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”
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Blog Post by Coach JulieNCI Certified Nutrition Coach L1 & Certified Mindset Coach Detox has become quite the buzz word on social media. Everyone talks about how life changing detoxes are for your health and fitness. I’m not sure I buy into all of that. Usually the word “detox” means diarrhea, and of course you lose weight because there’s no more food in your gut and you’re super dehydrated. NOT HEALTHY. Most detoxes, especially those that you’ll find marketed on social media, are not healthy nor are they necessary. If you want to do a good healthy detox, here’s 9 healthy, full body detoxes.
Reading those 9 detoxes should have taught you a key factor about your body. Your body is mostly a self cleaning oven. Your organs and systems are designed to move toxins out of your body. You don’t need a detox, you need to optimize your systems, organs and their function. People like you who read my blogs are of a special breed. You’re likely ambitious, eager to learn, and confident⏤or else you wouldn’t be reading this. Or, anything, for that matter. If you’re anything like my 1:1 coaching client, Diana, you’ll start off small, stacking wins. Then you’ll nervously, but courageously, push past your comfort zone. You’ll succeed at something you’ve never done before. Then your trust in your abilities will increase, equipping you to overcome hard things in the future with a new sense of mental freedom. This is how you build real self-confidence and escape the comparison trap. If this sounds like something you want professional help with, let’s work together. Whether you decide to sign up or not, with each of these four tools you should increase your chances of success going forward.
You’ve got this. Give ’em a try and keep me posted how it goes. Would love to hear from you. Chat soon, Kayli P.S. This was originally an email sent to my private newsletter. If you liked this post, consider joining the fun. Blog Post by Coach JulieNCI Certified Nutrition Coach L1 & Certified Mindset Coach You’re probably a little confused right now . . . Let me break it down for you.
I have clients that struggle terribly with allergies and asthma. They’ve tried everything. Expensive allergy testing shows no allergies. NONE. Believe it or not, the problem may not be allergies, it may be issues with the gut. It may sound crazy that your gut health would affect your sinuses, but the two systems are very intertwined. Both the respiratory tract and the digestive tract are immune barriers, meaning it’s their job to protect the body from outside invaders. The gut in particular profoundly influences the entire immune system. When gut health suffers so does the rest of your body. This can even result in allergy symptoms that flare up each spring. Leaky gut, also known as intestinal permeability, is a condition in which the lining of the digestive tract becomes inflamed and porous, allowing undigested foods, bacteria, yeasts, and other toxins into the bloodstream. The immune system launches an attack on these toxins, which creates inflammation throughout the body. For many people, this happens every time they eat. This inflammation manifests in different ways for different people. Gut symptoms don’t have to be present to suffer from inflammation caused by leaky gut. It can cause joint pain, skin problems, digestive complaints, autoimmune disease, issues with brain function, fatigue, chronic pain, asthma, and…seasonal allergies. Chronic stress also weakens and inflames the digestive tract, causing leaky gut. Stress doesn’t just have to come from a stressful lifestyle or lack of sleep, although those certainly play a role. Eating a diet high in sugar, fried and processed foods is stressful to the body, as is an unmanaged autoimmune disease, or hormones that are out of whack. These are just a few metabolic factors that can contribute to leaky gut. If you need help managing chronic conditions or gut health, shoot Coach Kayli or I a DM. We’d be happy to jump on a coaching call with you to discuss your issues and help you get to the root cause. Have you ever been told the reason you’re not losing weight is because “you’re eating too little”.
If so, I am also sure you have been told your body has gone into “starvation mode”. Where people tend to explain it, as your body is holding onto all your body fat because you haven’t been eating enough calories. Spoiler Alert: I’m here to explain to you why this is in fact a myth. As everything you hear in the fitness and health industry there is a sliver of truth behind this statement. In fact, I myself am guilty of using this phrase in the past. Thankfully I have continued to learn and research the science of our metabolism. Next let's break down the common definition of “starvation mode”. What is Starvation Mode? Starvation mode is not a scientific term. It is a popular phrase used to imply that when you cut calories too low, your body goes into a protection mode, slowing your metabolism and calorie output so that you stop losing weight. This concept is rooted in your body's survival mechanisms. If you ever found yourself without food for long periods of time, it would not be beneficial for your body to continue to burn calories at a normal rate; instead, your metabolism would shift to preserve as much energy as possible to prolong your life. But starving to death is not quite the same thing as dieting and you will still lose weight in the process of wasting away without food. How Long Can You Survive Without Food? With access to water and electrolytes, your body can survive for quite some time without food, depending on the person and how much body fat you have. Some research suggests that you can go more than a month without food. And in some religions, long fasts are commonly practiced with potential health benefits. Starvation mode is not a real term, but metabolic adaption is, and it’s a known phenomenon. How drastically it affects your weight loss progress is another story. Your body can compensate for decreased calories by slowing your metabolism down as much as 30% through adaptive thermogenesis. But the effects of adaptive thermogenesis are typically short-lived, and for most the difference could be as little as a 5% decrease in basal metabolic rate (BMR), and it does not indicate a damaged metabolism. So what is the verdict? In all of the studies referenced to support starvation mode, weight loss was a factor. And it is crucial to note that any weight loss can cause you to have a lower BMR - since it just takes less energy to move around a smaller object. Why You're Not Losing Weight and How to Fix it If you find that you’ve hit a weight loss plateau, it does not mean you are in starvation mode. Some more common factors are likely at play, including the following: You're Not Tracking Your Food Intake It's pretty impossible to know if you are in a calorie deficit if you aren't tracking your food intake. Before assuming something else is at play, keeping an accurate food diary is the best place to start. Even if you've been tracking, take a look at how diligent you are being with this habit.
You can also use your tracking app to get weekly calorie and macro averages - this is the best way to see how well you’ve stuck to your diet consistently, as well as where you could use some work. You're Not Eating the Right Amount of Calories Typically, if you aren't losing weight, you are eating more calories than you think. Or if you've recently lost weight, you likely have a new maintenance calorie amount and may need to eat fewer calories to continue losing. This is why many popular weight loss plans will use a phased approach to cutting, helping you to stay in a calorie deficit and continue losing weight with incremental calorie cuts. Start by figuring out how many calories you need to eat a day to maintain your current weight and then calculate your new weight loss calorie needs from that starting point. You're Always on a Diet It might also just be that your body needs a break. If you've been dieting for more than a few months, it might be time to give your body time to adjust to your maintenance calorie level. Jumping from one diet to the next and constantly trying to cut calories can do more harm than good. It is much easier to stick to a diet and continue to get results if you understand how to maintain results in the first place. Been on a really low-calorie diet for a while and scared to add calories back in? Try upping your intake a few hundred calories a week to start, until you reach your maintenance level. And then stick to your maintenance for at least a month to give your time to adjust and reset your metabolism. You're Too Focused on the Scale Oftentimes dieters are focused solely on fat loss, but their total body composition is crucial to getting better results and making them stick. Not to mention, if you are cutting calories too low for too long, you’re at risk of losing precious calorie burning tissue - your muscle. Gaining muscle is essentially the opposite of “starvation mode”. Your muscle mass is the biggest determinant of your metabolic rate, and the more you have, the more you can eat and maintain your weight. Plus, muscle is the tissue behind that lean, toned look most of us are striving to achieve in the first place. While muscle growth is typically achieved through weight gain, which would ultimately increase your metabolism even further, it is possible for some people to build muscle in a calorie deficit. But at the very least, you should be focused on protecting your muscle while dieting. To keep your lean mass intact while dieting, be sure to incorporate the following:
What are the Minimum Calories for Weight Loss? While starvation mode may not technically exist, starving yourself to lose weight is still not recommended. A very low-calorie diet may work at first, but it’s likely not going to do you favors in the long run. It can be dangerous for some people, lead to disordered eating habits, and does not typically lead to sustainable results, since most people do not change bad habits once they resume eating again. In addition, extreme dieting is impossible to maintain, causing painful hunger cues, irritability, mood swings, decreased energy, poor concentration, and sucks your willpower dry, all of which makes sticking to a diet that much harder. Instead, stick to a more attainable approach to dieting with no more than a 15-20% decrease from your estimated daily energy needs. Slow and steady weight loss of 0.5 to 1% body weight per week is much easier to keep off and you will be much happier and more successful with a more measured and sustainable diet plan approach. Need help figuring out how many calories you need each day? I’d be happy to help you figure out your starting numbers. Simply click the button below and fill out this short form explaining your goals and I’ll reach within 24hrs! Blog Post by Coach JulieNCI Certified Nutrition Coach L1 & Certified Mindset Coach Wegovy and Ozempic are both GLP-1 (glucagon like peptide). With GLP-1 drugs, you will lose muscle mass if you are not doing some sort of resistance training. “Much of the "weight loss" resulting from GLP-1 agonists is the loss of muscle, bone mass, and other lean tissue rather than body fat (Ida, et al.).” When taking GLP-1 drugs it’s important to focus on getting adequate protein to at least maintain muscle mass. (Usually .75g of protein per pound of lean body mass is adequate. If your goal weight is 150 pounds that means 113g of protein per day.) A significant loss of bone mass, for example, predisposes serious bone diseases such as osteopenia and osteoporosis. And a significant loss of muscle mass lowers metabolic rate (increasing the risk of weight regain), raises the risk of falls, and impairs function and quality of life. Research has found that when people stop taking Wegovy/Ozempic, they rapidly regain weight. (Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism: Journal, June 2022) Experts say this is because the drug is not a cure and it does not prevent the metabolic adaptation that occurs during weight loss. A study published in April 2022 which sought to examine changes in body weight and cardiometabolic risk factors upon the termination of the drug, found that after a year people had regained two-thirds of the weight they had lost. The positive changes they had seen in cardiometabolic risk factors like blood pressure, blood lipids, HbA1c, and C-reactive protein had similarly reversed.According to the study authors, these findings reinforce the need to continue treatment in order to maintain the benefits of the medication. (Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism: Journal, April 2022) The fact that people may need to stay on Wegovy indefinitely in order to maintain the weight loss has raised concerns about long-term use. (NPR, 2023) As a nutrition coach, I have been asked several times about these two drugs. I always suggest talking with your doctor about this and making sure that this is the right answer for you. My opinion though is to always work on lifestyle, diet and fitness interventions first. I would invest in a coach before I spent the money on this very expensive drug. If you have further questions, shoot me a DM, we’ll talk. Blog Post by Coach JulieNCI Certified Nutrition Coach L1 & Certified Mindset Coach Do you suffer with Rheumatoid Arthritis? Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune and inflammatory disease. Symptoms of this disease are tender, warm or swollen joints, joint stiffness, fatigue, fever and loss of appetite. Early symptoms tend to appear in the smaller joints first, usually hands and feet. RA symptoms can wax and wane in severity including periods of remission and alternatively periods of increased intensity, called flared. Long term effects of this disease can cause your joints to deform and shift out of place. Western medicine admittedly states they are not sure what causes RA. They state they believe there is a genetic component, but that genes don’t actually cause the issue. This is something that I have been trying to teach my clients and audience, genes don’t cause or create a diseased state in your body. Just because your parents have diabetes does not mean that you’re doomed to have diabetes. If that’s how disease worked, you would have diabetes when you were 7. It wouldn’t wait until you were 37. Genetics may make you more predisposed to a certain disease or condition, but environmental factors have to be present to trigger and activate that disease. Your genetics load the gun, but your lifestyle and environment pull the trigger. This is why it is important to manage your health and wellness throughout your life and prior to symptoms appearing. Usually if you wait for symptoms to appear, the disease is already present. Studies are suggesting that there may be a link between Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and gut health. I can’t say that I’m surprised by this. RA is an autoimmune disease and an inflammatory disease. The root cause of many autoimmune diseases is inflammation and inflammation usually comes from the gut. This is where the environmental factors we spoke about above come into play. These studies are specifically referring to low stomach acid causing flares of RA. When stomach acid is low, usually people will experience food-allergy symptoms which can show up as RA pain. Stomach acid helps break down proteins in your stomach so that the intestines can absorb it. Without adequate stomach acid, your intestines absorb partially broken down protein which causes allergies. Signs of low stomach acid are: abdominal pain, bloating, gas, diarrhea, constipation, undigested food in stool, reflux and heartburn. Yes, you read that right, reflux and heartburn are signs of low stomach acid, not too much acid. If you struggle with RA, you may see some relief by looking at your gut health and working to optimize gut health. Avoid proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) like Prilosec or Nexium as they will lower your stomach acid. Some RA sufferers have stated that there are RA drugs that have caused acid reflux issues and therefore they have been prescribed a PPI to help them manage. It is very important to talk to your doctor about other options. Perhaps a change in your RA medication would be an option. If not, I would suggest doing some stomach acid tests to see if the issue you are experiencing is actually high stomach acid. If it isn’t, you have other options. If you are experiencing low stomach acid, you could find relief from your stomach acid issues but supplementing with Betaine HCL and adding stomach acid to your gut to help you break down food. This would not only eliminate the PPI and the symptom, but it would help you break down food and could potentially lessen the frequency and intensity of RA flares. Blog Post by Coach JulieNCI Certified Nutrition Coach L1 & Certified Mindset Coach I began Phase 4, the reintroduction phase, on July 7th. With this phase I started 2 new supplements Flora Protect and a supplement called PepZin GI. These two supplements are to repopulate the gut with good bacteria and to protect the gut barrier and gut immunity. I will maintain the S. Boulardii with these two supplements and I have continued the peppermint oil. I am reintroducing foods on a 3 day cycle. The first day, I will consume half a serving of a certain food. If I don’t have symptoms, I will continue to day two where I will consume a half serving twice per day. Assuming there are still no symptoms, I will eat a normal serving on day 3. Day 4 is a rest day, to make sure that I don’t experience any delayed symptoms. Sometimes delayed symptoms can occur if you’re experiencing constipation so we’ve built in a rest day to allow any symptoms to subside before we start a new 3 day cycle with a different food. After the end of the cycle, if there were no symptoms, I have been waiting a week or so and then reincorporating those foods back into my normal diet. Since the last update, I have reintroduced: salsa, amino energy (inulin) and alfredo. All have been a successful introduction. There were no noticeable symptoms with any of those items. Upon the completion of the 3 day cycle for these remaining foods, I had successfully completed a 21 week reintroduction phase. I did not have any foods that stood out as terrible triggers for my gut. I had some questionable issues with garlic, however I believe those to be dose dependent. This Phase ended on November 29th. I have discontinued all the supplements, including S. Boulardii, with the exception of the PepZin GI and Peppermint Oil. I will be continuing those through Phase 5, the Nexium cessation phase. We have now moved onto Phase 5, effective December 2nd. During this phase, I will move through a minimum 4 week phase where I titrate off of Nexium to discontinue its use. Long term use of a PPI (proton pump inhibitor) can be very detrimental to your health. You should be using these PPIs (Nexium, Prilosec, etc) for 3 weeks at the most to treat a temporary flare up. Long term use of PPIs can lead to increased risk of cancer, risk of fractures, pneumonia, Clostridium difficile diarrhea, hypomagnesemia, vitamin B12 deficiency, chronic kidney disease, and dementia. If you have been using these medications long term, you should not stop abruptly. You should use a step down method to gradually decrease your dose. I have been taking Nexium for over 15 years so the process will take at least 4 weeks, but could potentially last longer. During this phase, I will continue to take Zinc Carnosine at 75mg every morning on an empty stomach. I will also continue to take peppermint oil capsules before my morning and evening meals. Zinc carnosine reduces gut inflammation and helps protect the gut lining, which will be integral while my gut acid levels increase to their normal levels after being repressed for so long. Peppermint oil soothes the gut and helps prevent cramping and discomfort. I will also be adding in DGL chewables and Betaine HCL. The DGL chewables will be taken after my morning and evening meals. 3 tablets after each meal. The DGL chewable is Deglycyrrhizinated Licorice Root. I have used this supplement in a capsule form earlier in my journey. DGL is often used to soothe the stomach and support healthy digestion by encouraging mucin production. The Betaine HCL will be added in as needed. Betaine HCL helps protect the gut wall and strengthens it throughout the process. I will be using it as needed should I begin having acid reflux symptoms. After week one of this process, the withdrawal symptoms started. Week one consisted of reducing my Nexium to every other day rather than daily. After about day 4, I began noticing some mild diarrhea and headaches. I also noticed some weakness and dizziness. I am also having some reflux which is a most common and expected side effect. The reflux has been causing some nausea for me. Based on this, rather than moving to week 2, we decided to repeat week 1 again to see if my body would adjust. I continued to have symptoms so we will repeat week 1 for a third week to see if my body adjusts to the titration before moving to the next step of the process which will be reducing Nexium to once every two days. Withdrawal symptoms from a PPI are common, especially after long term use. Symptoms frequently include acid reflux and indigestion. There are, however, less common side effects that include: anxiety, depression, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, constipation, headaches, dizziness and more. As always, I will provide a case study update in 4 weeks, when I should have completed this final phase if my body responds well. My body has responded exceptionally well the last few months so I am hopeful this trend continues. Blog Post by Coach JulieNCI Certified Nutrition Coach L1 & Certified Mindset Coach I began Phase 4, the reintroduction phase, on July 7th. With this phase I started 2 new supplements Flora Protect and a supplement called PepZin GI. These two supplements are to repopulate the gut with good bacteria and to protect the gut barrier and gut immunity. I will maintain the S. Boulardii with these two supplements and I have continued the peppermint oil. I am reintroducing foods on a 3 day cycle. The first day, I will consume half a serving of a certain food. If I don’t have symptoms, I will continue to day two where I will consume a half serving twice per day. Assuming there are still no symptoms, I will eat a normal serving on day 3. Day 4 is a rest day, to make sure that I don’t experience any delayed symptoms. Sometimes delayed symptoms can occur if you’re experiencing constipation so we’ve built in a rest day to allow any symptoms to subside before we start a new 3 day cycle with a different food. After the end of the cycle, if there were no symptoms, I have been waiting a week or so and then reincorporating those foods back into my normal diet.
Since the last update, I have reintroduced: ranch dressing, granola, avocado, ice cream, pears, beets, onion and garlic. All have been a successful introduction. The only noticeable symptoms I have had occurred during the garlic reintroduction. I had minimal stomach upset and a little bit of a bloated feeling. Not enough that I will completely exclude garlic, but I will keep it to a minimum. I am still working through a list of foods that I had eliminated and this will continue until I have tried all the foods that I eliminated so that I am either back to a normal diet or have identified some trigger foods. I am getting very close to wrapping this phase up, I have 3 more foods that I would like to add. I am taking this phase very slowly to be sure that I can clearly identify if there are some trigger foods. My coach has said that I can probably wrap it up, but I feel more comfortable maintaining this cadence until everything I used to eat is included. I have discontinued all the supplements, including S. Boulardii, with the exception of the PepZin GI and Peppermint Oil. I will be continuing those through the Nexium cessation phase. After this phase, we will move on to Phase 5 where we will eliminate Nexium and work on increasing my stomach acid levels. I have the protocol and I know what I will be adding, however I am not going to start this until I have completed the current supplementation and the reintroduction phase. With my forecasting, it looks like I will be starting that phase on December 3rd. Blog Post by Coach JulieNCI Certified Nutrition Coach L1 & Certified Mindset Coach I began Phase 4, the reintroduction phase, on July 7th. With this phase I started 2 new supplements Flora Protect and a supplement called PepZin GI. These two supplements are to repopulate the gut with good bacteria and to protect the gut barrier and gut immunity. I will maintain the S. Boulardii with these two supplements and I have continued the peppermint oil. I am reintroducing foods on a 3 day cycle. The first day, I will consume half a serving of a certain food. If I don’t have symptoms, I will continue to day two where I will consume a half serving twice per day. Assuming there are still no symptoms, I will eat a normal serving on day 3. Day 4 is a rest day, to make sure that I don’t experience any delayed symptoms. Sometimes delayed symptoms can occur if you’re experiencing constipation so we’ve built in a rest day to allow any symptoms to subside before we start a new 3 day cycle with a different food. After the end of the cycle, if there were no symptoms, I have been waiting a week or so and then reincorporating those foods back into my normal diet.
Since the last update, I have reintroduced: cauliflower, bran, kidney beans, cream cheese, honey and apples. All have been a successful introduction. I am still working through a list of foods that I had eliminated and this will continue until I have tried all the foods that I eliminated so that I am either back to a normal diet or have identified some trigger foods. I am getting very close to wrapping this phase up, I have 11 more foods that I would like to add. I am taking this phase very slowly to be sure that I can clearly identify if there are some trigger foods. My coach has said that I can probably wrap it up, but I feel more comfortable maintaining this cadence until everything I used to eat is included. I am continuing the supplement regimen that I listed above until I am out of them. When I run out, I will not be refilling those. This includes the S. Boulardii. The only supplement listed that I will continue is the peppermint oil as that will be carried over into Phase 5. After this phase, we will move on to Phase 5 where we will eliminate Nexium and work on increasing my stomach acid levels. I have the protocol and I know what I will be adding, however I am not going to start this until I have completed the current supplementation and the reintroduction phase. |
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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