Hi guys, Kris from Custom Fitness here, your personal trainer in Amarillo. If you’ve ever used a calorie tracking app like MyFitnessPal, you’ve probably seen how quick calories add up especially when you snack. Today we are examining ways to make sure those extra calories are helping you progress towards your goals. If you need help creating steps to get you where you want to be or would like a more in depth analysis of what you are eating, give us a call: 806-322-3188. Our team is ready to help.
When body transformation is the goal, you have to exercise right, eat right, build new habits and repeat.
Have you ever caved and bought that greasy, extra cheese, extra bacon burger (or pizza, or whatever your comfort food is), knowing full well you were on a “diet”? People who have will find themselves in the gym shortly thereafter looking for some penance for their lapse in judgement. They will overdo it on the elliptical or get close to throwing their backs out while weight lifting thinking we can skirt around the calories we just inhaled.
Our diets are the things that typically hold us back.
When push comes to shove, the foods we choose to put in our bodies are what will fuel us throughout the day and our workouts. These same foods that will give our bodies the nutrition necessary to burn fat and build muscle -two things many people are looking for.
We know that food choices are important and armed with that idea, I have no doubt that you could turn over a new leaf today and begin to make better choices about what you are consuming. But, did you know that often some of the healthy choices can become so over abundant in our diet that we begin adding unnecessary calories to meals that we aren’t even aware of? A handful of chocolate chips here or a slice of this there causes us to impede our own progress.
Case in point: I am a personal trainer in Amarillo to one client who decided that smoothies were an easier way for her to get a total array of nutrition in first thing in the morning. I’m not talking about a powder shake she opened from a packet here. Nope she made herself a whole food smoothie everyday. This shake was full of all sorts of great choices like spinach, berries, almond butter, celery, flax seed, etc. she drank this daily for about a month and at our next success session, she had gained 2 pounds.
This doesn’t sound like a lot, but it didn’t follow her pattern of weight loss that she had been experiencing up to that point. She and I dug into her diet to find out what happened. Turns out that the first week she meticulously measured everything. By week two, she was “eyeballing” the measurements to make sure they “looked” right. Week three was more of a “throw and go” method. We took her back to measuring and made a few changes on the smoothie to better meet her needs and the weight began to melt awway. (It wasn’t a miracle smoothie, she was already eating well, hydrating and exercising so this was just one piece of the puzzle).
The problem for this client was that the berries and almond butter had become too large of portions within the smoothie. Thus, leading to excess fat and sugar that human bodies process and store as fat.
Scrutinize the nutrition you are supplying to your body at every meal. Piece by piece it may look lovely but when it’s put together, you’ll see the real story. If body transformation (whether weight loss or muscle gain or otherwise) is a part of your future or current plan, it’s time to take a look at how to sneak some calories out of or into your diet.
Two things first:
- If you want to lose weight, yes, you will be focusing on sneaking calories out of your diet but remember that if you are not eating enough food you may have to sneak some calories into your diet as well. (Your body will not burn fat for fuel when it doesn’t feel like there’s enough food for you to live on).
- If you want to build muscle (ladies this also includes the “muscle tone” (not “bulking up”) you’d like to achieve, you will need to sneak some specific calories into your diet as well.
So what to look for when trying to sneak calories within your diet:
Nuts: nut butters typically have more calories than the actual nuts themselves. This is an area where people tend to go overboard because 1 TBS of almond butter (or other nut butter) doesn’t look like much when spreading it on the other food item of choice, but a handful of nuts can easily fill you up.
Seeds: Again the oils and seed butters contain far more calories than the actual sees themselves. Trying to add in some seeds like flax (ground only), chia or hemp seeds will boost your nutritional intake while reducing the caloric load.
Cooking oils: pouring a cooking oil into a pan can quickly go awry with an excess of calories where using a cooking spray can significantly reduce the amount of calories. Quick tip: preheat your pan to help us less oil when pouring. Preheating can help to reduce the amount of oil by ½ to ¾ of what you would need in a cold pan.
Snacky foods: You must beware of the “snacky foods” like crackers, chips, mixed nut packages and dried fruits. It’s too easy to snack your way into a few hundred extra calories by eating them regularly.
Dressings and Sauces: It’s easy to increase the caloric load of your meal by 50% or more if you’re not being careful with these. Keep these to 1TBS or thumb sized portions to support your weight loss efforts.
Meats: Lean (90-93% lean) versus regular fat (70% lean) can nearly double your calorie intake in a given meal.You won’t feel much difference in satiety after eating regular fat versus lean meat. 100 grams of lean beef is only 175 calories versus 330 calories for regular fat beef.
The mind can easily be tricked by certain foods into thinking that you are eating less or more than what you actually are. Once you apply the information above into your nutritional plan, and learn how to successfully sneak calories into or out of your diet, you will then begin to master your body transformation.
Please keep in mind that the strategies listed above are only 1 piece of the puzzle. When you are attempting a body transformation, you must first learn the foundations of nutrition including balance, timing, portions sizes and food selection. Only after you have become comfortable in utilizing those parts of proper nutrition will the tips listed here begin to make a large impact.
Take the first step to a healthier you and talk to one of our trainers about our many programs: nutrition counseling, personal training, group fitness and more. We are ready to get you on your way to your success in a body you can be proud of. Reach out to us at 806-322-3188 or info@customfitness.biz. We look forward to working with you. Have a great day.