⚠️If you’re adding intermittent fasting on top of exercise, you aren’t gaining any extra benefits.
Low energy availability is extremely common in females.
A 2019 survey of 1,000 female athletes across more than 40 sports published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine estimated the risk of low energy availability in women athletes at more than 47%.
Nearly half the performance-minded women may not be eating enough for their body to perform basic functions like creating muscle, regulating metabolism, and maintaining homeostasis after accounting for the energy they use for training.
💥 Diets such as intermittent fasting and keto disrupt kisspeptin production. Women are more sensitive to kisspeptin, neuropeptide that’s responsible for sex hormones and endocrine and reproductive function.
💥 Adding exercise to the equation just adds to the stress of denying our bodies important fuel sources. Our thyroid activity is depressed as a result, which messes with your menstrual cycle.
💥 The long-term effects of intermittent fasting with exercise for women athletes is endocrine dysfunction, increases in abdominal fat, more prone to depression, and subsequent fat gain.
Pretty much the opposite direction of your goals.
I think back on before I truly grasped this concept, not only was practicing intermittent fasting days, fasted workouts/cardio, I was also chronically under-eating and over-training in general. 😟 Never again!
Let’s talk about SUPPLEMENTS and which ones may be causing more harm than good— this is something I’ve learned A LOT about in the last few years!
The point of this post is NOT to demonize or cast any judgement for taking them. (Hello, I have too!!) but to make you think, and create informed decisions about how and why you would use certain supplements.
As always, challenge the status quo. 💊
Mother nature knows what she’s doing. When we try to outsmart nature by isolating nutrient compounds for convenience, we’re losing out on the health-boosting rewards that REAL foods have to offer.
Food>Supplements
If you don’t agree, that’s okay! You do you, boo! But please don’t @ me in the comments. As ALWAYS, this is NOT medical advice. Please consult with your dietitian before stopping or using any supplement.
For foods that you regularly eat together, saving them as a Meal lets you easily add them to your diary as a group. For example, you can create a Meal called “Two eggs & toast ” consisting of two eggs, sourdough toast with ghee and OJ. You can then add this as a group, instantly, instead of adding each item separately. You can also save a single item as a meal, if finding that item in your Meals list adds convenience.
To create a Meal, just log the items you’d like to combine to one section of your diary, then:
On the Web
Click “Quick Tools” then “Remember Meal”
Give the meal a name.
Click either the green “Save Meal” button to save as a new meal, or click the green “Or, Replace An Existing Meal” button to do as the name suggests.
In our iOS apps and our Android app
For items already logged in your diary…
Tap the “Edit” or Pencil button
Tap the selection box next to each item you’d like to include in the remembered meal. You can select items from the same diary meal, or include items from multiple meals.
Tap the “Save Meal” button (fork and knife around a plus symbol). In Android app, you need to tap the three dots on the top right to select “Save Meal”.
Give the meal a name and tap “Save New” or tap “Save as..” to replace an existing meal (iOS apps, tap the check mark)
To quickly create a meal from all of the items logged in one diary category, tap the “More” button under that meal.
Creating meal from scratch…
Go to the drop down menu or more page
Tap My Meals, Recipes & Foods
Select Meals tab
Tap “Create a Meal”
Then add Meal name, photo (optional) and food items
When finished, make sure to hit the Save button on the top right.
When you are logging food in the future, you’ll find your remembered meals in the “Meals” tab of the food search screen.
RECIPES:
Learning this MFP feature allows you to quickly import recipes from popular recipe websites, or to easily match lists of manually entered ingredients, to help make tracking your meals/snacks quicker and easier!
There are two ways to add recipes in our Mobile apps:
From the Diary:
Go into your diary and Add Food
Select the Recipes tab then click on the + (top right)
Select Create a Recipe then Enter Ingredients Manually or Add From Web
If you choose Bulk Import, put in the list of ingredients and the system will choose the best match. You will be able to check update these later
Select Add Ingredients (you can either scan the barcode or type in the search field)
You will not be able to use items from your recent/frequent/my foods list Select Next then review your recipe and Save
** If you’re not sure how many servings a recipe will produce, enter a best-guess number when you first create the recipe.
After the recipe is cooked, you can evaluate the number of servings that have been produced. Then, the recipe can be edited, and the correct number of servings can be entered. This article contains additional information on editing recipes.
❔Did you know your body can help your brain feel more hopeful through movement? “Every time we move our muscles, we are giving ourselves an intravenous dose of hope.”— Kelly McGonigal, PhD
💥 Let’s talk The Power of Hope Molecules 💥 Swipe 👉🏻 to learn.
Exercise & movement are about much more than weight loss.
People who are active are: -Happier & have more life satisfaction -At a lower risk for things like depression & loneliness -Better able to cope with stress & anxiety -Feel more of a sense of purpose & social connection
Among its many life-altering rewards: the generation of hope, happiness, a sense of purpose, greater life satisfaction and rewarding connections with others, are benefits of exercise that go under appreciated.
Emerging research suggests that when exercised, your muscles become “basically a pharmacy for your physical and mental health.”
If you are willing to move, your muscles will give you hope. Your brain will orchestrate pleasure. And your entire physiology will adjust to help you find the energy, purpose and courage you need to keep going.
Recreating the relationship that we may have with exercise and why we do it is one of the most important aspects of shifting from disordered and restrictive-driven behaviors & cultivating a happy and lasting lifestyle that is pleasant to keep up 🤍
💡 If you’re frustrated about not being motivated, this SHOWS that you do actually have some motivation.
Because if you’re truly not motivated, you don’t give a 💩 that you’re not motivated. 🤣
We are complex beings who are rarely driven by only one type of motivation.
There are many qualities of motivation, and when people say they “lost motivation”, they usually mean they lost intrinsic motivation. 👉🏻(Intrinsic motivation refers to behavior that is driven by internal rewards. In other words, the motivation to engage in a behavior arises from within the individual because it is naturally satisfying to you.)
But that’s fine, we aren’t always going to feel intrinsically joyful to meal prep our food for the week, or to get in the 12-15 workouts on our program each month. 🤷🏻♀️
Taking motivational inventory is the ability to search for and leverage other reasons.
Maybe you: -want to feel less aches & pains -want to sleep better -want to be a good role model for your kids -want to have energy to play with your kids -want to improve your performance & physique
ALL of those are motives, some are for external rewards for an outcome that feels rewarding.
Others are when you identify the outcome is meaningful to your current values, you may not want to exercise for FUN, or focus on your protein intake but you will do it because you want the outcome in the end.
You’re not always going to be motivated to workout.
Out of 12 workouts in a month:
Two workouts you might feel JAZZED and PUMPED
Seven workouts are like meh….
and three workouts you may have to force yourself to get it done. (Those are the ones that matter the most).
MOTIVATION
Simply put: Motive + Action
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.
Because: 💯 Truth be told, you’re not always going to be motivated. It’s normal. Motivation itself is unreliable!
Exercise addiction is a state characterized by a compulsive engagement in any form of physical exercise, despite negative consequences.
While regular exercise is generally a healthy activity, exercise addiction generally involves performing excessive amounts of exercise to the detriment of physical health.
It may also involve a state of dependence upon regular exercise, which involves the occurrence of severe withdrawal symptoms when the individual is unable to exercise.
Exercise addiction shows a high comorbidity with eating disorders with approximately 39-48% of people that have an eating disorder being addicted to exercise.
TLDR: An unhealthy relationship with exercise tends to involve rules and rigidity, be joyless, shame-based, and shame inducing.
A healthy relationship with exercise tends to be flexible and fulfilling. It varies in the type of movement we are doing and the amount of time we are devoting to that activity.
Over a year ago when the gyms shut down, it illuminated that I had obsessive compulsive exercise behaviors. I NEEDED the gym. It was my therapy. Now I know, therapy is therapy. And while exercise can enhance our mental state, for me how I was doing it, was destroying my mental & physical health.
🙌🏼Freedom is exactly what I wanted, I wanted to live my life full of joy and experiences, outside of obsessing about my food and workouts.
🙌🏼And now I am doing just that.
💯 I choose every day to nourish my body, to eat enough food, I give myself plenty of permission for rest days, I strength training 4 times a week max. My health is improving, my soul is thriving! Patience is 🔑
It’s common for new clients to hire a personal trainer wanting to lose weight (fat loss). While I understand the desire to do this, we can and will get there.. We usually have to enter a different kind of approach before we can actually “diet” for fat loss because our first intention must be to achieve optimal psychological & physiological baselines.
Most clients have struggled with yo-yo dieting, binge eating, poor relationship with food, negative body image and sporadic consistency with their workouts. When we first discuss the concept of dieting in reverse, they are naturally hesitant because it’s quite different than what they are used to. 😲
The amazing part throughout this process they realize that achieving maintenance is a massive progress flex! 💪🏻 It still requires lots of effort and consistency.
In maintenance phase you experience:
🔘Better sleep 🔘Improved performance 🔘More muscle 🔘Not 🤔 about 🥘 all the time 🔘Stable energy 🔘Less mood swings😃 🔘Ability to be social🥂 🔘Restore hormone balance 🔘Increased libido😈
It’s important to spend enough time optimizing your metabolism, building muscle, and enjoying your life, so that when & if the time does come to enter a diet phase, things will be easier, an the progress will be sustainable.
All nuts, seeds, grains, and legumes contain anti-nutrients that require neutralization. Nuts and seeds contain enzyme inhibitors that actually block digestion – and this can potentially cause negative effects on the body. Grains and legumes contain phytic acid that robs the body of super important minerals such as magnesium, calcium, copper, zinc, and iron. The overall impacts are negative because of the frequency and quantity in which these foods are present in the modern diet.
Soaking grains, nuts, seeds, and legumes generally involve adding the food to a bowl, covering the food in the bowl with water, adding a neutralizer, letting the food sit at room temperature for a while, and then draining.
If you decide to eat grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds, always make sure to follow the guidelines below to prepare them for optimal nutrition (bio-availability) and health.
I do not recommend eating these foods all day every day, because even when soaked it can still be quite rough on the digestive system for some.
Soaking Grains:
Quinoa: Place 2 cups of quinoa into a large mixing bowl and cover with 6 cups of filtered water. Stir in 1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar, fresh lemon juice, or whey. Cover and leave the bowl at room temperature for 24 hours. Drain, rinse and cook as usual.
Rice + Millet: Place 2 cups of grain in a large mixing bowl and cover with 2 cups of warm filtered water. Stir in 2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, or whey. Cover the bowl and leave at room temperature for about 7 hours. Drain, rinse and cook as usual.
Oatmeal: Place 2 cups of grain in a large mixing bowl and cover with 2 cups of warm filtered water. Stir in 2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, or whey. Cover and leave the bowl at room temperature for about 7 hours to 24 hours. Drain, rinse and cook as usual.
All Other Grains: place 2 cups of grains in a large mixing bowl and cover with 2 cups of warm filtered water. Stir in 2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, or whey. Cover and leave the bowl at room temperature for 12-24 hours. Drain, rinse and cook as usual or dry in a dehydrator.
Soaking Legumes:
Kidney-, Navy-, Black-, Pinto-, White Beans: Place 2 cups of beans into a large mixing bowl and cover with warm filtered water. Stir in 2 pinches of baking soda. Cover and leave the bowl at room temperature soaking for at least 18-24 hours. Every 7 or so hours drain the beans, rinse the beans, and cover with warm filtered water again, and stir in another 2 pinches of baking soda.
Drain, rinse and cook in a large stockpot, dutch oven, or a slow cooker.
Garbanzo -, Fava Beans, Split Peas: Place 2 cups of beans into a large mixing bowl and cover with warm filtered water. Stir in 2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice. Cover and leave the bowl at room temperature to soak for at least 24 hours.
Drain, rinse and cook in a large stockpot, dutch oven, or a slow cooker.
Lentils: Place 2 cups of lentils into a large mixing bowl and cover with warm filtered water. Stir in 2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice. Cover and leave the bowl at room temperature to soak for at least 7 hours.
Drain, rinse and cook in a large stockpot, dutch oven, or a slow cooker.
Soaking Nuts & Seeds
All Nuts And Seeds: Place 4 cups of raw, shelled nuts into a large mixing bowl. Cover with filtered water and stir in 1 tbsp of Celtic sea salt. Cover the bowl leave it at room temperature to soak.
♦♦ See the chart below for specific times.
Drain and rinse the nuts or seeds and place them in a dehydrator. | Alternatively spread the nuts or seeds on a large baking sheet lined with unbleached parchment paper and dehydrate them in a warm over (under 150 ˚F) for 12-24 hours, you want them to have that crunch. I usually let the nuts dehydrate overnight when I use the oven. |
♦ Almonds: 8-12 hours ♦ Brazil Nuts: 4-6 hours ♦ Cashews: 3-6 hours ♦ Flaxseeds: 8 hours ♦ Hazelnuts: 7-8 hours ♦ Hempseeds: do not soak ♦ Macadamia: do not soak ♦ Pecans: 4-6 hours ♦ Pepita/Pumpkin Seeds: 8 hours ♦ Pistachios: do not soak ♦ Pine Nuts: do not soak ♦ Sesame Seeds: 7-8 hours ♦ Sunflower Seeds: 2-4 hours ♦ Walnuts: 4 hours
Sprouting Grains, Seeds, Nuts & Legumes
There are four simple steps to sprouting grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds.
Step 1: Using a large bowl soak your grains, legumes, nuts, or seeds in water. Make sure that the water is double the amount of the item being soaked. Leave at room temperature for the specified amount of time listed below. If you desire you may rinse and change the water halfway through the soaking time.
Step 2: Drain the liquid, rinse, and fill the bowl back up with fresh water. Next, drain the liquid at an angle to create a humid environment (use a mesh lid on a mason jar). The goal is to keep the kernels moist until they sprout a bud. This happens when the kernels are exposed to light and moisture.
Step 3: Repeat step 2 every few hours, but at least twice daily.
Step 4: In 1-4 days, your sprouted grain, nut, bean, or seed should be ready to use.
Your workout may be where you “feel” like you’re getting results, but it’s actually proper nutrition + your workouts that plays a larger role in the results factor.
🍌Nutrient timing is purposely choosing foods around your workouts that will nourish and support your cells for the upcoming physical activity.
It was found that the net protein balance was greater when consuming the protein + carbs before exercise rather than post exercise.
What does this mean? You get a greater anabolic response (protein synthesis= growth) when consuming pre-workout nutrition compared to post workout nutrition. You get more amino acids into your muscles both during and after exercise when consuming pre-workout nutrition.
💥 PRE-WORKOUT NUTRITION💥:
•Ideal pre-work meal is mostly carbohydrate based.
•20 minutes to 1 hour before exercise:
Simple carbohydrates from fruit like dates, raisins or banana, or a coconut water can give you quick energy. Or a small serving of yogurt with fresh fruit. My favorite is the adrenal elixir with some collagen. AIM for: 6 G protein & 35 g carbs minimum
Examples: Oatmeal+ collagen with fresh fruit or greek yogurt, rice cake with jelly and dates, sweet potatoes and eggs with fruit.
❓What about protein before workouts? There is evidence that consuming protein before a workout is beneficial, and while these recommendations include protein, you could increase the amount in your pre-workout meal–experiment with anywhere between 6-20 g and see what works for you!
❓What about eating a high fat meal before a workout? Fat is the most complex fuel for your body to break down and absorb, and while it’s important for overall health, I recommend consuming low-to moderate fat intake with your pre & post workout meals.
💪POST WORKOUT NUTRITION 💪
Eating post workout within the right time frame following your workout plays a huge role in your recovery and training progress. And when it comes to fueling after exercise, I bet there’s little surprise that women are different than men. Here are a few things to keep in mind if you’re trying to maximize your recovery: 👇 . 💪 Women’s metabolism comes back down to baseline within 90 minutes after exercise whereas men might take 3-18 hours, depending on the exercise.
💪 We need to eat protein (aim for 25-30 grams with 5-7 grams BCAAs) with a bit of carbohydrate as soon as possible after exercise – especially if you’re doing a depleting exercise like cardio. Ideally, aim to eat within 30-45 minutes after finishing your workout.
💪 If you delay calorie intake, you stay in a breakdown state. In short, your body won’t start repairing until you take in some food.
💪 Even if you eat enough in the rest of your day to meet what your body needs, not eating post-workout acts the same as not eating enough.
Fuel for what you’re doing, and fuel for the recovery that your body needs afterwards!
Have you ever thought about WHY you are engaging in your fitness & nutrition routine?
🧠Intention is is a mental state that represents a commitment to carrying out an action or actions in the future. Intention involves mental activities such as planning and forethought.
Body Neutral Fitness is shifting the intention behind WHY you want to workout.
Instead of aesthetics being the main intention, the focus is more on how you want to FEEL and cultivating a more positive body image through developing body appreciation
It can be easy to fall into the trap of pointing out what you are insecure about, or hearing someone else do the same. But try to avoid this, or at least notice when you are doing it and how it makes you feel. Redirect the conversation to another topic
Body neutral fitness is about nourishing our bodies with foods full of vitamins and nutrients that you need, but also not depriving ourselves of delicious treats. We do not engaging in restrictive dieting behaviors.
Exercise is not meant to be a punishment. If your body needs a rest day, then give it a rest day. I work closely with my clients to build their programming with activities that they enjoy. More recreation, more walks and MORE FUN!
For me, I’ve spent years dieting and exercising to change my body and make her look a certain way. To be accepted. To be seen as worthy.
I’ve torn down my old identity and entire sense of self and rebuilt a new version from the ashes of who I once was.
I’ve shared a bit about this process, how a lot of it revolved around SELF-ESTEEM and improving my concept of self.
Contrast can be an amazing teacher. When we experience things we do NOT want or like, it provides clarity and insight into what we DO want.
🌱You’ve got to CHOOSE growth 🔝 We can either go through life, or GROW through it. 🌱
Growth hurts. & it’s always worth it. It’s also never ending. 📈
Health is not a destination that you “arrive” to and stay. 📍
It’s a flowing, growing, shifting, seasonal journey. 🗺
This past year I’ve done some deep soul digging to rebuild my identity around fitness to be coming from a place of excitement and joy !
“The deeper your why, the higher you fly”
Ready to make the shift into Body neutral fitness? Apply for coaching HERE
Wellness Simplified with Meganmefit 