10 Quick Changes to Your Nutrition for Better Health & Weight Management
This was actually a tough decision…
I could go on for days about how to manage nutrition and diet to achieve any goal, but I’ve picked 10 things that are (mostly) simple and highly effective. A little bit goes a long way, so try some of these and let me know how it goes!
1) Weigh Your Portions & Track Your Calories, Even if just For a Few Days
Realizing exactly how much you’re consuming and the ratio of protein, fat, and carbs can be mindblowing and offer a huge reality check. Just doing this for 2-3 days will give you a thorough cross-section of your daily intake. There are many free apps you can use to do this like MyFitnessPal or my preferred app, Cronometer. Humans are terrible at eyeballing portion sizes so use a food scale to help with accuracy. 9 times out of 10 when I have a new client do this, they are shocked at how much more calories, fat, or carbs they were consuming. Tell us about your results here if you try this!
2) Snack on Protein Instead of Fat.
All too often I hear clients say they needed a snack so they just had some nuts or some olive oil and vinegar on lettuce. While those snacks are considered healthy, a tiny tablespoon of olive oil is 120 calories and a single ounce of mixed nuts is 175 calories almost all coming from high fat. One gram of fat has 9 calories where one gram of carbs or protein only has 4! If you’re wanting to lose weight, you’ll need to be eating a caloric deficit which is made much more difficult when a tiny snack can push you above your limit. In comparison, one ounce of beef jerky only has about 80 calories and delivers a whopping 12g of much-needed protein, and 5 ounces of mixed berries only has 70 calories of healthy, fibrous carbs.
3) Pickles!
When you’re craving something salty, savory, and crunchy, go pick up some plain old dill or sour pickles. Most brands you’ll find have only about 5, or often 0, calories per serving. Make sure they aren’t sweetened pickles and be aware that they are typically all high in sodium.
4) Stay Lean with Protein
Protein has the highest thermic effect on your body which means it burns more calories, even during sleep. Shifting your diet to aim for more protein will not only help boost your metabolism, but it will also help with muscle recovery and general wellness. Your body uses protein to both build and repair tissues, as well as to make enzymes, hormones, and other body chemicals.
5) Being a Little Hungry is OK
This is more of a discipline philosophy; we don’t have to snack or eat the moment we feel hungry. I’m not advocating for starving yourself, but if you know that you have had sufficient nutrients and you have access to more if and when you need them, then it’s OK to experience that hunger for a little while until it’s time for you to eat a proper meal or snack. It’s very human to mistake boredom or old habits for hunger. This tip helps teach and remind you of the difference. If you’re feeling uncomfortably hungry, listen to your body and eat. On a personal note, sometimes I like the feeling hunger creates and there might be a reason for that.
6) Fruit Juices are Often as Bad or Worse Than Sugary Soda
Did you know that Coca Cola has 62g of fructose per liter? That doesn’t sound so bad when you consider Minute Maid 100% Apple Juice has 65g! Yeah, really… Even though fruit is healthy food in general, part of the health comes from the fiber and nutrients that we don’t get from concentrated juices. Overall, sugary sodas and sugary fruit juice are both contributors to obesity and heart disease in America. If you’re wanting juice, buy all-natural, consume in moderation (1-2 cups max per day), and look for “no added sugars” or a low/no sugar option.
7) Meal Prep: Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail
This tip is worth an entire blog by itself, but meal prepping produces a plethora of subsequent benefits. You will save money by buying in bulk, so buy a large quantity of just a few clean foods you want to eat during the week. A rice cooker, stove, and grill press can make a week’s worth of prepped food in just a few hours. You will save so much time and so many calories by not having to cook the rest of the week, not having to decide what to eat, and knowing you’ll be eating clean and consistently every day. For a consultation on meal prepping or nutrition services, visit our Online Nutrition page.
8) Chewing Gum Can Reduce Calorie Intake and Increase Calorie Expenditure
In this study, subjects who chewed gum for a total hour each morning consumed 67 calories lass at lunch and showed a 5% increase in energy expenditure as well. Another study, subjects who chewed gum experienced a mark reduction in cravings and appetite. There’s a learned benefit here; reaching for a stick of gum can become a habit to replace reaching for an unnecessary snack.
9) Labels Like ‘Low-Fat’ & ‘Keto-Friendly’ are Dangerously Misleading.
Twizzlers are proudly labeled as a low-fat snack! They contain 120 empty calories per 16 ounces. Bacon grease is Keto! I don’t think I need to elaborate on that one. Almost any time you see reduced-fat, it means that sugar or cornstarch has been added to replace the lost flavor and volume. Those missing fats were a lot healthier than the empty calories they injected back in. Also, fat doesn’t make you fat, too many calories does. Likewise, the Keto label slapped on well known calorie-dense foods does not in any way indicate lower calories. Many foods labeled Keto-friendly have traded carb-density for fat-density so keep in mind that 1g of fat has over twice as many calories as 1g of carbs.
10) Stop Eating Sweets and You Will Stop Craving Sweets
Sugar addiction is very real in Western culture. 75% of Americans consume on average 19 tsp of sugar every day; over 3 times the recommendation by the American Heart Association. Abstaining from sugar for as little as 10 days can break a sugar addiction while heavily reducing cravings or removing them altogether. Sugar comes up a lot in my field as you can see from this article and is a leading culprit in American obesity and heart disease. Sugar also is a stressful on the body and can cause inflammation. Put the candy down.
Thanks for reading and please share, comment, and like!
- Coach Beau
For professional guidance on nutrition, dieting, exercise, weightlifting, or literature on these topics reach out to #TeamBeau for a consultation or check out our many related products and services.