our diet, lose weight, but never truly see the definition we truly want.

This is because we so often turn to more cardio in our workouts.

Instead we need to follow Golden Rule #4 and remember that muscle is magical.

We need to focus our workouts on building muscle and strength.

Because muscle is not only how we stay functionally strong till our final day on this planet, it is really the secret to overall health and looking more defined.

Less muscle means we look softer even when we’re thin.

Not to mention, muscle keeps our metabolic rate higher, helps keep our blood sugar levels more balanced, promotes optimal hormonal levels and even better recovery.

More muscle means we will maintain better body recomp!

Yet so often we do actually sabotage our own results by turning even our strength workouts into cardio sessions.

We do this by trying to get out of breath, feel worked in our sessions and cut out rest.

Instead we need to focus on feeling the muscles truly be worked and having a purpose for everything we include.

Whether you train at home or at a gym, you can challenge yourself to build strength and muscle.

The key is truly creating that challenge in our training. And the more advanced you are, the more you have to seek ways outside of just adding weight to really push that progression.

Use different training designs, combining rep ranges and compound and isolation moves.

Use different tempos.

Vary the types of moves you include and how you break up the areas worked in workouts.

But find ways to challenge yourself and your muscles, not just make you feel sweaty and out of breath!

Now that I just said to focus on strength over cardio, there is one form of cardio that is honestly super essential when our focus is fat loss and especially losing belly fat.

And that’s why Golden Rule #5 is To Walk Daily.

Go on a casual walk for even just 15-20 minutes every.single.day.

You’ll be amazed at how much this movement helps you see better results faster without stressing your body or mind any more.

Not only is the non-stressful movement helpful to the fat loss process, especially even timed after a meal to help with digestion or after a workout where you worked your core to utilize more of the fatty acids mobilized in your training…

But it is so good to help you change patterns that may lead to mindless eating or eating out of stress.

Instead of lazing on the couch mindlessly eating at night or going to the cabinet for those mini candy bars after a stressful day at work, go for a walk.

Break those habits by swapping in MOVEMENT!

You’re not only changing behaviors to help yourself stay consistent, but you’re burning more calories in a non-stressful way for your body!

Plus, you can use this activity to spend time with friends and family and destress!

And lowering our stress levels can help us lose fat more easily and even recover faster to be able to push hard in our training sessions.

But I’ll tell you, adding in walking was super key for me even personally to see the fat loss I wanted and maintaining those results long term!

Now the final tip I want to leave you with, that isn’t a golden rule, but something I think is so key…

Measure progress by tracking your habit consistency.

I mention this as UBER important for 3 big reasons so you don’t sabotage yourself and quit on habits that WILL work if you give them long enough…

True body recomp and fat loss is slow. Painfully slow. And the scale may NOT change.

And you’re going to have to stick with it when the scale and measurements aren’t changing.

Because those last few pounds you feel you have to lose, may not be lost on the scale while fat is.

And that’s because you’re not losing muscle or even managing to gain it through a small deficit and protein focus!

If you try to make the scale change quicker or get caught up in your goal weight, you’re going to ultimately do diet and training practices that cause you to lose muscle, not fat and still have that stubborn belly fat.

Areas will look worse before they look better.

Progress photos are key. But you’re going to look at your belly fat or the areas you want to change and they’ll be changing last. They’ll even look bigger as you lose off of other places first.

So if you use photos, you need to also acknowledge the changes in these other places.

Your workouts may at times suffer.

I love lifting heavy. I hate when I don’t feel super strong or see improvements in performance goals.

But I’m aware that during a mini cut or fat loss phase, my performance goals may take a backseat.

So only measuring progress to help you stay consistent with your gym performance may make you want to give up.

Don’t!

In the fat loss process, to get past a stick point you have and to reach that leanness level you’ve never achieved before, you do need a calorie deficit.

This can mean our gym sessions aren’t always PR setting workouts. So we need to be mindful of this fact when setting gym goals so you don’t give up on training sessions that are working!

But this is why celebrating those habit wins, the hitting of your macros, the focus on fiber or micros, the consistency that weekly training schedule, the daily walks…are all so key to celebrate!

Because we have to find ways to help ourselves STAY CONSISTENT past the point we want to quit if we want to reach a new goal!

Want a custom plan to dial in your diet and your workouts to work together and build your leanest, strongest body at ANY age?

–> Learn more about my 1:1 Online Coaching

FHP 666: Destination: Beastette

FHP 666: Destination: Beastette

by | Dec 30, 2024 | podcast

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OPEN TRANSCRIPT

(00:00):
Hey guys, this is Cori from Redefining Strength. Welcome to the Fitness Hacks Podcast. This is the show where I share all my free workout and nutrition tips. I’m not going to ever fill this episode with sponsorships or ask you to buy anything. All I ask in return is if you’re enjoying the podcast to leave a review or leave a five star rating, or even better share it with somebody you think it might help. This will only take a few minutes and would mean the world to me and possibly change the life of someone. So let’s jump right in. What are your goals? Let’s call your goals destination bte, because I want to talk about what it really takes to achieve the success we want and how we often get really focused on only our destination, only a perfect plan, only the habits we think we need to get there.

(00:47):
And we never assess what the journey actually will look like, how we’re stepping into that new identity. So part of reaching destination bte, reaching our goal means truly understanding where we’re starting from, yet we don’t often take a look at that yet. If you think about how you enter in to get directions from your GPS, you set not only the destination but your current location. Yet when we are really looking at destination B stat, we think, okay, this is my goal. I want to lose weight. I want to be here. And we think, okay, what’s the perfect plan for weight loss? Not, Hey, I have all these other things going on in my life right now. What’s a plan that actually fits my current location? So I want you to take a step back if you are setting goals and think, okay, destination bte. What is the roadmap to get there?

(01:33):
And where am I starting from? Currently, I call this assessment of where you are currently, the BTE origin story because you want to understand your hero’s origin story because you are your own hero, as cheesy as that sounds. You are becoming the bte, the hero of your story, and there’s someplace you’re starting from some struggle you’re overcoming. And the more we own the struggles we have, the more we own the priorities we have right now, the more we can overcome those excuses. And as weird as it sounds, we want to embrace the pain that we’re suffering from right now. And you might think, well, it’s not really that painful. I just have five vanity pounds, sls, okay? But there’s something that’s driving you to want to make a change to lose those five pounds. And generally even a goal we deem small or inconsequential because potentially someone else has told us it’s not that important or we feel vain in achieving it has farther reaching ramifications than we really realize and more pain attached to it, be it even just the pain that we feel like we haven’t been able to achieve something we really want.

(02:32):
We haven’t seen that strength to be able to overcome. And so we haven’t built that confidence, that strength and in overcoming a goal that might seem vain or silly or inconsequential in the grand scheme of all the amazing things that life has and all the horribleness or good things out there, we can build so much strength to even pursue more other things. I can tell you for me, as much as I sort of wrote off wanting to get abs like, oh, this is just a vain goal in achieving that goal, I found so much strength to overcome. I challenged myself to be uncomfortable in new ways, and that had such far reaching impact in what I believed I was capable of because I showed to myself that if I really wanted a goal, I was going to find a way to learn what I need to do to overcome the obstacles in the way.

(03:14):
So I want you to take a look at where you are right now. I want you to think about your origin story. What is the pain of staying stuck? Because the more you understand that pain of staying stuck, the more you can use that motivation to overcome the pain of change, but also even recognize when the pain of staying stuck doesn’t outweigh the pain of change and where you have to change the habits to meet you where you’re at. And I bring this up because in looking for a perfect plan to reach that goal that we have, and thinking about what plan is supposedly perfect for weight loss or gaining muscle or this or that, we don’t assess who and what we are. And so we do all these different things at once, and this is where we start to think tracking is restrictive. I can’t do macros.

(03:49):
I can’t work out for an hour six days a week. Instead of saying, okay, so that’s too painful a change for me to make right now instead of doing nothing, what is a change I can make that isn’t too painful? That might mean right now saying, Hey, I’m going to do three days a week, 15 minutes. Hey, I’m going to do three days a week, five minutes. Hey, right now tracking macros or even thinking about macros in general or tracking my food just feels like too much. I’m just going to add in vegetables to one meal or increase my protein at just one meal by adding one more ounce. Think about how you can change the habit to really fit you, because so often we get this very, this habit is good, this habit is bad, this is right and this is wrong. And this binary view doesn’t serve us because habits are, they’re able to be implemented in so many different ways to meet us where we’re at.

(04:36):
So really assess where am I currently? What is the pain that I am suffering from? What does my lifestyle truly look like? When am I waking up in the morning? How do I feel with how I’m waking up? Am I energized in the morning? How is my sleep? How do I feel with my workouts? How do I feel with my habits? How do all these different patterns and behaviors that I’m repeating truly make me feel? And then even think, where do I feel the pushback when I think about the perfect plans I’ve tried to implement in the past that have left me stuck? Where do I see myself running into the same hard that I’m running back from, that I’m turning around from? Because I think in assessing that, we start to realize we always hit the same hard point. It might be at six weeks, it might be after the January motivation wears off.

(05:18):
It might be with keto because we restricted carbs, but there’s some underlying thing below the surface value. And it’s that we’re always running into the same hard and we’re never continuing forward because we’re never doubling down and stepping back to pause and assess what hard we’re hitting and how we can overcome that, or how other priorities have shifted. In January, you might have the perfect time, but in February you might start to travel or work might start to pick up or something else starts to come into play. That by not assessing the evolution in your lifestyle, you’re hitting that hard and you’re turning back because you’re not evolving those habits. But the more you understand your current situation, your current lifestyle, where you’re starting from and the pain involved in that and the habits involved in that, the more you can plan out that roadmap and even have different paths forward.

(05:59):
It’s almost like you have that GPS that can tell you ways around the traffic. You want to find that same ability or way of giving yourself guidance in your own fitness journey. And so that means assessing where you are currently, not just where you want to go or the perfect plan for that. And I bring this up because I had someone email me and they were like, I really want to lose weight. I’m really struggling. And I asked them about their diet and they’re like, well, I love all these different carbs, and they go out for pizza and do all these different things. And so I’m like, okay, well, what do you think is a change that you might use? Or what program were you thinking about going with? And they’re like, well, I think I’m going to do keto. Everything they had outlined was processed food, more eating out, more carb heavy.

(06:38):
And I asked, I’m like, why are you going to do keto? And they said, because my friend did it and it really worked for them. And I’m like, well, do you think that’s realistic for your lifestyle? Well, I think I could cut these things out. And it’s like, but for how long are you forcing a mold that really doesn’t fit? Are you forcing a round peg into a square hole? And in really having her step back, she started to realize like, oh, this is why I haven’t seen the results, because I keep going after a perfect plan, something I think I can use short term. And not that we don’t use certain things short term, and what you do to reach a goal isn’t what you’ll do to maintain it. But there has to be some change in actual lifestyle habits, mindsets, the underlying actions we’re taking.

(07:15):
We have to find ways that we’re learning something about ourselves to move ourselves forward and create that discipline, not just forcing a mold that we can maybe willpower our way through for a little bit. And so in having her step back, she realized that keto wasn’t the way, and that by actually tracking what she’s currently doing, she could work those things in find evolutions in our habits that moved her forward and see sustainable results. Now, it’s not the overnight quick fix that some of these fad diets promise us and even give us, but it’s the lasting results because we don’t want to look good for just one day, and we don’t want to just lose 10 pounds to gain it back. We want to truly see changes, and we want to reach that destination B stat. So I would really urge you, as you’re setting goals, don’t just look at the goal.

(07:55):
Don’t just look at a perfect plan. Look at where you are right now to evolve habits to meet you where you’re at. And then recognize as you reach that goal, you’re stepping into a new identity. Think about what that lifestyle truly looks like to be there. Because I think even in assessing that, and when I questioned her more about the keto, I’m like, does your destination have that same lifestyle that you’re now trying to use to get there? And again, there’s evolution in it, but she realized, no, I wouldn’t be maintaining this long-term. Okay, well, what would you need to be maintaining long-term to maintain the results that you’ve built? And then assessing the actual lifestyle and not just the goal, not just having lost the 10 pounds, but what is the lifestyle that person’s leading to then maintain that loss? She started to see how we could sort of backtrack to her current location and make the habits that she needed now eventually evolve into the habits she would need to sustain.

(08:46):
So I would urge you, as you’re setting goals, take a look at your current location to meet yourself where you’re at, and do the habits you need right now to move you forward knowing that they can evolve over time. Don’t force a perfect plan. And then as you look at your goal, really assess the lifestyle you’ll be stepping into with that, because that’s what helps us connect all the dots and really have that GPS, that roadmap laid out in a way that moves us forward and moves us forward in sustainable ways. So I would really tell you reflect, don’t just seek a perfect plan. Don’t just seek to take action immediately and force yourself into all these habit changes. Really draw upon where you are right now and outline the lifestyle you’ll need to be living and assess what identity you’ll be embracing, because I think that will help you take a different perspective when you make changes this time and see the results that you actually deserve versus jumping from thing to thing, hitting the same, hard to only turn back. Thanks for listening to the Fitness Hack Podcast. Again, this is the place where I share all my free work, workout in nutrition tips. I’m never going to run sponsorships or ask you to buy anything. All I ask in return is if you’re enjoying the podcast to leave a rating, review or share it with someone you think it might help. This will only take a few minutes, and it would mean the world to me and possibly change the life of someone you know

*Please Note: this transcript is auto-generated and there may be some errors in the transcript

The 3 Best Back Exercises (YOU CAN DO AT HOME)

The 3 Best Back Exercises (YOU CAN DO AT HOME)

by | Dec 29, 2024 | Blog, Exercises, Travel Workouts, Workouts

You can get in a killer workout without going to the gym. You can see amazing results training at home or when you travel.

So don’t try to use the fact that you can’t get to the gym as an excuse!

However, we need to recognize that there is often one muscle group overlooked and underworked in our bodyweight workouts, especially when we don’t have any equipment on hand.

And that muscle group is our BACKS.

We do push up variations for our chest, shoulders and triceps and even core.

We can lunge and squat and stair step ups and single leg deadlifts and glute bridges to work our legs, including our glutes, quads, hamstrings and even adductors.

We can do planks and crunches and sit ups to work our abs and core.

But our backs are often overlooked in our programming.

That’s why I wanted to share 3 of my favorite ways to target your back, and even your biceps, when training at home WITHOUT a pull up bar!

The first way requires your own bodyweight and a wall or floor…which thankfully all of us have on hand at any time.

So no matter what, we can all do forms of the Scapular Hold or Scapular Reps.

This move is honestly something I even include for my clients at the gym as well because of how amazing it is for back activation and scapular control.

And you can do it either as an isometric or hold to focus on what you feel working and engage as hard as possible or even for reps.

If you do it for reps, unlike traditional rows where your biceps can take over, the scapular wall or floor reps prevent your arms from assisting in that this move is actually a PRESS over a PULL for your back.

You’ll push off your elbows, pressing your chest out as you draw your shoulder blades toward your spine to row up and out.

Standing against a wall make sure you don’t walk out too far and end up shrugging.

And off the ground you can have your legs out straight or knees bent, but make sure you aren’t turning this move into a sit up.

The move needs to be powered by the back and pushing away through the elbows.

To do reps, you’ll lower back to the wall or floor each time. To do the isometric, you’ll simply hold in that pressed position.

But focus on feeling your back engage to press your chest out and open. And brace your abs as you flex your glutes and quads to keep your core engaged and that nice plank position, especially off the wall.

You will find too that the wall is a bit easier to control than the floor and the less you walk your feet away from the wall, the more modified the move is, making this easy to adapt to every fitness level!

And these aren’t the only back moves you can do with just your own bodyweight.

Plank Rows, scapular push ups and even scapular wings are all great options to really focus on that back engagement through targeting that shoulder blade movement toward your spine.

The Plank Rows and Scapular Push Ups have the added benefit of more core work too!

And if you do need to modify, they can be done off a couch edge or table and the scapular push ups can even be done single arm off the wall! This truly is an amazing move for ALL fitness levels!

The second home tool you can use to work your back is a doorway or stair rail to perform Doorway Rows, both single arm and two-arm!

With this move, your bodyweight will be your resistance. And you’ll feel not only your back and bicep but even your legs and core with this move.

It is a great way to work that full pulling movement. The key is not just pulling with your arms, but actually driving your elbows back.

You want to as feel your shoulder blades move toward your spine to engage you back to power the pull.

You can do this as both a single arm or two arm pull, but the single arm will often be more challenging.

You can also do this as an anti-rotational or rotational single arm row.

You can choose to fight any torso movement…

Or actually consciously include it, rotating toward the stair rail as you row in and opening up and toward the ground as you extend your arm out.

And to progress this move further, slow down the tempo of the pull, even pausing when you row in!

Just make sure you are truly feeling your back engage and not just pulling with your arm with this row!

The third tool I love to use when training at home is a towel.

Using a towel you can actually work your back in so many different ways – from rows to flies to even pull downs.

With using a towel, you can do self-resisted movements. This means you are creating tension through the towel to create resistance for the movement.

This can allow you to do single arm flies and rows, resisting the move by pulling with the other hand.

Or you can create tension by pulling out on the towel to do a bent over row or pulldown.

This pull out to create tension helps you better activate the muscles and you’ll feel them working as you perform the pull with a slow tempo. Just don’t let the towel lose tension!

Bonus, you can also get in that bicep isolation work, another muscle group that doesn’t get as much love at home, with a self resisted bicep curl.

And not only can towels be used to help perform a self-resisted movement, they can be used as sliders on the ground to help you work your back.

Side lying slides are great for your lats and a killer unilateral move that also hits your obliques.

Just make sure you’re really pulling the towel down to power the slide up with your lats over ONLY using your obliques.

And if slide lying slides are a bit too much to start, or you just want extra pull up type work, you can always use the towels to do lying w pulldowns too to work more on that vertical pull and scapular control and movement.

But no matter what, whether you have literally just your own bodyweight, a doorway, stair rail or hand towel, you can make sure you target this often overlooked area in your home workouts or when you travel!

There is always a way to get results training with what we have! Have fun being creative with tools you have around your home.

For amazing workouts you can do anywhere, check out my Dynamic Strength program!

10 Harsh Truths You Probably Need to Hear

10 Harsh Truths You Probably Need to Hear

by | Dec 22, 2024 | Blog, Mindset

Progress is never linear. Achieving results is hard even when it looks easy.

And the more we even oversell the negative and prepare for the setbacks and struggles, the easier it is ultimately to overcome the obstacles and keep going.

That’s why I want to share 10 sucky truths you need to own if you want to see better results faster.

1: Simple doesn’t mean easy.

Every time I post something about the fact that success is struggle or change is hard…

I get at least one comment of…

“No, it’s simple! Just do this!”

But that “simple” thing they say to do…

A. Isn’t easy for everyone.

B. Isn’t simple for everyone.

And C. Is it an oversimplification or not the habit someone else needs for results ultimately leading to others feeling like something is wrong with them because that isn’t easy for them to do…

Because what is “simple” boils down to us FINDING the change that meets us where we are at.

And it takes time to find that for some of us.

Not to mention…knowing isn’t doing.

And getting ourselves to DO the simple thing isn’t easy, especially if the simple thing is very different from what we’re doing now.

Instead we need to focus on not some ideal, not something “simple,” but instead something that seems so easy we could do it on our worst of worst days.

Focus on the smallest of small habit changes that meets you were you are at.

This isn’t sexy. But this is how results build!

2: The habit changes we need the most are the ones we fight against the hardest.

Think about how many habits you’re told to do that you immediately find reasons NOT to do.

And the later, when you’ve finally embraced the change you think…

“Why didn’t I do this sooner?!”

It’s because often those changes are far outside our comfort zone. And we simply don’t want to do them.

I see this all the time, especially when I tell people to increase protein or cut out cardio for fat loss…

They find all of the reasons why high protein isn’t good or cardio is essential.

We seek out reasons to validate our own desire not to act or make the uncomfortable change yet what we’re doing currently isn’t working.

This desire to find a reason NOT to do something should instead trigger us to know that this is EXACTLY the change we probably need to see a new and better result.

Instead of finding ways to reinforce what we don’t want to do, we need to assess WHY we’re pushing back against the changes so much.

We need to ask ourselves, “Why am I so resistant to taking this action?”

Then instead, we should research all the reasons WHY it would be good for us and break down the change to meet ourselves where we are at!

Often we can lower our defense against the change by taking action to build the habit that meets us where we are at and is closer to our comfort zone!

3: We stand in our own way.

It’s cliche but true – whether you believe you can or you can’t, you’re right.

We tell ourselves things aren’t possible.

We tell ourselves we don’t have the willpower or self control.

We doom ourselves with doubt.

We don’t commit 100% to a change and ignore our own deviations and inconsistencies, letting ourselves off the hook.

We CHOOSE not to make a hard choice and take action, keeping going when it would be so easy to quit.

We are ultimately the one in control of our own success and our own failure.

We are the only ones that can prove what is truly possible by taking a risk and taking action to try to move forward.

We are the only ones that can act.

But that means we need to stop telling ourselves no and limiting ourselves and instead say…

“Hey, let’s do this and see what is possible!”

4: Success is failure.

The most successful people have often also failed the most.

This is what makes them successful.

They learned from those experiences as often our mistakes are the ones that teach us lessons that really stick with us.

Now don’t get me wrong…It sucks to make a mistake. To feel bad at something. To feel like you look stupid even.

But those things we deem as failures are really just learning experiences with a side of frustration.

Those experiences are often the most essential to our success.

Because we don’t succeed despite failures…we succeed because of them…

That is as long as we choose to learn from them.

So don’t run from the discomfort of learning and making mistakes. Embrace this as opportunity.

Make sure that every time something happens that didn’t go as planned you pause to reflect.

Because often that reflection is what truly teaches us and moves us forward, helping us even achieve more than we thought possible.

5: Nothing works forever.

We are constantly changing whether we realize it or not. Nothing in life is ever standing still.

Our goal is to recognize this and evolve to meet ourselves where we are at to control the direction of that change.

Yet too often we get complacent with things and cling to habits and routines that now don’t fit what we need to move forward.

Instead we need to embrace that nothing works forever and what helped us even reach one goal may be holding us back from the next.

The more we are open to change and don’t get so married to a tool or tactic it becomes a part of our identity, the more we allow ourselves to always grow and move forward!

6: Effort doesn’t equal outcome.

Effort relates to how a habit or change feels. Not to the actual magnitude of the change and how much it is moving us forward.

Like we could be tracking what we’re eating and feel like we’re doing so much to lose weight because it feels like a challenge to track while not actually having changed our food portions at all.

So while something feels hard, it doesn’t always mean we’re doing enough or truly making a change to achieve a goal.

Not to mention so often we do overwhelm ourselves in how we make changes in our attempt to see results faster.

We do so much we kill our motivation quickly and then all of the habits feel like too much. So we give up when results aren’t happening fast enough.

We need to be aware of all of this and how our feelings of effort can sabotage us.

This is why sometimes LESS IS MORE!

We need to assess what is actually realistic for us right now and what changes even feel EASY to make and start there.

Because the more you do, the more you do. And as you make changes you’ll feel more motivated to add on over feeling overwhelmed and like you want to do less!

And don’t be afraid to even REASSESS what feels doable at different times.

Sometimes LIFE can make what did feel good feel like too much effort.

And the more we own this to back off and take ownership of what matches what we need now, the more we actually keep moving forward!

7: Someone always has it easier.

Yup. The thing is…that doesn’t matter.

But I won’t tell you not to compare. Comparison is in our nature.

We just have to recognize when the comparison isn’t serving us and isn’t relevant.

Or if we find ourselves comparing, see the opportunity in learning all we can from what that person did.

But ultimately we have to put the blinders on and stay focused on just what WE need.

Like a race horse. Put the blinders on and RUN. Because no one else has an impact on the time YOU run the race in. Just on their own.

Focus on meeting yourself where you are at to move forward.

What matters for your success is your current situation, the goal you want and the actions that will take you from point to point B.

8: There’s no one best thing.

Not only is there no one best thing out there…no one magic move or magic food…

But searching for a single habit or tactic that will fix everything is often what holds us back from realizing how everything in our lifestyle needs to work together.

Because results are built off of systems not habits in isolation.

And one size doesn’t fit all!

It’s built off the boring basics done daily and creating a plan we can be consistent with.

Your diet has to match your workouts and both have to work together with your recovery and schedule if you want to create something that allows you to put in the work and build.

Because what worked for your friend, may not work for your lifestyle. 6 days a week of workouts may be fabulous, but not if you can realistically do 3.

There is no perfect plan, just the perfect plan for us.

So stop searching for a new best thing…some ah-ha magical epiphany.

Instead focus on small tweaks you can make to make everything fit a little bit better together!

Go back to those basics even and search for 1% improvements you can make over something new!

9: You have to think outside the gym. Outside your plate.

Simply put, your mindset matters most.

We want to take action. We search for new things to do and want to know WHAT to do and so often try to skip the WHY.

I even get that comment on videos often, “Just tell me what to do.”

But this quest for just WHAT to do keeps us stuck, never really making changes that are lasting.

Heck it even causes us to make changes that are ultimately a ton of wasted effort because they weren’t really what we needed…they were just “best” for someone else.

Instead we need to take a step back and look not only at our mindsets and beliefs about things, but even take a look at our lifestyles as a whole.

We need to own our priorities and lifestyle because, if we don’t, these things so often become our excuse.

They make changes to our diet or workouts harder.

Not to mention they make us ignore other things that are important to us and other areas of our lifestyle that may need changes and adjustments like our sleep or recovery.

So don’t get caught up in only looking at the actions you can take to adjust your diet and workouts if you want lasting results.

10: Do it anyway.

Yup. Do it anyway.

When you hit something you don’t want to do…

That day you really don’t want to do what you should…

Do it anyway.

Because those days are the days that matter most.

And you’ll feel so good for conquering that hard.

Those days are what create success and discipline.

Those days are what build your strength and confidence.

So on those days you really don’t want to, think, “I’ll just do one minute.”

That’s often all you need to get started and do even more.

Just remember, there is a cost to every reward.

There isn’t success without sacrifice.

But if we embrace these sucky truths and own them, we’re setting ourselves up to acheive better results faster and navigate the ups and downs along the way!

Build your leanest, strongest body at ANY age…and if you need that PUSHY trainer and straight shooter to help…

–> Apply To My 1:1 Online Coaching