The body is very complex and when it deems an outside stimuli harmful it has a response to try and fix the "problem". This response is called the inflammatory response and is brought on by numerous things including exercise and poor diet. Yes inflammation is necessary for our body to fight off disease, heal, and (when pertaining to exercise) to make progress in the gym. We need to stress the body to allow for the breakdown and build up of muscle tissue but the problem arises when we don't give our body enough recovery time. Without proper recovery we just continue breaking down the muscle tissue and we see no progress.

Inflammation due to poor diet on the other hand is not necessary. It can easily and likely will lead to chronic inflammation if nothing is done to fix the problem. Chronic inflammation has been linked to cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. Let's go over some foods that trigger this response, foods that should be avoided.

-highly processed foods are on top of the list. These foods usually contain all the offenders; high content of saturated fat, sugar, and lack of nutrients.

-simple carbohydrates like white breads, cookies, candy, white rice, anything not whole grain in the cereal/granola bar section, soda.

-meats and dairy high in fat content including whole fat milk and cheese, butter, red meat, bacon, sausage, greasy foods.

-instead stick to the perimeter of the store and go with the lean meats, fruits and veggies, fat free dairy, and whole grains.

Your body's response to food is more complex than just how many calories you eat. How your body runs depends entirely on how you treat it. Eat crappy, workout sporadically, sleep erratically and you're not going to meet your goals whether it be lose weight, gain muscle, perform better, or just be healthy. Eat good and feel better is as simple as it is!

1. -Keep a food journal for 3-7 days. Write down EVERYTHING you take in (even those 2 oreos you HAD to have). You'll look it over and realize what you are actually consuming.
2. -Next take one thing from that journal and remove it the first week. Slowly make one to two goals for every new week. (remove soda, reduce portion size, increase veggie intake, try meal prep for the week, etc.)
3. -If you haven't been to the gym as much as you want write it into your schedule for the week so there are already times set aside where you know you will be able to make it.
4. -If you liked keeping the food journal continue with that but maybe download one of the fitness/nutrition apps; my fitness pal, lost it, etc. These will help you keep track of your food intake and it allows you to log your exercise as well.
5. -If you feel yourself getting overwhelmed take a step back, just don’t quit. No one's perfect and one bad day or week won't erase all your hard work, only quiting and going back to old habits will do that.
6. -Make a lot of small goals instead of one monstrous goal that could take a year to reach. You need little victories to celebrate which will help you realize why you are working hard in the kitchen, avoiding the sweets, and dragging yourself out of bed to make the gym at 6am! 

Eating right and still not seeing results?

You decided you’re going to do it right this time and stay away from the fad diets and magic pills; you’re going to go for the real whole food and exercise. Hell yes!! You made the right choice. It’s been a couple months and you aren’t seeing the results you want, there are a few things that could be holding you up that you didn’t even think of. This whole lifestyle change thing can be tricky at first and the first few months are the most important to stay consistent and get on the right track. Let’s go over a few things that could be messing with you reaching your goals.

• Are you eating enough? I’ve gone over the importance of consuming enough calories so that your body’s metabolism doesn’t slow down to a snail’s pace to conserve energy.
• Are you eating the right foods? A good general rule to follow is somewhere in the range of 40% carbohydrates, 40% protein, and 20% fats. The carbohydrates should be complex carbohydrates, the protein should be lean quality protein from lean meats, fish, beans and legumes, or high quality whey/casein/soy/pea/egg protein powder, the fat should be from vegetable oils, omega 3 fatty acids, fats from avocados and nuts.
• Are you sleeping enough? Lack of sleep causes hormonal imbalances and an inflammatory response that is not weight loss friendly. When you don’t get enough sleep your body is under more stress than usual since it did not get the rest and recovery at the cellular level it needs. Coritsol (your stress hormone) is released at the wrong time and increases your blood sugar level which causes your body to release insulin when it is not needed. Insulin causes excess fat to be stored because it brings excess sugar into your cells to be converted to fat.
• Gut health is very important; your GI tract is where digestion, absorption, and elimination occur. If your digestive tract is not in proper working order, think of a traffic jam due to a bunch of road work, it’s going to cause some issues on the weight loss front. There are cleanses (a few days, I don’t like any longer than that) that can be helpful and probiotics from yogurt (a supplement if you are dairy free) are some ways to get your GI tract back to working properly.
• Start writing everything down, you may think you only “cheat” very rarely but you could be lying to yourself. We tend to do things mindlessly and forget about them, write EVERYTHING down and you can’t really forget. You also can’t have cheat weekends; your body needs consistency when you are trying to “reboot” it. FYI…you can have cheat meals, don’t restrict too much!
• Alcohol…yes I said it. Alcohol can be a huge road block on your weight loss journey. It causes blood sugar levels to rise and drop drastically and this will increase the amount of insulin secreted and cause unnecessary hormonal imbalances. Your liver is what metabolizes fat as well as alcohol, if your liver is busy metabolizing alcohol it puts fat burning on the back burner.
• Last but definitely not least is exercise! Exercise is super important when trying to transform your body. I have always believed you can’t really just rely on exercise or healthy eating, you need both. I could go into the science behind the benefits of both but let’s just say exercise helps control hormone levels, increases lean body mass, decreases body fat, and helps you be a better mover which will keep you active throughout your life. You need a healthy balance between resistance training and high intensity interval training for cardio to increase your metabolism. Remember to rest or else your body can’t recover and we can start talking about hormone imbalances and stress again.

So even though you may think you’re doing everything right there’s usually something that can be changed and it will give your body that kick start it needs. Think of your body as a car, when one little thing in your car isn’t working properly it effects the way your car runs. Your body is the same way, if one system is down and needs repair it affects everything, everything is connected. Treat your body right consistently and I promise you will see the results you are looking for.

People too often focus on the number they see on the scale. They weigh themselves every morning & become obsessed with decreasing that number. Our society is all about the quick fix nowadays; magic pills & fad diets, pretty much the quickest way to their “beach body”. So what they do is dangerously decrease their caloric intake to shed those pounds as fast as possible. What they don’t realize is what they are actually doing to their body will be counterproductive in the long run. Losing weight doesn’t just mean losing fat it can also mean losing muscle, glycogen, & water. Why does this happen when we just want to lose fat!?

• When you severely limit caloric intake your body goes into starvation mode & actually burns more lean body mass (muscle tissue) than fat. This happens because fat yields more energy than carbohydrates or protein; your body is smart & wants to save as much energy as possible when it is not properly fueled.
• When you begin you may lose weight quickly but the majority will be water that was stored with carbohydrates; you will quickly deplete carbohydrate stores (glycogen) since you are not replenishing them with proper nutrients. Once this happens you will begin to break down muscle.
• If you are not fueling properly you are not getting sufficient amounts of the vitamins & minerals you body needs to carry out metabolic processes which can lead to deficiencies.
• The first thing people think to do is skip breakfast & “hold out” until lunch. When you do this you tend to mindlessly snack, make poor food choices later in the day, & you will have a lack of energy throughout the day.
• People always think cardio is the best mode of exercise for losing weight but it can actually being another muscle burning activity. Your body becomes more efficient overtime, it adapts. You actually burn less calories the more you run (same goes for other modes of cardio)

The real way to sustainably lose fat is through proper nutrition through clean eating, strength training, & good overall lifestyle choices..

• Clean eating refers to making the majority of your diet whole foods (one ingredient foods) that are nutrient dense as opposed to processed foods that are energy dense (lots of calories not a lot of nutritional value)
• 40-40-20 rule (this will vary based on your goals & what your workout plan looks like) 40% of your diet protein, 40% carbohydrates, 20% fat.
• Strength training! Building muscle is important when trying to lose body fat. In the long run having more muscle will allow you to eat more & become leaner. Muscle burns more than fat! Its science, you can’t argue with that.
• Pre & Post nutrition is very important when optimizing performance in the gym & your body composition.
• Proper sleep patterns are another area people tend to overlook but this is huge so your body can recover properly & “reboot” itself

In the end losing fat comes down to burning more calories than you are taking in. You do need to have a caloric deficit but you need to realize there is a right way & a wrong way to do that. There is no magic pill that will do this for you, it will take hard work & dedication but I can guarantee that doing it the right way will get you where you want to be faster than trying all the fad diets out there. If you want a lean toned body you need to eat clean & bust your butt in the gym!

You always hear that processed/refined foods are bad and whole foods are the way to go. In a sense -  yes, this is true but don’t be confused, all foods are processed in some way or another unless you are the one hunting the chickens or spearing salmon in a running river fighting with bears. My point is what I mean by stay away from processed/refined foods is try and eat foods with the least amount of ingredients, ideally one. Whole foods refer to one ingredient foods; think of an apple or an ear of corn there is no ingredient list with names that look like a different language. Foods that are in their natural state still have all their nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. Their chemical makeup is still intact, they have not been stripped of nutrients and processed to the point where they provide no health benefits. Let’s look a little more at why and how we can incorporate more whole foods into our diet…

• Whole foods are referred to as nutrient dense; they are lower in calories but higher in nutrient content. They contain high amounts of fiber, antioxidants, phytochemicals, vitamins, and minerals. These nutrients can help reduce risk of preventable diseases (heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancers); they also aid our body in daily metabolic processes.
• Processed/refined foods are referred to as energy dense; they provide us with calories (usually high) but no abundance of nutrients. They are higher in saturated fat, trans fat, added sugar, sodium, and usually high in unnecessary chemicals (think added dyes and synthetic sweetener) that are body has to process and dispose of.
• Whole foods are found on the perimeter of the grocery store (produce section, deli, meat cooler, dairy cooler, bakery)
• The farmers market is a great place to find the freshest seasonal fruits and vegetables
• Processed foods are not evil, sometimes they are necessary but try to find those with the most natural and least amount of ingredients (the more ingredients you can pronounce the better)
• Whole foods have a shorter shelf life than their counterpart and that can be difficult for some people but here are a few tips
  • Buy frozen fruits and vegetables
  • Buy meat and freeze it until needed
  • Meal prep for the week and you can keep your meals frozen until needed
  • Nuts are a great snack and last much longer than other whole foods
  • Dried fruit is a good alternative (but usually have added preservatives and flavoring)

In a nutshell whole foods are better for our body and provide us with more of the nutrients we need. If we focus on making our diet mostly whole foods than we won’t need to worry about vitamin and mineral deficiencies, we won’t need to take vitamins because we are getting the natural form in the food we eat (natural is always better, our bodies were made to utilize the natural form). Diabetes and heart disease are linked to bad diets; high in saturated fat, high in trans fat, added sugar, high sodium intake, all of these are found in processed/refined foods that lack the nutrients are body needs to fight off these diseases and keep our body running properly. I will leave you with this...“Processed- to perform a series or mechanical or chemical operations on something in order to CHANGE or PRESERVE it”. Not something that I particularly want to happen to my food.