Diet Adherence Principles

 

You’re obviously working with us for a reason. You’re inspired by either pictures you’ve seen on our social media or what your friend has achieved. This is a great factor that could help ignite the want and desire to stick to a plan. Just be aware it may not stick around for too long. 

 

 

 

I talk about motivation a lot when we coach together & throughout my social media channels. We have to be open minded that it doesn’t stick around for long. What instead drive us forward is focusing on the objective we want. Its the dedication to that goal. We need to determine what that is and focus on it daily. We may start the week or day motivated, but by the end of the day could end up being very tired, lethargic, annoyed due to real life stressors. It’s the dedication to the goal that will keep us going. 

 

 

Intent is a big factor in the ability to apply motivation and inspiration into our goals. You have to have intent towards sticking to a plan or even creating a plan. Thats where I come in. I bring the tools, you bring the intent and we’ll get on just fine. Commitment, the most important action you can bring to support out plans. Think of this process as a step at a time. 1% at a time. 

 

 

A big one in which sometimes we all (even me) sometimes struggle with. This doesn’t mean eating out your fave restaurant with your family and having to take a tuppawear with you with your perfectly macro’d meal in it. This means carrying on with the plans and having the will power, even when you don’t feel like it that day. Knowing this in advance will help you understand it a little more when it occurs, because it will at some point. Remember there is no such thing as falling off the wagon. 1 bad day doesn’t make the whole journey. 

 

 

 

These boys are tough cookies to crack. They take a while and aren’t built over night. You won’t get immediate rewards for what you’re about to start. The meal preparation and planning. The scheduled training sessions. The food tracking. The vegetable steaming. The structure bed times and wake ups. Arehats built over a period of time. There is a separate document on ‘habits’ that will help you through your time coaching with me and further on. 

 

Let’s look a little further into how we can manage hunger strategies with the use of these calorie intake aspects. 

Volume of food. 

 

Understand volume of foods play a big role when in a calorie deficit. Why would you make up most of your diet full of foods that are lesser in size/volume? Foods that will take up less space in your gut? 

 

Nuts/seeds are a great example. A very healthy snacking food, offering great healthy fats, high protein (actually not that high). Be wary, a 50g portion of ‘Cashew nuts’ actually contains near 300 calories. 50g is not a lot, at all. So, you’ll have consumed a great number of calories, for a food that’s not really satisfied you or filled a gap. You’ll be asking, “Where’s the biscuit tin?”. 

 

 

Foods that you can’t stop eating, i.e. chocolate, sweet foods, salty foods, ALL the faves! 

 

They must be limited and tracked. A big % of our plan can’t afford to be made up of these foods due to possible over consumption. They basically make us want more and more – a big no-no when eating in a hypo caloric state (deficit). The reason these foods are allowed, is for flexibility, sustainability and adherence. So, make sure you do include them, don’t see them as the ‘devil’. The relationship we need to build towards them must be controlled by you. Understand, they will NOT make you fat. Only if you over eat them, for a prolonged period of time. Which can sometimes be the issue especially because of their calorie properties. 

 

I understand the feelings we get towards these foods are incredible. They make us engage in conversation with people to discuss the taste. We eat at great restaurants in our social circles. They are convenience foods that free up loads of time. They just work. We understand certain triggers can set the ‘want’ for these foods off – emotions, anger, upset, happiness. If we take control first, the better it becomes to manage how we see them and value them. 

 

We feel guilty eating them; we know we shouldn’t, but we do. This is something that needs addressing early on. It’s important to have the control over the food, not the opposite way around. We are entitled to these foods. 

 

Foods that are less palatable, i.e. potatoes, lean meats, veggies, play a big role in controlling hunger levels, triggers, emotions etc. but they are less desirable and can be boring. They are a big part of how we succeed on our journey, we need to eat a greater % of these foods to help stick to the calorie ranges we set. 

 

 

As we’ve discussed above, regular protein intake throughout the day is going to be ideal for many reasons, satiety, preservation of muscle tissue (repair). It is also great for helping towards controlling hunger signalling. If we aim to have protein at each meal, eventually we will be in a strong point towards creating better habits over the long term. If you currently don’t eat much protein, that’s ok. We will work towards increasing this. Your separate nutrition guide will give you an idea of what protein based foods we can look at consuming. 

We mainly see hunger levels in the evening are greater than those in the morning, this mean’s we’re more likely to over indulge in an evening due to a busy day at work, stressful day in general. The ability to adhere to calorie targets could drop if meal timing isn’t balanced out accordingly to match your hunger levels. This may mean writing a diary for a week on how your hunger levels are on a daily basis at 3 points in the day. This will help give us data to know how we distribute your calories through the day. I 

 

I.e. clients who don’t bother for much breakfast would require more of their calories to be eaten in an evening time, with children and family. They can generally allow themselves to eat more, perhaps with a dessert too. This helps us adhere to overall calorie intake we’ve set you. 

 

For many reasons we pay attention to fibre intake due to its ability to help with digestion but also ability to suppress hunger. Foods you’ll find high in fibre can be found on your separate nutrition document. High fibre foods are linked with a high volume and low calorie properties. Which means you’re getting more bang for your buck. Think about these 2 meals 

 

Chicken and egg fried rice with stir fry veggies 

Chicken and egg fried rice 

Both very similar calorie contents however the 1st one will help keep you fuller for longer due to its fibre and satiety content. 

 

 

My worst nightmare is consuming 500 calories of liquid. Where the f*** has it gone?! We all know we aren’t going to feel full of it so why do we bother? If we look at a low calorie liquid option thats high in nutrients then this could be ideal. A breakfast smoothie perhaps. 

 

 

I’m an absolute nightmare for this. I can easily consume my meal within 60 seconds. Like that film ‘Gone in 60 seconds’. Eating slower can increase our ‘end of meal satisfaction’. Fullness doesn’t signal instantly so the longer we’re eating and chewing the longer the satiety could last. It will be a habit you’ll have to build in and it could be watching a youtube clip or reading a book at the same time as eating. It could even be engaging in conversations with your family and friends. This will help slow the process down. 

 

Let's be realistic when we say adhering to a diet is hard. It really is especially when we factor in so many external factors that are going on around us. Lifestyle, work life, friends, family, stress levels and so much more. What I’ve found is over time, utilising these different strategies will help us in some capacity, adhere to a diet.