Welcome, ladies! Today, we're diving deep into a common obstacle many women face on their weight loss journey: being under muscled. You might be diligent with your diet, logging hours on the treadmill, yet still struggle to shed those stubborn pounds. Here's the scoop: it's time to shift our focus from just losing weight to building muscle. Let's explore why your muscle mass matters and how it impacts your weight loss goals. Understanding the Problem: So, what exactly does it mean to be "under muscled"? In simple terms, it's having inadequate muscle mass relative to your body composition. As we age, especially between the ages of 30-50, our muscle mass naturally declines due to factors like hormonal changes, decreased activity levels, and even dietary habits. This decline in muscle mass not only affects our strength and mobility but also plays a crucial role in our ability to lose weight effectively. The Muscle-Fat Connection: Here's the kicker: muscle is a metabolically active tissue, meaning it burns calories even at rest. The more muscle mass you have, the higher your basal metabolic rate (BMR), which translates to more calories burned throughout the day. On the flip side, excess fat tissue does little in terms of calorie expenditure. So, if you're carrying more fat than muscle, your body becomes less efficient at burning calories, making weight loss an uphill battle. The Benefits of Building Muscle: 1. Increased Metabolism: By building muscle through resistance training, you can rev up your metabolism, making it easier to create the calorie deficit necessary for weight loss. 2. Improved Body Composition: Building muscle while losing fat leads to a leaner, more toned physique, rather than simply becoming smaller in size. 3. Enhanced Strength and Functionality: Strong muscles not only support you during workouts but also in daily activities, promoting better posture, balance, and overall vitality. How to Build Muscle and Lose Weight: 1. Strength Training: Incorporate resistance training exercises into your routine at least 2-3 times per week. Focus on compound movements like squats, deadlifts, lunges, and rows to target multiple muscle groups simultaneously. 2. Progressive Overload: Continuously challenge your muscles by gradually increasing the weight, reps, or intensity of your workouts over time. This stimulates muscle growth and prevents plateaus. 3. Balanced Nutrition: Ensure you're consuming enough protein to support muscle repair and growth, while also maintaining a slight calorie deficit to facilitate fat loss. Opt for nutrient-dense foods like lean meats, fish, eggs, legumes, and plenty of fruits and vegetables. 4. Rest and Recovery: Don't overlook the importance of rest days and quality sleep. Muscles need time to repair and grow, so prioritize recovery to avoid burnout and injury. Conclusion: Ladies, if you've been struggling to lose weight despite your best efforts, it's time to shift your focus to building muscle. Remember, it's not just about the number on the scale, but rather achieving a healthy balance of muscle and fat for long-term success. By incorporating strength training into your routine and prioritizing muscle growth, you'll not only transform your physique but also supercharge your metabolism and reclaim your confidence. Here's to becoming strong, empowered women who can conquer any challenge that comes our way! So, are you ready to say goodbye to being under muscled and hello to a stronger, leaner you? Let's do this together! Coach Kayli
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Blog Post by Coach JulieNCI Certified Nutrition Coach L1 & Certified Mindset Coach Embarking on a journey to lose body fat isn't just about following a strict diet or hitting the gym relentlessly. It's also about cultivating the right mindset. In fact, your mindset can be the determining factor between success and failure in achieving your fat loss goals. In this post, we'll delve into the crucial mindset shifts that are essential for shedding those extra pounds and achieving a healthier, happier you.
Understanding Your Relationship with Food: One of the fundamental mindset shifts necessary for losing body fat is changing your relationship with food. Instead of viewing food as a source of comfort or reward, start seeing it as fuel for your body. Focus on nourishing your body with wholesome, nutrient-dense foods that support your health and fitness goals. Incorporating keywords such as "healthy eating habits," "nutrient-dense foods," and "balanced nutrition" naturally into the content enhances relevance. Embracing Consistency Over Perfection: Many individuals fall into the trap of striving for perfection when it comes to their diet and exercise routine. However, perfection is not sustainable. Instead, shift your focus towards consistency. Consistently making healthier choices and sticking to your workout plan, even on days when motivation is low, is key to long-term success. Keywords like "consistency in fitness," "sustainable habits," and "long-term progress" reinforce the importance of this mindset shift. Cultivating Self-Compassion: It's easy to be overly critical of ourselves, especially when it comes to our bodies. However, practicing self-compassion is essential for maintaining a positive mindset on your fat loss journey. Be kind to yourself, celebrate your progress, and learn from setbacks without being too harsh. This mindset shift encourages a healthier relationship with yourself, which is crucial for overall well-being. Keywords like "self-compassion," "positive self-talk," and "self-acceptance" are seamlessly integrated to enhance relevance. Focusing on Non-Scale Victories: While the number on the scale can be a useful tool for tracking progress, it shouldn't be the sole focus of your fat loss journey. Instead, shift your focus towards non-scale victories such as increased energy levels, improved mood, better sleep, and enhanced confidence. These victories are equally, if not more, important indicators of your overall health and progress. Incorporating keywords like "non-scale achievements," "health improvements," and "well-being goals" emphasizes the significance of this mindset shift. Setting Realistic Goals: Setting unrealistic goals can set you up for disappointment and frustration. Instead, focus on setting realistic, achievable goals that align with your lifestyle and capabilities. Break your larger fat loss goal into smaller, manageable milestones, and celebrate each achievement along the way. This approach fosters a sense of accomplishment and keeps you motivated to continue progressing. Keywords like "realistic goal setting," "achievable milestones," and "progress tracking" support the relevance of this mindset shift. Achieving fat loss goes beyond just following a diet and exercise plan—it requires a mindset shift. By changing your perspective on food, embracing consistency and self-compassion, focusing on non-scale victories, and setting realistic goals, you can set yourself up for success on your fat loss journey. Remember, it's not just about transforming your body; it's about transforming your mindset for a healthier, happier life. Blog Post by Coach JulieNCI Certified Nutrition Coach Level 1 and Certified Mindset Coach Fitness and nutrition are absolute staples to being your happiest, healthiest self. The problem is, some people take it too far. Coach Kayli and I have seen people lose a significant amount of weight and find themselves obsessing over their food, weight, fitness, clothes, etc. This really isn’t that uncommon. We usually see this when a person has struggled with emotional eating or binge eating. They lose body fat, but they never treated the root cause of the emotional eating. As with health, you have to treat the root cause or the issue doesn’t go away. Usually emotional eating is caused by unhealed trauma. When a person loses weight but doesn’t work on healing old trauma, they simply replace the old unhealthy coping mechanism with a new unhealthy coping mechanism. We see them go from binging food to not eating, obsessively weighing themselves, or overexercising. These habits can be just as dangerous for people as overeating. The key to being successful is obtaining and maintaining a healthy relationship with food. Here are some signs that you may have an unhealthy relationship with food:
If you recognize any of these traits, it may be time for you to reach out to a mental health professional to help you work through any issues you may have with food. Disordered eating is a legitimate issue that you should address. You shouldn’t live your life chained by food or fitness. Food and fitness should be things you enjoy and tools to help you live healthy. Welcome to 2024!
As we dive into the new year, let's focus on what really matters for fat-loss. I'm not about quick fixes or fads. It's all about practical steps you can actually stick to. This is my 9th January working in fitness, and I'm often inspired and rejuvenated by the new year too. Many people bash "resolutions," making it feel vulnerable to admit having big health goals for the new year. But you aren't alone. There are plenty of others watching this who want to improve how they look, move, and feel. The number one thing I hear from people at the beginning of each new year is their desire to lose weight, closely followed by wishes to eat "better" and "exercise more." Let’s tackle two out of these three: losing weight and eating better. These are the two things (besides maybe better sleep) that will help you feel better. So here is Tip #1 of the 10 no-nonsense strategies to help you lose fat more easily this year.
Stay strong, Coach Kayli! Blog Post by Coach JulieNCI Certified Nutrition Coach L1 & Mindset Coach In an interview with Vegan.com, Virginia Messina, MPH, RD, commented on her disdain about the documentary “What the Health.” She said, “As a vegan health professional, I am sometimes mortified to be associated with the junk science that permeates our community. . . . I’m disheartened by advocacy efforts that can make us look scientifically illiterate, dishonest, and occasionally like a cult of conspiracy theorists. I wish What the Health had stuck to these kinds of observations and supported them with an informed discussion of the evidence. Instead, it cherry-picked the research, misinterpreted and over-stated the data, highlighted dubious stories of miraculous healing, and focused on faulty observations about nutrition science. Most of the misinformation in the film is due simply to a poor understanding of nutrition science and research. But some moments struck me as overtly dishonest.” Vegan diets have clout, especially if you're pursuing them for moral reasons. Many people that take on vegan diets have been doing so to try and honor animals and protect them from inhuman treatment. That is a very good reason to transition to the vegan lifestyle. The way you eat, however, does not determine your moral character. Should you choose to use your nutrition as a way to express your beliefs and values, I think that's great. That does not give you permission to judge people that don't hold the same views as you. I, also, believe in the moral treatment of animals and am a huge animal lover. However, I feel better eating animal products and I do my due diligence to only source my animal products from sources that treat the animals in humane ways. The problems that have arisen from this new vegan movement are blatant fear mongering and dogma. We have seen a radical portion of the vegan population touting claims that meat causes cancer, fat leads to diabetes and sugar is not unhealthy. These claims are inherently false. These radicalists have cherry picked information in order to incite fear in people in order to "recruit" more people to their way of life. Time Magazine wrote an article breaking down all of the false claims that were touted in What The Health. The film did get some elements correct, it wasn't complete bullshit. However, they definitely overly inflated a lot of their claims to try and claim their dietary lifestyle was far superior and healthy to other dietary modalities. If you're interested in another great article debunking the film, I would check out this great article on Vox. The article refers to the film as "sensational" and I couldn't say it any better. You can read the full article yourself at Vegan.com. The point is, you cannot take one piece of material as gospel. Especially when the people funding and creating the piece have a bias. Usually if there’s a bias, there is also fearmongering, cherry picking, and a ton of dogma. There are perks to plant based diets for SOME people. That doesn’t make it right for ALL people. Not ALL meat causes cancer. Sugar DOES cause health issues. Fat does NOT cause diabetes. Always do research and check all of your sources. Look at both sides. To be honestly open to learning and growing as a person, you have to listen to both sides and take them both seriously. Otherwise you are deciding on something with a bias rather than a decision rooted in education and evidence. Blog Post by Coach JulieNCI Certified Nutrition Coach L1 and Mindset Coach Artificial sweeteners have been the bastard of the nutrition and fitness industry lately. They are getting the blame for cancer, gut health issues, disordered eating and blood sugar spikes. But what is the truth about artificial sweeteners.
The three most popular artificial sweeteners on the market today are: aspartame, sucralose, and saccharin. These sweeteners are often found in popular foods that have been reformulated into a “zero sugar” version which often results in a reduced calorie option of the popular alternative. For example, I enjoy Sprite Zero because it offers a “treat” with dinner for zero calories where a can of Sprite is about 120 calories. Sprite Zero contains aspartame to give it the sweet flavor without the calories mounting. These sweeteners have been on blast by the media about their “harmful” effects for years. The issue with media, is that it is almost always sensationalized to gather attention. Clicks and shares usually mean income for news media so you will often see stories overly sensationalized to garner more attention. You can see this very clearly in the amount of stories on news outlets about terrorism and violent crimes. It has created an attitude that the world is a super dangerous place, but actual studies have shown that crime has been down the last several years. The WHO (World Health Organization) came out a few years ago and said there MAY be a link between artificial sweeteners and cancer risk. This simple, yet uncertain claim has sparked the media firestorm that has created a line in the sand between nutrition researchers and cherry picking, media outlets that are trying to boost their bottom line. In an great article by Mike Matthews of Legion Athletics, Mike shows a great graphic on where the WHO categorized artificial sweeteners. He stated, “The WHO is placing aspartame in Group 2B. Thus, according to the WHO’s assessment, aspartame is about as likely to increase your cancer risk as aloe vera, carpentry, and eating pickled vegetables.” I’m not real sure about you, but if I find joy in one Sprite Zero per day, I feel relatively safe doing so. There have been recent studies lately that are showing that there is NO association between these sweeteners and cancer. In a recent news story on Barbend, the study has dispelled the WHO’s previous claims and actually shown that zero calorie sodas may be beneficial for health if it’s used to replace regular soda for weight loss because it aids in weight loss and reduces the overall sugar intake. The other big concern surrounding artificial sweeteners is their effect on gut health. There have been small sample studies done in rats on the effects of sweeteners on the gut microbiome. The issue is, rat studies don’t always translate well to humans. Most of these studies were feeding the rats toxic amounts of sweeteners that would translate to obscene numbers in humans. A recent article on StrongerU as well as an article on BioLayne, show the limitations associated with the rat studies. Overall, the studies on gut microbiome have been widely inconclusive. Some social media influencers have argued that these sweeteners promote obesity by increasing cravings. Here’s the thing, this argument also has no conclusive evidence of this. As a nutrition coach, I believe if you maintain a 80-20 diet in nutritious foods and use these zero calorie foods and drinks as a “treat” that subs for the higher calorie options, you’re going to be just fine. I don’t believe that these foods drive cravings more than any other food option. Realistically, this argument could be made about most highly processed, higher carb foods, they also tend to promote cravings because carbs do not offer the satiating effect you receive from protein. With all of the recent research, I’m not willing to tell any of my clients to stop choosing zero calorie sodas over regular sodas. I would caution that too much of any good thing can be a bad thing. The studies have not shown conclusive evidence of causing harm in small amounts. If you are drinking obscene amounts of these sweeteners, we need to have a different conversation because I would assume you’re having health issues. Those issues would be associated with dehydration NOT the artificial sweeteners. Overall, the benefits of artificial sweeteners far outweigh the potential risks, if used in a reasonable amount. I didn’t realize I did this until recently. A fat loss coaching client asked me how to know when they’re “overeating” or if they’re just simply… enjoying a meal. When they’re dieting, when is it “right” or “wrong” to have that burger and fries they’ve been craving? Or to go off plan for a day because they're taking their kid to an amusement park? Or to enjoy a shot and a few drinks with their best friend? Basically, how do you balance the gray area of enjoying life and staying on your diet? I emailed them back and said there are two ways I look at meals: 1. Priority = Fitness Goals I only see it as “overeating” if your intention for that meal is to stay on track with your diet because fat loss/health is a higher priority to you in that moment. Therefore, you’d be “overeating” simply because you had a calorie goal you wanted to hit, but this meal pushed you over. It’s NOT good or bad, it’s just what happened, objectively. NOTE: you can also "fit in" these high calorie meals and stay on track with your goals. 2. Priority = Enjoyment/Life Satisfaction I don’t think it’s overeating if your intention is to enjoy the life experience of eating that meal with friends, your S.O., or by yourself. Then it’s just simply… eating. You decided that fat loss isn’t as important to you for this meal, and that’s ok, so you shouldn’t feel guilty because you aligned your actions and intentions around what YOU thought was most important. So over these next few weeks, give yourself permission to commit to one, but neither are “right” or “wrong.” The whole point is to make sure it’s a conscious choice, not an impulsive one. Take inventory on what’s most important to you in that moment, act on it, then move on with your life. Hope you found this helpful. -Kayli P.S. I'm really enjoying this article on "How to Do Great Work". Blog Post by Coach JulieNCI Certified Nutrition Coach L1 & Certified Mindset Coach A little bit of a change this week from my usual blog posts. This week I’d like to talk about stress and mindset. As I’m sure most of you know, Kayli’s dad passed away unexpectedly in July. This event just added to what would be the perfect storm for me, which ended up leaving me very sick and struggling with my mindset.
We lost Kayli’s dad on a Tuesday. The first week, I managed well. By managed I mean, Kayli had all the support she needed and wanted and a partner that was helping her navigate all the things that needed to be addressed. I knew that she would not be able to make a lot of decisions or absorb a lot of the information she was being given, so I stepped in and up and was all of those things for her. The problem was, I put myself on the back burner. I completely neglected my own needs. I was stressed. I was grieving, but I didn’t want her to see that part of me because I felt like it would make it worse for her. I was wrong. It ended up being worse for me. The second week, Kayli started to move through the stages of grief, but while she was starting to move forward, I was just starting to feel the sadness. Since I stifled my own grief, thinking I was helping her, I delayed my own emotions and left me sad and grieving when she was close to being done with that stage. The exact thing I hoped to avoid, happened. I didn’t want her to have to abandon herself to take care of me. Had we gone through this together and I would’ve been transparent with her about my emotions we could’ve leaned on each other rather than taking turns being each other’s leaning posts. Since Kayli spent the second week taking care of me, I felt really guilty that she was having to take care of me. My mindset tanked. I felt like a bad spouse. I felt weak. Things just kept spiraling. The process of having to manage all of the final affairs for Kayli’s dad lasted two and half weeks. That period of time was persistent high stress. Add in an insanely toxic and high stress environment at work and you have “the perfect storm.” I noticed on July 21st that I started having diarrhea that was difficult to control. I felt like I couldn’t control my bowels. I could, but I was not confident in that. The diarrhea, nausea, headaches and fatigue persisted. It is August 15th as I write this and I’m just now 2 days diarrhea free but not nausea free. It’s been going on that long. I’ve been to 3 doctors because I’m worried about my gut relapsing. Through the process of doctors visits, I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, an autoimmune condition that causes your thyroid hormones to wax and wane. Hashimoto’s can be caused by chronic stress and leaky gut syndrome. All three doctors gave me the same unconventional response to help alleviate some of my symptoms, QUIT YOUR JOB. I was stuck. I couldn’t quit my job yet. Kayli and I just paid for a funeral and we have bills to pay for our home and our business. It just wasn’t feasible. I was stuck in a perpetual loop everywhere I looked. I was stressed so my gut was inflamed, but the gut inflammation and symptoms caused stress. Work stressed me out, but taking mental health days stressed me out because I knew what would be waiting on me when I got back. The cycles kept me in a doomsday mindset. I felt like nothing would get better. I felt terrible about myself. I started having OCD episodes of suicidal intrusive thoughts again. I was panicky all the time. I. COULDN’T. STOP. Finally, I got a break. On Monday morning at 6:30am I received a job offer asking when I could start. It was the miracle I needed. I accepted the offer and told my boss first thing that morning that I would be leaving effective this week. Suddenly the gut started to feel better. It isn’t perfect yet, it’s still a work in progress, but the gut isn’t where it was. The stress associated with my job had me stuck back in a chronically ill cycle that I hadn’t been in for years. Quitting my job and spending a week being intentional about my time with Kayli and enjoying our time were the meds that I needed. The take home here is, you have to manage stress. Sometimes you won’t be able to. That’s where I thought I was, but because I didn’t give up and I kept persisting even when things were hard, something shook loose. Stress can absolutely create a mess of your health if you don’t check it. Stay ahead of it. Had I stayed ahead of it, I may not be in this position. Learn from my mistakes. Blog Post by Coach JulieNCI Certified Nutrition Coach L1 & Certified Mindset Coach Antibiotics are one of the miracles of modern medicine. They have been used in phenomenal, life saving ways. When used sparingly and appropriately, antibiotics can be life changing. However, recently antibiotic use has become a quick fix solution to a multitude of conditions and issues in traditional, Western medicine. The use of antibiotics is not without its fair share of side effects. When used inappropriately, your body can become resistant to the positive effects of the drugs and they can cause side effects that can affect your health long term. While this is true for anyone, these long term effects can be more prevalent when antibiotics are used in children 3 and under.
Children under 3 are still developing the most important, beneficial bacteria in their gut that forms their microbiota. Studies have shown that antibiotic use early in life or mother’s antibiotic use during pregnancy or lactation can cause gut dysbiosis of the child. This dysbiosis can have several different effects on the child both short term and long term. The most common side effect of antibiotic use is diarrhea. While this is a more short term effect, it is the most obvious sign of microbiota disruption in children and adults alike. Research has shown that early use of antibiotics can have a direct effect on body weight. Studies have shown a correlation between this type of drugs and an increased BMI by ages 4-7. Interestingly, antibiotic use among young children has also been linked to immunity and food allergies. The studies have specifically noted that dairy allergies have been the most common type of food allergy in young children treated with antibiotics. Children that were breast fed by a mother who was treated with antibiotics during lactation also saw an increased risk for a dairy allergy, most commonly cow milk. Antibiotic use in infancy is also a risk factor for allergic rhinitis and early onset childhood asthma. Antibiotic use before one year of age had the highest risk of inflammatory bowel disease development. The risk, while still present, did decline through age 5. Studies show a correlation between early antibiotic use and type 2 diabetes, however it is unclear if the antibiotics were prescribed over time to treat symptoms of undiagnosed type 2 diabetes or if the antibiotic use was the catalyst. Studies are still suggesting that it is due to the use of antibiotics. Finally, and possibly the most concerning in my opinion, is that antibiotic use has been shown to increase the risk of certain types of cancers. The risk did increase with multiple rounds of antibiotics over time. Several cancers were listed. Among them: pancreatic, prostate, esophageal, gastric, lung and breast cancers. The point here is to not fear antibiotics. You should be mindful of the frequency and dosage of the medications. You should also just be aware and be educated. Awareness is key. Don’t walk blindly into anything. Ask questions. Your doctor should have your best interest in mind and should be happy to answer questions. If not, you may need a new primary care physician. Today's blog consists of 3 of my favorite tips I've accumulated over my years as a fitness coach.→ Tip 1: Reverse psychology "hack" to make better food choices One of the best ways to do this is by focusing on inclusive habits instead of exclusive habits. Inclusive habits suggest adding to their diet (adding protein, adding fruits and vegetables, adding water). Exclusive habits suggest taking away from their diet (no more carbs, no more fats, no more desserts). It's a subtle difference, but makes all the difference psychologically⏤nobody likes to be told what they can't do. → Tip 2: Three Ways To Remain Athletic As You Age 1. Prioritize soft tissue and mobility work. Too often, we can start doing these once we already feel pain. But if we stay proactive and implement just five minutes each day of foam rolling and mobility drills, we'll keep that athletic edge over time. 2. Incorporate single-leg exercises. This doesn't mean compound lifts like squats and deadlifts don't have their place. But lunges, split squats, step-ups, and single-leg RDLs all need to be included for a well-rounded athletic program. Running, jumping, cutting, transferring power ⏤ getting stronger on one leg will help all of these. 3. Lift FAST on the concentrics. You can use explosive movements like kettlebell swings or the olympic lifts, but you can also just make sure every rep you do is performed with a controlled, powerful concentric component of the lift. Moving fast will keep you fast. → Tip 3: Five “hacks” to eat more protein 1. Eat your protein first (in the day and in your meal). Protein is the most satiating macronutrient, so you’re less likely to overeat with this strategy. But on a daily scale, this same tactic can work by front loading protein at breakfast when your hunger is high. 2. Add a whey protein shake before the meal when cutting. When cutting, you can blunt some of your hunger going into a meal by having a half to full serving of whey protein before diving into your food. This also ensures higher quality protein at each meal. 3. Eat protein more frequently. It’s hard to consume large amounts of protein in one to two sittings. So breaking up your total daily protein goal into more meals and snacks will make the goal easier to achieve. For most, three meals and one shake works well. 4. Have a protein shake after training, upon waking, between meals, or before bed. Most people already include a post-workout shake, but it’s helpful to start doing if not. People also assume you should only drink shakes on workout days, yet they can provide a quality protein boost any time of day. 5. Build your meals starting with a protein source. Essentially, every time you’re about to eat, think to yourself, “what is my protein source going to be?” Then base the rest of your meal/snack around that decision. When you're ready, here are 3 more ways I can help you:
1 - Ask me a question about your #1 fitness struggle. Just hit reply to this email or blog post. I read every email I get. (And yes, it's actually me answering!) 2 - Work with me directly to get in the best shape of your life and stop breaking promises to yourself. Every month I open up applications to work with me through my private 1:1 fat loss coaching program. I only work with people that I can help (80+ clients so far). And since you’re here, good chance that’s you. Click here to apply to work with me. 3 - Check out more of my free content. Facebook Group: "The Phoenix Method for Body Transformation" Podcast: Phoenix Rising:Fitness|Mindset|Lifestyle - 100+ episodes where Coach Julie & I share our knowledge to help make your weight loss journey faster & more sustainable! Blog: Start here - “8 Simple Ways to Speed Up Your Metabolism” |
AuthorKayli is a certified personal trainer and online coach that specializes in fitness, wellness, nutrition, mindset, mobility and everything in between. Categories
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