Is your plan working for you?

Whether you’ve worked with a nutritionist or a trainer, at some point, there will come a time when you decide you want to try your hand at doing this “wellness” thing on your own.  Or maybe you’ve reached out to a nutritionist, and after talking to them, and think, “Hey I can create a diet on my own”. Well, it’s not as easy as you think. Many nutritionists spend years refining the process of creating the perfect nutrition plan and then tailoring it to all the different needs of individuals.  It’s a fine science - creating a balance between calories in, calories out, which macros (carbs, proteins or fats) work best, and which to avoid. There is however a simple little secret that we use on our end that we are going to share with you today.  It’s not the whole picture, but it is a great way for you to know if what you are doing is working. Your body composition, or body fat scan, is necessary for this next step. These scan’s break down your total weight into lean mass (bones, muscle, organs, and tissues) and fat mass (you can guess what this is).  Some of the newest scans will also provide:

• BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) – how many calories your body burns at rest
• Hydration status
• Breakdown of your fat – what’s essential, reserve and excess

As a professional, when our clients meet with us, we are constantly evaluating what happened to their weight – if it went up, was it muscle gain, if it went down, did we lose fat?  Did we follow the plan?  Eat all the meals?  Skip any meals?  Yes, there is so much that goes into those results we all want. Can you guess the most common result most individuals end up with when they try to lose weight or get in better shape on their own?  That’s right – they do lose weight, but they lose lean body mass and gain body fat from too few calories. As much as we would like to believe, it isn’t as simple as calories in and calories out. Use the graphic above to determine, once you’ve gotten your body fat, is your current plan giving you the results you want?  And don’t be discouraged, if your weight stays the same, you might be gaining muscle and losing fat, as in the first example below. A couple of free secret tips:

• Ensure your calories are at least higher than your BMR
• If you want to get leaner or gain muscle, be sure you are eating 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body weight
• Ensure you are drinking enough water. Most body fat scans can differ is you are de-hydrated.
• Never eat a carbohydrate without a protein or a fat

Redo your bodyfat scan every two weeks and track your progress.  Still frustrated and looking for some professional help…fill out our assessment form at http://www.strengthandgrace.org/assessment-form/