Quick Fat Loss Tips to Help you for the New Year

Everyone is trying to achieve their "new body" for the New Year. Today, I am going to give some quick tips to always keep in mind when you are trying to lose that excess fat!

• Never Skip Meals! 
• Exercise Daily
• Maximize the thermogenic effect by keeping protein levels up, increasing activity, and taking supplement factors. (Refer to another one of my post on this subject)
• Vigorous resistance training will maintain or increase your lean body mass (muscle). Muscle burns calories, which means that, for every pound of muscle gained, you will be burning more calories and increasing the rate of fat loss.
• DO NOT DRASTICALLY REDUCE YOUR TOTAL FAILY CALORIC INTAKE!!! 
• Reduce fat intake to under 25% of total daily calories.
• Increase foods high in fiber and complex carbohydrates to help satisfy hunger.
• Avoid foods high in salt and fat, like all processed foods and snack foods.
• Eat fresh Foods.
• Avoid using heavy sauces on foods.
• Read food nutrition labels. Look for foods that have less than 2 grams of fat per 100 calories.
• Eat low fat protein foods.
• Use low fat protein supplements to help meet daily protein requirements.
• Eat egg whites as a snack to help reduce hunger pangs at night.
• Do not eat out daily and avoid eating fast foods. These foods are usually high in fat, salt, and calories.
• Eat plenty of vegetables.

Here are some basic tips to go by when constructing your plan for the New Year! Just remember that everything that you do in life that requires change is going to take time! Stay the course and believe that you can achieve the goals you have set!

Sport Specific Macronutrient Breakdown

A common question I get asked by customers/clients is about how much protein, fat, and carbs they are supposed to be intaking on a daily basis. Sometimes that question can be a little complicated to answer but for the most part there are formulas and ratios to go by for sport specific training. In this post I will break down the different sports and what the "normal" ratios are for macronutrient intake.

Each one of these percentages are for the athlete DURING their respective sport! The offseason macronutrients are a little different for each.

Nutritional Ratios of Selected Performance Eating Plans
Performance Nutrition Plan	Rationale
15% Fat 30% Protein 55% Carbohydrates	Anaerobic – Immediate Energy Sports. For individuals in sports where explosive strength and power is required, immediately available ATP and CP, anaerobic energy is used. Large muscles comprised of mostly fast twitch muscle fibers. High protein is required to maintain positive nitrogen balance and repair fragile fast twitch muscle fibers. Low fat, high carbohydrate intake is suggested, because these athletes utilize mostly muscle glycogen to replenish ATP and CP stores. Sports: Baseball, Boxing, Football, Gymnastics, Martial Arts, Swimming (Power/Sprint Events), Track and Field (Power/ Sprint Events) , Wrestling
20% Fat 25% Protein 55% Carbohydrates	Anaerobic Glycolytic Sports. For individuals in sports where explosive strength and power is required on a sustained, or highly repetitive basis. Muscle glycogen is a primary source of energy for these athletes. High protein is required to maintain positive nitrogen balance and repair fast twitch muscle fibers. Sports: Cycling-Sprint/Mid-Dist, Dancing (Power), Fitness (Power Exercisers), Golf, Hockey, Racket Sports, Rock Climbing, Soccer (Power Positions), Swimming (Mid-Distance Events), Track and Field (Mid-Distance Events), Volleyball
20% Fat 20% Protein 60% Carbohydrates	Anaerobic Glycolytic – Oxidative Glycolytic Sports. For individuals in sports where the aerobic pathway is the predominate energy source, but glycolysis is also relied upon. Fatty acids and muscle glycogen therefore become important energy sources. Moderate protein intake is required to maintain positive nitrogen fibers. This is a good daily nutrient intake for cross-training sports, or multi-energetic sports, as well for general health and fitness. Sports: Cycling - Long Dist, Dancing (stamina), Fitness (Mid-Distance Exercisers), Soccer (Mid-Distance Positions), Swimming (Long-Distance Events)
25% Fat 15% Protein 60% Carbohydrates	Oxidative Sports. For individuals in sports where oxidative endurance is required for long distance events. Slow twitch muscle fibers predominate. High carbohydrate is required to maintain glycogen stores. Endurance athletes utilize high amount of fatty acids for energy, therefore moderate dietary fat intake is warranted. Protein intake is lowest for this group of athletes. Sports: Fitness (Endurance Exercisers), Track and Field (Long Distance Events), Triathlon

The ratios listed above are great starting points for YOU to determine what works. Remember that EVERYONE is different and these exact ratios may not work with your performance standards. It is up to YOU to listen to your bodies signals and responses to training. Adjust according to how you are feeling. For example, someone looking to lose weight: This person has hit a plateau in losing a few lbs so now they believe they need to change everything, not the case at all! Just adjust your carbohydrates by 10g for a week and see where that takes you.

Just remember to not out think yourself when it comes to your food, that is when you get frustrated and you fall back into bad habits! If you have any questions just leave a comment! Thanks for reading!!!