by Trish Adams | Jan 30, 2015 | Consistency, Fat Loss / Cutting, Fitness Cycles (Periodization)
Those of us who understand the importance of having “seasons” (cycles/phases) in our journey, tend to spend fall and winter focusing on building muscle size and strength. In fact, it’s very common to align your training phases with the actual seasons, taking advantage of the cover up in the colder months and then leaning out for the summer. If you are in this camp you probably will start planning your cutting phase to start late winter/early spring, giving you plenty of time to trim down for summer and avoid a last minute panic. Whether this is your first cutting phase or 10th, these tips will set you up for a successful experience.
1. Less is not more
Even though cutting calls for a caloric deficit, one of your goals should still be to maximize food intake while still losing fat. Starting with a small deficit of 5-10% allows you to do just that. Jumping straight to a big deficit like 20% means that should you need/want to adjust your deficit, you will be eating even less food (say it isn’t so!). While larger deficits might get the scale moving more quickly in the short term, they are also harder to stick with and can easily backfire.
2. Just say no to extreme restrictions
You CAN enjoy treats during cut!
While cutting, you may choose to adjust your macro ratio, but it shouldn’t be so drastic where you go from eating 200g carbs to 50g or start putting foods like bread, bananas or your favorite treats on a banned food list! Overly restricting food groups can lead to an unhealthy relationship with food or, worse, eating disorders like binge eating. And, honestly, how long would you be able to maintain that? Remember, if you won’t be able to sustain it throughout your cut, it will offer little benefit. Lowering your calorie intake doesn’t mean eliminating food groups.
3. Keep rocking the protein
By consuming less calories you will encourage the body to use more of its own resources for energy, preferably fat stores. During the process, however, we want to minimize lean tissue loss as much as possible. Remember metabolically active tissue (aka muscle) boosts your metabolism rate. Staying on top of your protein intake will aid in keeping it around. In fact, you might consider adding a little extra protein.
4. Diet breaks do a body good!
Deficit eating should not become your new standard of eating. Plan to take diet breaks every 4-6 weeks or so and return to normal eating for a week or more. Extended periods of dieting will lead to a new LOWER maintenance. It may be tempting to continue eating at a deficit, especially if you are steadily seeing progress. Don’t do it. Take the break!
5. Fat loss does not equate to crazy cardio
Many of us, especially those who have experienced weight loss in the past from doing extensive cardio, may think it is the perfect time to reintroduce cardio as the mainstay of our fitness program and, as a result, start adding more of it to our regimen. After all, we’re trying to create a a deficit, right? Wrong. This is a mistake! Recall what Alwyn Cosgrove, author of the best-selling series New Rules of Lifting, said about the hierarchy of fat loss – nutrition is most important and activities that do not maintain muscle or increase metabolism (aka cardio) are least important. The reality is that your training should continue to be based in strength. No need for excessive cardio shenanigans!
6. Manage other stress
Deficits are stressful to the body and can be stressful mentally. Plan for it by including more relaxing activities in your program, such as low intensity/casual walks, meditation or whatever helps you to unwind. Make sure you are getting sufficient quality sleep as well. Here’s a great app that can help you establish a meditation practice www.headspace.com.
7. Outsmart your deficit
No one likes to feel deprived and one way to avoid those feelings is by including more nutrient dense foods in your meals! Keeping the volume of food high with low-calorie high fiber foods like veggies and fruit may help you avoid those diet-like feelings. Bonus: You’ll boost your nutritional profile at the same time.
8. Have patience and manage expectations
Like every other phase of your fitness journey, cutting requires time, consistency and patience. If it is your first time cutting, you may have high expectations, however, just like building muscle takes time, losing fat does as well. Don’t expect your clothes to be suddenly falling off you after two weeks. You can speed the process up by truly being consistent with your efforts and keeping a positive mindset.
9. Remember, you are an individual
If you are starting your cutting phase with a friend or are following someone else’s journey via social media, resist the urge to start comparing your progress. It is tempting, but it can also be the perfect set up for disappointment. Two people following the same program, eating the same foods, etc. can yield very different results. Think about a few of the factors that come into play here – age, weight, height, genetics, body composition, hormone balance, lifestyle habits, etc. Don’t fall into the trap of judging your progress by another’s. Whether fast or slow, celebrate your progress!
10. Look at the big picture
Of you that is! Make sure that you are taking progress pics. Very often we zoom in on our (not so) favorite trouble spots, not noticing changes taking place in other areas. Our bodies really don’t care that you’d like to trim a few inches off your thighs or tummy. Fat loss happens where it happens. Period. Make sure you’re looking at the big picture to truly assess your progress.
Bottom line: your fat loss (cutting) phase, just as any other phase in your program (muscle building, maintenance, reset, chill) should have a beginning and an end. Staying in any one phase for too long can have adverse effects (read: no ONE phase will give you *all* the results, so cycle through them for continued results).
Take your phases slow and steady. Approach with INTENTION, then take a break. Be diligent in developing the habits you need (in the kitchen and in the gym), but resist the urge to focus solely on calorie burns or excessive cardio. Use some or all of these tips and you will be on your way to killing your next cut!
by Trish Adams | Jan 22, 2015 | Reviews
My Saturdays start with my 8 year old daughter and I heading down to the garage to our home gym. While I train, she constructs some sort of obstacle course out of whatever she can find. As far as she is concerned, the wackier, the more awesome it is and I mean anything goes – box, bucket, umbrella, shovel, etc. If she can lift it, it’s fair game!
Once finished, the family is out of the house until early evening. As you can imagine finding healthy convenience food when you’re on-the go can be a challenge. But, thanks to Subway, finding eats that fit your lifestyle just got easier! Last week I had the opportunity to sit down with other FitFluential ambassadors and Subway’s corporate dietitian, Lanette Kovachi who oversees the nutritional information of menu items, to discuss exciting changes happening to Subway’s menu.
One such change is Subway’s new and improved grilled chicken. I actually had never eaten a grilled chicken sandwich at Subway, so I was quite excited to try it out. Since it was my first time, I thought I would go all in and have the Monterey Chicken Melt. Sounds pretty indulgent right? Well, I was pretty surprised to learn that my splurge had less than 400 calories AND packed in 29g of protein. Boo-yah!! Being the HANGRY girl that I am, I doubled the meat for even more yumminess. Yeah baby!
Monterey Chicken Melt – Double Meat!
Subway sandwiches are made to order, so I opted for the 9 grain wheat bun which is made with more than 50% of whole grains and has 4g of fiber for a 6-inch serving. Then I added cucumber, red onions, tomato and avocado. Delicious! The grilled chicken can be served on a bun, like mine, on flatbread or on top of a salad. Here are some reasons Subway’s grilled chicken sandwiches and salads are a great option:
- No artificial preservatives or flavors
- All white meat, high protein
- Lightly seasoned and tastes great, not bland
- Sodium is down 30% over all for all sandwiches, and the Monterey Chicken Melt has less than 600 mg
- Indulgent tasting, but won’t wreck your nutrition
- With over 40,000 locations, you can always find a Subway in a pinch!
For the most part, I prepare and carry my own food with me, but that does not always work out, especially when you are more often on your kids’s schedule rather than your own! And finding protein is always a concern when on the run.
My girls have been subway fans for a couple of years and now mommy is one, too. Not only is it great tasting, it checks a lot of boxes on my nutrition list. If you haven’t tried the grilled chicken yet, do it!
My always-on-the-go kiddos love Subway!
This post is sponsored by FitFluential.
by | Jan 19, 2015 | Testimonials, The Journey
A recurring feature on EM2WL is called “The Journey.” We strive to stress the importance of staying consistent, trusting the process, and making EM2WL a lifestyle. In featured “Journey’” stories, we get an inside look at how each person will make the process work for them, as well as demonstrating how this process looks from fresh angles. Journey participants agree to keeping us updated periodically, first sharing their story, then updating as their journey progresses…
T
he Mental Journey – Renee’s Story
I have just began my journey on EM2WL but I am excited to share this with everyone who is on it, has gone through it, or is struggling. A little bit of background about me: I began my weight loss journey on February 16, 2013. It was one of those days where I woke up and I said to myself, “I don’t want to feel like this anymore!” I can’t explain why this time was so different compared to the other mornings I felt like this, but it was that morning that changed me forever. I joined Weight Watchers and in 2 months I was down 14 pounds.
In April, I made the best decision of my life and spent the money on a personal trainer. He then changed my love for fitness and knowledge about how to work out. I felt on top of the world when I lost 35 more pounds with his training. By March 2014 I was down 50 pounds and feeling on top of the world. I then found MyFitnessPal, quit Weight Watchers (because I was tired of paying for it) and felt that I could continue my journey on my own.
It has been since March that I have maintained my weight loss of 50 pounds. Don’t get me wrong, I am thankful that I am able to keep the weight off for this amount of time, but I still have some unnecessary weight to lose. I was becoming so frustrated with myself because I could not seem to break from the plateau I was in. I was eating between 1200-1400 calories and nothing was happening. In December 2014 I came across EM2WL. I read everything. Every blog. Every success story. The science made sense. I read more articles about eating more in order to lose weight. Everything was making sense why I was on this plateau that I could not break.
There was about a two month period prior to starting EM2WL that I stopped tracking on MFP because I was getting bored and tired of not seeing any results. I couldn’t tell you how much I was eating so instead of doing a full metabolism reset, I opted to do a 15% cut from my TDEE. Even eating at this amount was mind boggling.
One month into EM2WL and I have found the biggest struggle for me: A mental mind game. Every single day. I have been off the scale since my starting date because I know that there will be a weight gain at first. I could not bear to see this on the scale so I chose to go “scale free” until I feel confident that the number means nothing. I read and re-read the EM2WL website, the success stories, and blogs daily for motivation and reassurance that I am going to be just fine. I am an active member on MFP’s EM2WL group. I highly encourage everyone to join it! It is a big help. The people are amazing at helping you understand the process, and give you motivation when you are feeling like you want to quit.
One of the best feelings I have from EM2WL is the energy from eating all this food! I feel great! My workouts feel better, I feel stronger. This is my motivation to continue. Eventually I will get over fear of the scale. Until then, I will stay off for my own sanity. I look forward to updating with great news!
Renee
Instagram: nay_gets_fit_
Remember, EM2WL is a lifestyle, not a quick fix. Featured Journeyers will remind us that we are all a “work-in-progress.” If you are interested in being featured in The Journey, please contact us for more info.
by EM2WL | Jan 6, 2015 | Testimonials, The Journey
I’ve (Kiki) been following Kim (Easybeingfat) on Instagram for a while now and I just love the long haul outlook she has on health and self love while achieving her goal physique. She knows that seeking out consistency rather than shortcuts, is the fastest way to lose weight. Thankfully, I was able to snag some time with her and get her to share with the fam her secrets to slow, steady, and sustainable progress.
How long have you been on this journey?
Well, for years I TALKED about losing weight and getting serious about my health. I didn’t get serious until June 2013. My best friend wanted to do p90x and she was adamant about me doing it with her. Of course I was all talk, and lazy, so I said no. I didn’t want to do it. She was persistent though. Being my best friend since 6th grade she knew exactly what to do and say. THANKFULLY, it worked!
I’m always in awe of your consistency (you surely see me tagging clients on your IG pics all day! LOL) Did you start out intending this to be a “long haul” thing, or did that mindset evolve over time?
Honestly, I started out lost. Uninformed, uneducated, ignorant in my opinion when it came to fitness/weight loss for MYSELF. No real goals but to simply be a certain weight. The scale was my biggest concern in the beginning. It determined ALL my success/progress back then. I honestly had no “plan” to do anything but make the scale say what I THOUGHT would make me feel better about myself. I simply wanted to be 185 pounds. THAT’S IT! As I stated, I was lost. My mindset has certainly EVOLVED! J
How did others around you act about your decision to discard the usual quick fix methods for weight loss?
People were cool. I mean I don’t recall anyone saying anything about it. I have a pretty strong personality, so people really don’t think twice about questioning my choices. At least not to my face. Lol. What I mean by that is people know I won’t be bothered about how THEY feel or what THEY think about how I’m bettering myself. This is my journey to healthy living and I’m going to do what I want.
You motivate followers daily with your hilarious videos and inspirational messages. How do you manage to stay positive when progress slows or “appears” to be nonexistent?
SLOW PROGRESS IS STILL PROGRESS!! I say things like that to myself all the time. You’d be surprised how much I talk to myself daily to stay motivated. Not just about working out, but about progressing in life PERIOD! Simply being better. HEALTHY LIVING! They (whoever they are lol) say don’t look back, but sometimes thinking about how I USED to be or USED to look keeps me motivated. Knowing that this growth/progress didn’t happen overnight is motivation to keep going. I know what I want is out there to be mine as long as I continue to work hard and believe in myself. That keeps me motivated!
You struggle (openly) with your love of Krispy Kreme, lol! How do you balance the foods you love with the foods that nourish without getting too restrictive?
Did you say Krispy Kreme? Why must you tease me like that? Hahaha. This is by far the toughest thing about this journey for me. EATING! Lord knows I love all the things that aren’t good for you. No, I love to eat A LOT of all the things that aren’t good for you. Lol. That was my problem (portion control and binge eating). I’ve been through so many fad diets/eating plans it’s sickening. That’s why it’s called a journey because you go through so many things to figure out what works for you. I eat the things I like, just not those HUGE portions like I used to. I’ve learned to eat the “bad” things in moderation and try to have moderation in moderation. (that isn’t always the case) Something that works well for me is preparing healthier options that I absolutely love. I can literally eat the same thing every day. A lot of people start this journey eating things they don’t even like hoping it’ll help them loss weight. (I did this) For me, that was an easy way to start binge eating and that’s exactly what would happen. There goes the plan to lose weight! I mean why eat brussel sprouts if you don’t even like brussel sprouts? (I used this example because I used to eat them because they were healthier and I didn’t even like them)
Find a healthier option THAT YOU LIKE! I have fallen in love with baked salmon, sweet potatoes, ground turkey, etc. All those things are so much better than the Popeye’s chicken, McDonalds, and Pizza Hut I used to eat on the regular in the past. I honestly never ate the healthier things until I started eating better. I’ve realized that the good stuff is just as satisfying as the bad stuff. On many occasions I find myself in awe at how good something healthy I cooked is. I become so elated about it and I’m like, “Omg! This is so good! It’s healthy too! I’m winning!” lol. Also, since my concern for weight loss is not like it used to be I find it easier to enjoy food. Now that my focus is more so fat loss and changing the way my body looks, I realize some of the things I thought I couldn’t have help me in some departments. For example, I love those non breaded wings from Publix. When I was focused on weight loss I’d eat them on cheat days. Now I use them as protein sources. Of course I’m not eating 10-15 of them as I would on a cheat day, only like 5-8. I know that gives me 40-60 grams of protein. Might be high in fat, but it fits my macros! Simply put, I work hard at staying on my plan to eat better, but I allow myself to splurge every now and then. It works for me.
Your body composition over the past year has been amazing to watch! Heavy lifting is clearly working for you. How do you balance that with your other love of running?
I really love lifting weights and I’m enjoying seeing my cardiovascular endurance improve with running. I think they both are very beneficial to me, my progress, and I enjoy them immensely. Being better and getting in shape is pretty much my life, so I plan everything around that. That is my priority now. The love I have for it makes it a priority, it being a priority makes it easy to balance. No fun until workouts are done!
Your most hilarious Instagram posts are when you joke (or not?!) about all the crazy things you’re gonna do when you reach your dream bod (“fine”) status. I love that while striving for “fine” you are still unafraid to put yourself out there, enjoy life, and love yourself NOW. Any advice to other ladies who struggle with reaching a balance of wanting to change, while keeping a healthy body image?
They are definitely jokes! I simply put humor in the things most people think but don’t say. Lol. Anyway, I think self-love is the key. No matter your shape or size, if you don’t love yourself it won’t matter how “fine” you get or how fine you are. You can love your body enough to want better for it! I understand what it’s like to feel unpretty and/or unattractive because you don’t look like what’s on the TV or you don’t get the attention like those that do. I battled that for years. It’s a battle you will ALWAYS lose as long as you don’t love yourself. As long as you use society’s definition of beauty as your source. Propaganda. No I do not look like Halle Berry or Gabrielle Union. Does that mean I’m not beautiful? No, because I am beautiful! I don’t have abs, but I’m still sexy! That’s the attitude to have! Love yourself enough to find YOUR beauty and exude that! In the mean time stop downing yourself and make a change. Not allowing others opinions to bother you plays a huge role in that as well.
Can you describe your typical workout schedule?
My workouts have truly evolved! When I first started this journey I did things like p90x, Insanity, and t25 (home workouts). If it didn’t require weights or weight lifting in those workouts, I didn’t lift weights. I think those workouts were very beneficial for me. Especially p90x. I liked it most because it was more strength based. I enjoyed the push-ups, pull-ups, etc. That’s when I realized I should lift weights. Seriously, lift weights. Not that playing around in the gym like I’d done before. My love for strength training came from p90x. My workout regimen back then was just that. 5 days a week I’d get up, do my Insanity/p90x/T25 workout, and then go to work. These days I only workout 3 days a week. On those 3 days I run and I go to the gym immediately after to lift weights. Two a days! Every now and then I’ll dance for exercise as well! Lol. I’m using an app called couch to 5k to help me with running. It builds your endurance up with brisk walking, jogging, etc. I’m on week 6 now which is mostly running. You start out with a brisk walk for 5 minutes then you are running for 20-30 minutes straight. The prior weeks prepare you for this. As far as my weight lifting goes, I have 2 full body workouts that I alternate between. The workouts were given to me by Mat Arcon (mat_arcon on IG). I was introduced to him via IG and he has helped me so much. He was like my coach. He provided me with the exercises and the workouts. I added a few exercises myself, but I pretty much do the same thing. What’s great about it is every workout, you’re progressing. You’re either doing more reps or more weight. It works for me! He simply gave me the blueprint and I’m building the masterpiece. Lol. He also introduced me to if it fits your macros. IIFYM. I’d never heard of that until he talked about it.
Any parting words of encouragement to those who are new to the “long haul” philosophy, or struggling with the decision of whether or not to lift/fuel properly?
Of course! As random as they come to my brain, here you go. You have to find what works for you. There are a million ways these days to get in shape, lose weight, etc. You will probably try a few of them. Once you figure out what you like and what helps you MOST to reach your goals, STICK WITH THAT. Don’t talk about it, be about it. Don’t let fear be the basis of your decisions. GO FOR IT! Forget what everybody says about what you are doing. If it works for you, DO THAT! It’s called a journey for a reason. There will be ups and downs. You have to fight for what you want. I’d be lying if I said it would be easy. Its hard work, dedication, determination, etc. Before you do anything physical, work on getting your MIND right. That’s usually what hinders us. You will either make excuses or make it happen. If you choose excuses, stop complaining. Nothing works unless you do! When you are ready to make a change, you will! Just know that if you don’t plan on working hard you’re wasting your time. Don’t be afraid to fall down or fail. Its apart of success! It’s cool to have others that motivate you but you need to find the motivation within yourself. Others motivate you to get up, self-motivation keeps you going! Lastly, love yourself and grow! ;-)
How can the fam hear/see/read more from you?
YouTube: www.Youtube.com/user/easybeingfat
Instagram: Easybeingfat
MyFitnessPal: Kimd8fifty
Email: Easybeingfat@gmail.com
by Trish Adams | Jan 1, 2015 | Building Muscle, Life Application: Monthly Calendars, Strength Training
All too often in our fitness endeavors we set our sights on building strength in our lower body, idolizing exercises like squats and deadlifts over all others. While men seem to give adequate (if not disproportionately more) attention to upper body strength, it just doesn’t seem to be the case when it comes to women. Building lower body strength is a great goal for everyone and one that should be apart of every program, however, for the ladies, we need to bring some balance to our pursuit of fitness and see the value in developing strength in our upper body as well as our lower body.
Sufficient upper body strength improves every day movements like reaching, pulling, pushing and carrying. Lower body exercises like the deadlift will certainly assist with being able to pick things up from the floor like a child or suitcase. But, how empowering would it be if you could not only lift that suitcase off the floor, but then also be able to stow it in the overhead storage without assistance?
Developing upper body strength has a ripple effect which can enhance all your lifts, improving posture, stability, alignment and strength. From a physique point-of-view, women who are pear shaped can bring more balance to their appearance by building out their upper body, giving the illusion of a smaller waste. Hourglass figure…I’ll take it!
Medicine ball push up
In this first challenge of 2015, we are showing our upper body some well-deserved attention! Each week we hope to introduce you to a new move that will challenge your normal way of doing things and move you just a bit beyond your comfort zone. Typically do military or front presses? Get ready to be introduced to the landmine press and more!
Each week will also feature a complete upper body workout that will stimulate muscle growth and have your muscle fibers twitching! Each workout will use only one type of equipment (i.e. medicine ball, kettlebell, etc.) or just your body for resistance. If you don’t have the equipment prescribed, sub with another implement or repeat a challenge from a different week.
If you have your eye on being able to do your first unassisted pull up, we have dedicated a day to helping you get there. Practice these moves each week and beyond, working them into your normal workout regimen once the challenge is over. If push ups have your attention, we’ve got you covered there as well!
As with all EM2WL challenges, take time to relax and recover. Treat yourself like the queen that you are and relish the self care! Likewise, we have included important nutrition tidbits that are great reminders to keep your eating on track.
Check in with us! We would love to see you working hard and hear how this challenge is impacting you! Happy lifting!
Click image to enlarge!
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