We live in a world of ‘quick-starts’, ‘how-to-guides’, ‘career hacks’. This article is none of those. It’s a different kind of success story. And a powerful lesson on how to get ahead in health, fitness, and wellness, or any other field. ++++ Success secrets. Productivity hacks. Tips, tricks, and quick formulas. I’m often asked to share these as advice; the requests come when I’m being interviewed on podcasts, speaking at conferences, talking to journalists. People who want to get ahead in health and fitness—or just about any other field—want to know: How did you go from starting a health and fitness website with your buddy… … to running a 200-million dollar company with about 100 team members and over 100,000 clients across 120 countries. … to advising companies like Apple, Equinox, Nike, and Titleist. … to being selected as one of the smartest/most influential people in the field? And they really want to know: What tip, method, shortcut do you recommend to help others do the same? As you can probably tell, I’m not a big fan of these kinds of questions. Can’t blame people for asking, though. After all, I also want to learn from the people who’ve gone before me, the people who’ve succeeded in the way I hope to succeed. But here’s the problem: I could rhyme off a bunch of tips about my morning routine that allow me to run a business while being a father of four. But I don’t think they’ll matter much unless you’re also a father of four and already running a successful business. Likewise, I don’t believe it was magical morning routines, or growth hacks, or tricks and tips that put me on the road to success in the first place. In fact, I think it was something completely different. Something that isn’t often talked about. I call it “going down the rabbit hole”.I remember it like it was yesterday. It was a fresh Autumn day. I was 21 years old, it was my first semester away at University, and I had an appointment with my first-ever guidance counselor. I was ambitious, I had big goals, and I was excited to get some advice on how to plan my future. I assumed the meeting would go something like this: He’d listen to me talk about my passions, about my goals, and he’d help me create an academic plan. Maybe even make suggestions for volunteer or internship opportunities. As I gushed about my love for all things exercise and nutrition, about how it was my goal to have a successful career working with pro sports teams, athletes, and exercisers looking to eat, move, and live better©, his face was stolid. I was completely unprepared for what he said next: “That’s nice… but there’s not much of a career in that for you. We have to be realistic here. There are too few jobs and the chances you’ll get one of them is almost zero. You’re a smart guy. Why don’t we sign you up for Pre-Med? Med school will be a great path for you.” I walked out, head down, backpack dragging the ground behind me. Days went by and, yes, the fog eventually lifted. I figured… maybe he was wrong. Maybe I needed a second opinion. So, over the next few weeks, I asked around. Looking for a glimmer of hope. Almost everyone gave the same advice. Be sensible. Become a doctor. Forget this weird exercise obsession. I was a 21-year-old from a blue-collar immigrant family. Who was I to not take advice from all these educated people? So I did the responsible, sensible thing. I signed up for Pre-Med, and I plotted my course to medical school. At the same time, a part of me was mad. Really mad. Who were they to tell me what my potential was? To squash my dream? So, partly out of spite, but mostly out of this magnetic draw I felt towards health and fitness, sport and performance, I began living a double life. I scraped together every dollar I had. During evenings and weekends I attended seminars covering fitness, nutrition, and sport related topics. I read everything. I wrote articles for free; I volunteered with gyms and sports teams. Throughout, I still fully expected to attend med school. But, eventually, some strange and interesting paths opened up. I found a peer group that was passionate about the things I was interested in. (Surprise: I didn’t find them in my 4th year Chemistry and Physics classes.) And I stumbled upon formal and informal mentors. Almost magically, more opportunities appeared, including offers to attend grad school in Exercise Science and Nutritional Biochemistry. Invitations to coach high-level athletes. Contracts to write for influential publications. Still, after graduating with my Pre-Med degree (and minors in Philosophy and Psychology), it was no small feat to turn down the Med School offers. The voices were still in my head. But I did. And instead of going to Med School… …I fell down the health, fitness, and nutrition rabbit hole. Here’s what I’ve come to realize:Before Doctor Berardi, before Precision Nutrition, before I could have ever seen where it all would take me, I did something that many people felt unwise: I followed my passion. Not because it was part of some master plan. But because everything I learned about health, fitness and nutrition made me want to learn more. So, although I didn’t quit my day job, I didn’t quit dreaming either. Instead of fighting my own intrinsic motivation, I went with it. Instead of paddling upstream, I went with the current. I rode the horses in the direction they were going. I went down the rabbit hole. And here I am today. The hidden costs of having “A Master Plan”.When it comes to our careers, our relationships, even our health and fitness, we’re often taught to plot very strategically. Whether it’s from guidance counselors, business advisors, teachers, courses, e-books, blogs, podcasts, well-intentioned parents, or (seemingly) the whole Internet, we’re taught that we need to plan our path down to every step. (“Life hackers” and proponents of “accelerated learning” teach us that we can even leapfrog a few of these steps. Bonus!) So, that’s what we do. We make checklists, knock off each item, rush to completion, and pray that our calculated maneuvering will lead to success or accomplishment or connection (or whatever we think we’ll need to feel happy). Unfortunately, this particular approach may have a cost. It might prevent us from experiencing some of the best, brightest, and most unexpectedly rewarding moments in life. Even worse, it might prevent us from deep learning and mastery, which has been proven to give us satisfaction, meaning, and, if you’re a competitive person, a “leg up on the competition”. Here’s an approach I like much better.I’ve found that there’s tremendous joy—and surprising, unexpected rewards—that come from “going down the rabbit hole”. From looking deeply, intensely at something you’re really passionate about. From learning everything you can about it. And from going “all in”. If there is a formula for the kind of success most people want, even if they don’t know what that looks like yet, it might be something like this: Strong personal mission Have a look around. You’ll find there’s almost nothing more powerful than someone with a deeply held motivation to do their work plus high level of skill plus a blueprint or system for executing every day. Most people (in any field) have only one or two of those. In some cases, that might be enough. However, if you have all three, you’ll be amazed at what happens. It doesn’t even matter where you’re starting from, or in what career you begin.It’s interesting to note that most of the people on the Precision Nutrition team started in totally different fields:
Then there are the thousands of Precision Nutrition Certification graduates. In the last 6 months I’ve met:
None of these folks would have guessed their future would include working in health and fitness, coaching clients, and changing lives. But here they are today. And let’s not forget the reason they’re here… Each did something that most people don’t.They went “all in” on learning about their passion. Even before they quit their day jobs. Even before deciding: “Yes, this is going to be my next career!” They learned everything there is to know for the sheer joy of it. They talked to the best experts. They did courses and certifications. They went down the rabbit hole. And they had a blast doing it. Then came the unintended, unexpected rewards. The inevitable paths and opportunities that seem to magically appear; the stuff you can’t possibly know about when you’re just starting out. Stuff like:
However, that’s all stuff for later. For now, you just have to start, from wherever you are. Take whatever your passion is, whatever you’re excited about, whatever you’re hesitating on, whatever your inner voice tells you to explore and… …go explore THAT thing. Go down the rabbit hole. You won’t be worse off. Chances are, it’ll change your life. What to do next:
|
Expert | Coach |
---|---|
Talking and telling… | or Listening and reflecting? |
Telling them what you know… | or Sharing what you’re working on? |
Answering questions?… | or Asking questions? |
Letting the client set the tone?… | or Leading the client towards a decision or action? |
Pointing and directing?… | or Guiding and accompanying? |
Taking the spotlight… | or Fading into the background? |
If you find yourself more on the ‘expert’ side of things, try actively practicing some of the actions on the ‘coach’ side.
8. Elite coaches practice being imperfect.
Lots of health and fitness professionals have high standards; most of us want to walk the walk. Moreover, we want to look like we walk the walk.
So we try to refine our own health habits, working practices, and self-presentation. We know that our bodies are often advertisements for our services, so we worry about looking our best.
But too often, we try to be perfect. And that becomes our downfall.
Sure, on the one hand, a little fire keeps you energized and sharp. But too much pressure is a parking brake on performance.
(Ever choked during a game or competition? You were probably overwhelmed by pressure. It happens to athletes all the time.)
So while elite coaches strive for excellence, they don’t try to be perfect—and they don’t expect their clients to be perfect, either.
To practice this approach:
Try sharing a little of your own imperfect experience with your clients.
When they’re fumbling with something, tell them about a time you felt awkward, embarrassed or uncomfortable yourself, either when working on your own fitness and nutrition journey or another time you were struggling to learn something new.
When they’re feeling like a failure, let them know everyone falls down sometimes: share one of your own mistakes—and maybe even how you fixed it.
9. Elite coaches keep it real.
If you work in the fitness and health industry, it’s easy to throw around a lot of ideas.
Stuff like this:
- “Never eat processed food.”
- “Always eat local, seasonal, organic food.”
On the surface, it’s hard to argue against either. But really? Unless you’re living in a yurt somewhere and growing all your own food from the ground up, I doubt you’re always eating whole, unprocessed, local, seasonal, organic food.
Which means those nutrition ideals aren’t aspirational—they’re impossible. Even for the world’s top experts.
Elite coaches are willing to do a reality check. They realize that people don’t need a nutritional deity to follow. They don’t need strict codes of conduct that includes words like “should”, “always”, and “never”.
Instead of coaching from a place of fantasy, elite coaches stay grounded. They help their clients make progress, bit by bit.
To practice this approach:
Examine the rules you’ve set.
Consider all the “rules” and expectations around fitness, nutrition, and health. Write down as many as you can think of. Be sure to include words like “should”, “always”, and “never”.
- You should always…
- You should never…
- Being “fit” means you always…
- Being “healthy” means you never…
- Eating “nutritiously” means…
Now read your answers and think about whether a client could reasonably “always” or “never” do them.
10. Elite coaches ask for help.
If you’re coaching other people, it only makes sense that you’ve experienced coaching yourself.
After all, if you’ve never been coached through something, you can’t possibly understand what your clients are experiencing, thinking, and feeling.
Elite coaches know this. They seek out mentorship and get coaching themselves. Sometimes it’s not even fitness related. It might be for their business, or their personal life (like how to be a better parent or partner), or a hobby they’re particularly passionate about.
The important thing is that that they are willing to ask for help, to make themselves vulnerable, to go through the process of change… just like their clients.
And they know how powerful that process of change can be.
To practice this approach:
Make your coaching checklist.
What areas of expertise do you seek?
- Nutritional science?
- Coaching psychology?
- Business strategy?
- Professional development?
- General life wisdom?
What kind of a mentor or coach would you like?
- What kind of a person are they?
- What sort of reputation do they have?
- What would you want them to show you or tell you in order for you to feel they were the “right fit.”
Now think about people in your life (whether paid professionals, colleagues or friends) who may fit your criteria. If someone springs to mind, great. Ask if they’d be willing to lend their expertise and support to the thing you’d like help with.
Or if you need to do more research, that’s cool too.
What to do next
Pick one of the practices.
Give some thought to which of these practices you’d like to try out for yourself.
Whichever you select, do you have the skills to incorporate them into your coaching style right now? If not, check out the PN approach to skill development for some inspiration to help you figure out your next steps.
Be an observer.
As you’re coaching, be aware of your style. Are you speaking and giving advice when you could be asking questions? Are you actually hearing what your client has to say, or rushing to find the answer?
Don’t judge yourself too harshly—just start building awareness, for now. That way you can start to get clear on what you’d like to improve upon.
Ask for help if you need it.
Moving from being ‘a good coach’ to being ‘an elite coach’ takes a lot of work, and it can’t be done alone. Look for people you can learn from. Maybe it’s a community member, an old mentor, or an experienced friend.
Want strategies to level up your coaching?
It’s no secret that master coaches develop over time, through education and consistent practice, usually under the guidance of a mentor or coach.
Precision Nutrition is the only company in the world that both works with thousands of our own nutrition coaching clients and teaches health, fitness, and wellness professionals our real-world methods for getting results.
And here’s some great news: Our next Precision Nutrition Level 2 Certification Master Class kicks off on Wednesday, October 7th, 2020.
Want to achieve total confidence in your coaching skills? Get (and keep) more clients? Grow and strengthen your practice? If so, the Precision Nutrition Level 2 Certification is definitely for you.
It’s designed specifically for Level 1 students and grads who realize that knowing about the science of nutrition isn’t enough.
Part master class, part grad program, part mentorship, it’s the only course in the world designed to help you master the art of coaching, meaning better results for your clients and a better practice for you.
Since we only take a limited number of professionals, and since the program sells out every time, I strongly recommend you add your name to our VIP List below. When you do, you get the chance to sign up 24 hours before everyone else. Even better, you get a huge discount off the general price of the program.
[Note: The Level 2 Master Class is only for students and grads of our Level 1 Certification. So if you haven’t yet enrolled in that program, please begin there.]
Interested? Add your name to the VIP list. You’ll save up to 37% and secure your spot 24 hours before everyone else.
We’ll be opening up spots in our next Precision Nutrition Level 2 Certification Master Class on Wednesday, October 7th.
If you want to find out more, we’ve set up the following VIP list which gives you two advantages.
- Pay less than everyone else. We like to reward people who are eager to get started and ready to gain mastery in their coaching practice. So we’re offering a discount of up to 37% off the general price when you sign up for the Master Class VIP list.
- Sign up 24 hours before the general public and increase your chances of getting a spot. We only open the PN Master Class twice per year. Due to high demand and a very limited number of spots, we expect it to sell out fast. But when you sign up for the Master Class VIP list, we’ll give you the opportunity to register a full 24 hours before anyone else.
If you’re ready to take the next step in becoming a world-class coach, we’re ready to share our knowledge and help you master the art of coaching.
The post 10 things every successful fitness and nutrition coach does. The best coaches do them every day. How many are you doing? appeared first on Precision Nutrition.
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Sweet potatoes vs. potatoes: A nutritional debate fueled by misinformation, baseless ‘superfood’ obsessions, and carbohydrate phobias. Here’s how these tubers compare — and why both deserve a place in your diet.
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A few years back, some nutrition enthusiasts decided to figure out whether white or sweet potatoes were “healthier”.
One group compared the glycemic index and load of sweet potatoes vs. potatoes. They suggested that since white potatoes tend to be higher, they should be avoided.
Another group suggested that sweet potatoes are a vitamin A ‘superfood’, putting them way ahead of their white potato competitors.
And, of course, the carbophobes had their own take: All potatoes should be avoided because they’re too high in carbs and all those carbs will mess with your insulin regulation and cause fat gain.
Nonsense, all of it.
Both white and sweet potatoes, when eaten as part of a balanced and intentional diet, provide a fantastic array of nutrients while contributing to the satiety and deliciousness of any meal.
Check out this infographic to learn more about white and sweet potatoes, and why you should consider including both in your diet. (You can even download them for your printer or tablet).
Want to share this with family, friends, and clients? Click here to download the infographic and print it out, or save it on your tablet.
For an even more comprehensive take on this topic, check out our accompanying article, “Sweet vs. regular potatoes: Which are really healthier?”.
If you’re a coach, or you want to be…
Learning how to coach clients, patients, friends, or family members through healthy eating and lifestyle changes—in a way that’s personalized for their unique body, preferences, and circumstances—is both an art and a science.
If you’d like to learn more about both, consider the Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification. The next group kicks off shortly.
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Level 1: The new rules of sports nutrition: This could revolutionize the way you coach athletes.
9/9/2020
When you think about sports nutrition, what comes to mind?
- The lean, ripped bodies of professional athletes.
- Advanced macro ratios that are “administered” and closely monitored.
- Biochemistry, nutrient timing, and cutting-edge supplementation.
- All of the above.
Answer A, B, C, or D (everyone’s favorite)? That’s pretty typical.
There’s just one problem: Even collectively, these responses represent only a small slice of what sports nutrition is really all about.
That’s why…
It’s time we redefine sports nutrition.
And that’s exactly what we’ve done, based on our years of experience coaching elite athletes and active people.
In this article, we’ll show you how to use our new rules of sports nutrition to:
- Create nutrition plans that are truly personalized for each client.
- Implement sports nutrition with more clients than ever before.
- Develop a reliable coaching method for optimizing client results—every single time.
And most importantly? We’ll explain how this new perspective on sports nutrition doesn’t just get your clients to perform better. It can also help them live more balanced and fulfilling lives.
Because peak performance is great. But combined with a healthy, vibrant life? Now you’re truly winning.
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The 5 new rules of sports nutrition.
New rule #1: Don’t treat all athletes the same.
In some ways, all athletes are the same. All human bodies who move share the same general needs and basic biology.
But in other ways, all athletes are different.
For instance:
- A high school athlete in their teens isn’t the same as an experienced elite in their 20s.
- A professional athlete isn’t the same as a “regular person” who works out hard in the gym four to five times a week but also has a full-time job and two kids.
- A person with a heavy manual labor job where their body is their livelihood—such as tactical personnel in the field—isn’t the same as a person who plays a sport for fun.
Traditionally, sports nutrition has focused on the science of nutrients and making prescriptive, idealized recommendations. This typically includes designing a plan based on:
- sport type
- body weight and height
- exercise duration
- exercise intensity
- current training cycle and competition schedule
These are all crucial factors to consider. They’re something we think about a lot, in fact. (Can we interest you in a fascinating discussion of how protein needs are determined in the lab? Wait… come back.)
But in our experience, nutrients, simple body measures, and sports-based factors aren’t enough.
There’s more to a person than their stats and training schedule.
Even two people who have similar body sizes and the exact same training schedule will have important differences to account for.
Here’s an example. Derek and Vishal are youth soccer athletes. They share some key characteristics. They’re both 14, are on their school’s soccer team, and are around the same weight.
But Vishal and Derek are on a different schedule of physical and psychological development and maturity.
Check out their profiles below: Can you spot why giving them the same exact nutrition recommendations might not work so well?
Let’s take a look.
Vishal’s profile
Vishal hit puberty young. That’s given him an edge in soccer, since he’s got much longer legs and a significantly more muscular body composition than many of his teammates.
He loves playing soccer, but he never really thinks about his future in the sport. In fact, Vishal doesn’t think much about his future at all. For now, he’s just enjoying high school. After all, he’s only 14.
Derek’s profile
Derek hasn’t grown much in the past couple of years. His appetite has increased recently, but he isn’t growing at a pace to match, which means he’s gained some fat over the past few months. His dad keeps telling him, “I was a late bloomer myself.”
Derek is a fast sprinter and a talented dribbler, so he’s maintained his spot on the team’s starting lineup. He also thinks a lot about where soccer might take him. Derek hopes it’ll be his ticket to the university of his dreams, and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to ensure he gets in peak shape.
Okay, those are the details. Got your answer? See how it compares to ours.
Vishal and Derek: Why their nutrition plans should differ
Though their bodies follow the same physiological laws, and they have similar athletic demands, Vishal and Derek have different…
- Mindsets: Vishal is looking to enjoy his time on the field. Derek has a can-do attitude when it comes to eating to maximize his performance. In both cases, this will likely impact their ability to follow a nutrition plan.
- Body compositions: Vishal is on the leaner side. Derek has more body fat. This will affect their nutritional needs.
- Hormonal profiles: Vishal may have an advantage with gaining and maintaining lean muscle mass, since he’s further along in puberty.
For these reasons, if you give Derek and Vishal the exact same sports nutrition plan, they’re not going to get the same results.
Enter: movement nutrition.
We define this as nutrition that fuels, enhances, and/or promotes recovery from a wide range of activities and movements.
Movement nutrition goes beyond just the science of nutrients or prescriptive recommendations (like “eat X grams of nutrient Y”) to coaching a person in the full context of their life.
It includes:
- the science of nutrition (of course!)
- the science of behavior
- the skills and practices of systematic coaching
- the context of a client or athlete’s whole life
- the view of a client or athlete as a complete person
With movement nutrition, you still use nutrition science. But you expand your perspective to better understand and help each athlete as an individual.
New rule #2: Don’t ignore athletes’ psychological and social health.
Athletes aren’t just moving bodies. They’re real, unique people with real, unique lives.
Take Lorain, for instance—an accomplished powerlifter. Her dad owns a lifting gym, so she was raised between sets of squats.
Lorain wants to qualify for Nationals, but she knows she has a better chance of making it if she cuts down to the 185-pound (84 kilogram) weight class. That’s why she came to you for coaching.
It sounds simple enough, right? Athletes cut weight all the time, and Lorain is clearly a hard worker. You’ll just gather info about her current height and weight, what she’s eating, how she’s training, and use that to create a plan that’ll get her into a calorie deficit. You’ll chip away at that goal together, slowly and sustainably. Easy.
But after a month, Lorain’s not seeing much progress, and you’re left scratching your head.
Here’s what you didn’t know about Lorain:
- She’s currently commuting to law school. She spends more time in the car than out of it—which means plenty of fast-food wrappers and empty soda bottles, and not much activity outside her workouts.
- She stays with her dad on weekends. While he’s super supportive of her powerlifting goals, he’s also a former heavyweight and proponent of the “eat big, lift big” school of thought. So he’s not as supportive of the idea of getting “smaller.” In a way, Lorain feels alone in her quest to reach a lower weight class.
- Between school, student loans, checking on her dad, and working a part-time job, Lorain is struggling to focus on her health and performance.
All three of these factors are making it harder for Lorain to stick to the plan you’ve created for her.
But you won’t find out about them unless you look beyond the obvious data.
This is where so many sports nutrition coaches go wrong.
Enter: The biopsychosocial model.
Lorain’s initial weight-cutting plan only took into account biological factors: her physical stats, eating habits, and workout routine.
But the psychological factors and social context are also important parts of the big picture. Lorain’s stressed from school, feeling alone, commuting in a less-than-ideal environment, and getting pressure from her dad.
Asking about all aspects of your athletes’ lives will help you collaborate with them to develop customized nutrition plans that set you apart from other “just make a meal plan” coaching approaches.
That’ll improve the quality of their results. And bringing your client’s awareness to the factors that may be limiting their progress? That’s also likely to improve their quality of life.
(Deep health is another useful model for learning more about your active clients’ lives.)
And by the way, this isn’t just a good idea on paper. It comes from our direct experience working with clients.
The bottom line: Learn more about your clients as people.
That way, you can use your nutrition science knowledge and coaching skills to create a plan they enjoy, appreciate, and most importantly… will actually do.
New rule #3: Expand your definition of the word “athlete.”
Typically, we think of “sports nutrition” as something geared towards people who are “elite” in some way: pro basketball players, competitive marathon runners, and high school sports stars.
Not only does this mentality limit your pool of potential clients, it might also limit your clients’ results. After all, we’re seeing people with more diverse bodies, abilities, ages, and skills training and competing as athletes these days.
Valentina is a prime example. She’s in her 40s and runs a school for young girls and their pursuit of glory in the sport of charrería (Mexican rodeo).
After working with the girls all day, she spends another five to six hours taking care of all the horses, running the barn, and caring for her family.
It wasn’t a big deal when she was younger, but after years of under-eating and body image issues, it takes a bit more than a couple of NSAIDs to get Valentina back into the saddle and recover from a day’s work.
Valentina might not fit the typical definition of an “athlete,” but due to the active nature of her job and life, she could really benefit from a targeted nutrition strategy. One that’ll help support her busy and physically-demanding schedule.
The bottom line:
Elite athletes aren’t the only “movers” you can help.
Generally, there’s some point at which a person moves often and intensely enough to need or want some type of nutritional support.
Rather than lumping all athletes together, we use three categories to think about people who move their bodies and can benefit from targeted movement nutrition strategies.
- Athletes: Anyone who has the capacities, training, and skills to do a set of physical tasks, usually under specific circumstances (such as a sport with a particular set of rules), and often for the purpose of competition.
- Exercisers: Anyone who purposely does physical movement to improve and/or maintain health and wellness, function, and/or body composition—or simply for enjoyment.
- Movers: Anyone who moves their bodies relatively often and/or intensely—whether for work, play, or the demands of daily life.
These categories overlap. All athletes are movers, of course, but not all movers or exercisers are athletes. People can move in and out of different categories.
Our point: Most people aren’t professional athletes.
But you can help all active people, in some way, with nutritional support.
This mindset shift can translate to a broader pool of clients and ultimately, better results.
New rule #4: Focus on fundamentals before advanced nutrition methods.
Biochemistry is cool. And when you’ve got the science of nutrition down, it’s tempting to rely on the highest-level, most innovative and cutting-edge protocols you can think of.
But even the most talented athletes aren’t always advanced nutritionally. In fact, they’re often missing fundamental nutrition skills.
Take Stephen, for example. He’s a talented basketball player who’s just been given a college scholarship. Scouts have their eye on him as a future NBA pro.
Not only is Stephen great on the basketball court, he’s been terrific at every physical activity he tried.
Stephen is what you might call “jacked.” And at 18, he’s nearing his prime physical performance and physique.
So what’s his diet secret? Surprise! It’s Burger King, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC, and Frosted Flakes. Washed down with a Super Big Gulp from 7-11. In other words, whatever is cheap, fast, and easily available.
Turns out, Stephen’s secret to being ripped, swole, and a top athletic performer is youth, lots of activity, and good genes. Unfortunately, most of those gifts run out during an athletic career, and a poor diet will accelerate the process.
When it comes to athletes, Stephen is closer to the norm than an outlier.
Don’t knock nutrition basics—even for top-level athletes.
As his coach, you know that if Stephen wants to last through his college and professional seasons, he’s going to have to do some things differently.
But giving him a complicated plan with specific macro ratios? Or an elaborate nutrient timing protocol?
Considering how he’s currently eating, that’s probably not going to work.
So for Stephen and other athletes like him, consider developing fundamental skills like:
- Making time to plan out some of his meals for the week, so there are fewer last-minute decisions
- Scheduling meal times and stocking up on healthy, convenient, and budget-friendly options, so fast food becomes less of a necessity
- Adding more minimally-processed foods (instead of insisting Stephen stops eating fast food altogether)
- Using the “PN plate” template, to ensure Stephen is getting plenty of protein, vegetables, smart carbohydrates, and healthy fat in each meal
- Collaboratively building a red, yellow, and green-light foods list over time based on what helps Stephen feel his best during training
The takeaway: Basic nutrition habits can make a real difference—even for elite athletes.
New rule #5: Use a systematic coaching method.
The first time you meet an elite athlete client can be scary. You might be sitting across from a million-dollar body, and maybe their million-dollar coaches too.
Alternatively, you might be working with special ops military personnel. And they’re depending on you to help them pass selection.
Your newest client could also be a stay-at-home mom who doesn’t just want to run her neighborhood’s annual 5K; she wants to win.
Helping movers achieve their hopes and dreams can be a lot of pressure.
You need a coaching plan.
And not just any old plan. You need a coaching method. One that:
- can be a customized for a variety of types of clients
- provides a roadmap to help ensure you’re meeting each client’s unique needs
- helps you use the best available evidence to guide your decisions.
This is why we developed the Precision Nutrition Coaching Method. It’s a six-step coaching process that can help ask the right questions, and take the right actions, at the right time.
Here are the steps and some questions you might ask in each:
Before you start (step 0): Plan and prepare.
- Where and how am I doing this coaching session?
- What do I already know about my client, and what questions do I need to ask them?
- What forms, assessments, and measuring or monitoring tools do I need?
Step 1: Assess and gather data.
- What activities does my client do?
- What, exactly, are my client’s goals?
- What are some basic facts about my client?
Step 2: Understand and explore.
- What kind of person is my client?
- What is their life and daily routine like?
- What is their deeper purpose, or “why,” for achieving their goals?
- What are they ready, willing, and able to do right now?
Step 3: Strategize and plan.
- What are all the potential paths forward towards the goal?
- What’s most realistic and possible for my client?
- What’s one high-impact, low-effort thing my client can do right now?
Step 4: Choose and test.
- What exactly will you and your client do next?
- What is ONE task your client is willing to do every day, over and over, no matter what?
- If you choose a particular action, how will you and your client know whether it “works” or not? How will you define “success” or “progress?”
Step 5: Observe and monitor.
- Is the client doing the correct actions consistently?
- What do the data say is occurring?
- Is this plan demonstrably helping my client?
Step 6: Analyze and evaluate.
- Are we getting the results we seek? Why or why not?
- Is there something we could do differently or better?
- What should we change (if anything) moving forward?
(If you want to learn more about PN’s coaching method, we teach it in depth in our Level 1 Certification.)
The takeaway: systematize your coaching, and you’ll feel excited when an athlete comes to you with a big goal—not nervous.
We’re born to move.
Humans start moving well before we’re born. We emerge into the world flailing and grasping, with built-in movement reflexes firing.
Unless we’re constrained, paralyzed, or otherwise actively prevented from movement, we move throughout our lives until we die.
By expanding the idea of what it means to be a sports nutrition coach, we can more effectively understand, plan, and implement good nutrition practices for a wide range of active clients.
Because it’s not just about energy and nutrients.
It’s about performing and winning… and staying sharp and energetic. And recovering. And having a long, healthy, active life.
If you’re a coach, or you want to be…
Learning how to coach clients, patients, friends, or family members through healthy eating and lifestyle changes—in a way that’s personalized for their unique body, preferences, and circumstances—is both an art and a science.
If you’d like to learn more about both, consider the Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification. The next group kicks off shortly.
The post Level 1: The new rules of sports nutrition: This could revolutionize the way you coach athletes. appeared first on Precision Nutrition.
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It’s 7 a.m., and you’re already disgusted with yourself.
You planned to go for an early run, but when your alarm sounded, you hit snooze. Then you hit it again. After the third time, your partner told you to “shut that damn thing off!”
Now here you are: About to embark on yet another overscheduled day, and you’ve blown your one chance for some exercise.
And you’re left wondering:
“Why can’t I get motivated to work out in the morning?”
As a sleep scientist and professor of medicine at UCLA, I can tell you with confidence: Repeatedly hitting the snooze button has nothing to do with motivation. The real problem: You’re just not getting enough sleep.
This probably isn’t a revelation, of course. People complain about needing more sleep all the time. But what to do about it? That’s where many folks could use some help.
The good news: Getting a truly restorative night’s rest is within your reach.
The key is understanding the biological factors that influence your (or your client’s) ability to fall asleep, stay asleep, and wake feeling rested.
This article is your how-to guide—for how to sleep better.
It’ll help you optimize your natural 24-hour sleep/wake cycle, so you can feel more energetic, mentally sharp, and emotionally strong—every waking hour of your day.
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The biology of sleep
While we often have lots of wants and desires around sleep, we can’t influence it with motivation, willpower, or attitude. (At least not for long.) Anyone who’s ever experienced insomnia or fallen asleep in an embarrassing situation can tell you that.
Sleep is a biological necessity akin to drinking water.
Think about it like charging your phone. You drain your battery power during the day, and you need to recharge at night. (Or else.)
During sleep, a few really important things happen. First, your body restores and rebuilds. Sleep lowers a host of inflammatory biomarkers and boosts recovery hormones.
Sleep is also the time when your brain consolidates information learned during the day and stores it in long-term memory. This is true both for our social and emotional experiences and for “muscle memory.”
In reality, there are likely dozens of unknown biological and psychological benefits to a good night’s sleep that are yet to be discovered.
Ultimately, the biological process of sleep is controlled by three factors.
3 factors that control your sleep
To understand sleep, don’t think about it as an isolated daily event, but rather as a 24-hour sleep/wake pattern.
Day and night are linked in a continuous loop. One night’s sleep impacts the next day’s wakefulness, which impacts the next night’s sleep. And so on.
You can probably relate. After all, everyone’s familiar with the concept of “catching up on sleep” after a late night out. But this oversimplification is what leaves many people dragging.
To fully explain, let’s start with what’s known as the 2-process model of sleep regulation. According to this theory, first proposed over 30 years ago, two main factors interact to orchestrate seamless transitions between sleep and wake:
- Sleep Drive (Process S)
- Circadian Rhythm (Process C)
These factors align to the 24-hour light/dark cycle.
Here’s a look at each, along with a third factor, your fight-or-flight response.
Factor #1: Sleep Drive (Process S)
Sleep drive is a biological “hunger” for sleep that accumulates while you’re awake. Quite simply, the longer you’re awake, the more likely you are to fall asleep. We all know that from experience, of course. But the “why” is what’s interesting here.
It starts with an inhibitory neurotransmitter called adenosine [uh-DEN-uh-seen].
A byproduct of cellular metabolism, adenosine lowers your brain activity and makes you feel sleepy. During your waking hours, as cells busily make energy, adenosine levels rise faster than your body can clear them.
The higher your adenosine, the higher your sleep drive.
While we sleep, however, adenosine is metabolized and other waste products are cleared from our brains. The result: If we sleep long enough, we wake up feeling well-rested and alert.
Let’s go back to our phone example: Just like your phone’s battery needs a certain amount of time to fully recharge, your body needs a certain amount of sleep to effectively lower your adenosine levels.
Otherwise, you won’t adequately reduce your sleep drive—or “recharge your battery”—and will likely be tired the next day.
If this increased sleepiness nudges you to go to bed earlier, it can be a good thing, especially if you make that earlier bedtime a habit.
On the other hand, it can work against you if, instead, you try to catch up on a weekend by sleeping in until 10 a.m.
Sure, you might wake feeling great because you’ve adequately lowered your adenosine levels, and thus, your sleep drive. But the problem occurs later, when you hop into bed at 10 p.m., aiming to get a good night’s sleep before Monday morning.
No matter how hard you try, you just can’t fall asleep.
Why? You’ve only been awake for 12 hours. For an adult, this isn’t enough time.
After a good night’s rest, most people need to be awake around 16 hours before they feel sleepy. (This number can vary depending on the person, especially if you’re not sleeping well.)
Even if you do fall asleep, you might wake up in the middle of the night, having satisfied your sleep need with just a few hours. (Hello, ceiling.)
Factor #2: Circadian Rhythm (Process C)
Your circadian rhythm is a 24-hour biological clock that controls how alert you feel. It fluctuates throughout the day, sending out “circadian alerting signals.”
These alerting signals can either ramp up and override your sleep drive (keeping you awake) or quiet down and allow you to succumb to it (causing you to feel sleepy).
The chart below shows how these two systems—sleep drive and circadian alerting signals—interact.
The biological actions of your circadian clock explain a couple of common experiences.
Experience 1: You’re sleepy after lunch. This typically has nothing to do with food. About eight to nine hours after our usual rise time, our circadian alerting signal quiets down a bit. This can allow sleep drive to temporarily “overpower” it, causing drowsiness. (Even if you’ve had a good night’s sleep.)
In some cultures, people use this as an opportunity for “siesta.” If you lay down in a quiet place, it’s pretty likely you’ll fall asleep. It’s also why many people opt for a caffeine boost. (To learn about the role of napping, read The truth about naps below.)
Experience 2: You get a “second wind” as bedtime approaches. Once you’ve been up for 14 or 15 hours, your internal clock has to work hard to keep you awake. (Since your sleep drive is now very high.) As a result, your circadian alerting signal is at its highest in the last few hours before bedtime.
Yes, that’s counterintuitive.
No one knows exactly why this happens, but one theory is that there’s an evolutionary benefit: Instead of falling asleep right when the sun goes down, your second wind ensures you have enough energy to prepare a safe place to sleep (put wood on the fire, check your environment, make sure your kids are good, cover the opening of your cave).
Ever feel exhausted when you get home from work, but then a bit more energetic later in the evening? That’s your second wind.
But don’t be fooled. Once your alerting signal quiets down, you’ll fall asleep. For instance, at 9:30, you might feel like you can stay awake for a whole movie, but by 10:30 your partner is taking a video of you snoring on the couch.
Factor #3: Fight-or-Flight Response (Process W)
There’s one more factor that plays an important role: your fight-or-flight response. Some experts refer to this as Process Wake, or Process W.
When your brain thinks you’re in danger, it won’t let you fall asleep. Imagine again that you’re a cave-dwelling human in ancient times. Just as you’re settling down for the night, you hear a bear outside making noise.
You start to worry about whether the bear will enter your cave and attack you. You lie perfectly still, but you can’t fall asleep.
In modern times, bears aren’t a big concern. But our modern stressors—work deadlines, kids having trouble in school, credit card debt, or parents who are ill—have a similar effect. Our stress response is the same, and it keeps our brains awake. (Read more: Do you have a Stress Bod?)
6 questions that can transform your sleep
Question #1: How long will you sleep?
Each day, our brain and body accumulate a need for a certain amount of sleep. This isn’t the same for everyone, but the vast majority of healthy adults need between seven and nine hours of sleep each night.
To figure out how many hours you personally need, consider the routine you tend to settle into after a few days of vacation. How many hours do you usually get when you don’t bother to set an alarm clock—and when you wake feeling rested? That’s the number of hours you’ll want to shoot for every night.
Question #2: What time will you (consistently) wake up?
If you want to reprogram your sleep pattern, this question is crucial.
That’s because the strongest signal to your biological clock is when you wake. When your get-up time is consistent, your internal clock will recognize that as the time to start producing circadian alerting signals.
There’s another good reason to start with your get-up time: You have less control over it. Based on your daily responsibilities, there’s probably a limited range of possible rise times. Once you choose one, you can then work backward to figure out your bedtime (Question #3).
In selecting the time you wake up, it’s critical that you consider your own natural tendencies.
If you’re a “night owl,” a 5 a.m. run might not be the best plan. On the flip side, if you enjoy mornings, getting up for a workout might be a great start to your day.
In any case, don’t try to make a drastic shift all at once.
Start with your current usual rise time—that is, the time you actually get up. Then move it a half-hour earlier every three to four days. This approach makes it less likely that you’ll have trouble falling asleep at your new bedtime.
Once you’re awake, expose yourself to light right away.
If you tend to feel sluggish in the morning, combine the light exposure with some movement. It doesn’t need to be a full workout: Walk your dog around the block or just do some simple chores.
Question #3: What time will you go to bed?
After you’ve established your planned wake-up time, think about how much sleep you need.
Take the number of hours of sleep you need to feel fully rested, and count backward from your planned rise time. Let’s say you plan to wake at 5 a.m., and you know you need 7.5 hours to feel rested. That means your bedtime should be 9:30 p.m.
If you get to this point, and think, ‘Are you kidding me? This bedtime is impossible!’, go back to Question #2, and reconsider your rise time.
For example, let’s say you need eight hours of sleep and want to get up at 5 a.m. But there’s a problem: You have to pick your kid up from theater practice at 9 p.m., so the math doesn’t work.
You now have two choices: Find a ride home for your child, or set a later rise time. While getting up later may not be ideal for your goals, it may be the practical tradeoff you need to make.
And if you still can’t make the math work? The truth about naps (below) gives you another option.
The truth about naps
You might’ve heard naps are good for you.
But as usual, the real answer is, “It depends.”
When naps are good: If they’re part of your sleep plan. My favorite example: The South of Spain where they nap every day. Businesses close, people go home, and a daily siesta is a normal part of their lifestyle and culture.
When naps aren’t so good: If they’re used to make up for a tough night of insomnia. This will lower your sleep drive, and make it harder to fall asleep and/or stay asleep the following night.
The big questions: Can you build napping into your routine consistently? And do you need to?
Most people can’t accommodate a daily nap because workplaces don’t shut down, and protecting the time for sleep isn’t easy.
But there are exceptions. For instance, perhaps you’re a personal trainer who sees clients in the mornings and evenings. Your work schedule may make it difficult for you to fully recharge overnight.
Or you might be a parent with young children who nap. Getting up early to work out, and then taking a nap when your kids do, might be a great solution.
So, in some cases, it can be both realistic and smart for you to schedule an afternoon nap as part of your daily sleep routine.
If that’s your situation, take your nap about eight to nine hours after your rise time. Most folks feel better after a short nap (about 20 minutes) or after a long nap (90 minutes), but not in between. (This has to do with sleep stages.)
Remember, though: The longer your nap, the more it will lower your need for sleep that same night. So plan ahead, and use with caution.
Question #4: What can you do to make your bedtime a reality?
When making decisions about how you spend your time each evening, think about how your choices impact your sleep.
One hour before bedtime
Avoid activities that get you energized or “amped up.” For most people, this isn’t the best time to pay bills or read the news.
On the other hand, folding laundry, editing photos, or online shopping are probably fine.
Note: If you plan to use a device during this time window, consider blue-light blocking lenses (or using “night mode” on your devices) to limit blue light exposure this close to bedtime.
You also want to avoid activities that make you fall asleep too early.
The chart below provides some general guidance, but pay attention to your own experiences and act accordingly.
One half-hour before bed
Develop a routine for winding down and putting the day to rest. You might choose any of these activities:
- Change into your pajamas
- Brush your teeth
- Talk to your partner
- Read a book
- Listen to music
- Set out your clothes for tomorrow
- Prepare your next day’s lunch
This sends your brain and body a message that it’s time to “disconnect.” During this window, avoid technology as much as you can.
Question #5: Can you stick to this schedule 6 out of 7 nights?
We all make exceptions to our healthy habits. We enjoy cake on our birthday, eat fast food when we travel, and can’t always (or ever) say “no” to Grandma’s chocolate chip cookies.
None of this means we have “bad eating habits.” The most important factor is consistency over time. Think about sleep in a similar way.
If you can stick to your plan six nights a week, it’s okay to make exceptions for a late night out, a sunrise hike, or lounging in bed on Sunday mornings.
But if you find yourself struggling to follow your plan even three or four nights each week, you’ll need to adjust.
Because there’s no point in setting yourself up for failure, try the following exercises before you start.
Confidence test your sleep schedule.
On a scale of 0 (no way) to 10 (too easy), rank your confidence that you’ll follow through on your sleep plan.
If you’re working with a client, emphasize the need for honesty.
Is the answer “9” or “10?” You’re good to go.
But anything less? You need to scale back the proposed plan, and ask again.
“What does it take to get to a 9?”
Write down your “why.”
What are three reasons you want to improve your sleep? Jot them down and remind yourself of them each day. Examples:
- I’ll be a better parent or partner
- I’ll get more done at work
- I’ll feel more energetic
- I’ll be more likely to exercise
- I’ll be less likely to binge eat
Mainly, what will sleeping better do for you?
It sounds like a small thing, but based on preliminary research I’ve done, this exercise seems to help people stick to their sleep schedule.
Question #6: Who will be affected by your plans?
Most of us don’t live (or sleep or work) alone. As a result, our decisions about sleep habits and routines impact others. What’s more, their routines impact our ability to sleep.
Start by thinking about your partner. If you plan to change your schedule, how will it affect them? And how will your partner’s sleep schedule affect yours?
For example, if you go to bed an hour before your partner, what can you both do to ensure your partner doesn’t wake you up? And if you get up an hour before, what can you do to ensure your partner continues to sleep?
If you have kids, how does your plan align with their schedule? Will you really be able to go to sleep at 9:30 if your toddler sometimes goes to bed at 8:30—but then sneaks out 23 times to proclaim, “I’m not tired!”?
What commitments can you shift around to create more time in the morning and/or at night?
One way to approach this issue is to share the reasons you’re making these changes. Try saying this:
“I’ve been feeling pretty tired lately, and I think part of the problem is my sleep habits. I don’t consistently get enough, and it makes me [grumpy, frustrated, miss workouts]. I want to try making some changes to my routine for a couple of weeks, and see if it helps. Could you work with me on this for the next two weeks, and then we can re-evaluate?”
Once everyone is on board, you can brainstorm a range of solutions, such as:
- If you go to bed first, maybe your partner agrees to use the flashlight feature on their phone to guide their way to bed rather than flipping on the lightswitch.
- If you get up earlier than everyone else, perhaps you quietly close everyone’s bedroom door before you go about your morning. Maybe you also gather up your work clothes the night before—so you don’t have to loudly search for them in the morning while your partner is trying to sleep.
- You might agree to take morning toddler duty if your spouse handles bedtime, or vice versa.
- If one of your children struggles with sleep, they might benefit from a good sleep plan, too. Perhaps you can make this a family habit change?
How to sleep better: Your 14-day plan
Using your answers to the six questions above, decide how you’ll change your sleep routine. As a refresher:
Choose what time you’re going to get up. Strive for consistency here, even on the weekends. A few pointers:
- You might find it easier to get up if you sleep with the blinds open—allowing natural light to stimulate Process C (your circadian rhythm).
- Get activated early in the day, by making your favorite coffee, taking a shower, walking the dog, or checking social media.
- If you plan to shift your morning routine by more than an hour, do it in 30-minute increments, every three to four days.
As you shift your wake time, shift your bedtime. There’ll be a delay of a day or so, but they should go together. Otherwise, you’ll be sleep deprived.
Lower your stress levels near bedtime. (No news or work email!)
Line up support from family. Consider what you can do to ensure you can easily stick to your plan six days out of seven, and remember the three reasons why improving your sleep matters to you.
Try the plan for two weeks, and re-assess. Do you fall asleep easily, drifting off within 20 minutes or so? Have your middle of the night awakenings become a rare occurrence? Can you get out of bed without smashing the snooze button countless times? Do you feel more rested and energetic?
If you answered yes to all those questions, great job. You’ve just figured out a sleep routine that works for you.
If you answered yes to some, that’s great, too. Keep up the good work! Some people never feel full of pep when they wake up (especially if it’s still dark), but ideally, you should feel better than before. (And better is better.)
By continuing what you’re doing most of the time, your sleep schedule will stay pretty consistent throughout your life. So even if you experience temporary changes—jet lag, a new job, a newborn—you can get yourself back on track pretty easily by going back to the routine that works for you now.
If you’re still struggling, however, you may need to make a few more changes. We’ll explore what to do in the next section.
What if I’m doing everything right, and I’m still exhausted?
So you made some changes with your sleep, but it didn’t seem to help. Where do you go from here? There are two possible reasons why this might happen.
1. You didn’t go far enough. You may need to get even more sleep than you originally thought. In that case, keep a sleep log for a week, and see how it matches up to your schedule.
If you’re sticking to your plan, try extending your time in bed by 15 minutes. If that doesn’t work, add another 15 minutes. If you’ve added 30 minutes and still don’t feel rested, move on to option 2.
2. There’s a different reason you’re feeling tired. Has your primary care doctor ever asked you how you’re sleeping? Chances are they haven’t. Sleep disorders are under-recognized and as a result, they’re often left untreated. If you feel like you’ve made significant changes to your sleep habits but still feel tired or fatigued during the day, talk to a healthcare provider.
If you’re a coach, this is when you know it’s time to refer out to a qualified professional. The most common sleep disorders are:
- Insomnia: a condition where people can’t sleep well even if they do everything “perfectly.” It’s best treated with cognitive-behavioral therapy.
- Sleep apnea: a condition in which breathing is interrupted while a person sleeps (even though they may have no trouble breathing when awake). There are multiple treatments, and a sleep medicine specialist can help identify the best ones for a given person.
- Restless legs syndrome: a condition in which a person’s legs feel “twitchy” and unsettled when they lie down to rest. It’s more common in women because it’s sometimes related to low iron levels. A doctor can check ferritin levels, and discuss medication treatment options.
What to do next
Maybe you’re thinking: All this advice sounds so simple.
Well, that’s the point.
When it comes to sleep, you can often do more by doing less.
An entire industry caters to people who struggle to fall and stay asleep. Each year, people spend countless dollars on special bedding, sheets, teas, supplements, and apps.
Yet many folks could address their issues more cheaply and effectively—by first aligning their sleep/wake cycle with their biological sleep tendencies.
Often, paying more attention to your sleep habits and routines, then making small sustainable changes, will be enough to get a better night’s rest.
And the real payoff? Every other part of your life gets better, too.
References
Click here to view the information sources referenced in this article.
1. Basheer R, Strecker RE, Thakkar MM, McCarley RW. Adenosine and sleep-wake regulation. Prog Neurobiol. 2004 Aug;73(6):379–96. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pneurobio.2004.06.004
2. Borbély AA, Daan S, Wirz-Justice A, Deboer T. The two-process model of sleep regulation: a reappraisal. J Sleep Res. 2016 Apr;25(2):131–43. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jsr.12371
If you’re a coach, or you want to be…
Learning how to coach clients, patients, friends, or family members through healthy eating and lifestyle changes—in a way that’s personalized for their unique body, preferences, and lifestyle—is both an art and a science.
If you’d like to learn more about both, consider the Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification. The next group kicks off shortly.
The post Level 1: Transform your sleep: The scientific way to energize your body, sharpen your mind, and stop hitting snooze. appeared first on Precision Nutrition.
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Want to know how you rank as a health, fitness, and nutrition coach? Then take this short coaching skills quiz. Not only will it help you see where you are today, it’ll help you level up for tomorrow.
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The best coaches are lifelong learners.
I know this because I’m a coach, and because I’ve been around a lot of good ones. The best coaches I’ve ever seen are the ones who love to ask questions.
They love to try stuff. To play. To show up with an open mind (and heart), looking for fresh ideas and new insight to chew on.
They don’t love to fail (few people do), but they do love the feedback and useful data they get from their mistakes.
You see, great coaching requires us to wonder about the world: About how biology works, about the chemistry of food and nutrients, about biomechanics and human movement.
It also requires us to think about why people do what they do, about how stories shape reality, about what people hope, think, dream, feel, and do… on Tuesday at 3pm when it’s break time.
Plus, the best coaches in the world never shy away from asking smart questions about their own practice.
Questions like:
“How solid are my coaching skills, really?”
There is always something new to learn in coaching: Fresh ways to grow, evolve, and challenge yourself.
New ways to be curious and ask interesting questions that produce enlightening answers (and results).
Of course, mastery takes time and lots of practice. (So, so much practice.)
But this is great news for folks who want a long, lucrative, fulfilling coaching career. Because it means that if you’re dedicated to becoming an excellent coach, you’ll never, ever get bored.
Take this coaching quiz to see how you rate + learn how you can level up.
In our Level 2 Certification Master Class, we break coaching skills down into 14 areas for development and then teach coaches how to grow in each area.
In this quiz, we’ll give you a chance to assess where you are in each domain.
To complete the quiz, give yourself a score (from 0 to 5) on how well you do — consistently — in each of the 14 areas below. For each question, simply click the number that corresponds to where you think you are today.
(Be honest and real. All of us have stuff to work on. It’s rare to be perfect.)
Then read about your score and consider what it means for your career.
(Prefer to print the quiz out? Download a PDF version here.)
Domain #1: Time management
How well can you juggle a client/patient load and not miss anyone?
How well can you allocate and prioritize time properly, using trusted systems?
Do you have time for yourself — your own self-care and development?
How sustainable is your work? Could you do it this way forever?
Total for this section: –
Domain #2: Organization
Do you know exactly how to start and end a session, and why?
Do you know how to ensure that your clients or patients get the very most out of every session?
Do you do preparation and follow-up?
Total for this section: –
Domain #3: Client-centeredness
Do you understand your clients/patients? How well?
Do you know their fears, anxieties, motivations, drives, hopes, dreams, obstacles, stories?
How long can you listen to your clients/patients without jumping in to talk?
How well can you give your clients/patients your full attention?
Can you easily find and use your clients’ or patients’ strengths and resources?
Can you make your program fun? Interesting? Memorable?
Total for this section: –
Domain #4: Client assessment
Do you know what to look for when assessing a client or patient?
Do you know how to understand and use any information you collect?
Do you know how to set the level of challenge properly for your client/patient?
Do you know when a client/patient has made progress?
Could you explain HOW you know a client/patient has made progress?
Total for this section: –
Domain #5: Understanding data and evidence
Can you read, understand, and properly interpret a research study?
Can you decide what is valid evidence or useful data?
Can you analyze information in order to take action, and help your client/patient do the same?
Can you explain to a client/patient why something works (or doesn’t)?
How well do you understand the basic facts of nutrition and physiology?
How well can you learn and assimilate new data and information?
Total for this section: –
Domain #6: Creating change
How well can you help your clients/patients get motivated to change… and keep changing?
Can you recognize when a client/patient is truly ready, willing, and able to change?
How good are you at getting clients/patients “un-stuck”?
What about the “difficult” ones?
Total for this section: –
Domain #7: Understanding systems
Effective coaching unearths complex systems — behaviors, causes, and effects with many moving parts that all interact.
How well do you understand the complexity of human bodies and physiology?
How well do you understand the complexity of human lives and experiences?
How comfortable are you with the idea of complexity in general?
Total for this section: –
Domain #8: Creating an effective action plan
Can you help a client/patient move from vague goal to specific “do this today” habit?
Can you get your client/patient to “buy in” to what they need to do?
Can your client/patient actually do what you suggest? Every day?
Can you adjust your plan if it isn’t working? Do you know what things to change, and how?
Total for this section: –
Domain #9: Skill building and practice
How well can you teach mental and emotional skills relevant to nutrition coaching, such as mindfulness or visualization?
How well can you teach physical skills, if you train people?
How well can you teach life skills (such as planning and preparation) to help your clients/patients succeed?
How good are your own skills in these domains?
Total for this section: –
Domain #10: Communication and documentation
Do you communicate well in writing?
When you speak?
In images or video?
How effectively can you communicate with your body language and other nonverbal cues?
How well do you sense what a client/patient is thinking, feeling, wondering about?
How well do you explain complex ideas or technical jargon simply and clearly so clients/patients “get it”?
How well can you give and take feedback?
How well do you document each client’s/patient’s progress as well as other important information about them?
Total for this section: –
Domain #11: Working with a variety of clients
Are you comfortable working with all kinds of clients/patients, from all kinds of backgrounds, with all kinds of needs?
Can you connect and communicate with a client/patient who’s different from you?
Total for this section: –
Domain #12: Referral and support
Do you know what to do when things get weird, or go outside your scope of practice?
Do you have a support and referral network of other professionals?
Do you have your own mentors and coaches?
Total for this section: –
Domain #13: Business skills and professionalism
Do you conduct yourself with professionalism, integrity, and courtesy?
Do clients/patients appear to respect and trust you?
Do clients/patients enthusiastically seek out what you’re offering?
Do you have demonstrably ethical business and marketing practices?
Total for this section: –
Domain #14: Handling your own stuff
Can you manage your own workload, stress, emotions, and career development?
Can you show up to coaching with integrity and feel genuine, rather than having to “perform”?
How well do you know your true self and values, and how those relate to your coaching?
Do you have systems in place for lifelong learning and growth?
Total for this section: –
Total for the quiz: –
How did you do?
We gave you a total score, but we also suggest you review your scores in each domain to see specific areas where you might improve.
0-75
You’re just starting out and finding your “coaching legs”. Good for you. Consider building your skills a little more and observing more experienced coaches before you take on nutrition and lifestyle coaching clients.
76-150
You’re working on building fundamentals. Keep practicing! Find a great mentor to spend time with, and ask clients/patients for feedback as you progress.
151-225
You’ve got a solid foundation, and probably have plenty of good coaching days. Now’s the time to study coaching methods, refine key details, and develop the nuances of your skills.
226-300
World-class supercoach!
Want strategies to level up your coaching?
It’s no secret that master coaches develop over time, through education and consistent practice, usually under the guidance of a mentor or coach.
Precision Nutrition is the only company in the world that both works with thousands of our own nutrition coaching clients and teaches health, fitness, and wellness professionals our real-world methods for getting results.
And here’s some great news: Our next Precision Nutrition Level 2 Certification Master Class kicks off on Wednesday, October 7th, 2020.
Want to achieve total confidence in your coaching skills? Get (and keep) more clients? Grow and strengthen your practice? If so, the Precision Nutrition Level 2 Certification is definitely for you.
It’s designed specifically for Level 1 students and grads who realize that knowing about the science of nutrition isn’t enough.
Part master class, part grad program, part mentorship, it’s the only course in the world designed to help you master the art of coaching, meaning better results for your clients and a better business for you.
Since we only take a limited number of professionals, and since the program sells out every time, I strongly recommend you add your name to our VIP List below. When you do, you get the chance to sign up 24 hours before everyone else. Even better, you get a huge discount off the general price of the program.
[Note: The Level 2 Master Class is only for students and grads of our Level 1 Certification. So if you haven’t yet enrolled in that program, please begin there.]
Interested? Add your name to the VIP list. You’ll save up to 37% and secure your spot 24 hours before everyone else.
We’ll be opening up spots in our next Precision Nutrition Level 2 Certification Master Class on Wednesday, October 7th.
If you want to find out more, we’ve set up the following VIP list which gives you two advantages.
- Pay less than everyone else. We like to reward people who are eager to get started and ready to gain mastery in their coaching practice. So we’re offering a discount of up to 37% off the general price when you sign up for the Master Class VIP list.
- Sign up 24 hours before the general public and increase your chances of getting a spot. We only open the PN Master Class twice per year. Due to high demand and a very limited number of spots, we expect it to sell out fast. But when you sign up for the Master Class VIP list, we’ll give you the opportunity to register a full 24 hours before anyone else.
If you’re ready to take the next step in becoming a world-class coach, we’re ready to share our knowledge and help you master the art of coaching.
The post How do you rank as a health, fitness, and nutrition coach? Take this short quiz to learn where you’re at and how to level up. appeared first on Precision Nutrition.
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In this 5-day course, Dr. John Berardi—one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the health and fitness industry—shares his formula for career success.
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Do you want to lose weight? Gain muscle? Improve health? Boost performance? This free calorie, portion, and macro calculator from Precision Nutrition can help you achieve the results you want… more easily than ever before.
Designed, developed, and tested in the Precision Nutrition research lab—and proven effective with thousands of clients—it’s the most comprehensive calorie, portion, and macro calculator available.
Here’s why: The Precision Nutrition Calculator first determines the appropriate daily calories for your body, based on the NIH Body Weight Planner (and adapted from research collected at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease).
This estimate takes into account:
- Your personal details (height, age, weight, sex)
- Physical activity levels (both daily movement and purposeful exercise)
- The date you want to reach your goal by (within reason!)
- The changing and adaptive nature of human metabolism (a major benefit of this calculator)
It then calculates your daily macros, combining the above data with additional factors, including your:
- Nutrition and fitness goals (weight loss, muscle gain, body recomposition, better health, peak performance)
- Dietary preference (Paleo, keto, vegetarian, fully plant-based, Mediterranean, and of course, “anything”)
- Macronutrient preference (balanced, low-fat, low-carb, or virtually any other macronutrient ratio you want)
But here’s the reason this calculator is truly revolutionary: Once it estimates your calorie and macronutrient needs, it automatically converts those numbers into food portions that are equivalent to parts of your hand. (Specifically, your palm, fist, cupped hand, and thumb.)
The result: If you choose, you can skip weighing and measuring your food—as well as logging the details of every meal into calorie and macro tracking apps. Instead, you can use our hand portion tracking system to achieve your calorie and macro targets.
This unique approach takes the hassle out of calorie and macro tracking, making it easier for you to lose weight, gain muscle, eat healthier, and improve your performance.
(Once we calculate your macros, we’ll send you a free, personalized guide to using our hand portion system for hitting your calorie and macro targets.)
The Precision Nutrition Calculator
Instantly calculate your calories, portions, and macros (for the results you want)
Nutrition Calculator
How much should you eat? Let’s find out.
© Precision Nutrition
The benefits of this calorie, portion, and macro calculator
Some people naturally eat the appropriate amount of food and calories for their individual needs. They’re able to maintain a stable body weight for years—even decades— without counting calories, or tracking macros, or ever measuring their portions.
Unfortunately, these “intuitive eaters” represent only a small segment of the human population. The rest of us typically need help with our eating, in the form of external structure and guidance, at least temporarily. This can help you:
- Eat the right amount of calories and macros for your goals
- Understand appropriate portion sizes
- Improve your food choices and eating habits
That’s why we created this calorie, portion, and macro calculator. It gives you a nutrition blueprint for achieving your goals and, at the same time, helps you develop the skills you need to eat well for life.
(For optimal results, it’s best to combine this nutrition plan with intuitive eating and self-regulation skills.)
The problem with only tracking calories
Most people know calories matter. If you eat more calories than your body needs, you gain weight. If you eat fewer calories than your body needs, you lose weight.
(Yes, this certainly sounds simple, but as you’ve likely experienced, there are many factors that make managing your calorie intake… not so simple. Learn more here.)
By tracking your calories, you can better know if you’re eating the right amount of food for your goals. There are, however, disadvantages to only tracking the total number of calories you eat daily.
Most notably: This method doesn’t ensure you’re getting an appropriate amount of macronutrients for your body, goals, and preferences. Depending on what you’re trying to achieve, this can negatively affect your appetite, hormones, energy levels, and nutrient consumption.
And that can make it harder to lose weight, gain muscle, eat healthier, and improve athletic performance.
Why tracking your macros gives you an advantage
Just in case you’re not sure, let’s start by defining what macros, or macronutrients, actually are.
There are three major macronutrients: Protein, carbohydrates, and fat. (The fourth macronutrient is alcohol.)
Your body breaks down the macronutrients you eat into compounds used to help create energy, build body structures, create chemical reactions, and stimulate the release of hormones. Which means they can impact how you feel, perform, and even behave.
When you track macros, you don’t need to count calories directly. Instead, you log how many grams of each macronutrient you eat every day.
That’s because each macronutrient provides a certain number of calories:
- 1 gram of protein = 4 calories
- 1 gram of carbohydrate = 4 calories
- 1 gram of fat = 9 calories
- (1 gram of alcohol = 7 calories)
As a result, tracking macros means you’re automatically tracking calories. It’s just that you’re ensuring a certain number of those calories come from protein, carbohydrates, and fat, respectively. This is known as your macronutrient ratio.
For example, let’s say you eat:
- 30% of your calories from protein
- 40% of your calories from carbohydrate
- 30% of your calories from fat
Your macronutrient ratio would then be: 30:40:30.
By adjusting your macronutrient ratio based on your age, sex, activity levels, goals, and preferences, you can optimize your eating plan.
If you’re trying to lose weight, you might eat a higher proportion of protein, since it can help you feel satisfied longer after meals. Or if you’re a very active athlete, you might want a higher ratio of carbohydrates to meet your greater energy demands.
The good news: Our calorie, portion, and macro calculator will figure all of this out for you.
Just enter your information and, within milliseconds, you’ll get a macro ratio that’s customized exactly for your body, goals, and preferences. (Plus, the Precision Nutrition Calculator gives you the option to further adjust these numbers, in case you want to try a different macronutrient ratio.)
Like calorie counting, though, conventional macro tracking has its downsides. Perhaps the biggest challenge: Because it requires careful food measuring and weighing, most people won’t stick to it for long.
Many say it feels cumbersome and even takes the joy out of eating. Which can limit its effectiveness to very short periods of time. That’s where the Precision Nutrition hand portion tracking system comes in.
Hand portions: The easiest way to track calories and macros
When we created this calorie, macro, and portion calculator, we asked:
How can we help people eat the right amount of food, but without the burden of having to weigh and measure every morsel?
Our solution: to give personalized targets not just for daily calories and macros, but also hand portions. That way, you can use whichever method you prefer.
This hand portion system—developed by Precision Nutrition—allows you to use your own hand as a personalized, portable portioning tool. You’re not actually measuring your food, but rather using your hand to gauge portion size. It’s highly effective for food tracking because your hand is proportionate to your body, its size never changes, and it’s always with you.
Here’s a snapshot of how it works:
- Your palm determines your protein portions.
- Your fist determines your vegetable portions.
- Your cupped hand determines your carb portions.
- Your thumb determines your fat portions.
Based on the calorie, portion, and macro calculator’s output, all you have to do is eat the recommended number of each hand portion daily. (Again, we’ll show you how to put this method fully into practice once you’ve put your information into the Precision Nutrition Calculator and received your free report and eating guide.)
How effective are hand portions for tracking macros?
Our research shows hand portions are 95 percent as accurate (or better) as carefully weighing, measuring, and tracking. With substantially less effort and time involved.
Plus, our hand portion tracking system allows you to easily adjust your intake to further optimize your results.
Ready to get started? Go ahead and enter your information into the calorie, portion, and macro calculator above, and we’ll do the rest, providing you with a free nutrition plan customized just for you.
If you have more questions right now, or want to understand the nutrition rules we used to design this calorie, portion, and macro calculator, see the Resources section for a full breakdown.
Resources
The calorie and macro math
Here, we outline the numbers used to determine the calories and macros delivered by the calculator.
Calorie math
This calculator uses the same baseline algorithm as the Precision Nutrition Weight Loss Calculator to calculate maintenance, weight loss, and weight gain calorie needs. It factors in the dynamic and adaptive nature of your metabolism to predict how long it’ll take you to reach your bodyweight goal.
This algorithm is a mathematically validated model based on the NIH Body Weight Planner and adapted from research collected at the National Institutes of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease.
Q: | How do goals change the equation? |
A: |
For people looking to improve health, the calorie, portion, and macro calculator uses the weight maintenance calories determined by the validated mathematical model inherent to the NIH algorithm. For people looking to lose body fat, the calorie, portion, and macro calculator uses the validated mathematical model inherent to the NIH algorithm. This takes into account a whole host of anthropometric data, time desired to reach goal, and the adaptive nature of human metabolism. For people looking to gain muscle, the calorie, portion, and macro calculator uses the validated mathematical model inherent to the NIH algorithm. This takes into account a whole host of anthropometric data, time desired to reach goal, and the adaptive nature of human metabolism. For people looking to improve athletic performance, the calorie, portion, and macro calculator adds an additional 10% more calories to the weight maintenance requirements calculated by the NIH algorithm. This supports the increased demands of athletic performance. For people looking to change their body composition with minimal weight change, the calorie, portion, and macro calculator lowers calorie needs by 10% from the weight maintenance requirements calculated by the NIH algorithm. This’ll help facilitate simultaneous fat loss and muscle growth. It should be noted that this approach is most appropriate for individuals who don’t wish to change their body weight by more than 10 to 15 pounds, yet want to improve their body composition. |
Macro math
The macronutrients are calculated by many rules.
- Protein is set on a grams per pound of bodyweight basis, at a range of 0.65-1.35 g/lb, depending upon sex, weight, goal, and activity level. (For very low-fat and very low-carb options, protein is set at 20% of calories, not on a bodyweight basis.)
- Protein needs are also set on a sliding scale since, on average, even within the same goal and activity level, heavier folks would generally have a greater body fat percentage than lighter folks. Therefore, they require a smaller amount of protein on a grams per pound basis (though still higher on an absolute basis).
- Then, dependent upon the Macronutrient Preference chosen, either fat or carbohydrates are set at a particular percent of calories (e.g. “Low-fat” is set at 20% calories from fat, and “Low-carb” is at 20% calories from carbs) to determine the allocation of the remaining non-protein calories.
- Finally, the rest of the calories are filled out by the remaining macronutrient (either fat or carbs). Note, if “Balanced” was chosen, the non-protein calories are split evenly between fats and carbs.
Custom macronutrient percentages
When custom macronutrient percentages are entered, those ratios are used to determine all macronutrient and hand-portion calculations. Overriding the macronutrient math outlined above. (Calories will not be changed.)
Calorie and macro FAQ
How do I make meals out of macros?
You can’t. At least not easily.
Instead, you often have to make your meals first, weigh and measure foods, and input those measurements into an app to find out the macronutrient and calorie amounts. Then see what “allotment” you have left as the day progresses.
However, the hand-portion system does make this much easier, which you can read about in your free personalized guide (as well as below).
Hand portion math
The hand portion amounts were determined based on the calorie and macronutrient calculations as outlined above.
Approximate portion sizes
Using the average hand size for the average-sized man and woman, and combining it with common portion sizes of foods, we approximate the hand-size portions as follows.
For Men | |
---|---|
1 palm (protein) | ~4 oz (115 g) cooked meat / tofu, 1 cup Greek yogurt / cottage cheese, 1 scoop protein powder, 2 whole eggs |
1 fist (veggies) | ~1 cup non-starchy vegetables (e.g. spinach, carrots, cauliflower, peppers, etc.) |
1 cupped hand (carbs) | ~⅔ cup (130 g) cooked grains / legumes (e.g. rice, lentils, oats), 1 medium fruit (e.g. banana), 1 medium tuber (e.g. potatoes) |
1 thumb (fats) | ~1 tablespoon (14 g) oils, nuts, seeds, nut butters, cheese, dark chocolate, etc. |
For Women | |
---|---|
1 palm (protein) | ~3 oz (85 g) cooked meat / tofu, 1 cup Greek yogurt / cottage cheese, 1 scoop protein powder, 2 whole eggs |
1 fist (veggies) | ~1 cup non-starchy vegetables (e.g. spinach, carrots, cauliflower, peppers, etc.) |
1 cupped hand (carbs) | ~½ cup (100 g) cooked grains / legumes (e.g. rice, lentils, oats), 1 medium fruit (e.g. banana), 1 medium tuber (e.g. potatoes) |
1 thumb (fat) | ~1 tablespoon (14 g) oils, nuts, seeds, nut butters, cheese, dark chocolate, etc. |
You’ll note we used one cup of Greek yogurt and cottage cheese as comparable to a palm. And we used a medium-sized tuber and medium-sized fruit as a cupped handful. These sizes were used as they represent common consumption patterns or pre-portioned amounts of these foods, which allows accounting for them to be as consistent and simple as possible.
Now remember, these are just approximates. Not exact measures. Actual portion sizes ultimately depend on the size of the individual hand, which is usually proportional to the size and needs of the individual. (That’s part of the beauty of the hand-portion approach.)
Approximate portion math
With the above approximate portions, we can create various meal scenarios and simulations, and calculate the approximate macros these portions provide. This helps number-oriented users see how weighing and measuring their food compares to using our hand-portion system.
Men’s portion macros | |
---|---|
1 palm protein | ~ 24 g protein, 2 g carbs, 4.5 g fat, 145 kcal |
1 fist veggies | ~ 1.5 g protein, 5 g carbs, 0 g fat, 25 kcal |
1 cupped hand of carbs | ~ 3 g protein, 25 g carbs, 1 g fat, 120 kcal |
1 thumb fats | ~ 2 g protein, 2 g carbs, 9 g fat, 100 kcal |
Women’s portion macros | |
---|---|
1 palm protein | ~ 22 g protein, 2 g carbs, 4 g fat, 130 kcal |
1 fist veggies | ~ 1.5 g protein, 5 g carbs, 0 g fat, 25 kcal |
1 cupped hand of carbs | ~ 3 g protein, 22 g carbs, 1 g fat, 110 kcal |
1 thumb fats | ~ 2 g protein, 2 g carbs, 8 g fat, 90 kcal |
It can’t be emphasized enough—these are approximations. Nothing will be exact, because all aspects of calorie and macronutrient calculations are based on averages with known error rates. (Yes, even the USDA nutrient database reports out averages. Actual foods always vary.) Regardless, this information can be helpful to know for the more mathematically inclined and/or individuals with highly specific and targeted goals.
Assumed variety of food choices
And as you can see, the hand-portion system assumes a mixed intake of protein, veggies, carbs, and fats. As of course, these food sources will have varying amounts of each macronutrient.
For example, let’s look at protein.
Perhaps you start the day with eggs (a high-fat protein source), have a mid-morning Super Shake (very lean protein powder), have a chicken breast for lunch (very lean protein source), and have salmon for dinner (moderately lean protein source).
The hand-portion recommendations are based on the assumption that, on average, you’ll get a moderate amount of fat and even a small amount of carbs from your protein sources.
Now, if you’re consistently eating lots of fat-rich protein sources, or lots of very lean protein sources, you may need to make adjustments. Based on your progress, use outcome-based decision-making to determine if you, or a client, should simultaneously increase or decrease your daily number of thumb-sized portions of fats.
These same assumptions are built in for carbohydrates and fats as well. The hand-portion recommendations assume you’ll have a mix of fruit, starchy tubers, beans, and whole grains for carb sources.
And it assumes you’ll have a mix of whole food fats (e.g. nuts, seeds, avocado), blended whole foods (e.g. nut and seed butters, guacamole, pesto), and pressed oils (e.g. olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil) for fat sources.
If your intake is skewed towards oils, you may have to decrease the number of thumb-sized portions of fat you eat—since they contain more fat than the other sources. Or if you only eat berries for carbs, you may have to increase the number of cupped hands of carbs you eat—since they contain fewer carbs than the other sources. However, you should only decide that using outcome-based decision-making.
In essence, this means asking, “How’s that working for you?” If you (or your client) are achieving the desired results and are pleased with the overall outcome, there’s no reason to change what you’re doing. But if you’re not progressing the way you’d like, you could adjust your intake.
Testing the hand portion math
Let’s see how this system works in practice and in comparison to manually tracking macros and calories.
Example 1: High-level female athlete, 135 pounds with 18% body fat, who trains twice per day
- Pre-Workout @ 6am: 16 oz black coffee, 1 cup plain low-fat Greek yogurt, 1 cup chopped pineapple, 2 tbsp chopped walnuts, 1 glass of water
- Workout @ 7:15-8:30am: Sips on 16 oz water during training session
- Post-Workout Shake @ 9:00am: 12 oz water, 2 scoops protein powder, 1 medium apple, 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats, 2 cups of spinach, 1 tbsp ground flax seed, 1 tbsp almond butter
- Lunch @ 12pm: 3 oz salmon, 1 cup steamed mixed veggies, 1 medium sweet potato, 1 tbsp coconut oil, 2 glasses of water
- Mid-Afternoon Snack @ 4pm: 1 banana, 2 tbsp natural peanut butter, 1-2 glasses of water
- Workout @ 5:30-6pm: Sips on 16 oz water during training session
- Post-Workout Dinner @ 7pm: 3 oz chopped chicken breast, 2 cups cooked whole grain pasta, plus 2 cups sautéed veggies with 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, minced garlic and white cooking wine, 2 glasses of water
If you calculate the calories and macronutrients of this person’s intake using the USDA nutrient database, you’ll get:
- 2672 kcal
- 170 g protein
- 264 g carbs
- 104 g fat
And if you put this person’s intake into hand-size portion terms, you’ll get:
- Protein = 5 palms (Greek yogurt, protein powder x 2, salmon, chicken)
- Veggies = 5 fists (spinach x 2, mixed veggies, sauteed veggies x 2)
- Carbs = 10 cupped hands (pineapple x 2, apple, oats, sweet potato, banana, pasta x 4)
- Fats = 9 thumbs (walnuts x 2, flax seed, almond butter, coconut oil, peanut butter x 2, olive oil x 2)
When you multiply those portion numbers using approximate hand-portion math for women (see above table), it would provide an estimated intake of:
- 2672 kcal (exactly the same as calculating it with apps and spreadsheets)
- 166 g protein (4 g fewer than calculating it with apps and spreadsheets)
- 273 g carbs (9 g more than calculating it with apps and spreadsheets)
- 102 g fat (2 g fewer than calculating it with apps and spreadsheets)
Example 2: Moderately active male, 210 pounds with 17% body fat
- Wake @ 5:30am: 12 oz black coffee
- Breakfast @ 7:00am: 4 whole eggs with a large bunch of peppers, scallions, and mushrooms cooked in a large pat of butter, placed on whole wheat wrap, with ~1 oz cheese, 1 cupped hand of black beans, and some pico de gallo, large glass of water, 12 oz black coffee
- Super Shake @ 10:30am: ~10 oz water, 2 scoops chocolate protein powder, 2 cups of spinach, 2 cups frozen cherries, ~1 tablespoon cacao nibs, ~1 tablespoon of chia seeds
- Lunch @ 2pm: 4 oz turkey breast, ~⅔ cup quinoa, 1 fist of mixed veggies, 1 apple, 2 thumbs of roasted almonds, 1-2 large glasses of water
- 1-2 cups green tea @ 3-4pm
- Dinner @ 6pm: 8 oz sirloin (lean), 2 cupped hands of roasted red potatoes with onions, 2 cups roasted rainbow carrots, 2 tbsp olive oil for roasting, 1 glass wine, 1-2 large glasses of water
If you calculate the calories and macronutrients of this person’s intake using the USDA nutrient database, you’ll get:
- 3130 kcal
- 212 g protein
- 283 g carbs
- 111 g fat
And if you put this person’s intake into hand-size portion terms, you’ll get:
- Protein = 7 palms (eggs x 2, protein powder x 2, turkey, sirloin x 2)
- Veggies = 6 fists (scallions / peppers / mushrooms / pico, spinach x 2, mixed veggies, rainbow carrots x 2)
- Carbs = 9 cupped hands (wrap, beans, cherries x 3, quinoa, apple, potato x 2)
- Fats = 8 thumbs (butter, guacamole, cacao nibs, chia seeds, almonds x 2, olive oil x 2)
- Alcohol = 1 (wine)
When you multiply those portion numbers using approximate hand-portion math for men, it’d provide an estimated intake of:
- 3183 kcal (53 kcal more than calculating it with apps and spreadsheets)
- 220g protein (8 g more than calculating it with apps and spreadsheets)
- 285g carbs (2 g more than calculating it with apps and spreadsheets)
- 113g fat (2 g more than calculating it with apps and spreadsheets)
When looking at both examples, simply using your hands would be 96-100% as accurate as weighing, measuring, and logging all foods on apps or spreadsheets. Plus, with the known error rates of calories and macronutrients present on labels and in nutrient databases, this level of accuracy will likely suffice for all but the most advanced individuals (i.e. people being paid to look a certain way).
Hand portion FAQ
Do I gauge my portions before or after cooking?
One of the most common questions asked about using your hands to measure portions is whether the hand portions are for cooked or uncooked foods.
The answer is most certainly cooked. Hand portions are for plating your food, not cooking it. That way, they can be used at home, restaurants, buffets, conferences, Mom’s house, and the office.
Other helpful notes:
- Dry carbs tend to double in size when cooked. For example:
- 1/4 cup of dry oats (25g) = 1/2 cup cooked
- 1/4 cup of dry rice (50g) = 1/2 cup cooked
- 1/2 cup of dry whole wheat fusilli pasta (40g) = 1 cup cooked
This is helpful to know when it’s difficult to use your hand to measure a cooked food.
What to do with foods that don’t fit?
Some items don’t fit well into the hand-size portion system. It’s not perfect. No single system is. It’s meant to provide practical and actionable guidelines.
Most notably problematic are liquids.
Dairy
Cow’s milk and non-Greek yogurt are tricky as they’re a pretty even mix of all 3 macros or can vary depending on the fat level someone chooses (e.g. whole, low fat, skim, etc.).
Ultimately, we suggest making that decision based on the fat or carbohydrate content of the milk or yogurt you’re consuming.
Generally, consider 1 cup (8 oz) of whole milk products a “thumb” of fat. (Even though it’s larger than a thumb and also provides protein and carbs).
Anything lower in fat (e.g. 0-2%) is generally considered a cupped hand of carbs (while also providing fats and protein).
A cup of anything highly sweetened (e.g. chocolate milk, strawberry yogurt) is generally considered a cupped hand of carbs (while also providing fats and protein).
So what happens in this situation: You have a full-fat Greek yogurt or whole milk that’s highly sweetened? Is it a fat or carb? Think of it this way: If it’s already full-fat, you know it’s a thumb of fat. But if a lot of sugar is also added to it, then it’s also a cupped hand of carbs.
The key is to pick an approach, and apply it consistently. This is probably more important than the actual classification itself. (Remember, the system already has built-in buffers: It assumes your protein, fat, and carb sources contain smaller amounts of the other macros.)
Cookies, ice cream, chips (and other compound foods)
With naturally occurring or minimally processed foods, it’s usually best to assign only one hand portion to a food. But with these highly-processed “compound” foods, you’ll want to assign two (or more) hand portions. Because just like dairy products that are full-fat and highly sweetened, they count as both fat and carbs. An easy way to account for them: one handful is equal to one thumb of fat and one cupped hand of carbs.
Soda
Again, a serving of soda doesn’t really fit into a cupped hand. Instead, consider a 12-ounce can of soda as a cupped hand of carbs. Certainly, 8 ounces would be preferable from the standpoint of physical size (and carbohydrate total), but 12 ounces really simplifies the size and math, as these beverages come pre-packaged this way. (This is similar to how we account for bananas, apples, oranges, pears, and other fruits, since they’re “pre-packaged” by nature.)
Nut Milks
Nut milks are much like cow’s milk above. They tend to provide a mix of macros, depending on the source, and classification would also depend on whether or not they’re sweetened.
Generally, unsweetened versions (like almond milk) don’t count as anything, as they typically only have about 30 to 40 calories in a whole cup (8 ounces), and are often consumed in relatively small amounts. A sweetened version, however, would be considered a cupped hand of carbs.
Again, the key is to pick an approach and follow it consistently.
Alcohol
Alcohol generally should be its own category, as the majority of its calories are derived from its alcohol content (7 kcal / g), not its carb content. This applies to pretty much all alcohol, be it light beer, microbrew / craft beer, wine, and spirits (although some microbrews / craft beer and dessert wines can contain quite a few carbs).
However, many folks like to put alcohol in the carb category, which can work, too. Again, whatever method you prefer can work; just follow it consistently.
Note that most alcohol is about 100-150 calories per serving. If it has a sweetened additive (think margarita, or alcohol + tonic), then it’s adding a whole lot more sugar. So count that as a serving (or more) of alcohol and one (or more) cupped hands of carbs too.
How do I account for mixed-food meals?
It gets tricky with mixed-food meals, like soups and chilis. You simply have to eyeball it, and make your best guess, especially if you didn’t make it yourself.
Ultimately, the general goal is to get a protein, veggie, quality carb, and/or healthy fat in each portion. This is relatively easy to do when making it yourself. When made by others, simply guesstimate as well as you can. Most importantly, if the goal is anything other than weight gain, eat slowly and mindfully, until satisfied.
Often, meals like this are a mix of protein, carbs, and fats, but are a bit lower in veggies. Adding a vegetable on the side can be very helpful. And adding additional protein can also be helpful if the meal seems to have a greater proportion of carbs and fats.
Legumes and lentils: protein or carb?
Legumes and lentils both contain protein and carbs, so where should they be counted?
Answer: It depends on the meal itself and/or the eating style of the individual. If someone is fully plant-based/vegan, then it’s likely the legumes or lentils will count as their protein source, since those are probably the most protein-dense foods they’re consuming. But they can also count as both… under certain conditions.
Our suggestion: Choose the most protein-rich food (assuming there is one) as your protein source, and slot the other items from there.
Examples:
- Chicken with beans, broccoli and olive oil.
- Beans with rice, broccoli and olive oil.
- Beans x 2 with broccoli and olive oil.
- Rice with broccoli and olive oil
- Beans with broccoli and olive oil
In example 1, chicken is the protein (the most protein-rich part of the dish), beans are the carbs, broccoli is the vegetable, and olive oil is the fat.
In example 2, beans are the protein (the most protein-rich part of the dish), rice is the carbs, broccoli is the vegetable, and olive oil is the fat.
In example 3, one serving of beans would count as protein, and the other serving would count as carbs. In this scenario, it gets more difficult because it’s less clear-cut than the first two examples.
In example 4, there isn’t a protein-rich food, just a carb, vegetable, and fat.
In example 5, it would depend on the eater. Omnivore? Then we’d count the beans as a carb. Plant-based? Then we’d count the beans as a protein.
How do I quantify my exercise?
In using the calorie, portion, and macro calculator above, you’ll see the terms gentle, moderate, and strenuous. These describe the intensity of your activity.
Use the guide below to gauge your activity levels. When in doubt, it’s better to underestimate your activity rather than overestimate it.
Moderate to Strenuous Activity
- Resistance training
- Interval or Circuit training
- Crossfit
- Running or jogging
- Rowing
- Cycling
- Swimming
- Team sports (e.g. basketball, hockey, soccer, tennis, etc.)
- Hiking
- Jump Rope
- Group classes (spin, dance, etc.) and bootcamps
- Yoga (power, bikram)
Gentle Activity
- Walking
- Yoga (hatha, vinyasa, ashtanga, etc.)
- Pilates
- Golfing
- Biking, swimming or cycling at a leisurely pace or for pleasure
Example 1: Let’s say your week includes:
- Walking for 20 minutes, 2 times
- Vinyasa yoga for 30 minutes, 2 times
- Resistance training for 45 minutes, 2 times
- Running for 30 minutes, 3 times
That’d count as:
- 4 gentle activities (vinyasa yoga x 2; walking x 2) for a total of 100 minutes (1.66 hours)
- 5 moderate to strenuous activities (resistance training x 2, running x 3) for a total of 180 minutes (3 hours)
Which means you’d select your activity level as “Moderate” under the purposeful exercise question. (Defined as moderate to strenuous activity 3 to 4 hours per week.) The gentle activities are fantastic, but don’t bump up your calorie needs like higher-intensity activity does. So that is what you would be counting.
Example 2: Suppose your week includes…
-
- Swimming leisurely for 30 minutes, 3 times
- Resistance training for 30 minutes, 2 times
- Group exercise class for 60 minutes, 1 time
That’d count as:
- 3 gentle activities (leisurely swimming x 3) for a total of 90 minutes (1.5 hours)
- 3 moderate-strenuous activities (resistance training x 2, group exercise x 1) for a total of 120 minutes (2 hours)
Which means you’d select your activity level as “Light” under the purposeful exercise question. (Defined as gentle to moderate activity 1 to 3 hours per week.)
Example 3: Suppose your week includes…
- Golfing for 2 hours, 1 time
- Resistance training for 60 minutes, 2 times
- Mountain biking for 90 minutes, 4 times
That’d count as:
- 1 gentle activity (golfing) for a total of 120 minutes (2 hours)
- 6 moderate-strenuous activities (resistance training x 2, mountain biking x 4) for a total of 480 minutes (8 hours)
Which means you’d select your activity level as “Very Intense” under the purposeful exercise question. (Defined as moderate to strenuous activity 7+ hours per week.)
If you’re a coach, or you want to be…
Learning how to coach clients, patients, friends, or family members through healthy eating and lifestyle changes—in a way that’s personalized for their unique body, preferences, and lifestyle—is both an art and a science.
If you’d like to learn more about both, consider the Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification. The next group kicks off shortly.
The post The Ultimate Calorie, Portion, and Macro Calculator appeared first on Precision Nutrition.
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Check out https://peterlegyel.wordpress.com/
Just over 20 years ago, Google was a garage startup, and no one had heard of “fat loss hacks.”
But a lot can change in two decades. (We’ll spare you the screenshot of our search results.)
One thing that hasn’t changed: Obesity is still on the rise.1
Which is to say:
There are no legitimate fat loss hacks—despite server farms filled with fat loss hacks.
That’s because obesity isn’t a simple, hackable problem.
There are many interconnected factors—physical, psychological, social, environmental, emotional—that influence our ability to eat less and move more.
And the magnitude of each factor can vary for any given individual. For a visual, check out the illustration below.
Now here’s the ironic part:
Most “diet hacks,” “fast fixes,” and “easy solutions” make fat loss even harder than it needs to be.
These approaches often promote overly restrictive and unnecessary rules that:
- eliminate carbs or sugar
- demonize fat or meat (ethical reasons aside)
- moralize food choices (implying there’s a “right” and “wrong” way to eat)
- encourage or require dietary perfection
- emphasize what’s theoretically optimal over what’s truly practical (and may advise supplements or “superfoods” as necessary components)
This isn’t to suggest food and exercise choices don’t matter. But rather to say: Compared to most fat loss hacks, you (or your clients) can enjoy greater flexibility in what you eat and how you exercise—and still get the lasting results you want.
Our case? The 10 charts that follow, labeled Exhibits A-J. When it comes to fat loss, they may help you picture a more effective and sustainable solution—no “hacks” necessary.
Exhibit A: The foods we eat the most.
There’s no doubt: Many people who struggle with weight control eat too many carbs. (And too much fat.) But is this an indictment of the carbs themselves? Or the sources of those carbs? Consider this data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).2
Based on this research, nearly one-quarter of the average American’s calorie intake comes from desserts, candy, snacks, and sugary drinks. (Not all foods are shown in the chart.)
That’s a good chunk of daily calories.
These foods aren’t on anyone’s recommended eating list. But as you can probably see: Drastically cut carbs—or even just sugar—and you’ll automatically eliminate most of these “junk foods.” (And, importantly, lots of calories from both carbs and fat.)
This leads to a popular claim: When you give up carbs, you stop craving junk food, making it easier to lose fat.
Which may indeed be true. But is this because you’ve eliminated the carbs, or because you’ve eliminated the junk food?
Our next chart provides some insight.
Exhibit B: The delicious foods we can’t resist.
In a recent study, University of Michigan researchers looked at the “addictive” qualities of common foods.3 The chart below shows the 10 foods that people are most likely to rate as “problematic,” using the Yale Food Addiction Scale.
Whether you restrict carbs or fat, nine out of 10 of these foods would be off-limits—or at least significantly reduced.
Note that all but one are ultra-processed foods, and most contain some combination of sugar, fat, and salt.
This ingredient combo makes these foods “hyper-palatable”—or so delicious they’re hard to stop eating. Food manufacturers engineer them to be this way. (Learn more: Manufactured deliciousness: Why you can’t stop overeating.)
What about the foods, such as soda or chocolate, that aren’t loaded with all three of those ingredients? They tend to contain “drug-like” compounds—such as caffeine and/or theobromine—to enhance their appeal.
With this in mind, It’s worth taking a look back at the previous chart, too. Eight out of 10 of the most “addictive” foods shown here in Exhibit B are also five out of the top six most consumed categories of foods in Exhibit A.
What do they have in common? They’re usually ultra-processed and manufactured to be irresistible.
Now consider: What foods are especially problematic for you? And what do they have in common?
(To test this on yourself or with a client, download our Yale Food Addiction Scale worksheet.)
Typically, minimally-processed, whole foods like vegetables, fruit, beans, and whole grains aren’t high on many people’s “problem” lists. We simply don’t tend to overeat these foods consistently.
Yet there are fat loss hacks that tell you to avoid fruit, never eat a starchy vegetable, and eschew beans and grains of any kind.
Our question: When exactly did these foods become the problem?
Which brings us to our next item.
Exhibits C-G: The nutritious foods we aren’t eating.
Public health officials have long advised we eat more vegetables, fruit, legumes, and whole grains.
But these recommendations have come under fire for not working. Because collectively, we’ve gotten fatter despite them. The argument from certain camps: It’s the fault of these “healthy” foods.
Is that the case, though?
Or is it because people are eating other (ultra-processed, hyper-palatable) foods instead?
If that sounds like a loaded question, here’s why:
According to NHANES data, 58.5 percent of all calories consumed in the US come from ultra-processed foods.4
And our consumption habits aren’t improving: During the five-year survey period, that percentage increased by one percent every year.
But let’s take a closer look at the recommended “health” foods, starting with whole grains, since they’re often particularly vilified.
Given this NHANES data, you can certainly argue people eat too many refined, ultra-processed grains.5
But whole grains? Comparatively speaking, people still aren’t eating them.
The same is true for fruit.5
And vegetables.5
And legumes.5
The reality is this: When looking to improve their diet, most people focus on subtraction. They might say: “I’m giving up sugar” (see Exhibit A) or “I’m cutting out junk food” (see Exhibit B).
Trouble is, there’s often no plan for what they’ll eat instead. This can lead to feelings of deprivation and diet dissatisfaction.
That’s why it can help to start with addition: Eat more vegetables. Eat more fruit. Eat more whole grains and legumes. Eat more lean protein. (Men tend to consume fattier sources of protein, which provide more calories, and women often struggle with getting enough protein overall.)
Based on our experience working with over 100,000 clients, this “add first” strategy can be highly effective at “crowding out” ultra-processed, hyper-palatable foods. (No, this doesn’t mean you have to live life without any “junk food”: Learn why.)
Besides getting more nutritious foods into your diet, something else often happens when you “add first”: You automatically eat less.
An example: A recent study conducted at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (an institute of the NIH).6
Twenty adults were admitted to a metabolic ward and randomized to a diet of ultra-processed foods or minimally-processed foods. They were allowed to consume as much or as little as desired. After two weeks, they switched and did the alternative diet for two weeks.
The result: As you can see in the chart below, participants ate 508 more Calories per day and gained weight on the ultra-processed diet. They lost weight on the minimally-processed diet.
It’s a small but very well-controlled study (other studies have shown similar outcomes7,8), and it reflects what we often see with clients who use our “add first” approach.
Their overall calorie intake goes down as they include more minimally-processed foods in their diet. They find food more fulfilling and satisfying.
If it seems counter to conventional wisdom to add versus subtract, you might ask yourself: What if conventional wisdom is wrong?
You’ll undoubtedly find that adding first is far easier than overhauling your diet instantly. And if it’s not working for you, you always have the option to subtract.
But the best part: It doesn’t require perfection to drive meaningful results, as you’ll see in Exhibit H.
Exhibit H: Progress doesn’t require perfection.
When we coach clients at Precision Nutrition, we don’t expect them to change their habits or build new skills overnight. We don’t even want them to try.
Instead, we give them one daily health habit to practice—such as consuming five daily servings of fruit and vegetables or eating lean protein at each meal—every two weeks for 12 months.
These practices accumulate, and by the end of the year, they’re incorporating 25 practices total.
This is how we help folks develop healthy eating and lifestyle skills and habits that become automatic—and aren’t reliant on discipline and willpower.
None of these practices direct clients to avoid certain foods.
That just happens.
But because our clients are humans, it doesn’t happen all the time.
And that’s okay. It works anyway.
Our data shows when people are 90 percent consistent with their daily practices, the results are usually amazing.
But even when folks are only 50 to 80 percent consistent, they experience profound outcomes.
What’s more, clients who are just 10 to 49 percent consistent can still make significant, meaningful progress.
Here’s what the results look like.
This approach is based on the idea that progress isn’t about perfection.
It’s about accepting that better is better. And that consistent effort, even if small, can translate into meaningful fat loss and health benefits.
That’s not just true when it comes to nutrition. It’s true of exercise, too…
Exhibit I: Movement doesn’t have to be programmed.
Here’s a fun chart. It tracks the change in daily energy expenditure from 1900 to the early 2000s.9 The researchers also plotted the widespread adoption of both time-saving and time-wasting technology.
The finding: A 60 to 70 percent reduction in energy expenditure.
In a previous study, the same scientists calculated that actors playing the part of Australian settlers 150 years ago were 1.6 to 2.3 times more active than sedentary modern office workers.10 That’s the equivalent of walking 5 to 10 more miles daily (or around 10,000 to 20,000 steps).
This isn’t to suggest you need to start walking 10 miles a day. It’s to emphasize how much less we move in today’s modern world compared to any other time in human history. And that most of us would benefit from more daily movement of any kind, even if we regularly work out.
Practically-speaking, this might only require a mindset shift. For example:
- Vacuuming the house
- Weeding the yard
- Taking the dog for an extra walk
- Shooting hoops in the driveway
- Marco Polo with the kids (instead of watching them play in the pool)
These aren’t hassles or time drains: They’re opportunities to move a little more while you accomplish other stuff.
No, these activities won’t maximize your per-hour calorie burn. But this slight reframing might inspire you to get more done, have more fun, and increase your daily energy expenditure significantly—all without requiring more time in the gym.
What to do next
We now present Exhibit J. If you’re a dedicated follower of PN, you may have seen this Venn diagram before. (We like it a lot.)
The upshot? The nutrition fundamentals in the middle of the diagram are universal among almost every well-considered dietary pattern. You might call them the basics.
That doesn’t mean they’re easy. In fact, they can be really hard.
After all, how many people do you know who consistently follow these six nutrition fundamentals?
Or perhaps more appropriately, how likely is the average person to successfully adopt these fundamentals all at once… for the long-term?
The odds aren’t good. You probably don’t need a chart to see that.
Now consider: If the basics are too hard, what can you expect from an approach that restricts even more foods or advises immediate and dramatic changes to what they’re doing now?
Make no mistake: One can do very well on keto, Paleo, fully-plant based, or any other type of diet. But overnight? That doesn’t usually happen, at least not in a way that’s sustainable.
Instead, we offer another approach—one that fosters lasting behavior change.
Here’s the short version of how to start:
Step 1. Focus on just one new daily practice at a time.
Do that for two weeks or three weeks. The idea is to choose a daily practice that helps you make positive progress, no matter how small. You could start with the fundamentals, selecting one of these options:
- Get enough high-quality protein
- Eat lots of produce
- Emphasize minimally-processed whole foods
- Eat slowly until satisfied
(After you’ve practiced one for a couple of weeks, try adding on another.)
Step 2. Make the practice seem easy.
If you’re eating one serving of fruits and vegetables a day now, getting five servings every single day might be too hard.
But could you shoot for three servings a day? Or five servings three or four days a week?
The idea: You want a practice that’s likely to result in success. You can build from there.
Imagine: If you stack easy on top of easy on top of easy, you wake up one day and realize you’ve made serious change, and it was… easier than you expected. (Because we won’t pretend lasting change is ever “easy.”)
Step 3. Chase consistency, not perfection.
Your day won’t always go as you want: a surprise deadline at work, an argument with your partner, an emergency trip to the vet.
But as we’ve already shown, you can see real benefits with less than 50 percent consistency. One day doesn’t negate your positive efforts.
All of this may seem too “basic” to work.
Or you might think, “It sounds way too slow! I need a faster fix!”
That’s completely understandable.
But you might feel this way because:
- You’re accustomed to appealing ads that promise “six-pack abs in six weeks” or a “bikini body in 30 days.”
- Your previous fat loss experiences have made you feel deprived and miserable (and often like a failure).
These two factors are closely related, in case you haven’t made the connection.
Because of this, it’s normal to feel uncomfortable by the “long duration” of behavior change, the lack of a “detailed eating plan,” or the idea of “making just one easy change at a time.”
If that’s the case, we’d simply ask:
How’d the alternative work for you in the past?
If you feel good about the experience and the outcome—and where you are now—maybe you’ve found what works for you.
But if you don’t have the warm, fuzzy feels, it may be time for a new approach (whether that’s for yourself or your clients).
One that helps you transform your eating and lifestyle habits, in a way that takes the full complexity of fat loss (and your whole life) into account.
So that you’re not miserable. You don’t feel deprived. And it’s hard to fail.
Come to think of it, that sounds a lot like a fat loss hack. (But it’s not.)
References
Click here to view the information sources referenced in this article.
1. Hales CM, Carroll MD, Fryar CD, Ogden CL. Prevalence of Obesity and Severe Obesity Among Adults: United States, 2017-2018. NCHS Data Brief. 2020 Feb;(360):1–8. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db360-h.pdf
2. Adapted from: 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee Report. Available from: https://health.gov/sites/default/files/2019-09/Scientific-Report-of-the-2015-Dietary-Guidelines-Advisory-Committee.pdf
3. Schulte EM, Avena NM, Gearhardt AN. Which foods may be addictive? The roles of processing, fat content, and glycemic load. PLoS One. 2015 Feb 18;10(2):e0117959. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0117959
4. Baraldi LG, Martinez Steele E, Canella DS, Monteiro CA. Consumption of ultra-processed foods and associated sociodemographic factors in the USA between 2007 and 2012: evidence from a nationally representative cross-sectional study. BMJ Open. 2018 Mar 9;8(3):e020574. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2017-020574
5. A Closer Look at Current Intakes and Recommended Shifts: 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines; health.gov. Available from: https://health.gov/our-work/food-nutrition/2015-2020-dietary-guidelines/guidelines/chapter-2/a-closer-look-at-current-intakes-and-recommended-shifts/
6. Hall KD, Ayuketah A, Brychta R, Cai H, Cassimatis T, Chen KY, et al. Ultra-Processed Diets Cause Excess Calorie Intake and Weight Gain: An Inpatient Randomized Controlled Trial of Ad Libitum Food Intake. Cell Metab. 2019 Jul 2;30(1):67–77.e3. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2019.05.008
7. Larson DE, Rising R, Ferraro RT, Ravussin E. Spontaneous overfeeding with a “cafeteria diet” in men: effects on 24-hour energy expenditure and substrate oxidation. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord [Internet]. 1995 May;19(5):331–7.
8. Larson DE, Tataranni PA, Ferraro RT, Ravussin E. Ad libitum food intake on a “cafeteria diet” in Native American women: relations with body composition and 24-h energy expenditure. Am J Clin Nutr. 1995 Nov;62(5):911–7. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/62.5.911
9. Vogels N, Egger G, Plasqui G, Westerterp KR. Estimating Changes in Daily Physical Activity Levels over Time: Implication for Health Interventions from a Novel Approach. Int J Sports Med. 2004 May 24;25(08):607–10.
10. Egger GJ, Vogels N, Westerterp KR. Estimating historical changes in physical activity levels. Med J Aust. 2001;175(11-12):635–6. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11837872
If you’re a coach, or you want to be…
Learning how to coach clients, patients, friends, or family members through healthy eating and lifestyle changes—in a way that’s personalized for their unique body, preferences, and lifestyle—is both an art and a science.
If you’d like to learn more about both, consider the Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification. The next group kicks off shortly.
The post Level 1: Fat loss hacks!?!? 10 charts show why you don’t need them. appeared first on Precision Nutrition.
from https://ift.tt/2YgUJcx
Check out https://peterlegyel.wordpress.com/
Level 1: Do you have a Stress Bod? The surprising science of feeling awfuland what to do about it.
8/14/2020
Most of us think we know what stress is and how it feels:
- A pounding heart when we’re awakened at 3 a.m. by the sound of breaking glass.
- The need to pee five times before we deliver a presentation.
- A temper bomb that explodes when our entire day goes sideways.
But another, more subtle kind of stress can lurk beneath the surface.
It’s what happens inside our bodies when we’re continually exposed to the din of construction noise, the uncertainty of a pandemic, the scars of childhood trauma, or the never-ending pressures of parenthood, work, and finances.
These hidden stressors can be so constant that we don’t register them. They’re a part of the backdrop, woven seamlessly into our “normal.”
Over time, however, as they accumulate, hidden stressors can wear us down— leaving us feeling foggy, listless, tired, bloated, and sore.
People used to call this walking dead sensation “adrenal fatigue.”
The adrenal-fatigue theory went like this: Chronic stress depletes the adrenal glands, reducing their ability to pump out the stress hormone cortisol. This adrenal-fatigued state left people drained.
And it all certainly sounded plausible.
Then two doctors from the Adrenal and Hypertension Unit of the Universidade Federal de São Paulo in Brazil decided to take a close look at the research. After carefully examining and poking hundreds of holes in 58 different studies,1 they concluded:
Adrenal fatigue is not a thing.
Their exact words: “Adrenal fatigue does not exist.”
The doctors’ most convincing evidence against the “adrenal fatigue” theory: In most people tested for the condition, cortisol levels were… normal. In other words, their adrenal glands were anything but depleted.
So… what’s going on?
It all has to do with something called HPA axis dysfunction.
In simple language, HPA axis dysfunction means the stress response doesn’t work as it should.
HPA stands for “hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal.” And the word “axis” means those things are all connected, specifically:
- An area of the brain, called the hypothalamus, interprets stress, secreting a hormone called corticotropin secreting hormone (CRH).
- CRH tells the pituitary gland to release adrenocorticotropin hormone (ACTH).
- ACTH instructs the adrenal glands to make the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline.
Once your adrenals have pumped out some cortisol, they tell your brain “we did our job,” and your brain flips off the stress response.
At least, that’s how it’s supposed to work.
But when we face too many stressors too close together for too long, this intricate system can malfunction.
Your adrenals either don’t tell your brain “we did our job,” or your brain doesn’t hear the message. The end result: Cortisol production stays on when it should be off.
Though more research is needed to completely unravel that mechanism, some functional medicine experts believe that this constant flood of cortisol makes the body resistant to its message.
Introducing: The “Stress Bod.”
Let’s face it: HPA axis dysfunction is a mouthful. That’s why we use the much simpler term “Stress Bod.” (Yes, we coined it.) It sounds like what it is.
When we have a Stress Bod, we might not feel rested, even after sleeping more than 8 hours. So we turn to caffeine, sugar, salt, and fat as energy-sustaining (and coping) substances.
And if we ignore our body’s messages to “take it easy” and instead try to power through an intense workout, we’ll likely find that we can’t pump out as many reps or lift as heavy or run as quickly as we used to.
We might even get injured or sick.
And if we’re the kind of data-driven people who track things like morning heart rate and temperature, we’ll notice that the first is creeping up, while the second is going down.
Now, for the good news.
This is important: If you’ve been beating yourself up for skipping workouts, gulping down boxes of toaster pastries, or mindlessly scrolling social media when you’re supposed to be, a-hem, working, we’ve got four words for you: Give yourself a break.
You’re not lazy.
You might be in a situation that happens to be incredibly common, especially this year, given the general state of uncertainty and unrest unfolding all around us. For example, in April 2020, the percentage of people living in the UK who were experiencing significant mental distress rose to 27 percent of people surveyed, up from 19 percent the year before.2
You’re not stuck. You can do something about this.
- Take the quiz below. It’ll help you determine your current stress load.
- Check out the infographic that follows. It’ll help you better understand your signs and symptoms, identify hidden stressors, and incorporate healing practices to nourish and restore your body.
What’s your stress load?
Use these questions to rank your overall stress as well as how effectively you’re coping with it.
They’re based on the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)—the most widely used stress assessment.3
1. In the last month, how often have you been upset because of something that happened unexpectedly?
- Never – 0 points
- Almost never – 1 point
- Sometimes – 2 point
- Fairly often – 3 point
- Very often – 4 point
2. In the last month, how often have you felt that you were unable to control the important things in your life?
- Never – 0 points
- Almost never – 1 point
- Sometimes – 2 point
- Fairly often – 3 point
- Very often – 4 point
3. In the last month, how often have you felt nervous and stressed?
- Never – 0 points
- Almost never – 1 point
- Sometimes – 2 point
- Fairly often – 3 point
- Very often – 4 point
4. In the last month, how often have you found that you could not cope with all of the things that you had to do?
- Never – 0 points
- Almost never – 1 point
- Sometimes – 2 point
- Fairly often – 3 point
- Very often – 4 point
5. In the last month, how often have you been angered because of things that happened that were outside of your control?
- Never – 0 points
- Almost never – 1 point
- Sometimes – 2 point
- Fairly often – 3 point
- Very often – 4 point
6. In the last month, how often have you felt difficulties were piling up so high that you could not overcome them?
- Never – 0 points
- Almost never – 1 point
- Sometimes – 2 point
- Fairly often – 3 point
- Very often – 4 point
7. In the last month, how often have you felt confident about our ability to handle your personal problems?
- Never – 4 points
- Almost never – 3 point
- Sometimes – 2 point
- Fairly often – 1 point
- Very often – 0 point
8. In the last month, how often have you felt that things were going your way?
- Never – 4 points
- Almost never – 3 point
- Sometimes – 2 point
- Fairly often – 1 point
- Very often – 0 point
9. In the last month, how often have you been able to control irritations in your life?
- Never – 4 points
- Almost never – 3 point
- Sometimes – 2 point
- Fairly often – 1 point
- Very often – 0 point
10. In the last month, how often have you felt that you were on top of things?
- Never – 4 points
- Almost never – 3 point
- Sometimes – 2 point
- Fairly often – 1 point
- Very often – 0 point
Your score:
0-13: Your perception of stress is relatively low. That’s great!
14-26: Your perception of stress is moderate. You’re already doing a lot right, and you also have some room to improve.
27-40: Your perception of stress is pretty high. That’s okay—you can do something about this.
Now that you know where you stand, use this infographic to:
- Understand your Stress Bod symptoms
- Pinpoint the sneaky stressors that contribute to Stress Bod
- Learn a 6-step process for overcoming stress—so you can feel like your usual self again!
Go ahead and print it out or download it to your tablet, so you can refer back to it as you change for the better.
References
Click here to view the information sources referenced in this article.
1. Cadegiani FA, Kater CE. Adrenal fatigue does not exist: a systematic review. BMC Endocr Disord. 2016 Aug 24;16(1):48.
2. Pierce M, Hope H, Ford T, Hatch S, Hotopf M, John A, et al. Mental health before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal probability sample survey of the UK population. The Lancet Psychiatry [Internet]. 2020 Jul 21.
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