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#128 - Handling Cravings, Running Tips, Working Around Injuries, & More
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In this Q&A episode, I’m tackling some common struggles people face with fitness, weight loss, and dealing with injuries.
You’ll learn:
- How to handle cravings without derailing your progress (and the difference between true hunger vs. mental cravings)
- What to do about hip soreness when starting running and how to prevent it long-term
- Smart strategies to keep training when you’re injured so you don’t lose momentum
- The best ways to recover when you’re sore but still need to get a workout in
- Why plateaus happen and what to do when the scale stops moving
- How to transition away from calorie counting without gaining the weight back
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Transcript
Introduction and Episode Preview
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome back to the Dish 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.
00:00:14
Speaker
It's time for another Q&A episode, as I like to do about once a month, questions that I get from you guys, questions get from I get from clients, questions that I get from just having conversations with people in person in everyday life. And so I have five questions that I wanna go over today.
00:00:29
Speaker
Before I get into this, if you have not left a review and you can do that, continue to get this out to more people, I appreciate that.
Managing Cravings During Weight Loss
00:00:35
Speaker
But without any further ado, let's get right into question number one. So I'm currently trying to lose weight, but most days there's like a one to two hour period where I have some intense cravings.
00:00:47
Speaker
Any advice to get rid of these? This is a pretty common thing and it's something that I myself had, especially when I first started to change my diet pretty drastically. And so one thing that you should realize or that I should let you know is that a lot of the cravings that you have as you start to change your diet will eventually go away.
00:01:06
Speaker
But they can be pretty strong, especially if your diet has been full of more processed things or lots of sugar, salty type things, things that just are very tasty. Those things are very easy to start to develop cravings for. And when you take those things out of your diet, you typically do have some cravings.
00:01:25
Speaker
And so I know when I started, I had some of these things, but now I don't crave a lot of the same things that I used to crave. For example, like I don't really have cravings around like fast food or tons of like highly processed things or like very sugary, sweet things all the time. I still definitely do get some cravings, but the amount and to the extent that I have those things has changed dramatically. So I think just understanding that even when it is a little bit more intense at first, you have that expectation that it will get better as you start to improve your diet is encouraging.
Understanding Cravings vs. Hunger
00:01:57
Speaker
So I wanted to say that first off.
00:01:59
Speaker
The second thing that I always tell people when it comes to cravings is you need to understand that cravings and hunger are not the same thing. And I think sometimes people use these things interchangeably. Hunger is a physical sensation. Like you can feel in your stomach there's a little emptiness like you maybe have that rumbly feeling and you need some food like your body wants some food cravings is more of a mental more of a psychological thing where like you just really want something like something sounds very tasty or you smell something and it just smells super good and you really want to have that thing and you're just like really craving that thing mentally and so
00:02:34
Speaker
Understanding that difference and understanding, you know, when you're hungry, not that hunger is the worst thing in the world, but typically when you start to get more hungry, you should eat, feed your body, like give your body the nutrients and the fuel that it needs.
00:02:46
Speaker
But from a craving standpoint, you don't always have to give into that craving.
Strategies for Handling Cravings
00:02:51
Speaker
And I think being able to flex that muscle of being able to turn down certain things is definitely not a bad skill to develop over time. Because if you give into every single craving, you're probably going to be overeating and eating things that you typically don't want to be, including your diet all the time.
00:03:08
Speaker
And so understanding that you have the option to say, like, I'm not going to give into this craving. And that doesn't mean that you can never have this certain thing that you are craving, this dessert or this savory thing or this certain processed food or this fast food that you want. That's not saying that you can never have that thing. It's just saying you're not going to have it right now.
00:03:27
Speaker
And I think also understanding that. You're not saying no to this forever because when you try to completely cut out foods for a very, very large majority of people, that does not work. You'll be able to do it for a while, but eventually you build up this super hard energy to get over.
00:03:43
Speaker
You eventually cave and then now you're binging and you're eating thousands of calories and you can't stop yourself. And that's also not a place that you really want to be either. And so the solution that I have found that works really well is to just plan for these cravings. no you're not going to give in to every single craving, especially if you do have some specific goals around like weight loss or even maintaining your weight. You don't want to be always giving in to those cravings.
00:04:08
Speaker
But at the same time, like, it's not a bad thing to plan in some of those things that you know you're going to be craving. And so to give you an example, I'm a huge ice cream fan. I do like desserts. And so I have a Ninja Creamy almost every single night. And I plan for that.
00:04:22
Speaker
I don't go into the night and be like, oh I can't have this. I'm not going to have any desserts. I'm not going to have ice cream ever. No, I know that I enjoy those things. And when I have those things, I don't have those other cravings throughout the day because I have this thing to look forward to. And so I have that ice cream to look forward to every night, 250, 300 calories. And so I'm not like breaking my budget of calories by having a thousand calorie tub of Ben and Jerry's ice cream. No, I have this Ninja Creamy that I look forward to every single night. It checks that little box of I get this sweet dessert tastes good. I look forward to it. It doesn't blow up my calories. And so it's a really good, easy solution. And so having some options like that, whether it's a snack throughout the day that you really look forward to, it's part of your meal, it's some sort of dessert and planning to satisfy those cravings in some sort of way is a much better strategy than just trying to willpower your way through, say no all the time. And then eventually you just
00:05:19
Speaker
give up and then you give into those cravings and now you're eating 2000 calories that were unaccounted for. And so those are some things that I would tell you if you're currently struggling with those cravings. But again, understand that it's not always going to be like that. And as you start to improve your diet, those cravings will lessen over time.
Dealing with Running Soreness
00:05:37
Speaker
Question number two, I started running and it's been pretty good, but I noticed some soreness in my hips and I'm wondering if there's anything I can do to prevent this. Yeah, so this is also something that I struggled with when I first got into running. And I think this is a lot of people because anytime you start doing something that you're not used to, your body has to adapt over time. And it's just like anything else. It's like when you first get into the weight room or you start a new workout program or you're trying new exercises, it's Like it's not going to feel great when you first start.
00:06:05
Speaker
It's probably going to be a little bit uncomfortable. Maybe you don't have the mobility or the strength that your body needs yet. And so it takes time for your body to adapt to these things to improve your technique. But as you give your body time, you will start to adapt. You start to get that progressive overload, your joints, your tendons, they start to strengthen your muscles, start to strengthen your feet start to strengthen, you start to improve your technique, you start to get in better shape. And so all these things start to culminate and make running feel better. And so I think first off, just understanding like it's not the worst thing in the world. If you are having some discomfort or even like some soreness and things like that, you can improve those things over time. And so when it comes to specific areas, I'm not going to give specific advice on that because that's kind of out of my wheelhouse. But I think in general,
00:06:50
Speaker
some things that helped me, just some recommendations that you can think about is number one, you want to make sure that you are progressively overloading. So if you're going in from the couch to now you're trying to run five miles, that's probably not a good
Preventing Running Injuries
00:07:04
Speaker
strategy. And so incorporating a plan that ramps up your mileage over time is definitely a smart thing to do. Otherwise you probably will run into some overused injuries with tendons and joints and things like that, because Your body's just not used to those things. Maybe you like your knees or your hips or your ankles and things like that just aren't used to that wear and tear.
00:07:23
Speaker
And so like anything else, you have to slowly build that up over time. And so be smart about that. Find a plan progressively, add more distance or more time, and you will be able to adapt better and not have so much of that soreness or pain or discomfort that's going on.
00:07:40
Speaker
The second thing that I would say is to strength train. So as people get into cardio, sometimes they will either like completely stop strength training or they just have never done it before and not being strong within your muscles, but also within your joints, your tendons, all those things.
00:07:56
Speaker
is something that you're going to want to improve and strength training is the best way to do that so strength training at least a couple times a week making sure that you're getting plenty of lower body exercises leg exercises so that you can build that strength and so that you can build that mobility and so that you can really make sure that your body is ready to handle the miles that you're about to put on your legs and The third thing I would say is to get some good shoes. I've mentioned this on other podcasts, but it definitely makes a difference if you have a good solid pair of shoes that fits you and your body.
00:08:31
Speaker
When I first got into running, I just bought some random pair of shoes that I found online that I thought looked kind of cool. And then the second pair of running shoes, i actually went to a running shoe store and got fitted. And tried them out and make sure that they fit really well for my style and things like that and my body size.
00:08:46
Speaker
And it made a huge difference on how I felt and just how my legs felt in general. And so spend a little money, get some good shoes from somebody who can give you some good recommendations about what would be best for you and your running style.
00:09:00
Speaker
The fourth thing I would tell you is to continue to improve your running form, just like anything else. Like you start a new sport, you try a new exercise, you're trying some new skill or new habit, like your form is not going to be the best or your skill level is not going to be the best when you start and running well is a skill.
00:09:16
Speaker
I think it's something that we kind of take for granted because we've been able to do it from such a young age, but running well, and running well are two very different things. So spend a little time to actually look at what good running form is and try to improve your running over time so that you become more efficient and you don't run into some of those injuries and things that people struggle with. Because the thing about running is it's so repetitive. So if your form is bad, you're just continually putting this wear and tear and the stress on your body from this poor form.
00:09:47
Speaker
And so when you have good form, you're not putting nearly as much stress over time. Because let's say like, for example, you're in the gym and you do a bench press and it's completely wrong. Well, in your workout, you may only do 15 reps of bench press based on your workout. So you have three sets of five. You do 15 reps total in that workout. Like you're doing bench and your technique isn't great.
00:10:10
Speaker
It's not the best thing in the world, but like doing 15 reps and, you know, maybe you're using a light or moderate weight, maybe you're not going to have that big of an issue. But over time, the more you do that, the more reps you get in after months, after years, you're going to start to feel some of those effects. But running, on the other hand, you might take 2,000.
00:10:27
Speaker
two thousand 5,000, 10,000 steps in a single run as you start to up your mileage. And so you're doing 10,000 reps with crappy form, that's going to add up very quickly and you run into problems with hip pain or knee pain or ankle pain or just things start to add up very quickly. And so making sure that you're running form and you're running technique is improving and getting better and Getting more dialed I think is a really good thing to focus
Benefits of Weight Loss for Runners
00:10:53
Speaker
on.
00:10:53
Speaker
And the last thing I would say, which is probably pretty obvious, losing weight for me was one of the best things that I ever did to help me be able to be a more efficient runner. So just by losing weight, losing body fat, you are taking more wear and tear off of your joints.
00:11:09
Speaker
I forget the statistic exactly, but every pound you lose is so many pounds of force that you're taking off your joints. And so when I was 300 pounds and I was like playing sports and things like that, obviously I could run and I could do things and I could jump and stuff. But like now that I'm 100 pounds less and I go like play basketball or I go for a run, my joints feel so much better. And so losing weight is a really obvious one, but I think it's one that a lot of people overlook. And even losing 10 pounds could make a difference in just how your joints feel.
00:11:38
Speaker
So those are some tips, some general recommendations that I would think about if I was getting into running and I wanted to make sure that I wasn't having some of those weird pains and aches and running into injuries and things like that.
Staying Active Despite Injuries
00:11:50
Speaker
Question number three, I was in a good groove, but I recently tweaked my knee and I can't work out my lower body because of this. Any advice for working around omiri The first thing that I would say is movement is medicine. I have a buddy that always posts about this. He's always talking about movement is medicine. He's a physical therapist. And so like, one thing that i think people have gotten better at, but it's kind of the old way of thinking is that like, if you get hurt, you should completely rest or take time off or rest that body part. But a lot of that improvement and a lot of getting better and coming back from injury is starting to just get movement. in And so
00:12:28
Speaker
There are certain instances where like you might have to completely take time off or not do any sort of activity with that certain like injury. But I think a lot of things we can still continue to move. And i'm going to go over a couple of ways or a couple of things that you can focus on. You know, if you have like a back injury or like a neck injury or like some sort of head injury or something like that, then that may be a time where you do really have to limit your movement or not move at all for a few days or whatever the case may be, just depending on your injury and depending on what your doctor tells you to do before a lot of things. And just for the everyday person that runs into some minor injuries, you're still going to be able to move and still going to be able to get some good work in. And there's a lot of really easy workarounds to continue to progress and continue to help yourself and get back better.
00:13:14
Speaker
This was something that became more apparent to me when I was in college and when I was in sports, because anytime you had some sort of injury, it wasn't like they're like, okay, just take time off, like do your thing and just hang out and then we'll get you back. It's like, no, you're still going to continue to work and progress in other areas.
00:13:30
Speaker
And we're going to be smart about training around those injuries, but you can still continue to get better and you can help yourself get back faster from these injuries. So if you have lower body injury, maybe you're doing more upper body stuff, or maybe if it's just something on your right side of your body, then you can do stuff on the left side of your body, or there's just tons of different ways that you can work around those things. And so when you do have these injuries, we're One thing that I would say is you want to continue to work out and continue to progress because for one thing, it's going to help you get back faster. But from ah more mental standpoint is you're able to keep that momentum going. And a lot of people can probably attest to this. Maybe you can attest to this, but it's so much easier to stay in shape than it is to get in shape.
00:14:12
Speaker
And when you're in a good routine, when you have a good group going with your workout routine or your diet, it is so much easier to just just keep that rolling than to stop for a certain amount of period, kind get out of sync, and then try to get back in that is always more difficult. And so from a mental standpoint, just keeping on top of it and being able to do at least something is going to help things keep rolling and keep that momentum going. And so some examples of some things you can do, as I mentioned just a second ago, like you can train around those injuries. So let's say you have this knee injury, you can still train your good leg,
00:14:45
Speaker
And you're not going to create these crazy imbalances. I know when I had my ACL surgery and I had an eight month rehab, like I was still doing stuff with my good leg and actually training your good leg can also transfer over to your injured leg and help with strength gains. It's not nearly as much, but there is something that's going on there and it helps to strengthen that other leg, even when you aren't training that other leg. I know it sounds really weird, but it's actually something that happens.
00:15:11
Speaker
Obviously, if your lower body is hurt, you can continue to do upper body stuff. So again, back to that example of when I tore my ACL before I had my surgery and then after I was cleared to actually move around, I had a knee immobilizer on, but I was just scrunching around the gym and I was doing a bunch of upper body stuff. And so there's always things that you can do to train around those different injuries.
00:15:31
Speaker
When it comes to actually coming back from those injuries, there's a lot of ways that you can regress those movements or the things that you're doing to make sure that you're still able to continue to progress. And so let's say that you can't really squat a ton of weight because maybe your knees are a little sore. Well, you can always start to lower the weights or even regress to something like bodyweight squats. So that way you're still training the muscles, you're still getting some mobility, and you're still starting to come back from those injuries and improve.
00:15:58
Speaker
And that's a simple way that you can start to progress. You could always lessen the range of motion. So maybe, for example, on squats, it hurts to go all the way down to 90 degrees or below, well maybe you're just doing more half squats.
00:16:11
Speaker
And so you can regress the amount of range of motion that you're using in a certain joint, or maybe for like you hurt your shoulder and you can't go all the way down on a bench press, maybe instead you're just doing a floor press. So your elbows hit the ground, you're not going all the way to your chest where it starts to hurt hurt your shoulder, you're reducing that range of motion. Another thing you can do is lower the weights and slower the tempo. So you're just really focusing on your technique, really trying to dial that in, help to strengthen those joints and those tendons and things like that.
00:16:38
Speaker
Or you could even like change the movement. And so Some exercises are much more dynamic. And so like in this example, again, squats maybe hurt your knee. And so instead of doing a squat, maybe you do something more stable where you get in a leg extension where you can work out your quad muscles and that doesn't hurt your knees nearly as much as a full squat does. So again, there's so many options that you can use to start to get around working around some of those injuries. And so don't let one little injury turn into this huge deal. Like, yes, it kind of sucks. Injuries do suck. They're not fun.
00:17:10
Speaker
But if you're training consistently, if you're active, if you're moving around, if you're just doing life, you're going to have some instances where you do have these minor aches and pains or even some injuries that flare up from time to time.
00:17:22
Speaker
i mean, I've had plenty of those. I've had clients who run into those for, you know, a couple of weeks or a couple of days or whatever the case may be. But I think it's important to try to find some ways to continue to make progress and keep the momentum rolling without doing anything that's going to set you back or doing anything that's not smart.
00:17:40
Speaker
Question number four.
00:17:43
Speaker
Question
Managing Workout Soreness
00:17:44
Speaker
number four. Are there things that you can do to help you out when you're still sore, but you need to work out? Yes, there is some things that you can do. The most helpful things that you are going to be able to do are not going to be like, you know, the things that people probably first think about. So like massage or a cold plunge or things like that. The best things that you can do that are going to help you the most happen outside of the gym. And so sleep is going to be number one on that list. It's when your body repairs itself.
00:18:12
Speaker
It's how you get that energy back. It's how you continue to let your body rest and recover. And so sleep is going to be number one. Get a good night's sleep So, yeah, think that's a good thing.
00:18:25
Speaker
or you want to recover better you don't want to have maybe as much of that sort as sleep is going to be the best thing you can do right alongside that diet is huge diet and hydration so drinking tons of water and also just giving your body the fuel that it needs to recover So having some protein, having some carbs, having quality foods so you can get those nutrients to start to give your body everything it needs to start rebuilding itself and recovering. So sleep and diet are going to be the highest priority things that you can do.
00:18:54
Speaker
Number two, active recovery is something that I really enjoy doing. And so, for example, if I have like a really heavy leg day. Maybe that morning, the next day, if I have another workout and I or i have to do something or have to go on a run, like getting some steps in, even if it's like 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, or doing some stretching or some yoga or getting some sort of movement where I'm getting my blood pumping, getting my body. moving, putting my body in different positions, I always feel better when I go into that workout. And so active recovery can be something that is helpful.
00:19:25
Speaker
And then the third thing is some of those recovery modalities that people will think about. And so like cold plunging after a workout, if you have something the next day and you don't want to be a sore, this is something that athletes will do all the time. Or like maybe if they have like two workouts in a day, like you'll see them cold plunging so they can try to help speed up that recovery and feel better in their second workout. So things like cold plunge, sauna, massage, those are all things like if you have access to those things and you want to try to use some of those things, you may notice a physical and definitely for some of these things, there's a mental component as well. So there's some people that really like that feeling of getting in a sauna or, you
00:20:02
Speaker
cold plunging or maybe a massage or even like a Faragun or something like that, where they just feel better going into the workout. Those things are going to help from maybe a physical standpoint. The research on that stuff is not all conclusive, but a lot of people will claim to feel better after those things. So like if you feel better after those things and you're going into your workout and you feel good mentally, like that's going to help regardless. And so do some of those things if those things are something that you have access to, and they do make you feel better. And then the last thing I would say, like, as you're going into that workout, let's say you are a little bit sore, just extend your warm up a little bit and spend some time like really getting your body temperature up and just moving around and
00:20:41
Speaker
if you feel good going into the workout and you're able to like perform all the movements and everything like that, it's okay to have some soreness. Like that's natural. You're not going to be super limited or anything like that, unless it's like some crazy debilitating soreness where like you can barely walk like that may start to affect your workout. But for the most part, like having some basic soreness isn't going to be the end of the world. You take a longer warmup, you're going to feel pretty solid in that workout and be able to get a lot of really good work in and I'm doing that. And so those are some tips that I would tell you if you were having some of that soreness in between workouts and wanted to make sure that you were still getting some good work out of that.
Breaking Through a Weight Loss Plateau
00:21:22
Speaker
Question number five, I think. I've lost close to 60 pounds, but I feel like I've hit a plateau in the last few months and I'm wondering what I need to do to see progress again. Yes. So this is pretty common. Like plateaus are going to happen when it comes to weight loss, especially if you have a lot of weight to lose. and when you think about losing 60 pounds, like that's a lot of weight. And so it's not uncommon. It's not unusual to go through certain sorts of plateaus because over time your body does adapt. You start to lose something like 60 pounds. And now your body doesn't even need as much energy. It doesn't need as much calories because you're becoming more efficient.
00:21:56
Speaker
doesn't take as much energy to carry your body around to do all the things that you do every day. And so you're not burning as many calories. On top of that, if you've been in a calorie deficit, your body does start to adapt. And so you've been in this energy deficit and your body is pretty smart, it starts to adjust. So even if you are exercising, your body will adjust through what is called NEAT, non-exercise activity thermogenesis. So like maybe you have been consistently working out three times per week and like getting some of your steps in.
00:22:23
Speaker
Even with that being said, your body is smart and will start to adjust and start to wind itself down in other parts of the day. So like you're getting this exercise in, but your body's like, okay, I'm not getting as much energy as I was used to.
00:22:35
Speaker
and we've lost all this weight. So now I'm going to adapt in other ways. So now you're not moving around as much throughout the day, you're not getting this random activity that you typically would. And so your body is really smart in that way. And so by doing that, now you don't burn as many calories. And in order to actually be in a calorie deficit, it takes a little bit more because now your body, let's say your body used to need 2,500 calories, and now your body needs only 2,100 calories to maintain.
00:23:04
Speaker
Now that gap that you have is smaller. And so as you start to get closer to your goal weight, as you start to lose weight, as you start to make these adaptions, or your body starts to make these adaptions, you have to start to dial things in a little bit more. And so You can either take a diet break. Like if you're at this plateau, you can take a diet break and maybe focus on maintenance for a while and just take a break from trying to lose weight.
00:23:29
Speaker
Or you need to take your level of consistency up because again, losing 60 pounds is not something that you do overnight. For most people, that's going to take them a year or longer. and Being in a diet for a year is a long time. And so things you start to slip a little bit, you start to eat a little bit more food, then you realize maybe you start to not be quite as dialed in with some of the habits that you were. Maybe you're not meal prepping or planning as much as you were when you started.
00:23:54
Speaker
And so taking a diet break or really dialing those things in again so that you can be consistent is what you need to do in order to take yourself to that new level. But I want to reiterate again, it's not unusual to hit a plateau. I think people really get in their heads about this when they do hit a plateau and they're not seeing the progress that they want to see because they think that it should be the straight line down, but that's not how it works. In my case, for example, I went from 300 pounds 225 pounds and I was around there for a while, gained a little bit of weight back, and then I had to get back down to 225.
00:24:25
Speaker
And then to go from 225 to like 215, that was another level of consistency that I really had to dial in and go a little bit harder. And then to go from 215 to 205, where I was even more lean, I had to dial it up even more. And so as you get to these stages,
00:24:39
Speaker
one, you need to decide, like, is it worth it for me to go to this next level? Do I want to maybe walk a little bit more, be a little bit more dialed in with my nutrition, like be a little bit more consistent? And the answer for some people might be no.
00:24:52
Speaker
But if you do want to be maybe a little bit more lean, lose a little bit more weight, you have to understand what comes with those things. And so are you willing to be a little bit more consistent? Are you willing to consistently meal prep?
00:25:04
Speaker
Are you willing to get Instead of 7,000 steps a day, are you willing to get 10,000 steps a day? Or maybe instead of working out two times a week, are you willing to commit to three times a week?
00:25:15
Speaker
So those are things that you have to decide as you're starting to try to break through these plateaus. Because as you break through these plateaus and you get to, let's say, to more closer to your goal weight, things are going to be harder.
00:25:27
Speaker
But again, you have to remember that the things that you're doing, to get to that goal weight, a lot of those things your organs have to do to maintain. And so if you're having to walk 20,000 steps and work out six days a week to get to this certain goal, like, is that something that's going to be sustainable as you get to that goal? And for most people in that instance, probably not. So you need to realize what it's going to take, but then also just be real and honest with yourself. Like, am I willing to do those things that it takes to get to this next level of consistency and understanding that it takes time to build those skills and build those habits. And so you don't need to be in some crazy rush, but you do need to understand that it's going to take
00:26:07
Speaker
some new level of skills and habits to get to those things. And so continue to build on those things, be patient with yourself, but also just be real and honest with yourself about the things you need to do and whether or not you're willing to do those things.
Transitioning from Calorie Counting
00:26:20
Speaker
And the last question that I have for today I've been counting calories and seeing good progress, but I don't want to do it forever. I'm nervous about not doing it, though, and gaining the weight back.
00:26:32
Speaker
How would you handle this? So the first thing I would say is I think about calorie tracking as just a learning tool. And so as you start to track calories, this is something that I've noticed with myself and also just with clients and people in general.
00:26:45
Speaker
the amount of things that you'll learn about food if you're really paying attention as you're tracking calories is something that will benefit you tremendously. So like most people have zero idea about what's actually in their food. They don't know like what foods are high in carbs, what foods are high in proteins, what foods are high in fats.
00:27:03
Speaker
They don't know how many calories are in certain foods. And so people just, they don't really think about those things. And so certain things that you're eating might might be crazy high in calories, but you never track calories. So you have no idea. Or portion sizes are things that people have is zero idea about. Like if you started to track food and you measure out like what an actual serving of chicken looks like, or an actual serving of ice cream looks like, or an actual serving of peanut butter, like you'll be surprised at what an actual serving size looks like. And so as you start to do these things more regularly, you gain more knowledge around these things.
00:27:33
Speaker
And you just learn. You learn about portion control. You learn about what foods are high in protein are going to help you hit your protein goal. You learn what foods are lower calorie and have more fiber so that they fill you up. You learn what foods are super high calorie and are going to make losing weight more difficult. And so learning all these things and really paying attention while tracking food is going to help you down the line. And so when I think about it, I'm not thinking I need to track calories for the rest of my life. It's a learning tool.
00:28:02
Speaker
And now that I have those skills, I can always go back if I need to track calories, if I do need to dial in, if I am trying to lose maybe 15 pounds and I have some sort of goal that I'm really trying to hit and I really want to dial it in, I can always go back to that.
00:28:15
Speaker
But you don't have to do it forever. And so some strategies that you can use, let's say you've been trying to lose weight, and you've been tracking pretty consistently, seven days a week, you can start to cut that down. So maybe there's some days where you don't track calories, you're still eating fairly similar.
00:28:28
Speaker
But now you're starting to eat more intuitively and use some of the things that you've learned about portion control and like meal prepping and all those different things. And so instead of tracking for six to seven days a week, maybe you do it for four to five, and then you can just slowly work your way down to where you're not tracking at all. And you're just eating more intuitively.
00:28:46
Speaker
The second thing I would say is that Most people typically eat fairly similar. Like we eat a lot of the same foods, whether you realize it or not. And so doing things like keeping your meals pretty simple and eating some of those same things, or maybe something as simple as even meal prepping.
00:29:01
Speaker
Like if you're meal prepping, you can easily figure out, okay, this meal prep that I have here for lunch is 450 calories and has 40 grams of protein. And you just kind of know that. And like, if you're eating similar breakfast, you're eating a similar lunch, and then maybe your dinner is a little bit different.
00:29:15
Speaker
you still have a good idea of the amount of calories that you're getting in a day. It's not going to be 100% accurate. But if you have some sort of idea, especially if your goal is just to maintain, you have a little bit more flexibility there. And so eating similar meals, meal prepping can be helpful.
00:29:32
Speaker
And then the last thing I would say, which I kind of already touched on, is just understanding that once you have this calorie tracking tool in your tool belt, it's something that you can always go back to. And so if you're tracking your body weight, if you're tracking progress pictures, if you're maybe your clothes start to get a little bit tight or that scale starts to go up.
00:29:48
Speaker
creep up a little bit more than you want it to be, you're kind of coming out of that maybe 5-10 pound range that you want to be around your goal body weight. If you're starting to get away from that, you can always rein it back in and come back to tracking, dial it back in, lose 5-10 pounds, and then maybe go back to a little bit more intuitive eating. and so These things are just a skill. And I think eating is something that you probably don't think of as a skill, but like to eat well and to be healthy and to like understand food and calories and macros and all those things is a skill. And so the more that you do it, like you spend some time tracking calories, you're going to become better at it. I think about when I first started this stuff, I didn't know squat about nutrition, about macro. about all that different stuff.
00:30:29
Speaker
But now I'm at a place where like, I can eyeball certain foods that I know like this has this much protein, or this is a serving of this, or this has this many calories. Is it 100% accurate? No, but I don't need it to be 100% accurate, because I'm not like chasing some specific goal. So as you start to do these things, understand you'll get better at these things. But spending a good chunk of time, like really dialing those things in and really learning how to use this to better yourself in the future is something that I think is worthwhile because you're going to eat until the day that you die multiple meals per day. Usually you're going to eat thousands of meals in the rest of your life. And so spinning, even if it's a couple of years, like where you're tracking on and off, like really getting good at this skill is something that's going to benefit you for the next 40, 50 years, which, I mean, you think about that, like,
00:31:18
Speaker
dialing in your diet and like really being on point is one of the best things that you can do not just for your health but for how you look how you feel like all those different things and so having this one particular skill about how to eat well is going to help you in so many other different areas of your life and so some people will be turned off by the idea of like tracking food but like If you spend some time doing these things and you have the benefits for the next 40 years, like to me, that seems obvious. Yes, it's worth it. I spent a couple of years like really focusing on like trying these things and really learning this tool and really learning how to eat well.
00:31:54
Speaker
And then I reap the benefits for the next 40 years. Like, of course I'm going to do that That's a great trade-off. And so don't be discouraged about this, but also realize that tracking calories isn't something that you have to do for your entire life. It's more so a skill that you want to learn and a tool that you can use when you need it.
00:32:09
Speaker
And with that being said, that is the questions that I had for today. If you have some questions in the future, you can always shoot me a message on Instagram. It's probably the best way to get a hold of me and i can answer your question on the podcast.
00:32:22
Speaker
As I've said before, I like to dive into these a little bit more, give you some extra details, some nuance, some practical things that you can use with these questions. And so keep those questions coming. One-on-one coaching link is in the bio if, or in the show notes, if you do want a little bit of help with things. and I know at this time of recording this podcast, summer is kind of winding down and now is a good time to dial things in before the end of the year and before the holidays roll around and just build some momentum going into the new year, because that's going to be here before we know it.
00:32:52
Speaker
And so if you are interested in some help, some accountability, you want help with the plan, you can always check out that link in the show notes. I appreciate you listening and we will see you next week.