Its never what you eat or do, it’s always how much you eat or move

Some of you may not know anything about my past, but I owe my career to bodybuilding. It became the foundation of all our company’s programs and products, allowing millions of people to achieve their fitness goals. Competing in the sport for 20 years taught me everything about manipulating calories in and out while properly supplementing. Supplementing was what allowed me to keep my body in an anabolic state to gain and maintain muscle and, in preparation for competition, to lose body fat with without losing muscle.

But dieting for bodybuilding also gave me the knowhow, in my long-since retired adult life, to be able to stay in shape while eating (and drinking) whatever I want. The good news is I don’t feel like eating junk food regularly, but there are many times throughout the year when I truly feel like eating far more food or drink than my body needs. (Sometimes people are surprised by my choices because I maintain 6% body fat year round. But yes, when it’s party time, I am the first one in line!)

Enjoy the holidays by doing the math
Because the laws of energy govern all body mass changes, whatever you want to do with your body composition is nothing more than an energy/calorie equation. The best news of all is that your equation (calories consumed versus calories burned) is verified by your body mass changes even if you don’t count calories. When trying to lose fat/weight and you’re not, the equation must be adjusted or your math (food or movement recording) corrected. And you can do it by simply removing portions of what you currently eat, or use the dotFIT program to do it for you. When you finally get these facts, you CAN have your cake and EAT it, too! Oh, and one more thing, increasing your movement by 100 calories/day has the same effect as removing 100 calories from your food intake. So a 140 lb. person can take a brisk 20- or 30-minute walk, or just cut out a few bites of the densest foods on your plate. Often times it’s a lot easier to adjust diet than exercise to make up for periods of over consumption.

Party time – just manage the AVERAGE DAILY DEFICIT
If your dotFIT program tells you to consume 2000 calories/day to stay on goal and you are going to a party knowing you will go off that number, then simply make it up by eating less through the other days of the week (before and/or after the party). You can also move more each day until it’s made up. The point is, you have to make it up to stay on goal. If you eat 5000 calories during the event (3000 more than target), do the math to make it up. Example: move an average of 100-150c/day more that week and consume an average of 1500c/day for 4 days and you’re back on track. You can do this anytime you need to throughout the year. Use the dotFIT program with the armband and the entire process is a no brainer – it will do all the math for you. Simply follow the numbers, plug in your weight and/or body fat weekly and follow the directions. Boy, I wish I had those tools back in the day – getting ready for competition would have been FAR easier.

Use Meal Replacements on “make up days”
When making up for overeating use meal replacements (such as your favorite dotFIT bars or powders) instead of two of your regular meals so that you can still eat heartily for one or two other meals (see sample menu below). The advantage of using dotFIT foods during the “catch-up” periods is that, because of the right ratio of proteins, carbs, fat and fiber, they are more satisfying than most other foods of equal caloric value. And more importantly, packaged dotFIT foods accurately count your calories, leaving no room for error.

So there you have it, your most valuable holiday tip from yours truly. Fitness, and life itself, is easy when you understand and use only facts. Calories in and out are the simple facts related to weight control. You are now free to control your body composition all year long, no matter what the occasion. So party on!!

– Neal Spruce
(dotFIT Founder & CEO)
Sample 1400-calorie “Catch Up Menu” (restructure for individual needs)
Meal 1: Bar  ~200 calories with multi
Meal 2: 400 calorie meat of choice sandwich or large salad with favorite protein
Meal 3: 300 calorie LeanMR Shake with fruit
Meal 4: 500 calories of chicken, starch or choice and salad with multi
All day: any choice of non-caloric fluids

You’ve seen the statistics. Americans are more overweight than ever and the trend is expected to continue. The lifespan of our children will likely be shorter than ours for the first time in the history of mankind, due to chronic diseases related to obesity. In this day and age, weight loss doesn’t happen on accident, but weight gain does. Why is that the case? Consider the following:

• The majority of Americans do not meet minimum physical activity
• The average American takes approximately 3,000-5,000 steps per day, which means they’re sitting most of the day
• Portion sizes are significantly larger than before
• Food is available in endless quantities, anytime of day and high calories foods are often cheaper

The bottom line is our environment encourages sitting and eating. 24/7. Sitting while commuting to work, sitting at a desk to make a living, sitting for entertainment (phones, movies, video games, TV), and of course sitting while eating. To make matters worse, humans are programmed to eat and take the path of least resistance – a survival mechanism that helped our hunting and gathering ancestors survive, but is now killing us. Literally.

Here are more facts to ponder:

• 1 out of 10 people do NOT know how many calories they need to maintain their weight
• Most people think they eat less than they actually do (20-50% on average)

Translation – we’re not very good at consuming the right amount of food and beverages to maintain a healthy body weight. And if you want to change something, like your clothing size, body fat percentage, or the number on the scale, the first step is to become aware of your body’s needs and the choices you’re making. In other words, awareness opens the door to change. Otherwise, you’re clueless and you don’t even know it. You end up becoming a victim of creeping obesity – that 1-3 lbs the average American gains during adulthood because they’re not paying attention.

Perhaps you are paying attention, maybe even counting calories and you’re wondering, is it helpful or hurtful? Here’s what the research shows:

• People who track what they eat at least 5 days a week lose twice as much weight as those who don’t
• People who track what they eat regularly maintain weight loss better
• People who use a body sensing device that tracks calories burned and activity lose 2-3 times more weight than those who don’t

This makes sense. After all, how do you manage something, whether it be your checkbook, your blood pressure or your waistline if you’re not tracking it? Well…you don’t. You end up with bounced checks, uncontrolled blood pressure, and having to buy bigger clothes. What you don’t know DOES hurt you. Especially when it comes to your health. When you pay attention and discover that your morning coffee drink and muffin is nearly 1,000 calories AND you know your body burns about 1,800 calories a day, you are empowered to make a smarter choice. When you use measuring tools to find out that your morning bowl of cereal is five times more than it should be, you can make an adjustment. When you read the nutritional guide in a restaurant and see your favorite salad is over 1,200 calories, you can choose something else. Counting every single calorie to the point of obsession is probably not healthy, as most obsessions aren’t, but getting and staying informed about your body, your activity level and your food choices is 100% empowering.  In my opinion, tracking is not a chore, but a choice. A choice to pay attention and stay in control of my body and my health.

Kat Barefield, MS, RD, ACSM-HFS, NASM-CPT, CES, PES
Registered Dietitian, Elite Trainer & Wellness Coach

You may have heard trainers and fitness experts say that if you want to lose weight, the best time to exercise is in the morning on an empty stomach. This advice comes from the fact that 1) your cortisol levels are higher in the morning, and cortisol helps break down fat, and 2) your carbohydrate stores (glycogen) are low since your last meal was likely 10 hours prior. Lower glycogen stores may increase the body’s use of fat for fuel. Based on this, morning exercise before eating seems to make sense, right?

A recent study tested this. On two separate occasions, participants were either fed breakfast before or after walking on the treadmill for 36 minutes at moderate intensity – a typical cardio workout. Respiratory exchange ratio, a number that reflects which source of fuel is being used, was measured before, 12, and 24 hours after exercise. The results were as follows:

• Eating before a moderate cardio workout not only increased the use of fat for fuel, it increased it up to 24 hours after exercise.
• Oxygen consumption was higher up to 24 hours after exercise when breakfast was eaten beforehand. This indicates that more calories were burned due to the pre-workout meal.
• Exercising moderately on an empty stomach did NOT increase metabolism or fat burning during or up to 24 hours after exercise.

Now here’s the part that most people miss… if you’re sluggish and you can’t get a good workout because your fuel tank is almost empty, you won’t burn as many calories – including fat calories. By eating the right foods before your workout, you give your brain the fuel it needs and you can work out harder. This translates to burning more calories during exercise and for the rest of the day. As the above study showed, you’ll even burn more fat calories up to 24 hours later. BUT – this all means nothing if you don’t maintain a calorie deficit by the end of the day. In other words, if your total calorie burn is more than the calories you’ve taken in, you’ve created a deficit of energy which forces your body to use more fat stores. And your waistline shrinks. And your clothes get looser. And you look better. And your body is healthier. And you feel fantastic.
So what’s the ideal pre-workout meal? In the study I referenced here, a balanced meal was given containing 55% carbs, 25% protein and 22% fat. This falls into current nutrition guidelines and is in line with what we’ve found in other studies. And if you’re someone who works out longer than 36 minutes and/or more intensely, eating before exercise is even more important. All athletes, particularly endurance athletes, eat breakfast religiously. Here are some suggestions on what to eat:

• •    Toast or bagel with peanut or almond butter
• Peanut butter and banana sandwich
• Cereal with skim/soy/almond milk and fruit
• Yogurt with granola, fruit or nuts
• Meal replacement shake or bar (dotFIT, of course!)

If you’re someone who skips breakfast altogether, you’re setting yourself up for some unnecessary challenges. I’ve seen people in the gym pass out during a morning workout due to low-blood sugar because they didn’t eat. Hopefully this doesn’t happen to you, but skipping breakfast means you’re likely to eat more later in the day, have more cravings and eat irregular meals. You’ll probably feel the effects of low blood sugar at some point – sluggish, grumpiness, brain fog and difficulty concentrating. To compensate, you might reach for that doughnut, candy bar or unhealthy snack from the vending machine and then take in empty calories. All of this hinders weight loss and possibly your day-to-day effectiveness. So, I say eat before your morning workout to avoid all this and instead reap the benefits of burning more fat and boosting your metabolism. And if your excuse is you’re not hungry in the morning, you probably ate too much the night before. Not having enough time is not a good excuse either since it doesn’t take any time to grab a bar and go. You could even plan the night before.

If you find yourself making excuses, I encourage you to stop. Instead, choose to make progress.

Wondering what you should eat? Which foods are the best for weight loss? Have you seen articles and products that claim to be the answer for almost magical weight loss? Without further ado, here is the answer: there are no magical weight loss foods. It is all a pile of nonsense and really, you should know better than to think otherwise. I wish there were secret foods and tricks; it would allow me to maintain a better physique with less work. But you and I are in the same boat; we need to make smart food choices and make the decision to move some everyday.

I have been in the business of fitness since 1991. During that time I have helped thousands of people lose weight, build muscle, feel better and be healthier. Also during that time I tried to help thousands more, but with no or limited success. Why did the others fail? Because they were shopping for a solution that did not include making wiser food choices and making activity a part of their life. Some were stubborn, others simply misinformed, others still- ignorant, even when faced with the facts. Ask any trainer how often they hear people who are unhappy with their looks and energy say that they eat right, even healthy. Nonsense! If you did, we would not be having the conversation.

There is no denying or avoiding the fact: calories in and calories out determine our weight. From a purely economical and efficiency perspective, there is no simpler way to change or control your weight than by regulating your calories eaten. There are simply not enough hours in the day to undo chronic poor food choices. You must find a way to balance the calories you eat with the calories you burn, period. No other option. No “yeah, buts…”. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Zero. None!

So do I have any answers for you? Yes. Try this:

1. Don’t eat fried foods or junk food: Don’t like that, do you? Eating fried food and junk usually adds extra calories, and quickly, to a calorie intake that may already be more than you need. Can you make room for them? Sure, but while losing weight when your daily calorie allowance is reduced, it can be difficult to squeeze in enough activity to offset the extra calories.
2. Don’t drink beverages with calories. This includes soda, juice, sweet tea and coffee drinks. Try water or unsweetened tea/coffee.
3. Eat less of what you do now. Try eating a third less per serving and see what happens.
4. Consider eating pre-portioned meals — Lean Cuisine, Healthy Choice, Smart Ones…there are many options. These meals have gotten much better and healthier over the years. Most are 300 calories or fewer per meal, making them the perfect size. They are also a good way to get used to portion sizes and calorie vs meal size comparisons.
5. I know you have heard it before, but try to get several servings (3-5) of fresh fruit and vegetables each day. These are not only good for you, but they generally have fewer calories per serving size than other foods, so they can fill you up and keep you full longer.
6. Find an activity you like and try to do it most days of the week. Shoot for 30-90 minutes. And yes, getting a 10-minute bout of exercise three times a day counts as 30 minutes!

There it is, a few simple tips to help you maintain or lose weight. No super-secret tricks, just common sense. If you constantly seek out a quick fix you will be doomed to fail or suffer in the process. Take it step-by-step and day-by-day and at some point down the road you will be pleasantly surprised with how far you’ve come.

-Scott