Me: “How’s the nutrition side of things going?”
Client: “Mostly good”.
What I’ve learned over the years is that “mostly good” means a client is following the plan we mapped out 60-80% of the time.
Nutrition in this range is fine for maintaining your current health and body if it’s combined with plenty of strength training and exercise.
But, if you want to really see a difference in your physique, the scale and how your clothes fit, you’ll need to spend more time above 80% compliant in the nutrition department.
I’m not talking about a crash diet or anything crazy. I’m simply referring to keeping calories in a slight deficit through eating quality food with lots of nutrients, controlling the quantity of not so healthy food items combined with plenty of exercise at different levels of intensity.
So, what does this look like?
Let’s say the nutrition plan is built around 3 meals per day.
Each meal will contain a palm-sized serving of protein, 1-2 fist size servings of vegetables and 1 cupped hand serving of a carb (rice, beans, potatoes…).
3 meals x 7 days = 21 meals (yes, there are 7 days in the week when it comes to makes changes to your health)
85% would mean 18 of these meals are following these guidelines.
So, 3 meals per week aren’t.
Nothing is off limits, as long as we keep total predetermined calories for the week in check.
Eating above 85% consistently and doing the things required like planning, being mindful of portions, etc isn’t always easy…Or as fun!
That’s why I recommend short periods of time (6-8 weeks) dedicated to “really good”, followed by periods of improved “mostly good”.
I find this approach is highly effective for adults with a lot on their plate (no pun-intended).
Consistency always wins.
Consistency with nutrition doesn’t have to be this all in, all the time thing.
Nutrition consistency can flow from a season of change, followed by a season of maintenance.
I find it to be more fun this way and the incremental changes tend to stick around.
The time between Labor Day and Thanksgiving is a perfect season for change.
It’s exactly why we are doing our Start, Strive, Thrive Nutrition Transformation Challenge - Starting 9/19.
If you would like to improve your nutrition, drop 10 or more pounds and feel great heading into the holidays, reply SST and I’ll reach out with the details.
Keep moving,
Coach Dom
