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Let's jump into some tangible, actionable, and simple daily nutrition tips you can implement to really help you feel prepared for your goals!
To try a free week of my signature Fit for Hiking program to get you fit from the trails (gym AND at-home options) start HERE.
To try a free week of my signature Fit for Hiking program to get you fit from the trails (gym AND at-home options) start HERE.
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Where fitness and outdoors meet. In this space we chat all things hiking, exercise, wellness, adventure, motherhood, and metabolic health from a female perspective! Get ready to learn + be inspired to live your fullest, most adventurous life!
Hi, my name is Brady and I'm a long time fitness professional and midwest girl turned mountain living hiking addict. And combining my knowledge of fitness and passion for hiking, I've helped hundreds of women get lean and strong for the trails. Think of this as your one stop shop for both education and inspiration on all things female wellness, trail talk and adventure. Hiking, female metabolism, motherhood, nutrition, travel and fitness are all topics you'll hear discussed here. If you are outdoorsy and active, looking to level up your health, unlock your potential, and become inspired to live your most vibrant life, you're in the right place. You're listening to the fit for hiking podcast. Hello everybody. Welcome back to another episode of the fit for hiking podcast. Today we are going to be diving into the topic of nutrition healthy eating habits. Just simple things that you can do on a daily basis to improve your health when it comes to how you are eating and how you're fueling your body. I get so many questions about nutrition and how to meal prep, how to eat healthfully on a daily basis, what that looks like for me. And so I thought I would just kind of condense, um, you know, some of the habits that I carry on a daily basis. And then what I recommend for all of our clients and things that are going to move the needle for your health without feeling overcomplicated, overwhelming. Because let's be honest, nutrition can be super overwhelming, especially when you're looking at social media as a primary source of your information. There's so much out there that's really conflicting. You know, one day you're seeing how great fruit is for you, and then the next day you're seeing a reel about how bananas are terrible for you, or oats are terrible for you. I mean, it's just absurd and it's very overwhelming because you just don't know how to sift through all of this information and what to actually implement. And really, what this can lead to then, is a lack of implementation in any area, because it's just like information overload, which really leads to us just not feeling comfortable taking action in any one direction. So I wanted to give you guys some tangible, just daily habits that you can implement around your nutrition to get things going. So you can just start and feel confident in what you're doing and it not feel super overwhelming. Okay, so these tips are going to just be very simple healthy eating tips for general health and wellness. So I'm not necessarily talking about fat loss. While a lot of these principles are going to apply for fat loss goals, um, I'm going to share some caveats about what that will look like if you are actively looking to lose weight versus just really trying to focus on your health, okay, because they are kind of two different goals. And while some areas are going to cross over as far as what you're eating and the habits there, some things are going to differ. So. Let's get into it. You guys. Number one is kind of just understanding of basic plate structure and how to build your plate with a general, you know, a general meals. Obviously this isn't going to be able to apply super black and white to every single thing. But when you're looking to build your plate in general, you want to look to have about one third of your plate be some sort of veggie sauce. Okay, I prefer mostly cooked veggies. They're a little easier on my gut, but having some raw veggies like salads, things like that is great too. As long as your gut can handle it and it's not too rough on your stomach. If you're having a ton of extreme bloating after having large amounts of vegetables, then you might want to look at cooking more thoroughly. That can tend to help if you're having some GI distress after having a lot of veggies. Um, so one third of your plate, you really want to try to have veggies. One third of your plate should be protein. So you're wanting to have a significant protein source every single meal. I think that this is something that gets missed a lot, especially when we're working with clients initially and looking over food logs. It's really eye opening, um, to see how many women especially just are not getting good protein sources at most meals, and then they end up with a very low amount of protein on a daily basis. Um, I'm going to get into kind of the importance of that and some basic protein sources later. But one third of your plate, you really want to make sure you're getting a good source of protein at every single meal. Um, and then one third, we're going to want a good carb source. Ideally, the less uh, processed, the better. And I hate even using that word because I feel like processed foods are so demonized. And that's not always the case. However, you do want to look for more of a low glycemic index carbohydrate source. So really what that means is that it's going to absorb more slowly, and it's not going to spike your blood sugar as fast. So low glycemic is carbohydrate sources such as whole grains, oats, fruit, uh, sweet potatoes, um, you know, potato, starchy carb sources, squash, things like that. So. When you think about high glycemic carbohydrates, that's going to be things like juices and sweet treats, carb sources that are, um, made with more like white flour, more refined sugar, things like that. Pastries, muffins, most cereals, even granola can sometimes be pretty high glycemic. Um, especially when we're looking at, like, fruits that are juiced and take the fibers removed. That's going to really skyrocket the glycemic index. So you really want to look for carb sources that are going to be more sustained energy wise. So good. Uh, whole grain type of carb sources. So one third is your carbohydrates. That's going to be really important for proper energy. And then you want to look to just have a side or like a topping of a fat source. Um, because most times we're getting our fat source in how we're cooking our protein through, like a dressing or a topping such as avocado, we typically don't need to like a lot a massive proportion to our of our plate to fat, because it's already going to be kind of worked in and how we're preparing most of our meals. Um, so I typically just account for my fat with things like dressings, some avocado on top, cheese on top of of different things. Um, how I'm cooking olive oil, butter, things like that are going to be very high in fat. Um, also, if you love dairy, that's going to be kind of higher in fat too. So, um, it's easy to get fat in quickly. So you definitely don't need to look to actively add in a fat source, typically with most meals. Okay. So that's just a general plate structure. We're going to get into some more specifics here coming up. So number two is to start your day with protein over carbs and water before coffee okay. So the protein component before carbohydrates is really important because when we start the day with a really quick hit of things like cereal or pastries or breads or, you know, just kind of your typical, um, American breakfast, like, very carb oriented. What this is doing is this is going to immediately spike your blood sugar and is going to take you kind of on a roller coaster for the whole day. So the blood sugar will spike, and when it drops, you're going to get an energy drop. So you're going to be energetically on this roller coaster of not having sustained energy. And it's also just going to kind of mess with your blood sugar all day long, um, which has a lot of different cascading effects hormonally. So we really want to make sure that we're setting up our day for success also from a satiety standpoint, because when we are just only having a carb source in the morning, you're going to be hungry very quickly because your body's going to burn through that, especially if it is kind of hypoglycemic like we talked about, like that fast digesting, insulin spiking type of carbohydrate source. So starting the day with protein is a great way to minimize that blood sugar spike. Even if you are having carbs, you want to make sure you're pairing it with a significant protein source. So I'm talking like at least 15 to 20g of protein first thing in the morning before you have any of your carb source. And if you're having a coffee that's really, like filled with creamer and sugar and things like that, that is a carb source too. So you're going to want to have your protein before you're having your coffee, especially if you are filling your coffee with sugar and cream and things like that. Okay, so start your day with protein. If you're having a carb with breakfast, nothing wrong with that. You just want to make sure that you're pairing it with the protein instead of just having a carb only breakfast. Also, having water before your coffee. When we wake up, we're automatically a bit dehydrated because we've gone all night without having any water. So it's really important to not just jump right into some caffeine intake, um, which is going to kind of spike your cortisol and not do anything for you hydration wise. You want to get your water first. And I'm definitely an avid coffee drinker, but I really have worked on this over the years of getting my protein and water in before I immediately jump to coffee, even if it sounds better initially. 1s Number three is to aim for a portion of veggies, at least for two meals a day, or at least two portions of veggies a day. In an ideal world, yes, we're having veggies like we talked about with that plate structure at every single meal, but this might not be realistic for most people. Myself included, getting two portions of veggies every single day is a huge win. So if you're looking at your day and you're like, hmm, I'm not really getting like hardly any veggies in right now, or maybe only one portion. Focus on bringing that intake up to one extra portion. And typically rule of thumb, a portion of veggies is going to be at least a fistful. So if you make a fist with your hand, that's about a portion of veggies. If you're having more than that, awesome. Like I said before, if your stomach can tolerate more veggies, great. That's going to be an amazing source of micronutrients and, uh, fiber, which we're going to talk about as well. And ultimately it's going to help keep you full without adding a ton of extra calories and just overall intake. Um, which is great. So we want to make sure we're getting at least two portions of veggies a day. When I'm focusing on that, it it makes a massive difference when I'm just like kind of out of sight, out of mind. With veggies. It's really easy to to go an entire day literally not, and eat an entire vegetable. So just paying attention to that will make a big difference. The next one, number four, is to try to eat undistracted. This might sound silly or like it really doesn't matter that much, but a lot of gut issues and gut distress. Can be pointed back to eating in a stressed out state because everything is very connected. And when we're eating in a stressed out state, when your body is stressed, you're not in a rest and digest nervous system state. So your body literally cannot digest properly when you are all ramped up and stressed out. So if you're eating on the go, you're eating while you're in the car, while like dealing with a stressful surge of traffic, or you're like eating between tasks at work, or even just standing in your kitchen and not just sitting down and, like, mindfully eating. Um, some days it's going to be hard to accomplish. But in general, the more often that you can try to actually sit down, take a few deep breaths to get yourself into a rest and digest nervous system state and maybe say a prayer. Have some gratitude. Just take a moment, put your phone away, and actually engage with your meal in a meaningful way. Um, this will make a very big difference from a digestion standpoint. Um, so that's that's something that I think all of us can work on. We're always just like multitasking. I feel like that's our our culture is just constantly like, do as much as you can in every amount of time as possible. Like if you have an hour long lunch break, then you better multitask and do five different things and not just focus on eating your food. Um, so I would definitely like if you struggle with this, I would challenge you to try to do this even at one meal a day, and then work your way up and and see how your body feels, see how your digestion is, especially if you notice a ton of bloating. Post-meal it can definitely be linked to, um, just eating in a stressed out state. Okay. Number five. Learn when to say no and when to say yes. This is definitely something that takes practice over time, because it's not going to happen automatically. And there might be seasons where you struggle with this more than others. But in general, when we're looking at our health, we cannot say yes to everything that's offered to us all the time. It would kind of be parallel to saying yes to purchasing everything that we want all the time, while trying to also simultaneously save money. It's very difficult to do both in tandem, and the same goes for our health. If we are really prioritizing our health, then we are going to have to make some sacrifices sometimes, whether that's saying no to certain things or saying yes to certain things. And sometimes, you know, the healthy thing might be to say yes to the cookie. You know, if you're at home and your mom is making your favorite homemade cookies like the the healthy and right option in that moment might be to have a cookie. And then there might be other times where there's just like cookies out in your break room at work, and they're not anything significant. They're store bought. And you might just have to be honest with yourself and say, I don't really need those. Like, those don't mean anything to me. The right thing for me to do right now might just be to say no to those. So really learning to be selective as to when something is significant and when you can kind of just pass on it. Similarly with alcohol, like if you said yes to every single opportunity to have alcohol in a social setting or whatever that might be. You would probably feel pretty crappy. So learning when to say yes to like a celebratory drink or a relaxing drink situation versus when when to say no, um is definitely a skill that takes time, but it's one that matters a lot. If you want to look for the like, longevity of your health. Number six aim for at least 1 to 2 portions of fruit per day as well. So fruit, I feel like has gotten a bad rap for some weird reason on Instagram and TikTok and things like that. Um, people saying that it's will make you fat. Well, you know, it's too much sugar. All of these things. Fruit is an amazing carb carbohydrate source, and it's also filled with micronutrients and antioxidants. So it's definitely something that you still want to include in your daily diet. At least 1 to 2 portions. Again, portion size being about a fist size. Um, the biggest thing with fruit is that you just want to make sure that you're pairing it with some sort of protein source most of the time, um, so that you're not just getting that straight shot of carbohydrates, um, and try to have it in a whole form versus juicing it or things like that. Um, you want to make sure you're getting that fiber content from the fruit. And when we juice it, we're removing that fiber. Um, and it's just going to be a much higher glycemic index. So, um, have your fruit. Don't be afraid of fruit, please. It's crazy to me that fruit has become demonized in the health space. Um, don't buy into that. Fruit and veggies are always going to be a positive thing for your health. Okay, um, number seven is to have at least 25g of fiber a day. Feel like fiber is kind of misunderstood. A lot of people don't know why fiber is important or where to get it. Fiber is going to be found in things like fruits and veggies and beans and things like that. So if you look at, um, you know, the label of foods, you can kind of see, okay, how much fiber is in these things, get in the habit of just checking some labels when you have the chance and and see what is actually going on in the things that you're eating. And the reason that fiber is so helpful is it's great for our gut, but it's also extremely filling. So we want to make sure that we're getting good amounts of fiber every single day. If this just feels like too stressful, then just focus on the fruits and veggies. You're going to get great fiber from your fruits and veggies, so you can just focus there. If you don't want to actually be tracking the amount of grams of fiber that you're getting on a daily basis. Number eight is to pay close attention to your protein. Like I mentioned before, protein is something that I feel like a lot of people are just not in the not accustomed to, like including it in every single meal and really paying attention to their protein sources. And, um, it's really fascinating when you look at their research, protein is a massive indicator of being able to maintain muscle, even outside of whether or not you are actively doing weight bearing type of exercise. So if you want to just maintain your muscle without having to do anything, eat protein. Protein is going to be huge for this. And especially if you are exercising, you need to have ample protein to make sure that you're maintaining that muscle mass. Um, especially as we get older, we're losing muscle mass. If we are not actively fighting that, we want to make sure that we are joining the fight to keep our muscle, because it's going to be one of the best things that we can do for ourselves from an anti-aging standpoint. Functionality. As we get older, bone density, being able to do the activities that we want to do long term, and our metabolic health is very much linked to the amount of muscle that we have on our bodies. So protein is important. That's why in general, most ladies really should be increasing protein. General rule of thumb. You want to really try to be at least getting 100g of protein a day. I would challenge you. If you're kind of unaware of how much protein you're getting to track your protein intake diligently for like a week and really see what your daily average look like. And if it's way down there, you're getting like 40g a day or something like that, then maybe just start by shooting for 60 to 80g and then slowly increase from there. We want to make sure we're just trending upwards and focusing on getting protein at every single meal, um, and then having protein oriented snacks as well to try to reach that 100 gram daily mark. Um, also kind of paired with this is to aim to get at least a 20 gram hit of protein within an hour of ending your workout. This is when your body is going to really need the protein the most post-workout, and it's going to just help with your muscle protein synthesis process so that we're really just optimizing what we've done in the gym. Um, especially if you're weightlifting and you want to make sure you're getting at least 20g of protein within that hour window. Ideally, um, if you're doing more of like cardio based workouts, then you're also going to want to look at your carb intake. Um, but that will really largely depend on what you're training for, your volume of cardio. All of these things vary individual. All right. Number nine, on Sundays or whatever day you have, that's like a really good day off for you to kind of prep for your upcoming week. Prep slash purchase several protein sources for the week. This is by far one of the most beneficial things that I do to set myself up for success for the week. When I don't do it, I am struggling. It's very noticeable, and then when I do it, I'm like, I feel like I'm just crushing the week with my protein and with my eating. So I would challenge you to really implement this one if you are not already. So here are several protein sources that I either like to prep. So like cook just a big batch of it, um, to have it in my refrigerator for the week, or just purchase and have it in your fridge, no prep necessary. Okay. So ground turkey, chicken or beef? Multiple of those is great. Um, having something on hand like that is huge because you can so easily just throw it over, like quinoa or rice or, um, sauteed veggies and have a great protein source added to those things. Um, or even turn it into meatballs. This week I prepped a like buffalo ground chicken meatball thing, and it was so nice to just have those on hand to snack on and have a good protein source ready to go in the fridge. Um, the next is Greek yogurt. This is such an amazing source of protein. You want to just make sure you're checking your labels, because some yogurts are going to be way more sugar and way less on the protein side. I really love Chobani or Faji Fage. I don't know how you say it, but the fad. Those are really great. I try to go with like the lower fat or 0% fat options and they're going to be really high in protein. Cottage cheese is another great one that you can implement. Whey protein. I always have a way on hand because it's so nice to just be able to throw into yogurt or oats or a smoothie or something like that to get a quick hit of protein when I'm low for the day. Um, chicken sausage, another staple turkey sausage. It's great to having one of those on hand is amazing to add to your breakfast. I even will have chicken sausage for lunch or dinner or whatever, and it's usually already pre-cooked, so all you have to do is like, chop it up and add it to some sort of scramble, stir fry, whatever that might be that you're adding it to. And it's such a great source of protein. Sliced turkey. Having just some good like sliced turkey on hand is amazing. Eggs and egg whites, tuna packets, smoked salmon, shredded chicken. I'll just put a massive thing of chicken into the Instant Pot for the week and shred it up, and then add that to my salads, add that to tacos, add that to any sort of bowl quinoa bowl. You could do Greek bowls. There's so many options when you have these things pre prepped. Um, and then some non-meat options such as chickpeas, quinoa, tofu, things like that. Have some protein sources ready for the week you guys. I promise it makes such a big difference. Um, number ten have on hand convenience items. I am in a season of life where like I'm not doing these massive, you know, intricate recipes on a daily or even weekly basis. I would love to say that I had time or energy for that, but I really just don't. So convenience items are going to be huge. Make it easier for yourself, like set yourself up for success by removing barriers. It doesn't mean that you're any less healthy, like you can really still eat quite healthily and make it easier on yourself. At the same time, we are living in an era where there are so many great frozen options, especially going to stores like Whole Foods, Natural Grocers, Trader Joe's, uh, sprouts, even your like kind of more mainstream stores like King Soopers in Colorado. It's like a Kroger brand is starting to have great frozen options. So different like veggie medleys, sweet potato medleys, cauliflower medleys, different things like that, frozen fruits, bagged salads or pre prepped salads of some sort. Um, whey protein. Like I mentioned before, protein bars, protein oat packs are even a thing now. I love this Kodiak Cakes now has like these protein oat packs that are actually pretty high in protein. Amazing. I can like have that with some yogurt and have a super great filling and protein packed breakfast. Um, Greek yogurt cups are such a great staple to have on hand tuna packs and just pre-cooked frozen veggie sauce or, uh, pre-cooked frozen protein sources too. Um, there's so many different options or pre prepped pre-cooked things now, so I definitely would explore that if you're not yet. And if you are overwhelmed by like having to do a ton of cooking or prepping in the kitchen, I promise that you don't have to and you can still eat very healthily. Number 11 is to pay attention to the areas of your nutrition that seem to be problem areas for you. So pay attention to like what is your day look like? What is your week look like? Things like nighttime snacking, sweets and excess alcohol and excess weekend bingeing. Um, or just lack of implementing what you know you should be doing. Like if if I'm listing all of these things off and you're just, like, not able to bring yourself to do it, um, that's something to look at. And I would definitely be real with yourself about if maybe potentially hiring a coach would be the right move for you to kind of work through some of these mindset blocks, like, why are you having resistance to implementing some of these things? What is standing in your way? What are some of the mindset things you might need to work on to get to the root of? Like, why the nighttime snacking or weekend binging is happening? Because you can like have all of the head knowledge. But if you're stuck in a pattern and unable to break it for yourself, then these cycles are just going to keep happening, which is very frustrating. And I've been in those myself, and a lot of times it requires some outside accountability to break through those things. Um, that is a big part of what we do in Mountain Metabolic coaching. So if you have been on the fence about that and you know that, like you know what to do for the most part, but you are struggling to implement it for yourself, then I definitely recommend coaching, even just investing in that for yourself for a three month period. So you have the tools, you kind of work through some of the resistance that you're having and then move forward with the confidence. And without those mindset blocks, that can be totally life changing. Number 12. Keep it simple consistently. So many times people obsess over the smallest things, such as like meal timing, juicing, supplements, fasting, lemon water, going carb free, trendy diets, and things like that when they're not nailing the basics consistently. Like, are you having vegetables and protein at every meal? No, but I'm having lemon water in the morning. Like it's the really insignificant things that sometimes we place more value in. And those are not going to be the things that are going to move the needle as far as your health, long term or fat loss, if that's your goal. So really pay attention to these basics that I've listed out consistently over time before you major in the minors. I did a whole podcast episode about not majoring in the minors when it comes to your health, because I see this all the time after working in the fitness industry for over a decade. And I promise it's when we pay attention to the basics on repeat consistently over time that we over. Like we completely, um, reboot our health. And it makes the biggest difference versus obsessing over the really small minute details that aren't going to make a big difference in the grand scheme of things. All right. And finally, if fat loss is your goal, then you're going to want to focus on quantity. Yes. All of these principles that I've listed out are still going to be extremely helpful for fat loss. However, you're also going to need to pay way more attention to your portion sizes, to the amount of food that you're taking in. Because, as you know, probably eating healthfully does not always translate to being in a calorie deficit, which is what is required for fat loss. Um, you can look at an example like a smoothie bowl. You can have a like oat smoothie bowl that is 300 calories, and it's the exact same size as a smoothie bowl that is a thousand plus calories. It can happen so easily based on the amount of fats that you're putting in seeds, and that's that you're putting in granola, that you're putting in just the quantities of the items that you're adding. So you're going to want to be more diligent with looking at the portion sizes or even tracking food for a season, to become aware of how much you're taking in. If you're eating really healthily and you're not losing weight and that's your goal, then it is definitely a quantity issue. So being honest with yourself about how much you're having of of even the healthy things, things like avocados and nut butters and granola and trail mix, some of these foods that are quote unquote very healthy. While they might have great nutrients, they also are very calorically dense. Um, so you're going to want to really look closely at the quantity there and then adjust accordingly, right? Like if you're looking at your diet and you're seeing, holy crap, I'm having, you know, this like. Protein cookie that I thought was great, and it actually has 400 calories for one cookie. Then, you know, okay, maybe I swap that out for a 200 calorie, just standard protein bar. Or if you're counting up the amount of trail mix you have and you're realizing you're having a 500 calorie snack every day of trail mix, just kind of mindlessly munching on it, then, you know, that's something that you can pull back on and find maybe a Greek yogurt cup with some protein, and you're going to get higher protein intake and lower calorie intake. So there's just some tweaks that you can make. If fat loss is the goal, where you're still getting great food quality, but also really honing in on the food quantity to move the needle as far as body composition and fat loss. Okay, you guys, that is your simple guide to daily nutrition habits. I hope that you have found this helpful to just simplify things and you can just take action. Start implementing these right away. Again, if you're struggling with implementing things on your own, there is no shame in that. I myself have a coach. I work with one of the Mountain Metabolic coaches to have some accountability for myself because it's difficult. We are always going to kind of veer away from the things that we know that we should do, um, even if we know why we want to do them and that we should do them. Um, it's not always easy to make it happen for ourselves without having some structure, some guidance, some accountability, someone to talk through these mindset blocks with. So look into our coaching program. If this is something that is kind of speaking to you right now, or if you've just been feeling like you're on this hamster wheel, not really making progress for several months or even several years, um, I definitely would would, uh, prioritize enlisting help sooner than later. It's going to be so well worth it in the grand scheme of things long term. So you can find our application, um, coaching link in the show notes, and you can apply there for our next round of coaching when we are taking new, uh, clients on. All right, you guys, thank you so much for joining me today. If you have topics that you would love to hear covered on the show, please check out our Instagram page Fit Underscore for hiking and you can send us a DM there. Let me know what you guys want to hear. I love hearing your feedback on the show. Also, if you are enjoying the episodes, please share on social media, drop us a rating or a review. It's a newer show, so the more love we can get in that department, the better reach that we're going to have to help more people. So thank you so much for being here, and I will see you guys in the next episode.