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#118 - The 100-Pound Weight Loss Grocery List
16 Plays5 days ago
Your fat loss doesn’t start in the gym. It starts at the grocery store. In this episode, I’m breaking down exactly how to shop like someone serious about losing weight and keeping it off.
Here’s what you’ll get from this episode:
- The biggest grocery shopping mistakes that sabotage fat loss (and what to do instead)
- A simple strategy to build your weekly grocery list without feeling overwhelmed
- The exact foods I recommend for high-protein, high-volume, and high-satiety meals
- How to balance the 80/20 rule and avoid keeping trigger foods that lead to overeating
If you need some recipes, you can grab my free cookbook with over 50 macro-friendly, high-protein meals — linked in the show notes.
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Transcript
Introduction to the Fit-ish Project
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome back to the Fit-ish Project with your host Latham Bass, where we make fitness and health simple for regular people like you and I. We have another weekly episode coming at you as we typically do. Before I get into this, if you can leave a review if you have not done so.
00:00:19
Speaker
As always, just continue to get this out to more people who could use this information.
Practical Grocery Shopping Advice
00:00:24
Speaker
For the episode this week, I wanted to do a little bit more of a practical type of episode.
00:00:31
Speaker
Always like to leave you with some practical things that you can start to implement right away. For this one, I wanted to talk a little bit about grocery shopping. and And so one of the things that I've realized about health is that it is simply just a skill.
00:00:45
Speaker
It comes down to doing a lot of little skills. And when you put those things together, you're able to live a healthier life. And one of those skills that's really important is grocery shopping. And I think a lot of times we overlook these little things, like oftentimes because they are things that we've been doing for so long that we just assume that they should come natural to us and we should be good at them. But the fact is a lot of people don't have the skills to be healthy and fit.
00:01:09
Speaker
And so when it comes to things like weight loss, when it comes to things like fat loss, building muscle, even just being healthy, fat loss and just being healthy does not start in the gym. It starts in your grocery cart.
00:01:21
Speaker
So having an idea of what to do and being able to actually buy the right things, knowing what to buy, being able to prepare and cook food, eat the right portions, those are all health skills. But if you don't get the very first step of that right, like you don't know what to buy and you don't buy the right things, it's going to make being fit, healthy, looking better, feeling better.
00:01:40
Speaker
much more difficult. And so I wanted to actually just get into what it looks like for me when I grocery shop and little tips and things that I've used, and then also just leave you with some practical advice and then also some recipes and different foods and things like that, that you can start to implement and use and make the process of just making a transformation, being more fit, being more healthy, feeling better, looking better, just easier because food is such a huge part of any of your health and fitness goals.
00:02:08
Speaker
And so if you're not getting this one thing right, it's going to make everything else just that much harder. And so getting into this episode.
Impact of Environment on Health
00:02:16
Speaker
So the main reason, as I said, that so many people struggle is because they fail to set up their environment in a way that is easy for them to be successful.
00:02:27
Speaker
And so what I mean by that is like when you look around today, it's become harder and harder to be healthy and to just eat a quality diet. When you think about 20, 30, 40 years ago, we didn't have these super high rates of obesity and people being overweight and heart disease and cancer and all these different health risks that are associated with poor diets. We didn't have those problems.
00:02:48
Speaker
We didn't have this huge issue with overeating and this issue with being so sedentary. And so now when you look around, it's much more difficult because our environment is not really set up for us to be healthy.
00:03:00
Speaker
And I've talked about some of these statistics before, but like when you just look at people in general, we're more sedentary than we ever have been. We have more health issues. People are overweight more than they ever were before. they don't exercise, they don't hit their protein goals, they don't hit their step goals. Like all of that stuff has trended in the wrong direction and a huge portion of that when you look at it is just people are eating more and they're moving less.
00:03:23
Speaker
It's just as simple as that. And if you don't set up your environment in a way that makes making that healthy choice, the easy choice, it's really easy to start to slip and start to default and start to make a lot of the choices that a lot of other people are making. And just by looking at the numbers, those choices aren't leading to good health outcomes or being able to live the kind of life that you want to live.
00:03:46
Speaker
and so when you think about this here it's like if i want to make it easier i just need to keep better quality foods in my house and i want to keep less lower quality things out of my house and this doesn't have to mean that you like you can never ever have a processed food or you can never have a sweet or a dessert or anything like that by now hopefully you know that that's not my style that's not my approach because i just don't think that's really sustainable for most people But when you think about like making that healthy choice, the easy choice, it doesn't make a lot of sense to keep a lot of just things that you probably don't want to eat that often or things that
Managing Food Temptations
00:04:23
Speaker
are just really easy to overeat in your house because then you have to make that decision multiple times per day versus like if I just don't buy those things and keep those things in my house, I'm not going to have access to those things. And I'm honestly not even really going to think about those things that much. I think about like when I started this whole process,
00:04:40
Speaker
back 10, 11 years ago versus now, like now I have way more control around food. I understand portions. I understand energy balance and calorie deficits and proteins and macros and all that different stuff. But like back then when I didn't know any of that stuff and I didn't really have a great relationship with food in general, I struggled with overeating all the time.
00:04:59
Speaker
for me to keep all that stuff in the house would have just not been a smart move like now i could get away with it i could have some of that stuff in the house and like have a lot more of it and have more of that self-control but even still today like if there's times where i do have like more snacks and different things like that and i just find myself eating those things when i typically wouldn't eat a lot of that different stuff and Again, that's not necessarily a bad thing, but I think it's just something to be aware of. Like these foods that are very easy to overeat, they're designed to be that way. And so like you find yourself in the kitchen munching on the chips or like having the extra sweets or different things like that. And it's just really hard to control those things sometimes if you have an abundance of those things in your house. And so...
00:05:40
Speaker
understanding where you're at in that process, like maybe you're a person that, okay, want to keep most of that stuff out of my house, or maybe you're a little bit better with that stuff and you have more control and you don't have such an issue with overeating and things like that, then maybe you can keep some more of those things in your house.
00:05:55
Speaker
And I think second to that is just knowing like, what are your like trigger foods? So like I mentioned chips and those are so that's something that I just don't keep in my house anymore because like I could crush a family bag of chips, no issues.
00:06:08
Speaker
Cereal was another thing that I really, really used to love as a kid and I have no problem eating two or three bowls of cereal. And like now I can have that stuff in my house if I really wanted to, but oftentimes I just keep that stuff out of my house. Like I've recently been buying some cereal just because I mixed that in my Ninja Creamies.
00:06:25
Speaker
And there's times where I'm just like, I go to the cupboard and I see it and I'm like, oh, let me just grab a handful of this. and like Not a big deal, but then you do that two, three, four times a day. Okay, i just ate an extra 300 calories that I wasn't planning on eating that day just because that cereal is right there. And so I think it's just important to just start to be more mindful about these certain things and just be real with yourself about, okay, can I have these things in my house or can I not?
00:06:47
Speaker
And the truth is like you're still going always have access to any of these foods that you really want to have. So like if I go to a social event or if I go out to eat or something like that, like in those chips there and I want to have those chips, then going to have those chips. But I just would rather not keep those in my house. And when they're not in my house, I don't even think about them.
00:07:05
Speaker
So you don't necessarily have to cut all these things out. But I think just putting limits on these things and just putting some boundaries on these things can be really helpful and force you to not have to use so much like willpower or discipline when it comes to these things. And so With that being said, like your grocery cart is that first step to creating a good environment where making those healthier choices becomes a lot easier.
00:07:27
Speaker
And so like one good trip to the store, like one good grocery haul makes your week for being successful that much easier because then you just make that decision one time. You buy the things that you want to buy at the grocery store.
00:07:39
Speaker
And now you don't have to walk through the kitchen and turn down all those snacks and sweets and different things that you know are just going to be super hard to overeat. And I think I've mentioned this before on the podcast, but you make around 200 food choices every single day. So deciding what you're going to eat, how much you're going to eat, if you're going to use this sauce or that sauce, if you're going use this seasoning or that seasoning, how are you going to prepare it?
00:08:03
Speaker
Just so many different choices that you're making around food. And so with this one choice of just buying the right things at the grocery store, you're setting yourself up to make better choices down
Grocery Shopping Strategies
00:08:14
Speaker
the line. And so that's why I think just getting into this and just figuring out a really good strategy for you is so important and such just a foundational part of just being successful with creating a diet that's not only healthy and helps you hit all your goals, but it's also enjoyable.
00:08:28
Speaker
And so getting into like the very first part of this. So obviously you need to have a plan going in. I'm big on planning and I think that's important to have a plan before you go grocery shopping because if you try to wing it, it just doesn't end well. And so just a couple of tips when you are grocery shopping.
00:08:42
Speaker
make sure you have some sort of list and be able to stick to that list. So before you get go into the grocery store and you're not just going and just blindly going up and down the aisles, like have some sort of list. So you have a plan going in.
00:08:54
Speaker
Typically in grocery stores, you want to stick to the outer edges because that's where you're going find your whole minimally processed foods. So your proteins and your produce, basically, like you want to get lean proteins, you want to get fruits, vegetables, and some other the things that I'll mention a little bit later. And we'll talk about some of the details and some of the actual items that you probably want to have on your grocery list. But sticking to the edges for the most part is typically a good plan.
00:09:17
Speaker
Another one that you probably heard, but don't go when you're hungry. That's just not a good idea. It's like when you go to the kitchen when you're starving at night and like you're having those cravings, it's like you're going end up eating a ton of extra food.
00:09:29
Speaker
And the same thing goes for when you go to the grocery store if you go when you're hungry you're probably going to end up buying a bunch of stuff that you didn't really need or that you didn't really even want and so don't go when you're hungry and just a tip if you want to avoid any and all of that stuff or you just really don't like or if you just hate grocery shopping similar to me like i just really don't enjoy going to the grocery store or you want to save some time or like stop some of that impulse buying just do a grocery pickup or a grocery delivery A lot of grocery pickups now, you can just do it and it's not even, doesn't cost you anything.
00:10:01
Speaker
Like some stores will charge you like a buck or two, but most stores it's completely free. So you just go online and get your grocery order, go on your phone and do your grocery order and then you just go pick it up. Or if you wanna spend a few extra bucks, you can actually just have it delivered straight to your door.
00:10:15
Speaker
And I think that's a worth the money to just like do a grocery pickup if you're only spending an extra dollar or two or having your groceries delivered or whatever. You save some time and it just makes it easier to make those choices.
00:10:27
Speaker
And now it's even easier because if you go online or you use an app, it saves all the items that you typically buy. And so you're not having to waste time like going through the store and getting those things. You just hop online or hop on the app and it has everything that you typically buy and you just rebuy those things when you need those things. So makes things easier and it makes you make those easy, healthier choices just that much more simple.
00:10:51
Speaker
And I'm all for convenience. We all love convenience. We all love making these choices easier. And that's a super simple way to do that. And so getting into like, what should you
Meal Planning for Variety and Sustainability
00:11:02
Speaker
actually buy? Like, what are you supposed to buy? When I have people that ask me about weight loss or they they hear that I've made a transformation,
00:11:08
Speaker
One of the questions that I get asked pretty often is like, what diet did I follow or what type of things did I eat? Getting into this, like what type of things do you want to eat, especially if you want to just like build muscle, if you want to lose fat, those sorts of things.
00:11:22
Speaker
You want to have an idea of some meals that you're going to have for each meal of the day. so For breakfast, lunch, dinner, you want to have just a handful of meals that you typically go to. And one of the pushbacks that I get when like people start to ask me questions about this and I tell them that I keep things pretty simple and I rotate through the same meals is like, oh, I want variety.
00:11:40
Speaker
don't really like eating the same things over and over. But when you actually look at the surveys, people typically rotate somewhere between 10 to 15 meals on average. And so it's not like people are eating something different every single day of the month. Like you're typically rotating through a lot of the same meals.
00:11:57
Speaker
And when you boil it down even more, when you look at like individual foods, people typically eat the same 20 to 25 food items each week. But the issue is most people over half of those foods, somewhere between 50 to 60% of those foods are coming from ultra processed foods, which as we know, we want to try to get to more of those whole foods, that 80-20 rule that I talk about so much. And so this is something that will take a little bit of trial and error to figure out, like figure out some meals that you really like.
00:12:26
Speaker
but also meals that are checking all those boxes to help you hit your goals and fit within your lifestyle, which I'll talk about some of those things that you want to look for in a good sustainable diet here in a second. When it comes to just getting a little bit more variety within your diet, one of the things that I do is like for the week, I typically just eat most of the same thing. So like, as I said, I will rotate through the same meals for breakfast, lunch, dinner for most of the week. I don't have any issues eating the same thing literally every single day.
00:12:55
Speaker
But then when the weekend comes, that's where I get my variety. And so like during the week, I might have like one or two things different that I typically wouldn't have. But on the weekend, that's where I sort of change it up a little bit. Like if I want to spend a little bit more time cooking or if I want to go out to eat or if I just want to have something a little bit different, that's where I get my variety. and And so there's ways to find some balance in there so you don't feel like you're always eating the same thing over and over.
00:13:19
Speaker
And as I said, I think this just comes down to just figuring out what really works for you. Like when I talk to my clients, like a lot of them do different things. So there's some people that like they'll meal prep and they'll eat the same exact meal for breakfast, lunch, dinner for seven days in a row. And they have no issues doing that. And there's other people who will meal prep or maybe eat the same breakfast every day, but then they change it up for lunch and dinner or they eat the same breakfast and lunch every day, but then they change it up and they have whatever their family is having for that night.
00:13:47
Speaker
So there's different ways to figure out like what's going to work with you. But I think that's really important to figure out some sort of strategy and routine that is easily repeatable and something that like you look forward to. And that really fits with you and your lifestyle.
00:14:00
Speaker
And so when we talk about like what is a sustainable diet, there's some different factors that we need to think about. And there's some different qualities of a sustainable diet, in my opinion, in in my experience, but also just with looking at some of the studies and things that people do really well with when it comes to just like losing weight and building muscle and just being healthier in general. And so some of those things that you want to look for in a sustainable diet,
00:14:26
Speaker
is high volume. We want higher volume foods. In other words, foods that you can eat larger amounts of larger quantities of for fewer calories, but they allow you to stay more full.
00:14:36
Speaker
So when you think about foods, they all have a calorie amount. In some foods, you can eat super big quantities of those things. So like vegetables, like you could eat a ton of vegetables and it wouldn't be very many calories. So when you think about like salads, very low in calories. When you think about strawberries, an entire pound of strawberries is 150 calories.
00:14:56
Speaker
an entire pound of watermelon, 150 calories. But when you look at something like, say like olive oil, or you look at something more calorie dense, like peanut butter, like one serving of peanut butter is 190 calories. And if you've ever weighed out a serving of peanut butter, you will be very saddened because it's not very much and it's very calorie dense. And so getting more of those high volume foods in your diet is really critical to just staying more full and satiated.
00:15:21
Speaker
High protein is another thing. And you hear about high protein all the time. And there's good reason for that because it helps you with keeping that muscle, building muscle, which is really important, not just for how you look and just like your quality of life. But when it comes to like having a faster metabolism, having more muscle mass is the most important.
00:15:39
Speaker
important thing that you can do to keep your metabolism faster. And so when you have more muscle mass, you're going to burn more calories. And so if you take two people who weigh the exact same, let's say two people weigh 200 pounds, you have one that has a higher body fat with less muscle, and you have a person who has lower body fat with more muscle mass, you have those people do the exact same activities throughout the day.
00:16:01
Speaker
the one that has more muscle mass is going to burn more calories. Even if they weren't doing any activities, let's say both those people were just laying on the couch all day, the person with more muscle mass is going to burn more calories than the other person because muscle mass takes more energy to preserve and maintain.
00:16:17
Speaker
And so you're just burning more calories by having more muscle mass. And when you think about why that's important, like having a faster metabolism, if you're able to burn more calories, that's going to make maintaining your weight and even losing weight easier. If I'm able to eat 2,800 calories versus having to only eat 2,200 calories to maintain my weight, it's going to be a lot easier because I have more flexibility with that 2,800 calories and I have more freedom. I can eat more food. I don't have to be as diving with my nutrition.
00:16:45
Speaker
And so when it comes to like increasing your metabolism and just having a little bit more freedom and flexibility with food, Building muscle is one of the best things that you can do to help you out that way. And it makes just maintaining your weight. And like i said, some of those other benefits with having more muscle mass are just critical. So high protein, high volume.
00:17:03
Speaker
The next one is high fiber. And not a lot of people talk about this. But fiber is something that a lot of people don't get enough of and it helps in a lot of different ways. And so it helps with fullness and satiety, helps with your digestion. It also helps with like blood sugar swings so you don't have as many cravings. And so high fiber diets can be super helpful. And a lot of times when I have clients or just people who ask me things about like they're really struggling with being hungry while dieting or they just feel like they're never really satiated or satisfied, I can almost guarantee that that person is not getting enough fiber because most people don't get enough fiber and most people don't ever focus on it. Most people don't even know what to eat to get more fiber.
00:17:42
Speaker
And so just eating more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, things like that are going to help to get your fiber up. And that's just going to help to keep you more full, satiated and have some of those other health benefits so high volume high protein high fiber and then the last thing that you can't skip over is it needs to be enjoyable and it needs to be sustainable otherwise you're just not going to stick with it and i think this seems so obvious but so many people overlook this one it's like i'm going to follow this diet that i hate that's super strict that doesn't have foods that i enjoy
00:18:13
Speaker
How could you ever think that's going to work long term? It makes no logical sense. Yet people do this every single day. They start a diet that they know they're not going to be able to sustain for any length of time.
00:18:24
Speaker
And if you can't sustain the diet, then when you quit that diet, and you go back to your normal eating habits. What do you think is going to happen? Like, what's the long play with this? Like, so having that good foundation and then just making sure that you're able to have a diet that you actually enjoy and that you look forward to the meals is really important because that sustainability piece is huge.
00:18:46
Speaker
I could give you a diet right now that would help you lose 10, 15 pounds this month, but it would suck. You would hate it. You wouldn't like it. You wouldn't feel good. You'd feel like trash. You wouldn't look forward to the meals and it wouldn't be sustainable. You'd gain all that weight back as soon as you stop that diet because you would not be able to sustain that for any length of time.
00:19:04
Speaker
And so when you think about all these things, you need to think about is this a diet that I can see myself sticking to for the long term? Like, is the way that I eat something that I actually look forward to and that I actually enjoy and actually can see myself doing for not just a couple of months, but like literally for years to come. And that comes down to really just understanding some of these principles, because once you understand, okay, these are the keys to like a sustainable diet,
00:19:28
Speaker
And you really understand things like energy balance and proteins and fats and just have some good eating habits. Now you can actually start to create your own diet. You're not just following keto or carnivore or low carb or some of these other diets that you hear about that give people these fast results. You're not just stuck in that.
00:19:45
Speaker
one diet. Now you can create your own diet. And when you can create your own diet, you're going to be able to pick things and meals that you actually enjoy and that you actually look forward to. And that's going to be way more sustainable than trying to just fit yourself into the certain little box. And so it takes a little bit more time up front because you do have to try different things. You have to figure out different meals that you like, different foods that you like.
00:20:07
Speaker
And so like in the beginning, your results might not be as fast, as if you were just to jump into something like carnivore or keto, where you're going to drop a bunch of water weight really quickly, drop a bunch of weight, but then ultimately end up gaining that back.
00:20:20
Speaker
You're not going to have those results right away when you're doing some of these things and trying different things. But over the long term, you're going to lose sustainably and you're going to lose at a good rate. And you're going to start to figure out what actually makes you feel good and what things that you actually like.
00:20:34
Speaker
And so that's super important. And so when it comes to like having a sustainable diet, I think these are some of the keys that I found for myself and my clients and just through
Key Diet Attributes for Health
00:20:43
Speaker
experience. But I also am a person who likes the science. Like I want to know why these things work and if it's actually validated by studies and other people's experience as well. So I started looking at some of these different studies. And when it came to like high protein diets, they ended up being better for fat loss, muscle retention,
00:21:01
Speaker
And satiety. And a lot of this has to do with when you eat more protein, you typically will eat less of the other stuff. So if you eating a high protein diet, I don't know if you've ever ate a couple of chicken breasts or just a really high protein heavy meal, it doesn't leave a ton of room for other things. And you're oftentimes not going to find yourself overeating on chicken breast or ground beef or things like that. You're not going to eat tons and tons of those things versus other things like processed foods or things that have a nice mixture of carbs and fats that taste really good and are very easy to overeat.
00:21:32
Speaker
And so protein is really hard to overeat. But then on top of that, when you're eating a high protein diet, you're typically going to be eating less. In the study that I found, they had these people eat more protein.
00:21:44
Speaker
And when they had them eat 30% more protein, they reduced how many calories they were eating by an average of 440 and lost more fat over time. And that's without even telling them to restrict calories. So to put that in like real world perspective, it's like you start eating more protein and just focusing on a high protein diet.
00:22:02
Speaker
you're going to naturally start to eat less calories because you're just more satiated and you just don't have as much room to eat some of that other stuff and so focusing on that high protein diet is super clutch when it comes to fiber a lot of the same thing so you had better fullness and you also started to eat less calories and so They had a similar result in this other study that I came across when it came to fiber. When they had people increase their fiber intake, they naturally started to decrease how many calories they were taking in by 10%. Not as big of a percentage as with protein, but it still had a similar effect. And by eating more fiber-rich foods, they were just typically eating less calories because, again, fiber helps with satiety, fullness, digestion, all those things. And so you don't feel the need to
00:22:48
Speaker
eat all those extra foods. And on top of that, fiber also helps with the blood sugar regulation. So you're not having as many cravings. It helps with your appetite control, which like those are important things if you want to lose fat. And most importantly, if you want to sustain that fat for a long time.
00:23:04
Speaker
And then lastly, when it comes to like high volume things, when it comes to like eating those foods that are bigger in quantities, but fewer in calories, this one also seems pretty obvious. Like if you're eating higher amounts of food for less calories, you're probably going to be more full and satiated. And so Similar effect to the fiber and the protein when you eat higher volume, lower calorie dense type meals with lots of fruits and vegetables, soups, salads, some whole grains, some beans, things like that. People typically ate 30% fewer calories without feeling hungry.
00:23:35
Speaker
And so when you start to add all these things up, high volume, high protein, high fiber, you're naturally just eating less calories and you're feeling more full and satiated and you don't have to deal with all those hunger, the cravings, all those different things.
00:23:48
Speaker
And so with that, to sum all that up, like how do you get a high protein diet, high fiber diet, high volume diet, you focus on that 80-20 rule. And so 80% of your foods are coming from those whole minimally processed things, your lean proteins, your healthy fats, your good solid carbs, your fruits, your vegetables. And then 20% of the time you can include some of that other stuff. And so getting into like...
00:24:09
Speaker
actually what foods should go on your list obviously like i said this is just some examples and if there's certain things that you don't like then don't put them on your food list again you need to enjoy the foods that you are eating and so that you actually look forward to those things and so i always think about when i'm going into a grocery haul like proteins are the first thing that i think about and so like getting lean protein so chicken breast chicken thighs ground beef turkey having some dairy products in there if you like dairy products like nonfat greek yogurt cottage cheese eggs and egg whites some protein shakes maybe some deli meat tuna seafood those are all really good sources of just leaner proteins and so like when you're going into your grocery haul and thinking about okay what are two three meals that i want to have this week for
00:24:53
Speaker
breakfast, lunch, dinner, figure out what lean protein sources you need and put those on your list when it comes to fruits and vegetables. In my book, any fruits or vegetables are good to me. Like there's some people that they get kind of like neurotic over like, all this fruit is not good. And this fruit is not good. It's like nobody is getting overweight or getting unhealthy because they're eating too much whole fruit.
00:25:15
Speaker
Like nobody is hiss getting fat or gaining a bunch of weight because they're eating too many apples or too many bananas. So that's not not something that I stress over. If you like certain fruits and vegetables, then include those certain things. And when it comes to like fruits and vegetables, there's certain kinds that are higher in fiber than others. So like berries or things that have skin on them, typically we are going to have more fiber, which is again, going to be a good thing. And so trying to include some of those things is important, but honestly, just getting any sorts of fruits and vegetables within your day is going to be a positive thing.
00:25:44
Speaker
Then you want to have some carbs within there. Carbs are not bad. They're not the devil. They're not the enemy. And so if there's some carb sources that you like and you feel better when you have more carbs because you feel like it gives you better workouts, more energy, then include some of those things. So like potatoes, rice, oats, some like higher fiber wraps, whole grain bread, fruit.
00:26:05
Speaker
Different things like that where you can get some of those higher quality carbs. And then when it comes to healthy fats, so I'm not huge on high fat diets, but that's just personal preference. There's some people who really like having higher fat diets, but you just have to be careful about fats because they are higher in calories per gram. And all that means is that like you're eating less calories.
00:26:27
Speaker
for higher amounts of calories. So when we think of high volume foods, it's like you eat larger quantities for fewer calories. A lot of times with fats, it's the opposite. So like very small portions of fat end up being a lot of calories. And so you just have to be mindful when it comes to those things. but If you're eating eggs, if you're eating meat and different protein sources, if you're eating some dairy, some cheese, some things like that, maybe having some avocados here or there, like you're going to typically not have an issue getting enough fat within your diet.
00:26:56
Speaker
So it's just one of those things that you want to be mindful of. But you do need to get some fat in your diet because they are essential. And without them, you will die. And you're hormone health will suffer and you just won't feel as good. So you do need to make sure that you do have some healthy fats within your diet. But I think for most people, they don't really have an issue getting enough healthy fats in their
Meal and Snack Planning
00:27:14
Speaker
diet.
00:27:14
Speaker
And then the last thing is just to make sure that you have some snacks in there. Like if you want some protein bars, if you want some jerky or cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, things that are just going to be super convenient and just help you to just stick on your plan. And so having some of those snacks and things like that And then when it comes to the 20%, so like think of these kind of as like the fun foods, like the things that you can include in your diet in moderation. And I think this is important for that long-term flexibility. And so obviously, again, you don't want to be filling your house with too much food that's really easy to overeat, especially if you're somebody who is more of a snacker and maybe you're like a stress eater or just a mindless eater, then having more of those types of snacks and things around the house is probably not a good idea.
00:27:55
Speaker
But I also don't think it's a bad idea to have a couple of these things around and so that it makes your diet feel more enjoyable and more sustainable. Like for me, for example, if you follow me on social media, you know I love ice cream. And so like I have a Ninja Creamy ice cream almost every single night.
00:28:10
Speaker
Other little things that I'll buy, like sometimes I'll have like Rice Krispies or just little snacks like that. ah One little tip, like if you do want to buy some of these like snackier types of food is just to buy them in individual packs. So like almost every single snack out there, you can buy an individual pack. So like it could be like desserts or like little Debbie things or like crackers or chips or any of that stuff you can buy in like little snack sizes.
00:28:36
Speaker
And it's just something easy because then you have it already portioned out versus like if you want a family size bag of Doritos or you have this huge bag or this huge tub of ice cream or whatever the case may be. It's just a little bit harder to have that portion control. And when it's already done for you, it just makes it easy. Like you finish that little snack size bag of chips and you're like, all right, I'm done. I don't need to have four or five more of those. Like it just makes it easier. Just one of those little things that you can start to do to make those choices a little bit more simple on yourself.
00:29:05
Speaker
And that is really it. Like when you're thinking about making a solid grocery list, like just having a plan going in. So knowing like, OK, these are two to three meals that I want to make for the week.
00:29:17
Speaker
And I know kind of what items that I need and then actually build out a grocery list. Or if you're not going to go to the grocery store and you're just going to use a grocery pickup or whatever, you just use your account and it's already easy. It's already done for you.
00:29:30
Speaker
And so having that plan going in, knowing what meals you're going to make for that week, and then just having a list of food items and having a plan going in is, it seems so simple, but I promise you it makes a difference. And then the last thing that I would say too, just to kind of wrap this thing up is just continue to think about ways to set up your environment for
Creating a Supportive Home Environment
00:29:48
Speaker
success. So don't let having all that stuff in your house be the reason why you can't hit the goals that you want to hit. And there's just simple solutions to a lot of this stuff. It just takes some time and some thought and some planning to just start setting your environment up in a way that makes this process easy and makes it repeatable and then eventually you start doing these things for a period of time and it no longer even seems hard like a lot of these things that i do now they're often things i don't even think about
00:30:13
Speaker
But then when I talk to people and they're like, oh, I never really thought of doing that or like, wow, that's a really good tip. That's why I get on the podcast and talk about this stuff. Sometimes I'm like, is this even worth talking about? Like, is this like not obvious information?
00:30:25
Speaker
But then I talk to so many people and like it's obvious that this isn't obvious information because a lot of people don't do it. A lot of people don't think about it. A lot of people have really just poor habits. And so by sharing this, hopefully you're getting, you know, a few nuggets here or there that you can start to implement and And with that being said, I also have a link to a bunch of macro friendly type of high protein, lower calorie type meals that I'm going to link in the show notes. I've been spending some time putting just a lot of the recipes that I use that don't really take a ton of cooking that are easy, very simple, but also high in protein and lower in calorie, but also actually taste good. So I'll link that because I know people are always looking for recipes and different ideas for that.
00:31:05
Speaker
And with that being said, one-on-one coaching link is also in the show notes as always. If you're somebody who wants a little bit more hands-on help with this type of stuff, little bit more accountability, a little bit more of a personalized plan, you can always check out that link and see if it is a good fit for you. But I do appreciate you listening and we will see you next week.