Category Archives: Resources

Fun fact: The problem for most struggling dieters isn’t WHAT they eat, but

HOW MUCH?

Let’s break this down.

The two most important pieces of any successful nutrition plan are:

1. Food Quality  2. Food Quantity

The food quality aspect of weight loss is straightforward... Whether your goal is to lose fat, build muscle, or maintain a healthy body, the bulk of your diet should come from micronutrient-dense whole foods.

But the food quantity aspect is a whole other story.

Studies show time and time again that people grossly underestimate their caloric intake and portion sizes.

If you’ve been struggling to lose weight despite exercising hard & eating healthy, here’s what I’d recommend doing:

First, start tracking your food. Use an app like MyFitnessPal OR anything to log what you’re taking in regularly!

Second, start measuring your food. Ideally with a food scale ⚖

I recommend doing this especially if you're new to calorie counting since it’s the best way to ensure what you’re tracking is actually what you’re eating!

And before you ask, no – you don’t have to track calories forever.

But when you’re just starting out, or you just wanna cut some fat, a food scale is a fantabulous tool to have at your disposal!

There will inevitably be situations — restaurants, parties, etc. — where you don’t have a scale, though.

That’s where this comes in:



This easy portion control guide is to help you stay mindful & better estimate your portion sizes.

This guide is especially useful for estimating portions for higher-calorie foods like nuts, dressings, oils, cheeses, Nutella, peanut butter, marshmallow fluff, cake icing and anything.

What I meant to say was:

The palm of your hand is good for estimating a serving 3-4oz of protein, such as chicken or steak.

Your fist is about the equivalent of 1 cup, think veggies, cooked grains/carbs and fruit.

Your thumb is a good rule for 1 thumb of nuts, dressings, nut butter and oils.

Point is, tracking is super helpful! And while it’s best to use a scale to measure your food, this easy portion guide can help too.

Is it perfect? Nope.

But it's better than saying, now, instead of saying: "I had chicken, mixed veggies, and rice."

You can say: "I had roughly a palm of chicken, 2 palm of mixed veggies, and a fist of rice"

Better than nothing, am I right?

Short answer, the body fat of the person will be the main determinant of whether fasted cardio is important or not.

There are 3 primary steps in fat loss.

Mobilization, transport, oxidation.

Mobilization refers to actually getting stored fat (specifically fatty acids) out of the fat cell.

Transport refers to the actual transport of fatty acids (bound to albumin) within the bloodstream; this step can be an issue when folks are dealing with stubborn body fat (such as lower ab/low back fat in men and hip/thigh fat in women); blood flow is impaired in those areas.

Finally is oxidation which is the actual burning of fatty acids within tissues such as skeletal muscle, liver, and heart.

Individuals at the very end So, short answer, no it doesn't matter if you do it fasted or not because the majority of the population is between very lean and obese, from about 15-35% body fat in men and 20-40% body fat in women there are really no issues. Mobilization is usually not a problem since the body hasn’t started to fight back, transport isn’t an issue since stubborn fat isn’t being targeted, and oxidation is rarely a problem since the defects show up at the extremes of obesity generally aren’t present of both spectrums will have their own set of issues with each of these steps but that is a topic for another time.

Calories in versus out matters more in this case.

A protein is a naturally occurring, extremely complex substance that consists of amino acid residues joined by peptide bonds. Proteins are present in all living organisms and include many essential biological compounds such as enzymes, hormones, and antibodies.

Now that the science part is out and done with, why is it important?

Because without protein, you'll die. There is no such thing as essential carbs, but protein and fats are essential to the living cell.

There is an area of your brain called the hypothalamus which regulates your weight.

A higher protein intake actually increases levels of the satiety (appetite-reducing) hormones GLP-1, peptide YY, and cholecystokinin, while reducing your levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin.

By replacing carbs and fat with protein, you reduce the hunger hormone and boost several satiety hormones.

This leads to a major reduction in hunger and is the main reason protein helps you lose weight. It can make you eat fewer calories automatically.

In a nutshell, protein is more satiating than carbs or fat.

How? Why? I need to explain something called the THERMIC EFFECT of food.

To put it in layman's terms, the thermic effect is the process where energy is needed to digest and metabolize food.

Although not all sources agree on the exact figures, it is clear that protein has a much higher thermic effect (20-30%) compared to carbs (5-10%) and fat (0-3%)

If we go with a thermic effect of 30% for protein, this means that 100 calories of protein only end up as 70 usable calories.

Which means... It plays a very important role if you're DIETING for fat loss.

What kills progress is hunger. This brings me back to the original point. Remember where I said protein is more satiating?

There we go. Also, do remember that there is a difference between FAT loss and WEIGHT loss. You want the majority of your bodyweight loss to be fat, not precious lean muscle tissue. Protein has a sparing effect.

Calories go down, protein should be considered a macronutrient priority to bump up.

So next time you're considering a snack to satisfy your hunger cravings, consider something with a higher protein ratio vs something sugary which does nothing much for appetite suppression.