Are you looking for an effective way to track your fitness progress?

Have you ever heard of 3D body scanning?

This cutting-edge technology can help you achieve your fitness goals in a way that traditional methods can't. In this blog post, we'll explore the benefits of 3D body scanning and offer an exclusive 50% discount on your first scan at Mark Personal Training.

So, what is 3D body scanning?
Simply put, it's a method of capturing your body's exact measurements and dimensions using advanced scanning technology. Unlike traditional measuring methods like calipers or tape measures, 3D scanning provides highly accurate data on everything from body fat percentage to muscle mass, allowing for precise tracking of progress over time.

One of the key benefits of 3D body scanning is its ability to provide a comprehensive view of your body composition. This information can be incredibly useful for developing personalized fitness plans that target specific areas of the body. By tracking changes in body fat and muscle mass over time, you can fine-tune your training and nutrition to achieve your goals faster.

In addition to its tracking capabilities, 3D body scanning can also be a powerful motivational tool. Seeing a detailed, three-dimensional representation of your body can be a powerful reminder of why you're putting in the hard work at the gym. It can also help you identify areas of the body that may require more attention, giving you a roadmap for continued improvement.

At Mark Personal Training, I'm proud to offer 3D body scanning as part of our comprehensive fitness programs. With a state-of-the-art 3D body scanner I can help you achieve your fitness goals faster and more effectively than ever before.

3D body scanning is not just for personal training clients, but ANYONE!

Get your first 3D body scan at my studio for 50% off. 

Don't miss this opportunity to experience the benefits of 3D body scanning for yourself.

Visit my 3D body scanning page at https://www.markpersonaltraining.com/3d-body-scanning.html to learn more and schedule your first scan today.

With Mark Personal Training, you can achieve the body you've always wanted.

By Jennifer Broxterman, MS, RD and Lee Helland, MA

Let’s start with the hard truth.
You can’t fully control whether you catch a cold, the flu, or COVID-19.

You also can’t control how your body will react once it’s exposed to a pathogen.

There are many different factors that determine your body’s response. Some you can impact, like nutrient deficiencies. Others you can’t do anything about, like your age.

But even among the factors you can influence, no single tweak or “hack” can control such a complex system. (Short of a proven vaccine or drug therapy.)

No magical supplement, superfood, diet plan, or exercise routine can ensure you’ll stay healthy. 

There is good news, though: When it comes to your immune system, your daily actions can make a meaningful difference.

By consistently practicing healthy behaviors, you can:

• reduce your exposure and susceptibility
• help optimize your immune function over time
• better prepare your body to fight off foreign invaders

​Plus, focusing on constructive behaviors might help you feel just a little bit more in control. And that could help ease the anxiety and stress that come with all the uncertainty.

Our suggestion: Prioritize the “big rocks,” or pillars, of a healthy lifestyle.
​

• Eat mostly minimally-processed whole foods
• Get enough protein, fruits, and vegetables
• Consume an appropriate number of calories (to avoid or lose excess body fat)
• Move regularly
• Reduce smoking and/or excessive alcohol consumption
• Get adequate sleep
• Manage stress

With all this in mind, we’ve created this immunity-focused infographic to give you (or your clients) a game plan for taking action.

Importantly, you don’t need to do everything we suggest in this infographic. 

Eating protein at every meal is hard enough on its own, and your grocery store might be sold out of the kind you like right now. (You might also have less money for groceries than before.)

Some people have way less time to work out than they used to, since they’re busy homeschooling or working double shifts. Others have MUCH higher stress levels than before.

So pick and choose the strategies that make the most sense and feel doable to you right now. You can always incorporate others later.

And remember: There’s nothing wrong with starting small. That’s where great progress often begins.

Written by Dr Ese Stacey
​MBBS, FFSEM(UK), MSc (Sports Med),
www.brightonsportsmedicine.co.uk

Introduction
The diet to detox approach is important because the gut is one of the main places that the body uses to detoxify harmful substances.

There are many different ways to bind toxins that have been deposited into the body’s tissues, however effective elimination of these toxins requires a functioning gut.

This includes the gallbladder, which together with gut microbes helps the body to break down harmful substances so that they can be eliminated from the body.​

Sugars and toxins promote ‘bad’ microbes.

‘Bad’ microbes promote inflammation and inflammation leads to disease.

The Culprit inflammatory foods are to be avoided for 6 weeks. This will give time for the gut microbes to recover and for the immune system to stop reacting to toxins presented with the foods.

If your issues are due to inflammation caused by food toxins you should feel a big difference within 2 weeks of strictly following this diet, but you should continue for the full 6 week course to completely reset your system.

Culprit Foods

• Cereals including oats
• Grains including quinoa, couscous, rice
• Beans & Lentils
• Fruit except tomato, avocado, coconut, lemon and lime
• Fruit juice
• Milk from any animal and products containing milk i.e. cheese, yoghurt etc
• Soya products
• Nuts & seeds - except flax
• Foods which contain refined sugars
• White & sparkling wine
• Spirits

Most of the foods on the Culprit list are there because they will be subject to either mould or toxins (pesticides) or both. Add to that their carbohydrate content and you have a double ‘whammy’.

I must stress that you should avoid even small amounts of the Culprit foods.

This is because, in order for the immune system to stop reacting to the toxins, they need a complete break from them.

What can I eat?

This is the next question I get asked after detailing the Culprit list.

Let’s take a look at the good stuff.

Many people live normal fulfilled lives without many of the foods on the Culprit list - you only need to do it for 6 weeks!

Let’s remember the ‘good’ tree - ‘bad’ tree analogy.

What can be done to feed the ‘good’ tree?

The ‘good’ tree represents our ‘good’ gut microbes.

These grow in the large intestine (the colon). To promote good colon health, we need to nourish our colon cells.

Colon cells like prebiotic foods.

Prebiotic foods are not the same as probiotic foods.  Probiotic foods refers to microbes that are taken in from foods (or supplements).

Prebiotics refers to nutrients that promote good colon health.

Vegetables such as cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and sprouts are good prebiotic foods which will also fill you up. It is advisable to either ferment or cook these prebiotic foods. Juicing creates sugars out of carbohydrate foods. 

There are numerous tutorials online on how to make your own fermented foods.

Prebiotic Foods

• Brassica vegetables
• Mushrooms
  
• Potato
  
• Sweet potato
  
• Root vegetables - Turnip, Parsnip, Swede
  
• Garlic
  
• Tumeric
  
• Artichokes
  
• Spices
  
• Onions
  

Mushrooms are also a powerful anti-inflammatory, prebiotic food. All varieties of edible mushrooms both cooked and raw will have a beneficial effect on the colon.

Sweet potato and potato are root vegetables and good colon food. However, be careful, just because they are on the ‘good’ list, doesn’t mean that you should eat lots of them.

If you are starting on this journey and you are overweight, eating lots of the root vegetables will lead to weight gain. Avoid these if you are overweight. If you are slim or underweight you may need to eat more of these types of vegetables to maintain your weight.

What about fats?
Are they ‘good’ or ‘bad’? Well both! Avoid fats that come from an animal that has been fed grain. This type of saturated fat is ‘bad’ and will cause inflammation.

Most meats on sale will not detail what the animal has been fed unless it has been fed a grass diet.

Saturated fat (lard) from a grass-fed animal has health giving properties and will help to lower inflammation.

Fat soluble vitamins (A,D,E,K) are essential for health including for bones, brain and the colon.

Most of us know that eating a diet rich in vegetables will provide us with plenty of good nutrients including vitamins,
however, what many do not know is that the vitamins, particularly the fat soluble variety, need to be eaten with fat in order to be absorbed and available for the body to use. Eating a salad without any oil isn’t a great idea if you want to absorb the fat soluble vitamins.

Your meals should ideally be mainly vegetables (both fermented and non-fermented) with a garnish of meat/fish and plenty of good fats.

Whilst we’re talking about vegetables: Carrots are said to be a good source of vitamin A (the one that helps you to see in the dark).

However, did you know that unless the carrot is grated into small strips and covered in oil, the fat soluble Vitamin A will not be available for the body to use?

A better source of vitamin A is from oils and animal meats - apologies to vegetarians but this is true.

Having said that sustainable raw red palm oil is rich in vitamin A which offers a non-meat option.

The more commonly appreciated polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids:

• Fish oil
• Flax seed & oil
• Avocado & oil
• Olives & oil

Omega 3 oils from fish are particularly helpful at reducing inflammation.

Before the days of ibuprofen, cod liver oil was a treatment for painful joints.

Lard (from a grass fed cow) and virgin coconut oil for can be used for cooking including frying, as they are stable at high temperatures. Vegetable oils and most olive oils are not stable at high temperatures and therefore should not be used for high temperature cooking.

Cholesterol is required to transport fats and other nutrients around the body. It also forms part of the wrapping around nerve sheaths.

Eggs and liver are a rich source of cholesterol. Eggs should be from chickens that have roamed outside and can peck and eat worms. Chickens are not vegetarians.

Olive oil and avocado oil are on the ‘good’ list. But be careful not all olive oil is ‘good’. Olive oil, being a polyunsaturated fat is quite unstable and doesn’t like sunlight and extremes of heat and cold. Under these conditions, the fragile bonds between carbon atoms easily break and create free radicals. Free radicals create inflammation.

Bones in particular need a good source of Vitamin D and Vitamin K2 - more so than calcium. Vitamin D, K2 and A are friends and work in tandem. Vitamin D and A cause absorption of calcium from the gut. In order to get calcium into the bones we need vitamin K2.

A rich source of viitamin K2 is foie gras (force fed goose liver)! Don’t shoot the messenger! I hear that there are now ethical sources of foie gras. Another very rich source of vitamin K2 is a Japanese dish called Natto, which is made from fermented soyabeans. Fermented soyabeans are ‘good’, non-fermented soyabeans are not so ‘good’. Natto is not to everyone’s taste and consistency but with imagination it can be incorporated into the diet.

A quick word about cholesterol
When you have a blood test and the ‘bad’ cholesterol is raised, most doctors will tell you that this is because you are eating too much fat.

This is not true! Most research also proves this.

Cholesterol is an anti-oxidant which responds to inflammation.

When the ‘bad’ cholesterol is raised it means that you have inflammation.

The response therefore should be to deal with the inflammation rather than deal with the cholesterol.

Dealing with the inflammation, will mean that you won’t need to take cholesterol lowering drugs for the rest of your life.

And now to detoxification!
It is important that the body has a way to eliminate toxic waste.

This is a normal part of body metabolism.

Regular exercise within your level of functioning will help detoxification through breathing and sweating.

Pre- and probiotic foods, as mentioned earlier, will assist in the elimination of toxins. The optimum number of bowel opening episodes should be 2-3 per day of soft, reasonably large stools.

If your stools are loose, this could represent a need for a more diverse population of gut microbes.

Drinking water will assist urine detoxification.

Saunas (particularly infrared) and ionic footspas will free up toxic substances that rest in adipose and connective tissue and these substances are then excreted through sweating or urination.

Showering and towel drying after exercise and saunas is important as toxins left on the skin will re-enter the body if not removed.

Specific supplements can be taken to further assist detoxification. These need to be taken under supervision as the results can be variable.

Good gut microbes promote ‘good’ gut health.

Once you have eliminated the 'Culprit' foods for 6 weeks, consume ‘good’ microbes in the form of either probiotics or fermented food.

If you have never eaten fermented foods, it’s sometimes best to start with a probiotic.

This way, you control just how many new microbes are entering your system.

When you first start either probiotics or fermented foods, you may find that they ‘upset’ the stomach. This may be because of the ‘Herxheimer’ reaction, otherwise known as the ‘die-off’ reaction.

This is the situation whereby, the new ‘good’ microbes cause the resident ‘bad’ microbes to die.

The immune cells try to deal with the ‘debris’ from this reaction, which in itself cause inflammation and sickness symptoms. If this reaction happens, stop the probiotics or fermented food and wait until the symptoms have settled.
Then start again but with half the amount that you tried before. The reactions can range from fatigue, upset stomach, chest infections, and flu-like symptoms.

Once you have become accustomed to the usual dose of probiotic, you are then ready to move onto fermented foods.

Please see the list of some fermented foods. These should be introduced gradually. If you suffer with acid reflux or indigestion, it is best to avoid the more acid foods in the early days. Build up the amount of fermented food gradually over a period of weeks or months until you can eat something fermented with each meal.

Fermented Foods

• Sauerkraut
• Kimchi
• Kefir
• Kombucha
• Olives in brine
• Live yoghurts
• Fermented cheeses
• Japanese Natto

Detoxification Mechanisms

• Sweat
• Gut/liver
• Kidneys
• Lungs
• Emotions

Electrosmog or electromagnetic pollution, is worth mentioning.
This comes from electromagnetic radiation from such things as WIFI, computer screens, electric cabling, fridges and lights.

In susceptible individuals electrosmog can have a destabilising effect on cells, and kills gut microbes. It may also interact with any heavy metals that may have built up in the body.

Electrosmog can therefore be an inflammation-causing factor.

Along with your WIFI router, your mobile phone is probably the most important cause of electromagnetic stress.

Think of turning off the WIFI router in your home at night or put your phone on ‘airplane’ mode if you tend to use it as an alarm clock. Do not carry your mobile phone in your pockets as electromagnetic frequency may have an effect on cells that are highly active such as breasts and the prostate gland.

Try to use your phone on ‘speaker’ rather than putting it up to your ear, as the further the source of EMF is from your body, the less likely you are to feel its effects.

You can now purchase electromagnetic shields for phones and electronic equipment.

Remember that wearable technology also uses WIFI.

Emotional or subconscious stress can have an effect on the gut microbes.
A gut-brain connection exists and anything that affects your emotions will have an effect on gut function and vice versa.

Paying attention to your emotional wellbeing will have a positive effect on gut function and therefore on your background levels of inflammation.

Poor gut function will also have a detrimental effect on how we perceive stress, as well as how well we sleep and concentrate.

I often find that attention to gut microbial function has a positive effect on stress perception and is often one of the first things to change when a good gut solution is found.

Consuming a diet rich in pre- and probiotic foods is expected therefore to have a positive effect on your mood.

What happens after the 6 weeks?

Most people who have been diligent with the first 6 weeks see an improvement in their symptoms or wellbeing.

However, not everyone responds in the same way and some tweaking may be needed depending on the immune response, body type, lifestyle, and palate.

If all goes well with the first 6 weeks, the next 6 weeks involves being more specific about eliminating toxins (these may have been identified on blood tests).

If significant improvement has occurred then this step would involve returning the culprit foods back into the normal diet, one at a time so that you can assess how your system handles it.

If you feel terrible within a day or two of eating a culprit food then you will want to remove it and wait for your pain/symptoms to settle down before trying a different food.

If after a couple of days of introducing a culprit food back into your diet there are no adverse effects, then you can then add another food.

The idea is to reintroduce them all back in again, minus any that trigger an inflammatory response.

Written by Dr Ese Stacey 
MBBS, FFSEM(UK), MSc (Sports Med),
www.brightonsportsmedicine.co.uk

The traditional model of how to tackle ill health takes a disease, condition or symptom and tries to find a treatment for it.

For example, if you have a headache you take a headache pill.

If you have diabetes you take medication to lower your blood sugar.

If you have high cholesterol you take medication to lower your cholesterol.

If you have high blood pressure you take medication to lower the blood pressure.

I could continue but I think you get the picture.

In general this taking of medication may be a short lived affair for something like a headache but for chronic disease, this will mean life-long treatment. Conventional medicine often means that we ‘manage’ the condition with daily medication.
 
But how about if we take a different approach to understanding disease or dis-ease?

When we are young our bodies are able to cope with almost everything we throw at it. Colds are easily dispensed with and if we get injured we quickly recover. As we get older we find that the cold may last a few days longer and the injuries take longer to heal.

Why is this? Just old age? Well what is old age? What is ‘aging’ and why do we suddenly start to get the diseases of old age such as arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure. Why can’t we lose those extra pounds in weight and why do we ache and feel tired in the mornings?

Chronic ill health, whether that be a chronic injury or a chronic condition represents the body’s inability to heal itself. Another way of looking at it, is to say that your actual diagnosis (or condition) is a symptom of the body being unable to correct the (metabolic) imbalance, imposed upon it by some external or internal factor. The Hierarchy of Health will explain this concept in more detail.
​
Toxins can influence the way your DNA functions.

At the centre of the wheel is you, represented by your DNA.

Science has shown that the DNA actually vibrates. Yes! Really!

The vibrations can be picked up using equipment such as the Raman spectroscope. When your DNA vibrates at its optimal frequency, you remain in good health.

Toxic substances can attach to parts of our DNA and prevent proper function. These substances are sometimes called ‘DNA adducts’.

​The first layer of The Hierarchy of Health is the blue layer or the Toxin Layer. These toxins can be from metals, chemicals and moulds but can also be from toxic emotional or subconscious stress. 

Interestingly, electromagnetic frequency (EMF) from devices such as mobile phones also have the potential to affect DNA function.

We live in an increasingly toxic world. Whilst it’s good to focus on eating healthily, we must also be aware that our environment, as well as the food we eat, may result in a buildup of toxic substances that our body may find difficult to deal with.

The acute ingestion of high levels of toxins is well recognised to cause adverse effects to health. However, the effects of repeated exposure to lower levels of toxins is not often considered as a cause of ill health.

Chronic exposure to toxic substances adds to the body’s ‘toxic inflammatory burden’.

When thinking about environmental chemicals, we typically think about toxins in the air such as diesel and petrol fumes. This is not incorrect, however, the toxic substances we are exposed to in our homes may be equally damaging.

The substances we use regularly are often the worst culprits such as perfumes, soaps and shampoos. Silicon contained in many everyday toiletries and hand washes can build up over time and disrupt normal cellular function.

Herbicides and pesticides can harm the gut microbes and therefore increase the toxic inflammatory burden. Heavy metals displace the normal trace mineral levels of zinc, copper, magnesium and manganese and therefore also hinder normal cell function. Heavy metals may come from poor air and water but also may come from tooth amalgams, from stainless steel pans (nickel) and personal care products (deodorants, shampoos).

​Toxic exposure can have occurred many many years in the past, as some toxic substances will be deposited in the body’s tissues, organs and bone. Many are deposited in fatty tissues.

Certain individuals may be exposed to moulds in their home, work or from food.

Again, acute high levels of exposure can cause acute ill health with symptoms affecting almost every system of the body.

Low levels of exposure, over a long period of time, may not be recognised as a cause of ill health but will add to the body’s toxic stress.

Mould in the air, from damp houses or workplaces may give allergic symptoms.

However the toxins, called ‘mycotoxins’ produced by moulds can, like heavy metals, sit in the tissues and organs and disrupt normal function.

Fungal contamination of certain foods such as grains, cereals, nuts, pulses, coffee and fruit has been reported in literature.

Animals that eat contaminated grain can produce mycotoxins in their milk.

Products such as breads produced from contaminated grains will also show levels of mycotoxin.

​Eating grass fed meat, washing fruit in apple cider vinegar to remove moulds and being wise about grain consumption may help to reduce overall toxic inflammatory load from ingested moulds.

​The gut and its microbes are the body’s first line of defence.

We exist in a complex two-way relationship with our gut microbes (microbiota).

The microbiota help us to digest food, provide valuable nutrients, detoxify from harmful substances and play an important role in helping to maintain a strong immune system. In fact, the gut is an immune organ rather like the spleen.

Good gut health is dependent on a positive balance between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ microbes.

​When this balance is lost, a situation called ‘gut dysbiosis’, occurs.

The imbalance in gut microbes causes a disruption in the gut barrier, allowing passage of foreign substances including toxins, food (e.g gluten) and infections.

The immune system attempts to respond to the ‘invasion’ of unfamiliar material.

It will cope for a while but eventually immune dysfunction may result.

We are then prone to inflammation. This inflammation is usually low-grade, chronic and silent.

This means that in the early stages there may be no symptoms.

However, it is chronic low-grade inflammation that has been shown to be the trigger for most chronic diseases such as obesity, Alzheimer’s disease, osteoporosis, arthritis, heart disease and diabetes.

Low-grade inflammation can switch on and off your genes.

The mechanism for the ‘switch’ is called epigenetics.

So for example, we know that just because you carry the genes for a particular condition, you will not necessarily get that condition.

Chronic low-grade inflammation may flip the switch to give you the disease or condition.

This means that gut function and the balance of microbiota in your gut can determine the levels of low-grade inflammation, which in turn can affect your genetics.

This means that gut health is important for almost all health conditions.

Sugars feed ‘bad’ microbes.

‘Bad’ microbes promote inflammation and inflammation leads to disease.

Which sugars should you avoid to avoid this outcome?

Well, let’s see! I regularly ask my patients about their diet.

There are certain foods that come up all the time as what I call, Culprit inflammation-causing foods.

Cereals and grains, including oats, sweet fruit and fruit juice come top of this list.

Yes! fruit! Yes! Oats!

It can be difficult to ‘stomach’ (forgive the pun) that your favourite ‘healthy’ foods can be inflammation-causing.

You may get away with eating these foods if you have a healthy gut microbiota balance.

If you don’t have a healthy gut microbiota balance i.e. you have ‘gut dysbiosis’ (‘leaky gut’), eating the Culprit foods may be contributing to inflammation.

​It can be a good idea to view your gut microbe family like trees. The ‘good’ microbes represent one tree and the ‘bad’ microbes represent another tree.

Both trees can eat sugars.

If you start off with a very big ‘good’ tree and a small ‘bad’ tree and you feed your gut with sugar, the ‘good’ tree will grow more than the ‘bad’ tree. So, no problem there.

However, if you start off with gut dysbiosis i.e. a very big ‘bad’ tree and a small ‘good’ tree and you feed your gut sugar, it’s the ‘bad’ tree that’s going to grow the most.

As mentioned previously, cereals, grains, nuts, milk and sweet fruit may also contribute to inflammation because of associated moulds and pesticides.

Immunity is often thought of in terms of fighting infection.

This is correct but only represents part of the story.

The immune cells also deal with inflammation.

This combined function of fighting infection and dealing with inflammation gives us the 3rd layer in The Hierarchy of Health - the Immunity Layer.

Your immune cells are rather like scavengers that look for ‘trouble’ around your body such as injury, infection or toxins and deal with it to keep you fresh.

A sustained effort over many years, to deal with ‘trouble’ can harm the immune cells and lead to chronic low-grade inflammation.

I’m sure you’re getting the picture now.

Low-grade chronic inflammation is the cause of most, if not all, of the diseases associated with old age.

Cancer happens when there is a failure to regenerate new cells adequately.

Your immune cells would normally pick up on abnormal regeneration and deal with the ‘rogue’ cells.

However when immune cells are poorly functioning, as a result of low-grade chronic inflammation, this can allow the ‘rogue’ cells to run amok which is when cancer presents itself.

Deficiency of essential nutrients will cause the body to ‘decompensate’.

This is when disease happens.

The body will try to deal with inflammation and infection by using the resources it has to hand such as vitamins, minerals and other specialised molecules.

However, after a period of time, these resources get used up and the body becomes deficient and so creating the 4th or beige layer called the Deficiency Layer.

In my practice B vitamins such as B1, 2, 5, 6 and 12 are commonly depleted.

Red cell magnesium levels may also be low.

Coenzyme Q10 and zinc may also be low.

As well as the depletion of vitamins and minerals, the endocrine systems may also be overwhelmed giving symptoms of fatigue.

This may be associated with dysfunction of the adrenal or thyroid glands. Most people understand that vitamin D is important for bone health. It is also commonly known that vitamin D levels rise with adequate sunlight.

However, what is poorly understood is why people even in hot countries who are being exposed to adequate sunlight can have a low vitamin D levels.

One possible reason may be that vitamin D also functions like a steroid and responds to inflammation.

It may be that the ‘epidemic’ of low vitamin D is related to the ‘epidemic’ of chronic low-grade inflammation.

Symptoms happen after the previous 4 levels have been compromised.

Chronic inflammation and deficiency will eventually trigger, the 5th or Symptom Layer.

Chronic diseases are therefore symptoms of the previous 4 layers of the wheel.

Getting help for the Symptom Layer should involve dealing with the deepest layers and not just the Symptom Layer.

For example, you may have a diagnosis of osteoporosis. Your doctor may prescribe calcium and vitamin D (dealing with the Deficiency Layer) or Bisphosphonates to control bone turnover (dealing directly with the Symptom Layer).

These treatments deal with the outermost layers but do not deal with the inner layers.

Our increasingly toxic environments mean that chronic low-grade inflammation will compromise the body’s ability to deal with the disease.

Medications and treatments aimed at these layers may also be less effective.

All the little factors that cause inflammation such as sugars and environmental toxins must be weighed up against inflammation-combating factors such as low sugar, toxin free foods, exercise, positive emotional health etc.

If the body receives an ‘insult’ such as a highly stressful event e.g. an operation, a relationship breakup, work stress, loss or bereavement, the internal (metabolic) stress may tip the body into net inflammation.

If the inflammation-combating factors are not strong and the background levels of inflammation-causing factors are high, the body may find it difficult to find its equilibrium again.

The net inflammation will then tip you into ill health.

​Your particular assortment of genes will determine the type of ill health you get, as the inflammation acts as an epigenetic switch.

​Effective re-balancing of your system will need a Whole-Person Approach, which looks at the deeper layers as well as the most superficial layers.

By John Berardi, Ph.D.

“I’ll resume healthy eating after my holiday… once the baby is born… after Dad gets out of the hospital… January 1… Monday.”
 
While this kind of “pause-button mentality” seems reasonable, it could be ruining your health and fitness. Here’s why, and what to do about it.
 
There’s a question that’s been finding its way to me a LOT lately:
 
“Why doesn’t your training offer a ‘pause’ feature?”
 
After all, what’s the harm in letting clients/patients take a break from a nutrition and fitness plan when they’re:

• leaving for vacation,
• completely swamped at work,
• pregnant, or just after delivery,
• injured, or
• caring for an ailing family member?

 
For a client, the thought process boils down to:

If I miss some workouts, eat the wrong things, skip the homework… I fail.
 
Aren’t I more likely to succeed if I take a break, just until I have the time to do it right?
 
This is what I call the ‘pause-button mentality’.
 
Now, don’t get me wrong.
 
I think it’s normal — even commendable — to want to do your best. To consider taking time to regroup and then resume (or start over) when life feels easier.
 
At the same time, this completely natural and well-meaning impulse is one of the fastest, surest, most reliable ways to sabotage your plans for improved nutrition, health, and fitness.
 
Here’s why — and what to do instead.
 
Starting fresh after you lose your way is a really comforting thought.
 
That’s probably why New Year’s resolutions are so popular, especially following the indulgence-fueled holiday season.
 
Give me that cheesecake. I’ll pick my diet back up on Monday!
 
In fact, we’ve learned in our nutrition coaching programs that the idea of a do-over is so alluring you don’t even need a mess-up for the pause-button mentality to take over.

Every January, we welcome a new group of clients. Every July, we take in the second, and final, group of the year.
 
In July, six months in, just knowing that there are new clients starting the program fresh in January makes some July clients “itch” for a new beginning, even though they’re already making progress, changing their bodies.
 
If only you’d let me start over, I’d really nail it this time!
 
But here’s the problem: The pause-button mentality only builds the skill of pausing.

Whether it’s tomorrow, Monday, next week, or even next year, hitting that imaginary pause button gives you some sense of relief.
 
It allows you a little respite from what can be really a tough slog.
 
(And the middle is always a tough slog, it doesn’t matter what kind of project you’re working on.)
 
This perceived relief is compounded by the illusion that if we “start fresh” later we can find the magical “right time” to begin.
 
Listen, I get it.
 
It can feel absurd to try to improve your eating and exercise habits while you’re in the midst of chronic stress / looking for a job / starting a new job / going on vacation / caring for aging parents / raising small children.
 
That’s probably why there are so many 21-day this and 90-day that. What adult has more than 90 days to go after their fitness goals with an all-out effort?

But what do these intense fitness sprints teach you?
 
The skill of getting fit within a very short (and completely non-representative) period of your life.
 
What don’t they teach you?
 
The skill of getting fit (or staying fit) in the midst of a normal, complicated, “how it really is” sort of life.
 
This is why the yo-yo diet thing has become such a phenomenon.
 
It’s not about willpower. It’s about skills.
 
In most fitness scenarios, you learn how to get fit under weird, tightly-controlled, white-knuckle life situations.
 
You build that one, solitary, non-transferable skill — to slam the gas pedal down, drive the needle into the red, and squeal down the road for a little while, burning the rubber off your tires until you (quickly) run out of gas and crash.
 
What you don’t build is the ability to get fit under real-life conditions.
 
That’s why it doesn’t stick. Not because you're useless.
 
But because the natural and predictable consequence of having a limited skill set is short-term progress followed immediately by long-term frustration.
 
What will be different next time?
 
I remember having lunch with a colleague who swore up and down that his low-carb diet plus daily running was the secret to staying in shape.
 
I had to follow up with a painful question: “Well, why aren’t you actually in shape?”
 
After a long pause: “Uhh, I’ve had a hard time sticking with it. We just had our second child. The holidays just ended. I just switched jobs.” He trailed off…
 
“But, once everything settles down, I’ll get with the program and get in shape again! I guess I’m just on a little break.”
 
This story illustrates the point perfectly.
 
Here’s someone who’s built his fitness on a house of cards. He knows only one thing: How to get in shape by following a very challenging program when the conditions are perfect.
 
And whenever life isn’t perfect, which is most of the time, he hits the pause button. He waits for a better time. (All the while losing the health and fitness he previously worked so hard for.)
 
That’s why, when our clients ask to press pause, we usually ask them:
 
“What will be different when you come back?”
 
Nine times out of 10, the honest answer is nothing. Nothing will be different.
 
Life is just…happening. And it’ll happen again in January, or after the baby is born, or after Mum gets better, or at any other arbitrary point you pick.
 
And what then?
 
I’ve wanted to press “pause” myself.
 
If you’ve ever felt like pressing pause, or you feel this way right now, it might help to know I’ve felt exactly the same way.
 
A few years back, my wife and I decided to renovate a home. During the reno, we lived in a tiny apartment above my in-laws’ garage. At the time I was also starting up Precision Nutrition.
 
Every day we’d wake up and get straight to work. At the end of the day, we’d drive 1 ½ hours to the new house to chip away at the reno. Then, late at night, we’d drive 1 ½ hours back and fall into bed. Repeat.
 
At first, I thought there was no way to exercise. My schedule was completely packed, I had nowhere to work out, and my eating was less than ideal.
 
But after a couple of weeks I realised that something was going to be better than nothing.
 
The renovations would continue. Running a business would only get more demanding. And we were planning to have our first child.
 
I realised I couldn’t wait. I couldn’t press pause. Because, if I didn’t continue, there’d never be that “perfect time” to hit play again.
 
I needed to find a way to squeeze in some kind of workout, however quick, easy, and unglamorous.
 
Let’s accept that life has no pause button.
 
The key lesson here is that, like it or not, the game of life keeps going.
 
There is no timeout.

There’s never going to be a moment when things are magically easier.
 
You can’t escape work, personal, and family demands. Nor can you escape the need for health and fitness in your life.
 
Here’s a thought experiment:
 
What if you tried to hit pause in other areas of your life?
 
Imagine you’re up for a big promotion at work. For the next two weeks, all you want to do is focus on mastering an upcoming presentation, and winning over your boss.
 
Trouble is, you’ve got two young children at home who tend to grasp, koala-like, onto your legs and demand your full attention.
 
Honey, you say to your spouse, I’m just gonna press pause on being a parent for now. I’ll be staying at a hotel. Don’t contact me.
 
I don’t know about you, but that would NOT go over well in my family.
 
You can’t really press pause — and you definitely can’t hit reset — on being a parent. (You’ve thought about it, though. I know you have.)
 
Just like you can’t stop showing up for work and expect not to get fired. Or “take a break” from being married and not wind up divorced.
 
Generally, when it comes to life, we know we’re not always going to be on our A Game.

Sometimes we’re superstars. Most of the time we just do our best.
 
We muddle through. We keep going.

So why do we expect it to be any different with fitness?
 
In my case, above, I hired a coach and we came up with a simple workout program that met these criteria:

• No more than 3x a week.
• No more than 10 minutes per session.
• Has to be done upon waking up, right next to the bed.
• Requires no equipment.

 
I did that for about 6 months. Was it the Best Workout Ever? No! Did I end up, after 6 months, fitter than ever? Heck no!
 
But was it better than hitting the pause button and doing nothing? You bet!
 
See, perfectionism is not the point.
 
“Completing” a program, PN Coaching or any other, is not the point.

Being the “best” for a tiny window of time is not the point.
 
The point is to keep going. Sometimes awkwardly, sometimes incompetently, sometimes downright half-assed. But to keep going nonetheless.
 
As I often teach our new clients:
 
The “all or nothing” mentality rarely gets us “all”. It usually gets us “nothing”.
 
That’s when I propose a new mantra:
 
“Always something”.
 
Instead of pressing pause, adjust the dial.
 
Nowadays I like to think of my fitness and nutrition efforts as a dial.

There are times when I want to dial my efforts up, and times when I want to dial them down. But I never want to turn the dial off completely.
 
Here’s how this plays out in the context of my life.
 
Sometimes, say when I’m training for a track competition or concentrating on a particular goal, my fitness dial might be tuned to 9 or 10 out of 10.
 
Channel 10 means I work out every day. Every meal is planned and carefully considered. I think a lot about fitness. And not much about anything else.
 
Work, family, hobbies…they’re all in maintenance mode (with the permission of the people this affects, of course).
 
However, as I write this, my life involves the following:

• Settling into a new home.
• Conducting major home renovations.
• Raising 4 children, one of them still a baby.
• Running a growing business with nearly 100 team members.

 
So these days, the dial rarely goes past 3 or 4. I work out, maybe, three days a week. And most of my meals are just “good enough”.

(For the record, I’m totally fine with that. There is no guilt about having my dial set a little lower. What’s most important is that the dial is still set to “on”.)
 
The important lesson: There’s a big difference between turning your dial to 3, 2, or even a 1, and turning the whole thing off.
 
And when you realise how doable — and effective — channels 3 and 2 and 1 can be, you see that there’s never a good reason to hit “pause”.

I get it. It’s easy to discount the lower channels. Especially when you’ve done more in the past. But remember your new mantra…
 
“Always something.”
 
Precision Nutrition Coaching graduate Susan Olding was dealing with a family crisis during the program: Her dad became ill and eventually passed away.
 
Susan could have given up when her dad was sick. Asked for a pause. And no one would have blamed her.
 
Instead, she challenged herself to embrace imperfection and do something every day:
 
Each day, I asked myself: If I can’t do what was asked of me, what can I do? What can I manage (physically, emotionally, mentally) now?
 
Then I went and did it.
 
Meanwhile, I also tried to add spontaneous activity into my days. I paced the hospital halls, parked at a distance and walked to the hospital door. I went for evening walks.
 
Anything to stay active.
 
I remember Susan telling me about the random sets of squats she did in the corner of her dad’s hospital room while he was resting.

Susan’s takeaway:
 
Perfection never happens in real life.
 
We’re always going to be doing the best we can with what we have.
 
And that’s okay.
 
We can still make progress toward our goals and still improve our health and our fitness – whatever’s going on in our lives.
 
That progress doesn’t happen if you “press pause” and wait for a better time.
 
It doesn’t happen if you say “I’ll squat again once the Dad situation resolves itself”. Or if you ask for a re-do next week, next month, next year.
 
“Fitness in the context of real human life”.
 
That’s one of our mottos here at Precision Nutrition.
 
It’s what I think we’re the best in the world at: Helping clients be healthy and fit in the context of their real lives.
 
Not while pretending to be someone they’re not. Not by signing up for a 12-week boot camp with daily workouts and restrictive diets.
 
But by living their own lives and practicing “always something”.
 
In my opinion, pressing pause is buying into an imaginary ideal: a “perfect” time when everything will fall into place; a beautiful, linear trajectory from total failure to apex awesomeness:

Asking for a restart because you don’t want to mess that line up is deluding yourself that somehow, next time will be easier. Next time will be perfect. No interruptions, no distractions…no…life.
 
Unfortunately, there is no perfect time.
 
We may have magical moments, of course. Short periods of time when things seem to “click” and come together.
 
But then the dog poops on the rug. Or the kid throws up on the couch. Or both… and then one or the other tracks it all through the house.
 
You keep pressing pause, and your progress looks like this.

Or, worse yet, you end up flatlining, stuck on a never-ending (maybe eternal) pause.
 
What to do next.
 
Fitness in the context of real human life is just like the rest of life.
 
We’re all just doing the best we can in challenging, complicated circumstances. We are all living messy, imperfect lives. We are all human.
 
If we can just keep moving forward, no matter what happens, no pause buttons, no do-overs, we win the game.

Here are a few strategies for getting out of the pause-button mentality and into a more realistic, effective, sustainable way of thinking.
 
1. Try the dial method.
 
Think of your fitness like a dial that goes from 1 – 10.
 
If you were to dial it up to “10”…

• What would your workouts look like?
• What would your nutrition look like?
• What other actions/habits would you practice in that scenario?

If you were to dial it down to “1”…

• What would your workouts look like?
• What would your nutrition look like?
• What other actions/habits would you practice in that scenario?

 
Giving thought to your life right now, where is your dial set?
 
Would you like to make any adjustments?
 
Could you move the dial up a level, or even half a level?
 
If so, what would that look like?
 
On the other hand…
 
Should you move the dial down a channel so you can stick with health and fitness even during a difficult time?
 
2. Aim for a little bit better.
 
An all-or-nothing approach usually doesn’t get us “all”. It usually gets us “nothing”.
 
You know what actually works?
 
Small improvements done consistently over time work — we have proof in the over 100,000 clients we’ve helped through Precision Nutrition Coaching method.
 
You might be trying to make a meal out of hospital cafeteria food, or gas station food, or airplane food. You might be spending hours awake with a newborn in the middle of the night, or stuck in yet another full-day meeting.
 
These aren’t ideal scenarios, but they’re not necessarily hopeless either.
 
Look around. Get creative. See if you can find some small — maybe minuscule — improvements.
 
3. Anticipate, strategise and plan.

Since we already know that stuff is going to go wrong, the best thing we can do is anticipate and make plans for how to deal when they do.
 
A simple way to do this is by answering two questions:

1. What’s likely to get in the way of what I hope to accomplish?
2. What is something I can do today to help me keep going when I face those obstacles?

 
For some people, that might be a Sunday ritual where they prep food for the week so they won’t be scrambling for healthy meals on busy weeknights. For others, it might mean having a healthy meal-delivery service on speed dial.
 
Don’t be surprised and dismayed when things go haywire. They will at some point. Just arm yourself with the best tools and strategies so you can stay in the game when you’re thrown a curveball.

People often tell me that they want to try yoga but don’t because they aren’t “flexible enough,”

I tell them yoga isn’t about attaining the perfect pose.

Poses can always be modified or props added to support where needed to help you feel comfortable in your own body.

It’s not about being “good enough” or “right”.

Yoga is about letting go of judgement and allowing us to  be present to who we are now.

I may be biased being a yoga teacher-but there are SO many positive outcomes of yoga that everybody can benefit from…

1. STRESS RELIEF
Yoga reduces stress and anxiety, which in turn reduces the physical effects of stress on the body.

By encouraging relaxation, yoga helps to lower the levels of the stress hormones which send the body into flight or fight mode.

Other related benefits include lowering blood pressure and heart rate, improving digestion and boosting the immune system.
 
2. RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW 
In our busy lives we spend the majority of our time thinking about the past or the future (regretting, worrying, planning), or submerging ourselves entirely in social media.

Yoga helps us to unplug and learn to switch off from frantic thoughts about the future or past and focus on what’s going on in your body right now and find an inner peace.

Happiness can only be found here and now.
 
3. STRENGTH
Yoga is a full-body workout, which targets all the muscles of the body with both static holds and dynamic movement.

You’re supporting your own body weight, which builds functional strength in areas where you really need it.

​Pranayama are breathing exercises in yoga.

One of these is Nadi shodhana, or alternate nostril breathing, is a simple technique that we can use in addition to asana.

Nadi means “channel,” and shodhana means “cleansing” or “purifying.”

It is said that it cleanses the left and right sides of the brain and balances Yin and Yang energy.

Helping to reduce stress, lower the heart rate and prepare, the body for meditation.

1. Find a comfortable seated position, perhaps crossed legged in -Sukhasana (Easy Pose), or sit on a blanket or pillow. Create a nice long spine by lifting from the crown of the head. Rest your left palm on your left knee, moving your right hand towards the nose.

2. Using the right thumb, softly close the right nostril, and inhale as slowly as you can through the left nostril, then close it with your ring finger. Pause. Open and exhale slowly through the right nostril.

3. With the right nostril open, inhale slowly, then close it with the thumb. Pause. Exhale through the left nostril. Once your exhalation is complete, inhale through the left. Pause before moving to the right.

4. Repeat this pattern five to ten times, and then release the right hand to the right knee. Ease back into normal breathing.

9. TRYING TO LOSE WEIGHT?
Yoga is exercise, and you do burn calories doing yoga.

Even slower styles of yoga such as Yin yoga can help you to control your weight by reducing stress, helping to bring mindfulness to your eating habits, and providing a heightened sense of well-being and self-esteem.
 
10. BETTER POSTURE
By combining core strengthening with core mobility and proprioception, yoga helps to improve posture.

When we have good posture it can reduce anxiety, improve productivity, reduce back pain, and also helps us to breathe better.
 
 
11. IMPROVED CONCENTRATION
Distractions and ‘multi-tasking’ are commonplace in our modern lives. 

Concentration is being able to calmly move your focus from many things at once to one thing at a time and not get stressed whilst doing so.

In yoga we turn our focus inward to the body, raising awareness of the breath and the emotional and physical feelings we feel throughout the yoga practice.

This helps to teach our minds to focus  upon one thing at a time.

If you observe your breath, it will slow down, as the breathing slows down, the mind will too.

Over time practicing how to focus and build concentration will shift you into a restful but aware state, this meditation recharges the mind and can help with enhanced brain power and creativity.

12. PLAY!
Yoga practice encourages us to approach new and challenging situations with curiosity and playfulness instead of ego and frustration.

Being adults we rarely attempt new things, like balancing on our hands or spending time with our legs up against the wall.

Taking on physical, mental and emotional challenges as part of a ‘practice’ helps us develop a ‘child mind’… where we are less goal-oriented and living life in the moment.
​
So there you go 12 FANTASTIC reasons to give Yoga a go - Enjoy!
 
Re-Root Yoga xx

Sally Anker is a qualified yoga instructor based in The New Forest with experience teaching different styles of yoga and helping students with a diverse range of needs and aims.
​


Get in touch today!
www.rerootyoga.com
07788767752     sally@rerootyoga.com

Move over massage and meditation, the secret to feeling calm is just a click away

We all need to relax more in our lives, but do you ever find your mind wandering while you’re trying to relax, or do you find it impossible to switch off when it’s time for bed? It’s normal to find it hard to chill out in an instant, but listening to music set at a certain frequency has been scientifically proven to help us unwind — and can be done easily and on-the—go.

Tune into the right frequency

"Listening to music that has been tuned to 432Hz will calm you down and fill you with a sense of peace and wellbeing in as little as two minutes,” says sound therapist Denise Leicester.

​“Music that is tuned to a 432 frequency vibrates at the same rhythm as the Earth's heartbeat (electromagnetic Waves that circle around the planet’s atmosphere). This is known as the Shumann Resonance and is the optimum frequency for promoting good health. In ancient times, people received healing by going to temples and listening to music — but that changed over time and modern, commercial music is at a different frequency, so there are no healing benefits.”

Does it work?

“New scientific studies have shown that listening to music at a specific frequency promotes calming brain waves. The brain has four different brainwave patterns — beta (aroused, alert), alpha (relaxed), theta (when in deep sleep,
meditative) and delta (trance—like).

Most of us live mainly in a beta brainwave state, which can lead to anxiety and stress. But 432Hz music switches brainwaves into relaxed alpha mode and lowers blood pressure, heart rate and stress.

Listening to that frequency helps to re-balance the body and brain. So even if you do have stress, your body is better equipped to cope with it.”

How to tune in and zone out...

Destress at your desk
Struggling to cope with a flood of emails or have a presentation to prepare for? Try listening to 432Hz music on your computer via headphones. You can find hundreds of tunes on YouTube.

Get Classical
Verdi and Mozart both composed to 432Hz frequency, so even listening to some classical music for 2 minutes while driving or cooking dinner can make a difference to how you feel.

Heal Your Home
Music or sounds played at 432Hz frequency reduces both stress and the chance of confrontation. Perfect if it keeps the children from rowing or you want to create a calm atmosphere for visitors.

Listen on-the-go
Download some 432Hz tracks to your MP3 player to decrease your anxiety and boost happiness levels while you are on a busy commute or at a hectic supermarket.

Spend time outside
Trees, plants, flowers and greenery naturally resonate at 432Hz, so spending time outside in the countryside is a great way to relax. 

Never seem to find healthy food when you're hungry or haven't got time to spend ages cooking?

Try these strategies for having healthy food available when you need it.

They’ll help make planning your meals easy and stress-free.

One of the many important lessons I teach my clients:

• Keep it simple.
  
• Think less.
  
• Make fewer decisions.
  
• Let your environment do most of the work for you.

If healthy food is conveniently around you, you’re more likely to eat it.

If you have a trusted system for making healthy food available, you don’t have to decide to eat well… you just do it.

The “food ritual”

Set aside a bit of time to prepare some healthy food in advance so that it’s ready, available, and convenient when you need it.

How you choose to ritualise healthy meal prep is up to you.

Here are some strategies that  have worked well for my clients.

Option 1: The Sunday Ritual

You don’t have to do this on Sunday, obviously.

You can choose any day you like. It’s just that Sunday is often a time when people are more free, more relaxed, and more able to devote time to this type of task.

And it’s a time when we’re usually thinking ahead to the upcoming week.

Whatever day you choose, set aside 2-3 hours once a week to do the following:

• Look ahead to your upcoming schedule and see what’s happening. What nutrition challenges or opportunities might pop up? Where might you need some special preparation in advance? What are the quiet and busy times? Etc.
  
• Come up with a general menu for at least the next few days. It doesn’t have to be anything in-depth. Just get a basic sense of the food you might need to have on hand for the week ahead.
  
• Build your shopping list from your menu. This will help you be as effective and efficient as possible when you go to the supermarket, and you’ll be less tempted to buy random (and non-goal supporting) things.
  
• Go to the supermarket. Stock up on what you need for the week. Avoid the aisles that have the tempting foods you know you shouldn't be having. Consider grabbing a few extra “just in case” emergency items as well, such as canned beans, frozen vegetables, or other easily-stored healthy options that you can use quickly.
  
• Once you’re back home, start prepping and cooking. Prepare a batch of lean protein — for example, by grilling or roasting several chicken breasts/thighs at once. Try some one-pot meals that can be easily cooked in a slow cooker, then divided into containers to be frozen or refrigerated, such as soups, stews, curries, chili, etc. Wash and chop veggies. Why slice tomatoes for one meal when you can slice them for three? It takes just as much time to bake one chicken breast...as it does to bake several.

Some people choose to prepare most of their meals for the week on Sundays.

Others prefer to figure out which meals will be easy to cook “in the moment” and save them for later, and only pre-prep meals for super busy times (such as lunches at work or dinner after a late meeting).

Do what works best for you, and your schedule.

If possible, give yourself a little extra buffer zone.

You never know what unexpected challenge might strike at 6pm on Wednesday, and when it does, you’ll be glad you stocked away an extra meal in the freezer.

​Lots of people looking to improve their eating try following a meal plan.

The problem is meal plans are usually unrealistic and not a long-term strategy.

So, instead of prescribing yet another unrealistic eating regimen, check out these 6 ways to transform your nutrition in a sustainable way.

 “Do I get a meal plan?”

This is a common question I get from prospective clients who are considering my training.

My answer: No, I don’t do 'meal plans' per se.

It is true that meal plans have long been a staple of the fitness and nutrition industry.

Coaches are taught to create them. Clients are taught to expect them.

Unfortunately:

Most of the time, meal plans don’t work.

You see, traditional meal plans are explicit prescriptions.

Eat this exact thing, in this exact amount, at this exact time.

For example:

Breakfast – 7:30am

• 3 eggs, scrambled
• 1 cup vegetables
• 1 piece whole grain toast
• 1 cup coffee
• 1 glass water

​Morning snack – 10:00am

• 1 protein bar
• 1 handful mixed nuts

Lunch – 12:30pm

• 4 oz chicken
• 2 cups salad
• 1 handful seeds
• 1 glass water

After exercise – 4:30pm

• 1 scoop whey protein
• 1/2 cup frozen fruit
• 1 tsp omega 3 oil
• 12 oz water

Dinner – 7:00pm

• 4 oz steak
• 1 cup cooked veggies
• 1 baked potato
• 1 glass water

A lot of people might want a plan (or they think they do).

"I’m sick of trying to figure all this stuff out! Just tell me what to eat!”

Unfortunately, when we try to follow rigid prescriptions like this, lots can (and often does) go wrong.

For example:

Scenario 1: You just don’t stick to the plan.

No matter how enthusiastic you are, meal plans can be tough to follow unless you can work your whole life around them, which most people can't.

This is normal. Life can get in the way.

• People get busy,
• You're not always prepared,
• Your children require attention,
• You have to work late sometimes,
• it’s always someone’s birthday (or a special occasion), and
• sometimes you just don’t feel like having a green drink at 7am.

Even if you’ve actually paid to have someone make your plan, you might find yourself rebelling against it in subtle (or not-so subtle) ways. This is also to be expected.

Unfortunately, it means you might not get the results you hope for.

For instance, a meal plan you hoped would help you lose weight could actually encourage you to gain weight instead.

Scenario 2: You follow the plan perfectly.

In fact, you follow it too well and for too long.

Most meal plans are meant to be temporary.

They’re designed to help a person get to a specific short-term goal, like dropping a few extra pounds before a wedding, learning to manage blood sugar, or cutting weight for a sporting competition.

Our bodies can usually adapt to a rigid way of eating for a short period of time.

But if you’re too strict for too long, you could end up with disordered eating habits and lasting health (mental, metabolic, hormonal, etc) problems.

Scenario 3: You follow the plan for a short period but it's horrible.

It isn’t sustainable. It doesn’t make you feel better. It doesn’t keep you sane.

Maybe you see some short-term results (or not). But you hate living and eating this way. You never want to see another cabbage or chicken breast again!

Eventually, you get so turned off by the process that you regress or quit altogether (The 'F**k it stage) You're done with this “eating healthy” lark.

And you miss your big chance to learn how to make healthier, more enjoyable, more lasting and real changes.

Another reason meal plans fail

One of the biggest (yet generally unacknowledged) problems with traditional meal plans is their focus on “nutrients”.

Real people don’t eat “nutrients”. We eat food.

We eat meals, often with other people.

We eat meals that match our cultural background and social interests.

And we rarely measure things precisely.

Sure, sometimes an explicit prescription is necessary.

For instance, professional athletes or bodybuilders (in other words, people who make money off their bodies and athletic skills) use meal plans to prepare for training and competition.

But most of us don’t need that level of precision.

We don’t normally eat “ounces” or "grams" of things, or refer to food by their nutrients (like “omega-3 fatty acids”).

Instead, we eat foods like:

• Burgers
• Tacos and burritos
• Salads
• Pasta and noodles
• Sandwiches, wraps, pitas
• Stews and curries
• Cereal and granola
• Stir-fries
• Casseroles

Bottom line: If you want to eat better, you don’t have to complicate things. You don’t need to weigh and measure everything, or count out your almonds - At least not every time!

Ask yourself: “Is someone paying me to do this?” If the answer is no, you likely don’t need this kind of approach.

You just need to think about what you’re already eating, and how you could make it a little bit better.

This means experimenting and adjusting.

Making small changes and improvements to what you already normally eat and enjoy, one small step at a time.

Think about a spectrum of food quality rather than “bad” or “good” foods.

When you play with the idea of a food spectrum or food continuum, you get to experiment with variables like:
​
• what you eat; and
• how you eat it.

Think of it as an experiment.

How can you “make this meal just a little bit better” in every situation?

In which situations is that easier or harder?

When your choices are limited (for instance, when you’re traveling, or eating at a workplace cafe), how can you aim for “a little bit better” while still being realistic, and without trying to be “perfect”?

Let’s transform breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Here’s how that “food spectrum” might look in daily life, with a sample day of eating.

Breakfast

Level 1
​
Let’s say that your go-to breakfast is a whipped-cream coffee drink and a chocolate croissant.

You pick it up in a cafe, and scoff it down on your way to work.

This is your starting point. It’s not “great”. It’s not working for you.

You’re getting indigestion from rushing, the croissant doesn’t fill you up, and you spill the coffee whilst trying to drive at the same time.
​
Now, improve your breakfast just a little bit, starting with what you already have or do.

​Level 2
​
Your first steps in taking breakfast to the next level:

• You might replace the croissant with a whole grain muffin.
• Instead of a “dessert in a cup”, you get a regular coffee with a single cream and sugar.
• You grab a yoghurt on your way out of the house for a bit of protein.

Naturally, you’re still rushed and busy… so you eat your breakfast with some distractions, while scrolling through emails at work.
​
But it's still a solid start.

​Level 3
​
• You switch the muffin to granola with Greek yoghurt.
• You switch the cream in your coffee for 2% milk. (Or even stick with just black coffee)
• You add some fruit.
• You’re now eating out of dishes on a table, instead of a take-away packages sat in your car.

You're still checking out the news or going through work emails while you eat…

​No problem. It's realistic.

​Level 4
​
Now you are seriously good.
​
• You’ve changed 'rushing and panicked' to set aside extra time to enjoy a leisurely breakfast.
• You cleverly prepped an egg frittata with veggies in advance on your food prep day.
• The coffee’s become green tea, since you noticed that too much coffee was keeping you on edge.
• The protein plus colourful fruit and veg have become the focal point of the meal.
• You’ve discovered you really like water.
• You eat mindfully, feeling relaxed, while watching the sun rise.

​Transforming lunch

Level 1
​
At this point, starting out, the idea of a sit-down lunch feels ridiculous.

“Eat slowly? Who has time for that during a busy workday? Grab a burger and go!”

Another “car dashboard” meal. Another stomach ache and regret.
​
You decide you might want to play with this meal too.

​Level 2

To improve this meal a little bit:
​
• You go to a higher-end burger place where you’re pretty sure they use real meat.
• You get a side salad with that burger, and maybe just a few chips.
• You choose a diet drink instead of regular.
• You don’t eat in your car, but you do eat by your computer.

​That’s OK. You’re progressing.

​Level 3
​
At this stage, you’re doing a little prep work.

• You whipped up some burgers in advance so they are handy and ready to take to work.
• You also grabbed some nice cheese and whole grain buns from the local market on shopping day.

For lunch, all you have to do is take your homemade burger and its fixings to work.

You still grab a diet cola from the vending machine to wash it down.

​You move from your desk to the lunchroom, where you socialise with colleagues. This slows you down a bit and helps you digest and relax.

​Level 4
​
You’re having the burger without the bun, alongside a nice pre-prepped salad.

Instead of staying at your desk or in the office, you take a break.

You sit outside and get some fresh air while you enjoy your meal.

​For a drink, water’s all you need.

​Transforming dinner
Level 1
​
It’s 8pm. You’ve just got home after an insane day at work.

All you want to do is put food into your face and relax out in front of the TV.

You can’t even imagine making anything more complicated than boxed macaroni ‘n’ cheese right now.
​
Ketchup and microwave hot dogs are as far as you'll go.

​Level 2
​
Same concept, but:
​
• You’re adding some extra protein with the help of a chicken leg that you grabbed at the supermarket on the way home.
• You’ve added a side salad, just grabbing a few handfuls of pre-washed greens out of a bag.
• You’ve whipped up your own pasta.

​Work is still on your mind, and a couple drinks take the edge off.

​Level 3
​
Things are getting better.
​
• You’re upping the protein with a little more chicken.
• You’re having a little less pasta.
• You’ve also added a nice big salad to the mix.
• You’ve cut the alcohol to 1 drink.

Plus, you’re sitting at the dinner table, instead of flopping down on your sofa or standing over the sink.

​Level 4

This is your ideal.

With your meal planning and prep strategies, even a weeknight dinner looks good.
​
• You can whip up a delicious salad in 3 minutes flat and you have some pre-cooked quinoa on hand.
• That chicken is still a fast, convenient option, but now it’s got some healthy additions.
• You’re indulging in a single glass of good wine occasionally but most days water and you take time to savour it.

​Meal transformation is not about reaching perfection.

If you’re at level 1, all you have to do is aim  for level 2. Or somewhere in between...

If you’re at level 2, experiment with getting to level 3.

And if you’re level 3, well, you can stay where you are.

You may never get to level 4. Or it might only happen at times when you’re relaxed and have a little extra time.

Level 4 might only happen on Sunday night, whereas the rest of your week is a mix of level 1, 2, and occasionally 3.

And that’s OK.

How far you progress along the continuum all depends on what YOU want, what YOU need, and what YOU can reasonably do, right now.

Over time, things can change.

Play YOUR game.

Success secret: Have a food prep ritual.

You might look at these photos and think, “How can people possibly do all that?”

One success secret: Having a food prep ritual.

The concept is simple:

Practice planning and preparing healthy food in advance.

This makes healthy eating convenient and easy.

It also makes decisions easier: You don’t have to make a choice when you’re rushed and hungry.

Your food prep ritual can include:
​
• Shopping (or arranging to have food delivered)
• Menu and meal planning
• Washing and chopping vegetables
• Cooking/preparing protein (e.g. cooking up some chicken breasts)
• Cooking meals in bulk (e.g. casseroles, soups, stews, chili)
• Preparing the dry ingredients for things like smoothies or healthy flapjacks or granola.
• Soaking grains/beans beforehand so that they’ll be ready to cook later
• Sorting foods into individually portioned containers and bags.
• Freezing and refrigerating food for later
• Planning healthy meals that someone else cooks (e.g. using a meal delivery service, deciding in advance what to order at a restaurant, etc.)
• Looking ahead to ensure healthy eating strategies during the next few days, especially during difficult times (e.g. a busy week, travelling, dealing with a family crisis, etc.)

Mix and match any of these to find what works for you.

Experiment with systems, skills and strategies that work for YOU and YOUR life.

The real goal of a meal plan is to stop using a meal plan.

Fit, healthy people who have a good relationship with food don’t need other people to tell them exactly what to eat at all times.

Living a fit and healthy life doesn’t require perfection, either.

If you are using a meal plan:

That’s OK.

Some people like prescription, especially if they are working towards a specific short-term goal, like cutting weight to compete in boxing, making sure they get enough nutrients to support a healthy pregnancy, or fuelling their triathlon performance.

Keep it short-lived.

Meal plans are supposed to be temporary, working towards a short-term goal.

Keep it realistic.

As much as possible, try to make the meal plan fit your real life, not the other way around.

If you’re a parent, a worker, a student, or anyone else living in the real world, most of your meals will fall somewhere in the level 1 to 3 spectrum. That’s perfectly OK. Just experiment with being a little bit better, wherever you can.

Remember all goals require trade-offs.

If you want to achieve a high level of performance or exceptional body composition, understand what you are prioritising and sacrificing.

Getting very lean, for instance, comes with costs.

Make sure it’s working for you.

If your meal plan is making you feel:
• overwhelmed
• anxious and fretful
• guilty
• regretful
• bad
• overly rigid and/or preoccupied with food…

…or any other negative, unproductive emotion…

…and if you find that meal plans result in you:

• “falling off the wagon”, hard
• getting obsessive and compulsive about food
• restricting foods and food groups…
• doing “all or nothing”, usually ending with “nothing”

…then consider trying another approach.

What to do next

1. Consider where you sit on the spectrum of meal “levels”.

What is your eating level?

What level would you like to get to?

Given your goals and your current situation, what is realistic?

For example, if you currently eat at level 1, your goal might be to eat at level 2 for most meals.

Or, if you eat at level 3 most of the time but find yourself dipping into level 1 or 2 meals more often than you’d like, aim to stay at level 3 a little more consistently.

2. Start small. One step at a time.

Pick one meal to transform and focus on that.

For instance, you might leave all your other meals at level 1, and focus on getting lunch to level 2.

Concentrate on improving that one meal each day.

Using the examples above, you might think about things like:

• adding protein
• adding veggies or fruits
• eating less processed food
• eating more nutrient-dense, whole foods
• drinking less alcohol or fewer sweet drinks
• drinking more water
• eating in a calmer, more relaxed setting
• eating more slowly and mindfully

Of course, don’t try to do all these at once.

Try just fiddling with one or two, and see which ones work best for you.

3. Add things slowly.

Once you’ve improved one meal a day, try another.

If you feel like lunch is a solid level 2 or 3, play with moving breakfast, dinner, or snacks along the spectrum.

Or, once you’ve improved one factor in a meal (e.g. adding more protein), try another.

For instance, if you’re getting more protein, now try switching out your sugary drinks for some sparkling water. Or adding a little more veggies.

Be patient.

4. Set yourself up for success.

Notice what makes it easier and simpler for you to eat better.

Then figure out how to do or get more of that.

For instance:

• Is planning helping you? How could you do more of that?
• Is online shopping delivery making it easy? Could you set aside a little more cash to get more food that you can potentially prep and freeze for a whole week rather than a few days worth?
• Is setting aside time on Sunday afternoon to cook some protein a good idea? Great, keep on doing that. Book it in your calendar.

There’s no “right” way to do this. Do what works for YOU.

5. Enjoy your meals.

Meal plans don’t usually address how you eat.

Before you change what you eat, you can also try changing how you eat.

For example, you could:

• slow down
• breathe between bites
• relax
• savour your food
• sit at a table if you can
• use real dishes if you can.

Give yourself some time and space to appreciate those tasty concoctions you put together.

Meal time is YOUR time.

6. Work towards being your own manager.

Sometimes you might just want someone to tell you what to do.

That’s fine, and helpful, especially if you’re juggling a lot. But only for a while.

Over time, look for ways to help yourself intuitively and wisely make better choices, rather than just following the rules.

Think long-term. What do you want to happen over the next few months? Year? 5 years? Do you want to be on a meal plan for the next few decades?

Today, if you were to take one small step towards the “better” end of the meal spectrum, what might that look like?

​You’re tracking your eating and exercise meticulously but not seeing results.

Has your metabolism slowed to a crawl?

Are your hormones off?

Is it really possible to GAIN weight from eating too LITTLE?

​Here’s what’s really going on — and how to solve it.

 “How can I be eating so little, and still gaining weight?”

Have you ever felt this way?

In my years as a coach, it’s a question that’s come up time and time again — from both clients and people I know.

They’re confused. 

Frustrated. 

Maybe even angry. 

Despite doing everything they can, including eating less — maybe a lot less — they’re still not losing weight. 

In fact, they might even be gaining.

Do a quick Internet search and you’re bound to find lots of explanations.

Some people say that the laws of energy balance apply, and that people aren’t counting calories properly. Others call it “starvation mode”, or some weird metabolic or hormonal problem.

So what’s the issue?

Is there something wrong with them?

Are their bodies broken?

Is it all in their heads?

Or can you actually gain weight from eating too little?

Let’s find out.

Truth: Thermodynamics don’t lie.

You’ve probably heard the phrase — the laws of thermodynamics — before.

Or maybe you’ve heard it as energy balance.

Or “calories in, calories out.”

Let’s break down what it actually means.

Thermodynamics is a way to express how energy is used and changed.

Put simply, we take in energy in the form of food, and we expend energy through activities like:

• basic metabolic functions (breathing, circulating blood, etc.)
• movement (daily-life activity, purposeful exercise, etc.)
• producing heat (also called thermogenesis)
• digestion and excretion

And, the truth is…

Energy balance (calories in, calories out) does determine bodyweight.

• If we absorb more energy than we expend, we gain weight.
• If we absorb less energy than we expend, we lose weight.

This has been tested over and over again by researchers, in many settings.

It’s as close as we can get to scientific fact.

Sure, there are many factors that influence either side of this seemingly simple equation, which can make things feel a little confusing:

​However, humans do not defy the laws of thermodynamics.

But what about unexplained weight changes?

That time you ate a big dinner and woke up lighter?

When you feel like you’re “doing everything right” but you’re not losing weight?

Nope, even if we think we’re defying energy in vs. energy out, we’re not.

And what about that low carb doctor who implies that insulin resistance (or some other hormone) mucks up the equation?

While hormones may influence the proportions of lean mass and fat mass you gain or lose, they still don’t invalidate the energy balance equation.

Yet, as the title of the article suggests, it is easy to understand why people — even internet-famous gurus and doctors — get confused about this.

One reason why…

Measuring metabolism is tricky.

The fact is, your exact metabolic demands and responses aren’t that easy to measure.

It is possible to approximate your basal metabolic rate — in other words, the energy cost of keeping you alive. But measurements are only as good as the tools we use.

When it comes to metabolic measurement, the best tools are hermetically sealed metabolic chambers, but not many of us hang out in those on normally.

Which means, while we may have our “metabolism” estimated at the gym, or by our fitness trackers, as with calorie counts on labels, these estimates can be off by 20-30 percent in normal, young, healthy people. They’re probably off by even more in other populations.

Of course, if we could accurately measure how much energy you’re expending every day, and then accurately measure exactly how much energy you’re taking in and absorbing, we could decide whether you were truly “eating too little” for your body’s requirements.

But even if we could know this outside the lab, which we can’t, it wouldn’t be useful. Because energy output is dynamic, meaning that every variable changes whenever any other variable changes (see below).

In other words, unless we can exactly measure energy inputs and outputs from minute to minute, we can’t know for sure what your metabolism is doing and how it matches the food you’re eating.

So, most of the time, we have to guess. And our guesses aren’t very good.

Not only that, but the idea of “eating too little” is subjective.

Think about it. By “eating too little”, do you mean…
​
• Eating less than normal?
• Eating less than you’ve been told to eat?
• Eating less than feels right?
• Eating less than you need to be healthy?
• Eating less than your estimated metabolic rate?
• Eating less than your actual metabolic rate?

And how often does that apply? Are you…

• Eating too little at one meal?
• Eating too little on one day?
• Eating too little every day?
• Eating too little almost every day but too much on some days?

Without clarity on some of these questions, you can see how easy it is to assume you’re “eating too little” but still not eating less than your actual energy expenditure, even if you did some test to estimate your metabolic rate and it seems like you’re eating less than that number.

Most times, the problem is perception.

As human beings, we’re bad at correctly judging how much we’re eating and expending. We tend to think we eat less and burn more than we do — sometimes by as much as 50 percent.

(Interestingly, lighter people trying to gain weight often have the opposite problem: They overestimate their food intake and underestimate their expenditure.)

It’s not that we’re lying (though we can sometimes deceive ourselves, and others, about our intake). More than anything, it’s that we struggle to estimate portion sizes and calorie counts.

This is especially difficult today, when plates and portions are bigger than ever. And energy-dense, incredible tasting, and highly brain-rewarding “foods” are ubiquitous, cheap, and socially encouraged.

When people start paying close attention to their portion sizes using their handsor food scales and measuring cups, they are frequently shocked to discover they are eating significantly more than they imagined.

(I once had a client discover he was using ten tablespoons of olive oil — 1200 calories — rather than the two tablespoons — 240 calories — he thought he was using in his salads)

At other times, we can be doing everything right at most meals, but energy can sneak when we don’t realise it.

Here’s a perfect scenario to illustrate this.

You go out to eat with some friends at a well-known restaurant chain.

You order one of their “healthier” meals that emphasised protein, veggies, and “clean” carbs. Then you finish off dinner with cheesecake.

Curious about how much energy you'd consumed, you go and look it up on their website.

Five. Thousand. Calories.

Incredibly, you didn't even feel that full afterwards.

Also imagine a scenario where you were under-eating almost every meal during the week and maintaining an estimated negative energy balance of about -3,500 calories.

Then, during one single meal, a “healthy” menu option plus dessert, you accumulated 5,000 calories.

That one meal would put you in a theoretically positive energy balance for the week (+1,500 calories), leading to weight gain!

Seriously, how would you feel if, after eating 20 “perfect” meals in a row and 1 “not so bad” meal, you gained weight?

You’d probably feel like your metabolism was broken.

You’d probably feel like it’s possible to gain weight from eating too little.

But, again, the laws of thermodynamics aren’t broken.

Rather, a whole bunch of calories snuck in without you realising it.

Even more, the dynamic nature of metabolism can be confusing.

Another reason it can be easy to believe you gained weight eating too little (or at least didn’t lose weight when eating less) is because your metabolism isn’t like a computer.

For instance, you might have heard that one pound of fat is worth 3,500 calories, so if you cut 500 calories per day, you’ll lose one pound per week (7 x 500 = 3,500).

(Unless, of course, you downed 5,000 calories in a single meal at the end of the week, in which case you’d be on track to gain weight).

Except this isn’t how human metabolism works.

​The human body is a complex and dynamic system that responds quickly to changes in its environment.

When you undereat, especially over a longer period (that part is important), this complex system adapts.

Here’s an example of how this might play out:

• You expend less energy in digestion because you’re eating less.
• Resting metabolic rate goes down because you weigh less.
• Calories burned through physical activity go down since you weigh less.
• Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (daily-life fidgeting, movement) goes down and you expend less energy through the day.
• Your digestion slows down, and you absorb more energy from your food.

​These are just two of the many examples I could share.

There are other factors, such as the health of our gastrointestinal microbiota, our thoughts and feelings about eating less (i.e. whether we view eating less as stressful), and so on.

The point is that metabolism is much more complicated (and interdependent) than most people realise.

All of this means that when you eat less, you may lose less weight than you expect.

Depending how much less you eat, and for how long, you may even re-gain weight in the long run thanks to these physiological and behavioral factors.

Plus, humans are incredibly diverse.

Our metabolisms are too.

While the “average” responses outlined above are true, our own unique responses, genetics, physiology, and more means that our calorie needs will differ from the needs of others, or the needs predicted by laboratory tools (and the equations they rely on).

Let’s imagine two people of the same sex, age, height, weight, and lean body mass.

According to calculations, they should have the exact same energy expenditure, and therefore energy needs.

However, we know this is not the case.

For instance:

• Your basal metabolic rate — remember, that’s the energy you need just to fuel your organs and biological functions to stay alive — can vary by 15 percent. For your average woman or man, that’s roughly 200-270 calories.
• Genetic differences matter too. A single change in one FTO gene can be an additional 160 calorie difference.
• Sleep deprivation can cause a 5-20 percent change in metabolism, so there’s another 200-500 calories.
• For women, the phase of their menstrual cycle can affect metabolism by another 150 calories or so.

Even in the same individual, metabolism can easily fluctuate by 100 calories from day to day, or even over the course of a day (for instance, depending on circadian rhythms of waking and sleeping).

Those differences can add up quickly, and this isn’t even an exhaustive list.

In the end, hopefully you can see how equations used to predict calorie needs for the “average” person might not be accurate for you. And that’s why you could gain weight (or not lose weight) eating a calorie intake that’s below your measured (estimated) expenditure.

It’s also why some experts, who aren’t knowledgeable about the limitations of metabolic measurement, will try to find all sorts of complicated hormonal or environmental causes for what they think is a violation of thermodynamics.

The answer, however, is much simpler than that.

The estimates just weren’t very good.

And yes, water retention is a thing.

Cortisol is one of our “stress hormones”, and it has effects on our fluid levels.

Food and nutrient restriction is a stressor (especially if we’re anxious about it).

When we’re stressed, cortisol typically goes up. People today report being more stressed than ever, so it’s easy to tip things over into “seriously stressed”.

When cortisol goes up, our bodies may hold onto more water, which means we feel “softer” and “less lean” than we actually are.

This water retention can mask the fat loss that is occurring, making it seem like we aren’t losing fat and weight, when in fact we are.

Here’s an example.

A boxer was struggling to become professional. He had fought as an amateur boxer for many years and had just been called up to the pros.

It required him to stay below 220 lbs (100 kg), which was a challenge for him at 6’2”. He found that eating a lower-carb diet allowed him to maintain a playing weight around 218 lbs.

Yet his nutrition coach told him it was OK to have some occasional higher-carb days.

Unfortunately for him, he had one of these higher-carb days — going out for sushi — right before his first professional fight.

The next day, when reporting to the judges for a weigh-in, he was 232 lbs (105 kg).

Thanks, carbs and salt!

Even worse, two days later he was back to 218 lbs.

OK, but what if I track my intake and expenditure meticulously?

You might be nodding your head, beginning to realise how complex metabolism is.

How inaccurate calorie counts can be.

How variable we all are.

How much the body seeks to maintain the status quo.

And how poor we are at estimating our own intake and expenditure.

But what if you are meticulously tracking intake?

Logging your meals?

Counting your steps?

Even hitting a local research lab to measure your metabolism?

And things still aren’t adding up?

Well, it goes back to what we’ve discussed so far:

• The calorie counts of the foods you’ve logged might be higher than expected, either because of erroneous labeling or because of small errors in your own measurement.
• Your energy needs might be lower than calculated (or even measured). This may be because…
• You’re expending less energy through movement than your fitness tracker or exercise machine suggests.
• You have less lean mass as you think, or it may not be as energy-consuming as you expect.
• You’re absorbing more energy in digestion than you realize (for instance, if your gastrointestinal transit time is slow, or your microbiota are really good at extracting nutrients).

Maybe you’re just missing some data.

As mentioned above, while you’re probably not outright lying, it could be that you’re also “forgetting” to account for the few bites of your kids’ chicken nuggets that you didn’t want to go to waste. Or that extra spoonful of peanut butter. Or the large glass of wine you counted as a ‘medium’. Likewise, the calorie counts on those food labels can be (and often are) off.

Maybe you’re counting your workout as high intensity, even though you spent much of it sitting on a bench between low-rep strength sets. Maybe you were so hungry afterwards, you ate more than you intended (but figured it was all going to muscle-building, so no big deal).

It happens; we’re all human.

Measuring and tracking your energy intake carefully can help.

When we measure and track for a while, we become more aware of what we’re eating, get a more realistic idea of our portion sizes, and help ourselves be consistent and accountable.

But measuring and tracking definitely is not a perfect strategy.

It can be stressful and time-consuming. Most people don’t want to do it forever.

And it may misrepresent the “exact” calories we consume versus the “exact” calories we burn, which can lead us to believe we’re eating less than we’re burning, even when we’re not.

What about legitimate medical problems?

Whenever we arrive at this point of the discussion people usually ask about whether underlying health problems, or medications, can affect their metabolism, weight, and/or appetite.

The answer is yes.

This includes things like polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), certain pharmaceuticals (corticosteroids or birth control), severe thyroid dysfunction, sex hormone disruption, leptin resistance, and more.

However, this is less common than most people think, and even if you do have a health issue, your body still isn’t breaking the laws of thermodynamics.

It’s just — as discussed above — that your calorie expenditure is lower than predicted. And a few extra calories may be sneaking in on the intake side.

The good news: weight loss is still possible (albeit at a slower pace).

If you truly feel that you are accurately estimating intake, exercising consistently at least 5-7 hours a week, managing your sleep and stress, getting expert nutritional coaching, and covering absolutely all the fundamentals, then it may be time to consider further conversations and testing with your doctor.

So what can you do?

If you feel your intake is less than your needs, (in other words, you’re eating what feels like ‘too little’) but you still aren’t losing weight, here are some helpful next steps to try.

Measure your intake.

Use whatever tools you prefer. Your hands, scales and spoons, pictures, food logs, etc. It doesn’t matter.

Track your intake for a few days or a full week, to see if it adds up to what you “thought” you were eating.

We are often surprised.

Sometimes, just the act of tracking increases our awareness of our intake, which helps us make better choices.

Be compassionate with yourself.

It may feel like being strict or critical is a good approach, but it isn’t. It just makes you more stressed out.

Conversely, research shows that being kind and gentle with yourself (while still having some grown-up honesty about your decisions) helps you have a healthier body composition, make wise food choices, stick to your fitness goals better, feel less anxious and stressed, and have a better relationship with food overall.

There are going to be meals or days where you don’t eat as you “should”. It’s OK. It happens to everyone. Recognise it, accept it, forgive yourself, and then get back on track.

Choose mostly less-processed whole foods.

Foods that aren’t hyper-rewarding or hyper-palatable are harder to over-eat. They don’t cause hypothalamic inflammation and leptin resistance.

They have lots of good stuff (vitamins, minerals, water, fibre, phytonutrients, disease-fighting chemicals, etc.) and are usually lower in calories.

And they are usually far better at keeping you full and satisfied.

Choose whole foods that you enjoy and will eat consistently.

Play with macronutrient levels.

Some people respond better to more carbs and fewer fats.

​Others respond better to higher fats and few carbs.

There’s no single best diet for everyone.

We all have different preferences, and even different responses to foods and macronutrients.

So play with this a bit, and find what works for you.

Own your decisions.

Let your adult values and deeper principles guide you when you sit down to eat.

Make food choices by acknowledging the outcome you would expect.

Avoid playing mental games like “If I’m ‘good’ then I get to be ‘bad”, or “If I pretend I didn’t eat the biscuits, then it didn’t happen”.

Face your behaviour with open eyes, maturity, and wisdom.

Accept that all choices have consequences.

And appreciate that it’s OK to indulge sometimes.

If you are still having trouble, get coaching.

Behavior change and sustained weight loss are hard.

Especially when we try to go it alone.

Seek out a qualified and compassionate coach or professional who can help you navigate these tricky waters.

If you need help getting your nutrition on track or have any questions, contact me. 

I always personally reply to all messages.