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FHP 614 – Making The Same Mistake Over and Over

FHP 614 – Making The Same Mistake Over and Over

by | May 23, 2024 | podcast

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TRANSCRIPT

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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 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.

(00:29):
Stop making the same mistakes. So I was searching for a way to describe a cycle. I feel I repeated times and that I see clients repeating at times, and I found asaps fable, the lion, the ass, and the fox, and I’m going to call it the donkey from here on out. But the story is a lion fox and the donkey are all hunting together. They’re all gathering a huge amount of food and now have to decide how to divide it. The lion asked the donkey to divide the food, so the donkey chooses to divide the portions equally. This made the lion the king of the beast, angry. And with his paw, he killed the donkey. The lion then asked the fox to divide the food. The fox wasted no time. He quickly gave a huge heap to the lion and only kept a small portion to himself.

(01:15):
The lion asked the fox, who taught you to divide so fairly? The fox replied, I learned from the donkey. We need to learn from our own mistakes and the mistakes of others. And even having, sometimes they coach, they’re in our corner to help guide us through and point out potential pitfalls because they’ve seen them happen personally or with other clients. It’s really key. But I think so often, a lot of times when we do have a mistake, a setback happen. We run from that failure, we deny it, we ignore it, or we don’t even choose to see the mistakes and the things that other people have done to correct them out there, and instead say, oh, well, my situation is different. Instead of saying, well, why did this happen for them? The more we can pause to assess and reflect on different situations on our own experiences, the better off we’re going to be.

(01:58):
But we keep ourselves stuck in this loop repeating the same mistakes. When we don’t dive deep into things, and I see this a lot of times happening with nutrition, especially with specific diets, with labels. We’ll start a diet with a label, say keto, we’ll cut our carbs really low often because we’re not even tracking. We’ll do it by restricting specific foods in restricting these foods that we even enjoy and we don’t want to restrict long-term. Yes, we do see weight loss, but we can’t maintain this because eventually we add these foods back in, and then we don’t know how to create that same potential macro breakdown that the keto diet was having us do once we’ve added those food back in. So we end up falling off because it’s not sustainable. We want those foods in. We then search for another diet with label, and we think, well, it was because I had to cut out all the carbs that I loved.

(02:38):
So we go to a diet that potentially has us restrict other foods. Maybe we’re focusing more now on paleo, which has specific foods we’re supposed to include, but we can have carbs. So we think it’s going to work out. But then again, with paleo, we’re cutting out specific foods, and ultimately we want to include those foods, but we don’t know how to create the same macro breakdown that restricting those foods created. So we end up falling off regaining the weight. What we’ve fallen for is the same pattern, just with a different label, and we don’t realize we’re repeating the same mistake because we never really dove into what was at the heart of it. Instead of we paused to really assess and ask ourself, why didn’t this work? Why wasn’t it sustainable? We could see, hey, it’s with restriction and hey, these diets are even working because of how they’re adjusting my macros, how they’re dialing in my calories.

(03:17):
So can I track what I’m doing with them to then be able to work in other foods and still hit those same numbers to see results? It’s honestly why I love macros because at the heart of it, that’s the best way to adjust your diet and be able to work in anything you like. But it’s learning from these mistakes that really helps us find the sustainable solutions, the sustainable habit changes for us, even with workouts. Is there a reason why you weren’t able to be consistent with a workout routine during a specific phase of life? We might just say, oh, I struggle with consistency. But hey, maybe it’s that five days a week works during January where we don’t have any trips, but three days a week works during February or March where work is busy or you’re traveling more, or there’s school activities, whatever else it is.

(03:52):
So it’s really diving into why did something fail in the past? And then even assessing when we have friends that are doing specific things or family that’s doing specific things, or even see other people saying something doesn’t work. Well, hey, why did they have this experience? What were their mistakes that they made? Why could this work for me? Or why might it not work for me based on the mistakes that they also made? And shameless plug, this is why I love my coaching because I’ve made a lot of mistakes. I’ve seen a lot of clients make a lot of mistakes over the last decade. My coaches have seen clients make a lot of mistakes. They’ve made a lot of mistakes themselves, and we can bring all that knowledge to the table. The more we can not ignore these past experiences, the more we can learn from books, programs, all these different things, the more we can leap ahead faster. It’s not that we can’t do it on our own, but why make mistakes if you don’t have to? Why not learn from the donkey instead of getting yourself killed? Right? So I would really urge you this week to assess if you’re struggling to see results, what mistakes are you making? What mistakes are out there? How can you see or gain perspective on those mistakes to learn from them and really help yourself move forward?

(04:53):
Thanks for listening to the Fitness Hack Podcast. Again, this is the place where I share all my free workout and 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.

 

 

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

FHP 613 – Do You Have To Track Macros To See Results?

FHP 613 – Do You Have To Track Macros To See Results?

by | May 23, 2024 | podcast

LISTEN HERE

7

WATCH HERE

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TRANSCRIPT

7

OPEN TRANSCRIPT

(00:27):
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 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.

(00:30):
Unpopular opinion, you need to track macros. Now, one size doesn’t fit all and tracking macros can mean a variety of different things. There isn’t one approach that is right for everybody, and we usually do use about three different approaches with clients based on where they’re at from minimalist macros to full macro cycling to more visual portion guides. But it’s really key that we understand why tracking is so important to see the results that we deserve. Yes, it can be tedious, it can be boring, can be challenging at the beginning to list out everything. But the simple fact of the matter is what gets measured gets managed. So if you don’t have a clear and accurate picture of what you’re doing currently, you can’t make accurate changes based on what you need. And this is what keeps us stuck. We go for another diet with a label that tells us to cut out another thing and we cut that thing out out.

(01:16):
But with cutting out some sort of food, whether it be cutting out all carbs, cutting out breads, cutting out something specific, what we’re doing is we’re adjusting our macro ratios ultimately, but we just don’t realize that we are. So at some point when we no longer want to restrict this food, when we’re out with friends and we want to have that bread that comes out as the appetizer to our meal, and we want to have that, we no longer cut out that food. All of a sudden we’ve adjusted our macas. We’re not seeing the results we want, so we can’t sustain the restriction, and then we don’t really know why the restriction was working to make other changes, to still adjust the macros in a way that might be truly worthwhile in a lifestyle balance for us. That’s why measuring is so important and tracking is so key.

(01:56):
Now, I know you can be thinking, well, tracking is really restrictive. I’ve had problems with in the past, and again, one form of tracking doesn’t work for everybody, but we also have to realize that your food logger, your tracker is not judging. You are judging. And I also like to recognize why we have certain associations with some of the tools we implement, be it the scale or be it a food tracker. And I think it’s really key that we recognize that. A lot of times the reason we feel that tracking is restrictive is because of how we’ve always approached tracking and why we’ve always implemented it. We usually turn to tracking our food because we want to lose weight, we need to cut things out, we need to restrict, so to speak. And because we’ve always gone into it doing lots of restrictive practices, probably cutting our calories way too low, judging how we’re eating because we don’t feel good about the position we’re in, and we want to have a new and better result.

(02:41):
We have these negative associations with tracking, but really it’s us judging what we’re entering into that food tracker. We can technically even lie to the food tracker and not put in the accurate things. Don’t do that. Then we’ll give you information to make changes. But the food tracker is not judging. It is purely data off of which we can make changes. And I bring this up because I think the more we realize the associations that have come up and why they’ve come up, the more we can separate out emotions from the actual tools and then use the tools we need to see results. No, you might not track forever, but a lot of times we have to learn new portion sizes. We have to learn to adjust the way we’re fueling. We can’t just keep doing what we’ve always done otherwise. We want to achieve a new result.

(03:15):
So in order to see the accurate portions in order to see what might need to be adjusted, we need to have that data. And this isn’t just for losing weight. I have my endurance athletes track to make sure that they’re fueling their runs to fueling their workouts. I have people track if they have different gut issues and imbalances or they’re seeing different symptoms pop up to know how their food’s impacting them, if their sleep isn’t quality, right? If they’re not recovering well, if they’re constantly feeling sore, tracking our nutrition can be helpful for all these different things. So it’s not just about restriction, it’s not just about weight loss. It could even be to gain muscle to eat more, to help us build that lean muscle to gain weight rate. So there’s so many different reasons why we track, but it’s giving us that data so we can make changes that actually meet us where we’re at over just arbitrary restrictions that aren’t sustainable.

(03:58):
So as much as you might think tracking is restrictive, it’s not, not making any judgment. And again, one size doesn’t fit all in how we approach tracking, how we approach gathering that data, getting that clear and accurate picture can really vary based on what we need. But I think the more we try and take back control from some of these different systems and tools to use them to our advantage, the better off we’re going to be. And then recognizing that, no, it isn’t necessarily fun to write everything out. I don’t think anybody likes making a budget. We don’t like necessarily doing some of these different things that are tracking what we’re doing that potentially are helping us manipulate to create changes and not just allow us to live our lifestyle exactly way we want, eat whatever whenever we want in any portion we want, but they’re the best ways to be able to not have to restrict anything specifically because when you track your food, you don’t have to make something off limits.

(04:44):
You can adjust your macros in a variety of different ways to include the things you love. Even so realize that data is power to make accurate adjustments based on what you need right now and then even make changes later on. It’s not just about cutting out, it’s about tweaking and adjusting and manipulating your lifestyle to be the healthiest, happiest version of it. But you have to embrace that accurate picture of your lifestyle, that you truly want to make some changes that are sustainable and not just keep yourself stuck in the easy cycle of cutting out one food only to add it back in and then not know how to keep maintaining your results and feel like you go backwards data again, what gets measured gets managed. So please embrace tracking. Think about different ways that you can give yourself that clear picture, even if it’s not in the normal form of using a food tracker, but taking photos or just writing out your food. Start easy, ease in, but give yourself that clear picture of what you’re doing to make changes.

(05:38):
Thanks for listening to the Fitness Hack Podcast. Again, this is the place where I share all my free workout and 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 I.

 

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

You’re Eating Protein WRONG! 5 Mistakes To Avoid

You’re Eating Protein WRONG! 5 Mistakes To Avoid

by | Feb 25, 2024 | Blog, Diet

Increasing your protein doesn’t have to be this disgusting or hard.

Little changes and shifts to how you plan out your meals can really pay off. It just takes you pausing to assess what you’re currently doing and being open to looking at your portions and meals in another way.

That’s why I want to share 5 strategies to help so you can avoid common protein “mistakes” like these.

Let’s start with what I’ve already mentioned…

Increasing your current servings of protein by just an ounce!

Too often we try to find new ways to add in protein instead of just tweaking what we’re already naturally doing.

Which honestly just makes things feel more overwhelming and confusing.

So instead of trying to search for something new or a bigger change, just take a current protein sources your consuming and add an ounce.

If you usually have 3 ounces of chicken at lunch, make it 4.

Small increases to the protein sources you’re already eating can help you keep your meals and prep basically the same while helping you slowly increase your protein intake.

No big dramatic changes.

No having to think of new options.

Now, if you start adjusting your portions and are finding that your fat intake is way too high or you can’t keep your calories in check, this is where you can start to divide and conquer.

Often when a protein source is higher in fat or carbs, we think we just have to cut out something we enjoy.

Instead, we need to divide and conquer, which means we can simply COMBINE two different protein sources with different macros to hit our goals.

Love steak but finding it’s killing your macros while leaving you low in protein?

Try a surf and turf dish so you can have your steak but lower your fat by including another protein source you love that’s lower in fat.

This can sometimes be a better option than just eliminating the cut of meat we love.

Sometimes swapping for a completely different cut or type of protein isn’t enjoyable but the combination of two sources we love is!

So to get that 6 ounces of protein you want at a meal, you do 3 of each.

This can also help you avoid feeling like you’re just having to power through a bazillion ounces of protein as well at a meal.

Because another common protein mistake we make is just forcing ourselves to power through protein portions that simply aren’t enjoyable.

While a new and better result does mean embracing change and often that includes making some sacrifices, if we feel like we’re force feeding ourselves something, chances are we won’t keep doing that for long.

We can avoid this protein overload not only by dividing and conquering with different protein sources but even further HIDING the protein in meals.

How can you hide protein?!

Using dishes that allow you to diversify!

By diversifying your protein sources in a dish and not making yourself feel like you just have to eat more, you can often pack in more protein.

Soups, smoothies or oatmeal parfaits, casseroles or even omelets make this an easy task because it is easy to combine a variety of protein sources so the dishes pack a punch.

Try bone broth as the base for your soup with chicken or tofu and veggies to add 10 more grams of protein per cup.

Combine greek yogurt with a protein powder in your smoothie or even in your oats to pack in 30+ grams while being easy to take on the go.

Heck, even blend in tofu to add more protein while making it extra creamy, especially if you don’t consume dairy!

For your casseroles, bump the protein and cheesiness by adding in cottage cheese on top of your usual proteins included and even swap traditional pastas for edamame or lentil variations.

And in your omelets not only use eggs and egg whites to hit your fat and protein macros, but add in ground protein sources like turkey or ground beef to bump your protein intake further without getting bored of the same flavor!

But by diversifying your ingredients it can make for tasty meals that don’t just make you feel like your force feeding yourself protein.

And then don’t make the mistake of ignoring the boost you can get from so many non-traditional sources of protein.

So often we only focus on the amino acids from complete protein sources.

But there are amino acids in so many of the foods we eat that, combined over the course of the day can really add up!

This can make increasing our protein intake seem so much less daunting!

And by embracing this diversity, we can also get a great micronutrient boost.

Sooo….Don’t ignore the grams.

Small swaps like buckwheat noodles for regular white pasta can bump our protein intake.

Or peas with broccoli in our stir fry help us bump those protein grams and improve our micros.

Nutritional yeast and parmesan cheese are great little ways to boost flavor while adding protein even.

I stole this term from my Dietitian Michelle, but she calls them protein sprinkles. And I love calling parmesan cheese protein salt!

Heck, nutritional yeast is not only a great seasoning for the protein source you may be cooking up that day, but it can even be sprinkled on your popcorn snack.

Yup!

It’s a great way to make your popcorn taste cheesy and add a protein boost to a snack that normally is devoid of protein (and not in the gross protein powder on peanut butter cups way…)

You can even do this by pairing something you want with something you “need.”

Instead of putting protein into something that it doesn’t work in, consider it on the side to your usual snack or treat.

Try jerky with your crackers.

Or some natural deli meat on a snack plate with your apple and peanut butter.

But consider small ways to make those grams add up!

This can help us include the foods we love and not feel like we’re only eating bland and boring foods!

And then…stop seeing increasing your protein as having to be…well…bland and boring and diet food!

We often make the mistake of being lazy with the changes and defaulting into not trying to make the meals taste good.

It’s almost like we get this attitude of “Well it’s a diet. It’s not supposed to be enjoyable.”

But that holds us back from building lasting habit changes or even developing a good relationship with our food!

Make an extra effort to make your protein delicious through sauces and spices and seasonings!

Seasonings and spices can really make a huge impact and they come at basically not calorie cost!

Then even look for sauces that are flavor filled but lower in calories to start.

Consider things like soy sauce or tamari for some extra flavor while being low in calories.

Or use salsas even in place of other salad dressings.

Even consider making some of your own salsas or dressings out of greek yogurt and seasonings.

It’s a great way to even make some ranch variations while boosting your protein a bit, hiding that protein in your sauce!

But don’t shy away from finding some recipes that use seasoning to their advantage!

While I know it is easy to get overwhelmed by the idea of making changes and default into what seems easy but actually makes the process harder, you don’t have to fall into doing things that just aren’t sustainable and make you miserable.

Increasing your protein doesn’t have to mean destroying dishes and snacks you love.

Avoid making these protein mistakes and start building meals you love that help you hit your macro goals!

Learn how to adjust your nutrition to see all of your hard work in the gym pay off and build your leanest, strongest body EVER…

–> Learn more about the Metabolic Shred

 

FHP 612 – The Wrong Time Is The Right Time

FHP 612 – The Wrong Time Is The Right Time

by | Feb 13, 2024 | podcast

LISTEN HERE

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WATCH HERE

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TRANSCRIPT

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OPEN TRANSCRIPT

00:00

Hey guys, this is Cori from Redefining Strength. Welcome to the Fitness Hacks podcast. This is a show where I share all my free work on the 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 someone 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 you know. So let’s jump right in.

00:29

It’s just not the right time. Many of us have felt that way. When we’re about to start a new program, we think it’s not the right time to get started. But what if the not right time is actually the right time to start? And hear me out with this, because I think often we keep ourselves stuck in this yoyo dining cycle because we only start things at the right time. We wait for that Monday, that January, the time where we’re really motivated, where we feel like we have a clean slate, and then we make all these different habit changes and we can sustain them for a certain amount of time. We might even see results during that time. But then life, which it loves to do, gets in the way. We come up with some challenge, our priority shift, it’s busy at work, family life has more demands, but something comes up where, all of a sudden, this perfect time, this right time to start, is no longer the right time. But we’ve been willpowering our way through as is, and then we wonder why we don’t have discipline. And it’s because we’ve been willpowering our way through during a perfect time to maintain these habits. And so the second it’s no longer perfect. The second there’s other priorities. The second, there’s other challenges. All of a sudden, the things we’re doing and willpowering our way through, we just can’t keep willpowering our way through. And we haven’t built discipline because we haven’t truly ingrained lasting habit changes, because we only created habit changes based on this perfect time. So ultimately, what happens? We fall off our plan, we can’t maintain those habits and we don’t know how to do the minimum because we never learned how to handle the not right times.

01:54

I see clients get the best results when they truly start a program, the coaching program specifically, when it’s not the right time, when they’re about to go on vacation, when they have a whole bunch of stress at work. Because if they learn to make one percent improvements during that time, if they have that outside support during that time, that proven plan in place during that time and this is not to say you need to do coaching, but it’s just to highlight that when you have that plan in place and you learn to do those changes during the imperfect times, you learn to meet yourself where you’re at and make those one percent improvements. And the more we can make our lows less low, the more we can keep moving forward during those unideal times, the more those results actually snowball and build. We don’t see results from what we do inconsistently. We all know consistency is key to results, yet so often we try and only be consistent during ideal times and then what we see over the course of the year is, instead of hitting that 80-20 balance, we’re more like 60-40 because we’re only striving to be extra super perfect during 60% of the time, versus if we could find ways just to make those lows less low, we’re going to be more consistent over the course of the year and we might realize that our overall balance is even closer to 90-10 just because we’re making those improvements during unideal times.

03:01

So if you’ve been thinking that now is not the right time. I want you to question that and I want you to step back and I actually want you to think about your plan or your habit changes, as like being on a treadmill and if you were given 24 hours to try and get as many miles as you can on that treadmill, you’re going to move at different paces, you’re going to try and run at points. And that’s where we have those ideal times where you can make more sacrifices, you can implement more habits, you can be more strategic with everything, you can do a little bit more potentially. But you know those times where you can sprint. But instead of sprinting and then getting off the treadmill right, if you just all of a sudden walk and you give yourself that little rest and recovery, you’re going to keep moving forward. You’re going to keep logging those miles over those 24 hours to try and get more.

03:40

And that’s what we have to think about the ideal times as the times where we’re just going to walk, to keep moving, and maybe because we tried to sprint a little bit, all of a sudden we’re a little bit more fatigued. Maybe it’s, you know, the mental drain of other things coming up in life along with trying to do the habits, or it’s the mental drain of pushing really hard in our workouts. So we have to back off and yeah, maybe we’re walking at 1.0 on the treadmill, but we’re still moving forward, we’re still getting those extra miles. So we’re going to be a lot further ahead. And we have to think about it this way because if we’re thinking about it as just even this 24 hour span on the treadmill that we’re trying to get as many miles, that 24 hour span is really the year. And the more you can keep moving forward every single day of the year, even if some days are slower and some days are faster, the more at the end of that year you’re going to have accumulated and snowball those results Because as you keep moving, you’re moving forward.

04:27

That’s the thing. Like if you’re not doing anything, you’re literally standing still. Not only are you keeping yourself stuck in that spot, but we have to remember our body doesn’t like change. So when we go into a 12 week period where we want to see results and we’re thinking well, you know, it’s only 10 pounds, I should see great progress. You can lose one pound per week. Well, if you have those 10 pounds on, even if you didn’t dig yourself a hole in the last year waiting for the ideal time, if you just kept those 10 pounds on for that entire year, your body now thinks that is normal. Your body now is very balanced at that weight.

04:57

It is going to fight you even more to lose that weight because it has thought that is natural and normal and all the routines and habits you do for that whole year are what you need to do. So it does not want to change from that spot because this has become more and more normal. And if you think about how often, how long we’ve done it, it’s not just one year, it’s two, three, four that we’ve really built up those habits, built up those routines, built up the weight potentially that we want to lose. So you’re not going to lose in 12 weeks because you’re going to fight more against it. So that’s like getting off the treadmill and just standing still. You’re not logging any miles whatsoever. Better to move on the treadmill at the slowest of slow paces and keep moving forward, even if it feels kind of ridiculous. So that’s how we have to see our habit changes and our perspective of not the right time. If it’s not the right time, it is the exact right time to start, because the more you can learn to do something during that time walk at the slowest of slow paces the more miles you’re going to accumulate over that span and the further along you’re going to be. So don’t hold yourself back by waiting for some ideal time. Realize that waiting for that ideal time, waiting for a perfect time to be able to get the most out of our plan, is holding you back from ultimately seeing lasting results. Lasting changes, better results, snowball.

06:03

Thanks for listening to the Fitness Hacks podcast Again. This is the place where I share all my free work out and 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

5 Signs You’re Actually Burning FAT (NOT MUSCLE!)

5 Signs You’re Actually Burning FAT (NOT MUSCLE!)

by | Feb 11, 2024 | Blog, Diet, Exercises

Have you been celebrating quick weight loss on the scale?

Maybe you shouldn’t be… 

Because those extremes you’re going to so that you can see the pounds fly off are actually sabotaging your results.

It’s also why you feel like you have to starve yourself to get back down to your goal weight and the process just gets harder and harder. 

The sucky truth is…your hard work, trying to do more, is actually hindering your progress.

And no one wants to work hard not to see the results they deserve!

Most of us want to to do less work and get leaner and look more defined.

We want to lose FAT not muscle.

But when we strive for faster results on the scale, we sacrifice more muscle in the process.

Muscle that gets harder to regain and retain as we get older.

So if you want to lose fat…

It may be time to ditch the scale.

That’s why I also want to go over ways to tell body recomp is truly happening – that you’re losing fat while retaining and even GAINING lean muscle…

But first it’s key we understand why the scale is a horrible measure of fat loss and why seeing fast changes to it probably shows our hard work is working against us.

Because so many of us have defined “being in shape,” defined what our ideal aesthetic is in relation to a number on a scale.

And letting that number go at times isn’t easy, but it’s necessary if we even want to look leaner than ever before…

WHY THE SCALE IS HOLDING YOU BACK:

Because being solely focused on the scale changing often leads to us doing extreme dieting and training practices.

Ones that not only set us up for failure because they aren’t sustainable…

But also ones that hurt our metabolism, create hormonal imbalances and lead to us losing more muscle than fat.

And while, yes, in the fat loss process, as we strive to get lean, some muscle mass may be lost…

We CAN gain more control over what we’re losing, muscle or fat, by how we adjust our diet and our workouts.

This means not creating an extreme calorie deficit or trying to add in extra workout sessions.

When we don’t have enough energy coming in, our body will find internal sources.

This is why we do need a calorie deficit for weight loss.

Less energy coming in, our body used what is stored.

And of course we’d love our body to use our fat as fuel first.

But when we don’t focus on macros and we slash our calories super low, the opposite is going to happen.

Instead of turning to our fat as fuel, our body will utilize muscle.

It does this because breaking down muscle not only provides us with the fuel we need, it also SAVES us on the energy we require to survive.

Because muscle requires more energy to be maintained than our fat stores do.

So from a survival standpoint, it makes sense to use a bit of muscle first as fuel and keep the fat stores for later.

This is why metabolic adaptations occur. We lose lean muscle because of our dieting practices and therefore burn fewer calories at rest!

That’s why if we only focus on losing fast on the scale, there’s a great chance the weight we’re dropping isn’t fat, but instead MUSCLE as our body seeks to provide energy for the most important functions.

So it’s time to step off the scale, stop the extreme calorie deficits and focus on tracking progress in these ways.

5 Signs You’re Actually Burning FAT (and not muscle)

1: You’re losing inches as the scale isn’t budging.

You measure and you’ve lost inches…

But then you step on the scale and your weight hasn’t changed.

You’re frustrated because you’ve been so good all week!

You think to yourself, “I’ll just lower my calories further or cut out more of (insert food you’ve decided is bad here)”?

Don’t!

Losing inches while the scale isn’t budging shows you’re actually achieving AMAZING body recomp.

So don’t sabotage it by trying to do more!

How is this possible though that you can be leaning down without the scale changing?

Some of us have heard muscle weighs more than fat, but that’s a slight misphrasing of what is going on.

Because 1lbs of muscle weighs the same as 1lbs of fat.

But 1 pound of muscle takes up a whole heck of a lot less space. So if you’re eating to fuel your training, you may GAIN muscle as you lose fat.

Gain 1lbs of muscle as you lose 1lbs of fat, and you’re going to look leaner yet weigh the same.

So while it may be frustrating to not see that scale change, this can actually be a sign that not only are you losing fat, you’re not doing so at the cost to your lean muscle mass.

And this will help you ultimately reach your goal, not create metabolic adaptations and therefore be stronger and able to sustain your results more easily!

2: Your clothes are fitting better.

If you aren’t measuring, but your clothes are fitting better while the scale isn’t changing, you body is telling you the same thing…

You’re losing fat and not sacrificing your muscle!

I even love having clients keep a specific pair of pants or a clothing item that is just a bit too tight around the areas they want to lose from as reference.

Each week or so they try this on to see how it fits, even taking pictures in it to help them judge.

But as you feel that waist get looser on those pair of jeans, you know you’re losing fat even if that scale isn’t changing.

And sometimes using clothing to judge is easier than measuring because it is easy to not get the measuring tape in the same exact spot!

3: You’re feeling fitter in your workouts.

But what if you aren’t feeling your clothes fit looser yet?

What if the areas you want to shrink, like your waist measurement, aren’t changing?

Often our most stubborn areas, the ones we want to lose from most, are the last ones to change.

It stinks.

We lose from areas we don’t care about, and therefore don’t even measure, first.

This is why even tracking progress in your workouts is important.

Not only does this keep you in the habit of staying focused and intentional with your training to allow results time to snowball, but it allows you to see you’re on the right track toward body recomp.

Think about how you often feel when you slash your calories super low and try to out exercise your diet to lose weight…

You feel burned out right? Tired with baby weights?

Like your workouts are sometimes a battle and like your lifts start to drop?

Your energy just isn’t there.

And you start to feel like your hard work isn’t paying off.

But if we are focused on a smaller calorie deficit, clear progression and macros to see body recomp, we often see our strength and fitness IMPROVE.

We feel better in our training.

Like we are able to tackle more and do it more easily.

This is a sign we’re building muscle in our training.

And if the scale isn’t changing, that means we’re also losing fat!

So track your progress in your workouts to see those muscle gains and help yourself even want to stay more consistent with other healthy habits.

The more ways we measure success, the more ways we have to be successful!

4: You’re seeing definition in the mirror…even if it is areas you don’t care about as much.

That’s also why I like having clients take progress pictures.

This is a great way to see that definition popping out and the muscle gains we’re seeing from our strength improvements in the gym.

We just have to remember that lighting plays a factor. So make sure to take pictures in the same place consistently to compare.

And then make sure to take a variety of angles and pictures of areas you don’t “care” about.

Because often we will lose from everywhere besides where we want first.

In this process of losing from everywhere else, it can even feel like our trouble spots look worse.

So be conscious of this if you are tracking your progress pictures.

If an area looks worse, this doesn’t mean you gained fat and lost muscle. You just have to recognize another area around it got SMALLER.

Progress pictures, while not as objective as measurements or a item of clothing, because you can FEEL like you don’t look as good, are a great indicator of fat loss as we not only retain but gain lean muscle.

You may see increases more easily in areas you’ve even wanted to build when you flex for the photos!

So especially if you even want to GAIN a bit of muscle as you lose fat, progress photos can be a great way to monitor body recomp.

5: You’re gaining on the scale but measurements, clothing and progress pictures show a leaner physique.

And while many of us have heard you can’t build muscle as you lose fat because you can’t build muscle in a deficit, this isn’t fully true.

It is why strength workouts and especially a focus on protein is so key.

But this is also why we can’t get just solely focused on a goal weight…

Because we may be losing fat as the scale even goes up.

Yup. You can lose inches and see the scale increase.

You may actually LOOK LEANER, and people may even ask if you’ve lost weight, while weighing more.

This can happen because you’re eating enough to fuel that muscle growth and build 2lbs of muscle as you even lose 1 pound of fat.

And the more muscle you build, the more you may see that metabolic rate increase. And what was once a small deficit may get bigger.

So you may even have to end up eating more to fuel that muscle growth to see the scale increase as you ultimately lose more and more fat.

This is why those measurements, pictures or use of clothing to track is so key outside of just using the scale.

Because had you not had those other methods to see that fat loss occurring, you may have given up seeing the jump up on the scale even though that jump showed you were actually achieving even better results than you thought possible.

As hard as it is to let go of the scale, to forget your goal weight even if you have more weight you want to lose…

It may be the secret to you getting better results and a leaner, stronger body than you’ve ever had before.

And it sets you up to be functional fit till your final day on this planet!

Ready to learn how to dial in your workouts and your diet to work together so you can build your leanest, strongest body no matter your age?

Check out my 3-Step Recipe For Results HERE.