Frozen tuna steaks in the air fryer that turn out perfect?! YES, PLEASE!

I’ve been craving some fish and I found some quality frozen wild-caught tuna at the store which sounded perfect with some green beans and rice for lunch.

All the flavors and textures you could possibly imagine… on a single skewer poked through only three things. These quick and easy to make kabobs are sweet, salty, savory, tangy, crispy and fresh.

We know the statistics. The majority of our clients come to us with fat loss as their main goal. Before joining Black Iron Nutrition, many have tried every diet under the sun. Keto. Paleo. Intermittent Fasting. Carnivore. Vegan. Vegetarian. They’ve tried other nutrition companies – and have found themselves on dangerously low calories. And while we won’t deny that they saw results initially – they weren’t able to sustain their results in the long-term. Many end up right back where they started.

As the nights get longer and colder, we often turn to hearty dishes to warm our bodies and souls. This vegan twist on a classic ragu bolognese is the perfect recipe for cold winter weekends.

Packed to the brim with vitamins and fiber, it's so deep and rich and savory, you’ll be surprised there’s no meat, and even more surprised at how macro friendly it is.

Overwhelmed by all of the nutrition information out there?

Do you find yourself constantly giving up because you find dieting to be too stressful and complicated?

We understand! There is a seemingly endless amount of advice out there when it comes to nutrition – as well as a lot of conflicting information.

Stop steaming your veggies!

I mean, you can steam them if that’s really how you prefer. But there’s a whole world of flavor out there! Your veggies don’t have to be bland and a necessary evil to your meals. Make them the star!

This is one for my friends that need CALORIES! You can certainly still eat it if you’re in a cut and eating less calories, I would just pair it with some veggies on the side to add more volume, do a leaner meat such as ground chicken or turkey or add more cabbage/less noodles. I want to say you could try doing something like banza pasta for more protein, but that might be weird lol. If you try it let me know how it goes!

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 best approach is one that you can maintain throughout the duration of the cut.

An aggressive approach can be more rewarding as progress is faster.

However, it is more challenging to remain consistent as it requires a greater degree of disciple. This can be especially challenging in social situations.

When we start making nutrition changes, I think we all start looking for “progress”, and that’s fair! Progress photos and measurements are so useful, but we CANNOT overlook our mental progress. We can't only feel good about ourselves when we’re eating all the “right” foods, or when we’ve seen progress in the form of a smaller waist. If we’re solely focused on eating “healthy” and “good” foods all of the time, and then hate ourselves the second we eat something “unhealthy,” I’d argue that’s not very healthy at all.

I read this quote the other day, “If you’re gonna quit, then quit on a good day” and that hit.

Can you imagine how many people wouldn’t give up on themselves if they utilized this statement more often

If things are going good, you're “winning”, it’s easy, results are showing, we aren’t often giving up, or running to something different.

When we’re stuck, frustrated, have a bad day, lose, our thoughts can often lead us to wanting to quit, give up, change, think something is wrong. Cuz to be honest it’s hard.

It is really common to see clients mention in the first few weeks or months of working with a nutrition coach that they’re disappointed when they see the scale go up.

From experience, many clients come to a nutrition coach chronically dieting, eating in a caloric deficit, or undereating for longer than 3-6 months. It is imperative that they reverse diet back up to at LEAST their maintenance calories and spend at least 3-6 months eating enough food to boost their metabolic rate. This will allow them to lose more weight effectively in the future. Your metabolism slows down when you eat lower calories, so as calories increase, your metabolism should increase as well.

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:

These can be whipped up so quickly! Oven on. Mix ingredients. Roll out. By then the oven should be preheated and ready to rock. While mine cooked I grabbed some green beans, threw them in a HOT pan with avocado oil, allowed them to blister a bit, then added red chili pepper flakes, sliced garlic and salt and cooked for another minute or two.

Trick to getting more steps? Get a dog!

One thing I try to focus on with clients who are trying to lose fat is not so much the hour IN the gym, but what they do in terms of movement the other 23 hours of the day. Personally, I think walking is the most underrated tool.

Here are some tips I give my clients:

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.

These whip up quick and easy! I keep a bag of frozen shrimp in my freezer at all times because they defrost quickly for those nights where I forgot to go grocery shopping.

These are sweet, melt in your mouth and delicious. Whether you want them for breakfast, lunch or dinner. I like to cook up a huge batch all at once as it saves me time throughout the week — just reheat and go!