When it comes to dieting, one size does not fit all, but there are some universal principles that do…
And while I won’t be going into the details of ALL those principles in today’s post, I do want you to understand that there are levels to sane and sensible dieting.
- Level 1: Hand-based portions
- Level 2: Calorie tracking for awareness
- Level 3: Specific macronutrient aims
If you’re currently struggling with reaching your fitness goals, allow me to walk you through our three levels. As you read them, think about which one would be an improvement from what you’re currently doing and give it a try.
And if you’d like guidance, you should take us up on our FREE WEEK. 🙂
Hand-based portions
For most people, simply aiming for the recommendations on our pocket portion guide works really well when it comes to dieting. We’ve had folks drop weight, build muscle, increase energy, and even get off meds!
“With this program, I have been able to build healthy eating habits. I am honestly not torturing myself by staying away from food I love, but I am able to make conscious decisions on what to cheat on, the portion size, and the frequency of it.
I recently got my blood test done and results were amazing. For the first time in the last 4 years I got a call from my doctor’s office stating that “EVERYTHING IS ABSOLUTELY NORMAL”. My A1C (sugar level) dropped down to 5.4 from 6.3, I’ve lost 13 lbs (an extra pound from my goal weight when I joined BSP), and dropped inches.” – Jasmin Nirwal
But for some, the results don’t seem to come as easily.
When this happens, we progress to calorie tracking for awareness…
Calorie tracking for awareness
Simply put, energy balance is king. If we’re gaining or maintaining weight, we’re likely consuming too many calories to meet our goals.
By having folks use a “when you bite it, write it” approach, we typically find little things that are actually sabotaging their progress.
Maybe it’s the daily “snack” that’s actually an extra 300 calories… Uhhh, that’s 2,100 calories a week if we’re doing math.
The goal is to get some awareness of what our dieting struggles are, strategize for them, and get back to the simplicity of the hand-based portions with this new awareness.
But sometimes, for a variety of potential reasons, we’re left scratching our heads wondering why we’re not making progress.
In that event, we find specific that macronutrient aims, based on body composition, to be the change maker we’re looking for…
Specific macronutrient aims
Keeping in mind that energy balance is king, we do two things…
- Determine your body composition and plug it into a total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) calculator to figure out about how many calories you burn a day.
- Set a caloric deficit goal (i.e., a reasonable calorie goal that is less than your TDEE) with specific macronutrient aims.
Macronutrients are proteins, fats, and carbs (and technically alcohol, at 7 calories per gram).
We can actually tweak the amount we’re consuming of each to meet different goals—decrease body fat, build muscle, lose weight, …
Even then, for most people, the goal is to do this long enough to create awareness of what appropriate portions are so that we can get back to a more intuitive approach, like the hand portions and our base nutrition habits and skills.
So there you have it—the three levels to sane and sensible dieting…
Have questions? Want to learn more?
Shoot me an email to chris@beyondstrengthperformance.com and let’s set up a time to chat!
And, nutrition coaching is included in your membership at BSP NOVA—even during your free week… so, seriously, what are you waiting for?
