Arin Lindauer

You might have heard about the ominous statistic!  Two thirds of people who lose weight gain even more back within four or five years. ¹

Wow!   That can be very discouraging even to the most determined individual.

What’s the answer then?  What is the secret to not only losing weight but keeping it off?

First the good news is that you do not have to be one of the statistics.  You can be in the minority—part of that group who successfully masters their weight for life!

And it’s all about how you view your journey.

You see, what makes the difference is whether you are trying to change your lifestyle or whether you are just on a diet.

The two, can be worlds apart.

Understanding the difference between diet and lifestyle can be the first step in the right direction.

By its very nature, a diet is only temporary.  Usually, people view diets as short term with a conceivable end in sight.  We view a diet as a focused effort to make some type of body composition change.  It could be putting muscle mass on or it could be dropping body fat.

I know a lot of people look at the whole nature of a ‘diet’ is to persevere to the end—to hold out just a little longer until it is finally over and then they can get back to the normal unhealthy nutritional habits that are not working.

If you follow some basic rules during the dieting process you can obtain your desired result!  But, you also should make habit modifications and maybe some lifestyle changes to keep the desired result.

A few basic rules when we talk dieting is:

Do not restrict your caloric intake to an extreme

Increase your water intake to ½ your bodyweight in ounces

Keep your protein intake up, women around 100 grams and men around 200 grams and this may vary depending on bodyweight

Minimize simple carbs and replace them with fibrous carbs

Minimize or eliminate your alcohol consumption

Get 7-8 hours of sleep every night

Remember our goal at Transformation Fitness and Wellness is to focus on fat loss and not just weight loss.  If you just focus on weight loss then you are setting yourself up for the yo-yo effect.

When a client is dialing in their nutrition for specific results we always use resistance training and cardiovascular activity to help with the processes.

One thing we often see is a client is focused for 3 days, 4 days, or even a week and then “BAM”, they destroy most of the progress with a bad weekend filled with unhealthy food choices, alcohol, and lack of quality sleep.

This one little hiccup will set that client back 3 days, 4 days, and even a week.

If you want to see continued progress you need to focus on more of a short-term time frame like 30 or 60 days.  This time frame will help you get closer to your desired goals without taking two steps forward and then 5 steps back.

Another point we like to make is a person on a ‘diet’ may view a food temptation like this: “That looks so delicious.  I can’t have it now because I am on a diet.  But after a few more weeks, I will be able to finally eat that again!  I just have to be strong for a little longer.”

This type of mindset will not allow you to maintain your desired result and that is where the habit modification and lifestyle adaptation will come into to play.

This is simply one example of a dieters mentality vs a true lifestyle change.

You see a lifestyle modification is permanent.

When you are working on your fat loss journey you will need to start making some permeant changes to keep your desired results.  When you change your lifestyle, you adopt healthier habits that will continue to provide you with the tools to keep that weight off.  A lifestyle change, as its name suggests, is for life.  You are not constantly thinking of escaping, as though you are serving a prison sentence.  Rather, you are in it for the long haul.

The result is that you begin truly adapting your life and behaviors to match your new lifestyle.  Instead of toughing it out and pining away over taboo treats, you find healthier alternatives.  You create ways to enjoy your food and figure out how to adjust every area of your life to your new habits.  Rather than being unpleasant, your day to day life becomes agreeable and comfortable.

A person who is changing their lifestyle views a tempting food like this:  “That looks so delicious!  But if I ate it, it would throw me off track from the life that I am creating.  It would taste good, but it would make me feel horrible.  That food is no longer an option for me.  I am going to find something to eat that moves me closer to my goals.”

When you achieve this mindset shift, you will not only lose weight, but you will keep it off, because this kind of weight loss is sustainable over the long term.

What about you?

Think about how you view your personal weight loss efforts.  Are you trying to tough it out so that you can finally get back to your normal patterns of eating?  Or are you designing a lifestyle that makes keeping weight off not only possible, but also probable?

If you need help with your plan of getting the fat off and implementing a lifestyle change just email me back and we will set up a free consultation.

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Servings: 1

Ingredients:

• 1 can tuna
• 2 tbsp. Greek yogurt
• 1 sprinkle dried dill (to taste)
• Salt and pepper if needed
• 1 ripe avocado, cut in half and seed removed

Directions:

1. In a small mixing bowl, stir together the tuna, Greek yogurt, and dill.
2. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Fill the avocado halves with the tuna salad and serve.

 

When it comes to coaching clients for fat loss, you might hear the word “protein” a few times!  One of the foundations for success in the program at Transformation Fitness and Wellness is nutrition. 

We always say, “You cannot out-train improper nutrition.”  We work with a lot of our clients on building a better foundation with nutrition and how it can affect personal results in performance and body composition.

One area of nutrition we educate clients with is understanding macronutrients.  Macronutrients are those nutrients that the body needs in large amounts.  They are carbohydrates, fats, and proteins.  The one macronutrient we talk a lot about is protein.

I am sure you might have heard or seen something about protein on a TV commercial or at your local grocery store.  It seems that everything has protein in it now; even your sugary, not so healthy breakfast cereal has claims of a protein sighting.

Well, to understand why protein is so important in our daily nutrition, I think it’s a good idea to understand what a protein really is.  Now don’t zone out here! This part is important!

Proteins are organic molecules made up of amino acids – the building blocks of life. These amino acids are joined together by chemical bonds and then folded in different ways to create three-dimensional structures that are important to our body’s functioning.

During digestion, the body breaks down the protein we eat into individual amino acids, which contribute to the plasma pool of amino acids. This pool is a storage reserve of amino acids that circulate in the blood.

The amino acid pool in the bloodstream readily trades with the amino acids and proteins in our cells, provides a supply of amino acids as needed, and is continuously replenished.

Since our bodies need proteins and amino acids to produce important molecules in our body – like enzymes, hormones, neurotransmitters, and antibodies – without an adequate protein intake, our bodies can’t function well at all.

Protein helps replace worn out cells, transports various substances throughout the body, and aids in growth and repair.

Protein is a vital nutrient that we need daily to repair, maintain, and build tissues, cells and organs within our body.  This is the most basic reason we need it – our bodies can’t function without it!

Beyond that, there are several other reasons why eating protein daily is beneficial, and when it comes to fat loss, protein should be the foundation.

Here is a list of the positive effects of protein:

Increased thermic effect of feeding — While all macronutrients require metabolic processing for digestion, absorption, and storage or oxidation, the thermic effect of protein is roughly double that of carbohydrates and fat.  Therefore, eating protein is actually thermogenic and can lead to a higher metabolic rate.  This means greater fat loss when dieting and less fat gain during overfeeding/muscle building.

Increased glucagon — Protein consumption increases plasma concentrations of the hormone glucagon. Glucagon is responsible for antagonizing the effects of insulin in adipose tissue, leading to greater fat mobilization.  In addition, glucagon also decreases the amounts and activities of the enzymes responsible for making and storing fat in adipose and liver cells.  Again, this leads to greater fat loss during dieting and less fat gain during overfeeding.

Metabolic pathway adjustment – When a higher protein (20-50% of intake) is followed, a host of metabolic adjustments occur.  These include: a down regulation of glycolysis, a reduction in fatty acid synthesis enzymes, increase in gluconeogenesis, and a carbohydrate “lowering” effect where carbons necessary for ridding the body of amino nitrogen is drawn from glucose.

Increased IGF-1 — Protein and amino-acid supplementation has been shown to increase the IGF-1 response to both exercise and feeding.  Since IGF-1 is an anabolic hormone that’s related to muscle growth, another advantage associated with consuming more protein is more muscle growth when overfeeding and/or muscle sparing when dieting.

Reduction in cardiovascular risk — Several studies have shown that increasing the percentage of protein in the diet (from 11% to 23%) while decreasing the percentage of carbohydrate (from 63% to 48%) lowers LDL cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations with concomitant increases in HDL cholesterol concentrations.

Improved weight loss profile —Research by Layman and colleagues has demonstrated that reducing the carbohydrate ratio from 3.5 – 1 to 1.4 – 1 increases body fat loss, spares muscle mass, reduces triglyceride concentrations, improves satiety, and improves blood glucose management (Layman et al 2003 (Journal of Nutrition. Layman has three interesting articles in the two journals).

Increased protein turnover — All tissues of the body, including muscle, go through a regular program of turnover.  Since the balance between protein breakdown and protein synthesis governs muscle protein turnover, you need to increase your protein turnover rates in order to best improve your muscle quality. A high protein diet does just this.  By increasing both protein synthesis and protein breakdown, a high protein diet helps you get rid of the old muscle more quickly and build up new, more functional muscle to take its place.

Increased nitrogen status — Earlier I indicated that a positive nitrogen status means that more protein is entering the body than is leaving the body.  High protein diets cause a strong positive protein status, and when this increased protein availability is coupled with an exercise program that increases the body’s anabolic efficiency, the growth process may be accelerated.

So now that we covered many of the benefits for consuming protein, let’s talk about what happens if we don’t get enough.  If you are getting too little protein, you may be suffering from fatigue, a weak immune system, and most likely muscle loss.  If you start to experience muscle loss, this will lead to a lower metabolism, which will slow down your fat burning process and puts you at a higher risk for fat gain.

Now that you know about the benefits of protein and how it can help your body burn fat, try to start building your meals around protein.  We always tell our clients “Lean and Green.”  Get your lean protein option, and then go with a fibrous green carbohydrate.  If you are struggling to see results and need more guidance with a plan, request a free consult.

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This easy to make delicious meal is a sure winner for any family meal.  Good quality food doesn’t need a whole lot of spices and technique to make it taste delicious.  This is a great example of that.

 

Ingredients:

• 8-12 pastured chicken thigh’s, boned but with skin.
• 2 sweet onions, halved and thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 lemon thinly sliced
• ¼ cup chicken broth
• ¼ fresh flat leaf parsley chopped or 1 tsp. dried
• Seasoning: salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Season chicken with salt and pepper.

In a large sauté pan, over medium heat, place 4-6 pieces of chicken at a time skin side down in a preheated pan with extra virgin olive oil or unrefined coconut oil.

*The trick is not to turn the chicken over until the pieces are well browned.

When both sides are browned and cooked through, remove chicken from pan and continue with remaining pieces.

Remove chicken from pan.  Pour off all but 2 tbsp.’s of the remaining oil.  Add onions.  Season with salt and pepper to taste. Sauté onions until almost golden brown.  Add the garlic and cook until onions are golden.  Be careful not to burn the garlic.

Add the lemon slices and sauté for one minute. Add the stock and stir.  Add the chicken back to the pan.  Add the parsley and stir.  Check or proper seasoning.

Place in a large platter & serve.  I like to serve it with steamed broccoli and a salad.

Another essential strategy that we utilize to educate our clients on proper nutrition is eating slowly.  Eating slowly can be a key ingredient when it comes to reaching your goals with fat loss and habit modification.

What we have witnessed when coaching clients with nutrition is that many times, people will consume meals very quickly and without taking the time to properly chew the food.  If you really think

about it, we are always rushing around in this fast paced, information overload, demanding world.  Most people in North America eat fast and rarely take the time to savor the food or even chew it properly.

The strategy of eating slowly is a simple and very powerful tool that can help reduce the waistline and help win the battle of fat loss.

Is eating quickly really so bad?

If you look at the research on eating quickly, the results are pretty unanimous!  Eating quickly has shown to promote weight gain and uncontrollable eating habits.  Some eating disorders, such as binge eating, are linked to the speed of eating.

The good news is, you can control the overeating or speed eating just by slowing down and being present when you are eating.

Slowing down your eating and chewing your food more consistently has multiple benefits:

• Sensing the satisfaction of being full
• Helping with digestion
• Helping reduce the amount of food you consume (portion control)
• Bettering hydration

 

With all of the benefits of eating slowly and chewing your food more consistently, everyone should try to apply these techniques.  If you are more aware of your eating environment, then you will have a better opportunity to control your habits and also control your health.

Here are some helpful tips and tricks you can incorporate to control the speed of your eating:

• Sit down to eat in a calm environment with minimal distractions. Don’t eat while driving, while watching TV, while texting, etc. Pay attention to your food.
• Choose high-fiber foods that take more time to chew, such as fresh fruits and vegetables.
• Put down your utensils between bites. Take a moment. Breathe. If you’re eating with other people, enjoy making witty conversation for a few minutes.
• Try setting a minimum number of chews per bite. This will feel strange at first, but give it a try and see what you discover.
• Use smaller plates or different utensils (such as chopsticks).
• If you find yourself rushing, that’s OK. Put your utensils down and take a minute to re-focus. If slow eating isn’t habitual for you, this will take practice.
• Find another slow eater and pace yourselves to them. Picky little kids and chatty dinner companions who hardly stop talking long enough to take a bite are often ideal for this.
• Set aside time to eat – at least 20-30 minutes for each meal, and preferably even longer at dinner. Don’t just eat “whenever you get around to it” or treat it as an inconvenience. You’re fueling your body and maybe spending quality time with friends and family. That’s important. It deserves an appointment.

 

The next time you sit down to have a meal, try to control how fast you are eating, and be more present with your food consumption.  If you would like some more specific nutritional help, request a free consult.

 

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I have been reading a great book that a friend recommended. The book is by Scott Adams he is the guy behind the cartoon strip Dilbert.

His book is Titled: How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life. He talks about failures and successes but what I wanted to share with you is his approach to almost everything in life is a System.

Systems are all around us and people get paid top dollar to create, perfect and improve systems every day.

What systems do you use in your life?

You might be surprised to find out how many systems you do already have in place.

Now I want you to think about the system you have around your health and wellness. Do you have set days you go to the gym, what about your food and water intake? Do they all have a system in place?

If you answered no here’s where I can help. Tony and I have been personally juggling how to balance our time with Leo, our business and still take care of our health, nutrition and workouts.

We had to sit down and rewrite our routines just a couple weeks ago…so it may always be a work in progress and what worked last month may not work this month. The point is to evaluate and always find what works for you.

We found that we both do well working out M/W/F and it must be done in the a.m. So, Tony goes in first then I go. So far this has been going well. But before we came up with this plan I was lucky to get 2 workouts in and emotionally this was not good for me or Tony. I always felt let down and that I never got any time for myself.

The reason I bring all this up is we had to create a system on how we were going to get our workouts in. We tested it, communicated it and you know what, so far so good!

What’s your system for getting your workouts in? Is it working? Or are you always trying to catch up.

If it’s not working, take a step back and look at the week, rewrite what you need to do so that you can be successful. Everyone has different preferences on what time they like to exercise. For us it is morning, so things had to change in the evening. We started putting Leo to bed earlier, consequently we got to bed earlier and then we got up earlier! It’s magic right? We needed to shift what we were doing for the system to work.

I sincerely encourage you to create a system around your exercise, meal prep and health. This time spent on perfecting your system will help not only physically but also mentally.

Let me know how it goes or if you need some help by requesting a Free Consultation

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Arin

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