Balancing meals for fat loss goals

I put a "Whatcha wanna talk about today?" question box up in my instagram stories last week.

Did you catch it? I like to do that sometimes because 1) it helps when I'm having a block in creativity and 2) I don't have to read minds when you actually tell me what you need my help with! Win win.




While I answered the questions up in stories there, this one question I decided to share in this newsletter so that I could really pull back the curtain and help in a better way than a 60-second story.



"Can you help us put together PFF meals?"




That was the question. My answer: yes! Let's do this.



If I've been visiting your inbox weekly for a while now, you know all about PFF + intentional carbs. Basically, what I find works best for most people most of the time is when all meals have appropriate amounts of protein, fat and fiber. Starchy carbs require a slightly different approach as not everyone thrives with them at every single meal. A sedentary person, for example, might find they do best with one PFF meal and 2 PFF + intentional carb meals per day.



We dive into this MUCH deeper in TRANSFORM: Body + Mind. This is week 3 for the current TRANSFORMERS and they're crushing it! Hop on the waitlist if you'd like to be notified of the next chance to join. I teach the science and give all the tools and guidance and then you get to decide how you want to eat, what you want to eat, how you want to move your body, etc. So while it isn't custom -- it's a group course -- I do teach about the variables and who might need more carbs and why, for example.



So let's say you get the whole PFF + intentional carb premise but you don't know how to actually make meals out of the various components? The optional meal plans and recipe collections in TRANSFORM: Body + Mind will be great resources for you! But I want to give you some of the basics NOW and FOR FREE while you may be waiting for the next round.


If you're creating a PFF meal, pick 1 thing from each the protein, fat and fiber categories below. If it's a PFF + intentional carb meal, add a carb on top of that. 


Here are a bunch of ideas for each category:


Protein
(One portion is 20-40g+ or about 4-5 oz of meat or fish)

• Chicken

• Turkey

• Beef

• Greek yogurt

• Cottage cheese

• Eqqs (1 full egg plus 1 cup egg whites)

• Salmon

• Shrimp

• Tuna

• Pork

• Deli meat

• Protein powder

• Edamame

• Tofu

• Tempeh

• Other meat or seafood

• 4 T nutritional yeast

Fat
(One portion is about 10g fat. Aim for 1-3 portions per meal, depending on goals)

• 1 T olive oil / avocado oil / coconut oil / butter / ghee / mayo

• 1 oz cheese

• 8-10 olives

• 1/4 cup nuts

• 2 T nut or seed butter

• 2 T seeds (chia, flax, hemp, sesame, pumpkin)

• 1/2 cup coconut milk

• 1-2 T heavy cream

• 1/2 medium avocado

Fiber
(One portion is at least 5g fiber)

• Spinach

• Arugula

• Lettuce

• Celery

• Carrots

• Cabbage

• Asparagus

• Brussels

• Broccoli

• Sprouts / microgreens

• Cauliflower

• Tomatoes

• Zucchini

• Mushrooms

• Onions

• Kale

• Bok choy

• Swiss chard

• Collard greens

• Green beans

• Cucumbers

• Bell peppers

• Other non-starchy veggies

• Acacia fiber

• 2 T chia / flax / basil seeds

Carbs
(One portion is 25-35g net carbs ... or about 1/2 - 3/4 cup -- cooked, if applicable. These options have fiber too! But they also count as an "intentional carb".)

• All fruit

• Beans

• Lentils

• Chickpea or lentil pasta

• Quinoa

• Corn

• Oatmeal

• Rice

• Peas

• Potatoes

• Sweet potatoes

• Beets

• Pumpkin

• Butternut squash

• High fiber crackers (like Mary's Gone Crackers)

• High fiber bread (1 slice)

Use this to comb through recipes or even take out and restaurant meals to make tweaks or make it really easy and just build your plate with this method. Hope you LOVE how you feel with more balanced, PFF-friendly meals!



XO,
Tara

How many carbs for weight loss / fat loss goals?

Carbs are controversial.

"Cut them out to lose weight. But then that messes with your thyroid and doesn't that affect weight loss?"



Let's chat ...



Carbohydrates are 1 of the 3 macronutrients we eat (the other 2 being protein and fat). They are ALL important and all behave a bit differently in our body. 



Carbohydrates and fat are predominantly used up as fuel for energy. Whatever extra we take in that's not used up will be stored as fat. This is a GREAT thing as it allows us to then use up some of our storage to be able to sleep without having to wake up to eat, to go several hours between meals, and allowed our ancestors to go long periods of time without eating during a famine.



Protein can be used as fuel if absolutely necessary, but isn't what our body prefers to do and isn't what happens for the most part. Protein is mostly used as building blocks to MAKE things (like muscle, collagen in our skin, etc.).



So back to carbs. We don't have much storage capacity for carbs but nearly limitless storage capacity for fat (our fat cells can both multiply as well as increase in size, individually). When we take in carbs, it appears in our bloodstream as it makes its way to the places that need it. If we have adequate muscle mass and challenge our muscles frequently through something like strength training, we would have depleted some of the glycogen (carb storage) in them so some of the carbs we just onboarded will go there so our muscles are topped off and ready for our next workout. Our brain uses some 'carbs' for fuel. Fun fact: our brain actually uses up quite a lot of our total energy every day! Our liver can store some glycogen (stored carbs) too. If those places were already full -- maybe because we're sedentary or eat too many carbs for our needs -- or if we onboarded more than we had available storage space for, the rest will be stored as fat.



So, if fat loss is a goal, getting your carb strategy dialed in IS really important. You'll also want to make sure you have your fat and protein strategy dialed in. I believe this shouldn't come with obsessive macro or calorie tracking. I'm always thinking about mental health and lifestyle enjoyment as well as physical health and I hope you are too!



But today's note is about carbs so let's get back to it.



Since too many carbs is definitely not a good idea for someone with fat loss goals, then should you just cut out ALL carbs to super-charge results?



NO! Not if you ask me. And since you did ask me :-P ....


Cutting out all carbs might be a great idea for some people sometimes as it can be an important part of their medical treatment plan (epilepsy, brain injury, etc.), but even then it's often not a permanent solution. For MOST people MOST of the time, cutting out all carbs will move you further away from your goals in the long run.



Carbohydrate-rich foods are often full of vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients ... many we know about but others that are sure to come out in the future. Meaning, there are probably lots of important nutrients we're getting through carb-rich foods that we aren't even aware of yet (so couldn't even think about just trying to replace in a supplement or something). Think: fruit, veggies, beans, certain fermented foods ...


Carbs taste great and most people who cut them out entirely end up feeling deprived and / or end up fearing them or losing control around them from time-to-time. We want a healthy relationship with food and our body.


Many carbohydrate foods are high in fiber, and that helps us to blunt the blood sugar spike, help us feel satiated, feed our microbiome, and aid in detoxification by keeping us more regular in the bathroom.


Going too low carb can inhibit thyroid function (making it harder to lose excess body fat), impact mood and interfere with sleep, due to the role it plays in certain neurotransmitter production.


If we don't consume carbs through our food, our body will convert some energy over to a form of carbs. So basically, no one ever actually goes without carbs. You either eat 'em or you make 'em.


And plus ... avocado toast is too tasty to be off the table!


So, how much is enough but not too much if your goal is fat loss (or "toning up")?


I recommend a baseline of 2 intentional carb servings per day for everyone. That means that's the floor. Start there. If you're very active, have a lot of muscle, are a man, are a tall woman, have hypothryoidism or elevated cortisol ... you will likely need to add at least another intentional carb serving. Maybe even more. Please note this is *highly* individualized! We're talking about fuel here. Some of you are 4-cylinder cars parked in your driveway all day. Some of you are gas-guzzlers drag racing almost all day. Wildly different gas budgets, right?? Similarly, carb intake needs will vary A LOT depending on your specific situation.



"What the heck is an intentional carb serving?"



I call them intentional carbs, well, intentionally. The reason is with this macro aware approach (rather than macro tracking), we're not thinking about your side of broccoli with dinner that had a couple of grams of carbs or your piece of cheese or handful of nuts that did too. When I say intentional carb serving, I mean you're sitting down to an actual serving of carbs. You're having a piece of bread, a piece of fruit, some beans and corn, a potato, a half a cup of pasta, etc. You can think of this as being about 25-35 grams of net carbohydrates at a sitting. Net carbs = total carbs minus fiber.


To avoid blood sugar spikes (which is something to be mindful of if you have fat loss goals or even just health optimization goals), you're going to want to have these servings of intentional carbs inside of a meal that also has plenty of protein, fat and fiber. 


So in summary ... have the bun with the burger and veggies. But maybe save the fries to have with another meal. At least most of the time. ;-)



XO,
Tara



P.S. If you haven't yet signed up for a previous round of TRANSFORM: Body + Mind, make sure you hop on the waitlist for the September round. We cover nutrition balance and fat loss in so much detail! 


P.P.S. I told you I'd update you on TRANSFORM: 1:1, so here goes: it's ready and the first group will be onboarding the rest of THIS week! Spots are always super limited with 1-on-1 coaching as it is customized to your unique needs, goals, injuries, health history, and a very high touch program with tons of accountability baked in, but the good news is I have current clients who were already working with me who are continually graduating out of their program. So if you are interested in 1-on-1 coaching, hop on the interested list! I'll reach out and provide some insight about availability and potential timing as well as answer any questions you may have. :-)

How much protein do you really need?

Protein is a controversial subject.

If you've ever watched some of those documentaries scaring people away from eating meat, you might be thinking that animal protein -- or protein in general -- should be avoided. There are rumors that protein is damaging to our kidneys, yet the research supports a higher protein intake to support things like better muscle gain and maintenance, immune function, faster healing times, and better blood sugar management.



As with all things in science, there is always more research to be done and we certainly get to tweak things as we find out more. For good and for bad because of the rigors of clinical practice, it takes an average of 17 years for medical and governmental advice to match the quality research.



In other words, our doctors are still mostly telling us to follow the FDA guidelines for protein intake which is set to have us survive, but not thrive.



Protein is the most satiating macronutrient (keeps us full), helps us build muscle and boost our metabolism, has only a minor effect on blood sugar, makes enzymes, peptides, steroids, and hormones that help with digestion, energy production, blood clotting, sleep, immunity, and metabolism, and requires the greatest amount of energy to digest out of all 3 macronutrients. They also help balance our pH, fluids, transport and store nutrients.



Yeah, it's pretty important.



We know individuals with a greater amount of muscle than the average person have a lower all-cause mortality as they get older. Protein (along with strength training) is vital to allow muscle to be built and / or maintained.



Bottom-line: if we want to age well, reduce disease risk, and be more mobile in our later years than what we see as the status quo, we need to be taking in enough protein.



Unless there are contraindications (some people with existing disease, for example, can't tolerate higher amounts of protein), here's what I find works really well for most people, most of the time:



.8 - 1 g of protein per lb. of bodyweight you feel most comfortable at, per day. Why that weird explanation? Excess body fat isn't very metabolically active and doesn't require much in terms of protein intake, so you can choose a number you feel your best at and use that weight to figure out protein intake instead.



If you're 150 lbs and feel good there, this would mean you're taking in 120 - 150 g protein per day. That can be daunting, but keep in mind progress is progress. If you're currently taking in about 60g a day, nudging that up to 80g over the next week or 2 would be AMAZING.



Since most of you are finding out (or already knew) that you need more protein at each meal to hit your targets, I put together a new recipe collection for you. These meals are all at least 30g of protein PLUS have at least 5g fiber, 10-20 g fat, and no more than 35g net carbs. There are some omnivore options and a couple of plant-based options. A few breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. Hope you enjoyyyyy!



XO,
Tara




P.S. The other important piece to this is strength training, of course. THIS is a time efficient yet comprehensive full body circuit you could do from home or the gym.


P.P.S. 2023 is right around the corner and I am excited to continue serving you all through my free content (newsletters, blogs, social media), and services like custom meal planning, 1-on-1 coaching, TRANSFORM: Body + Mind, my 28 day metabolism-boosting course and The After Party, my monthly membership available to anyone who completes TRANSFORM. I have some cool things planned for the business next year and am really enjoying sharing more with you as it all evolves. :-) Hope you are taking some time this holiday season to just BE a bit and not always DO. That's a weakness of mine and it's particularly tricky this time of year, so I'm reminding myself of that as much as I'm reminding you.