When it comes to body composition (Amount of Body Fat vs. Amount of Muscle), it’s a NO-BRAINER that nutrition is the most critical component.  Not only is it important to lose weight, but if you expect to keep it off you’ve got to keep up the hard work!

Ultra restrictive diets, fads, cleanses, and the like require you to eat in way that isn’t sustainable long term.  That’s why 90% of people who lose weight gain it back.  Even worse they’ve slowed their metabolism by under-eating, leading to an even higher number on the scale than before.

If you’ve attempted to lose weight in the past and failed, you know how frustrating this can be.  You fall off the wagon, but you kick yourself in the butt and do your best to get back on track.  However, your diet is so restrictive your will power can’t sustain.  Then you regain the weight you lost despite making a conscious effort to ‘do better’.

I’m here to tell you it’s not your fault.  Will power is a finite resource.  That’s the reason Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s CEO, wears the same shirt and pants every day to work.  Less decision making in his closet means more energy to make decisions that matter. If you constantly have to fight the urge to eat because you’re only drinking juice for 7 days you were doomed before you even started.

The goal of this cheat sheet is to give you Long-term fat loss strategies that are easy to implement, sustainable, and nonrestrictive.  As with any habit, implement these 1 at a time.  Give yourself a coupe weeks between each to make sure they all stick!

1. Your brain is 15 minutes behind your belly.  EAT SLOWLY AND MINDFULLY!
   1. Time your meals for a couple days.  Once you know how long it takes try to increase that time by 20%
   2. Put your phone away and focus on the taste of your food.
   3. Set your silverware down between bites.
   4. Increase the number of times you chew your food.
   5. Set a timer!
2. Eat only until you’re satisfied, NOT STUFFED.
   1. You know that feeling you get after thanksgiving dinner?  The I’m so bloated I need to unbutton my pants and sleep on the couch for 2 hours feeling?  Yeah, that ain’t the tryptophan.  If you’re trying to lose fat we can’t let ourselves get to that point.
   2. By eating slowly you should be better able to identify when you’re actually full.  Stop at an 8 out of 10, where 1 is starving and 10 is stuffed.
   3. Eat some veggies if you’re still hungry 30 minutes later.  Load up, just don’t add dressing!
3.  Drink a glass of water BEFORE AND WITH each meal.
   1. Water has so many positive benefits, one of which is helping with weight loss.
   2. By drinking a glass before each meal, you’re body will better be able to tell thirst from hunger.
   3. Remember your mom saying water fills in the cracks?  She was right.  You’ll feel more full if you’re drinking water with your meal.
   4. Shoot for 80 oz of water per day!
4. Eat LEAN PROTEIN with every mean.
   1. Lean proteins include chicken, turkey, fish, and very lean cuts of beef or pork.
   2. You should be eating a serving roughly the size and thickness of your palm.
   3. The easiest way to make this happen is to prep some food ahead of time.  The crockpot is your friend.  So are muffin tins.  Here’s a crockpot recipe from our nutrition program, and here’s one for your muffin tins!
   4. Be sure to eat your protein early in the meal so you don’t fill up on carbs!
5. Choose THE RIGHT carbs.
   1. Carbs are NOT your enemy.  Your body needs them for fuel to get around, exercise, and even just bodily processes like digestion.
   2. There are 2 types of carbs, starchy and non-starchy.  Starchy carbs are very calorically dense (lots of calories in each bite) and not very nutritious.  Non-starchy carbs are packed full of fiber, vitamins and minerals.  We want to load up on non-starchy carbs and limit starchy ones.
   3. Starchy carbs: Bread, pasta, rice, chips, cookies, potatoes, cereal etc.
   4. Non-starchy carbs: Veggies and fruits
   5. At a meal have 2 fists worth of veggies (put your fists side by side and put that many veggies on your plate).  Then you can have 1 fist worth of starchy carbs.  Even within the starchy carb category we want to make smart choices: sweet potato, brown rice, quinoa, sugar-free oatmeal etc.

If you’ve got more question schedule a free no obligation intro today.