A couple of weeks ago, we ran a blog concerning not worrying about all the tiny details with nutrition unless you have filled your bucket with the big rocks first. You can catch up on that blog [HERE].
Well, how do you know if you have a nice sturdy house with a roof over your head or if you have a tent that keeps getting blown away in every storm?
You assess the situation with a food journal.
You don’t have to keep a journal forever; use it as a tool to get some awareness of your nutrition situation. Start with a 3-day journal. Awareness alone can create change.
The other week I sat down with one of our clients, he was perplexed on why he wasn’t losing weight. He had started back in the gym and was kicking some major butt there, but the weight just wasn’t budging. It’s super frustrating when it feels like you’re working your ass off, but the results you want are just not there.
We started off the session chatting about what he had done in the past that had worked and where was he now. He currently did a daily fast of eating two meals a day. He liked waiting till he was hungry to eat and eating in the morning just wasn’t his cup of tea; he wanted to hit the ground running with just his mug of coffee in the morning. We also discussed that he once had success with weight loss on a keto diet, but he felt that his performance in the gym suffered.
“Man, I lost a lot of weight doing that! Got down to 205, but I couldn’t deadlift more than 275 pounds, and that’s just pathetic! [context: he’s a big, strong dude… 275 is not pathetic, but was way off from normal for him] I was thin, but I really didn’t feel good there.”
The keto lifestyle just wasn’t working out for him and how he wanted to lead his life. He added some carbohydrates back in his diet to fuel his workouts. At this moment, I had a feeling I knew what was going on here. Therefore, I asked him to walk me through what he ate in a single day.
Typical Day’s Food
Morning:
Black coffee
Lunch:
Grilled Chicken Breast (8-12oz)
One whole avocado
2 cups of either rice or beans
Dinner:
Chicken Tacos with 4-6 Homemade Tortillas
(8-12 oz of shredded chicken)
One whole avocado
1-2 cups of peppers and onions
1-2 cups of beans
One look at a typical day for our client and you would think “how is he not losing weight?!” He sure did eat well! He could add some more veggies to his diet. It just doesn’t seem like he’s eating a lot of food.
He and I then discussed portion sizes of food that we have witnessed people have great success in reaching their goals. Because he fasted during the day, we focused on total daily amounts.
My Recommendations for This Client
- 6-8 palm size portions daily (chicken)
- 6-8 cupped handful portions of carbohydrates daily (tortillas, rice, beans)
- 6-8 thumb size portions of fats daily (avocado, oils)
- 6-8 fist size portions of veggies daily (peppers and onions)
The Breakthrough
After breaking this down for him, he became aware that his fat portions every day were a bit out of alignment with his goals.
“I’m having 20 plus servings of fat a day! I started eating all that fat when I was eating a keto diet, but I didn’t adjust it back when I started adding carbohydrates back in!”
After a little bit of awareness, he has since cut back his avocado intake to about eight thumb size servings per day, and in the last month he has lost 10 pounds.
What will you discover in your food journal?
1) Start recording EVERYTHING you eat and drink today.
- Use an app, take pictures, or use the old pen and paper
2) Record what exactly you ate and when you ate it.
Example: Monday – 8:13 a.m.
2 eggs
A few handfuls of spinach
Half a bell pepper
1 handful of black beans
1/2 apple
1 cup of coffee
3) After 3 days, analyze it.
- What do you think you can do to improve your diet?
- List out 5 things you could start doing
- Narrow those 5 things down to 3 things
- Out of those 3 things, what are you most confident you can do with a 90% accuracy?