During our consultations we like to talk about nutrition. Specifically, YOUR current nutrition. We always encourage everyone to be honest with us. There’s no need to hide or be ashamed of what you’re eating. We’re on your team! We want to see you succeed!

We are just trying to learn a few things. Such as:

• Your lifestyle
• What your taste preferences are
• What you like/don’t like to eat
• How often you eat
• How much of “what” do you eat
• Your current kitchen skills
• And so much more!

What we usually see among most of our consultations is that many are not eating a well-balanced meal and most are not eating enough, especially not enough protein.

Here are some things we commonly see:

• Not consuming enough protein
• Eating too many refined carbohydrates (processed foods)
• Not eating enough calories
• Poor balance of nutrients
• Not enough sleep

Most of our clients/athletes have similar goals such as getting lean, losing a few inches, building some muscle definition, and improving their overall performance.

Some clients (prior to joining CrossFit WindRose) think that in order to lose weight, they need to eat less and workout more.

They are not 100% wrong. But the reason they are not seeing the results they want is because they are missing the proper execution.

Not eating enough can be self-sabotage.

When you don’t eat enough, your metabolism slows down – meaning you burn fewer calories. Our bodies need calories just to perform basic bodily functions and normal everyday activities.

It is necessary to eat at a slight caloric deficit –when trying to lean out– BUT you need to be eating enough to support your daily activities (i.e. walking, going to work, going to the gym, playing with our dogs, lifting our grocery bags, etc).

Otherwise you’re going to be starving, “hangry”, groggy, tired, easily agitated, and generally not feeling very well. On top of not feeling great, your performance can suffer, you’ll struggle with building muscle, and you won’t be able to recover properly leaving you sore, achy and prone to injury.

After you hop on our InBody scanner we get a good estimate on how many calories your body can burn on an average day based on our current height, age, gender, muscle mass, and body fat. We then take into account what you do for a living (is your job sedentary or active) and how often you plan on working out (2 days a week? 3 days? 5 days? etc).

Armed with that information, we determine a good estimate on how many calories your body needs in a day. Then we break it down into the right balance of protein, carbs and fats that you should be consuming each day.

A simple example is if our body needs 2,000 calories in a day for it to maintain its current physique (1,200 calories for your basal metabolic rate plus another 800 calories for your daily activity), we need to be eating approx. 1,700 to 1,900 calories. Enough to support activity levels while still burning excess body fat.

We are not saying to simply eat 1,900 calories of Doritos.

You need to be eating a balanced diet of carbohydrates, proteins and fats that equal 1,900 calories. Everyone’s ratios are slightly different based on their starting point and their ratios will change as your body changes.

As you start to eat enough to support you activity levels and eat the correct ratios, your metabolism will increase and the excess body fat will start shedding away.

What can you do today to improve your eating habits?

• Keep a journal of everything your eating in detail. Don’t just say you had a piece of chicken. Write down how many ounces it was and how it was prepared/served.
• Eat more protein throughout the day. If you get tired or overwhelmed with cooking and chewing your protein, you can add protein shakes as well as yogurts to your diet.
• Incorporate more fruits and vegetables in your diet and less processed foods.
• Moderation is important. If you’d like to know how many carbohydrates, fats and proteins you should be consuming in a day, schedule a free consultation with us.
• Avoid skipping meals.
• Have patience and be consistent. Bodily changes and habit changes take time.
• Drink more water.

If you’d like some help with your nutrition, schedule a FREE consultation today and let’s talk about how we can achieve your fitness and nutritional goals.