Today we’re focusing on what to do if you feel like you’re doing everything right food-wise, but you’re not getting results, whether you want to feel leaner or more energized or whatever it is. Inevitably, when we really dig in deep with a new client, we always find potential areas to improve. We’re going to give 10 ideas for improvement, but don’t try to do them all to start with – you can pick two or three areas.
- Eat more vegetables. Include at least one serving of brassicas or cruciferous vegetables. Those are your broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, Brussels sprouts and cabbage. Crudites or leafy greens are great too. You can include vegetables in your breakfast smoothie or eggs and eat fermented vegetables like sauerkraut.
- Watch your carbs. Our typical rule of thumb for weight loss is going to be one carb at a meal per day. So that’s like one fist size or one cup. And remember that carbs are not just pizza and pasta. They’re also beans, lentils, oats, sweet potatoes, chickpeas, beans and winter squashes. Secret weapons that can help with blood sugar fluctuation are apple cider vinegar, lemon and cinnamon — we love Ila Cinnamon.
- Eat your biggest meal at lunch and have a light and/or early dinner because that’s the time of the day when your insulin is working at its worst.
- Rethink your drinking. Alcohol is a toxin. It can lead to you diving headfirst into the bread bowl, skipping your workout and/or eating badly the next day, and it also messes with your hormones. For someone in their 20s, we would recommend less than 10 drinks a week, and for people in their 30s and beyond, no more than 4-7 drinks a week.
- De-stress. When your body’s stressed, it goes into self preservation mode, and your metabolism doesn’t work well. Historically we were only in this fight or flight state when we were fending off a lion or something. The problem with our modern lives is that we’re in a constant state of high stress from city living, busy jobs and family stress. To de-stress, make sure you’re sleeping at least 7 hours a night and try meditation, red light therapy or acupuncture. A little shout-out — Carolyn’s sister, Sarah, practices acupuncture. You can find her at indigoacu.com.
- Exercise. We want to see people doing at least 6000 steps every day and getting different types of exercise.
- Avoid hormone disruptors like the ones in cosmetics, plastics, pesticides on produce or in chicken. Abby’s Food Court is great if you’re looking to use less plastic. The Environmental Working Group lists the produce with the most and least amounts of pesticides in their Dirty Dozen and Clean 13 guides. We also love our Topo Chico glass seltzer bottles, May Lindstrom organic skincare, the Foodtrainers Flask and reusable coffee mugs, especially ceramic ones.
- Homemade meals. Not many restaurants use organic veggies, wild fish and cook with healthy oils. Also it’s really difficult to be connected to your food if it’s all delivered or comes in a box.
- Supplements can make a big difference. Most people will benefit from taking all the ones in our Favorite Foursome – Vitamin D, a probiotic, omega 3 and magnesium.
- Look at items that should be completely removed from your diet, whether that’s the occasional diet soda, chewing gum, hidden gluten, Splenda or any sort of artificial sweeteners, food dyes or cold cereal.
Resources:
- Learn more at foodtrainers.com
- Instagram: @foodtrainers
- Facebook: facebook.com/Foodtrainers
- Twitter: @foodtrainers
- Read: The Little Book of Thin: Foodtrainers Plan-It-to-Lose-It Solutions for Every Diet Dilemma
