Understanding Food 101 - Calories

When it comes to food, it’s essential to recognize that it serves as both energy and the building blocks our bodies need to function. Whether your goal is to lose weight or gain muscle, understanding food is crucial. While there are complex psychological and social factors involved in eating, let’s take a logical approach to understand how food impacts our bodies and how you can use that knowledge to reach your goals.

What Are Calories?

A calorie is a unit of energy that measures how much energy food contains. However, it’s important to note that the energy stored in food and the energy your body actually derives from it aren’t always the same. Generally, healthier foods require more energy to digest and metabolize, which can help you feel fuller longer while consuming fewer net calories.

Why do calorie-dense, “unhealthy” foods taste so good? Historically, when food was scarce, calorie-rich foods were vital for survival. Today, food is abundant, and many options are engineered to be highly palatable, making it essential to be intentional about your food choices.

This distinction between calories in and calories derived is why people often say, “Not all calories are created equal.” But scientifically, a calorie is just a measurement of energy—much like a kilometer is a measurement of distance. Whether you’re walking uphill or on flat ground, a kilometer remains the same distance.

Good Calories vs. Bad Calories

There is no universal definition of “good” or “bad” calories. Instead, think of foods as being on a spectrum from nutrient-dense to calorie-dense:

• Nutrient-Dense Foods: Provide essential vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients with relatively fewer calories. Examples include:

• Fruits and vegetables

• Legumes

• Whole grains

• Lean meats and eggs

• Calorie-Dense Foods: High in calories but often low in essential nutrients. These typically include:

• Processed and prepackaged junk foods

• Foods high in added sugars, fats, and oils

If about 90% of your diet comes from nutrient-dense foods, you’re likely to feel better and maintain a healthier weight.

How Many Calories Should You Consume?

Determining your ideal calorie intake is highly individual. Instead of focusing on an exact number, consider the advice of fitness expert Greg Glassman:

“Eat to support exercise, not body fat.”

This means you should consume enough to fuel your activities but not so much that you gain excess weight. If you’re more active, you’ll need more fuel. If you’re more sedentary, eat less.

Michael Pollan, a well-known food writer, puts it even more simply:

“Eat food. Not too much.”

Practical Tip: Monitor Your Weight

Weigh yourself consistently—once a week is a good starting point—to gauge if you’re eating the right amount:

• If your weight increases: Adjust by eating less.

• If your weight decreases: Adjust by eating more, unless weight loss is your goal.

By making small, incremental changes, you’ll be able to maintain or achieve your desired weight while fueling your body appropriately.

Understanding calories and how they impact your body is the foundation of achieving any health or fitness goal. Focus on eating nutrient-dense foods, monitor your intake relative to your activity level, and adjust as needed. Remember, it’s all about balance and consistency—not perfection.

How to Create Your Ideal Weekly Workout Template

Once you’ve set a fitness goal, it’s time to build a structured weekly workout template. This plan is crucial for two main reasons: consistency and progression. You likely started working out to achieve specific changes, such as weight loss, muscle gain, or strength improvement. These goals—and any meaningful adaptation your body will undergo—require consistent, strategic effort. Creating a well-structured workout routine that fits into your lifestyle is the best way to stay on track and maximize results.

1. Decide How Many Days a Week to Work Out

Begin by honestly assessing how many times a week you can realistically commit to working out. For our purposes, let’s define “workout” as an intentional session of physical activity, whether that’s strength training or cardio. Here are a few questions to help guide your weekly structure:

• How many days can you commit to working out?

• How many of those sessions should be strength vs. cardio?

• How long will each session be?

• What activities will you do during each session?

In general, the more days you’re active, the faster you’ll likely see results. That said, recovery is crucial. Beginners don’t necessarily need to limit their workouts; they may simply need to keep their initial sessions easier to allow for recovery. For example, a strength workout could involve 2-3 exercises, and a cardio session could be just 10-15 minutes with a raised heart rate. Listen to your body—if you’re struggling to finish workouts or your performance is dipping, it might be time to add a rest day.

2. Determine Your Strength Training and Cardio Split

Once you’ve selected a realistic number of workout days, decide how to split them between strength training and cardio based on your goals:

• For Muscle Gain/Strength: Aim to lift weights at least two days a week. For general health, two days is the baseline for maintaining or building muscle. For noticeable gains, three to four days is ideal, while advanced lifters might go up to five or six days, focusing on specific muscle groups.

• For Weight Loss/Cardio Fitness: If losing weight or improving cardiovascular health is your goal, the same guidelines apply: a minimum of two days per week, three to four days as a balanced approach, and five to six days for advanced results. If possible, give yourself one complete rest day to support recovery.

You can combine strength and cardio in the same session, but make sure your body has enough time to recover.

3. Plan Your Workout Duration

Workout duration varies based on personal goals and available time:

• Strength Training: Rest between sets to maximize performance, which maximizes results. While some minimize rest time for a faster workout, strength exercises work best when they don’t compromise on recovery between sets. Generally, 30 minutes for beginners, 45 minutes for intermediates, and 60 minutes for advanced lifters is a great starting point. Add time as needed to address your specific goals.

• Cardio: For general health, aim for 2-3 cardio sessions per week, ranging from 10-45 minutes. For weight loss, 3-5 sessions of 30-60 minutes is typically effective. Cardio variety keeps things interesting—try different methods like cycling, running, or interval training. If training for a specific event, such as a 5K, prioritize training within that activity.

4. Customize Your Workout Content

The specifics of each workout should align with your primary fitness goal:

• Strength Training: Structure your sessions to work specific muscle groups throughout the week. If you want to focus on a particular area (e.g., arms or legs), ensure it gets extra attention by targeting it multiple times each week.

• Cardio: For calorie-burning, choose an intensity and duration that allow you to complete the entire session. For heart health, aim to work at varied intensities once a week, combining longer moderate sessions with shorter, more intense ones.

Align Your Weekly Workout with Your Goals

When building your weekly workout routine, make sure it’s tailored to your main goal. For weight loss, incorporate strength sessions to preserve muscle while staying active enough to burn calories (and remember, nutrition is key!). For muscle gain, structure your week to lift multiple times, focusing on different muscle groups each session. For general health, include a mix of both strength and cardio.

Remember: start simple, then build complexity as you progress to stay healthy and consistent.

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Ready for a Customized Workout?

If you’d rather focus on showing up and working out without planning, hiring a personal trainer can help with accountability and optimized results. If you’re in the Beaverton area, book a session with me for guidance tailored to your goals!

How to Set Fitness Goals: A Step-by-Step Guide

Setting goals may seem like a minor part of starting your fitness journey, but having a clear vision of what you want to achieve is crucial for success. Without a defined goal, you might struggle to commit fully or lose direction before you even begin. Here are three essential steps to help you set and achieve your fitness goals effectively.

1. Choose One Main Goal

In fitness, we’re aiming to create changes in our body through adaptation. Although our bodies can adapt in multiple ways, focusing on a single primary goal often yields the fastest and most motivating results. For example, while many people want to lose weight and gain muscle simultaneously, this approach can slow down results. By picking one main goal—like weight loss or muscle gain—and dedicating yourself to it for a focused period, you set yourself up for more predictable, achievable outcomes.

2. Break Down Your Main Goal into Short-Term Targets

Big goals can feel overwhelming, which is why breaking them down into smaller, achievable targets is so helpful. If your goal is to lose 20 pounds, aiming to lose 1 pound per week is a tangible, short-term target that feels manageable. Thinking in smaller increments allows you to focus on realistic steps you can incorporate into your daily life. This approach keeps you motivated and on track without feeling daunted by the larger goal.

3. Identify What’s Needed to Achieve Each Target

Once you have your short-term targets, it’s time to outline the specific actions needed to reach them. If your goal is weight loss, for example, you’ll need to burn more calories than you consume. This can be achieved through exercise, diet, or ideally a mix of both. For muscle gain, you might focus on lifting heavier weights with good form, while incorporating accessory exercises to strengthen supporting muscles.

For example, if your target is to lose 1 pound per week, your action plan could include two strength workouts (upper and lower body), three days of cardio, and a daily calorie limit of 2,000. This approach would aim to create a weekly calorie deficit of 3,500, which equates to approximately one pound of weight loss.

Setting Goals Like a Pro: Plan, Adjust, and Achieve

These are the same three steps I use as a personal trainer with every new client. While not every plan will unfold perfectly, having a clear framework in place is essential. Remember, as the saying goes, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” If you’re ready to create a personalized fitness plan tailored to your goals, let’s set up a consultation. Together, we can turn your goals into a manageable, actionable roadmap. Click here to schedule a consultation today!

How to Stay Fit and Healthy During the Holidays: 5 Tips to Keep You on Track

The holiday season is here, bringing an abundance of food, drinks, and festive gatherings. Starting with Halloween and Diwali, we often spend the last two months of the year indulging—making it easy to lose track of our fitness goals. Here are five practical tips to help you stay on course and maintain your fitness during the holiday season.

1. Prioritize Your Goals

What fitness goals have you been working towards? Keeping your goals top of mind is crucial, as consistency is the key to seeing lasting results. During the holidays, many people get off track simply due to a lack of focus. To stay focused, place reminders of your goal where you’ll see them daily. Write down your goal and put it on your fridge or set a daily phone reminder with a message like, “Stay on track,” “Lose weight,” or “Get stronger.” These small reminders can keep you focused on the hard work you’ve already put in—and motivated to keep going.

2. Say No to Excess and Give Away Leftovers

The holidays often mean extra food, drinks, and treats—whether you’re hosting or bringing leftovers home. To avoid derailing your health goals, only keep what will help you stay on track. You don’t have to waste food, but consider giving leftovers to friends or bringing them to work to share. And yes, it’s okay to throw away extra candy if you find it tempting. Out of sight, out of mind is an effective way to avoid indulging too much.

3. Schedule Your Workouts

Workouts and physical activity are the foundation of fitness goals, but the holiday season can make sticking to your routine challenging. Block time in your weekly schedule for workouts to ensure they happen, even when things get busy. If possible, create accountability by working out with a friend or hiring a personal trainer. Planning ahead can make all the difference in keeping you on track.

4. Get Active with Family and Friends

If you don’t have access to your usual gym or equipment, try to stay active in other ways. Holidays offer unique opportunities for activity that don’t feel like workouts. For example, walk around the neighborhood with kids on Halloween, play touch football at Thanksgiving, or go for a family hike. Even a pushup contest with siblings or an outdoor game with friends keeps you moving. Engaging in fun, festive activities is a great way to stay active during the holidays.

5. Enjoy the Holi-DAY, Not the Holi-Month

It’s okay to enjoy holiday meals and treats without guilt. Often, a little extra activity, like walking, is enough to balance out a day of indulgence. However, avoid turning a single day of celebration into a week or month of overindulgence. Enjoy holiday meals to the fullest, knowing that one day won’t derail your goals. But remember, consistent overeating or lack of exercise for weeks can set you back on your fitness journey, meaning more work to get back on track in January. Instead, stay focused and enjoy the holidays without losing sight of your long-term health.

Remember, You’re in Control

The holiday season is a critical time that can either help you progress towards your fitness goals or set you back. Use these strategies to stay focused, keep moving, and enter the New Year feeling confident in your progress. Instead of starting over in January, let this be the year you build on the success you’ve maintained through the holidays. You’ve got this!