3 Steps To Look and Feel Good (Naked!) Without Restricting Food

We can all agree that dieting is no walk in the park. The struggle to balance calorie intake with the desire for tasty, indulgent foods can be challenging. In a society where food is abundant and physical activity is on the decline, achieving a physique that makes you feel confident and healthy requires a strategic approach. In this blog post, we’ll explore a practical guide to looking and feeling good (naked) without giving up on your favorite treats. Let’s dive into the key principles that can help you strike that balance and maintain a sustainable, enjoyable lifestyle.

1. Have a Plan

“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” This age-old adage holds true when it comes to achieving and maintaining a physique that makes you proud. Having a solid plan for both exercise and nutrition is crucial.

Exercise Plan:
Commit to a regular exercise routine. Block out dedicated time in your calendar for workouts and exercise.  Consider partnering with a workout buddy or a Personal Trainer for added accountability. Aim for at least 2-3 hours of exercise per week, with a significant focus on weight training.

Nutrition Plan:
Understanding your caloric needs is the first step. Determine the calories required for weight maintenance, muscle building, or fat loss based on your goals.

Quick way to calculate your daily caloric demands:

• Maintaining weight = multiply your body weight in lbs by 14-20; choose a number in this range based on your activity level, If you’re very active (7+ hours per week), choose a higher number in this range.
• Building muscle = multiply your body weight in lbs by 16-22; choose a number in this range based on your activity level and training experience:
  • Activity Level: If you’re very active (7+ hours per week), choose a higher number in this range.
  • Training experience: If you’re new to training, choose a higher number in this range. If you’ve been training for a while choose a lower number in this range.
• Fat loss = multiply your body weight in lbs by 9-14, choose a lower number for more aggressive fat loss; weekly weight change should be between 0.5-2% body weight, 0.5-1.0% tends to be ideal for helping reduce the amount of muscle loss with weight loss.

It then helps to create a meal structure (when to eat) to stick to, one that aligns with your lifestyle, your goals, and hunger – if you find you’re consistently hangry at certain times in the day, get ahead of that by having a snack or meal 30 minutes to an hour before that. Having some semblance of a meal structure will help curb spontaneous eating and help you manager your hunger much better throughout the day.

Lastly, fill in your meal structure with options you like. Most people only need 2-3 options for breakfast, snacks, and lunch, save variety for supper. With these options, you want to ensure you have adequate protein intake. Your protein intake will vary slightly depending on your goal, click here to read more about this, but 100-160g per day is usually adequate for most. For reference, 20-30g of protein visually looks like 1/4 to 1/3 portion of a plate.

2. Moderation Over Obsession

Adopt an 80/20 mindset for nutrition – or something close to it: 80% of the time do things that are goal-oriented, like not eating calorically dense un-filling foods while trying to lose fat (e.g., donuts), don’t worry for the other 20%. The goal is not to be perfect. This mindset allows for natural breaks, and is crucial for long-term adherence.

3. Regularly Assess Your Plan & Adjust Accordingly

Goals, life circumstances, and results can change. Regularly assess your progress, your plan, and adjust as needed- adjust your daily totals determined earlier 5-15% as needed.

Certain plans might work better/worse at different times during the year, and different life stages. If you’re having a hard time sticking to the plan, question practicality and flexibility.

Your plan might be great, but maybe not great for you right now. For example, fat loss tends to be challenging when you’re busy, have an unsupportive food environment (e.g., travelling a lot, don’t have access to making homemade meals), and/or or stress is high.

Achieving a physique that makes you feel confident and healthy doesn’t have to mean sacrificing your favorite foods. By implementing a well-thought-out plan, embracing the 80/20 principle, and regularly evaluating your plan – assessing for practicality and flexibility – you can look and feel great (naked!) without restricting food. Remember, it’s about finding a sustainable balance that enhances your overall well-being. Cheers to looking and feeling great – with or without clothes!

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