What is your GOAL?

One of the first questions I ask my clients is "What is your goal?" are you looking to build muscle, lose fat, increase endurance, or maintain? Most people reply with"I want it all!". Unfortunately it's not THAT easy. If you want to build muscle, eating at a caloric deficit is not going to help. If you want to lose body fat, your muscle will probably not be optimally fed for growth if you're training intensely! If you're training for endurance sports (marathon, etc) cutting back on carbs could be helping fat loss, but not fueling your training! (It's confusing, right?!)

That's why I like to coach my clients to choose one main goal. It's all about finding the right balance....eat enough to promote muscle growth and provide energy for your workouts, but not more than necessary to promote fat gain. This is why flexible dieitng is soooo successful! You should never drastically cut back calories, not only will your body start storing fat, but you won't be able to build muscle. Slow and steady is the way to go, have patience.

Your goal should be to get to a "healthy body fat %", then if you happen to compete in a sport that requires you to way a certain amount r look a certain way (or you're going to be on a magazine cover and want those abbs looking cut!) then you alter your diet for a short period of time for that specific event, then get back to your healthy eating. Check out this blog post from Precision Nutrition about the cost of getting lean! Don't compare yourself to the athletes in the magazines!

So WHAT IS A HEALTHY BODY FAT PERCENT for you?!

Men should be 20% or less and women should be 30% or less.

This is always shocking for some people because at those percentages, people have visible "excess body fat". Fat is not the enemy, having a 6-pack does not equal being healthy, aesthics to equate to better performance. Strive for health, it's much less stressful and enjoyable!!!

To all my clients and followers that say they are struggling with easy, high protein breakfast meals....Here's a yummy protein waffle recipe!

Recipe:

22.5g Gnarly Nutrition Vicious Vanilla Whey Protein Powder

184g Liquid egg whites

7g coconut flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla

I blended it all together in my nutri bullet and poured it onto the hot waffle iron. I let it sit for about 30 seconds before closing the lid to prevent it from overflowing! Topped it with some maple syrup!!!! Mmmmmm

Enjoy!