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by Jim Coughlin Today I was training a client by the name of Nancy. As usual to begin the session, we started to discuss how she had been eating while she was warming up on her treadmill. "I totally blew it Jim." she said, having a guilty look on her face. "What'd ya have?" I asked rhetorically. "A chocolate sundae yesterday plus my co-workers keep bringing in donuts and brownies during the week. They're totally trying to sabotage me." she said. Before I could give her my nutrition will-power spiel, she beat me to the punch. "I know I screwed up a little this week, but Jim, I really, really DO eat healthy!" she said. She quickly escorted me to her refrigerator and after looking over the foods such as, soy burgers, lean lamb meat, soy cheese, cottage cheese, a plethora of fruit and numerous amounts of vegetables...I was convinced. "Ok, so all you have to do is eliminate the sweets at least 6 days out of the week and you'll be fine." I said. "I will do my best, but I think sweets are not my only problem. I think the main problem is I eat too much food at one time...even if it's healthy." she said. "You're not measuring your portions?" I asked. "No, I just eat until I'm full." she said. "Ok, here's what you need to do." I said. To summarize, I gave Nancy a customized meal plan with detailed caloric measurements of how much food she should be consuming per meal. Besides her sweet tooth, this should definitely improve her results. Nancy is one of many people who are under the assumption that just because they're eating HEALTHY, they'll lose weight and become more fit, regardless of what their portion sizes may be. I hate to admit it, but I too had the same perception a while back. But the fact of the matter is, portion sizes DO matter and the caloric quantity of your meals is VERY important when you want to achieve results with your fitness program.
Obviously, eating healthy plays a factor as well, but you must not overlook how much you eat per meal. Take for example this meal: A whole plain potato is about 6-8 ounces which is 250 calories. Pretty healthy, Right? You got your potato which is a great starchy complex carbohydrate. You have your chicken breast which is an excellent source of protein. And, we can't forget your fibrous green broccoli. You couldn't possibly eat any healthier. Healthy...Sure. Right portion size? Not even close. The meal is essentially 2 times bigger than what it needs to be. The correct food amount for men (smaller for women) should be: Half of a potato. (4 oz / 125 calories) So, if we add both meals up, we'll see that... Meal # 1 is 648 calories and #2 is 323 calories. I think you can see a big difference. If you want to get awesome results with your program, you must keep track of this. You must understand that despite the fact that meal #1 is very healthy...it's also 648 calories. No matter how you slice it, that's WAY TOO much for one meal! Your body cannot readily absorb that many calories at one time. It will process what it CAN and store the rest into your fat cells. Plain and simple. There is MUCH more information that I could give you regarding this topic. If you would like to learn more about this, feel free to give our office a call at 1-800-845-9016 or you can click this link - http://www.fitnessandresults.com/dial_a_trainer.php to find out more about our "Dial-A-Trainer" program. Jim Coughlin is a personal trainer and the owner of Coughlin Fitness & Results, a nationwide personal training company. He is also the author of The In-Home Personal Trainer, a helpful guide to successful in-home personal training in addition to other products and many other popular fitness articles. Jim is very passionate at motivating people to empower themselves to live a healthy lifestyle through consistent exercise and proper nutrition. He has free weekly success tips which you are welcome to subscribe to on his website http://www.fitnessandresults.com
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