Nutrition and diet go hand in hand when one has very specific fitness goals at hand. Whether I have a client who is trying to lose weight, gain weight, lose fat or gain muscle, nutrition is SO KEY to seeing results. Most often times, I see my client who is making such amazing progress with their workouts and following their exercise regimen to a “T” yet are getting frustrated because they aren’t seeing their hard earned work pay off in changes in their physique. Then we talk about nutrition. I find that 98% of the time that I find their downfall happens when it comes to the foods and food choices they are (or are not) putting in their bodies.



If you have been an avid exerciser for many years, what you will find is that your body may not respond  in the same way that it once did, and because of this we tend to just do more exercise to try to compensate. What ends up happening is that we find that we are eating less calories than we are actually burning which puts our bodies at a calorie deficit. 


 In this situation our bodies can hold onto fat. You NEED to eat if you want to see a change in your physique. It is just about choosing the right foods and getting in that right mindset to do so.Here are some common problems and how to fix then when it comes to nutrition and fat loss

“But I am eating healthy!”
You may be frustrated because you ‘think’ that you are eating all of the correct, healthy foods, right? Well  chances are you are about 60% of the way there, but there is just some tweaking that needs to happen within your diet to make it more aimed toward weight and overall fat loss. You are already eating healthy, so lets figure out how to take the basic tools you know and make it even better.  There are thousands of foods out there that are ‘healthy’ meaning they contain fiber, minerals, nutrients and natural ingredients BUT with that said, they will not support fat loss. I even see some of the time that it is those with an already ‘healthy’ diet who have the most trouble losing weight. Some undercover healthy foods that I see many people turn to include dried fruit, 100% juice drinks, protein bars, whole wheat bread and crackers, granola bars, granola, dairy (in excess) pretzels, diet soda, flavored yogurt, reduced fat peanut butter, deli meats.



Of course every body is different and we will find that there are some who can eat these foods and still lose fat, so with all of this said, it is important to tune into your OWN body. Do not worry about what someone else is doing or has done for their body. That’s THEIR body, not  yours. It is. Next time you eat a meal, think about how you feel afterwards.



Make sure you are eating protein at every meal.
You should be eating about 1g protein per lb of body weight. I myself have 5-6 smaller meals with 20-25g protein at each meal. Protein can be found in the form of lean beef, chicken breast, tuna, white fish, salmon, beans, tofu, whey protein, egg whites. Protein helps to satisfy hunger and eating protein helps preserve muscle mass and encourages fat burning WHILE keeping you feeling satiated. Protein also helps you get lean by boosting your metabolic rate, which ultimately leads to burning more fat.




EAT FAT to lose Fat
Do NOT be scared of FAT!  This is one of the biggest mistakes I see people make is they have no healthy fats in their diet. Not only will certain fats–particularly omega-3s –not lead to fat gain, but they can actually promote fat loss. Eating fat to lose fat seems counterintuitive, but if you keep your fat intake at about 30% of your total daily calories by choosing fatty fish such as salmon, sardines or trout as well as other healthy fat sources such as olive oil, peanut butter and walnuts, you can actually boost your fat loss compared to eating a low-fat diet



I NEVER Cheat…but then I eat everything in sight
Yes You heard me right. You need to have those ‘reward’ meals if you want to see changes in your physique. Don’t misunderstand what I am saying here. I am not telling you go to eat 4 slices of pizza everyday, BUT once a week, have what you want.  Prolonger periods of dieting drop your body’s leptin levels. Leptin is a hormone that helps your metabolism fire as efficiently as possible. A cheat meal or window (or even day in some cases) once a week will surprise your body, and help it to raise stagnating leptin levels. This metabolic boost will help you to burn more fat. By having this ‘cheat’ meal it will keep you mentally and physically on point and it will also keep you from binging when you come across foods that you are craving.



You MUST Eat!
I will say it time and time again. You MUST eat to lose fat. Too many times I see (women especially) ‘forget’ to eat (or just purposely skip meals) thinking that this will help them to lose weight. When you cut calories out and skip meals, your body will hold onto fat, instead of keeping it a fat burning machine. What will happen is an ultimate slowing of metabolism




Eating a small protein-and-veggie-rich meal every 2-3 hours helps to preempt hunger and cravings, stabilizing blood sugar and allowing your body to easily give up its fat stores without worrying when the next meal is coming.  Us ladies like to sometimes drink our cravings and hunger away using coffee, diet soda and wine…this does not work in the long run.  Next time you are hungry, eat.  And eat one of your ME meals: lean protein, green veggies and your allotted number of starch bites.  Do not grab a diet soda to get through the afternoon–in the end, this will have you craving sugar, fat and salt at the end of the day when our exhaustible self-control is nowhere to be found.  Use preemptive eating strategizes to accelerate your fat loss