Bridget Moroney  00:04

Welcome to the performance RX podcast the ultimate destination for anyone who wants to perform better in the gym and live a better life outside it. Whether you're just starting your journey or you're a seasoned pro. This show covers a wide range of topics to help you reach your potential and live your best life. Each week on this podcast, I'll be bringing you expert interviews, personal stories, and actionable advice to inspire, educate and empower you to reach your goals. So hit follow, grab your headphones and get ready to take your health and performance to the next level. Hey, everyone, welcome to today's episode of the performance RX podcast powered by aspire to coaching the place where we dive deep into the science of health and fitness and give you actionable strategies to transform your life. I'm Bridget Moroney. And today we're going to continue our journey through the six steps that can empower you to reclaim your health and vitality. So these were the steps that became my lifeline after a very challenging period of time in my life, the pandemic, we all know about that. I also moved across the country from Florida to Colorado. And then I was also during all of that experiencing the loss of my father, following these steps became very, very important and crucial to me regaining my health. It was also the time where I was finishing up my certification with precision nutrition. So it was as difficult and as sad of a time as it was, it was a very good time, I guess you could say, Good, quote, unquote, time to practice what I preach and to implement all of these strategies and knowledge that I learned. So before we jump into today's episode, let me just go ahead and recap what we've covered so far. Step one, you're going to be setting realistic goals and track your behaviors. And in that first step, I explained to you all the art and process of setting achievable goals and the power of tracking those behaviors associated to those goals so that you can turn your aspirations into reality. Step two was all about building a strong foundation. And again, I gave you all the science behind quality sleep and daily movement just as some of the cornerstones of wellbeing. Step three, of course, was mastering the basics of nutrition. And there we talked about simplifying nutrition by understanding macronutrients micronutrients, portion control, and making informed food choices. So for today's episode, I'm going to pick up where we left off. Let's go ahead and get started with step number four. So for step number four, we're going to talk about fueling your life with nutrition strategies. So when it comes to achieving your goals, whether that's weight loss, muscle gain performance, or just maintaining your body weight and health, you need to understand your total daily energy expenditure, or T d, e, if you go online, you'll see a lot of calculators that say T D E, that's what it stands for total daily energy expenditure. So basically, this represents the number of calories you need to maintain your current weight. Why is this important? Well, this is the starting point for how you are going to be able to manipulate your food and your calorie intake to achieve whatever goal we talked about. First things first, you're going to calculate your TD e using an online calculator. I'll put a couple of good ones in the show notes. Once you know what your TD E, that's going to be your maintenance calories, which if you ate that amount of food every single day, you wouldn't lose or gain any sort of weight really quick. This is also based on a number of factors like age, weight, height, if you are biologically male, or female, and then your activity level if you are sedentary at a desk most of the time all the way up to if you are a construction worker, and then it takes into account how many days a week you are active with intentional sport or exercise. So like I said, that's going to give you the amount of calories that you should be eating to maintain your weight. Now keep in mind these are calculators are not perfect. So it might be a little bit off one way or another but it's a great starting point. From there. It's going to allow you to make informed choices and adjust your calorie intake either up or down. If you want to lose fat or gain lean muscle really simple easy example is if you are looking to lose one pound of bodyweight a week generally need to create a calorie deficit of about 3500 calories for the entire week, which is about 500 calories each day of less food that you should be taking in. But again, it's not just about how much you eat. It's also about what and when you eat especially if you are an athlete or someone who is training for something very specific where performance is a factor. fueling your workouts effectively is essential and of course research shows that pre and post workout nutrition can significantly impact your performance and more importantly, your recovery. So I actually had this conversation with someone today talking about what they should eat and when. And again, for the majority of people, just focusing on general good nutrition throughout the day is what's most important. However, once you've moved past that, you can start thinking a little bit more about pre and post workout timing. And so a good rule of thumb is consuming a balanced meal containing carbohydrates and protein about one to two hours before you train and then post workout you want to refuel with protein for muscle repair, and carbohydrates for energy and glycogen replenishment within 30 minutes all the way up to one or two hours completing your workout. Like I mentioned, this is going to help support muscle recovery and replenish glycogen stores ensuring you're ready for your next session. Just something to note, I know a lot of people make a big deal out of that 30 minute post anabolic window. Again, it's one of those things that it kind of depends on who you are and what your goals are. But I will just say this, if you aren't able to take in a post, workout shake or meal or anything within that 30 minute window, don't stress too much about it. Like I said, as long as you're eating something balanced and normal within one to two hours of your workout, that is pretty darn adequate for most people. Alright, moving on to step number five, managing stress, staying motivated and holding yourself accountable. So I think a lot of people whether they realize it or not, would probably agree that managing stress and staying motivated are super critical components of your health journey. And chronic stress. Whether that is physical and or psychological and emotional can lead to poor health outcomes, including weight gain, sleep disturbances and chronic disease. So one of the best actionable steps I would say is to start incorporating stress reduction techniques into your daily routine. These can be things like deep breathing exercises, mindfulness meditation, or even mindful movement, like yoga, these practices can reduce the stress hormones that are accumulating in your body, and they're just going to improve your overall well being on top of that engaging in regular physical activity, like strength training, running and other types of cardio has been shown to reduce stress and boost your mood through the release of endorphins. I say this all the time on this podcast and in social media. But I feel like at this point in my life, me being active with my exercise, and training has much more to do with my mental health than it does with my physical health. Yes, for sure, I am still trying to be strong and gain muscle and do amazing things with my body. But I will say that being consistently active is something that helps me manage my stress. And like I said, improve my overall well being. And that was something that my father taught me from a very early age, when I had difficulty coping with anxiety, he took me to the gym with a barbell on my hand and showed me how lifting weights and strength training can be a very, very positive thing for boosting confidence and managing stress and all the things I'm talking about. And I will continue to talk about. And of course, when you feel better and confident about yourself, you're going to be motivated to keep going. So this is the thing about motivation, especially when it comes to exercise. But most people get it wrong. Most people think that first you're motivated, then you act, then you see the results. But it's actually kind of reversed motivation actually goes at the end of it. So really, your motivation starts with acting, you act, you see results, maybe it's not immediate results in the mirror, but you see that result in feeling good and confident and better about yourself. And then you're motivated to continue. And that's basically where that positive feedback loop comes where people get, quote, unquote, addicted to exercise. But yeah, bottom line is if you ever feel yourself unmotivated to train or do something, the best thing you can do is to act in spite of that. And once you do the action, that's where the motivation kicks in. So being motivated is a super important component of your fitness journey. But staying accountable is also equally important. And it's probably one of the tougher things to master, especially if you're trying to do it by yourself. This is why most people get coaches and personal trainers and other people to help them so that they have someone else to stay accountable for but you absolutely 100% can do this on your own. And one of the best ways you can be accountable to yourself is just simply tracking your progress. So there's a lot of studies that show tracking your progress and sharing your goals with your friends, your family or even a supportive community can lead to greater success in all areas of your life. One of the easiest ways you can do this is just be old school and Use a pen and paper or a journal. Or if you'd like to use technology, you could use a smartphone app. But basically, you can do this for all elements of your fitness and health journey. So you can track your food intake, your workouts, progress, even your sleep. Another thing that you can do to stay accountable is to find a fitness group or an accountability buddy or a workout partner, because social support can be a very powerful motivator, especially on those days or periods of time when you are struggling. So like I said a few minutes ago, having someone else to be accountable to can help you push forward and keep making progress. And last but not least, Step six is putting all of these pieces together to design your own personalized nutrition plan. So the whole point of going through all of these steps is really to empower you to figure out what sort of nutrition is going to work for you and is tailored to your goals and preferences. And this is going to allow you to build balanced meals, which is essential for achieving and maintaining optimal health. What does a balanced meal look like? An easy way to think about this is to look at your plate. And on that plate, you should have lean protein wholegrains plenty of vegetables and some healthy fats. And again, I said balance is key. This approach is going to provide your body with a wide range of nutrients. And again, it may look different for you depending on what your goals are at any given time. But in general, if you can have half your plate with vegetables, a quarter with lean protein, and the remaining quarter with whole grains or starchy vegetables, that is a pretty darn good place to start. And of course, from there, you can start to play around with what that looks like depending on your goals. So if you are training for endurance and or trying to put on lean muscle mass, you might have a lot more whole grains and starchy vegetables, you're trying to lose body fat, you might have a little more on the vegetable side. But like I said, keeping that balanced approach for the majority of the time is just going to help with your overall health and well being. A lot of people also have questions around specialty diets like keto, intermittent fasting, vegan or plant based or just low carb diets. And I'm just gonna say this, if it aligns with your lifestyle, and your health goals, go for it. So I always like to point out that all diets work, but not all diets are sustainable, I highly encourage you if you are interested in some of these more specific types of diets. First of all, research the pros and cons of each so that you can make informed choices. And then don't be afraid to explore. And if you find out that something doesn't work for you, or it doesn't work for you right now and what your goals are, that's okay, you learn something new about this diet and about your body. And of course, if you are considering a specialty diet, again, do your research. But I would also recommend you consult with a registered dietician or a nutrition coach just so that you have a little bit extra support. And you can really figure out if it is the right choice and if it's sustainable, and it's balanced for you and your long term health or if it's just something that you might try for the moment to achieve a specific goal or outcome, especially with things like keto or intermittent fasting. These specialized diets can have specific benefits, but a lot of them do require careful planning to ensure that you're meeting your nutritional needs and you're not getting deficient on one side or the other. Speaking of deficiencies. One last thing I'll say when it comes to personalizing your nutrition is you could consider certain supplements. Again, you need to think about which supplements are going to align with your goals and your lifestyle and I say this all the time. While it is best to get your nutrients from whole foods. Some people may benefit from specific supplements. Of course disclaimer, always consult with a health care professional to determine if you have any nutrient deficiencies and need supplementation in the first place. But common supplements that are worthwhile for a lot of people are vitamin d omega three fatty acids and magnesium. Of course on the sports side creatine is one of the best safest most well researched supplements out there. Also things like protein powders can be a supplement to get extra protein into your diet. But just remember this the dose is in the name supplements should complement or supplement a balanced diet, not replace it. All right, y'all. You now have the complete set of steps and tools that you need for your transformative journey. Like I said before each step is evidence based and packed with actionable advice to help you achieve your nutrition and health. Schools. If you didn't listen to last week's episode, I highly encourage you to go back and listen because those first three steps are going to set up a very solid foundation. So then when you get to step six, which is creating your own personalized nutrition approach, you will be well set up for success. Before I wrap up today, I just wanted to extend a special invitation to all of you registrations still open. So if you're looking for a guided immersive experience around your health, I highly encourage you to consider joining my pre holiday boot camp. It's the perfect opportunity to put all of these steps into action, gain accountability, and connect with a supportive community of like minded individuals who are also looking to achieve the same things and also connect with me in person as your coach, visit my website at WWW dot aspire to coaching.com forward slash bootcamp to learn more and secure your spot we kick off October 6, so we only have a few more days time is running out. But if you are looking for that extra support, like I said, we are here for you. Thank you so much again for joining me on the performance RX podcast. Remember, your health is an ongoing journey, and I'm here to support you every step of the way. Hey, really quick before you go, I need you to do one thing for me. If there was something in this episode that you think would be a value to someone else, please share it for me. My goal is to empower as many people as possible on their health and fitness journeys and one of the best ways to do it is to share awesome information like what you heard in today's episode out with many others. So do me a favor, copy and paste that link, send it to one of your friends, your family or anyone who you think we'd get some enjoyment and value out of this. I appreciate you for listening. I'll see you next time.