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A New Way to Think About Trigger Foods

A lot of nutrition coaches will tell you that there are good foods and bad foods.

“Bad foods” typically include things like fast food, baked goods, fried foods, and candy. Depending on which diet camp the coach belongs to, more contentious things like grains, dairy, meat, or even fruit could all be on the do-not-eat list.

There is typically a lot of shame, guilt, morality, and fear-mongering tied up in this approach to eating.

Early in my fitness journey, I fell prey to many of these questionable nutrition dogmas. I tried numerous fad diets looking for the perfect way to eat and lose weight.

My entire experience of food was heavily influenced by this good food, bad food dilemma. I remember the anxiety I would feel at a party or at a restaurant if I couldn’t find foods that fit within my narrow menu of acceptable options.

When I inevitably did eat an off-plan food, it sent me into a spiral of overeating because “I already blew it.”

As you might imagine, this approach did very little to help me lose weight. It certainly didn’t help me live a healthier life or improve my relationship with food.

These days, I consider myself a diet agnostic. I don’t believe there is one best diet for everyone and I never instruct my clients to follow a specific diet (although I will answer questions and provide information if someone asks me my thoughts).

Part of this shift has involved removing morality from food. I no longer think of foods in black and white terms like good or bad. Food is just food, and I think there are always instances when it’s appropriate to eat foods other coaches may consider off-limits.

Despite this attitude, however, I don’t think you should just eat whatever you want, whenever you want all the time. It’s still useful to consider which foods work for you and which do not.

This is especially true if you’re trying to lose weight, or if you have a history of disordered eating like I do.

I love the concept of red, yellow, and green light foods that I learned from Precision Nutrition.

Red light foods are foods you don’t want to eat very often, or ever.

This category includes foods you’re allergic to, or those which strongly clash with your values (eg. meat for a vegetarian).

Red light foods could also include foods you have a really hard time regulating yourself around. For example, I know there are particular foods that are heavily associated with binging for me, and I choose to avoid these foods.

Note that there isn’t necessarily anything inherently wrong with these foods, they just aren’t a good fit for your body, psychology, or goals.

Yellow light foods are foods that you can enjoy in moderation but don’t want to eat all the time.

Sometimes these foods are higher in calories, so we want to be mindful of portion sizes so we don’t accidentally overeat (think nuts, nut butters, pasta, etc.).

Other times we may feel uncomfortable if we eat too many of these foods. For example, many people are mildly lactose intolerant and can only eat so much dairy before they start to experience side effects.

In other situations still, yellow light foods may be treat foods that we can enjoy in small amounts but want to be careful not to overindulge. I usually have a couple of chocolate bars in the house, but I limit myself to one or two squares at a time.

Green light foods are foods that make your body and mind feel good and support your goals.

They should make up the bulk of your eating if you want to look, feel, and perform your best. Although the specific selections will vary for each person, green light foods include things like fruits, veggies, lean meats, whole grains, beans and legumes, and eggs.

How to use this system:

  • Most of your meals should consist of green light foods.
  • Occasionally, you can enjoy yellow light foods in appropriate portions.
  • Skip red light foods most of the time. I would not keep these foods in your house, and if you do decide to eat them I would be very intentional about the setting.

Keep in mind that these categories are fluid and will likely change as you get older or chase different goals. And remember to remove shame from the equation. Red light foods are not inherently bad, they just don’t work for you at this time.

Are you struggling to lose weight and keep it off despite your best efforts? Join me in a free webinar to learn how to avoid the common dieting mistakes that are standing in your way.

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Fix Your Leaks (An Easier Way to Lose Weight)

There are a lot of misconceptions about what it takes to lose weight or get in better shape.

Many people think they have to completely overhaul their current lifestyle to see results. This is what drives people to attempt to train hard every single day, or to go all-in on the latest fad diet.

If you’ve ever taken this approach, you know it doesn’t last for long. If you try to do too much exercise too soon, you get incredibly sore and fatigued. When you do inevitably miss a workout, you feel like a failure or weakling. Sometimes that’s all it takes for you to give up on yourself and stop coming to the gym altogether.

It’s also nearly impossible to change your eating habits in one fell swoop. You’ve likely been eating the same way for years – even decades. You have your go-to meals, you buy the same things at the grocery store, you reach for the same treats when you’re stressed out, and you frequent a regular rotation of restaurants.

For most people, these choices are largely automatic and deeply ingrained. It takes a lot of effort and attention to interrupt problematic behaviors and replace them with new, healthier habits.

Losing weight is simple, but it’s not easy (anyone who tells you otherwise is trying to sell you something or has never been overweight themselves). Why on earth would you make this process even harder by trying to change everything at once?

I’m happy to report that you don’t have to change everything you’re doing right away – or ever. Instead, I recommend you start by fixing the obvious leaks.

Just about everyone has one or two food habits that are obviously not ideal. Some of the most common ones I see: 

  • Drinking pop or other high calorie beverages. This includes excessive alcohol consumption.
  • Way too much snacking
  • Bites, licks, and tastes
  • Finishing your kids’ food
  • Drinking shakes after your workout
  • Regularly eating fast food
  • Dessert every day
  • Distracted, mindless eating (eg. not realizing you ate an entire bag of chips while watching tv)
  • Eating peanut butter by the spoonful

Ask yourself, do I have any habits that are obviously not helping me achieve my goals?

Is there one that I am ready, willing, and able to tackle right now?

Pick just one leak to plug and focus all your attention on it for at least a week. Once that time has passed, evaluate your compliance and progress and see if you need more practice or want to add something else.

Does this approach really work?

When I work with clients, I use the concept of the minimum effective dose.

What is the least amount of stimulus or the smallest change we can make and still see results?

I’ve found it really doesn’t take much to get the weight loss train moving in the right direction. This is because plugging these leaks can remove a substantial amount of calories from your week, calories you probably didn’t realize were racking up in a big way.

Taking this “less is more” approach also makes change a lot more manageable. You don’t have to bend over backwards building something from scratch. You’re more likely to actually do the things you said you would, and sustain them without burning out.

The psychological benefits of this cannot be overstated. Instead of feeling overwhelmed, or like you’re a failure, you feel good about your efforts. Your confidence in your ability to change grows, and you’re better prepared to potentially make bigger changes in the future.

If you want to lose weight or get in better shape, you absolutely do not need to change your entire diet or build all-new habits. Instead, look for the leaks – those small habits that are costing you a lot of calories – and focus on fixing those first.

Want some help simplifying the fat loss process? You can apply for my online coaching program here.

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The Most Underrated Tip for Weight Loss

The first thing most people do when they decide to lose weight or build healthier habits is decide which foods to eat (or skip) and how much of them to include in their new diets.

It’s great to consider which foods work for you and which don’t. And it’s very helpful to learn about the calorie content of your favorite meals, or to focus on eating more whole, nutrient foods.

However, I think there is another factor that nearly everyone misses that may actually be more important to their long-term success.

You do not live in a vacuum; you’re highly influenced by the people and things around you at all times.

Therefore, in order to lose weight and keep it off for good, you need to change your environment to support your changing lifestyle.

There are a lot of great things about being a human in the modern world. Unfortunately, the same conveniences that help us live safer and less stressful lives also make it much, much harder to eat in a healthy, sustainable, and moderate way.

You can find cheap, delicious, and highly processed foods everywhere you look. They’re in the break room at work, in every corner store, at family get togethers, and even in our own homes.

These foods are engineered to make it difficult for us to stop eating them. They also happen to be high in calories and low in nutrition, a terrible combination for health and weight.

It takes way more effort to resist these foods than to just eat them. And it’s even harder to actively replace those foods with minimally processed whole foods, especially if you’re not used to the taste of these foods or don’t know how to cook them.

Many people fail in their weight loss efforts because everything in their world is conspiring against their attempts to make healthier choices. You only have so much willpower at your disposal before you start defaulting to easier options.

That’s why it’s so important to build a healthier environment as you’re working to build new eating habits.

Here are a few ways you can change your environment to support weight loss and improved health:

Don’t buy trigger foods.

I’m not the type of coach who says you can never enjoy your favorite treats again (in fact, I think that approach is actively counterproductive). However, you do need to get honest with yourself about your relationship with certain foods.

If you know you have a hard time eating just one serving of something, or if it tends to trigger binge eating or food guilt, you’re better off not keeping that food in the house. If you buy it, you will eventually end up eating it. 

Read More: A New Way to Think About Trigger Foods

Keep snack foods out of sight.

If you do buy treat foods, try to keep them tucked away in a pantry or cabinet where you don’t have to see them every time you go in the kitchen. Out of sight, out of mind. 

Make healthy foods highly visible.

This is the flip side of the point above. I keep a big bowl of fresh fruits on my counter, and as a result I tend to reach for fruit when I want a snack. Some of my clients chop fresh veggies at the start of the week and put them in the front of the fridge. Now, when they open the fridge looking for a snack, the veggies will be the first thing they see.

I strongly recommend using a list to grocery shop so you already know what you need to buy and don’t need to make decisions at the store.

Be smarter about your grocery shopping.

Try to do most of your shopping around the perimeter of the store (that’s where the produce, meat, fish, dairy, and eggs are located) and only venture into the aisles to replenish pantry staples that are on your list.

It’s also wise to have a snack before you hit the store and never grocery shop when you’re hungry.

Some of my clients have had a lot of success using grocery delivery services. They only order what they need and aren’t tempted by treats at the store. This option may be even more appealing during the age of COVID-19.

Read more: How I Learned to Love Grocery Shopping


Plan for your restaurant meals.

If possible, try to be the person who decides where the group is going to eat or order take out. This allows you to pick a place that will have healthy or on-plan options for you to order.

Take a look at the menu before the meal. If you have no idea what you’re going to eat until you’re about to order, you’re more likely to make an emotional decision or say “screw it” and order more than you want.

Read More: Eating Out on a Diet

Plate your food.

Have you ever eaten an entire bag of chips while you mindlessly watched tv? I’m definitely raising my hand here. This happens because we tend to keep eating until we’ve finished the food in front of us, no matter how hungry we are.

To solve this problem, always serve yourself food on a plate or in a bowl. If you want to have some chips, put what you want in a bowl and then put the rest of the bag away.

Minimize distractions while eating.

Many Americans eat as they work, watch tv, or scroll on their phones. You’re way more likely to overeat when you do this, and you’ll get a lot less satisfaction out of your meals.

Try to eat without distractions as often as possible. Pay attention to your food, eat slowly, and savor the experience.

Get your loved ones on board.

It’s very hard to make lasting nutrition changes if everyone else in the house is eating junk food.

I know it’s not easy to do – especially with kids – but you may need to sit down and have a conversation with the people closest to you about what you’re doing and why it’s important to you. See if you can get others to be a little more supportive, even if they aren’t ready to change their own eating habits. 

Changing your environment to make it easier to make healthy choices and harder to make not-so-healthy choices is one of the best things you can do to help you achieve your health and fitness goals. Remember, your life and choices are deeply connected with your environment. It’s impossible to remove yourself from this influence, but you can make changes that will make your journey a lot easier. 

Are you struggling to lose weight and keep it off despite your best efforts? Join me in a free webinar to learn how to avoid the common dieting mistakes that are standing in your way.

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The Truth About Carbs

One of the most pervasive ideas in the nutrition world is that carbs are bad for you, especially if you want to lose weight or change your body composition.

As a lifelong carb lover who has lost a lot of weight personally and coached clients to similar success, I’m happy to tell you that this claim is false.

You read that correctly – you can eat carbs and still lose weight and feel great.

In fact, many people may experience more success with their fat loss efforts and feel a lot better throughout the day if they increase their consumption of carbs.

How can this be true?

Keep reading below, where I bust four myths associated with the demonization of carbs.

Myth #1: Carbs make you gain weight.

Countless diet gurus have fed the public misinformation about the role of carbs in the body. This has led to the widespread belief that carbs are inherently fattening in a way that other foods are not.

Here’s the truth: we gain weight because we eat more calories than our bodies need. This happens because we live in an obesogenic environment where high calorie, hyper-palatable foods are everywhere we look. It’s incredibly easy to eat these foods, and it requires effort to resist them or make changes to long-standing dietary habits.

High carb foods are a part of this equation (more on this below), but they don’t tell the full story. In the end, it doesn’t matter if extra calories come from carbs, fat, protein, or alcohol – they will all cause you to gain weight if you consistently exceed what your body needs and uses.

There is no special property of carbs that makes them more likely to be stored as fat or more likely to cause weight gain.

Myth #2: Junk food = carbs

When I ask you to visualize junk foods, or foods you know you shouldn’t eat all the time if you want to lose weight, you probably think of things like ice cream, cookies, donuts, cake, pastries, chips, french fries, and candy bars.

It’s true that these foods contain lots of carbs, especially compared to other food sources like fruits, vegetables, and even starches.

However, if you take a close look at the overall makeup of these foods, you’ll notice that they also contain a lot of fat. Many of them actually get a much higher percentage of overall calories from far than they do from carbs.

From this perspective, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to think of these foods as carbs.

Foods like these are designed to be as delicious and easy to eat as possible. There are food scientists working in a lab right now to determine the perfect proportion of sugar (carbs), fat, salt, and consistency (creamy, crunchy, etc.) to achieve this goal.

Your inability to stop eating these foods has a lot more to do with the interplay of these factors than it does with their carb content.

Chocolate usually contains more calories from fat than it does from carbs.

Myth #3: You can look, feel, and perform your best without carbs.

My response to this myth is a little more nuanced because it does contain a grain of truth.

The human body can technically survive without carbs, as we posses internal mechanisms to convert protein and fats to energy if we enter a prolonged period of carb reduction. This was essential to our survival back when food was a lot more scarce.

However, just because our bodies can work this magic doesn’t mean it’s easy to do so.

Carbs are the preferred source of fuel for your brain, which explains why many people feel tired, sluggish, and cranky when they cut carbs.

Carbs are also the ideal fuel for your workouts, especially if you want to build muscle or look more toned as you lose weight. If you’re an active person who removes most carbs from your diets, your performance is likely to suffer.

Side note – the reason why some people who cut carbs drop a lot of weight really quickly is because they use up all the carbs stored in their muscles, which are paired with a lot of water. It’s not actually body fat.

If you have no energy, your workouts suck, and you hate the way you eat, how likely are you to stick with your low carb eating plan?

For most stressed out millennials, the answer is “not very.”  These people would do better to add more carbs back into their diet so they don’t feel like shit all the time.

There is definitely individual variance here. Some bodies do naturally burn fat easier than carbs. You probably already know if this is you, because you’ve likely felt better when you stopped eating as many carbs and started eating more fats.

But there are many people – probably a majority – who really do need to eat carbs if they want to feel good, perform well, and stick with a long-term nutrition plan. This is especially true for women, because carbs are more involved with our hormonal health than men.

Ultimately, you need to experiment to determine if you do better with high carb/low fat or low carb/high fat. Pay attention to energy levels, mood, cravings, workout performance, and of course, progress toward your big-picture goals.

Read more: My Thoughts on the Keto Diet

Myth #4: You have to cut carbs if you want to lose weight. 

As mentioned above, carbs by themselves will not make you gain weight. Therefore, you don’t necessarily have to remove them from your diet if you want to build a leaner body.

I believe the most important thing to do if you want to lose weight and keep it off is to build sustainable habits. It’s not about getting to the goal as fast as possible – it’s about learning to eat in a way that you can see yourself repeating forever. You will need to eat fewer calories while you’re dieting than you will when you’re maintaining, but the basic principles of your nutrition should be more or less the same.

What does this have to do with carbs?

It’s important to eat in a way that gives you energy, minimizes hunger and cravings, supports your activity levels, and is aligned with your bigger values around food.

Our discussion of Myth #3 showed us that many people will benefit from eating more carbs. If these people want to lose weight, they should consider cutting calories from fat as much as possible.

This can also be a more satisfying approach because you’ll be able to eat a higher volume of food (fats contain more than twice as many calories per gram than carbs).

It doesn’t matter where the calories come from: if you are in a deficit for a sustained period of time, you will lose weight. Cut your calories from somewhere else if you love carbs.  I hope this clears up some confusion about the role of carbs in a healthy diet or fat loss plan. Carbs can (and often should) be a part of your daily intake.

Read More: What Really Matters For Fat Loss

Are you struggling to lose weight and keep it off despite your best efforts? Join me in a free webinar to learn how to avoid the common dieting mistakes that are standing in your way.

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A solution for those who hate calorie counting.

There are a lot of strategies you can use to lose weight. Ultimately, success comes down to eating fewer calories than your body needs over a long period of time.

  • Lost weight doing keto? It’s because you cut out a lot of calories (from carbs) compared to how you were eating before.
  • Lost weight going vegan or vegetarian? It’s because you replaced animal products with lower-calorie plant-based alternatives.
  • Lost weight on Weight Watchers? It’s because the point system incentivized you to prioritize lower calorie, nutrient dense foods as well as limit you overall quantity of food.
  • Lost weight after you started hitting the gym? Perhaps you were eating around your maintenance calories and the increase in physical activity was just enough to put you in a deficit.

This is all to say you can use any number of diets and workout plans to achieve your fat loss goals.

The most important thing is to respect the laws of energy balance, and to do so in a sustainable, healthy way that aligns with your values, personality, and lifestyle.

For me, this has often meant counting calories. I’ve gone through a few major periods of successful weight loss over the last decade. For all but one, I’ve counted calories and used an app like Lose It! or MyFitnessPal.

One reason why counting calories or tracking macros is such a great tool for fat loss is because it shows you that you can eat all kinds of foods and see success, provided you hit your numbers most of the time.

I like to see the data and numbers so I can make adjustments to my approach when things aren’t working. And I like having some guard rails, because after years of battling an eating disorder I’ve learned that I personally can’t always trust the messages I get from my brain about food.

However, I’ve learned that most people don’t share my feelings about this kind of food logging. And I completely understand why.

Like everything else in your fitness journey, counting calories is a skill that takes time and practice. When you don’t have a lot of experience it takes a lot of time and can be very tedious and annoying. If you have young kids or a crazy work schedule, you likely won’t want to set aside the time it takes to figure this out.

Additionally, calorie counting isn’t a good fit for people who eat out a lot or don’t cook most of their own food. Using a food tracking app only works if most of the data is precise and accurate. You won’t be able to easily weigh and measure your food if you’re not eating at home. Therefore, you won’t be entering high quality information and it’s tough to draw meaningful conclusions about what’s working and what isn’t.

Here’s the thing: if you have a fat loss goal and aren’t seeing the progress you’d like, you’re probably eating too much food. (Sometimes there are also medical issues at play – if you suspect this please seek out a qualified physician.)

So what are you to do if you know you’re eating too much food, but you hate the idea of weighing, measuring, and counting calories?

Thanks to the super-smart folks at Precision Nutrition, there is an easy system you can use to identify proper portions no matter where you are.

The best part about this system is that it’s ultra low-tech. All you need is one hand and your eyes to make it work. Use the size of your hand (which, conveniently is bigger or smaller depending on your stature) to eyeball the portion sizes of different types of foods:

  • Protein: Animal proteins like meat, fish, seafood, and poultry. Plant-based proteins like beans, lentils, and legumes.
    • 1 serving = 1-2 palms, about the thickness of a deck of cards
  • Carbs: Rice, oats, and other grains. Potatoes and starchy tubers. Fruit.
    • 1 serving = 1-2 cupped handfuls
  • Veggies: Basically any low carb colorful plant.
    • ​​​​​​​1 serving = 1-2 fists
  • Fats: Nuts and nut butters. Olives and olive oil. Butter. Avocado.
    • ​​​​​​​1 serving = 1-2 thumbs

 This can be a very eye-opening experience for people.

One thing I hear a lot is that people eat nuts as a healthy snack, but realize that they are eating handfuls at a time instead of just one thumb.

Or, maybe you order a steak at a restaurant and it’s the size of three or four palms.

The latter example would be a great opportunity to practice boxing up a portion of your meal to take home and eat later.

If you have a weight loss goal and your progress has slowed, give this system a try for a few weeks.

Serve yourself by eyeballing your portion sizes using your hand. You may realize this is less food than you’re used to eating, which could be a clue as to why you haven’t been losing weight.

When in doubt, eat slowly and stop at just satisfied (as opposed to totally full.)

This system isn’t set in stone and may need to be adjusted based on how many meals you like to eat, activity levels, and more.

Experiment and figure out what works for you. I’m here to help if you need any guidance or support along the way.

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Two tips for pain-free lunges

Lunging is a foundational movement pattern. But if you struggle to lunge without pain, you’re not alone.

Unfortunately, many people have been lunging with poor form for years.

Performing countless reps in questionable positions can lead to joint pain and degradation. It certainly won’t make you feel stronger or more confident.

Why does this happen?

Lunges are a staple in fast-paced group exercise classes where there isn’t much time to emphasize using good form. Instructors are usually coaching dozens of people and aren’t able to provide appropriate modifications for everyone.

Some trainers also throw their clients into advanced lunging variations before they’re ready. I know because I used to be one of these trainers! I’ve definitely put clients in questionable positions because I didn’t understand how to adapt my programming to fit the needs of the person in front of me.

In recent years, I’ve spent many hours building a deeper understanding of movements like lunging. I’ve learned that in order to build a strong lunge, most people need to take a step back and build strength in the supporting muscles and joints.

Lunges – especially walking lunges or any barbell-loaded lunges – are not a good fit for many people at their current skill level. But that doesn’t mean you can’t work up to these movements if you’re smarter with your training.

Below are two tips to consider if you want to learn how to do great lunges without all the pain and struggle.

Build your lunges on a solid foundation.

Using a simpler variation of a movement can make all the difference between training with pain and awkwardness and building strength, resiliency, and confidence. This is especially true with complex unilateral movements like lunging.

If lunging hurts, you need to back up and build strength with other related exercises.

The most basic regression of a lunge is a single leg glute bridge. I start here when I’m working with clients who have a lot of knee pain. This movement allows you to practice pushing through one leg without placing as much stress on your joints.

Next, I progress clients to split squats. A split squat is essentially a stationary lunge.

Lunging requires you to step in and out of position, which means you’re decelerating against higher forces. If you can’t demonstrate balance, stability, and strength with split squats, you’re definitely going to struggle with lunging.

Beginning in half kneeling – as shown below – is a great way to establish a strong starting position. You’ll figure out exactly where to place your feet and learn how to produce force from the ground up.

Many people will need to spend a significant amount of time working on split squats before they’re able to safely progress to lunging. Don’t rush through this step!

When they’re ready, I finally get my clients lunging. I always start with reverse lunges because they are the most similar to split squats and are less demanding on the knees.

Eventually, some of my clients to progress to more advanced variations like walking lunges, side lunges, and MAX lunges. However, I’m never in a hurry to move to the next step. You are always better off spending more time with a less complex exercise than trying to do something new and flashy.

Build better core connections.

When you lunge, forces are acting on the body in multiple planes: forward and backward, side to side, and even rotationally.

Many people experience pain during lunging not because their legs are weak, but because their body isn’t stable enough to resist those side and rotational forces.

This is why your knees cave in, your feet roll around, and you fall sideways or lose your balance.

The best way to fix this is through smarter core training.

You need to learn to create more internal stability and build muscular connections that run across your body. This means using exercises that activate your lats, core muscles, and glutes at the same time.

The press out is a great example of this, especially if you perform the exercise in half kneeling (which is the basic position of a lunge). You learn how to use your entire core – including your lats – to stay strong, upright, and balanced while manipulating the position of your limbs.

Another great core exercise to help you with lunging is the lateral drag. You can perform these with a sandbag, kettlebell, or dumbbell. Focus on grabbing the floor with your toes and with the down arm. Go slowly and fight to resist rotation as you drag the weight underneath your body.

I want all my clients to eventually perform some variation of a lunge. But in order to get there without pain, we have to be smart and strategic with our training.

Start by using single-leg variations that place less stress on your joints. Focus on performing each exercise with great form and only move on the next progression when you feel strong and confident at your current level.

Along the way, supplement your lower body training with appropriate core exercises. The best core exercises to help with lunging are those that teach you to resist rotation and connect muscles across different sides of your body. 

Utilizing these two tips will make all the difference in how you move and feel when performing lunges and other single-leg exercises.

Want to learn more about building a strong lower body without pain? Check out my free Squat and Deadlift School ebook. I share the exact progressions I use to help clients master these exercises along with tons of videos and written form cues.

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The problem with meal plans (and what to do instead.)

New fat loss or nutrition coaching clients often ask me to write them a meal plan.

I actually have a blanket policy against writing meal plans and I want to share why.

Meal plans can actually do more harm than good. Keep reading to find out why and learn what I think you should be looking for instead.

A meal plan prescribes an exact diet. They’re usually very precise – every last bite of food is to be weighed and accounted for and eaten at a specific time.

  • At 7am, eat 3 egg whites and 1 whole medium egg cooked in 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil with a 5oz apple.
  • At 12pm, eat 6oz plain grilled chicken breast with 1/2 cup steamed broccoli.
  • At 3pm eat a snack of 1/2 cup fat-free cottage cheese with 3oz berries.

You get the idea.

There is a time and a place for meal plans. For example, registered dietitians who are certified to provide medical nutrition therapy can use meal plans to help clients manage illness or chronic conditions.

If you fall into this group, you should absolutely seek the help of a licensed professional. Personal trainers are not qualified (or legally allowed) to write meal plans to address medical problems.

A-list actors, elite bodybuilders, and professional athletes regularly use meal plans to get in amazing shape and perform at the highest level.

Here’s the thing: you don’t live the life of a pro athlete or Hollywood star.

I work primarily with busy urban professionals. My clients work long hours, care for young kids and older parents, and enjoy active social lives and traveling (at least they did before recent events).

They don’t have private chefs and their lives and livelihoods don’t center around their bodies.

This is the first reason why I don’t write meal plans: they are completely unrealistic in real life.

If you try to follow a restrictive meal plan that doesn’t allow for the unpredictability of life, you are setting yourself up to fail.

What to do instead: Develop flexible frameworks that guide your eating in any situation.

For example, if you’re someone who eats out a lot but still wants to lose weight, you can use your hand size to eyeball portions instead of relying on a food scale.

Ask yourself: What are the most challenging nutritional situations I find myself in on a regular basis? What skills can I build to help me navigate these situations in a way that will move me toward my goals?

The second reason I don’t like meal plans is that they ignore individual differences.

Meal plans are heavily biased toward the preferences and experience of the person writing the plan. They fail to account for differences in:

  • Physiology. One of my biggest pet peeves in the nutrition world is that many coaches act as if there is only one way to eat for optimal health. Everyone’s body is unique and responds differently to different foods. I may be able to easily digest foods that tear you up, and vice versa.
  • Personal preferences. Many meal plan staples are bland, boring and tasteless. If your meal plan is full of foods you don’t really like, you’re not going to stick with it for long.
  • Cultural heritage. The foods I learned to eat growing up in a Jewish household are very different than those eaten by my Indian and Latinx friends. You can still lose weight or improve your health eating the foods that are meaningful to you. Just say no to whitewashed meal plans.
  • Food availability. What’s in season where you live? What foods can you actually buy at the grocery store where you shop? Your meal plan won’t do you any good if you can’t find the foods on it, or if they’re super expensive because they’re out of season.

What do do instead: The unsexy truth is that everyone needs to experiment to find a way of eating that works for their unique situation.

Some people can eat grains and dairy, others should avoid them. Some people prefer to eat big meals, other prefer smaller meals and snacks. Some people eat a lot of meat, others remove it from their diets entirely.

You need to make these decisions for yourself, not rely on a piece of paper to make them for you.

This brings me to the last problem with meal plans: they prevent you from building the skills you need to think and make decisions for yourself.

“If only I had someone to tell me exactly what to eat, then I’d finally achieve my goals.” 

I’ve heard the above statement more times than I can count. Unfortunately, this is wishful thinking that isn’t rooted in reality.

People actually do best when they feel they have autonomy in their lives.

This means decisions you make for yourself are much more powerful and will have a much bigger impact on your actions than decisions a coach makes for you.

My clients who’ve experienced the most success over the years are the ones who took the most ownership over the process. They got curious about themselves and experimented to find their own unique path.

Failure is part of this process, because you often have to weed out the things that don’t work to find those that do.

Although I encourage you to ditch the meal plans, you don’t have to go through this process all by yourself. You can hire a coach who listens to you and helps you build habits and skills as opposed to just telling you what to do all the time.

If you’re interested in my online coaching program, you can learn more here.

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Returning to the gym? Read this first.

After months of closures, gyms around the country are slowly resuming operations.

There are plenty of people discussing all the ways to protect yourself from COVID-19 when you return to the gym. I’m not going to talk about that today, as those policies will come directly from your gym or local government.

Each person also has their own unique circumstances with work, family, and finances as well as their own personal risk tolerance, all of which could affect their decision about when to return to the gym.

Instead of digging into these issues, I want to discuss another crucial element of staying safe when you go back to the gym. It’s hard to overstate just how important this consideration is to protect yourself.

Be cautious to avoid injuries.

You are not the same trainee that you were back in early March.

If you don’t take your time easing back into full weight room workouts, you are setting yourself up for pain and injuries.

Even if you’ve been crushing your home training, your body is not in specific shape for the gym.

There is a big difference between squatting with a band or kettlebell and squatting with a barbell.

Same idea applies to other exercises. If the only pressing movements you’ve done for three months are various types of pushups, your body is no longer fully adapted for barbell – or even dumbbell – bench pressing.

Now, this doesn’t mean you’re totally out of shape if you’ve been training without access to real weights. I have clients that lost weight, built lean muscle, and are moving better than ever thanks to their quarantine workouts. You may even feel stronger and fitter than you did before the gym closed.

However, the specific stressors placed on your ligaments, tendons, and joints are different with different training tools.

Barbells in particular are not very joint-friendly and a lot less forgiving of form errors. Placing too much load and stress on delicate connective tissues before they’re ready is a great way to hurt yourself.

Getting hurt now only means more time away from the gym. Nobody wants that!

The absolute worst thing you can do when you go back to the gym is try and jump right back in to the exact workouts you were using before quarantine. 

What to do instead

  • Start with shorter workouts. Your work capacity for lifting weights is likely reduced. I recommend 30 minute workouts for at least the first two weeks. You can always fill in extra time with cardio or non-lifting activities.
  • Prioritize recovery. Get plenty of sleep, eat primarily nutrient-rich foods, drink lots of water, and go for easy walks on your off days. You can also experiment with bodywork, contrast showers, and other recovery tools.
  • Use less weight. No matter what exercise you perform, start with lighter weights than you think you can handle.
  • Be cautious about barbell training. I actually recommend avoiding barbells for the first 2-4 weeks. Focus on dumbbells, kettlebells, cables, and machines. Then, once you’re back in the swing of things, you can add barbell movements  back into the mix.
  • Consider starting a new training program. Hiring an experienced coach or trainer to guide you through this process can take a lot of pressure off your shoulders.
  • Be nice to yourself. You will likely feel pretty weak and out of shape the first time you return to the weight room. Don’t let this get you down. If you stayed active during quarantine, your gym strength and endurance will return pretty rapidly. If you were totally sedentary for the last three months, this process will probably take a little longer.

One last note – expect to be very sore when you first get back into lifting weights. In my experience, people feel the most intense soreness when they return to lifting weights after a long period away or do exercises they haven’t done in a while.

This is another reason to take it easy with lighter loads and shorter workouts until you re-acclimate to the gym.

Do you have questions or concerns about how to safely resume your gym routine? Apply for my online training program and I can provide customized plans, support, and advice to help you navigate this transition.

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My commitment to anti-racism

The first version of this statement was originally posted to social media on Monday June 1. A second version, adapted below, was sent via email on Tuesday June 9.

Last week I went dark on social media and didn’t send any emails. Given everything that’s going on in my country and city, it felt pretty hollow to talk about health and fitness stuff.

However, saying nothing also feels wrong. I’m deeply saddened by the senseless murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Brionna Taylor, and countless other Black Americans. And I’m angry at systems that continue to perpetuate violence and inequality at every level.

These issues are important to me not just as a fellow human being, but also as a fitness coach. Systemic racism and police brutality are inseparable from health.

The fitness industry itself is not very diverse – nearly all of its leaders are white men. This means the information I’m studying and communicating to clients is biased toward one worldview and may be completely missing important lessons and alternative perspectives.

Instead of creating my own content, I spent last week listening to Black voices and considering the ways that I’ve been complicit in and benefited from institutionalized and internalized racism – as well as white supremacy – in my own life.

I don’t claim to have all the answers, and I won’t pretend like I’m now an expert in social justice. But I do want to publicly say that I’m committed to learning, listening, and using my place of privilege to be an ally for my Black clients, friends, neighbors, and peers.

I will be actively working to build a more inclusive business because I strongly believe fitness is for everyone, not just people who look like me.

This starts with hiring Black and POC coaches, purchasing courses and books on racism and anti-racism, and taking a hard look at where I spend my money and who I’m following on the internet.

This will be an ongoing process and I will be talking about it as is appropriate moving forward. I’m always available for any feedback about this.

If you think I could do a better job or you take issue with something I’ve done or said, I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to let me know.

I appreciate you for being here and being open to these conversations. And to those of you out there fighting on the front lines of this fight, I see you and I support you.

Black lives matter.

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What’s more important, diet or exercise?

I am a true believer in the power of exercise.

No matter who you are or what goals you have, I guarantee you can benefit from moving your body on a regular basis.

One reason why exercise is so powerful is that it is a keystone habit. In his book The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg defines a keystone habit as a super habit that causes you to adopt additional positive habits.

Think of it as the first domino in a habit chain reaction. During the process of implementing the keystone habit, many people consciously or unconsciously build other helpful habits to support their efforts.

When we start working out, we tend to adopt other healthy behaviors.

We might go to bed earlier so we can perform better in the next day’s training session.

Maybe we start eating more protein so we can see faster progress from our workouts.

Before we know it, we’re looking, feeling, and performing better as a result of all the changes we’ve made to support our new exercise habit.

Working out on a regular basis can be an incredibly powerful catalyst for change in many areas of your life. And let’s be honest – most people feel it’s easier to start exercising than to clean up their nutrition.

For these reasons, I usually encourage people to start their fitness journey with exercise. Move often in ways that feel good and occasionally challenge your body in safe, productive ways.

Exercise is amazing, but it’s not always enough.

Unfortunately, despite its propensity to be a keystone habit, exercise by itself is not enough to get most people all the way to the finish line.

This is especially true if you have a body composition goal like losing weight. If your diet isn’t in line with your body size, goals, and activity levels, you will not see the progress you’re hoping for with exercise alone.

This misalignment is the reason why some people who hit the gym religiously can’t seem to get the scale or their measurements to budge.

In these cases, diet becomes more important than exercise.

Why is this the case?

Fat loss occurs when we consume fewer calories than our bodies use over a prolonged period of time.

Read more: The only three things you need to lose fat

Although our energy balance mechanisms are actually a lot more complicated, it’s helpful to think of this in terms of exercise (calories out) and diet (calories in).

There is only so much exercise you can do before you run out of time, burn out, or hurt yourself. We also tend to burn a lot fewer calories working out than we think (the number your wearable tells you is likely inaccurate).

Eating, on the other hand, happens multiple times every day. Most of us are bad at estimating how many calories we consume, and the world around us is filled with tempting, tasting, high calorie foods.

It’s criminally easy to wipe out any calorie burn from exercise with a big meal, a few drinks, or a post-workout treat.

Even “healthy” foods can contribute to this problem. If you burn 200 calories during a hard workout and then drink a 400 calorie smoothie on the way out of the gym, you’ve wiped out all your efforts and then some.

This is why paying attention to portion sizes through calorie counting or some other method is an essential element of successful fat loss.

Read more: All about food logging

Ultimately, you have a lot more chances to control the calories going in to your body than you do over the calories coming out.

So what’s more important, diet or exercise?

Both diet and exercise are essential elements of building a fit body and living a healthy life.

However, if you’re trying to lose weight, diet is ultimately more important than exercise.

If your weight isn’t moving in the direction you’d like despite regular exercise, perhaps it’s time to take a closer look at your diet and nutrition.

Do you want to ditch the overly restrictive fad diets and lose weight in a sane and sustainable way? Join the waitlist for the next round of my Sane and Simple Fat Loss group coaching program.

In this signature six week program, I teach clients the basic principles they need to follow to lose weight without losing their minds.