One of our personal training clients was preparing for a ten-day vacation to the beaches of the Algarve in Portugal. As the aquamarine water surrounding cities threaded with historical roots awaited her arrival, she mentioned she wanted her body to feel and look spectacular for this monumental adventure. Shedding ten pounds and trimming up her figure was a top priority as she envisioned herself enjoying one of the most sought-after beaches in the world.
I asked what goals she wanted to achieve in the three months before she disembarked. She replied, “I want to trim some of this extra cushioning from around my muffin top, armpits, and the back of my arms.” Three months seemed like plenty of time to accomplish such a goal. Research supports that weight loss and converting fat to lean muscle mass are most effective following a ninety-day game plan of exercise adherence and compliance to a refined diet.
“What can I do to make sure I achieve these goals?” She asked. To lay the plans of achieving the leaner body she desired, I needed to collect data on her current exercise regimen and dietary practices.
I asked, “What are you currently doing to support your efforts of ‘trimming up’?” She replied, “I had a salad yesterday for lunch. It had lettuce, spinach, arugula, white beans, green beans, and some grilled chicken on top of it.”
Admiring her description of choosing a healthy dish for lunch, I gathered some more information. “That’s a fantastic start. What did you have for lunch the rest of the week?” It appeared this question caught her off guard. “Well, I’m struggling to recall.” After a moment of recalling her lunch time meals throughout the previous week, she said, “Monday I had a deli sandwich. Tuesday, I went to Taco Bell and had a taco salad because it was close to where I work. On Wednesday, I had a veggie wrap from a local restaurant. Not too bad, right?”
I wanted to congratulate her for including vegetables during each lunch meal. However, the collection of eating out at restaurants every day and the consumption of processed carbohydrates in each meal weren’t exactly in line with her goals of shedding unwanted fat and gaining lean muscle mass. Additionally, the struggle to recall what foods she chose for her lunches showed up as a red flag as well. If it is challenging to identify what meals were consumed in a weeks time, there’s no telling what other food options might hinder her success.
Choosing meals throughout the week that have vegetables included is a great start. However, it’s noteworthy to notice all of the items attached to each meal. The deli sandwich contains two thick pieces of bread consisting of additional calories and insulin spiking flour. A taco salad from Taco Bell has a large fried tortilla bowl comprised of processed carbohydrates. The veggie wrap is encased by a flour tortilla adding extra calories and further compounds the influx of insulin into the bloodstream. We could identify an obstacle that needed some tuning up right off the bat during the lunch hour.
I could perform a complete analysis of every meal she consumed for breakfast, dinner, snack times, and dessert as well. Perhaps analyzing how much alcohol she consumed throughout the week would lay the groundwork for improving and supporting her weight loss efforts. However, I didn’t even want to venture past what she had outside of lunch. If her lunchtime meals were what she thought was fueling her success, my knee-jerk reaction as her coach was to feed off what she was doing well. To ensure she sustained her optimal performance of her lunchtime meals, I informed her of some suboptimal choices she was displaying.
After a brief pow-wow on the detrimental effects of consuming high glycemic index carbohydrates for a few days in a row, the lessons sunk in. It was time to focus on one of the most critical concepts in any fitness journey: consistency. We decided to focus on one tactic: limiting herself to eating out at restaurants to only twice per week. She would be assigned to create her lunches and bring them to work the rest of the days. In addition, she agreed to include only one handful of carbohydrates in each of her lunch meals. For example, if she wanted to have rice, she would envision only a handful of rice on her plate. This method would trigger less unnecessary carbohydrates stored as fat when left unutilized. More importantly, this would be a critically important assignment for demonstrating that she will be in charge of what foods she is putting in her body if she consistently practices this tactic.
The fitness goal of obtaining a body with a high concentration of lean muscle mass is strongly desired and challenging. In addition, a strong and healthy body is an essential factor in feeling happy when on the vacation of a lifetime. To maintain a lean and healthy body, identifying consistent healthy food decisions throughout the week is a simple and effective place to start.
Sean McCawley, the founder and owner of Napa Tenacious Fitness in Napa, CA, welcomes questions and comments. Reach him at 707-287-2727, napatenacious@gmail.com or visit the website napatenaciousfitness.com.
