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. So you want to see better fat loss results. Well, the sad fact of the matter is we can’t out exercise or out diet time, which means that trying to do more as good as that action feels won’t actually yield better results faster. However, we can make tweaks to our diet and our workout routine that help us really dial things in a way that produces more quality habits and can help us see results faster.

(00:50):
And I want to focus on those fundamentals because going back to those boring basics and realizing that it is those boring things, those tedious things done daily, the unsexy things that really add up to the sexy results is super important. And the more we hone in, the more precise we get with it, the more we really want to learn about those basics and perfect them, the better off we’re going to be. So the first tip I wanted to go over was about not demonizing carbs or fats, but actually cycling ratios that are higher carb are higher fat back to back. Often we do get into saying fats make you fat or carbs are bad. They make you gain belly fat, but neither macro is evil and both have their purpose. And while yes, if you’re more active doing more cardio, you might tend to be in the higher carb ratio area versus if you’re less active maybe going through menopause, you tend to go with higher fats.

(01:38):
Actually, cycling ratios that vary back to back can be really key, especially when we are trying to lose that last little bit of stubborn fat. And the reason for this is because it gives us different sources of energy and it actually impacts our body in different ways. We often see lower carb ratios with higher fat because we’re then depleting glycogen stores, which can help us tap into stored fat to use that fat as energy. But we also want to think about increasing our carbs after a period of being low carb. Often when you’ve been low carb, you might notice that you’ve lost some weight, you’ve lost some fat, but you look a little bit squishier, and this can be because our fat cells are storing water. When we then increase our carb intake, we can actually find that our fat cells release this water, which is why when you’ve gone higher carb after a lower carb period, they call it the whoosh effect.

(02:24):
But you can see that loss of water weight that has been stored in the fat cells, the fat cells feel safe to sort of release that because they have more fuel coming in that readily available energy. So cycling, higher carb after lower carb can be beneficial to help you see that fat loss. It’s giving you a different energy source and if you can even time your workouts to change to maybe a little bit more cardio, a little bit more intensive when you do this, that’s even more beneficial. Maybe you add in a little extra walking, but don’t fear carbs just because you even sometimes do see that spike on the scale because with that spike on the scale right after, as your body adapts because your glycogen stores are now full from

(02:58):
Being depleted after being low carb, you can see that we should fat losing that water weight. So it can come sometimes with a little increase on the scale, but then also that loss and you looking leaner, and then after that you might go back to a lower carb ratio. But don’t be afraid to cycle every couple weeks a higher or lower carb ratio, a higher or lower fat ratio because also with cycling those things, we’re keeping hormonal balance while focusing on our protein being higher to protect our lean muscle mass, preserve, all those bodily processes help us even have that higher thermic effect to help with fat loss. But cycle carbs and fat don’t just demonize them. And if you do find you run better off of lower carb or higher carb, you can still stay in that lower or higher range just slightly cycling up in it or down in it.

(03:41):
But don’t fear occasionally adding in a ratio that’s vastly different from what you’re doing. If you are trying to lose that last little bit, then realize this is tip number two. Realize that boring is your best friend. I brought it up already, but those boring basics done daily are really what yield sexy results. I know it’s very tempting and I find myself doing it even though I know better too. Searching for something new, searching for something that’s going to be like that aha moment. I have people come into programs and be like, oh, I knew all this. Yeah, well, guess what? If something says something that you really didn’t know at all, instead of just saying something in a slightly different way that clicks, it’s probably a fad diet or quick fix that isn’t going to be lasting changes or it’s, I’m sorry to say slightly bs.

(04:23):
And I’m not saying that there aren’t new things we’re learning, but a lot of times we’re searching for this aha moment that will make it seem like everything’s super easy and going to happen overnight. And anything that promises that isn’t promising real results, those boring basics do daily or what add up. If you think about through school learning things, if you think about anything you’ve learned, it’s always been boring. Things that you sort of have to do daily to really ingrain and learn that new pattern to be able to see the results that you want. Same thing goes for our aesthetic goals or performance goals. You have to put in the work in the gym, you have to put in the work in terms of fueling, you have to put in the work in terms of your recovery. But it’s those boring basics done daily.

(04:56):
And the more we seek to try and make things fun or exciting, the more we might be sabotaging ourself, getting fancy where we don’t need to be. And that’s where we start to feel like the effort doesn’t equal the outcome because we’re putting in a lot more effort, effort, often wasting time with things that are fancier than they need to be over keeping things basic. So if you’ve been given something that it’s a basic ratio or even you’re like, oh, well, you’re just telling me to focus on protein, well that’s maybe where you need to focus first before you even worry about carbs and fat. Don’t get distracted by other things. Focus on that boring basic until you get super uber duper consistent and precise with it, and then you can add on. But the more we return to those basics and perfect them, the better our results are going to be.

(05:31):
Then number three, don’t try to out quantity quality. And what I mean by this is a lot of times we think about adding on more before going back to being more intentional or getting more out of the moves we’re already doing or the things we’re already doing. And I especially see this with workouts where people will be like, oh, I want better results, so I’m going to add on more reps or add on more moves or add on another workout or add on more time instead of saying, Hey, this is the time I have, this is the time allotted, these are the reps that are assigned. How can I more out of them? Because a lot of times we could lift a little bit more weight, we could try a little bit more advanced variation, we could be a little bit more intentional With movement, there’s a lot more quality we can get out of what we’re already doing.

(06:07):
And I even bring this up with macro ratios where people will be like, well, I want a new macro ratio. I want to do something new with diet. And I’m like, but you were 4% off or 5% off in your ratios over the week. Why not be 2% off? The more we can dial in what we’re currently doing, the more we can really test out what’s working, but also not have to work harder to some extent, not have to be seeking something new. We can dial in those basics so much better and get so much more quality out of the quantity we’re already doing, which honestly saves us a lot of time, which a lot of us use that excuse. I don’t have enough time. And it also saves us on a lot of effort because often in adding on more, we’re expending a lot more effort, and then it feels like the effort doesn’t equal the outcome.

(06:44):
We feel like we’re really working too hard to not see the results that we want, and we also create a lot more pain and change when we’re trying to do all these new things and all these different things. We create a lot of pain and a lot of resistance, and it feels like we’re relying on a lot of willpower to do all these different things over anything becoming disciplined. But the less we do, the more intentional we are with it, the easier it is to have those things become true habits and routines and become disciplined with them so that we aren’t relying on willpower. So when things get busy, we feel like we can still maintain those habits more easily and even be more precise in them. And then we also see it easier to add on other changes that we do need to make because those things have become so ingrained and we’re not relying on willpower so much.

(07:23):
Then number four, embrace. You won’t always be motivated and realize that even then you need to be consistent, and this sort of goes back to the quality not quantity thing, where you want to focus on what’s the minimum I can do to see results. Think about how often you approach things being like, I have to make all these changes at once, and then you feel overwhelmed and you think things are too hard. I know I’ve done that, but instead, if we approach something, it’s like, what’s the minimum I can do to see results? It’s a lot easier, and that allows you to get a lot more consistent. I often show this as the habit stacking with boxes where if you’re stepping up onto a low box versus trying to jump onto that highest box right away, it’s a lot easier stepping up to a box you know can hit.

(08:05):
You’re like, okay, I can do that. Jumping up onto a box, you’re like, I don’t know if I can hit that. It’s a lot more intimidating, a lot more overwhelming. It might even hold you back from trying it in the first place because you’re worried about getting injured versus the other box. You’re like, well, I can do this. We have to treat our habits the same way. Think about what can I step up onto? What’s a habit that’s so easy, I can repeat it in my sleep. Do that one thing first, and once you’re doing that, you’re like, okay, I’m willing to step up to the next box. You want to encourage yourself with that success mindset to want to build more and more. And that’s where we have to think about, okay, if I’m not motivated, how can I still be consistent? It’s why I even love when clients come into coaching or a program during the wrong time to start where life is trying to throw everything at them during the summer, during the holidays, not just in January, because so often we go to try and make habit changes in January and we make ’em based on this perfect time of year.

(08:51):
It’s time where we’re not traveling, we’re not having other things get in the way. Then we make all these habit changes that aren’t really realistic for our actual lifestyle. They’re just realistic for this bubble we’re in right then versus when we make changes during the summer, during the holidays. We’re making improvements off of that time of year, which is often the hardest for us, and those habits are going to be ones we can be consistent with even when life isn’t going our way and when we can be consistent with something when we’re not motivated, that’s when it becomes a true habit and routine. That’s where discipline is built and we’re not relying on willpower, and then we can build off of that. And the more you do, the more you do. When you create that success mindset where you’re feeling like you’re making those habit changes and you’re seeing results build, you want to do more.

(09:28):
So just remember, you are not always going to be motivated if you’re trying to rely on willpower, if you’re trying to rely on motivation, if you’re trying to only start stuff when things are good, you are not going to be able to be consistent with that and embrace doing the minimum. I know we say, oh, I’m an all or nothing person. Okay, well, that’s an excuse. I say that having made that excuse for a very long time, but that’s an excuse. That’s an excuse to not still do something and let ourselves off the hook when we don’t want to do anything. And instead of those times, you have to have that motivation and discipline to still do something consistently. And I do say motivation there because I think sometimes motivation is a pride in our, I’ve been consistent with this so far, I’ve done this even stepping back to say I’m motivated to do this, not because I actually have motivation, but because I take pride in knowing that I’m pushing through the hard.

(10:12):
And I think sometimes that recognition, Hey, this is a hard point. I’ve generally turned back from this time, I’m going to make a 1% change to push through. And even that step back to recognize this is a hard you have turned back at, helps you reveal your own strength. It’s like that workout that you really don’t want to do, but you push through anyway. We’re potentially a little bit more comfortable being uncomfortable in that way, which is why we can sometimes push through that hard. But you want to treat or have that same attitude with other habits as well, Hey, that workout I really don’t want to do. I know if I just do it, I’m going to feel extra good. Well, the same is going to go for your macros. The same’s going to go for sticking with your plan when you’re out with the girls on a Friday night or whatever else.

(10:47):
Sometimes you have to push that hard and recognize you’re going to feel all that much better for it. Which brings me to the last habit, which is assess what truly is a sacrifice. So often we feel restricted. We go, I feel like that person on the diet. I don’t want to do this. And we’re falling back into old patterns and routines that don’t really serve us without truly assessing, is this really a sacrifice for me right now? Do I even really enjoy this? Because a lot of times it’s just that we’ve always done it, and so we feel like, oh, I don’t get to do what I’ve always done, but we’re not necessarily saying, is this something I really want to do? Is this something I really enjoy or am I just doing it because it’s something I’ve always done because I fear of judgment from other people or fear of judgment from yourself?

(11:27):
And I think with that too, recognizing, hey, yeah, okay, this is a sacrifice. Maybe in the future I do want to do that, but this is my choice right now to make a habit change and move forward towards my goal. Because I think sometimes even placing sacrifices in the grander scheme of things, recognizing that, hey, this is a choice that I am making right now for a specific goal. And at some other point as my goals evolve and I shift maybe into maintenance or towards muscle gains or towards a performance goal or maybe fat loss,

(11:53):
I can make a different choice. But assess what is truly a sacrifice over getting caught up in what you’ve always done and the fact that this is different. I think often just something being different makes us feel this resistance against the change, and it makes us feel like we’re sacrificing things when in reality the thing isn’t even that important to us. So just remember, if you want to see better fat loss results, especially from those stubborn areas, you can’t out exercise or out diet time, you can’t do more. And in trying to do more and rush the process, you ultimately often sabotage your own success. Instead, focus on those boring basics and dial things in making tweaks to what you’re already doing in terms of your nutrition, your workouts or recovery using these five tips. 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 Rainier review or share it with somebody you think it might help. This will only take a few minutes and it would mean the world to me and possibly change life of someone.

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

00:00

Hey guys, this is Cori from Redefining Strength. Welcome to the Fitness Hacks Podcast. This is the show where I

(00:05):
Share all my free

(00:06):
Workout and nutrition tips. I’m not going to ever fill this episode with

(00:09):
Sponsorships or ask you to buy

(00:11):
Anything. All I ask in return is if you’re enjoying the podcast

(00:15):
To leave a review or leave a five

(00:17):
Star rating or even better share with somebody you think it might help. This will only take a few minutes and

(00:23):
Would mean the world to me

(00:24):
And possibly change the life of someone. So let’s jump right in.

(00:28):
Sometimes we have to go to extremes to actually create a lifestyle balance. Really, life is never balanced. It’s a constant balancing act and sometimes we do have to go one way, a little bit too much to correct from going another way too much. And I bring this up in regards to holidays, in regards to striking a lifestyle balance and seeing results snowball because often we do blame the holiday, the vacation, that one event when really it’s all the days around that we can control and adjust to see the results that we want. But with sometimes going one way, having a little bit more of that lifestyle balance on those holidays or vacations, we do need to go slightly to the other extreme to balance everything out. But over the weeks, months and years, this creates that balance even though it’s more of a balancing act between the two.

(01:16):
And I think it’s really important that we recognize this because sometimes to get to enjoy things more, to let loose a little bit more, you do have to make more sacrifices at a different point and in weighing what sacrifices are worth it and what enjoyment is worth it. You could find that right balance for you, but you’ve got to find your balance because too often we only focus on the holiday. We stress over the holiday, we blame holidays and vacations for our weight gain. But really it is all the days around. I mean, even think about it, we’re going into the 4th of July, but it can be any holiday. Think about that holiday. Think about what usually happens, especially with this holiday being on Thursday. We on Thursday, let loose, go to the barbecue, have fun. All of a sudden it’s Friday. It’s like, well, it’s Friday.

(01:55):
Why not just wait till Monday? And all of a sudden what was just Thursday becomes Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and then on Monday, if we’re struggling to get on track at all of a sudden it could be weeks before we get really back into a groove. Instead, what we need to say is, Hey, I want to let loose on this day. How can I hold myself accountable around? And that might mean planning ahead and doing what I’m going to go over today, which is mini cuts ahead of time. But it might also mean just doing one right after. And the key with this is not making yourself feel guilty. So I do think a lot of times what happens is we have that unplanned day. We do go a little bit more off track. Thursday becomes Friday, Saturday, and then all of a sudden we’re like on Sunday, oh gosh, I have to overcorrect to get back on course we do too much.

(02:35):
And all this does is sort of perpetuate that cycle of guilt, that cycle of restriction that makes us feel like we can’t let loose on the holidays, which makes us feel like then we have to make more sacrifices even on the days between, over striking that balance. So anything we do to go to another extreme and balance everything out has to be done with a calculated thought process behind it, a very clear cut plan so that we’re not making ourselves feel guilty. And when I talk about mini cuts, even though this is more of an extreme, there are more sacrifices. This isn’t fun. It isn’t about guilt, it’s about striking that balance. And when we put that into our head and we realize this is our choice to create that lifestyle balance over months and years, it’s a lot different than that overcorrection that we’re restricting cutting calories extra low because we know we overate one day.

(03:18):
You don’t want to do that. It’s a bad cycle. So talking about holidays, the more you can plan ahead for the holiday and know your response, the better. That might mean going lower calorie before the event. It might mean going higher in protein if you’re going out on vacation, maybe it’s having a calorie cap and a protein minimum. Maybe it’s simply tracking when you’re on vacation to hold yourself accountable. You want to think about ways you can keep yourself in enough of a routine, doing enough things to move forward, that when you come back it’s easy to get back on track. However, sometimes we have let a little bit more loose on those things and we want to really make sure that we’re full steam ahead and that’s where mini cuts can come into play. So I like to use mini cuts whether or not someone needs that kickstart, whether or not someone is in a period where there’s more unplanned things that can get them off track and they’re in maintenance, even just trying to maintain because in maintenance it’s never standing still.

(04:05):
There’s going to be times you’re looser and you gain a little bit and there’s times you’re a little bit stricter to lose and then you gain a little bit, right? There’s always an ebb and a flow. But with mini cuts, what you’re doing is it’s a very short-term fix, a very intensive thing to sort of kickstart progress or again, go to that extreme to compensate for the extreme the other way. So with mini cuts, what you’re doing is you’re setting a seven to 14 day period where you know that you are going to be in that extreme deficit and you’re going to push those macro ratios. This is not fun, but it is not a fad, and I want to make that very clear. When you learn about macros, you gain the power to adjust based on what you need at that time, whether it’s gaining muscle, whether or not it’s addressing sleep patterns, whether or not it’s fueling for performance, whether or not it’s reaching an aesthetic goal.

(04:52):
But off of that foundation of macros, you can then tweak them to match your needs and goals. And so this is an intensive period. It is not meant to be fun. It is not meant to be easy. It is not meant to be a long-term thing. You are just building off of that solid foundation so that you have that exit strategy, but also that really clear cut reason why you’re using it. And it’s great after a vacation, after a holiday because a lot of times you’re eating higher calorie, your macros have been a little bit looser. So because of that spike in calorie intake, you have that deficit you can create. You don’t necessarily want to use a mini cut when you’re already in that deficit because there’s no more that you can really cut safely. So you want to know your maintenance calories or the calories it takes to maintain your weight.

(05:30):
If you don’t know that, and if you know that you can subtract 500 off of that, that’s the most extreme you want to go. You can use a general calculation of 10 times goal body weight for the mini cut to get that calorie intake, but these are going to be low calorie. It is going to be intensive. Someone when someone’s like, wow, that’s really low. Yeah, it is, but it’s meant as that short-term fix. It’s meant to kickstart progress. It’s not going to put you at risk for losing muscle because of how high protein we’re going to go with the ratios. With these ratios, you need to be above 40% protein, even 45, 50% is going to be really key. And then you can vary carbs and fat based on your activity level and such. But you’ll even want to think about doing the macro ratio for only one week and alternating two different ratios because you’re going to do it no longer than two weeks.

(06:13):
Two weeks max. Seven to 14 days is what you’re using the mini cut for. And when you’re doing this, guys, if you’ve been on vacation, you’ve seen that vacation blow. It’s about getting rid of that and about kick-starting that progress so that you can then see fat loss. It’s not yet that you’re magically losing a ton more fat faster, but it’s using that deficit strategically to then rebuild out of, to not put your muscle mass at risk while depleting those glycogen stores a little bit to utilize and mobilize more fatty acids. So you’re using this to kickstart things or again, to get off that vacation bloat. After that, you do have to have that exit strategy and you have to know that when you’re coming out of any sort of deficit. It’s why we gain weight on vacations. It’s why we gain weight when we transition to maintenance.

(06:50):
It’s why you gain a little bit back when you come out of the mini cut is because you’re going from extremely depleted, nothing’s being stored to having some stuff stored again. So as you come out of that mini cut, you’re going to want to come back out a hundred calories at a time to get back to either the deficit you were in or even go back to maintenance for a period. But you’re going to want to think about adding a hundred calories to your current daily intake with the mini cut, and you’re going to maintain that for at least a week, if not two weeks, and then go up from there. But you also need to reverse out of it. You can’t just stay in that deficit. You can keep those macro ratios even as you come out, but you need to come out of it.

(07:23):
The whole point of this though, again, is this little kickstart and it can be great in the summer, great around the holidays where you sort of need that balance because there is a little bit more unplanned eating of things where you’re not hitting your macros as much to create that overall balance. Again, we have to remember that life is a constant balancing act and that these ebbs and these flows, these willingness to go to ext extremes, make more sacrifices, but then also the willingness to have more of that lifestyle balance have to be balanced out. And it’s not just days and weeks, but months and years that we have to consider. So that being said, if you are looking to strike that balance, consider a little mini cut to keep you on track and moving forward and even maintaining those results as you might have more vacations, holidays, things that you, you’re doing even times where maybe you do want to go into a little muscle building phase but you’re not fully ready to cut, or you’re also seeing maybe your weight loss has slowed because if you’ve been in a longer deficit, if you’ve been dieting for a longer time, you might need that dining break.

(08:19):
But then right after that dieting break where you’ve increased your calories, gone to more maintenance, a mini cut could be a great way to kickstart progress and then get back into that sustained deficit that’s not as extreme off of this, I wanted to check the Facebook group to see if there are any questions, comments, or concerns about mini cuts or even to hear how you guys are all handling the fourth because I think the more we plan ahead for holidays because there’s certain holiday patterns, vacation patterns that we always repeat, the more we plan ahead, the more we can go in with the game plan and the game plan doesn’t always have to be, Hey, I’m going to restrict myself and make myself miserable on this holiday. Sometimes it is, Hey, no, I’m going to fully enjoy, but I have this plan to get right back into this mini cut or this other program right after.

(09:00):
But too often we just try and deprive on the holidays thinking that holidays are what sabotage us when really it’s the fact that one holiday becomes six or seven days often. So let’s see. Comment about or question, let’s see, coming out of a bulk, do you recommend a mini cut or something different? It depends on your goals. If you’ve been trying to gain muscle and you haven’t put on that much fat with it and you’re happy with the composition of your body, you might just go to maintenance. If you’re like, I was doing a little bit dirty over a bulk than I intended and I gained a little bit more fat than I wanted, I think a mini cut is a great time because you don’t necessarily want that extreme deficit. You just want to get off a little bit of the fluff before going back to maintaining. So that can be a really good time to use a mini cut. What if I tend to undereat during the holidays? What would be the best? I lost the comment. Hang on, sorry. Let’s see if I can pull this up.

(09:50):
Best way to deal with that. So if you find that you’re undereating plan ahead to make sure that you’re eating more protein earlier in the day so that you’re not undereating just because you’re afraid with the party. And then think about maybe maintenance around it. If you’ve been in a deficit, you still want to lose weight and that’s where you’re really focusing is in that calorie deficit for fat loss and weight loss. Then think about doing maintenance around the holidays knowing that those are going to be lower calorie days or even think about a easier macro breakdown around those times to find that balance. But you don’t want to put yourself into too extreme a deficit with that. So again, going higher protein maybe on those days before you go to the event can be really key to help you keep your calories higher, but give you wiggle room.

(10:26):
But also think about being in maintenance. Taking that dieting break around that time could be really key. Just like you could use the mini cuts, diet breaks are a great thing if you are finding that there are periods where because of travel, because of whatever else, your calories are a little bit lower, is the goal of a mini cut fat loss or muscle gains fat loss. If you want to gain muscle, you don’t want to do a mini cut because you don’t want to be in that extreme deficit. It makes it much harder. So the reason for the high protein ratios and the extreme calorie deficit in the short term is that you’re putting yourself at less risk for losing muscle. You’re not going to have any metabolic adaptations from that. It’s a very short-term thing, but it really can accelerate fat loss. You would not be using that if your focus is on gaining muscle.

(11:04):
That’s where you might take that diet and break around the holidays or even going to a slight calorie surplus while using those macro ratios to really help you avoid gaining unwanted fat. Barbecues are great for grilling all the proteins. They really are. A lot of summer holidays can be a great way to still stay on track, but enjoy and not feel like that person always on a diet. As long as you’re planning ahead and if you go higher protein even earlier in the day, a little bit lower calorie, that gives you a lot of freedom at any event to not feel like you’re sabotaging yourself. Guys, we also have to think about 1% improvements over the same time of year last year. I bring that up because I think a lot of times we’ll have different habits in July in the summer than we do in January, and we’re comparing our July habits to January and make yourself feel guilty because we’re not doing the same thing we did in January when in reality we need to compare it to the July before, maybe the July before we went on all these vacations, we didn’t track at all.

(11:57):
We weren’t hitting our macros at all, and this July we’re at least tracking that’s a 1% improvement. And if you keep making 1% improvements, then the next summer you’re hitting your macros a little bit more. You have a pretty minimum, all of a sudden your results are going to snowball. So you have to think about what you’ve done at that time of year in the past and try and make an improvement off of that over just forcing the same habits all year because that’s not how it works. There are going to be ebbs and flows. It’s why sometimes embracing going to extremes, extremes of lifestyle balance, extremes of making more sacrifices to drive towards a performance or aesthetic goal is really key. Because over using these extremes and embracing ways to come out of these extremes, we can find that overall balance over the year to see better results.

(12:35):
But there are times where you go too much on one way or off course, and so you have to do a little bit more to get back on course. And that’s not a bad thing. It’s just not doing a quick fix that has no fundamentals to it or no exit strategy or no plan in place to show you how it’s addressing the extremes on both sides. This is so valuable today after a long weekend here in Canada, you guys already had your fourth when I did not eat the way I plan and now feeling frustrated with myself, this has helped my plan and mindset. Awesome. And I will tell you the worst thing we can do for ourselves is make ourselves feel guilty. And I’m going to bring up actually this new study. The recent study showed that our perceptions of the food that we eat had a huge impact on our actual body response to it.

(13:21):
Now, I’m not telling you that you can convince yourself that a milkshake is healthy and your body’s going to respond as if it’s healthy. However, when people thought that the milkshake was worse for them, their body responded in a way that it was worse for them and did not respond as well. Versus when someone thought the milkshake was healthier, there was a better body response and there was no guilt associated with it. So I will tell you, the less we make ourselves feel guilty, the more we realize that foods don’t have to be off the limits. There can be a balance. And while that might not mean including them all the time for ourselves, and yes, maybe there are days where we’re like, okay, I don’t really like how I fully handled that. I’m going to do something different. It’s a learning experience to improve, but it’s also something where you’re like, Hey, I’m going to have this plan to now do this cut, and it’s not because I’m restricting or feel guilty about this day, it’s just to maintain my results overall or to help myself kickstart progress.

(14:05):
It’s embracing that the extremes are your choice to also use to find a balance. And the more we do that over saying, I’m overcorrecting, I’m feeling guilty, this was bad of me. That just creates a negative mindset and makes us even not want to get back to the healthy habits more versus this other one. It’s just, Hey, I’m finding my balance so I’m enjoying my vacation, and then I’m going to be a little bit more strict in terms of making sure I’m paying these macro ratios, going more attentive with these things, really being on my workout plan, embracing more sacrifices to find that balance. So hopefully this helped on mini cuts. Hopefully you’re planning ahead for the holiday weekend and remembering that with the summer we don’t have to see that summer slide. We can make 1% improvements. And again, embracing that what our summer habits are, what our holiday habits are, might look different than what our habits during January when we’re super motivated are. And that’s not a bad thing, but we need to focus on those 1% improvements to really see changes comparing to where we were at that same time last year.

(15:04):
Thanks for listening to the Fitness Hacks 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

Cori (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, 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. Our body is really all these systems that have to work together for us to see the best results as fast as possible. And too often we don’t pay attention to some of the internal things going on until it’s too late and we have problems and then we’re like, oh no, because of this thing, I can’t see results in this area. But what we have to recognize that is a lot of those things, our gut health, our hormone balance, are all due to how we’re fueling and even how we’re training in some of our lifestyle practices. So that’s why I’m super excited today to dive in with Rebecca into our gut health and what we can do to improve it through micronutrients. So welcome, Rebecca. Thanks for joining me for the first time today.

Rebecca (01:05):
Thank you so much. I’m so excited to talk to you today.

Cori (01:09):
Well, Rebecca is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to our gut microbiome and what we need to do to improve our health of it. Rebecca, I just want to jump right in. Can you talk to us a little bit about how we can improve our nutrition to really see improvements in our gut health and even why our gut health is so important to pay attention to?

Rebecca (01:28):
Love that. Yes. So we want this diverse range of nutrients to give our gut the very, very most fuel for that microbiome. And there are specific vitamins, minerals, and nutrients that have been shown to directly improve our digestion, our microbiome, and to really help rebuild and repair some of the systems that naturally get damaged as we eat and live and work out. And so we really want to stay cognizant of what we’re putting into our body.

Cori (02:06):
It’s basically like thinking of our body as this high performance sports car. And I don’t know why I go to this analogy. I don’t really know that much about cars, but you don’t want to put in that low grade fuel when you need that high quality fuel to be able to function. Otherwise you’re not going to see the best results as fast as possible. And I love that you touched on diversity. So jumping into the diversity, what would be that first micronutrient that you would have people focus on if they really want to improve their gut health?

Rebecca (02:32):
Oh, that’s a great question. So if I had to pick one, I would start with fiber because that is the direct food for the good bacteria in your gut. It regulates your digestive processes, it elimination, you get the most bang for your buck when you focus on fiber first.

Cori (02:55):
And so fiber, it’s one of those common ones that people bring up a lot. They’re like, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. Rebecca, I know about fiber now diving in a little bit more because I think sometimes we don’t consider some of the other vitamins and minerals that might have an impact. And if we’re deficient in one or we have a nutritional gap that can have a greater far reaching impact even than just our gut health. So I noticed you mentioned zinc and vitamin B is two you wanted to touch on today. Can you go into why these are very important for our gut health?

Rebecca (03:27):
Absolutely. So zinc is a major player in the creation of DNA and the growth of cells, building proteins, healing damage tissue, and supporting an overall healthy immune system because your immune system really does start in your gut. And B, vitamins also help regulate digestion. And I feel like those are two that are really slept on because we hear about B vitamins for energy and mood. We don’t hear about them as much for digestion. And that broad range of all of the B vitamins is so key for that.

Cori (04:01):
And it’s key too, thinking about this, you bring up B vitamins for energy, and so someone might even be taking some of those or considering taking some of those because they’re seeing an impact in their energy. And if you’re also seeing something that’s going on with your gut, there’s sort of the double whammy, right? The more we can think about all the overlap between these different micronutrients that we’re including, the more we can fill our nutritional gaps to see better results. So if someone’s like, okay, great, this sounds really good. I want to increase these two micronutrients, what foods can they turn to be able to increase their intake of zinc and vitamin B?

Rebecca (04:34):
I would start with poultry and seafood. And then for our plant-based girlies, I would start with chickpeas. They’re really going to have the higher concentration so you don’t have to eat quite as much volume to get the baseline levels that we’re looking for. And I also like to make the distinction between you might be supplementing B vitamins already, but if you’re not digesting them, your body’s not using them. So it’s just another plug for focusing on our gut health because we can supplement with absolutely everything, but if it’s not being utilized by your body, then it’s just a waste product with everything else.

Cori (05:18):
It really is thinking about those micronutrients not just in isolation, but how they play in, and even the food forms that they do come in and the other things that those food sources might have. Just even like you often see magnesium complimenting zinc in different things, and I know magnesium is really important for our gut. Can you go into why that’s also a key micronutrient?

Rebecca (05:38):
Yes. So there’s at least seven different forms of magnesium. There might be more now, I don’t know, but specifically magnesium citrate for gut health and digestion, that is a vital role in maintaining gut motility, meaning how your food moves through your digestive system. It’s a process called peristalsis. So I don’t want to bore everyone by getting down into the nitty gritty of it, but it’s basically the wavelike contractions of your body that moves the food through your digestive tract. So we don’t want our food to hang in our body for any longer than necessary. We have this super intricate system that is already set up for us that we don’t have to think about, thank goodness. So to give that a boost, we want to focus on magnesium citrate, and it’s really found in leafy green vegetables, nuts, seeds, and again, the diversity of those not only having the same leafy greens every day, but having different forms and different types.

Cori (06:46):
Diversity really is so key because it keeps us wanting to hit our macros, it keeps our meals interesting, and then it really does help us make sure that we’re hitting micros in a way that benefits us fully. And I have to say, you missed an opportunity to be like, you don’t want to go over all the dirty details, but maybe that’s where my brain goes. But also with that, I think it’s really key to highlight how important magnesium is for the clearing of our gut and that motility just because we think so often of fiber only, and if you’re increasing your fiber intake and you’re not necessarily seeing the results that you want, that’s where you might want to dig in further to some of those other micros. Moving on from that vitamin A really key why.

Rebecca (07:29):
So I like to think of vitamin A as the mis congeniality of the vitamins. She is besties with all the others. She’s the friend of the party that’s like, hi, this is my friend. They do this. This is my other friend. She is putting things together in a way to influence our immune system function and regulating certain cell responses. So that is a great one. We hear about vitamin A for our eyes, we don’t hear about it as much for gut health, so I always like to make sure to mention that we do need that one as well.

Cori (08:11):
I have to admit, I’ve never heard it called the mis congeniality of micros or vitamins, but I love that analogy or that reference just because I do think it goes back to how much everything really does work as a system. And so often when we’re thinking about these different vitamins, we might pick out one or a mineral and we’ll use it in isolation. Then we wonder why we’re not seeing the benefit of it fully because we’re not filling some other nutritional gap or we’re not getting it to work in the way that it should because there’s a missing component. So it really is key that we step back and go back to that diversity of fruits and vegetables and foods that we’re including, which is what foods would be helpful in terms of boosting your vitamin A content.

Rebecca (08:54):
The easiest ones going to be carrots and broccoli, and I feel like those are the ones that the majority of people are already familiar with and try to include in their diet. So I would say just bump that up a notch and pair the carrots and broccoli with the other nutrients as well. We don’t want single ingredient plates, we want the whole rainbow.

Cori (09:15):
It’s thinking about all these different things that we’re going through, and I gave this challenge in a previous live stream. How can you build a recipe with them thinking about the leafy greens, thinking about the poultry, thinking about the carrots, it’s how can you combine these different things to make a delicious meal so that it doesn’t feel like you’re having to cram all these different things in a different points Because a lot of them can overlap, even if it’s not necessarily a ton of something in one meal, it can still be delicious. Exactly. So off of that, some other foods that work pretty well if we’re building out this recipe also include vitamin D. Vitamin D is very popular. We all hear get out of the sun more, but also supplement. Why is vitamin D so important for our gut health?

Rebecca (09:57):
So I feel like by this point, enough people have heard the buzzwords of leaky gut. We’re familiar with that term now, even if it’s not always recognized in certain communities, but so that leaky gut they’re talking about is the mucosal layer of the gut, and we really, really want to keep that intact. It is so important. That is what keeps the good stuff in and keeps the bad stuff from infiltrating throughout the rest of your body. And so to maintain that mucosal barrier, that’s where vitamin D comes in. It helps maintain the physical and functional integrity of it, and there’s a very specific type of cells that it corresponds directly to, and it helps to modulate those tight junctions because again, going back to that phrase of leaky gut, if that barrier is broken and things can slide through, we want to keep that nice and tight. We want our nutrients in our body and we want to keep the bad stuff out. So we really want to maintain that integrity of the gut mucosal barrier.

Cori (11:12):
I also really like that this is about adding something in to improve that, because I think a lot of times when we have IVS, leaky gut, different intolerances, GI disturbances in general, we go to cutting out, oh, I’ve got to look at all these different foods, see what I’m intolerant to, and cut things out instead of saying, Hey, what’s one thing I might even be able to add in as I’m investigating how foods really impact me to see better results? And vitamin D, especially if we’re seeing GI disturbances as we’re going through menopause, can be incredibly important. Now I wanted to circle back. Oh, sorry, did you have, okay, well, I wanted to circle back to you brought up immune function, starting with the gut, and vitamin C is really key to gut health. Can you talk more about that? Because I think it’s something that we don’t often consider vitamin C immune system. Yeah, we go to that, but the impact in the gut I think is very interesting.

Rebecca (12:06):
Yes, I love this as well because we do, we see all the vitamin C things for immune boost and stuff like that, or what’s the brand name on emergency? But vitamin C is actually an antioxidant and it helps protect your cells against the effects of free radicals. So free radicals are kind of the broken down state of certain things in your body and there’s a variety of things, but as things get broken down, they just kind of wreak a little havoc in there. And so the vitamin C just kind of ties them up into a neat little bow and says, exit stage left,

Cori (12:46):
You have the best. I don’t know if they’re technically analogies, I should probably look up the definition of that, but the best way of putting it so that you can really remember what each micronutrient does. So I love that, Rebecca, but even talking about that, if we’re building this recipe, what foods can we include to get more vitamin C?

Rebecca (13:04):
So these are going to be things like citrus, tomatoes, peppers, and again, in that rainbow. So our oranges, our yellows, our reds, all of that highly pigmented color foods

Cori (13:21):
And vitamin C truly is slightly magical and that it helps with I immune function that helps with the gut, that antioxidant, which can help us recover faster. So all these things too, when you’re thinking about trying to fix one problem, even looking at the other things they can impact, you might realize that you have some of those other symptoms. And if you don’t, you might be looking at this whole list and be like, well, Rebecca and Corey, I don’t want to have to worry about all these different things. Find the one vitamin mineral, focus on fiber, focus on one thing that you feel like is going to hit a number of other things you have going on, because a lot of times there is overlap. Now with all of this, one of the things we often go to when we’re trying to improve our gut health or we’ve been told we need besides fiber is fermented foods. Can you talk a little bit about why? But also what if someone doesn’t like fermented foods? I like them. So I’m not saying this from personal experience, but what if someone doesn’t like them because they’re a little bit funky and different?

Rebecca (14:15):
Yes, exactly. There’s a little bit of a wang to it. So fermented foods are a great way to introduce new good bacteria into your microbiome, and the more diverse your bacteria is, the healthier and happier all the systems of your body are, and the better your digestion and overall quality is going to be. So some examples of fermented foods, sauerkraut, kombucha, kimchi, yogurt is a really great one, but it has to specify active cultures on the label. Apple cider. I feel like that’s the one that most people are the most familiar with. And yes, there is a very particular flavor profile that goes with these foods that takes some getting used to. So I always tell people, start slow. One to two, tablespoons is plenty. And then slowly increase from there and note how you feel along the way. And I say that with all of these things.

(15:16):
Note how you feel along the way. Don’t do 10 different things at one time because then you’re going to be like, well, I don’t know which one actually worked. So again, start slow and let yourself adjust to that flavor a little bit. I also like to compare it to things like coffee or alcohol. No one loved those the first time they tried them. You had to acquire the taste, and I would say let your body acquire the taste. Especially with things like apple cider vinegar, you can mix that into a dressing and hide it, so it’s a little sneakier. You can put things in yogurt, especially if we’re talking about a whole milk yogurt or a Greek yogurt, something like that, that has the act of cultures. There’s so much you can do with that, especially thinking in terms of a recipe. Some of the others are a little stronger. Flavor. Kombucha is actually, hang on again, which I am here for. I love some kombucha. We want to look for the low sugar kind because when it’s high sugar, that can kind of undo some of the good benefits. But yes, I say starch slow and let your body adjust to it just like it did with coffee,

Cori (16:32):
And don’t add 10 different things at once because then you don’t really know what worked or what you actually need. And then you’re stuck sort of doing all of them, or at least reversing out of that, and you potentially overwhelmed yourself with a lot of changes all at once. And amazingly, you might have caused yourself more issues because when we do make dramatic changes to our diet, our gut is going to respond to it. I mean, right?

Rebecca (16:55):
Yes. And very, very quickly. The gut is highly responsive. You can change your entire gut microbiome in a week. That’s how fast the changes take place, especially when introducing new strains of bacteria. At first, your body might be like, hold on, what have you done? But we can convince our body that it was in fact a good thing. If you give it some time, be patient, start slow and include that diversity. And I feel like everyone’s familiar with eating dairy, fruits and veggies. That has been from, oh goodness, what was I going to say? So it’s like that has been, I don’t want to say touted, but that has been broadcasted for decades now, eat your fruits and veggies. Yes. But when we understand the why behind what we’re doing with those fruits and veggies, it has so much more impact.

Cori (17:54):
And going into the why, because as much as I’d like to say we all care about our health because we do, we often look to make changes to our diet, to our workouts because we want to reach an aesthetic. Can you talk a little bit about the importance of gut health for reaching aesthetic goals? Because I think the more we have that other purpose to something, the more motivated we are to make a change.

Rebecca (18:19):
Oh, absolutely. So when we think about gut health, we immediately think of elimination and how that feels in your body. So when we think about aesthetic goals, how much easier would your aesthetic goals be to hit if you didn’t have to worry about constant bloating and gas and all of these icky gut issues that pop up? When we make drastic changes, if we focus on our gut health and really go at it from a place of nourishment, it can have a direct impact on those aesthetic goals and on the health goals, I’m also a huge proponent of if we chase health, aesthetics will follow. A healthy body is a fit body. So if we come at it from that perspective of I’m giving my body what it wants and needs, and we also have a little bit of patience, and let your body adjust to it and listen to those cues from your body, a lot of times people will find that their body whispers what it needs at first and then shouts. So if we can catch it while it’s still whispering, then our outcome is going to be greater.

Cori (19:37):
I like that shift in mindset to focusing on health and the aesthetics will come. Then I think sometimes it can be hard because we come in with one ultimate outcome we want, but the more we do that, the more we celebrate some of the other wins. But it also just speaks to how all the systems are so connected. If you’re eating your fruits and vegetables, you’re improving the quality of your health, but those foods have a higher thermic effect. The whole natural foods over the processed foods, which is going to help you see better fat loss results, it’s going to help you be able to use the nutrients more efficiently and gain that muscle and recover faster. You’re going to be treating your body in a way that all the systems are more efficient because you’re getting your body the fuel it needs. And the more efficient our system, the more balanced our hormones, the more everything’s working together, the better our aesthetic results, the better our health. So it really is so interconnected in terms of closing thoughts for someone like, okay, I’m sold on this. I want to hit all the different things Rebecca told me to hit. What would you recommend the first step be that they take to really start to improve their gut health?

Rebecca (20:37):
Eat the rainbow every color as often as you can. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, and you want to introduce as many good bacteria into your gut as possible because it’s not you are what you eat, it’s you are what you digest. And so if something is going on with your digestion where it is less than optimal, then that is a key indicator that we’re not digesting our food properly. So definitely keep an eye on how your gut feels. Notice which foods have a direct impact on your gut. I just spoke with a lady earlier today who said she can’t eat popcorn because every time she’s immediately bloated and feels terrible. So take note of things like that and add in the full rainbow of fruits and veggies and keep your digestion on its toes a little bit. We don’t want to only eat carrots every day. We don’t want to only eat broccoli every day. Let’s find as many sources of those colors as we can.

Cori (21:48):
And just to give a big shout out to what you basically tell people to do, it’s just track, which I’m a huge advocate of, but what gets measured gets managed, and the more you’re tracking not just those macros, but that food diversity, the more we can see is a meal timing impacting us? Is a load at a meal timing impacting us? Are we getting in foods that maybe don’t make us feel so good versus feeling like something’s out of our control or we can’t make a change? So the more we track, the more we can hit that diversity, we can make sure that we’re fueling well and we can eliminate things that don’t make us feel good. Rebecca, thank you so much for joining me today. These tips were incredibly helpful. 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