Set your nutrition routine
Conquering your nutrition and diet really comes down to 2 factors:
1. Shift your Calories and Macros based on your energy needs
One of the most frequent things I hear from clients is ” I don’t know what to eat for my goals.” If your goal focuses on looking better, feeling better, getting more energy, and getting healthy then you would benefit from a balanced diet/nutrition routine.
The best way to create a balanced diet is to shift your current eating habits to help you achieve those potential goals I mentioned. Our energy needs are simply the potential amount of energy our body needs to complete our daily tasks. On a day you plan to workout you would need more energy than if you had a rest day were you planned to just relax and chill most of the day. Let me show you how I adjust one recipe to meet the energy needs of the potential day I have planned
So let’s use my French Toast Recipe as an example:
- Natures Own Butter Bread (60 calories)
- 2 eggs (140 calories)
- 1/4 cup soy milk ( 10 calories)
- cinnamon
- Brown Sugar (110 calories)
- Vanilla extract
- Butter ( 85 Calories)
- Total Calories: 465 – 585
Now with this one recipe, I can tweak the ingredients to meet my energy needs.
On a day I plan on doing Cardio and Lifting weights I may opt for this version of the French toast recipe
- Natures Own Butter Bread 5 Slices (300 calories)
- 2 eggs and 1 egg white ( 160 calories)
- Brown Sugar (60 Calories)
- Vanilla Extract
- Butter (100 calories)
- 1/4 cup of cashew milk ( 10 calories)
- cinnamon
- Total Calories: 630
I do this because I will using more energy to complete my workouts than if I didn’t have a workout planned
On a rest day when I don’t have much movement planned this is the recipe I would use:
- Natures Own Butter Bread 4 slices ( 240 calories)
- 4 – 5 egg whites ( 80 – 100 calories)
- Brown sugar (30 calories)
- Stevia artificial sweetener ( 10 calories)
- Vanilla Extract
- 0 cal cooking spray
- cinnamon
- Total Calories: 380 Calories
The shift will keep more full because since egg whites are primarily protein it will keep me more full as the day goes on and I’ll eat a similar amount of food but almost half the calories, I may even opt for 1 more because the calories are so low I have room to eat more.
The big difference in each recipe is the shift in Macros. The 1st recipe has a mix of all Fats , Carbs and Protein. But the second one is more carbs than the first and that is because carbs are the bodies primary source of energy so when I have a workout planned I ensure that I am not too shy on my carb intake. The 3rd one is more protein focused and that is because protein helps you stay fuller longer by keeping you satiated. This is how you shift your nutrition routine to meet your energy needs and it works with every food in the world.
2. If you eat a Bad breakfast just eat a good Dinner
It is very well known that if you are trying to get in shape or stay in shape you need to avoid eating too many bad meals, snacks, or sweets. There is some merit to that but I like to say don’t overcomplicate this.
Let’s say in the morning you go get a breakfast sandwich, some juice, and maybe a hash brown and it equals 1000 cals. A lot of us would feel like we have failed or even begin negative self-talk.
But really all you have to do is balance out the rest of the day’s calories to meet your goals. If you can only eat 1800 calories for a day then after eating 1 meal that is 1000 calories the rest of your meals should be focused on low calorie foods that keep you full. So some form of protein along with maybe a good mix of vegetables would help you stay on track and not feel like a failure.
If you don’t know how many calories you should be eating a good way to find out is to track what you currently eat for a week and if you want to get smaller eat less than that. If you want to get bigger eat more.
