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When you work with me, we will sit down and discuss an important aspect of your training, the basics of eating well!

Luckily, your diet does not have to be something that is complex or challenging, you can still eat until you’re full and consume great tasting foods.  

By focusing on high-quality organic food, balanced meals, and basics such as drinking enough water daily, you can easily become a stronger and healthier you.

After all… if you are not eating right, you are losing valuable energy to recover faster from workouts, build muscle, prevent illness and disease, and limiting your natural potential!

Sit down with Mike for a face to face 30 Minute Nutrition Consultation at the gym!  This gives us a chance for us to get on the same page, clarify your goals, talk about what is working or not working so well with your current diet.

You will receive a full guide to my philosophy on eating clean which includes a Shopping List, The Basics of Eating Clean, and a sample Meal Plan for you to follow.

A food Journal where you can track your daily eating habits, this is not meant to count calories or make you neurotic, but rather to give us a chance to see where there may be gaps in your diet throughout the day.  Oftentimes for example, we may forget to eat because we are on the go, or forget to pack a healthy lunch, this leads to eating whatever is available.

A bi-weekly check in, this could be anywhere from 10-30 minutes depending on your needs!  When it comes to eating clean and healthy it is about working to install healthier HABITS, the more you put in the more you get out.  Weigh-ins will be once every two weeks if weight loss is your goal.  BUT I would implore you to focus on how your FEEL and your energy levels, eating a healthy and clean diet will lead to noticeably improved energy and physical and mental performance, the weight and body composition changes will come in due time naturally.

How to get started on your journey to becoming a healthier, leaner, and stronger you: Click HERE to BOOK YOUR FIRST SESSION OR CONSULTATION Email me at michaelsiebercpt@gmail.com and mention NUTRITION or TRAINING in the subject line.  Feel free to tell me a bit about yourself and your goals.

NEXT: Start imagining yourself at your ideal weight and energy levels.  Focus not just on how you look but also how you feel, having a goal to guide and motivate you through tough times is the most important step in this entire process.

Also, check out the rest of the information on this page to get an idea of how I eat personally, and advise all my clients to eat on a daily basis.  It is not only harmonious and healthy for your body, but also for the environment.

 

Get started with your new diet right now by implementing, one or two at a time, of the following healthy habits!

Tip#1: Drink HALF your bodyweight in oz. of water per day.

Proper hydration is important for digestion, assimilation, physical and mental repair, healthy muscle and tissue function, etc.  You are made almost entirely of water!  By being even SLIGHTLY dehydrated you are making your body work way harder than it needs to.  The more STRESS your body is under, the more difficult weight loss is going to be.  Start implementing this healthy habit by always having a large bottle of water to drink from on hand throughout the day, once you get used to being adequately hydrated at all times, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without drinking enough water before!

Note: sugary drinks, sports drinks, coffee, and tea do not count as these are all acidic and dehydrate the body!  Coffee or tea in the morning is OK, just make sure to drink water as well!

I recommend high quality mineral or artesian water when available.  Brand such as Fiji, Evian, etc are high quality brands of water with a natural mineral content that greatly increases the benefits of drinking these brands.

Tip #2:Stop buying conventional factory raised meat, dairy, fish, and egg products.

Animal products that are mass-produced are generally much lower quality nutritionally.  As I’ve written about many times before on my blog, Grass-fed cattle has much more Omega 3 (healthy fats) than conventional feed-lot beef.  When you eat meat from a sickly, diseased, and stressed animal, you are consuming nutrition that has been alterted hormonally and nutritionally because it was a sick animal.  This is why they need to pump these animals full of steroids and anti-biotics or else they’d be so sick it would be unedible!

By switching to Grass-fed beef for example, or shopping at a local farm, one can find high quality organic meat and dairy products that are much more nutritionally sound for their body.

Just look up some images or documentaries showing the conditions of feedlot cows or chickens, that should be enough to sway you almost instantly.

 

Tip#3: This Tip may seem counterintuitive to some but… EAT. MORE. FAT!

Everyone knows that to be fit and diet well that they need to eat protein, we all get that.  But what most people do not realize is that they often leave out one of the three major foods groups in fats!  Fat is the highest caloric content per gram at 9, while protein and carbs have 4 calories per gram, but this does not mean that you should avoid fat!

Fat could even be around 30% of your daily calories! depending on your genetic makeup and body-type.  The key is to eat HEALTHY FATS, preferably high in Omega 3 Fatty acids.

As I have mentioned in my blog several times, Americans eat way too many Omega 6 Fatty Acids, in fact we eat 16 times the amount of Omega 6 fatty acids as we do for Omega 3 fatty acids.  Humans probably evolved to eat as close to 1 to 1 Omega 6 to 3 fatty acids as possible.  Studies have shown that just by getting this ratio down to 4 to 1 Omega 6 to Omega 3 fatty acids, you lower your chances of ALL CAUSES OF MORTALITY BY 70%!!!

Unfortunately fat got demonized in the whole “saturated-fat” craze and staples in the American diet such as grass-fed butter, coconut oil, red meat, etc.  Got replaced by low-quality vegetable oils that humans probably never ate in any significant quantity before, but were now available due to industrialization.

THe WORST fats you can eat are:  Excessive Soy, Canola Oil, Corn Oil, All of which are often Genetically Modified.  Butter replacements are often the worst as they are full of artificial chemicals and ingredients.  Fried foods cause healthy fats to be broken down and hydrogenated, turning them into TRANS FAT.  TRANS FAT increases your risks of cancer and disease drastically, this is to be avoided at all costs.

The BEST fats to eat plentifully are:  Fatty fish and seafood, these contain EPA and DHA, essential structural components of the brain that can only be found in seafood and other high-density nutritional foods such as organ meat.

Coconut oil.  Coconut oil is one of the healthiest fats on earth, it has no Omega 6 and contains Lauric Acid, which is a powerful anti-fungal and parasite fat.  People who eat tons of coconut oil raw often notice healthier looking skin, better digestion, improved energy, and weight loss!

Chia Seeds and Hemp Seeds – Both of these nutrient powerhouses contain plenty of healthy fat, and basically a perfect ratio of omega 6 to Omega 3 fats of around 3/1.  They also contain tons of healthy fiber, protein, and phytonutrients (plant nutrients).

Olive oil, avocados, Cashews, Almonds, Grass-fed butter, Red Palm oil, etc. are all other examples of healthy fat.  I recommend eating all of the above regularly and rotating them regularly in your diet to avoid the over consumption of one and get new clean fats cycled in your day to day routine

Tip#4:Eat Balanced Meals regularly, and especially each night for dinner.

Most of us cook for dinner, and this is a great time to make a healthy and balanced dinner.  Your plate should consist of an organic protein, a healthy fat such as olive oil, avocados, coconut oil, butter, etc. AND for those of you who do not do too well with too much grains or cereals, a VEGGIE.

By making your plate simply be a protein, a fat, and vegetables, you ensure that your carbs are loaded with fiber, vitamins, minerals, and beneficial enzymes that will aid with weight loss.  If you do have a bit of pasta or rice or quinoa one night, make sure that you balanced it out by drizzling some fat over your plate and eating plenty of protein with it.

 

A bad example of a dinner plate is:

• Spaghetti with some zucchini in it – no oil added.
• Or a small piece of chicken and a huge pile of rice – no fats added.

 

 

A GOOD example of a dinner plate would be:

• A big chicken leg, a half or whole sweet potato with butter.  A handful of raw spinach or Arugula
• 6oz of Salmon, Steamed Broccoli, Sauteed Mushrooms and Onions, with half an Avocado drizzled in Olive oil.
• Grass-fed Steak with baked Brussel Sprouts, small pile of mashed potatoes with butter, a big pile of raw spinach for digestive enzymes and living food, drizzled in Olive oil.

By eating balanced meals such as the examples provided above, you ensure that you are getting enough healthy organic protein AND fat, most of your carbs should be from vegetables which will provide the double benefit of containing fiber and vitamins and minerals!  This means more energy, better digestion, and more weight loss.  It is a sure-fire way to burn fat.

By eating like this you will not be leaving out any major food group, and by eating enough protein fat and veggies, you will not crash and crave instant energy in the forms of stimulants such as caffiene or sugary carb loaded foods later!  It is ok to eat and feel full! In fact this is the way you SHOULD feel for hours!  That is what prevents energy crashes which ultimately just stress the body and lead to more weight gain.

Tip#5: A great trick to lose weight: make Superfood Smoothies for breakfast or as a snack.

RECIPE #1 GREEN SMOOTHIE

• 5OZ OF KALE (ABOUT 3 BIG HANDFULS)
• ½-1TBSP COCONUT OIL
• 1TSBP CHIA SEEDS
• 2TSBP HEMP SEEDS
• ABOUT 1 CUP OF FROZEN BERRIES
• HALF CUP COCONUT WATER
• 1 CUP WATER

RECIPE #2 FATTY AND SAVORY PROTEIN SMOOTHIE

• 1 SCOOP GRASS-FED WHEY PROTEIN
• 1TBSP ALMOND BUTTER
• 2TSBP. HEMP SEEDS
• 1 BANANA
• FROZEN BERRIES
• 6OZ OR SO OF GRASS-FED WHOLE-MILK KEFIR OR YOGURT

RECIPE #3 VEGGIE SMOOTHIE

• ½ OF LARGE CUCUMBER
• 2 CUPS OF KALE OR SPINACH
• 1 BANANA OR APPLE
• ½ TBSP. OF RAW HONEY
• 2TSBP. CHIA SEEDS
• ½-1 TSBP. COCONUT OIL
• 1-2 LARGE CARROTS
• COCONUT WATER OR WATER

 

By making superfood smoothies such as the ones above, all of which I have made myself personally (the quantities may be a bit off give or take, make sure to eye it out) you can get more nutrition in one smoothie than many get in an entire day.  All of these smoothies have a few things in common:  They strive to give you a balanced portion of protein, carbohydrates, and fats.  They provide plenty of plant nutrition.  They also are loaded with hard to find vitamins and minerals, which are an essential part of staying full for a long time and feeling satiated.

You WILL lose weight, and at the very least feel phenomenal, if you implement these smoothies into your diet on a daily basis either for breakfast or lunch, or as a between meal snack.  Strive to make them FILLING, do not be afraid to chug a large shake as a meal.  You can really pack nutrition into a blender for increased energy and nutrition.

The best part? It takes no more than FIVE MINUTES of your YOUR TIME.  There is no excuse as to why you do not have the time to make a good shake, just go buy the ingredients, have them on hand, throw them in a blender and find what works best for you.  For more shake ideas just ask!

 

 

For more nutrition information, or questions regarding Personal Training or Nutrition, please CLICK HERE to Book your first session email me at: michaelsiebercpt@gmail.com  I look forward to hearing from you!

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