- I’m far more concerned about 3-4 days of a recent food journal (1-2 normal days and 1-2 abnormal days) than I am about the calories you think you need to be hitting to achieve fat loss. Rather than driving yourself crazy trying to weigh and measure every solitary thing in your diet, look at what you’re currently consuming, write it all down for a few days (even things you think don’t count) and try scaling back from there.
- If you need a protein powder to help you reach your protein goals for the day, any powder and most premixed protein drinks will do the trick. Many women struggle with whey protein so if whey is not an option for you, try the plant-based premixed protein shakes by OWYN that have around 32g of protein per serving.
- There is no such thing as a “good” food or “bad” food. There is food that you can moderate successfully and food that you don’t moderate as well. Choose which foods you want to have easy access to in your home if fat loss is your goal. If you don’t moderate a food well, decide where and when you’d like to include it in your food plan, so that you don’t feel overly restrictive on the plan. For example, a cookie a day might work really well for someone if they need something to look forward to each day but a cookie every two weeks might work really well for someone who needs to build some momentum before they “reward” themselves with the treat.
- If you have a stressful life, adding the stress of a low calorie diet and the stress of a high intensity workout is a recipe for disaster. Try reducing the intensity of your training and pushing your calories up a bit.
- The best supplement for fat loss is better sleep. Poor sleep is strongly correlated to poor dietary adherence and higher cravings.
- The second best supplement for fat loss is your self talk. It’s the rare occurrence that someone succeeds with their fat loss goals while also shaming their body along the way. Speak with respect about the body that literally performs miracles for you every day.
- What’s more important for fat loss: calories or hormones? If you want the needle to move on the scale, calories have to be controlled for the goal. However, hormones influence your ability to stick to those calories. Ask any woman in the menopause transition how much easier it was for them to lose fat when they were in their 20s and 30s and you’ll get a shining example of just how important hormones can be in the conversation. That being said, be highly skeptical of anyone who is trying to sell you on a “hormone reset”. Your body isn’t a smartphone. You don’t just power it down and power it back up and expect it to work without issue.
- You have unconditional permission to eat any food you like. Certain foods (or portions of foods) might slow down your progress but that doesn’t mean you’re not “allowed” to have them.
- I don’t think there is any demographic that is grossly taken advantage of more than women in the menopause transition. The toughest part about that is that every woman will experience this change differently than the next and there is NO blueprint about the best way to handle hot flushes, night sweats and the “extra” in your midsection. Some women need HRT, some women need an antidepressant, and that may not solve every symptom that you have. Find a great OB/GYN and possibly a great endocrinologist. Eat mostly nutritious foods, limit alcohol, stay hydrated, have a movement practice you can stick with/enjoy and BE KIND to yourself.
- There is no one-size-fits-all diet that works equally well for everyone. We not only have different interests, different cultural backgrounds, different taste buds, and different financial means to afford food for ourselves but we have different digestive systems, different reactions to food and while keto might have worked fantastically well for your neighbor, you might find that you just really like (and thrive) on a higher carbohydrate diet. Focus on you.
(Photo courtesy of Artur Rutkowski)
