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Why Can’t I lose Weight? 8 Common Weight Loss Mistakes To Avoid

Why Can’t I lose Weight? 8 Common Weight Loss Mistakes To Avoid

by | Sep 11, 2022 | Blog, Diet, Exercises

We can be our own worst enemies when it comes to achieving the weight loss results we want.

Often we keep ourselves stuck. We end up working super hard to ultimately derail our own consistency.

We think, “Do more,” and often overhaul our entire lifestyle for some new popular program. When really we should be focusing on small, realistic changes to create the healthiest version of our personal lifestyle.

Too often we don’t actually recognize our priorities in life and then they become the excuses that derail us.

I don’t have time to train because of my job.

I can’t track macros because of family meals.

When really we should shape our new routines and habits AROUND what truly matters most to us.

But we don’t do this because we fall prey to the fad diet out there promising overnight results.

Because of these fad diet, overnight transformations we see online, most of us do tend to overestimate what we can accomplish short term while even underestimating what we can accomplish with long-term consistency which allows those results to snowball.

But I want to save you the heart ache of starting another program, working super hard, to only ultimately end up worse off than where you started.

That’s why I wanted to share 8 common weight loss mistakes I see people making and how to avoid them.

#1: Setting unrealistic short-term goals and expectations that cause us to give up in frustration.

Think about the last time you were actually at your goal weight. Was it 10 years ago? Or 6 weeks ago?

Or was it maybe NEVER?!

Because this timeframe WILL impact how fast you see results.

If you just gained the weight, your body will be more responsive and be more comfortable getting back to what it still may see as normal.

If you just gained the weight, your body will fight the loss of it less.

Whereas if you haven’t been at your goal for years, or maybe even EVER, your body won’t want to change from where it is now – what it sees as a normal balance.

It’s why we can’t just expect to even reverse years of damage in months – despite those months feeling long and like we’ve really been working hard.

We need to realize that progress is never linear and there will be periods where we even feel like we’re taking a step backward before we move forward.

It’s why it is key we find multiple ways to measure progress, celebrate the daily habits and the repetition of them consistently as wins themselves AND take time to step back and watch overall trends.

Remember that results take time to snowball!

#2: Eating too little.

You need a calorie deficit to lose weight.

Whether you create this through eating less or working out more or maybe a little bit of both, you need to eat less then you expend to lose.

However, this doesn’t mean a great deficit will mean better and faster results.

Often eating too little, or even training too much, will sabotage our results, especially long term.

And eating too little in the past may actually be making your current attempts at weight loss even harder.

Our body puts survival as its top priority. And when we eat too little, our body fears for our survival and will regulate what it can to conserve energy.

This is why our metabolic rate can drop and we can even lose muscle mass over controlling as much as possible for fat loss when we drop our calories too low.

This is why we need to focus first on macros and second on that smaller calorie deficit when trying to lose weight.

It may even be why we need to NOT focus on weight loss for a period even if that is our ultimate goal.

Sometimes we first need to do a period where we’re rebuilding our maintenance calories, retraining our body to eat more and properly fuel before we can even consider then creating a small deficit to lose weight.

Otherwise we may find ourselves in the situation of eating 800 calories but still not losing while training for hours each and every day!

#3: You fear heavy weights.

Let’s get one things straight…lifting heavy will NOT make you bulky. It isn’t easy to gain muscle, especially the more advanced a trainee you are.

And especially when you’re trying to lose weight because you’re eating in a deficit NOT the surplus often required to build more muscle.

We need that surplus often to build lean muscle because muscle is metabolically costly. More muscle means more calories burned at rest which means more calories needed to KEEP that lean muscle.

This is why we want to be conscious not to cut our calories too low and also focus on protein in our diet. This helps us retain our lean muscle mass. And the higher protein macro ratios can even help us potentially gain muscle while in a deficit.

But to gain muscle and keep our metabolic rate higher, we need to lift heavy. To build muscle, we must force our muscles to be challenged so they have to rebuild stronger!

As you train to lose weight, do not skip those weight training sessions. Do not cut our rest. Focus on heavy weights that really challenge you to get close to failure and eek out those last couple of reps.

Don’t just use a weight you kind of “feel” or could easily do more reps with or don’t really need rest to recover between rounds to maintain the loads.

Challenge yourself. It should feel heavy no matter the rep range you use so you don’t want to have to do all the reps you’re going to perform.

If the range says 6-12, you don’t want to be able to do 15 reps. 12 should be a struggle and you may find as you increase loads, you even hit a weight where you just barely hit 6. Then maybe you stay there for a few weeks as you build up to being able to do 12 reps with that load before increasing.

But you don’t want to just stop with a weight because you hit the top of a rep range or like the number you’ve performed.

#4: You cut out foods you love.

Here’s a question we all need to ask ourselves – Will I be able to cut this out long term?

Now, achieving a new and better results always means sacrifice. And the faster we want the results, the more we may be willing to sacrifice at least to start.

But we can’t do this at the expensive of creating something sustainable. We can’t do this with no plan as to how to add in the things we love when we are ready.

Because the simple fact is, you can’t do one set of habits to lose the weight then simply go back to what you were doing prior.

Your habits have to have changed even though you won’t be doing exactly the same weight loss habits as you maintain your results.

It’s why it’s key we learn how to balance in the foods we love and maybe even start by tweaking AROUND those foods.

I’m 100% pro macros and tracking. This is truly the best way to see what you’re currently eating and learn how to adjust YOUR lifestyle.

You can also plan in the thing you want first and adjust your other meals around that snack or dessert or meal to then hit your overall macros for the day.

And you can even learn how to eventually make swaps to strike your balance.

But too often we simply cut out the things we enjoy even though we will eat them long term and never learn to strike that balance.

A healthy diet has to be one you’re going to stick with if you want to lose weight and KEEP it off.

#5: You estimate portions. You eat intuitively.

If you’re looking to lose weight, I’m sorry but you don’t yet intuitively know what you need. You can’t just fully listen to your body and fuel.

You don’t truly know the portions you need to see results.

You need to LEARN what your proper portions are and truly relearn how to listen to those natural hunger cues.

We have to remember that there are so many things that fight against us actually being able to tell what our body needs – from hyper palatable foods that don’t cause us to feel full when we should, to stress and lack of sleep making us feel hungry when we aren’t to even distorted portions we are just used to eating and consuming that now feel normal!

Learning what you need to reach the weight you want, means tracking and measuring. It means giving yourself an accurate picture of what you’re consuming to adjust.

We are really bad at estimating our portions until we’ve truly seen what the correct portion sizes are.

So while your ultimate goal should be to learn what you need to do, you first need to start by tracking and measuring everything.

That is the only way to have that objective outside look at what you’re doing.

What we measure gets managed!

Don’t deceive yourself by not giving yourself that clear picture. Don’t let yourself feel frustrated that nothing is working when you can’t truly know what you’re doing.

Track and measure to learn what your body needs and be able to adjust even as your needs and goals change over time!

#6: You don’t focus on sleep.

We often focus on our workout and diet routine when we want to lose weight. And part of that is because it truly is easier to “control.”

It’s hard to be like I need sleep and then get more sleep!

But we can’t ignore the importance of getting adequate rest.

Not only is sleep key to recovering and rebuilding from our workout session, and even making us want to push hard during our training because we are energized, but getting enough sleep is also key to helping us avoid overeating!

A lack of sleep can basically make you feel hungrier!

This isn’t your imagination.

It is due to the fact that a lack of sleep can raise ghrelin levels while lowering leptin levels. Ghrelin increases your appetite while leptin surpresses your appetite.

So you can see how increasing ghrelin and decreasing leptin can literally cause you to feel hungrier during the day so you feel like you need to eat more. This is also why tracking and not just eating intuitively to start can be so key!

The hard part is…how can you focus on getting more sleep?

Creating a pre-bed routine to help you wind-down can be key. And even getting in the habit of going to sleep and waking up at the same time can help you build that pattern to get better quality of sleep.

And as weird as it sounds, you may even want to adjust your workout design and schedule so you aren’t always sacrificing sleep for training if you do train early in the morning.

While working out is essential to our overall health, we can design for the time we have while caring about the quality of our sleep to get more out of every training session!

#7: You don’t focus on a proper warm up.

Ever notice if you don’t do a warm up that you feel like you’re not as able to squat as deep or perform that bench press as well for the first few rounds?

Like it takes you time to WARM UP and fully get the most out of moves?

It’s because you’re basically wasting rounds of your workout warming up and you’re potentially putting yourself at greater risk for injury with improper recruitment patterns, which could lead to you actually having to take time off of training.

Time off from working out won’t make losing weight easier.

And by not warming up and not necessarily using the correct muscles as efficiently, you may not really be getting the full benefit of moves.

This can mean subpar muscle growth and even fewer calories burned simply because you aren’t getting the most out of moves.

Your warm up doesn’t have to be long, but with a combination of foam rolling, stretching and activation for 5-10 minutes you can help yourself get so much more out of each second of your workout.

You may be surprised by how much more efficiently you are able to run or lift and how much more you feel the correct muscles working to truly benefit!

Because if the correct muscles aren’t working, we aren’t only putting ourselves at risk for injury but potentially not even building the muscle we want to build to improve our resting metabolic rate and make losing weight even easier!

#8: You force yourself to skip meals or to eat 6 small meals a day.

Starving yourself with Intermittent Fasting only to find yourself so hungry you overeat later?

Forcing in 6 small meals a day so that you never really feel satisfied or full but instead constantly feel hungry and overwhelmed by the meal prep?

There is no one magic meal timing that is guaranteed to work.

You need to adjust your fueling to match your schedule and lifestyle. And no matter how you feel best breaking up your meals, you need to track your macros.

If you hit those macros, you will see results.

So don’t try to force a meal timing that leaves you stuffed or starving or overwhelmed with the meal prep.

Find a sustainable schedule for you even experimenting to see what makes you feel best.

But eating before a certain time of day or after a certain time of night isn’t going to magically make you gain fat.

If you need the calories, you need the calories. If you overeat, you’ll store the excess energy.

SUMMARY:

If you’re looking to lose weight, avoid these 8 common mistakes.

And focus on meeting yourself where you are at.

Ultimately small changes based on YOUR needs and lifestyle will be best. Don’t just get caught up in doing more.

Stay focused on doing these basics to see amazing results!

Ready to map out what YOU need to succeed? Ready to get your leanest, strongest body at any and EVERY age?

–> Book Your Coaching Consultation Today!

 

The Best Dumbbell Tricep Exercise (TO HIT ALL 3 HEADS)

The Best Dumbbell Tricep Exercise (TO HIT ALL 3 HEADS)

by | Sep 4, 2022 | Blog, Exercises

Postures and specific positions of joints during exercises can have more of an impact in what is working than we realize.

It can help us target different aspects or heads of a muscle to get the best muscle hypertrophy results while achieving aesthetic balance.

It can also help us be functional stronger and prevent imbalances, improving our joint stability and ability to recruit muscles more efficiently and effectively.

That’s why I wanted to discuss one of my favorite moves to work those triceps and target all three heads.

But first I do just want to discuss what the triceps do to highlight while including a variety of different moves for muscle groups can be key!

The 3 Tricep Heads:

The tricep muscle group is comprised of 3 heads:

– The Long Head
– The Lateral Head
– The Medial Head

All three heads work together to power elbow extension.

However, the long head of the tricep also impacts our shoulder stability and function because it crosses over the shoulder joint and attaches to the scapula.

It also can then assist in shoulder extension which is why you may have felt your triceps some during moves like lat push downs!

But because the tricep muscle group does contribute to actions at both of these joints, you want to account for this when selecting moves – whether you want to try to target one head more than the other or work all at the same time!

Because I think it is key we’re able to train efficiently, even when we are short on time, I wanted to share a great move to target all 3 heads of the tricep in one exercise.

This amazing move to hit all three heads is the Narrow Grip Press To Overhead Tricep Extension.

Why You Should Use The Narrow Grip Press To Overhead Tricep Extension:

The Narrow Grip Press To Overhead Tricep Extension is a great hybrid exercise that combines that close grip bench press with an overhead tricep extension.

The chest press involves the triceps in elbow extension.

But it doesn’t activate the long head as much as overhead tricep exercises do.

That’s why combining the chest press with the overhead tricep extension can be so key.

That shoulder flexion puts the long head under more of a stretch to work it and you’ll even feel it as you pull back forward from that shoulder flexed state to perform the chest press.

And while you can of course do overhead tricep work standing, many of us tend to compensate due to a lack of thoracic mobility, arching and overloading our lower backs or really feeling our necks.

By performing this overhead extension lying down, it can be a bit easier on our shoulders and even prevent us from engaging our lower back to seek out mobility we don’t have in our thoracic spine.

You can use the bench as support and a guide for that overhead extension.

But the combination of these two movements is a great way to efficiently hit all three heads while even working your chest and shoulders.

So…How Do You Do The Narrow Grip Press To Overhead Tricep Extension:

To do this exercise, lie on a bench with a dumbbell in each hand and a neutral grip or palms facing in toward your body.

Firmly plant your feet and brace your abs.

Keeping your elbows in by your body to target your triceps more, press the weights straight up from your chest.

Fully extend your elbows to press the weights up and even focus on that extra tricep squeeze at the top.

Then as you begin to lower the weights overhead, soften your elbows to lower the weights in an arch.

While you’re flexing at your shoulders to reach overhead you want to soften your elbows to just lower the weights beyond your head off the bench.

You don’t want this to turn into a skull crusher or you won’t get the extra stretch on the long head of your tricep.

But you also don’t want to turn this into a pull over where your arms are straight. You what that elbow flexion to reach just overhead.

Lower the weights toward the ground with that slight elbow flexion then focus on your triceps working to pull the weights back over your chest.

Pause as you fully straighten your elbows and flex your triceps before lowering the weights toward your chest.

Move at a controlled pace and really focus on feeling those triceps work.

Make sure you aren’t shrugging your shoulders as you go through the movement or allowing your arms to flare way out from your sides on the press.

Modifications and Variations:

If you don’t have a bench, this move can easily be done as a floor press while still reaching overhead.

You can also modify using a single dumbbell or kettlebell if you don’t have an appropriate set of weights. This can also help you focus on that narrower grip if you find you struggle with controlling the two weights.

An EZ bar is also an option to add loads as you feel ready, using the overhand grip, palms facing away and about shoulder-width apart. You still want that narrow grip to better activate the triceps, especially the long head.

But just be conscious of engaging your back to support your shoulders.

SUMMARY:

Remember, when selecting moves to include in our routines, we want to stay focused on our needs and goals. Every move we include should have a purpose.

It’s why sometimes doing the same but different, choosing moves that work muscles from different postures and positions can be key for progression. It isn’t just about add loads but about addressing every aspect of a muscle.

So if you want an efficient exercise to work all 3 heads of the tricep, this move is an amazing option whether you include it in a compound set after a heavier compound chest, shoulders and tricep movement, use it in a supplemental circuit or even include it as an arm finisher at the end of your workout!

Want workouts to match your needs and goals? Ready to see the muscle tone you want?

Learn more about my coaching:

–> 1:1 Online Coaching

How To Lose STUBBORN Fat (3 TIPS)

How To Lose STUBBORN Fat (3 TIPS)

by | Aug 28, 2022 | Blog, Diet, Exercises

Have you felt like you are just DOOMED to always have those stubborn areas of fat that will never go away?

The simple answer is YOU AREN’T!

But by no means is the fat loss process easy.

However, I’m going to share with you 3 tweaks you can make to your workouts and diet to finally lose that last frustrating bit of fat from YOUR abs and hips.

But first I want to discuss why certain areas are harder to lose from and how our body fight against the fat loss process so you fully know why the struggle is real and you aren’t alone!
 

Why Are Certain Areas Just More Stubborn?

It isn’t your imagination, there are areas that are harder to lose from.

And these areas are often the ones we want to change first that end up being the LAST to go!

Fat loss from these areas, like specifically our love handles, belly and hips, thighs and butt, can be harder partly due to our genetic predisposition, so where we genetically tend to store more fat, but also because there is generally less blood flow to these specific regions.

Less blood flow makes it harder to mobilize and utilize fatty acids from these areas.

And not only that, but there are different types of fat cells in our body – alpha and beta – and both respond differently to the fat loss process.

Alpha cells respond better to lipolysis, or fat loss, and accelerate the process while beta cells don’t respond as well and make it harder to lose the fat.

And guess what areas generally have greater numbers of those beta cells?

Those stubborn areas like our belly, hips and thighs!

A greater concentration of beta fat cells in these areas is why they are so hard to lose fat from!

So not only do the different types of fat cells make it easier or harder to lose from certain areas BUT especially as we get leaner and leaner our body is going to fight back against the weight loss process more and more.

Why Does Our Body Fight Back?

Simply put, our body fights weight loss in general out of our survival instinct.

Our body perceives a calorie deficit as a threat to survival. We have less energy coming in than we are expending and our body doesn’t know when our next meal is coming.

Of course we have our fat stores our body can tap into for energy, but, even when we have more than enough fat for survival, our body doesn’t want to do this. It wants to store that energy as much as possible for later.

So our body does things to try to conserve energy and even get us to eat!

And as we get leaner and leaner, and have less and less stored energy to draw from, not to mention we may have been in a deficit for longer and longer, our body is going to resist losing more and more – triggering us to crave salty and sweet foods even more.

When our body is continually under fed, ghrelin (grel-lin) increases, which is the hormone that triggers hunger, particularly for sweet and fatty foods while leptin decreases, which is the hormone that regulates energy intake by telling the brain to stop eating.

Basically, your cravings are going to increase and try to fight against you staying in that consistent deficit.

And not only are your cravings increasing, BUT your daily energy expenditure often decreases.

Because you have less energy coming in, and your body isn’t sure of when it will get more fuel, it will find ways to expend less of your stored energy.

This may be why you see a decrease in your workout performance or you even find you’re less motivated to move and fidget throughout the day.

It’s also why metabolic adaptations occur. Your body is finding ways to maintain energy for survival over everything else.

It is why it is so key we are conscious of not just trying to do MORE and out exercise or out diet time.

When we turn to more cardio, a bigger calorie deficit, we can actually make these metabolic adaptations WORSE and further slow down our fat loss process from these stubborn areas.

This happens because it causes our body to try to conserve energy even more or find energy from other sources, like our muscle mass.

Muscle is metabolically costly, making it super valuable if we want to get lean.

More muscle means more calories burned at rest.

But because muscle requires more energy to maintain, it is something our body will catabolize when low on fuel.

It’s why we want to avoid doing more activities that put us at risk for losing muscle.

It’s also why we need to avoid creating too big a calorie deficit and focus on our macros to try to prevent as much muscle loss as possible as we seek to lose that last bit of stubborn fat!

Now what are the three key tips to help us lose that stubborn fat?

3 Key Tips To Finally Lose That Stubborn Fat:

I’ll tell you first what is NOT a tip to get better results faster…and it’s often the thing we WANT to do most…

We want to do this because it makes us feel more in control…

We want to do MORE.

We cut out more types of foods. We cut our calories way lower. We train longer and add in more reps, sets and rounds…heck even a second or third session in a day.

But all of this so often is what truly backfires.

The annoying answer is you can’t out exercise or out diet time.

It’s why these 3 tips are so key to help you build something that you can do to allow TIME to actually create the results you want!

Tip #1: Track Macros NOT Just Calories. And Track PRECISELY.

I’m all for a focus on what is sustainable. I’m all for finding a balance and focusing on progress over perfection.

I think we need to remember that one size doesn’t fit all and to build off of our currently lifestyle to create a balance.

BUT I also don’t want to lie to you.

To lose from stubborn areas, to get that last little bit off and reach a level of leanness you’ve never achieved before, you have to get ready to embrace being SUPER precise in your tracking.

And often you do need to implement more aggressive tactics in your macros and calories.

You also can’t be lax in your tracking.

Precision is truly key.

No bites, licks or nibbles can not be logged.

Everything must be tracked so you can truly move forward.

And focusing on that protein will be key.

High protein ratios have been shown to help us build and retain lean muscle while in a deficit and even help us avoid unwanted fat gain while in a surplus.

So increasing your protein gives you a bit more wiggle room in your calorie intake while helping you prevent and avoid metabolic adaptations.

We want to do everything we can to keep burning more calories even at rest.

Think ratios where you’re even keeping protein over 40%, playing around with carbs and fats based on your activity level and even what you function best off of.

And avoid those extreme calorie deficits. Start with even just a small deficit of 200 calories.

If you do hit a plateau, instead of just dropping your calories more too, switch macro breakdowns! Sometimes a slight switch in your source of energy can get things moving!

The more we can use those macros to adjust, the more we can not only allow a greater diversity of foods to prevent ourselves from feeling restricted and avoid more cravings, but we can also mentally help ourselves not just feel more and more deprived from having to drop calories lower and lower!

Tip #2: Stop Doing Too Much In Your Training!

Too often we just view our training as a chance to burn more calories.

And I know it’s tempting to try to burn more calories to create that greater deficit through your training, but ultimately all that does is cause us to be hungrier and lose muscle mass.

It can actually even lead to greater metabolic adaptations as our body finds ways to conserve energy over the course of the rest of the day DUE to the fact that we trained extra.

Not to mention it can just make us hungrier, which mentally only makes repeating our healthy habits and eating the way we need harder!

So ultimately that extra hard work may simply be backfiring and causing us to exert a lot more effort that is sort of just wasted.

It can ultimately make us feel like we’re doing so much work to only GAIN weight while even being in a calorie deficit.

It’s why, if fat loss is our goal, we need to focus on doing what we can to build muscle over just burn calories in our training.

By focusing on strength work, we can create the stimulus to even BUILD muscle while in that calorie deficit, especially if we’re focusing on higher protein macro ratios.

And more muscle means a higher resting metabolic rate and more calories burned even at rest!

One key thing to note though too is, we don’t just want to turn our strength workouts into cardio so that we feel more worked in our sessions.

Don’t cut out rest. Don’t add in a ton of wasted volume.

Focus on lifting heavy weights or doing movement variations that challenge you.

Think about quality over quantity.

And then add in small tweaks to use every tool in your tool box.

No we can’t spot reduce an area by doing 1000 crunches to lose fat from our abs.

But as we get leaner, and once we have our diet and strength work dialed in, we can focus on ways to utilize more of the mobilized fatty acids from those stubborn areas.

Because areas like our belly, hips and thighs have less blood flow, we can help mobilize more fatty acids from those areas by working the muscles near the fat tissue.

So by including isolation exercises to target those areas in our strength work, even say as a finisher at the end, followed by some low intensity steady state cardio like walking, we can help improve the fat loss from those regions.

We used the isolation moves to mobilize more fatty acids and then utilized those mobilized fatty acids with that low intensity cardio.

And that low intensity cardio is helpful because it burns a higher portion of calories from fat while also not really fatiguing us further!

More movement but in a way that doesn’t detract from future training sessions or put us at risk of losing more muscle!

Tip #3: Embrace The Suck.

Mindset matters most when it comes to achieving any goal we have.

And while it is way more “fun” trying to search for another action or habit to do, ultimately our mindset is what dictates our success.

To give ourselves the best chance of succeeding, I think it is key we go into any goal knowing the positives and negatives.

And the more we even OVERSELL the negative and recognize the challenges we’ll encounter, the more we set ourselves up to succeed.

Because then when we do encounter something hard, we are mentally, and physically prepared over being caught off guard and feeling like we’re the only one that struggles.

So I just want to remind you to embrace the suck.

It isn’t easy reaching a level of leanness you’ve never achieved before.

It will take you embracing being hungry at times. Embracing not necessarily indulging when you’ve had a stressful day or are out with friends.

It may take you training on a day when all you want to do is curl up with the pups on the couch.

The key is reminding yourself of why this goal truly matters to you and even having enough of an incentive to keep going at that time instead of just pushing things off!

So get ready to embrace the challenges and be willing to push through.

Set a strong why, or WHYS, and set a firm end date that really keeps you invested in the process so that you can’t just say “I’ll start tomorrow.” Or “One this one bite, skipped workout, won’t hurt.”

SUMMARY:

So if you want to lose that stubborn fat and achieve your leanest physique, remember you can’t out exercise or out diet time.

You’ve got to embrace the process and realize your body will fight against you at points.

Be ready to embrace the suck as you dial in those macros and calories with precision while focusing on that strength work!

Ready to create the right “recipe” for results so you can achieve your leanest, strongest body WITHOUT creating metabolic adaptations that sabotage you long term?

–> Learn More

 

7 Travel Hacks To Maintain Your Weight Loss

7 Travel Hacks To Maintain Your Weight Loss

by | Aug 21, 2022 | Blog, Mindset, Travel Workouts

There is nothing better than going on vacation. But it is often where we feel like we sabotage our results and our diet and exercise routines go to die.

I wanted to share 7 tips to help you stay on track while you travel so you can keep moving forward toward your weight loss goals. However, I also want to mention that I believe vacations can, and should, be a time to relax and enjoy. Diets often fail because we force restriction at times when we do need to embrace a balance.

We end up not really being able to diet on vacation while also not really allowing ourselves to relax. And this ultimately backfires.

However, if you travel for work or just travel often and want to find the lifestyle balance right for you, these tips can help you stay consistent with your macros and your workouts while not at home!

Do not feel guilty about not using every time you travel as an excuse to splurge. I know sometimes our friends or family can make us feel awkward for caring, but we need to stay focused on what also makes us happy in our progress toward our goals!

Because we can’t just always make the excuse that this is a once in a lifetime experience if we’re traveling all the time!

So what are the 7 travel hacks to help you stay on track?

#1: Save calories.

I hate saying it this way but it is also the SIMPLEST way to state it…sometimes when on vacation if you know there is going to be a bigger meal or even cocktails at dinner, things you’ll want to enjoy, you want to “save” calories for that meal.

This means you will want to focus on eating lighter, and even increase your protein intake earlier in the day. This can help you find that balance so you don’t go into a huge surplus and you even hit some macro minimums you set.

And while a longer fast can also be an option if you do intermittent fasting already, please don’t turn saving calories into starving yourself or you’ll end up overeating at that later meal.

Just think about going lighter with a protein focus earlier in the day to strike a balance!

#2: Find a few restaurants in the area for go-to healthy meals.

When on vacation, it can be fun to try local spots. And depending on where you’re traveling to, there may be some great local places with super macro friendly meals. Or even meals they can tell you the portions on. Many restaurants even list macros on their website so it never hurts to check.

If you can’t find the nutritional info, even try logging something similar to get an idea of macros. You can often find recipes online that give you an idea of the breakdown.

Also, look for chain restaurants. While yes, we want the best quality fuel, many chains do have nutritional info listed on their website. And if you find a dish or two that really works for you at those places, it can be easy to use that any time you travel as that chain may be everywhere!

But planning ahead to have some options to strike that balance can be key and let you play around with logging the meal to hit any calorie intake or macros you’ve set.

#3: Bring protein powder.

Supplements are supplemental, but protein powder is one of the best things to have with you when you’re on the go as it is generally easier to snack on carbs and fats and harder to eat easy, not refrigerated, protein options.

With a protein powder, you can keep it in your backpack or purse and be able to mix it in a water bottle, coffee or even anything quick you can pick up from the store.

Such an easy way to increase your protein and even save those carbs and fats for that later meal you don’t have as much control over with the family or co-workers.

#4: Don’t buy bulk snacks.

Often when we go on a trip, we buy snacks at the airport. And a bigger bag than we should eat in one serving.

Or we buy snacks for the hotel room or AirBnB for our family even.

And while it can be helpful to have snacks if we don’t know when we will get to eat or if the meals provided us will really work for us, we need to be conscious to not just have extra around as it will be tempting to eat it when you aren’t even hungry!

It’s easy to mindless nibble and let those calories add up.

So be strategic with your snacks especially if you’ll have them around you all the time! Even portion out things so you aren’t as tempted to keep snacking!

#5: Plan in short workouts.

Instead of trying to force yourself to maintain the same routine you would at home, plan in some workouts you can get in even in your hotel room if you’re super short on time.

That plan to do something may lead to you doing more if you can find a gym or end up with more time. Not to mention often you can find gyms with quick class options if that will help with accountability to get moving!

But simply doing something will also keep you in a routine and habit and mentally make you feel good.

And often when we stay consistent with one habit, we want to stay consistent with others!

So even if it is a 5 minute mobility routine so you feel good when you get back home to train hard, the consistency will pay off…and even reverse some of the aches and pains we get from travel postures!

#6: Get out and walk!

Even if you can’t workout, often you will have little breaks in the day where you can get out and walk.

Not only is this a great way to stop mindless snacking, but it does get you moving and can even allow you to explore the area more!

Even if it is just to get a coffee or grab food, try to move as much as you can during the day! Finding ways to be more active will even help you want to do the other healthy habits and routines you want to maintain.

#7: Increase your intensity AROUND the trip.

In preparation of your trip, it’s not a bad idea to occasionally go a bit more intense with your programming prior, especially so you could even use the trip as a de-load workout week or recovery week.

This may be a time too you are slightly more aggressive prior with the calorie deficit, not extreme but aggressive, and also using more intensive cut macro ratios over easier ratios to hit.

You can then move to minimums on your trip, tracking to stay even just accountable.

And then when you come back, you may go back into things with a bit more intensity even just in your macros before relaxing back into something you can fully be consistent with.

This 1 week before and after just can help with damage control and also mentally make us feel balanced when being a little less conscious of those healthy habits while traveling.

SUMMARY:

Remember vacations shouldn’t the time you stress about your diet, but finding a balance especially when we travel more often can be key!

Focus on doing the minimum even just to maintain those results so you can continue to build when you are back home and in your element!

Ready to dial in your diet and your workouts to fit your lifestyle, needs and goals?

–> The 3 Step Recipe To Results

The Most Underrated Bodyweight Quad Exercise

The Most Underrated Bodyweight Quad Exercise

by | Aug 14, 2022 | Blog, Bodyweight, Exercises, Functional Fitness

The best muscle hypertrophy results happen when we include both compound movements and isolation movements to target the muscles we want to strengthen and grow.

But when we don’t have a lot of equipment it can be hard to effectively target specific muscles, like our quads, with isolation moves.

Often when we think about exercises to isolate our quads, we think about the leg extension machine or some sort of cable extension or maybe even band extension.

That’s why I wanted to share one of my favorite bodyweight moves to really isolate and target those quads.

This move is deceptively hard when done right.

And if you have knee pain currently limiting your knee flexion or your ability to kneel, I will go over modifications to still get in bonus quad work!

But do not just demonize this move because of the kneeling or knee flexion.

While not every move is right for every person, lean backs, also often called Reverse Nordic Curls, have even at times been used to rehab specific quad or knee injuries.

Our knees are meant to flex and extend and controlling this movement is key to actually keeping our knees healthy and happy!

Plus this move may be a great way to specifically target the rectus femoris quad muscle because the hip stays in an extended position during knee flexion.

But before I go over modifications and other quad isolation options, what is this amazing bodyweight quad move?

It’s the lean back!

How To Do Lean Backs:

This move looks super simple. But it is deceptively challenging for those quads!

I mention this because, in an attempt to extend our range of motion, often we cheat without realizing it.

To do the Lean Backs, start kneeling with your knees about hip-width apart.

While you can point your toes, I highly recommend starting with your feet dorsiflexed to provide that solid foundation and help with activation. This gives the added bonus of working on foot and ankle mobility. However, if you find it painful you may keep your feet plantar flexed.

If you do find you struggle with calf cramps while keeping your toes pointed, just remember you have the other option too!

Come to that full kneeling position up nice and tall and squeeze your glutes as you brace your abs.

You can reach your hands out in front of you to help with balance to start.

Keeping your glutes engaged, lean back. The movement is coming only at your knees.

While tempting to sit your butt back toward your heels, make sure to keep your glutes engaged and hips extended.

Bracing your abs is also key as it is tempting to just lean back from your lower back.

You’re working your quads to control that lean back and knee flexion. They are working to control and even decelerate that knee flexion.

You are basically using your quads to slow down the eccentric portion of the movement.

Allow yourself to lean back as far as possible with the movement coming at your knees.

Then pull yourself back up to kneeling, feeling your quads working to pull you back up.

Repeat the movement, slowing down that lean back to make sure you’re controlling it.

To advance the move, work through the biggest range of motion you can control and even slow down the tempo further, even including a pause when you’ve leaned back.

If you do have loads, you can always add them to the move to advance it, holding a weight in at your chest or by even using a band anchored behind you so that you have to work harder to press forward and even fight the band pulling you to lean back.

Modifications:

While we need to stop demonizing moves with kneeling or knee flexion and stop stating they are “dangerous” for our knees, they may not be right for people with specific knee injuries, especially to start.

You may seek to build up to the lean back eventually or you may find you never include it because it doesn’t match your needs and goals or fitness level.

If you can kneel but don’t yet have full control of the lean back, you can modify the lean back, by using a band anchored in front of you to assist or even even by holding on to something to control the range of motion.

But if you are looking to improve your quad strength, and find that kneeling or active knee flexion is tough right now, consider including isometrics in your routine to start.

These moves are a great way to really improve your mind-body connection and start to build that strength endurance.

Do not just hold with these moves but actually focus on really feeling those quad muscles work as you even try to engage them harder during the hold.

Moves like the basic wall sit or even bulldog hold are a great way to improve your quad strength endurance while eliminating active knee flexion.

They are a great way to make sure you can engage muscles correctly while even allowing you to strengthen muscles to improve your joint stability.

If you are looking to include some active knee flexion to start, you may even consider seated quad flexes. You can start with just bodyweight and focus on holding harder or even begin to add ankle weights, bands or cables as you feel ready.

Just remember that sometimes we need to regress to progress.

And instead of demonizing moves, simply find the ones that match us where we are at.

SUMMARY:

No matter what tools we have available, there is often a way to find a movement to match our needs and goals.

So if you’re looking for an amazing quad move, give these lean backs a try. They are great to include after a compound moves like lunges or squats to isolate those quads and really make them work!

Learn how to dial in your workouts and your nutrition to see the amazing and lasting results you want…

–> 3 Steps To Results

9 Tips For Faster MUSCLE GROWTH

9 Tips For Faster MUSCLE GROWTH

by | Aug 7, 2022 | Blog, Diet, Exercises, muscle-featured

Gaining muscle, especially without gaining fat is not an easy process. Especially if we’ve usually just focused on weight loss, it can require a very different focus for our training and fueling.

That’s why I wanted to share 9 tips to help you dial in your workout routine and diet to see the best muscle gains without doing a dirty bulk, causing you to ultimately gain a ton of fat you just have to lose later!

#1: Use All Three Drivers Of Muscle Growth

There are 3 drivers of muscle growth – muscle tissue damage, mechanical tension and metabolic stress. So often we try to rely just on muscle tissue damage, lifting heavy and seeking to be sore.

We even skip those silly looking pumper exercises with mini bands that have small ranges of motion and really burn.

But when we don’t use these different moves with different ranges of motion, different points where the muscle is under the most tension, we miss out on using all three drivers of muscle growth.

We have to remember that soreness not a great indicator of how hard we’ve worked, we also may constantly be beating ourselves down, instead of using all 3 drivers to allow for the best results as quickly as possible.

Don’t only just focus on those heavy compound lifts and heavy weights.

You don’t just want to use big range of motion movements that load the muscle most when stretched like squats and deadlifts. Also use moves like hip thrusters, where the muscle has the most resistance applied where it is strongest (mechanical tension). And even use moves that create that pump and burn to benefits from the hypertrophy created by metabolic stress. Think mini band moves and smaller ranges of motion where the muscle is constantly under tension!

#2: Don’t Fear Protein and BCAAs

Protein is the building block of muscle. We need to make sure that we’re giving our muscles what they need to repair and rebuild.

And especially as we get older, we become less able to utilize protein efficiently.

It’s why timing even more protein, and specifically amino acids, right around our workouts can be key to create that anabolic environment.

This is extra essential for any women in menopause. It’s why you may find it essential to supplement with BCAAs prior to, or during your workout, while following up your workout with a quick protein shake or lean protein meal.

With hard training sessions, and our changing hormone levels, we are actually at risk for catabolizing muscle mass if we don’t get sufficient fuel to support growth even while focusing on lifting.

So using this timing around workouts, and optimizing everything with a BCAA supplement can help us get better results faster by making sure you get your muscles the fuel they need to repair when they are primed to do so.

#3: Stop Cutting Down Your Rest Times

Too often we try to make our workouts harder by cutting out rest between moves. But the more we reduce rest, the less we recover which means we may be able to lift less each and every round.

When driving toward muscle growth, we want to avoid just turning our workouts into cardio by eliminating rest. We want to focus on making each round through moves or supersets or trisets as hard as possible through how much we lift and maximizing each rep so we NEED the rest to recover for the next round to keep maintaining, or even increasing the weight.

The heavier you lift, the more you should want and use that rest to recover between rounds.

So as you change from even weight loss as your focus to gaining muscle, consider increasing rest and upping those weights!

#4: Focus On A QUALITY Calorie Surplus

I know we see these bulks where people chow down on all sorts of crazy delicious foods, but these extreme calorie surpluses don’t lead to better results faster. And often they just lead to a ton of unwanted fat gain we have to deal with later.

Instead focusing on a moderate surplus of even 100-400 calories is enough. Starting smaller and increasing based on your results can even be a good way to go if you’ve been more focused on weight loss previously and haven’t maintained your current level of leanness for long.

It can also be key to keep the calorie surplus smaller, or even a very small deficit of just 100 calories, if you aren’t as lean as you’d like to optimize fat loss while gaining muscle. Just make sure that you’re focused on increasing that protein.

And of course, the more quality our fuel, the better our body will function. So while it’s super tempting to eat a ton more…well…not so whole, natural foods, remember to stick with your 80/20 balance.

We want to enjoy the foods we love, but also still make sure our body gets not only the macros, but micronutrients we need.

#5: Focus On Compound Lifts First

When lifting to gain muscle, you want to think about working in multiple rep ranges to not only create muscle hypertrophy or growth but also build strength. Let’s face it, the more you can lift, the better your muscle gains will be.

So when you’re freshest, start with your biggest, heaviest lifts. Focus on big compound moves for slightly lower reps with longer rest periods at the start of your workout.

You can even separate these lifts out to be done on their own before any supersets, trisets or circuits.

Think even about working in that maximal strength rep range of 1-5 reps for 3-5 sets. Consider rest periods of even 3-5 minutes.

If you aren’t as advanced a lifter or really don’t enjoy getting near those max attempts even 5-8 reps can really be a great way to go!

But use those heavy lifts to help you gain strength to then be able to lift more as you do other more accessory compound moves in the 6-12 rep range for 3-4 sets, with more like 1-3 minutes of rest.

Lifting heavy will NOT make you bulky but will cause your muscles to have to repair and grow!

#6: Cut Back On Cardio

If you’re an endurance athlete, I’m not asking you to stop your passion. BUT you do want to recognize that steady state endurance cardio can be catabolic to muscle tissue and make it harder to gain muscle.

So if you can reduce your mileage for a time, it may be key to making better muscle gains more quickly.

We also don’t simply want to turn our lifting sessions into cardio workouts. If you want to optimize your muscle growth, now is not the time for more metabolic strength workouts. It’s not the time for tons of high intensity interval training.

Now is the time for focused lifting and longer rest periods!

#7: Strategically Finish With Isolation Moves

After you’ve focused first on those heavy lifts, you can strategically use isolation moves to capitalize on all 3 drivers of muscle growth and really target those stubborn muscles to fully fatigue them.

If you’re short on time, compound moves should be your focus, but if you have a lagging muscle group or an especially stubborn area, isolation exercises that hone in and target this area are super key for better results faster.

When you include these moves, use them at the end to fully fatigue the muscle so you don’t compensate in earlier moves. Consider higher reps even for many of these movements (12-20) and just a couple of rounds 1-3 at the end. This will encourage more muscle fiber recruitment for better results.

And ladies, working to fatigue for muscles may actually be even more key for you to see the hypertrophy results you want!

#8: Don’t Fear Carbs

Especially when trying to lose weight, many will cut out carbs. But when we train hard, and our focus especially shifts to gaining muscle, we need those carbs to create that anabolic environment and serve as immediate fuel for our sessions.

While it can be hard if you’ve recently lost weight to see the scale slightly increase as you increase carbs, it is truly key to embrace the process.

To start even, you may not increase carb intake overall for the day, but simply time them more around your training sessions as you transition into a gaining muscle phase.

Some complex carbs prior to your training to make sure you have full glycogen stores followed by some simple carbs post workout to replenish depleted stores can really help you make sure you’re fueling growth!

But do not fear those carbs! They truly are key to optimize hormone levels and fuel that lean muscle growth which will increase our resting metabolic rate and even help us look leaner while being functional stronger!

#9: Increase Your Training Frequency

We see so many bodybuilding programs with body part splits, training areas even just once a week. But you may actually get better results by increasing your training frequency, especially for stubborn areas.

Consider designing your workouts progressions to work areas even 2-3 times a week. While this may mean not doing as much per session, this increase in training frequency can really pay off.

Hemisphere splits or upper/lower splits and even full body training sessions may be helpful, especially if you don’t have as many days to train.

But if you’ve got a lagging area, don’t fear working it multiple times a week as long as you’re working it in different ways and still giving the muscle time off to repair and rebuild!

Bonus reminder:

While it can be tempting to try to train more to get results faster, there will be a point of diminishing returns. A point at which we are beating ourselves down and NOT rebuilding. We do NOT want to waste effort and hard work doing more than is needed, especially if it actually holds us back!

I know it can be hard to take a day off, but you’ll only see the results of your hard work in the gym if you give your body time to repair! Dialing in our recovery, from our fueling to making sure we get enough sleep, is so key if we want results as fast as possible.

Remember to design your workout progression so areas get rest over the week and you’re not constantly beating down your body!

SUMMARY:

Use these 9 tips to improve your muscle gains and see better results faster without the unwanted fat gain often associated with traditional bulks!

And if you’re looking for help and guidance to get the best results as fast as possible, check out my 1:1 Online Coaching!

–> Apply To Coaching