6 Steps to Jumpstart your Health!
Do you have nutrition goals but are unsure where to start? Are you tired of starting a “diet” only to fall off 5 days after you start? You are not alone. The world of nutrition is too hard to navigate alone, we all need a coach or source of knowledge to help us on our journey. I want to give you six simple steps to jumpstart your healthy nutrition habits.
STEP 1
1. The 90/10 Rule
Look at the meals you eat on a weekly basis. We need 90% of them to be on track with your goals. The other 10% can be a little more lax. If we average 3 meals a day then there are 21 meals a week, if we average 5 that is 35 meals a week. That means we get 2.1 or 3.5 “meals not helping us towards our goals”.
Sidenote: I would not call them cheat meals or that will mess with your psyche something fierce.
This 90/10 rule is really more of a mindset. It is a way to approach and view every bite of food you place into your body. Nutrition experts agree that if you are eating – healthy, wholesome, clean foods 90% of the time the other 10% won’t derail you. What exactly is wholesome, healthy and clean? Let’s start with point number 2, protein.
This is really about consistency. What types of fuel (food) are we consistently placing into our bodies and does that fuel support where we want to be in 3 years (always think long term, don’t have long term goals? You need them!). I must add as a side note that this 90/10 rule will get you some REAL results. Many of us, depending on our goals can get by with the 80/20 rule which would get us “lifestyle lean” or lean enough to feel good, see improved health markers but still enjoy many of life’s little pleasures like cookies, pasta, alcohol, etc. My question to you, is how bad do you want it and what are you willing to sacrifice to get there?
Another way to look at it refers to the overall calories we are consuming in a week, we want to control that average so if 90 or 80% of our meals hit that calorie range we are aiming for, having 2-3 meals that are “above” that range will fit into our average and therefore not hurt our progress. It is data, it is numbers, and it is science. Consistency trumps small slip-ups or small actions that go against our goals.
Example: Let’s compare how we fair at the end of a week eating 90/10 or 80/20. Where do our average calories end up for the week?
90/10 versus 80/20 Adherence
90/10 —> 12045 / 7 =1,720 cal on average per day
809/20 —> 12,630 / 7 = 1,800 cal on average per day
So if we extrapolated this 80/20 scenario out over the course of a month that is on average an extra 100 seemingly small calories a day which equates to 3,000 calories in one month. On average 3,500 calories equates to a pound of weight gain. Conversely, the 90/10 chart would add 20 calories a day or 600 extra calories a month, therefore, getting us much closer to our goals than the 80/20 scenario. Would the 80/20 scenario still get results? Of course! But it comes down to how fast you want them and what you are willing to do to get them.
The job of a coach is to track metrics like this and see whether you need to drop 50, 100, 250 calories a day? Do you need to add those calories? What are your goals? How do you drop them? With fat or carbohydrates. So many questions!
BUT
You can start somewhere by making sure that 80-90% of your meals are healthy, wholesome and working WITH your goals.
Foolproof healthy food 90/10 checklist:
It does not contain processed or added sugars (find the tricky names here) We are only meant to have 6-9 tsp a day. One 12oz can of coke has 7 tsp.
The food is minimally processed (processed means there are several steps it must undergo to end up in its final state: mechanical manipulation, addition of chemicals, additives, etc. Think treats, sausages, white bread) More on this here.
It came from the ground or lives close to it (animal meats, fruits, veggies, beans, barley, oats, dairy, etc.)
It does not come in a “package”