2 Ways to Make Your Diet Easier & More Successful
1.) TRACK WHAT YOU EAT!
This is huge for me and it should be for anyone else looking to see results through nutrition and training. If you’re not tracking what you currently are doing, how do you know what is stopping you from getting results? Are you eating too many calories? Not enough? Too many fats? Not enough protein?
You cannot get better if you do not fully understand what is holding you back from improving. So the first step in achieving more success in your diet is tracking what you’re doing. By this I mean tracking your meals, calories, protein, carbs, and fats. I recommend using an app like livestrong or myfitnesspal, makes it easier and hand held.
Now this may not seem like an “easy” task, it can get tedious. But it is not hard to do and it will without a doubt lead to better results.
Once you can master this step, its time to figure out exactly where your macronutrients and calories should be at so you can properly hit those numbers. Having a coach for this is huge and can help tremendously because they can guide you to the right amount and adjust your dietary needs along the way to ensure you’re seeing progress.
2.) BE FLEXIBLE!
By this I mean don’t stick to a classic “cookie cutter” approach. When people ask me to provide them with a meal plan that tells theme exactly what to eat, when to eat it and provide no other options… I really try to steer them in the opposite direction.
When you follow something like this daily you will eventually fall off, hate dieting, binge eat, and worst of all create a bad relationship with food. This can all lead to serious things that nobody truly understands or takes into account for. It also will definitely not lead to long lasting results, but instead more of a cycle of losing and gaining.
The key to this directly relates to number 1, tracking. If you know how many calories you need to eat and where your macros (pro/carb/fat) are supposed to be at by the end of the day, then you can have freedom to be flexible as long as you stay within those numbers.
This is where the IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros) comes from! Some people take it out of hand and only eat pop tarts, not my idea of a good diet. But some people, like myself, do it correctly and enjoy little treats throughout the week and just make sure to keep it in my range. If you do so, it will NOT slow you down AT ALL if you decide to have something that is off the plan… just be sure to track it and that it fits!
The key with this is simple; get your Micronutrients in first! This means getting your vitamins, minerals and fiber in. Make sure you get at least 10g of fiber per 1,000 calories eaten and if you can plan to do this, get 4 servings of veggies in, hit your protein/carbs/fats and still have some wiggle room for a cookie… go for it! But don’t eat the entire box!
[Easy rule of thumb as you go, if your goal is weight loss & you do not have a coaches help – Weight yourself weekly & if you’ve lost between .5-2lbs this week, great job! Don’t change a thing. If you’ve only lost .1-.5, drop your carbs by 5g & fat by 1g. If you’ve plateaued or gained weight, drop carbs 10g & fat 2g. Overall, getting a coach is best because each situation, every day, diet & person is different & they have best judgment]
Fitness and health is a lifestyle, not a temporary solution. Get better every day, enjoy the process and live the life you deserve, happily.
