Bites and Sips: 3 Common Ways You’re Sabotaging Your Progress
Little actions add up to big results and that statement works both ways. I’m going to share three things that can derail your weight loss goals or render your macros inaccurate and how to fix them!
Nibbles, Bites, and Sips: Having a sip of your hubby’s beer here, a bite of your kid’s breakfast there, and a spoonful of your meal-prepped soup may not seem like a lot but they add up throughout the day. Let’s say we take in about 5 calories per sip/bite, if we do that 3-5 times a day, that’s 15-25 calories daily. If we do that every day, that adds up to 105-175 additional calories per week. If your scale isn’t moving and you’re trying to lose weight, or if you’re gaining unwanted weight, let’s check in with this habit. I know I sample on my meal prep days so I’ll leave myself a little wiggle room in my macros or just log slightly larger portions to account for it.
Subjective Size: When you’re logging macros for the first time, logging things on MyFitnessPal like “1/2 medium avocado” or “1 small apple” may seem like a good place to start. While they are, we can be a bit more specific to achieve our goals. Everyone has a different definition of small or medium, so weighing your food is the best way to accurately know how much you’re consuming. Once you’ve gotten that down, you can practice hand portioning: 1 thumb = 10-15g of fat (1 serving), 1 palm-sized portion = 25-30g of protein (1 serving), and 1 cupped handful = 150-180g of carbs (1 serving).
Fail to Plan = Plan to Fail: I always recommend dividing your daily totals for proteins, fats, and carbs by how many meals you typically eat in a day because if you don’t and you “wing it”, you may just end up with some weird macros to hit at the end of the day. Think 10 ounces of chicken and a graham cracker, kind of weight. Once you practice portioning for a while, you can start to wing it a bit. If I’m going on a date with my husband, I’ll leave a decent amount of carbs and fats for the evening just to give myself a cushion. I’ll have a backup plan if I need to fill them in afterward.
If you have questions or want to know what you need to do to take your nutrition game to the next level, there are a few ways I can help:
Schedule a FREE consultation call for 1-on-1 macros coaching. Prices begin at $110/month
Purchase a Nutrition Power Hour call. We’ll spend 1 hour going over any questions you may have. We can review your current numbers, create a meal plan, go grocery shopping, or whatever you need to succeed, I’m here for you.