As a strength coach, I’m often asked about nutrition. Though I have a fairly basic understanding of nutrition, I can still absolutely help most, if not all, of my clients achieve their fat loss goals. That’s because most people trying to lose fat mass, don’t even have a basic understanding of macronutrients, calories, and portion size. Those are the absolute basics when it comes to food, and I argue that accounts for 90+% of peoples’ misguided weight loss attempts.
Dietetics, in my opinion, is a poor science to begin with. So, if people just got the basics of macronutrients right, I believe they would fix 90% of their weight problems. I’m not gonna lie, it’ll take a lot of work. But what else in life is worth more than your health?
There is no magic bullet. Instead, I teach people how to build healthy, sustainable lifestyles for the rest of their lives. Deprivation is never the answer. Of course, there may be some element of deprivation during a weight cut, but it’s also not indefinite. To omit entire food groups in an attempt at (likely temporary) weight loss is not sustainable to most people. Not to mention that it’s completely unnecessary. Also, people fail to realize that they have achieved their ideal body composition, and the caloric deficit phase is done, they SHOULD increase their caloric count back to maintenance levels. There will be periods of trial and error, but what process doesn’t have those? Gains and losses will never be perfectly linear.
Almost daily, I preach to my clients, eat EVERYTHING in moderation. There are no such things as bad foods…but don’t drink bleach, or eat rat poison…those are bad foods! My point is that we should avoid looking at foods in dichotomies. Like most things in life, food is a continuum: some foods are BETTER for our health, and the opposite is true. Losing fat weight shouldn’t be torturous. For the average person, cutting weight shouldn’t mean chicken breast and broccoli everyday. Instead, think about how you can work in the slice of chocolate cake and still be in a caloric deficit. That’s right, you can have your cake AND eat it too.
Further, there are TONS of apps that can help with body recomposition. They are tremendously better now than when the apps first launched. With the help and direction of knowledgeable and caring professionals, accomplishing your body composition goals is VERY achievable. Make no mistake, I tell my clients all the time, I give you all the tools, but it’s up to you to do all the work.
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