Author Archives: Megan_mefit

Unknown's avatar

About Megan_mefit

Nutritionist, Personal Trainer, Community Leader Personality: Driven, energetic, supportive, open-minded Certifications: Corrective Exercise Specialist (NASM), TRX certified Education: Bachelor of Science from the Radford University in Foods and Nutrition I’ve been passionately working in health and fitness for over two decades. Through these experiences I’ve learned a lot about myself and what my job means to others. In my coaching programs, we work to upgrade your mindset, overcome disappointments, obstacles, perceived failures, challenges and by doing so we create a sense of self efficacy (belief in oneself to complete the task). Also, by providing education that facilitates a sustainable foundation of knowledge, creating healthy habits that turn into a consistent routine and therefore lasting results. What we do together is not a diet plan or a cookie cutter workout program. OUTSIDE THE GYM Originally from Virginia, I moved out to Portland, Oregon directly after college for the delicious hippie food, circus arts, music, coffee and overall vibe. For recreation I enjoy hanging my hammock, dancing music festivals, hula hooping, hiking, and paddle boarding. I spent a year living abroad in Japan with my husband, and recently moved to the Hudson Valley area in New York. We love plants and animals! We garden, have many house plants, fish tanks and four pets. One miniature poodle, Butternut, one toy poodle, Hazelnut, one of their puppies Cashew & an orange tabby cat named Filbert.

Many aspects of your workout difficulty is ON YOU!

Leave a reply

A lot of my clients have a history of exercise programs that were actually counterproductive to their goals. They have done so much volume training over the years that they are now physically exhausted and nervous system is overwhelmed – with not much to show for it in the form of strength & muscle gains for all the hours they’ve spent training. Typically, it’s the lack of recovery and low energy availability that holding them back.

Saying a workout is too easy or not challenging enough for you based on a feeling of exhausted based on volume alone (number of exercises, sets and/or reps), is an incorrect measurement approach.

The biggest difference between a program that makes you tired & a program that actually improves & gives you results is SMART PROGRESSION.

What we are seeking is the MINIMUM EFFECTIVE DOSE.
Building muscle isn’t about doing as much as you CAN each workout. It’s about doing as much as you NEED. 💪🏼

So, let’s talk about What is under YOUR CONTROL:⁣

👉🏻The weight you choose to use to challenge yourself⁣. It takes awhile to learn how to navigate RPE and RIR scales. According to several studies, when females (trained & untrained) self-select their training loads, they’re not heavy enough to optimize strength

👉🏻How much you think about mind muscle connection, and squeezing each target muscle⁣

👉🏻The tempo you use each rep, which changes the length of the set and overall time under tension (a big contributor to hypertrophy🙌🏻)

⁣👉🏻How much you control the eccentrics, versus letting the weight control you⁣

👉🏻How much you pay attention to form, and really leading with the target muscle and avoiding using others or swinging/using momentum

👉🏻How much you truly try to hit close to your wall within the target reps (ex choosing a weight you can truly only do 10-12 reps with, not a weight you can do 30 reps with)⁣⁣ The researchers also indicated that the subjects didn’t appear to approach failure on any set & their ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) were identified as only ‘somewhat hard’ (likely not enough intensity of effort to optimize muscle hypertrophy)

The load lifted doesn’t matter as much for optimizing muscle mass as long as effort is high (each set needs to be taken to near failure)

This would suggest the RPE on each set should be interpreted as ‘very very hard’ or ‘very hard’

In these studies, the RPE was only ‘somewhat hard’. Hence, muscle hypertrophy wasn’t optimized

TLTR: Taking your workouts to 7, 8, 10+ exercises per workout still can be “too easy” if you aren’t executing your lifts correctly. Conversely, you can leave the gym crippled after just 3-4 exercises with the right intensity😳⁣⁣

And what’s more, if you start approaching your sets with the correct mindset, focus and intensity: YOU WILL SEE WAY MORE & FASTER PROGRESS🙌🏻🙌🏻🎉

Who wouldn’t want that?!⁣⁣The next time you feel like a workout isn’t hard enough, run through this list of all the elements within your control and challenge yourself with the question: Is there any more I can do here?! 💪🏻⁣

SOURCE: PMID = 15142014; 17313286; 28118310

Why you don’t need to detox, cleanse or a reset:

Leave a reply

🙅🏻‍♀️No detox, cleanse or reset needed

It’s likely your metabolic function that should addressed, consistency and patience that will bring about healing—Not a restrictive dietary protocol.

🔥 What is our metabolism?⁠
⁠
🔹Simply put, it is how well our cells use energy to do the jobs they are supposed to do.⁠

🔹The metabolism is the rate at which we convert calories and oxygen into energy AND how efficiently and effectively we use that fuel.⁠

🔹It doesn’t just affect how we gain and lose weight, it also affects how we function down to the cells themselves.⁠

🔹And every part of our body is made up of… CELLS.⁠

🔹And since hormones are made BY cells FOR cells (simply cellular messengers), it affects both our hormonal output and how we receive and respond to hormones.⁠

🔹Our metabolism affects:⁠
⁠
〰️ Detoxification (liver, skin, kidneys, etc.)⁠
⁠
〰️ Digestion⁠
⁠
〰️ Thyroid⁠
⁠
〰️ Adrenals⁠
⁠
〰️ Pancreas (enzymes & insulin)⁠
⁠
〰️ Menstrual Cycle/Reproduction⁠
⁠
〰️ Insulin Sensitivity⁠
⁠
〰️ Inflammation⁠
⁠
〰️ Immune System⁠

⁠
🔹This is why focusing on detox diets, cleanse protocols and thinking you need to “reset, is what suppress symptoms like weight gain or autoimmunity. It is a bandaid that often makes metabolic function worse in the long run.⁠

🔹This is why so many people share that symptoms go away for a while and then come back worse than before.⁠

🔹Heal your metabolism, heal your whole self.⁠

🔹Many factors affect our metabolism including our nutrition, the frequency of our nutrition, our mental state/emotions, our breathing, our nervous system, our movement, our environment, etc.⁠

How do we get started?⁠
⁠
🍑Nourish our bodies vs. restrict from our bodies⁠
⁠
🍑Provide enough calories from a balance of protein, carbs and fat⁠
⁠
🍑Take deep breaths⁠
⁠
🍑 Be patient, focus on metabolic health > weight loss.

🍑Make stress reduction and down time (doing “nothing”) a priority⁠
⁠
🍑Eat frequently & consistently⁠
⁠
🍑Prioritize sleep⁠

🍑 Increase daily movement (NEAT)

TLTR: you need a coach before a supplement. Stop Swinging the pendulum, reaching for these quick fixes and start living a lifestyle that’s balanced 🙌🏼

🗣 Link in bio for coaching

You’ve got to EARN your right to diet….

Leave a reply

Most of new clients hire a personal trainer wanting to lose weight.
⁣
But ☝️ we usually have to enter into a different kind of diet before we can actually “diet”.⁣
⁣
Here’s why this process is important:
⁣
Most people come from a place of chronic dieting with only short periods of over eating…when they get sick of this yo yo approach to “dieting”⁣
⁣
It’s not unheard of for new clients to have been attempting a calorie deficit (and typically over-exercising) for 90% of their “fitness journey” 👉 meaning that their bodies are already in a stressed out, down-regulated state.⁣ (This was me up until May 2020. )

⁣
Instead of exacerbating this stress with MORE exercise and LOWER calories…⁣
⁣Our first goal is an optimal psychological and physiological baseline.⁣


⁣This is where you “earn the right” to diet; think of it like your buy in.

This could mean building/finding a sustainable maintenance calorie intake and amount of exercise.⁣
⁣
For others it might mean even pushing past this and eating in a small surplus to create an environment that’s extra supportive of muscle building for a period of time.⁣
⁣
*USUALLY* this looks like a progressive, structured increase in calories and revamping workout programming to be more focused on strength training instead of mostly cardio-based 🏃‍♀️⁣

So where to start? Use the chart below to get an idea of daily calorie amounts, 1800-2100 calories per day, 25-30% coming from Protein. Focus on eating enough food, tracking your biofeedback (Sleep, Hunger, Recovery, Energy, Digestion, Stress) and see how all that improves.
⁣


⁣
Chronic dieting and over exercising often comes with the need for mindset shifts FIRST.⁣

⁣
Jumping into more dieting when you have already been dieting frequently, or if you’ve even just dieted too recently, can quickly lead to you spinning your wheels:⁣
⁣
🚫more metabolic adaptations (not good)⁣
⁣
🚫muscle loss (really not good)⁣
⁣
🚫no progress being made, even perhaps when taking things to extremes.⁣
⁣
The “diet before the diet” is just as important than the diet itself when it comes to mind & body changes over time.⁣
⁣
Please spend just as much, if not more, time optimizing your metabolism, building muscle, and living your life, so that when the time does come to diet down, things will be easier & allow for HEALTHY progress 💞⁣

Thank you Coach Kasey Jo for original post and inspiring this content.

Want more free content and support? Join my free FB support group for free resources

What cravings really mean….

Leave a reply

▫️Cravings are how the body meets and communicates its nutrient needs.⁠

▫️The body is causing our brain to become obsessed or consumed with the need, until we seek it out, find it and meet that need.⁠

▫️Does this mean we indulge in every craving or whim? Not necessarily.⁠
But it’s in our best interests to listen.⁠👂

🧂 Salty⁠
⁠Do we need high quality sodium? Our adrenals burn through sodium when we are stressed, fasting, eating low carb, are pregnant and breastfeeding. High quality sea salt is a great place to start.⁠

🍞 Refined Breads & Baked Goods⁠
⁠Do we need more carbs? Fruits, roots, fruit juices, squashes, soaked/sprouted grains, etc.?⁠

🍰Sugary Sweets⁠
Are we providing our body with the above? Allowing honey, maple syrup, coconut sugar into the diet?⁠

💦Always Thirsty⁠
⁠If we drink plenty of water and it doesn’t quench our thirst, we should check in on if we’re getting enough minerals! Broths, coconut water, juices and milk are amazing sources of electrolytes.⁠

🍟Fatty Foods/Fried Foods⁠
⁠Are we eating high quality saturated fats? Full-fat Dairy, ghee, butter, tallow, coconut oil, high quality olive oil, etc.⁠

🍴Acidic: Vinegar or Sour⁠
How’s our stomach acid and digestion? Sometimes cravings for acidic/vinegary things can be a sign our digestion needs work⁠. Try incorporating a pre-meal ritual including breathwork and relaxation techniques, + gelatin snacks with your meals, or digestive bitters 15 min before eating.

⁠
🍩Junk Food⁠
⁠Sometimes our body just needs MORE. More energy, more calories. And sometimes, when it’s only gotten an energy rich diet through junk, it craves junk. Usually eating enough and paying attention to all the above helps with this.⁠

🙏Thank you to Jessica Ash Wellness for all she taught me in her Fully Nourished program! I am no longer struggling with cravings or binging.

🤍Listening to our bodies is huge! Intuition relies on feelings, what do I feel like? Practicing nourishing with intention goes a little bit deeper… What does my body need? What am I craving? What sounds good? It’s a fusion between body, brain and feelings all being met. 🧭

What is motivation? and How do we “get” motivated?

Leave a reply

🔅TLTR:
MOTIVATION is the driving force behind your actions. It isn’t something you simply have and keep forever, motivation is like campfire that you must keep stoking to benefit from the warmth 🔥

🔅SUSTAINABLE motivation comes from an intrinsic source. A place within you where you have self respect and self acceptance. You know the value of health. You believe in the power of your choices, and how they can impact your future. You chose to move your body, to nourishing your body, to prioritize your health, because of those reasons. 💛

🔆Creating motivation is the first step, and having a coach to help manage and maintain that motivation can be a crucial piece of your health and wellness journey 🧩!

🗣 Click link to set up a call to chat about how to get motivated for your goals Calendly – Megan_mefit📱 💪🏻

#onlinepersonaltrainer#onlinenutritioncoach#motivation#motivational#sundayvibes#sunday#fitnessmotivation#goals#motivationmonday#fitfam#fitness
#getfit#fitnessgoals#infographic#learnsomethingnew
#science#mindset#incentives#howtostaymotivated#getmotivate

Lacking discipline is rarely about laziness….

1 Reply

Lacking discipline is rarely about laziness–it’s often due to setting unrealistic goals, standards, and focusing on what others are doing instead of what you need as an individual.

Examples of a better approach:
•Workout 2x per week versus 5-6 days per week.
•Hiring a professional to help guide you versus doing what your co-worker is doing.
•Small caloric deficit versus Intermittent fasting.
•Focusing on daily protein intake versus worrying about about carbs/fat

🤍Play the long game, and make your lifestyle sustainable!
☮️Contentment will bring freedom.

#discipline#freedom#sustainable#onlinepersonaltrainer#personaltrainer#fitness#nutrition#goals#goalsetting#mealprep#workoutroutine#fitfam

Let’s talk about STRESS!

Leave a reply

First what is stress? Anything that causes the body to STRAIN and use extra fuel resources while pulling those things from being used in important daily body functions.

When talking about stress in our lives, I like to think of it in these three categories. Bad stress (that is avoidable), bad stress (that is Unavoidable) and good stress which means providing something in exchange.

All stress is strain on the body, and all types of stress can break the body down.

The body can only handle a set amount of stress at one time, think about this as a stress bucket. Throughout the day-to-day you have unnecessary expectations on yourself, endless negative self talk, trippin’ over what a co-worker thinks of you, while you’re planning your wedding. And now you’re sick with a cold! That’s the body responding to the stress bucket being full.

Even if the new stress is in the good category, if the body is not resilient to stress due to lack of nutrients, lack of adequate rest, management and recovery–it will cause negative impacts on your health.

There are ways to manage the stress you feel and prevent it from growing and affecting your health. Here is some advice for more effective stress management:


-Recognize the events that cause stress. Be attentive to symptoms of stress and note the types of events that affect you most.
-Find out what the problem is exactly – this makes it easier to deal with it.
-Speak about your problems to people you trust. By expressing your feelings, you reduce the stress you feel.
-Speak with a professional if you need to do so.
-Learn about stress-management techniques, walk in nature, breathwork, yoga, hula-hooping, cuddles with pets, etc.
-Reduce tension through physical exercise.
-Don’t be too hard on yourself.
-Prioritize a consistent bedtime routine.

Stress management is a massive aspect of living and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. You cannot supplement away stress, sorry. All the herbs in the world, can’t do internal work for you. You got this. You are capable. You are amazing. I believe in you.

#onlinepersonaltrainer
#onlinehealthcoach
#stressmanagement
#stress
#healthylifestyle
#coach 

How stress impacts digestive function

Leave a reply

The root of most gut problems, is the downgrade of metabolic health. It’s not the food honey, it’s the chronic stress.

First, what do I mean by stress? It is anything that causes the body to STRAIN and use extra fuel resources and pull those things from being used in important daily body functions.

What is digestion? The mechanical and chemical processes in which the body breaks down and absorbs nutrients from food. When we are in the fight or flight state, our body prioritizes survival, by pulling power from digestive organs and sending blood, oxygen and nutrients to the organs like heart, lunges, adrenals and muscles.

The energetic state we are in when consuming our food matters. Eating mindlessly or in a stressed out environment leads to not chewing food properly. When we swallow large chunks of food, this leads to issues in the gut. Being in a stressed state means less stomach acid, digestive enzymes, sluggish bile, and less colon contractions. Large chunks of food can lead to fermenting, rotting, irritation and feeding of bacteria.

Ideally, food is broken down into liquid before swallowed, this allows for maximal absorption later in the intestines. A good rule of thumb is count to 20-30 chews before swallowing. As long as you do this, until you lose count at least–that’s a step in the right direction. Mechanical digestion mastication and peristalsis (chewing and movement through the gut) are equally crucial as chemical digestion for absorption of nutrients.

Digestion begins in the brain and nervous system, as well as the senses. How appetizing your plate is, the smells, tastes and textures. Salvia (drool) itself contains digestive enzymes.

Creating a pre-meal ritual where you take a few deep breaths to relax your brain and body is helpful when going through stressful times. As counterintuitive as it may seem, the more you enjoy your food and incorporate mindful eating practices into the daily routines, the better your digestion, absorption and overall satisfaction will be.

#stress#digestivehealth#digestion#diet#personaltrainer#nutrition#stressmanagement#deepbreaths#vagusnerve#mindfulness#mindful#mindfuleating

Why women need ample protein intake

2 Replies

When on-boarding new clients, one of the first things we focus on is daily protein intake.

  1. It boots metabolism- protein has a thermic effect upward of five times greater than carbohydrates or fat.
  2. Stay Fuller, longer- A growing body of research suggests that dietary protein specifically, can help promote satiety, facilitating weight loss when consuming as a part of a reduced energy diet.
  3. Supports lean muscle mass- Studies show that protein before and after a workout increases protein synthesis=muscle growth. It also preserves current muscle mass, which is part of a healthy aging process.
  4. Healthy skin, hair and nails- protein supplies the body with the amino acids it requires to make keratin-one of the structural proteins in our skin, hair and nails. To boost your body’s natural keratin production, you need to consume an adequate amount of protein, as well as specific vitamins and minerals that support this process.

,

Fitness during your monthly cycle

Leave a reply

Have you ever noticed that you feel different throughout the month during your workouts?

🏋🏻‍♀️ Less motivated? More Fatigue? Gastric distress? Bloat?

OR

is it MORE Energy? Stronger? Faster? Leaner?

It isn’t just in your head, as females, our body’s change week by week depending on where we are within our hormone cycle. AND LADIES, your body doesn’t care how much you can deadlift or much rather prioritize strength and fat loss goals, when it is preparing to create a life.

Lets take a look at what your performance looks like during the different phases of your cycle:

Follicular Phase (Days 1-14):

Estrogen IncreasesMood and Energy increase.

More lean muscle mass

Aerobic Capacity Increases.

More Insulin sensitive.

Strength and overall performance may increase.

Luteal Phase (Days 15-28):

Estrogen decreases and Progesterone increases.

Strength and overall performance may decrease a tad. (this is TEMPORARY).

Fatigue and Mood may decrease

Cravings might increase.

Bloating and Water retention increase.

Less Insulin Sensitive.

TLDR: If you are in the 1st half of your cycle-focus more on strength and explosive training like HIIT and more calming, restorative exercise like yoga, walking, hiking, accessory/mobility work during the second half.

This is working WITH your physiology–not against it!