Hey guys,

So in Phase 1 we eliminated all the “bad foods” that we know are most likely keeping us from our optimal health and fitness. And then in Phase 2 we started tracking to see exactly what habits on a day-to-day basis are either helping or hindering our goals.

Now it’s the time to look at your completed tracker from the week to find trends.

Lets start with the morning weight and waist & hip measurements.

What changes do you see?

What are the trends? Are they consistently going up or down or just the same?

Once you figure that out, it’s time to look at what you did on that particular day.

Lets look at an example, if your weight increased from the previous morning, lets find the possible reason. Look at the remainder of your tracker to determine what happened, did you exceed your calorie recommendation? Did you meet your recommended number of steps? And did you workout?

If you exceeded your recommended calories intake then you know that’s most likely the reason, and then if you compound that with not working out and not taking enough steps, you have your answer on what happened. And the same process goes for the inverse scenario, if you wake up lighter than the previous day, look at what you did that day and those are the habits you want to maintain.

Everyone is different and different things work for different people that is the point of tracking, so you can find out what exactly works for you and you can maintain those habits. Some people can eat whatever they want and not gain any weight, and one like me; I can just look at a slice of pizza and gain 5lbs.

Ps: I know tracking every meal is not as easy as it sounds, but nutrition is the number key to fat loss. You can train as hard and as much as you want, but if your nutrition is not up to par, sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but YOU WILL NOT LOSE ANY WEIGHT.

My nutrition philosophy at OwnPace is simple “The right diet for you is the one you can sustain for the rest of your life”. That brings me back to tracking and counting calories. Can we track every single thing we eat for the rest our lives? My answer is NOOOOOO!!!!

So what are our options? At OwnPace I like to keep everything simple because I believe our health and fitness habits should seamlessly fit into our lives. There are two ways I’ve found that work extremely well for everybody and they are

·      Eating better food options (a donut vs. an apple)

·      Portion control (one serving of potato chips vs. the whole bag)

Let’s dive deeper into these options.

Step 1: Healthy Food Options

In Phase 1 we eliminated certain foods we classified as bad foods for the purposes of fat loss, so now we are going to take a look at food choices that are better for you.

We should generally have 3 nutrients dense balanced meals a day. A balanced meal comprises of all essential nutrients (macro and micro nutrients).

I know we’ve all heard about Macronutrients and Micronutrients, but what are they?

Our bodies are pretty complicated, meaning that they have a whole lot of nutritional needs in order to survive and function. The composition of our diet is essential to meeting these needs and therefore it’s important to understand the two different types of nutrients. It can be split into: macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins and fats) and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals).

The three macronutrients all have their own specific roles and functions in the body.

Good sources of Macronutrients

Protein: Meat, Fish, Chicken, Beans, pulses and legumes, seeds (hemp, chia, flax), nuts (unsalted), quinoa, avocado, beets, raw greens (kale, spinach).

Carbohydrate: Rice, quinoa, potatoes, apples, bananas, cauliflower, carrots, oats, brown rice, millet, quinoa, chickpeas, kidney beans.

Fat: Almonds, walnuts, seeds (pumpkin, chia), olives, avocados

Micronutrients are not needed in the same quantities as macros, however are still equally as important. Micronutrients work in tandem with macronutrients to keep the body functioning and are crucial in order to maintain energy levels, metabolism, cellular function, and physical and mental wellbeing.

Below is a comprehensive list of foods we can eat from the 3 macronutrients. You can mix and match them for as many food options as possible; you don’t have to eat the same thing everyday to be healthy.

Step 2: Portion Control

The ultimate goal when it comes to eating better is to be able to eat intuitively but before we get to that point we have to know what is ideal.

To reach or stay at a healthy weight, how much you eat is just as important as what you eat. Do you know how much food is enough for you? Also, did you know there is a difference between a portion and a serving?

A portion is how much food you choose to eat at one time, whether in a restaurant, from a package, or at home. A serving, or serving size, is the amount of food listed on a product's Nutrition Facts, or food label.

Different products have different serving sizes, which could be measured in cups, ounces, grams, pieces, slices, or numbers—such as three crackers.

The quality of what we are eating matters but the quantity also matters just as much. The secret is once you start downsizing to healthy portions, your body will downsize too and Portion control doesn't mean you have to eat tiny portions of everything.

We all know that we have to burn more calories than we consume to achieve meaningful weight loss and that is why portion control is extremely important. Basically, the larger the portions of food you’re generally served or serve yourself, the more likely you are to eat too much and gain weight.

Before we go any further, to put things in perspective, let’s say you burn about 2,000 calories per day, which is what you’d have to eat to maintain your weight.

If you overate by just 15% every day (about 300 calories more), you’d be faced with about 30 pounds of weight gain by the end of the year…without feeling like you had been overeating at all.

Luckily once we learn to rightsize our portions, we consume fewer calories and once we understand how to control your food portions and have a heightened awareness of how many calories you eat and burn, you can control your body weight with ease.

It’s not very practical to just tell someone to “eat less” when eating large portions of everything is so ingrained.

Here are several options to help you visualize how much you should be eating of your macro and micronutrients.

Ideal Plate

Step 3: Supersets

Finally we get to the training portion. I know this is the part most people care about the most, so lets get to it.

Supersets are when you perform 2 exercises back to back without rest, which is a very effective fat loss method.

Equipment needed:

A pair of dumbbells

Each day we are going to be performing 2 exercises in this fashion

12 reps each exercise

4 rounds – Beginners

6 rounds – intermediate

8 rounds – advanced

Ps: if you feel like you are a beginner and you complete 4 rounds and still got more left in the tank, don’t hesitate to go more than 4 rounds.

Day 1

·      Alternating Lunges

·      Ascending Inch Worm Push ups

Day 2

·      Squat Press

·      Perfect Pushup

Day 3

·      Lunge Curl

·      Renegade Row

Day 4

·      Lateral Lunge Step Up

·      Lateral Raises

Day 5

·      Squat Hammer Curl

·      Front Raises

Day 6

·      Rotational Shoulder Press

·      Jump Jack Press

Day 7

·      The Challenge

·      Do one round of each exercise