Have you ever considered the benefits of committing to weighing your food? Whether you're looking to shed a few pounds, gain muscle, or simply develop healthier eating habits, precision in your nutrition can be a game-changer. While it may seem like a daunting task, weighing your food can yield remarkable advantages, especially when combined with regular exercise.

Have you ever wondered if training on a low carb diet could be beneficial for overall endurance performance? Enter the "Train Low, Compete High" strategy: an approach where athletes manipulate carb intake during training to push metabolic boundaries and heighten glycogen usage thresholds. By staying low-carb during training and refilling glycogen before events, athletes might delay tapping into these energy stores, theoretically enhancing endurance. But how substantial is the evidence? 

Navigating through the overwhelming amount of nutrition advice available can be a daunting task. If you have specific goals related to body composition, weight loss, or improving your food choices, it may be time to consider hiring a nutrition coach. Working with a professional who understands the intricacies of nutrition can provide you with the guidance, accountability, and support needed to achieve sustainable success. In this article, we'll explore the reasons why hiring a nutrition coach can benefit you and help you make an informed decision about taking that next step towards a healthier and happier you.

There are probably two types of people who clicked on this article. The first is your average person who just wants to make sense out of the conflicting and confusing information that is presented to them in the mainstream media, social media, or other sources who seem to use research to present completely contradictory views on fitness and nutrition. If this is you, maybe you were hoping to read this and come away with a fool-proof strategy that enables you to enter the correct things into Google to come away with the right answer to your fitness or nutrition question. The second kind of person, might be a graduate student who is curious how I possibly hope to condense the 6-15 credits of courses that they took, or are about to take, dealing with conducting research into a single article.  

If you have ever struggled to lose or gain weight, I guarantee you have at some point heard the advice: 

“You just need to eat more/less than you burn”

The person that typically says this kind of thing most likely also holds the belief that being overweight or having obesity is a result of pure laziness or a lack of morals. At the surface level, this advice is correct. However, it is correct in the same way that going to a football game and telling the head coach of your team “Hey pal, you just gotta score more points than the other team and you’ll win” is correct. Correct, but very unhelpful and lacks any understanding on what contributes to the scoring of points. 

I was really struggling with something recently, and after doing my check-ins with my clients that day, I realized that so many of you guys struggle with the same thing.

How can we achieve optimal health through a holistic approach? Let's dive a little bit deeper into these 6 foundations to learn. 

In the world of health and fitness, there's a lot of emphasis on exercise, nutrition, and supplements. But there's one crucial factor that often gets overlooked: sleep. It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that more exercise, more supplements, or a new diet plan will be the solution to your health and fitness goals. But the truth is, without enough sleep, all those efforts may be in vain.

Many people are quick to blame nagging health issues on their food habits and often rightfully so. But they’re more likely to pin it on over-eating when often the root of the issue is actually the opposite. Under-eating is VERY common. We’ve conditioned ourselves to believe that eating less  = better life. The truth is that’s not always true. I know, I KNOW, this is the opposite of what you’ve believed your whole life! Eating too little is just as unhealthy as eating too much.

I think it's easy to forget that coaching should be a 2-way street. Yes, there is a level of trust and respect that should go into the relationship you have with your coach, but to get everything you can from your experience and investment, there should always be an active conversation going. So what does this mean for clients?

Nutrient timing is generally discussed in relation to two things: the circadian rhythm, which are your natural internal processes that ebb and flow, and repeat every 24 hours or so; and timing around training sessions. In this article, I will discuss how each of those can affect weight/fat loss, and then separately discuss performance implications.

Make some non negotiable habits you want to work on even when you are not traveling or tracking.

There are so many habits you can work on even when you are out of your normal routine or aren’t tracking your food. These habits can help you stay mindful and give you a little bit of “routine” even when your routine is off.

The thing about nutrition is that every meal doesn’t have to be complicated or a masterpiece. Keeping things simple makes each day almost effortless when it comes to cooking.

I tell all of my clients when they’re starting out to keep it simple.

Here’s what I recommend for building your meals:

I had a friend ask me this question the other day and it led me to understand that most of us really want weight loss to happen as fast as possible. But in order to lose weight quickly, it’s often not going to happen in what I would consider a “healthy” way.

There are so many “diets” out there that have you restrict so many calories that you no longer have the energy to exercise; high fat, no carb, meal replacements, you name it, it’s out there. And about 95% of the time my clients tell me they have tried some, if not all of these kinds of diets. They come to me worn out from it all.

My best piece of advice to anyone looking to start up their nutrition journey with a coach is to keep an open mind. I mean, you're likely seeking help because your way hasn't worked for you in one way or another, right?

Things that I have new clients really hone in on in the first few weeks include:

My face when a client says they are upset they “only” lost half a pound this week 😡

The toughest part about being a nutrition coach is getting clients to buy in on a few ideas.

At some point, the daily tasks and habits necessary to reach your goals are probably gonna feel pretty boring. Consistency is boring, but it’s where progress is made.

Constant changes - with your macros / nutrition, training program, daily routines - are just whirlwind. If a coach (of any kind) is promising instant gratification and keeps things “interesting” or keeps you “motivated” by switching things up very regularly with no explicit purpose, proceed with caution.

Me when I try to explain body neutrality…

A body is just a body. It doesn’t have moral value. It changes as you change. There’s nothing inherently good or evil about it. I used to think I had to constantly, aggressively love my body- if I didn’t feel that way on a day, I felt like I was failing or not being “positive” enough.

You’ve been eating “good” all week long and now the weekend hits. You are so sick of eating your boring, un-satiating food, and your appetite is UNREAL. You are ready to go ham on some ice cream and pizza because you think “I stuck to my plan all week and now it’s time to treat myself.”

We talk all the time about how consistency is king/queen, but if you’re someone who is struggling with consistency you might be missing out on the piece that comes right before it: TRIAL & ERROR

I get it, you just signed up for a coach and you’re ready to GET. TO. WORK.