By: Nick Thomas
Take a moment and remember my last article, the reasons I listed for letting go of the yo-yo dieting and supplementation and embracing a truly healthy lifestyle. A low-stress routine way of living which provides you energy and confidence without feeling the need for the latest diet or supplement craze. A sustainable life which gives you physical and mental stability along with energy for your daily grind and then some.
The misconception with food and weight loss and/or maintenance across the board is that it takes less calorie intake and more energy expenditure – WRONG! If you are not eating enough of the correct calories each day, the negative weight gain or loss effects will catch you eventually. The premise of my approach to nutrition is based on RMR (resting metabolic rate). The body has to have nutrients providing fuel to draw from in order to burn what you don’t want and/or grow muscle. Therefore, to achieve a sustainable healthy weight and desirable energy level, you have to eat MORE than it will take your body simply to function at a resting state each day… YES, you read that right!
Most don’t want to hear this or are unwilling to believe the opposite of what society has always told them, and therefore will inevitably fail – once again mindset is everything. You MUST change your thoughts on food intake versus weight. Old habits die hard; this is a LIFESTYLE change not a diet! It will be tough to eat 5 times a day, it will be hard to eat the right foods, it will be hard to do this consistently on time each day. But just as I said before, sticking to the plan laid out for you will allow you to form new, lasting habits in a 40- to 60-day time span.
Each of us are made uniquely and have different overall goals; therefore, a “one-size-fits-all” nutritional approach will NOT provide you success. I strongly believe that body circumference and body fat measurements best aide my nutritional methods when it comes to individual meal plan design. Yes, I take weight, but this is by far NOT the primary focus at any point during this lifestyle change. As a matter of fact, just throw the scale out! When these numbers are compiled and I have found your RMR, a personalized meal plan design can be developed.
My sustainable approach to nutrition is focused on all-natural whole food. Based on the measurements and calculations I take and personal goals you share with me, I develop a plan which will consist mainly of a balanced and timed daily intake of lean proteins, specific greens, healthy fats, complex carbs, and tons of water.
This approach is one that may sound simple on the surface but ultimately, the correct use of these things combined will provide you the ability to maintain this new lifestyle which can be sustained throughout any phase of life successfully!
This is the foundation of the Prime approach to a sustainable healthy lifestyle. There will be at least one more edition in this series; however, if you don’t want to wait and are ready to start your personal journey down this path now, simply shoot an email to primeperformancetraining105@gmail.com
By: Nick Thomas
owner of Prime Performance Training, and Certified Sports Nutritionist
