body composition

Fat Loss MUST be slow. Here's why.

Fat loss HAS to happen slowly. Here's why...




I know we want it to happen quickly. I know we hear things like, "I lost 5 pounds the first week of doing keto." and assume those 5 pounds came from rapid FAT loss (it doesn't). But there's actually a limit to the amount of body fat we can lose per day per person (it varies from person to person).



Restrict your energy intake more than that point and you'll be eating away at your muscles instead.... which will lower your metabolic rate. YUCK!



Here are 3 reasons fat loss MUST happen slowly.



As always, if you have any questions you can hit 'reply' to this email. I'm happy to help!



XO,
Tara



P.S. Check out these awesome client success stories squished inside of 27 seconds. ;-)

Does protein burn more calories?

Technically, it does! CHECK OUT THIS QUICK VIDEO where I explain the "Thermic Effect of Food" -- basically, how many calories it takes to digest each type of food we eat. You might be shocked at how different it is between the various macronutrients (fat, carbs, and protein).



And of course, if you have any questions or need some help with your own customized portions, I'm an email reply away. ;-)



Happy day
Tara

4 years to your dream body?!

Did you go to college or do you know someone who has?



You know that thing you - or they - did where they committed to 4 years or more knowing there would be no tangible results until graduation? 


There was no gradual payout system where you'd start making a little bit of your desired salary while still in school.


There was no money given back if you didn't succeed by your own hard work and consistency.


You were expected to show up and keep showing up.


Now let's think about your health and body goals...


Do you want to start seeing or feeling results shortly into a new program, diet, fitness routine? You'll only continue on if you are getting results on the timeline you want, right? So if you have to work hard for a month or two and are not getting immediate and rapid results....you, what... throw in the towel?


Image you did that in college? By month 1 or 2 you didn't have your degree yet, so you quit.



Our health and bodies are worth AT LEAST the amount of time, attention, money (all the things!) that you spent on college. Our health and bodies are worth showing up day after day even if the results aren't coming as fast as you want them to. Do you agree?


Come join me in my car as I discuss this a bit more. ;-)



XO,
Tara



P.S. You know what you get with me...and it's never a hard sell. I don't want to do that to you, but mostly, I don't want any clients who aren't motivated enough to seek me out. I don't want to convince anyone that they're ready for a change. If it takes convincing, it's not a good fit for my coaching style and program. Rather, someone who is ready to put in the work (EAGER even, albeit nervous) will soar in my program. Someone who has been thinking about working with me already, but keeps putting it off. Someone who is attracted to the slow and steady, work your butt off and feel like an absolute badass and role model at the same time vibe ... those are the ones that start coaching with me and optimize their entire lives, not just their health and bodies.


All that to say that I'm here. Even though I don't send you 42 sales emails a week. Even though I'm not tracking what pages on my website you visit so I can sneakily follow up by serving you an ad later on. ;-) If there's something about my emails, videos, or social media posts that resonate with you, it's probably because we feel similarly about how we want to rock this life of ours. I'll never be knocking on your door, but I will always leave mine open for you to walk through when you're ready. I'm UNBELIEVABLY passionate about helping you glow.


Here's more info on my 1-on-1 nutrition / fitness / health coaching program.


And book a free call right here if you've read through that and are ready to get started!

Track THIS!

Heyyyyy there! I know it's tempting to want to tally calories or macros. You might like to track all the details of your workouts. Or maybe it's points you're used to adding up?

Some of those things can be helpful for certain people, but I'd like to share what I believe is helpful for EVERYONE on a health / body transformation journey and why it should be the first thing (and maybe only thing?) you track.

CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO and get ready to implement this simple yet effective metric to track that has the potential to turn everything around for you!


XO,
Tara


P.S. Are we friends on social? If so, you may have seen me mention that I will be increasing my 1-on-1 coaching prices very soon. I've made lots of upgrades to the program and it's time to restructure the investment as well. That being said, I want to extend you the opportunity to jump on and be grandfathered (or grandmothered?) in at the lower rate as a thank you for hanging out with me here on my email list. 


Here are the details of the program.


For 2 more weeks I will be extending the lower rate if you simply mention this blog post. That's $30 off per month!


If you are ready to optimize your health, body, and finally feel amazing in your skin and in your life, let's do it! Schedule a free call so we can dive into details about your goals and set a start date. I can't wait to work with you!! :-)

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4 steps to optimize body recomposition

Sometimes it doesn't matter what order you do things in.


Curious... do you floss first and then brush or brush first and then floss? I always floss first because I feel like I can brush away the junk then at the end. But, a dentist did tell me once that the order doesn't actually matter for general oral hygiene purposes.


But when it comes to changing your body composition, the order does matter! Nothing bad will happen if you go out of order, but you certainly won't be optimizing your results. 


So what's the order? If any of your goals include fat loss / weight loss or muscle growth, CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO for the 4 steps.


Which one of these do you need the most help with? Feel free to leave a comment below and let me know. I'd be happy to create extra content around the area that the most of you need some guidance on. :-)


It's the last day of June! March felt like 4 months, April like 3, and May and June felt like a half a month combined. Just me? Regardless, a new month is always a great opportunity to reset and be intentional about some new habits. I'm here to help.


XO,
Tara

Stubborn Weight Loss?

There's weight loss....and there's STUBBORN weight loss.




You know the kind, right? It's often the last 5 pounds as opposed to the first 5 pounds. It's when you feel like you've tried everything, but nothing works or lasts (even though it seems to work for everyone else!).




Bad news, good news. Bad news first? Ok.... there isn't anything different about the way your body works.



Ready for the good news? There isn't anything different about the way your body works. ;-) We all have very different energy needs, for sure. This depends on how much and how hard you exercise, how much you move between workouts, your age, your body size and composition, your dieting history, thyroid function, etc. BUT, there is one common set of rules for EVERYONE: If you take in less energy (calories) than your body requires for fuel, you will lose body fat. If you are not losing body fat, you are not in an energy deficit for YOUR body. That may mean you're not losing weight on 1500 calories a day, but your friend is losing on 2000 calories a day. Super frustrating, right? But the same principles apply. Their body simply requires more calories to function on a day-to-day basis than yours does. (If we knew for sure that the calorie tracking was accurate - which it's nearly always not. But that's a different story).



What about the people that tell you you're gaining weight because you're UNDEReating? Not true. It's nice to think about, but it's simply not true.



Now, can you get yourself up to the point where your body does burn more calories everyday so you can maintain or lose more body fat while eating more calories? YES! That's a process called reverse dieting and I'm happy to answer any questions you may have about that.



But let's stick to the science here, ok? Losing body fat requires an energy deficit so that your body is required to make up the additional calories it needs by taking it off of your stored body fat. Your stored body fat contains calories / energy... just like your food! If you want to decrease body fat, you need to use it up. That's how it 'goes away'.



I got into this even more in last week's live video. Check it out here.



Here is some more information about my online coaching program - including cost and before / after pictures.



And if you'd like to chat to see if we're the right fit to work together, schedule a call here! Looking forward to hearing about your goals so we can devise a plan for how you can CRUSH THEM. ;-)



Hope your week is off to a great start.



XO,
Tara

How to gain weight FAST (and what it means for your weight loss journey)

Hey there,

Sometimes when I get frustrated about lack of progress somewhere in my life, I think about how I could go about it a different way.  

Today, I'm sharing the secrets of people who want to gain weight FAST...so you can do the exact OPPOSITE and apply it to your successful weight loss journey.

Sound good?

It's a simple strategy, but that doesn't mean it's easy.  Are you up for the challenge?  Watch the video for details.  :-)

In good health,

Tara

This one is for the ladies...

Ladies, listen up!  Wanna hear something that is so true and also so unfair?  Our biology is sexist! We may have come very far in the year 2016, but our bodies still think we should be barefoot and pregnant from an early age.  Ugh!  Accordingly, we are super-sensitive to energy deficits (too low-calorie, too low-fat, too low-carb) and nutritional stressors.  The body sees this as a threat to reproductive success!

“Nope, no babies during a famine. Let’s make your hormones all funky, make you become resistant to weight loss, lower your metabolism, and make you fatigued”.
— Your body (if you've ever yo-yo dieted or taken in far too few calories for your needs.

Ok, so what does this mean for YOU?  It means you have to make small, incremental, sustainable changes.  It means you focus on the 'long game' just like your body does so it doesn't see the changes as a threat, but more like a new and comfy norm.  It probably means the results you see won't happen as quickly as you'd like, but it's the only way you can make a lasting change.  It also means your goals must creep into many different aspects of your life - nutrition, movement, stress management, relationships, self-confidence, feelings of fulfillment.  ALL areas of your life affect your relationship to your environment, your food, and the way you treat yourself.

So, that's why you can't just cut soda out and lose 10 pounds like your husband did.  (I actually get asked some version of that question just about every week).

Ladies - respect your biology, but please continue kicking butt and taking names in a very 2016-ish way.  <3

 

In health,

Tara

Should Women Lift Heavy?

I take a quick dive into this juicy topic in today's video.  Watch up!

Do you know any ladies that want to workout but are afraid of 'bulking up'?  Do you have anyone in your life that you believe would benefit from health talks, healthy recipes, family wellness info, etc.?  Send them this way!  

Do you want the bonus content that I send to my most fabulous and loyal peeps? Be sure to join my email list.  Sign up is over on the home page.  It's free and guess what?  You get a pretty "cool" smoothie formula PDF just for signing up to hang with me.  :-)

Will lifting heavy result in big, bulky, "masculine" muscles? Or, is it most effective for toning up and boosting metabolism? Watch the video to learn more.