QUICK TIP VIDEOS

On a journey to get healthier and lose weight?

Always remember this…

YOU. CAN. NOT. MESS. THIS. UP!!!

Nobody is perfect all the time.

In fact perfection is far from the goal. We simply want consistency not perfection.

When you do get off track (because you will). Do not beat yourself up! You didn’t fail, and it’s not going to kill your progress.

Simply get right back on track the next day.

A very small amount of consistent effort can go a long way!

Your progress is dependent on what you do day in and day out. The every once in a while things are no big deal over the long haul.

You got this! ✌️

How to know if you’re training hard enough to make gains.

The very first thing to understand here is that intensity is the primary driver of results. You have to give your body a reason to adapt and become stronger.

Now in order to provide enough stimulus on the muscle to initial positive adaptations you must take working sets within close proximity of failure. Basically you gotta make it hard. So within 1-3 reps of true muscle failure for the majority of your working sets.

So intensity is critical, but so is working through a full range of motion. The majority of stimulus is placed on the muscle in the fully lengthened to mid ranges.

You can’t do half ass crap reps and expect your muscles to get stronger 🤷‍♂️

Focusing on getting measurably stronger, overtime, in effective compound movement patterns is the absolute best way to make progress.

Nothing you do in the gym or with your training no matter how perfect it is will net any type of result unless your nutrition, sleep, and hydration are dialed in.

Know what both of these have in common?

They both contain 160 calories. 1oz of tortilla chips vs 13oz of blackberries. Same calorie content, very different volume of food and very different micronutrient profiles.

These Juanita’s tortilla chips are delicious. Like I don’t know who this Juanita lady is, but she definitely knows how to make legit chips. And that’s one of the problems with this type of food. It’s very good, but also very calorie dense meaning you can eat a lot total calories without realizing it.

These blackberries are also delicious and as you can see you can eat a lot of them for not a lot of total calories. Plus this serving size also contains 19 grams of fiber along with almost 600mg of potassium and other micronutrients that will help you feel great and support your overall health.

I don’t know about you, but I could easily put away 4 servings of chips which is 640 calories btw and probably still want more. I’m definitely not going to eat 4 bowls worth of blackberries. It’s just not gonna happen.

Not only that, but think about what you would typically eat with chips. You’re probably dipping it in something else calorically dense and delicious like guacamole or cheese or something. So basically adding more fat to a food that is already 56% fat with almost zero protein.

Now that’s not inherently bad, it’s just food. IDK what your goals are, but if you’re eating a lot of fat and carbs with very little protein while over consuming total calories just understand those actions if done consistently are not going to lead to a lean, strong, healthy body.

You must align your expectations with the actions you consistently take. If you expect to lose fat and gain muscle while eating in a way that does not support that then you’re going to be disappointed with the results of your consistent actions.

On the other hand if you eat mostly real food, get in enough protein, and consistently maintain a calorie deficit then you can absolutely expect you consistent actions to lead to a leaner, stronger, healthier body.

Remember, you have 100% control over the choices you make.

To bias your glutes during a Bulgarian split squat there are two main things to focus on.

1. The position of your front foot relative to your knee. You want to have your knee more so right above your ankle as opposed to driving out over your toe.

2. The position of your torso. You want to have a slight forward lean. This will load you glute in a more lengthened position.

Always control your movement. No bouncing out of the bottom or quick eccentric movements. Anytime you use momentum you are not using you glutes.

Bring the intensity! Take working sets to within 1-3 reps of true muscle failure. This should be very hard!

Give this a try.

Ladies the body you’re after is going to be built through resistance training not cardio. Don’t be afraid of lifting some heavy weight.

Look the reality is that building muscle is a very lengthy process, it not going to happen over night. The absolute last thing you should be worried about is getting too big or musclely, because frankly the possibility of that happening is not very high even if you dedicate your entire life to it.

The benefits of resistance training runs circles around a cardio only program. In fact resistance training is by far the best form of exercise to lose fat long term and keep it off. This is because the more muscle you build the higher your metabolic capacity will be making it much easier to lose fat and keep it off while still eating a lot of calories.

And that’s no mentioning the other endless benefits like; increased bone mineral density, improved mobility, increased insulin sensitivity, improved mood, etc it just keeps going.

When following a structured resistance training program consistently you’ll see slow steady positive changes in your body over time. You get that “toned” look from lifting weights and properly fueling your body. Now if you’re after a “skinny fat” look then by all means only do cardio and starve yourself. No please don’t do that.

One of the beauties of a resistance training program built specifically for you and your goals is that you can target the parts of your body you’d like to improve the most. Unlike with fat loss where unfortunately you can’t choose where you lose it from. With resistance training you can choose where you build muscle to a degree.

Of course individual genetics, muscle insertions, bone structure all come into play, but if you want to specify prioritize say your glutes then yeah we can absolutely build a program the make that the main priority.

At the same time if you don’t care about your biceps or traps then we can avoid things that will develop those muscles. This is where an individualized, systematic, progressive, and well thought out resistance training program really shines.

If you’re not sure where to start then I have a completely free, well balanced, and scalable resistance training program that I’d love to give you. Just reach out and I’ll send it right over. ✌️

I’m going to do my best to explain the difference between these 2 squat variations and how they impact torque at different joints, therefore impacting what muscles are working to more of a degree.

First of all what do muscle do? They basically manage torque at joints.

We calculate torque by multiplying the force or the resistance being applied in this case a barbell by the length of the moment arm.

A moment arm is the shortest distance from the working joint to the line of force. In both pictures the yellow line is the longer moment arm and the blue is the shorter. This distance obviously changes as you move throughout a squat.

The line of force is highlighted with a red line in both pictures. When using free weights the line of force will always be straight up and down in line with gravity. Assuming we’re still training on earth.

Now I captured the bottom of my squat because this is where the moment arms are the greatest length therefore applying the most torque the joints working. In this case my knee and hip joints.

Torque is very perceivable, meaning you’ll notice an increase in torque because it will feel noticeably harder. This is why the bottom of a squat is significantly harder than the top. The weight doesn’t change, but the length of the moment arms and therefor the torque applied to joints does. Make sense?

During most free weight squat variations the line of force for the most part will stay around the mid foot area. This is so your center of mass is maintained and you don’t fall over.

As you can clearly see by making subtle changes to your squat you can change the line of force therefore change the moment arm lengths and impact which joints are receiving the greatest torque.

In the heel elevated front squat I can maintain my center of mass with a very upright torso. This moves the line of force closer to my hip joints and further from my knee joints. This variation means more torque is being applied to my knee joints making this a more quad dominant variation.

For the traditional back squat while wearing shoes with zero heel elevation I need more of a forward torso angle to maintain my center of mass. This moves the line of force closer to my knee joints and further from my hip joints. Now my hips have a longer moment arm and therefore more torque is being applied to my hip joints making this more of a hip dominate squat variation.

Your individual proportions will impact how much torque is applied to joints with different variations. Individual torso and femur lengths impact this the most. This is why someone with long femurs and a short torso will have more of a forward torso position while squatting and vice versa.

Here is a super simply way to set up fat loss nutrition targets.

Really quick no nutrition calculator you use is going to be 100% perfect. Humans are too complex to have one calculator that will be perfect for everyone.

So this is more like a best place to start.

How to calculate your starting targets 👇

Goal body weight x 12 = daily calorie target

Goal body weight x 1 = daily protein target

For example if your goal is to weigh 150lbs it would like this 👇

150 x 12 = 1,800 daily calorie target

150 x 1 = 150 grams of protein per day

That’s it. Those are the only two numbers you need to be concerned with to make progress with fat loss.

The one thing 100% of people that lose weight and keep it off have in common. They are all consistently adherent over time. Significant fat loss happens over weeks and months not days.

So focus on being consistent for weeks before making random changes. You got this!

Unfortunately too many people regain the weight they worked so hard to lose. In all honesty losing fat is not the most pleasant thing to do.

So if you want to keep the fat off that you worked your ass off to lose then you need to understand how to “reverse diet” the right way.

A properly executed reverse diet will speed your metabolism up and make it significantly easier to maintain that lean body you worked so hard to build.

After all you can’t stay in a calorie deficit forever or at least you shouldn’t lol. Being stuck in a perpetual state of “diet mode” is no fun!

So if you want to have more flexibility with your diet, a faster metabolism, more muscle, more energy, and just feel great in general then you need to protect your metabolism!

Everyone responds a little bit differently when reverse dieting and having a coach to guide you can be very valuable, but one thing is for sure. You have a significantly better chance of keeping the fat off when you properly execute a reverse diet.

All calories are equal. A calorie is simply a unit of measurement so by definition they have to be equal.

Now where some people tend to get confused is all SOURCES of calories are not the same.

We can get calories from protein, carbs, fat, and alcohol.

How your body processes each one of these is unique and will have different impacts within your body.

The sources of where you get your calories and macros from can vary a lot as far as the quality of nutrition it provides your body.

For example 500 calories from a snickers bar is going to impact your body significantly different than 500 calories from meat and vegetables. Hopefully that’s obvious.

So controlling total calories alone is good.

Controlling total calories and balancing your macros, even better.

Controlling total calories, balancing macros, and getting sufficient micronutrients from quality “real food” sources is the absolute best!

There is not such thing as the “best” diet or best exercise, or best cardio. You simply can not apply specifics to all humans. It’s completely ignorant to think that one specific thing will work for everyone. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but no two humans are exactly alike.

So there is no “best” really what we have are general concepts that give us a “best place to start”.

You can have two seemingly similar people start the same program and have two entirely different responses.

Unique individual responses are the single most important factor to determine what changes to make along the way.

So determine the “best place to start” then based on your individual response, make adjustments when necessary to get the desired result.

This is also going to be highly dependent on overall adherence and effort. Because at the end of the day nothing works if you don’t put in the work first. There are a lot of variables at play and that’s why consistency is so important.

You don’t make the human fit the plan, you make the plan fit the human. Make sense?

This is even more important when it comes to exercise selection. Subtle changes to certain exercises can make a big difference when it comes to individual proportions and alignment of forces on joints.

Single arm cable tricep extension example.

That’s why cookie cutter programs are BS. Yeah they might be a “best place to start” in some circumstances, but beyond that humans are just to unique to fit each one into a nice pretty little box that looks the same.

So you just started your fat loss journey. You’re getting your nutrition dialed in and just started lifting weights for the first time, buuut the scale is not budging! What’s the deal!

Im going to explain why NOT losing weight, at first, can be a GREAT thing!

This is a very common pattern I’ve seen over the years with clients that…

1. Have never lifted weights before

2. Have never consistently eaten an optimal amount of protein.

So what’s happening?

When you initially start lifting weights your body will respond with some localized inflammation in your muscles. As a result you will hold onto more water inside your muscle cells.

This is a completely normal and healthy response to the stimulus provided from weight training.

Even if you are in fact in a calorie deficit and losing body fat the scale likely won’t move much for the first few weeks.

What will happen though is your physical body measurements will go down, you’ll start looking leaner and more toned.

Unless you have alien genetics you’re not building actual contractile muscle tissue at the same rate you’re losing body fat.

You are however adding lean mass in the form of mostly intramuscular water and a small amount of actual muscle tissue.

Again this response is good and normal.

What will happen if you stay CONSISTENT is all that temporary increase in inflammation and water weight will level out and as a result the scale will start to trend down as you continue to lose body fat.

Understanding what’s actually happening is so important. Otherwise is so easy to get discouraged if you don’t know what to expect along the way. You got this ✌️

If you only make one change to your diet. Make it this!

Focus on including more lean protein in your diet.

Protein is difficult to over eat because it is the most satiating of all the macronutrients.

Increasing the percentage of calories you get from protein can offset hunger enough to help you reduce your total calorie intake without even really noticing it.

Also protein has the greatest thermic effect compared to the other macros.

20-30% of the calories you eat from protein are expended during the digestion process.

Fat loss is determined by overall energy balance and when you feel fuller for longer. Getting into and staying in a calorie deficit becomes much easier.

So eat ya protein! You got this. ✌️

Fat loss is never a linear process.

In reality what this actually looks like is the furthest thing from a straight path to your goal weight.

Trust me I completely understand how frustrating this can be. And this is if you are doing everything exactly right.

Here’s what to focus on when it comes to your scale weight.

You are looking for trends over time. Like weeks and months not days. Significant fat loss happens over weeks and months.

It helps tremendously to focus on weekly average weight as opposed to daily fluctuations, because your daily weight will fluctuate A LOT!

Where as weekly averages are a much smoother and consistent data point to reference.

Remember the scale is simply another data point to help measure progress.

It’s not the end all be all, but it should absolutely trend down over time if you are in fact consistently in a calorie deficit.

At the end of the day it’s just a number, don’t let it discourage or distract you from what needs to be done to achieve your goals.

Simply focus on the process and your consistency. If you do that I promise you’ll end up at your goal.

You got this ✌️

Remove these three things in from your diet ASAP!

These three things will absolutely kill your progress and make getting to your goal and more importantly staying there almost impossible.

What are they?

1. Guilt

2. Shame

3. Regret!

These things have NO place in developing a healthy relationship with the foods your choose to eat.

How we think about ourselves and the actions we choose to take can be extremely powerful in both positive and negative ways!

Look there is no such thing as a good food or a bad food!

All foods are simply made up of protein, carbs, or fat, or a combination of all 3. So please stop attaching negative emotions to the food you eat.

If you believe a certain food is bad, how to you ever expect to feel good about eating it?

And honestly think about this, aren’t the foods we typically enjoy the most often times labeled as “bad”. 🤔

Look if you’re goal is to lose fat you should still eat the foods you enjoy. In fact I think your entire diet should be based only on the foods that you like!

To make progress with fat loss you just simply need to be mindful of portion sizes and overall calories. Try think of it more like an energy balance equation instead of good or bad. You go this! ✌️

Things you do not need to do to lose fat… well actually, definitely should not make these 3 fat loss mistakes!

1. Starve yourself

If you’re starving hungry then you’re just setting yourself up to fail. This is not sustainable.

You’re likely in too large of a deficit resulting in loss of muscle and rapid metabolic adaptation.

This often leads to binge eating tendencies and yo-yo weight fluctuations. Been there, done that, and it’s no fun. Trust me.

2. Think you need to do endless amounts of cardio.

Cardio is great and very healthy for you. When it comes to fat loss this is simply another tool to help create a net calorie deficit.

Your nutrition is what makes the largest impact on your overall energy balance. While cardio can be helpful it should not be the main tool you use and it’s actually not necessary if your nutrition is dialed in.

If you enjoy it, by all means do it, but don’t think a ton is required to lose fat.

3. Cut out fun foods or make certain foods “off limits”.

Again, you lose fat from being in a calorie deficit. The sources that your calories come from do not matter.

The entire foundation of your “diet” should be based on foods you enjoy. Of course it should be most whole foods, but you can and should fit in tasty fun foods as well.

Three easy nutrition swaps to make when trying to lose fat to help reduce your overall calorie intake with out even really even noticing it. Let’s get it.

1. Swap out cooking oils for non-stick spray.

No you don’t need to add 150 calories of oil to the pan just so your 2 eggs don’t stick lol.

2. Swap out higher fat protein sources for leaner sources.

Instead of 80/20 lean ground beef swap 93/7 beef. Instead of regular bacon get turkey bacon (still absolutely delicious btw) Instead of full fat Greek yogurt or cottage cheese choose low fat or fat free.

3. Swap out full fat and full sugar condiments for lower calorie options.

Like sugar free bbq sauce, ketchup, and pancake syrup. Or use low fat or fat free ranch. Because dumping 300 calories of ranch all over your salad kinda defeats the purpose of eating a salad in the first place lol. There is like a million great tasty low calorie condiment options. Next time you’re out grocery shopping actually take a second and look at the nutrition labels before throwing it in your cart.

These simply easy swaps will help you keep total calories in check without really reducing the total volume of food you’re eating. At the end of

the day losing body fat is all about maintaining a calorie deficit, consistently, over time. You got this! ✌️

There is a huge difference between overall training volume and “effective” training volume.

Training volume is simply the total number of sets and reps in a given workout. You can easily do an entire workout and essentially have zero effective training volume. This is one reason why so many people don’t see the results they want from the training they do.

Effective training volume means that sufficient stimulus is provided to your muscles to initiate positive adaptations.

My base metric for training volume is one rep with perfect form. Meaning your muscles are taken through a full range of motion, with control, without momentum, while keeping proper alignment. Basically meaning you actually use your targeted muscles to move the resistance.

Now effective reps are going to be the ones that are in close proximity to true muscle failure. Basically the last 5 reps before reaching full muscle failure.

A lot of the time I say within 1-3 reps of failure because the majority of people drastically underestimate what true muscle failure is under the context of perfect form and control. That’s simply because it’s painful.

So what actually make a rep effective? Basically it all comes down to intramuscular force. This is the primary stimulus we’re after.

The easiest way to explain this is unintentionally slow concentric repetition speed. For example you’re pushing as hard as you possible can, but the weight is moving slowly.

This causes a tremendous amount of intramuscular force and as a result provides stimulus to actually initiate changes in your muscles.

Again this is all done under the context of “perfect form” so you’re making it hard on your muscles and easy on your joints and connective tissues.

If you’ve been at your training for a while and you’re not seeing the results you want. Then maybe take an honest look at your training effort.

Hey! Check this out. Both of these contain the same 150 calories! A single once of chips vs over an ENTIRE POUND of strawberries! Yes, I weighed them both to the gram too. No fake news here 😂

Neither of these foods should be considered “bad”. If you want the chips, then choose the chips! There is no “wrong” choice here. There are no bad or good foods, but simply a balance of energy.

Look if your goal is to lose fat then you need to maintain a negative energy balance aka a calorie deficit.

Obviously one of these options is going to be more filling for longer helping you do just that.

Knowledge is power, but only if you apply it. You got this!

Why cutting carbs and low carb diets are so popular when you’re trying to lose fat, buuuut usually only for a short time.

Your body stores carbohydrates in your muscle cells and liver in the form of glycogen.

When you cut out the majority of carbohydrates from your diet you will quickly deplete your glycogen stores. Resulting in a rapid loss of weight.

Weight loss does not directly translate to fat loss. Big big difference!

This rapid drop in weight is mostly in the form of glycogen and water.

It’s the fact that you’re in a calorie deficit that you lose fat not that you limit your carbohydrate intake.

Now if a low carb diet is both enjoyable and sustainable for YOU long term.

Then please absolutely follow this approach!

At the end of the day the “diet” that you’re able to stick with forever is the “best” diet for you.

Fat loss is dependent on overall energy balance not where the sources of that energy (or calories) come from.

So if you enjoy carbs then there’s no reason to cut them out.

As long as you keep total calories in check and get in enough protein. You’ll still make progress.

Really quick. You do not need to avoid carbs when losing fat. You lose fat from being in a calorie deficit, not from avoiding “evil” carbs lol. Got it? Cool, let’s roll.

1. Melon’s

Water melon, honeydew melon, cantaloupe… melon.

You can have an entire pound of these for about 150 calories.

Late night sweet tooth. Reach for some melon fruit instead of that ice cream.

2. Potatoes

White potatoes, red potatoes, sweet potatoes.

These are very filling for not a lot of calories and loaded with potassium which is a critically important electrolyte that most people don’t get enough of.

My go to is to chop them up and throw em in the air fryer with some seasoning. You can have a large pile for under 200 calories. Just avoid frying them in oil.

3. Berries

Blue berries, black berries, raspberries, strawberries.

These are delicious, satisfying, and loaded with fiber and other essential micronutrients that will help you feel great!

4. Oatmeal

Especially old fashioned unprocessed oats. These are slower digesting and loaded with fiber. Try some different overnight oat recipes for a quick, delicious, and filling breakfast option.

5. Popcorn

Now you gotta be careful and pick the right one here. You’re looking for lower fat options.

This kinda drives me crazy, but “Skinny pop” is advertised as a “diet” popcorn and it has terrible macros. It’s loaded with fat and contains over 400 calories per bag.

You’re looking for “healthy pop” or “smart pop” these options only have about 200 calories in an entire bag. Which is 16 cups btw. That’s a lot of volume for not a lot of total calories. Ummm winning!

Three tips to help you stay on track with your nutrition and fat loss goals over the weekend and still actually enjoy yourself.

1. Start the day with a win.

Have a “healthier” higher protein lower overall calorie breakfast.

Because starting the day with donuts and a 700 calorie “desert” coffee will

• Probably make you feel like crap.

• Probably make crave more “junk” foods later on.

• You’re just doing it wrong if you do that. So stop!

2. Try to still get in some movement or exercise.

This could be a morning walk, yard work, playing a sport with your kids or friends. Or my fave a Saturday morning CrossFit workout with the fam @hiddenvalley

3. Understand it’s total fine to go out and enjoy yourself with friends, fun foods, and drinks.

As long as you are mindful of portion sizes and overall calories and you’ll still make progress.

It’s what you consistently do that drives your results. So relax. It’s okay to have a life as your work towards your goals.

You got this! ✌️

What is the thermic effect of food?

When you eat food it requires energy to digest that food.

All foods are make up of some combination or ratio of the three macronutrients. Protein, carbs, and fat.

The thermic effect of food is simply how much energy (or calories burned) that is required during the digestion process.

That amount of energy varies between these macros.

Thermic effect % per macronutrient

👇👇👇

Protein: 20-30%

Carbs: 5-10%

Fat: 0-3%

The foods we choose to eat have a direct impact on the total amount of calories we expend.

If fat loss is your goal then you’d probably benefit from a higher protein and higher fiber diet.

Not only is it more satiating helping you keep total calories in check, but it also has many other positive health benefits.

There is a big difference between fat burning or using fats for energy vs fat loss/gain.

Just because 98% of the fat on your body comes from the fat in your diet does not mean eating fat makes you directly have a net gain or loss of body fat.

Your body is continually oxidizing fat for energy AND adding new fat tissue OR losing body fat tissue. These two functions are always happening at the same time.

The only thing that dictates whether of not you have a net body fat gain vs body fat loss is your overall energy balance. More simply put either a calorie surplus or a calorie deficit is the single determining factor to your net body fat loss or gain.

When you eat higher carbs and lower fats you will burn very little fat (for energy) because you are running primarily off the carbs in your diet, but at the same time you will also be storing very little fat because there is very little fat in your diet.

The opposite is true for a high fat and low carb diet.

In either case if you end up in a net calorie surplus then the fat that comes from your food will be stored as body fat. If you end up in a net calorie deficit then you’ll lose body fat.

This isn’t super important to fully understand. The only thing you need to really get is that the only way to have a net loss in body fat is to be in an overall net calorie deficit.

Stop wearing a hoodie just to sweat more while you workout!!

Just because you sweat more doesn’t mean you burn anymore calories or get a better workout.

Your body produces sweat in an effort to regulate and cool your body temperature.

By wearing heavy clothes you’re simply inhibiting your bodies ability to cool off.

This is stupid. And potentially dangerous!

In fact you’ll probably burn more calories by letting your body properly regulate its own temperature.

You’ll also feel better, have more energy, and be able to complete more work.

Equating to less risk, more calories burned, and a much more productive, healthier, easier, and effective workout overall.

What is your first thought when you hear the word “diet”?

If you’re like most people it’s probably not positive.

What if you had a simple mindset shift and redefined for yourself what the word “diet” means to you?

How about your “diet” is simply nothing more than the foods that YOU choose to eat. That’s it.

Instead of focusing on all the things you should exclude from your diet and being in a scarcity type mindset.

How about you instead put your focus more on things that you should include into your diet to support your goals.

This way nothing is “off limits” or considered “bad”. There are no bad foods and thinking that way can get you stuck in a very unhealthy all or nothing mindset.

So focusing on foods to add in instead of what foods to take away can be a real game changer in your fat loss journey.

Not sure where to start with nutrition? Hit me with an email using the link at the bottom of this page and I’ll send you my free beginner

nutrition guide. No strings attached! Promise! 😊 You got this! ✌️

How much fat can you actually gain from a weekend of waaaay over eating?

Probably not as much as you think. Let’s break this down

For example take a 150lb person and let’s say they maintain their body weight on about 2,500 calories per day.

But on Saturday and Sunday they had 4,250 calories each day.

That’s 8,500 calories total, but remember they burn 2,500 calories per day by just being them.

Sooooo

8,500 (calories eaten) - 5,000 (calories burned) = 3,500 (net calorie surplus)

Each pound of fat on your body contains 3,500 calories so they likely only gained about one pound of actual fat, not a big deal considering you can easily burn that off in less than a week.

So next time you overdo it and think you ruined all your progress just chill, and understand you’re good.

One weekend doesn’t make or break your progress. Just like one workout doesn’t make you jacked and tan.

It’s what you consistently do that drives your results and progress. You got this ✌️

Why is protein so important?

First off, protein is the only macronutrient that can repair and build new tissues. Literally every cell in your body contains protein. So yeah, it’s pretty important.

Also unlike carbs and fat your body doesn’t have a “storage tank” for protein. For carbs this is muscle & liver glycogen, and for fat well it’s your fat, on your body.

Other benefits of eating enough protein include…

1. Reduced hunger & cravings

2. Increased muscle mass

3. Higher protein is associated with better bone health especially as you age.

4. Increased metabolism due to proteins higher thermic effect

5. Higher protein diets help with fat loss and more importantly it helps you keep it off.

So how much protein should you eat per day?

The easiest way to determine your ideal protein intake is to simply multiply your “goal body weight” by 1. So if you’re goal is to weight 150lbs you would simply target 150 grams of protein per day.

This is assuming that your goal body weight is a somewhat lean condition. If you’re a sumo wrestler and your goal is to weight 450lbs well, then, ya don’t need 450 grams of protein lol.

Think of it as getting in, at the very least, around 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass.

Let’s talk about building muscle. 💪

To build muscle you need 3 things.

1. Enough protein

2. A stimulus the muscle to grow aka lifting weights

3. Enough energy

A MINIMUM of 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass is ideal for building muscle.

You also need to give your body a reason to adapt and grow bigger stronger muscles. The best way to do this is to lift weights with enough intensity to provide your body that reason to adapt.

Obviously you need available energy to build muscle. This can come from the food you eat or the stored energy you already have on your body.

The more stored energy you have the more likely it is that you’ll add muscle without a caloric surplus from food, but this is more difficult and typically only more likely to happen for somebody new to weight training.

The most efficient way to add muscle is to be in a caloric surplus, but the amount of surplus calories needed will vary based on individual training experience, genetics, consistency, etc.

Understanding how to manage your personal energy balance is the single most important skill you can develop to improve your overall performance, strength, and health.

Let’s talk about goal setting and how to be successful as you work towards those goals.

For example say you have a goal of losing 50lbs. First off that’s an awesome goal that will dramatically improve your overall quality of life, health, and probably length of life.

Now if you look only at this end goal of losing 50lbs, well honestly it’s probably going to be very overwhelming in the beginning.

So I recommend creating smaller, more easily achievable goals along the journey to your end goal.

Your initial goal could be simply losing that first 10lbs. This is obviously a much easier goal to start with and getting that one under your belt can really improve your confidence in yourself.

Also it’s so important to focus your energy and efforts on what you have 100% complete control over! And that’s the process and the actions that you take!

It’s easy to get discouraged if you focus too much on the gap between where you currently are and where you want to be.

Always remember to look back and see how far you’ve come and the progress you’ve made along the way. Give yourself credit as you make progress!

If you follow your process, consistency, then it’s simply a matter of time before you reach your end goal. You got this! ✌️

This is just one example of how to make a “smarter” breakfast choice at Starbucks.

They have a lot of lower calorie higher protein options available.

Don’t be lazy and actually spend a couple minutes looking up the nutrition facts before you unknowingly have 1,600 calories and can figure out while you’re not making progress with your fat loss goals. 😬 Happens all the time, unfortunately. 😕

Just a little bit of effort, done consistently, can take you all the way to your goals. 🏆😁

Don’t underestimate the impact of the little wins that compound as time passes.

You got this! Enjoy your weekend friends! ✌️

There will never be a “perfect time” to start.

Waiting for the “perfect time” is simply another form of procrastination and I think you know it. 😬

Look you develop life improving habits by taking action and implementing them, not by procrastinating.

One thing I’ve consistently seen over the years of working with clients is when you prioritize your health and start making progress towards your goals. This tends to bleed over into other aspects of your life in a very POSITIVE way.

When you improve your health you literally improve every single aspect of your life.

Look I’m not talking about being all in right out the gate.

I’m talking about just simply getting started. Take that first step!

One quick piece of advice. If you’re going to make changes to your diet. Please put your focus on what to add in NOT what to exclude. We aren’t trying to take enjoyment out of you life we’re trying to add more to it!

Not sure where to start? Hit me with a email with the link at the bottom of this page. I have a completely free nutrition guide to help you get started! No strings attached! Promise 🫶 THIS IS YOUR FIRST STEP 😊

There is no one size fits all approach to fat loss.

There is sooo much confusing and contradicting information out there and it can be overwhelming, frustrating, and confusing.

That’s why putting your focus on only a few simple concepts that provide the greatest benefit is so important.

Simplify over complicate.

Consistent over perfect.

Keep it simple and stay consistent. You got this! ✌️

Can you drink alcohol and still lose fat? Yup! Here’s how.

To lose fat and still enjoy some drinks the only thing you need to be concerned with is the total calories you have in the entire day including the drinks you have.

Some lower calorie drink options 👇👇

• Light beers ~100 calories 🍻

• Straight shots ~105 calories per 1.5oz 🥃

• Hard liquor mixed with calorie free drinks. (Vodka + tonics, whiskey + Coke Zero) 🍹🍸

Losing fat is all about consistently maintaining a calorie deficit and getting in enough protein. As long as you do that you can absolutely go out and drink some drinks. So enjoy yourself friends! ✌️

Quick lower calorie coffee hack for those of you that aren’t immortal super hero’s that only drink you coffee black.

Look your typical coffee creamer has about 30 calories per serving. I’m like huh that ain’t bad. Until you realize that per 1/2 ounce!

You how much a 1/2 ounce is? Not much! It would be soooo easy to dump 150 calories worth of this in a single cup of coffee and if you have more than one cup it adds up quick.

Soooo instead I grab this “carb master” hold on this makes me laugh. Carbs don’t don’t make you fat and you don’t need to avoid them.

Anyways this is a vanilla flavored high protein lactose free milk. Basically there’s a bunch of different brands of essentially the same thing.

It only has 60 calories in 8 ounces! Along with 10 grams of protein! Aaaaannnnd it’s delicious! Hashtag winning!

So let’s review what we just learned really quick.

240 calories per 4 ounces with zero protein! VS 30 calories per 4 ounces with 5 grams of protein.

Losing fat is all about maintaining a calorie deficit, consistently, over time. And that’s a whole lot easier when you don’t add 300 calories of straight fat and sugar to your coffee everyday.

Energy balance is more complicated than simply cico for fat loss.

What we eat has an impact on how much we expend. These are interdependent variables.

When someone goes away from a mostly processed food diet that is low in protein, low in fiber, and micronutrient deficient.

To a mostly whole food high protein, high fiber, and micronutrient rich diet.

A few things consistently happen.

1. They tend to feel waaay better overall and as a result have more energy which leads to more energy expended.

2. That higher protein & higher fiber diet also has a greater thermic effect. Meaning more energy is expended during the digestion process vs a low protein, low fiber diet.

3. A whole food, high protein, high fiber diet is significantly more satiating. You are eating more total volume of food so it feels like you’re eating a lot more, but in reality you’re actually reducing your overall calorie intake.

And that my friends is how you make fat loss sustainable long term! ✌️

Creatine is already naturally occurring in the human body and is present in animal-based foods like meat and fish.

Your body naturally produces Creatine from amino acids.

Creatine is one of the most heavily studied supplements and is completely safe for long term use.

The benefits of Creatine supplementation include 👇👇👇

Improved strength and power output ✅

Reduced muscle damage ✅

Improved muscle recovery ✅

These benefits all translate to basically better gains in strength and performance overall.

Creatine monohydrate is all you need. It’s just as effective if not more than the other fancy forms available and it’s cheaper too.

Supplementation is necessary because it’s extremely difficult to reach a creatine muscle cell saturation point without it.

You can do a short term loading phase by taking about 20-25gram of creatine daily for 5 days then transition into a daily maintenance does of 3-5 grams. This simply allows you to reach a saturation point a little quicker.

Or you can simply take 3-5 grams daily. Either way you’ll still reach that saturation point if you take it consistently.

You do not need to “cycle off” of it, just like you don’t need to cycle off of eating protein lol.

The time of day you take creatine is not important. Creatine has no acute effects, you must reach a muscle cell saturation point to see the benefits.

So simply take 3-5 grams daily and you’re good to go.

I got a quick tip for a non conventional way to use protein shakes.

This is a strategy I use for myself and my clients.

So let’s say for example you have a social event or a game you’re going to watch and you want to enjoy some tasty snacks while you’re there. Totally cool to do even while you’re trying to lose fat btw.

Maybe you want to grab a hotdog or pretzel with cheese or something delicious like that. Well it’s probably going to look something like 50-60 carbs, 25-35 grams of fat, and like 5-10 grams of protein. From a macronutrient ratio standpoint this is going to be pretty terrible lol.

So what I’ve found to be helpful is to have a protein shake with anywhere between 25 and upwards of 50 grams of protein depending on your needs and the situation right before you go.

This not only ensures you show not starving hungry which is a bad idea especially when there is delicious calorie dense foods everywhere, but it also makes your ratio of macronutrients a whole lot better.

Of course from a micronutrient stand point you’re going to have some obvious holes, but these every once in a while things are no big deal when you’re on it the majority of the time.

Give this one a try and let me know how it works out for you. ✌️

These are the top 3 not only because they are great sources of protein, but because of their amazing micronutrient profiles. Providing your body with the best nutrition per calorie.

Number 1

Fatty fish: salmon, trout, and if you can handle them sardines.

These are excellent sources of omega-3 fatty acids. Which can reduce inflammation and even lower blood pressure.

It’s also an excellent source of potassium & calcium.

Wild caught is going to be your best option here as it provides the greatest amount of omega-3 fatty acids.

Number 2

Red meat: lean beef, bison, lamb, & venison are all great options.

Red meats contain a lot of heme iron, B vitamins, zinc, and selenium making them an excellent source of vital micronutrients.

Grass finished is going to be the best, but not a deal breaker. Even grain finished beef has a far better micronutrient profile than chicken, turkey, or white fish.

Number 3

Whole eggs meaning with the yolk.

Egg yolk contain vitamin K2 which promotes cardiovascular health by reducing arterial calcification and helps deliver calcium to your bones where it’s needed.

Yolks also contain biotin, B vitamins, and choline.

Your brain and liver love choline. If you have brain fog then make sure you get enough choline in your diet. It’s legit “brain food”.

Including these 3 options in your diet regular basis can really help ensure you not only hit your protein requirements, but also cover your micronutrient needs as well. ✌️

I challenge you to simply increase your frequency of movement or even just time up on your feet.

Especially if you have a job that requires you to be seated most of the day.

Make it a priority to get up at the very least one time per hour for at least 5 mins.

Maybe this is walking to the water cooler to re-fill your water bottle and taking a couple laps around the office. If you’re drinking enough water you should be doing this all day anyways lol.

Take a quick 5 min walk as a “screen time break” every hour.

It doesn’t have to be anything crazy just get up and move your body!

Frequent bouts of movement plus staying hydrated will do wonders for your energy levels!

Also your lymphatic system doesn’t have a pump so the only way to get this circulating is to actually move your body.

Help your body help itself by simply moving more and more frequently throughout your day.

You got this! ✌️

How to properly brace your core to not only protect yourself from injury, but to also produce the greatest power output possible.

So how do you brace properly? Most people will naturally brace their core without realizing it. For example is you bend down to pick up a heavy box you naturally take a breath in and then hold it as you pick it up. That’s bracing your core.

Most likely this isn’t a fully braced and supported core, but it’s definitely better than nothing.

To do this properly you want to take a deep diaphragmatic breath. So your core should expand without your shoulders moving up much or if at all.

If you put your hands on your core you should feel it expand as you take a deep breath in, then you brace and hold tension in your core. This allows for a 360* brace that is extremely strong.

This essentially weds your spine to your pelvis allowing you to transfer a ton of power from your core & hips to your extremities. 🏋️‍♂️

For example on a squat I want you to imagine you’re standing in water up to your mid chest. Obviously you can’t breath under water. So You’re only going to breath at the top of each rep. Take a deep diaphragmatic breath, hold, lower, come back up, and only exhale once you’re past your sticking point. Then repeat for the next rep. This same bracing concept can be applied to any heavy compound exercise.

Hope that helps ✌️

Caffeine has many benefits (when taken in the right amounts) ranging from 👇

Can enhance cognition ✅

Can increase energy expenditure ✅

Can suppress your appetite ✅

Can improve athletic performance ✅

Can improve your mood ✅

I mean a good cup of coffee in the morning is just the best 😁 It’s like sunshine in a cup ☀️😜

Caffeine has an average half life of about 5 hours. This means that after 5 hours there is still half the amount of caffeine you ingested still in your system.

For example…

If you have 300mg then 5 hours later you’ll still have 150mg in your system, after 10 hours 75mg, and after 15 hours still 37.5mg.

If you’re sleep sucks, then I’d start with tracking how much caffeine you are having per day and at what time of day you’re having it. You may be surprised how much you are ACTUALLY taking in every day.

The safe upper limit for caffeine is about 400mg per day. After this point it can start to become unhealthy from a longterm heart health standpoint.

Keep in mind everyone metabolizes caffeine at different rate and this will make a difference in how caffeine affects you personally, but it’s never a bad idea to track your actual intake for a little while to see how it’s impacting you.

Hope that helps ✌️

Look you shouldn’t be in a perpetual state of “diet mode”. The best way to maintaining a healthy lean body is to eat as much as you possible can while working towards your current goal.

Anytime you go way under or way over you maintenance calories you’ll experience negative symptoms. You’ll feel and perform your best when your overall energy balance is closer to your maintenance.

For example to be successful with longterm fat loss you should be eating as much as humanly possible while still making fat loss progress.

There are three common signs to keep an eye out for when it’s time to eat more food.

1. You’re “hangry” all the time.

A little bit of hunger while you’re losing fat is completely normal and to be expected, but is you’re hangry all the time. Then it’s a sign it might be time to eat more calories.

1. Your sleep sucks.

If you are in too large of a calorie deficit or just simply been in a deficit for too long then your sleep quality will suffer.

This leads to all kinds of issues that you definitely want to avoid. Quality sleep is something you never want to sacrifice.

1. Your performance in the gym drops and overall energy in general is on empty.

To perform optimally you need enough fuel aka food. Yeah that seems obvious right? But you’d be surprised how common it is to lack proper nutrition for optimal performance, energy levels, and recovery.

So how much should you increase your calories by if you’re experiencing any of these negatives? I’d suggest starting with about a 10% increase in your daily calorie intake. Then give yourself at least a week and then reassess how you’re feeling, performing, and recovering before making any other adjustments. ✌️

Honestly it appears that way, buuuut in reality it’s all relative and not necessarily based on gender.

Your overall capacity to burn calories is based much more on your body composition than it is gender. Height, total body weight, muscle mass are all factors that impact your overall metabolic capacity.

For example gender aside two people the same height, that weight 175lbs with the only difference being one is 10% body fat and the other 25%. The person that is leaner at the same body weight will have more muscle tissue and a greater overall capacity to burn calories and body fat.

Generally, again gennneerraallllyyyyy women are smaller and carry less lean mass than men. Also generally a women’s body weight will fluctuate more than a mans due to the cyclic nature of their hormones. This all makes tracking progress a little bit fuzzy.

Either way you must consistently track progress overtime to see what’s really happening.

Last point and I didn’t mention in the video is total weight loss targets should be based on percentage of overall body weight. Targeting an average weight loss of 0.5-1% in total body weight per week is a great sustainable rate of weight loss to shoot for.

For a 250lb person this would be between 1.25-2.5lbs per week.

For a 150lb person this would be between 0.75-1.5lbs per week.

So the heavier you are the more weight you can sustainably lose week to week.

It’s all relative to what uniquely makes you, you. ❤️✌️

Not all deli meats are created equal. First off the front of the package doesn’t mean anything.

If you really want to know what’s going on then you need to pay attention to that tiny little nutrition facts label on the back of the package.

Even packages claiming to be “lean” can have 50+% of the total calories coming from fat. I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t seem to be lean to me. 🤷‍♂️

Keep in mind there is nothing inherently wrong with choosing a not so lean protein source, but if your main goal is fat loss then you have to keep total calories in check and still get in enough protein.

Choosing mostly leaner protein sources allows you to do this much easier and at the same time may allow you to fit in other tasty things while still making progress.

Start paying attention to those nutrition labels so you can make meals you love and still make progress with your goals. This is exactly how you lose the weight and keep it off forever. You got this! ✌️