It’s the new year and the gym is packed! Motivation is at an all time high at the beginning of the year. For many, we begin their year with more workouts than normal. But let’s ask ourselves, what are we doing about our nutrition? What day of the year does that wear off? One thing I know for sure is everyone will have to eat something everyday this year. Unless you have an extreme fasting ritual you will need to eat daily. So, what do you eat?
To state the obvious, everyone is different and your personal recommendation may be different that another’s. Speaking to the general population we need to start with protein consumption.
Step 1:
Let’s determine how many calories you need. Generally females are around 1,400-1,800 calories a day. For males usually around 2,000-2,500 calories a day. Depending on a lot of different factors. Here’s a link to my favorite calorie calculator. Pro tip if you use the app pick moderate for workout level to start.
Step 2:
How much protein do we need a day? Well this will depend on your goals of course. But, for most people it will be between 0.7 to 1.2 times your bodyweight. If you’re looking to put on muscle you’ll need more protein. For instance if you weigh 150lbs we should range somewhere between 105g and 180g of protein per day.
Step 3:
Let’s determine your carbs and fats. This is probably the most controversial step in the process. It’s definitely the one people tend to fixate on the most. Not to just use this as a cop out but (drumroll please).. It doesn’t matter as long as you don’t go over your number of daily calories. TA DA!
Step 4:
Track your calories. If you don’t know how much food you’re eating on any given day it dramatically increases your chances of not seeing the results you want to see. We need to learn how to track our food. Fortunately technology has made it very easy for us. If you have a smart phone download any tracking app. I use My Fitness Pal but there are plenty of others if you don’t like that one. Spend some time and set up your account and begin logging your meals.
Step 5:
Look at the data. So let’s say you’ve been tracking for a week, let’s review your journal. How is your weight trending toward your goals? Do you feel hungry all the time or are you stuffing yourself and still not meeting your protein goals? We need to be honest with ourselves with the tracking and effort we are putting into this endeavor. It will be challenging at times but eventually it will get easier and not so time consuming.
Step 6:
Once you get dialed in on your daily calorie consumption you can move on to more goals. But you must track and get the information your food is telling you every meal. This includes drinks as well. As your weight moves you’ll need to redo your numbers up or down depending on your goals.
It’s that simple, figure out a daily calorie count and stick to it! For many we know what we need to do. But the ability to hold ourselves accountable is lacking. If you need help with nutrition we would love to help. Book a free 15 minute consultation below
