Why You SHOULDN’T Eat Clean – Do This Instead!

Why You SHOULDN’T Eat Clean – Do This Instead!

“This guy lost 27lbs on the Twinkie diet.”

“I read about this person who ate only junk food for 30 days and lost like 11lbs!”

“This guy lost 56lbs in 6 months just eating McDonalds!”

Isn’t that to some extent what we all want? To eat whatever we want and see fabulous weight loss results?!

Heck yes!

But is this all a hoax?

Some magic pill scam?

Don’t you have to eat CLEAN if you want to see results?

Before I dive into why I think the “eat clean” principle is actually holding you back from the long-term weight loss and fat loss results you want, I want to talk about what “eating clean” really means…

That’s actually the main problem with the idea of eating clean….

It doesn’t really doesn’t have one single definition.

Sure in general it means “whole, natural foods” but it doesn’t really stop there.

For some it means avoiding grains. For others dairy. For some it means cutting out fruit or specific types of vegetables or protein sources…

Honestly if you went down the rabbit hole of all of the things out there that people have labeled as “dirty” or “bad,” you wouldn’t be able to eat ANYTHING – you’d be looking at well…water.

I think that’s the only thing agreed upon that is clean.

I also think that forcing arbitrary standards of what is clean, because there really is no one size fits all proven list, is slightly a cop out way to get people results instead of taking the time to TEACH them a balance or how to create a healthier version of THEIR lifestyle.

Let’s face it, most diet plans don’t really care if you fall off and have to start another program in another 6 weeks when you’ve not been able to sustain the restrictive standards.

So while the idea behind “clean eating” of trying to get us to focus on more whole, natural foods is a good one, I think we need to stop this focus on labeling foods as “clean” or “dirty” if we truly want to create a lifestyle.

I think this focus on eating clean is often what actually SABOTAGES our results.

How can a focus on clean eating sabotage our progress?

The second you start making foods off limits and labeling them as bad?

That’s often the second you not only want them MORE, but you also start feeling GUILTY for simply enjoying something you love.

It’s like if I told you not to think about a delicious, vanilla frosted, sprinkled with chocolate, marshmallow filled rice krispy treat right now….

What happens?

All you can now think about is a freaking amazing rice krispy treat! Even though you hadn’t even been thinking about rice krispy treats before!

This is exactly what happens when we start creating these clean eating food restrictions and labeling foods in a way that makes some “good” and some “bad.”

These labels create far more stress around food than there needs to be. It creates the feelings of deprivation and even of guilt.

It makes dieting so much more confusing than it needs to be because no one agrees.

It can even make us feel paralyzed about taking action because who the heck is right?!

Honestly the stress over eating clean is what leads to yo-yo dieting and us becoming frustrated that we work so hard never to truly see the results we want.

The more you stress over cutting things out and avoiding things on the bad list?

The more you are likely to at some point give way to the pressure.

And when you do it isn’t even the simple overindulgence in calories or incorrect macro ratios that lead to problems…

It’s the fact that we beat ourselves up and feel BAD.

This guilt leads to us often throwing up our hands in frustration at ourselves and our lack of willpower so that we end up eating foods on that bad list in excess for multiple days after.

Basically it’s like we got a flat tire, but instead of fixing it or calling for help to get it sorted so we could be on our way? We decided to slash the other three.

Which ultimately only makes the situation worse!

This is what leads to us not only regaining the weight we’d previous lost, but potentially ending up worse off and fatter than where we’d started.

Actually yo-yo dieting like this is what can make any following attempts to lose weight even HARDER.

Not to mention when we do search for the next “best diet,” we fall right back into the same clean eating trap….just with a new set of arbitrary restrictions.

We need to stop assigning a moral value to foods.

So what should you do instead if you want the best possible weight loss and fat loss results?

The simple answer that no one wants to hear because it’s incredibly unsexy?

You need to focus on balance, consistency and a healthier version of YOUR personal lifestyle.

3 Tips To Create LASTING Diet Changes

Here are 3 tips to help you create lasting changes to your diet and actually see better weight loss and fat loss results long term….

Tip #1: Focus On YOUR Lifestyle.

If you’re currently drinking Frappuccinos and eating burgers and french fries and pizza every day?

Following some clean eating guidelines that only allow you chicken, broccoli and brown rice isn’t going to be sustainable for more than a few days…if even a few hours.

So no matter how healthy it may be touted to be?

You’re just not going to stick with it.

It’s too much all at once.

Change alone is hard.

And while we all know that results happen outside of our comfort zone, sometimes it’s key we take just one small step forward at a time.

Instead of cutting out all of the foods we love, why not add in a side of veggies with our pizza. Why not try a smaller sized Frappuccino. Why not bake french fries and grill burgers at home instead of going out to get them?

These changes may seem small, but they are tweaks to build momentum in a sustainable way.

They get the ball rolling so we can see progress and WANT to make other changes instead of feeling restricted and deprived and FORCED into things too quickly.

Tip #2: Put Macros First.

The simple fact is, you can eat foods completely devoid of nutritional value and see weight loss, and even fat loss, results, especially if you dial in your macros and focus on protein.

Do I recommend this? NOPE!

And as much as your brain may be screaming at you about all of the evils of processed foods, if including some helps you hit your macros so you can see results and stay motivated to keep making changes?

It may be what you need to get started!

By dialing in your macros, you can achieve amazing body recomposition without having to hit some arbitrary standard of clean.

There was also an interesting study done that actually showed that a focus on macros may even help your micronutrient intake. (*)

Clean eating can actually become so restrictive we aren’t meeting our micronutrient intake or getting the nutrients we need from a diversity of sources.

By instead focusing on macros, we can enjoy a diversity of foods while making sure our nutrition matches our needs and goals in a sustainable way.

No food is technically off limits, BUT we have clear guidelines of what we need to achieve aesthetic results.

Now if you’re thinking about all of those delicious looking oozey, gooey macro creations we see posted on instagram and wondering how they can possibly eat that while hitting their macros?

This is where that BALANCE comes in. That is just one meal in a day where the person also probably had a lean protein and veggie based meal.

Most of the time to indulge in something not as healthy, there has to be a balance with other meals that are more nutrient dense.

But that’s why a focus on an overall macro breakdown for the day can help us create the sustainable balance of indulging and whole natural foods right for us!

Tip #3: Add In And Swap!

By focusing on macros, you aren’t making any specific food off limits.

You can even make tweaks to current recipes and meals you love!

To hit those ratios and create a healthier version of your lifestyle, focus less on cutting things out and more on what you can add in or swap slightly to make the changes.

To increase your protein? Add in an extra ounce of protein to your quesadilla to hit your macros instead of cutting out the quesadilla.

Or make swaps to meals you love that allow you to still enjoy the dish.

Try a whole grain bread over a white bread on a sandwich. Or maybe even change it to a whole grain wrap!

And if you can’t stomach the idea of not having your favorite bread?

Start by eating a half sandwich, half salad for lunch so you’re still getting the foods you enjoy but with the added nutritional benefit of a nutrient dense side to hit your macros.

While yes, by default you will cut things out, this helps create a mental shift in how you approach your diet, making you focus less on restricting and more on creating a balance!

Small changes go a long way!

SUMMARY:

Most of us don’t need to hit some arbitrary and restrictive standards of clean eating to get results.

And trying to do so?

Well, it often holds us back from not only making a change in the first place, but from actually seeing any sort of sustainable results long term.

Ready to create a healthier version of your lifestyle and achieve fabulous results you know how to MAINTAIN LONG-TERM?!

Check out my 3-Part RS Formula!

(*)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29140151

To Drink Or Not To Drink – Alcohol!?

To Drink Or Not To Drink – Alcohol!?

I get asked a ton about ALCOHOL.

(PLEASE NOTE….this is of course a discussion about “healthy” overall alcohol intake and a “healthy” relationship to drinking so if discussing alcohol is a trigger, please ignore this post and know I will love you for doing so.)

I get asked if I drink it…

YES.

Beer?…meh. Wine?…meh. Craft cocktails and margaritas?

Hells to the YEAH!

I also get asked about how it fits into the macro cycling program and a healthy lifestyle in general.

I’ll tell you right now…

NO alcohol is healthy.

Now don’t go trying to defend the health benefits of your wine…Cause that just really isn’t all that it’s touted to be.

First off, most of us DO NOT actually get those supposed benefits.

And secondly, most of us aren’t really consuming wine for it’s health benefits in the EXTREMELY moderate amounts it should be consumed.

Basically studies showed the healthiest amount of alcohol was ZERO.

Sorry to break it to you, but as I jokingly say all of the time – Alcohol is a toxin.

Drink it knowing this.

But that doesn’t mean there can’t be a reason to ENJOY alcohol.

I would argue the only real “benefit” of alcohol is that you ENJOY it and life is meant to be enjoyed.

And that by relaxing, and enjoying a couple of drinks with friends, you can lower stress levels, which may, in the end, do much more to benefit your overall health than a few drinks will do to negatively impact it.

Because STRESS does play a major role in our overall health. Much more of one than we give it credit for.

So if alcohol is a part of your lifestyle, it doesn’t have to be eliminated.

But how do you TRACK alcohol if you’re counting macros?

I do tell clients though that when they are starting out with tracking their macros to keep it to their “cheat day” or at least 1-2 set days.

Logging alcohol is an interesting thing.

While beer and wine will register a few carbs, alcohol will register as calories but not really a macro since it’s…well…it’s own macro.

So if you’re trying to track and log, you can count it as either a fat or carb, whichever you have more of with the ratio you are using.

You will then divide the calories in your alcohol by 4 for carbs or 9 for fat to get the grams of each you would have consumed. (No you can’t count it as protein :-P)

If you can, I do recommend counting it as a fat because alcohol suppresses fat oxidation.

So alcohol can fit into a balanced lifestyle even while you’re tracking to get a specific result.

I will tell you though that if you want FASTER RESULTS, eliminating alcohol, if even just for a time, can be key.

Let’s face it…most of us get a few drinks in us and want some not so healthy treats!

Plus, even if you avoid overindulging, alcohol can also negatively impact the benefits you see from your training done PRIOR TO drinking by inhibiting protein synthesis and lipolysis (or fat loss).

Not to mention it usually makes for a crappier training session the next day (hehe this picture below cracks me up)!

And dudes…you have it worse as drinking negatively impacts your testosterone levels too!

Plus, it can perpetuate and create inflammation, which can not only make you feel aches and pains more but be detrimental to your workouts AND your recovery!

So, while I’m sure this sounded negative, my overall feeling is that you can find a balance and that alcohol doesn’t have to be something you eliminate.

Just go in with your eyes wide open when you do decide to indulge.

Find that lifestyle balance that helps you eat according to your goals!

Join my Macro Hacks Challenge!

Can You Really Eat Intuitively?

Can You Really Eat Intuitively?

For most of us “intuitive eating” doesn’t exist…

At least not initially.

It has to be learned.

With the distorted portion sizes at restaurants, misleading food labels, junk food masquerading as healthy, it’s hard to know what you should be eating.

Plus, stress, lack of sleep and boredom can all lead to mindless snacking and our body even sending us triggers we THINK mean we are hungry…when, in fact, we’re not!

It’s hard to really know when and IF we need food or if one of these other things is at play. Especially when we’ve created bad habits and those habits have been ingrained for years!

And to make intuitive eating even more impossible on top of all of that…

We live in a culture very centered around food.

Social gatherings are often centered around FOOD…I mean we even have a whole holiday centered around sitting down to eat an unreasonably large meal together where we know there is a chance the pants are going to need to be unbuttoned…

I mean…I can’t be alone in doing that at Thanksgiving!

That is why intuitive eating is something that has to be LEARNED.

<div style="position:relative;padding-bottom:3px;"><iframe src="//embed.vidello.com/512/xpjnx0b9k269ghxc/player.html" allowfullscreen style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:none;"></iframe><div style="padding-top:56.25%;"></div></div>

It is why counting calories and tracking your food to start is key to success.

Starting out, most of us have no idea WHAT or HOW MUCH or even WHEN our bodies really need food. We’ve just become so out of tune that we need to relearn how to listen to our body’s cues.

We need to train ourselves to again respond to what our body needs.

It’s kind of like when you train for your first race or you want to improve your race time.

You don’t just say “Hey I’m going to intuitively run as far and as fast as I can whenever I want.”

NOPE!

You wouldn’t do that because then the first time you start to get tired or bored, you’d stop! You’d give yourself excuses to turn back and maybe not even run again that week.

So you write out a program. 

You set out how far you’re going to run, when you’re going to run and you track your pace.

You track and measure and set goals so you know EXACTLY how you’re doing and what you’re doing to get you to that first race or improve your time.

So why would eating be any different?

The simple fact is…It isn’t.

We need to track and log especially to start because tracking allows us to know what we are actually eating. 

It helps us understand how certain foods affect our body. It helps show us that quality calories matter and what portion sizes we should actually be eating.

It helps us learn when we are ACTUALLY HUNGRY or when we are actually bored or stressed or tired.

It gives us direction to reach our goal, just like that running program would.

You wouldn’t leave your race or that goal time up to “intuition” so why would you set yourself up for failure by doing the same to your weight loss goals?

If you want to LEARN to eat intuitively and respond to your bodies needs, you need to start by tracking and logging!