nutrition coaching

Mental Clarity Creates Readiness for Physical Change

I started working with Misty in December when I had hit a plateau in my weight loss. I had lost weight by limiting calories and using the My Fitness Pal app on my own, but without focusing on macros. Actually, the amount of food I was eating before was basically the same, but the composition of what I was eating was different. I had been trying to base it just on the Zone plan. Misty came up with an individualized plan for me and told me exactly how many carb, protein, and fat grams to eat per day. I liked that I knew exactly how much to be eating and didn’t have to do my own guesswork or generic plan. Within a week of eating according to the macros, my muscles became noticeably defined, especially in my arms and legs. It was a pretty incredible change. I had noticed before when I was limiting calories that I felt like I was losing strength in the gym. Since doing macros, I have been steadily increasing in strength.

 
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It's now April and in the past 4 months working with Misty, I have lost 16 pounds of fat and am so much more toned. Not only did I lose 16 lbs, but it was the final weight I needed to lose, which is the hardest to lose (I’ve lost a total of 49 lbs). I am below my weight when I got married and didn’t think that would be possible for me as I’ve now hit my forties. Along the way, Misty has adjusted my numbers to accommodate changes that happen in my body composition, goals, and hunger level. The amazing thing is that she has added food in and it would spur on MORE weight loss! I feel so much better inside and out. I’m lighter on my feet; I don’t have the body aches I used to have; I can run faster, do more pullups, and lift more weight. I can cross my legs more easily and I’m not splitting my pants anymore! In fact, I’ve had to get a whole new wardrobe (for the good reason, not the bad reason!). What’s an even bigger deal than all the outside changes are the inside ones. My family has commented on what a better mood I’m in, I feel much more emotionally stable, have more energy, and am more productive. My friends have commented that my whole countenance has changed and become much brighter. And that’s how I feel! I’m very thankful to Misty for helping me during the difficult final stretch of this weight loss and for all her encouragement along the way to help me do what I didn’t think I could.

 
 

Nutrition Flexibility & Balance After Babies

After having my second daughter in April 2016, I knew I had to do something about my weight. After my first daughter I never quite lost all my "baby" weight before getting pregnant with our second...even though they are 2 years apart. And, to top it off, during each pregnancy I gained about 55-60 pounds even though I was consistently doing CrossFit and eating (somewhat) healthy. Yikes! 

 
 

In the past I had tried Paleo, The Zone and had looked into Whole 30, but only made it about a "whole 2" as there were just so many restrictions! I personally thrive on tight boundaries and goals but I need to be able to live my life. We have very social jobs which entails us meeting people for lunch, dinner...and of course coffee! Because of my need to go out with people I found the other "diets" too restrictive for my lifestyle...plus I have a 3 year old and sometimes Chick-Fil-A is what's for dinner! :) 

I've been on a macro nutrition plan since June 2016 and love it. This is by far the longest time I've ever followed a plan and I have seen some incredible results. My progress has been slow and steady...sometimes slower than I want, but I have stayed the course, trusted the process and have been truly amazed. In June, I weighed in at 164 pounds and now in March I weigh at 133. 

After the weight loss, the best parts for me are my increase in energy levels (I used to want to/need to take a nap almost every afternoon), my increased strength (I feel stronger and faster in the gym than I did before my first pregnancy), and I no longer stress or worry about what to eat or what to do if I had a "bad" day of eating. 

I know that I can take a day off for a celebration or a vacation and pick right back up where I left off. In the past, I would "punish" myself for having a meal or day where I know I ate poorly, but now I get right back on track, hitting my numbers the next day. I love that I can have a weekly date night with my husband and fit in some dessert if I want to and if I plan for it. I love that I can eat the same things as my daughters because I don't have to eat anything special and I am setting healthy examples for them on a balanced diet and portion control.

 
 
 
Photo Credit: Rx Pics

Photo Credit: Rx Pics

 

An encouragement: stay the course and you will see results! It took me almost 3 weeks to lose my first pound as my body adjusted to my new eating habits. Plan ahead! If you go into each day blind and just eat freely this will be more difficult. I go into each day with a plan, usually starting with my dinner, so I know what I can eat each day whether I'm working from home or at a day long workshop. 

Trust the process-if losing weight and being fit was easy most of the population would be at a healthy weight, right?! It takes time and it takes change...trust the process and be willing to make change. 

 
 

The Mom Life- Creating a Better Version of Self

I have the honor of working with AMAZING clients! We all come from different walks of life, and all have a story to share. When a client is ready for TRUE CHANGE, that is where the MAGIC happens! Meet one client and her story:

I've always been an active person. I'm always wanting to try something new in terms of fitness. I can remember going to step aerobics, kickboxing, some spin class and some weight training. I even took up running in the middle of a very humid summer in Houston! So when I did travel assignments on the east coast, I was still pretty active, but the toll of working night shift and the night life didn't agree with my metabolism. Let's just say I gained 20 lbs while I was on the east coast.

I then ended up on the west coast. The weather is beautiful and I took up running again and even did a half marathon. I was back to my usual weight and I even lost most of the weight that I had gained during my traveling years on the east coast.

 
 

Fast forward, then came marriage and having a family. I was actually in pretty good shape when I got married. I was going to the gym on a regular basis with the help of a personal trainer and I was still running so I was able to maintain my weight, but I've always struggled with the nutrition aspect of my training. My husband and I are home bodies so we love making food at home! We also like to try new restaurants and live life.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Next, babies came in the picture. I had my daughter in 2010 and I was able to lose my baby weight due to lack of sleep for 8 weeks! With our move in 2012, I also found CrossFit. It has been a major part of my life. I was doing CrossFit on and off around the addition of my boys in 2013 and 2014. After I was cleared to go back to working out, I knew I needed to be consistent and really work on getting my fitness back on track and work on getting my body back as we were done with our growing family.

I was back going to CrossFit almost everyday and felt great at first, then I started really getting fatigued often. I was so afraid to eat more because I was thinking it defeats the purpose of working out. I needed to lose weight. The pressure was on because my 40th birthday was months away. I lost the weight before my 40th, but as soon as I started eating again, I gained it back. My nutrition was not dialed in, so I was getting frustrated. That was when I sought the help of Misty Smith. She was talking about a nutrition program and the "macros" way of eating. She offered a nutrition challenge at the gym which I participated in and had been very successful.

 
 
 
 
 
 

I've been doing this type of nutrition plan for over a year now and I've really enjoyed the process. It has been exciting and frustrating at the same time. Every new thing that you do there's always a learning curve. With this way of eating, planning is the key! I've achieved my goal weight and my performance at the gym has improved tremendously. In the last year, Misty and I have worked on several goals and my macros were adjusted accordingly. Now, I'm not saying that I've always been consistent in adhering to my macro plan, and there were days where I've had major slip ups, but the beauty of this plan is you get to start over the next day. I'm still sticking to this type of nutrition plan currently, and I hope to continue doing this for the rest of my life. I can eat everything just as long as I can fit it in my macros. For me, it's basically just about eating in moderation and making healthy choices. I'm a dessert person so if I want to eat dessert, I take that into account and plan for it. We like to go out to dinner, so again I try to plan my food intake accordingly. The same thing goes when we travel or go on trips. It's hard because you are out of your element, but you just do your best. Again, you can always reset and get back on it! Life happens and you need to enjoy it!

In addition, the macro planning helped educate me in understanding nutrition labels and information. I think we've become a country of big portions and we're not really eating a serving size unless you weigh it!! I want this to be my lifestyle so I can be an example modeling a fit and healthy lifestyle for my family, for my children, and the people around me.

 
 

The Problem With Generic Template Nutrition Plans

Guest post by Melanie Rhinehart

I've had several clients ask me for meal plans lately. So I just wanted to talk about why I don't think they are the answer. 

 
 

Think for just a minute about how many diet or meal plans or templates there are and how much money they are making. If that is the answer then why do we still have a problem? I finally got to a point where I decided I would no longer do anything that I could not see myself doing 12 months from now. That means no more extreme ways of eating or cutting out entire food groups. If it's a temporary way of eating with temporary results then what is the purpose? If you can start to look beyond the immediate results and start looking at the long term results, it changes everything. I started understanding what I had done to myself with years of living that way. And I started to see a different future. As with most things in life, the very best things come with time and hard work and patience. My new rule became finding something that would work long term. Because short term messes with you physically and ends up tearing down your self worth.

First I want to say that low calorie meal plans do work and will work. I get why people are drawn to them. They just want to be told what to do to produce results quickly. Just tell me what to do!! And they work for a very short time. If this is your first time trying it (have you ever noticed that the exact same diet that worked for you last year no longer produces the same results this year?). If the goal is to quickly lose a lot of weight at the expense of quality of life. If you aren't worried about what you might do to your future metabolic health. If you don't care what you weigh and what you feel like one year from now and only care about immediate results or the vacation next month. If you are ok with being hungry and angry and frustrated with your family and you don't need very much energy to get through the day. If you are ok with being skinny-fat. Which means yes, you might look good in clothes because you've managed to starve yourself down to a smaller size, but you probably lost some muscle and might not like the way you look in a swimsuit.

Why don't they work over time and produce lasting results? And why don't they work for everyone the same way?

Diet plans are very generic. They assume all people who weigh 150 lbs are exactly the same. Same history, same hormones, same needs, same workout intensity, same life stress. You are essentially no longer an individual with individual needs. They also fail to take into account that our metabolisms are ever-changing. They are a moving target and our nutrition must be adjustable to account for that.

When a diet or meal plan does not work or stops working it usually leaves us feeling like a failure. Our brains tell us we failed because of the one time we went off the plan and ate a cupcake for our kid's birthday. It must be that one single cupcake that causes our weight loss to stall. That makes no sense but it's what we tell ourselves. After many cycles of this we believe we must be weak or flawed somehow or deep down we secretly believe we must not be worth it. 

Weight and nutrition are very emotional and hard to navigate and we tend to lose all rational thought!! In reality, your diet plan has failed you because it failed to take into account your real life. The joy and happiness and even comfort that come from social situations and being able to eat and feel normal. The physiological responses of your body trying to tell you what it needs. If your meal plan does not address the emotional and very personal side of your life, it will fail you. If it does not address your unique situation and needs and hormones and your body's feedback, it will fail you. 

YOU are not the problem and YOU are not a failure! You deserve whatever body you are striving for and you deserve to be happy and well taken care of along the way to getting it. Don't sell yourself short and accept what someone else tells you your nutrition should be like. Don't blindly follow what the person sitting next to you is doing because it seemed to work for them. Don't be desperate for results right now. Take the time to value yourself enough to figure out what works for YOU. Demand better! A good nutrition coach will take the time to know you and care about your history and your unique situation and they will help you navigate the path to better body composition in a healthy way not causing any future damage. I am so excited to see the tide turning away from diets and towards a better approach. People are finally starting to see and understand that there is so much better. Starving yourself is not the answer. I'm so thankful to be a part of it and that I get to learn how to coach people through it from such an amazing mentor,  Jason Phillips who truly wants to pay it forward and change the world. And I'm so thankful for my nutrition coach Brandy Wann who keeps me on the right path even when I get distracted or get impatient and want quicker results! It is almost impossible to truly be objective when it comes to your own nutrition. 

Remember, you are worth it! You are worth so much more than a generic plan!

 
 

Macronutrient Composition Importance

Macronutrient Composition Importance

Finding the ideal balance of protein, carbohydrates, and fat for YOUR individual lifestyle and activity level, is of the upmost importance. The truth is, any excess of protein, carbohydrates, or fat can be stored as body fat. The composition of these macronutrients affects how you feel, how you sleep, how you perform, how you recover, and how you look!

© Dynamic Edge Nutrition 2018