October 15, 2024 • 11 mins
Questions, comments? Shoot me a text.
Unlock the secrets of the "body dial" and how it can revolutionize the way you approach your diet and physical activity. Join me, Amy White, as I recount my exhilarating Grand Canyon hiking adventure and how it taught me to adapt my diet for intense physical demands. We navigate the concept of aligning dietary intake with your activity levels, helping you categorize foods by consumption frequency to maintain a balanced lifestyle. Discover why proteins and vegetables are your best friends during sedentary times, but carbs and fats take the spotlight when your energy expenditure soars. Listen in as I break down my hiking nutrition strategy, offering insights into customizing your eating habits to match your physical exertion.
Gear up for the holiday season with the "Holiday Health Odyssey" masterclass on October 25th, where we'll tackle the challenges of festive indulgence while keeping health and wellness in focus. This free session is designed to arm you with strategies to balance macros and protein effectively, ensuring you can enjoy the holidays without derailing your health goals. We’ll share valuable practices for balancing blood sugar, curbing cravings, and bolstering your energy levels, alongside setting realistic protein goals to aid in weight loss without feeling hungry. Plus, we'll explore how to indulge guilt-free, providing a roadmap to become leaner and healthier without drastic lifestyle upheavals. Register now to step into the new year feeling your absolute best.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Simplicity of Wellness podcast.
I'm your host, board-certifiedholistic nutritionist and
professional life coach, amyWhite.
The purpose of this podcast isto share information that you
can use to become leaner,stronger and healthier by losing
weight, shedding inches,maintaining muscle and managing
(00:21):
your mind, all while living yournormal busy life in this modern
, sugar-filled world.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Hello, Simplifiers.
If you listened to last week'spodcast or if you follow me on
Instagram, you're probably awarethat my husband and I did a big
Grand Canyon hike last week.
We hiked down the south rim ofthe Grand Canyon, camped
overnight in the bottom of thecanyon and then hiked up to the
north rim the following day.
This was a strenuous, long hike.
(00:52):
We thought day one going downwas going to be pretty easy, but
it turned out to be super steepand very hot Unseasonably hot,
in fact.
We climbed seven miles down anddescended 4,800 feet over those
seven miles.
I believe the total hike to ourcampground was eight miles and
it took us five and a half hourswithout any real breaks.
(01:14):
We knew the hike up was goingto be hard, because 15 miles is
hard no matter where you'rewalking, and we were also
carrying weight, so uphill for15 miles with the extra 20
pounds of my backpack.
The hardest part about going upwas the documented mileage was
off.
There's nothing worse thanexpecting a rest stop at a
(01:34):
certain point and then findingout it's further than expected.
The reason I'm giving you all ofthis backstory is because today
I want to talk about your bodydial.
This is a concept that I teachall of my clients.
The simple way I explain thisis think of your body as having
three settings fat gain orexcess energy mode, maintenance
(01:56):
or hold steady mode, and thenfat burn or what I call high
protein mode For anyone who hasa weight loss or really a fat
loss goal.
You want your body dial set tofat burn mode until you reach
your goal and then you want toreset that dial to maintenance.
If you have a weight loss goal,the fat gain or excess energy
(02:18):
mode may not make sense.
Why would anybody want to be inexcess energy mode?
It's important to rememberevery body is different and we
all live our lives in differentways with different goals.
The excess energy mode is whenthe body is taking in a lot of
calories.
I refer to this as fat gainmode because my clients are
(02:38):
people who will typically gainfat and weight if their diet is
causing them to eat a lot ofexcess calories.
My clients are generallysedentary people.
A sedentary lifestyle doesn'trequire an excessive amount of
calories.
Now, if you're thinking well,I'm not sedentary, you might be
right, but let's dig into thisidea just a little bit more.
(03:00):
I personally exercise three tofour days a week with weights.
I try to hit eight to 10,000steps a day, but I don't always
get there.
I also consider myself a mostlysedentary person.
My exercise happens during asingle 40 to 60 minute block of
time.
My steps can and do build upover the day, but again, most of
(03:20):
my day is sitting at my desk.
I have to really focus to geteight to 10,000 steps on a
regular day.
So even if you exercise, if youspend seven hours or more of
your awake time sitting orlaying down, you are considered
sedentary.
Unfortunately, a busy day willhave me at my desk for five to
(03:41):
six hours.
As you can imagine, it's nothard to get that extra hour or
two of sedentary time in theevenings after dinner, while
you're kind of hanging aroundwaiting to go to bed.
So for me, eating excessenergy-rich calories in the form
of fats and carbs while livingmy everyday, mostly sedentary
life will make it difficult forme to maintain my happy weight.
(04:04):
But what about those people whoare not sedentary?
Professional athletes, forexample, who expend tons of
energy all day long, or evenregular people who enjoy
endurance sports, 100 mile runsor bike rides, training for
triathlons and marathons?
These people will feel morecomfortable with their body dial
set more in that excess energyzone.
(04:25):
They need these calories tosupport their activity.
Most of the time my life ismostly sedentary.
Last week my life was not Lastweek, during our time hiking in
the Grand Canyon.
We ate very differently than wedo on a normal day.
We ate mostly high energy foodand it made a difference.
It really helped us get up andout of the canyon last Friday.
(04:47):
I'll give you a detailedexplanation of the food we ate
versus what we normally eat in aminute.
But first the reason I'mtelling you this is to give an
example of lifestyle and orenvironment change and how that
can shift how you choose to eat.
A healthy diet is a diet thatsupports your lifestyle.
I think of a healthy diet asone that breaks food into three
(05:09):
categories what you eat most ofthe time, what you eat some of
the time and those foods you eatrarely or never by choice.
In my normal sedentary life, mymost of the time food is a lot
of protein, vegetables and somefruit with some healthy fat like
butter, olive oil, olives andavocado.
(05:29):
When my life shifts to mostlyactive with an endurance
component, like our hike lastweek, my food shifts to more of
my sometimes and rarely foods,foods that are high calorie,
carbs and fats.
I tracked my food from lastFriday, the day we did our 15
mile climb out of the canyon.
That climb took us about 10hours.
(05:49):
I ate about 3000 calories thatday.
Those calories came from onecup of maple, brown sugar,
gluten-free oatmeal that Istarted my day with.
Homemade snack packs of mixednuts and dried fruit, homemade
peanut butter and honey,sandwiches on gluten-free bread,
homemade peanut butter andjelly sandwiches on gluten-free
(06:10):
bread, mini packets of peanutM&Ms, beef sticks and beef jerky
.
So here's how my macros brokedown for Friday's trail food 96
grams of protein, 152 grams offat, 316 total carbs.
Again, that added up to about3,000 calories.
13.3% of those 3,000 caloriescame from protein, 46% came from
(06:36):
fat and 41% of my calories camefrom carbs.
This is how a typical Americandiet tends to break down.
Most people tend to eat 13-14%of calories from protein, which
is why most people areoverweight.
They live a sedentary life inthe fat gain food zone.
I would be very overweight if Iate like this even half the
(06:59):
time.
My calories on a typical day athome usually top out at about
1500 calories.
So here's what I ate on Sunday.
This is a more typical day forme.
I had one and a quarter cups oflow-fat cottage cheese, which
is about 31 grams of protein,with 100 grams of chopped
pineapple and a chicken sausagefor breakfast.
Lunch was five and a halfounces of roasted chicken.
(07:21):
Now, normally I have this withsalad, but on this particular
day I was deboning the chickenfor the week and so I basically
ate while I was deboning thechicken.
But I knew I was tracking myfood, so I did weigh the amount
of chicken that I ate.
So I know it was five and ahalf ounces.
Dinner was an eight ounce porkchop with 190 grams of roasted
butternut squash and 150 gramsof roasted broccoli with about a
(07:45):
teaspoon of olive oil.
I sprayed the butternut squashand I sprayed the broccoli with
some olive oil spray, so not aton of olive oil, but there was
olive oil.
I also had a snack on Sunday,which was another serving of
cottage cheese and pineapple.
My total calories for the daycame out to 1,445, so just shy
of 1,500, with 164 grams ofprotein, 64 grams of fat and 78
(08:09):
grams of total carbohydrates.
My calorie percentages were 44%of my calories came from
protein, 39% came from fat and17% came from carbs.
When people eat in the fat gainzone, they tend to be
chronically hungry because theyaren't getting the nutrients
their body needs.
They feel like they hardly eatanything and can't lose weight,
(08:32):
and that's because they reallydon't eat a lot.
But their calories add up veryquickly.
The nut and dried fruit snackpacks that we put together were
in those little snack-sized bagquickly.
The nut and dried fruit snackpacks that we put together were
in those little snack-sizedbaggies.
The total calories for one ofthose snack packs was 621.
Three of those snack packswhich isn't a lot of food at all
would have your calories over1,800.
(08:54):
For most sedentary people, thiswill cause weight gain.
If you have a weight loss goal,you want your body dial set
somewhere within the fat burnzone.
You do this by prioritizingprotein while limiting excess
calories from carbs and fats.
If you really want to dial inyour protein so that it's
working as a weight loss tool,shoot for 40% of your calories
(09:14):
coming from protein.
Once you hit your goal weight,you can shift your percent of
calories from protein down sothat you can include a level of
carbs and fats that help youmaintain your steady, healthy
weight.
The increase of carbs and fatswill be different for everyone.
Some people will be moretolerant of carb and fat energy,
while others will need to bemore selective about what they
(09:35):
choose to eat.
Most of the time, I'll talkmore about the difference of
managing protein as a percent ofcalories versus number of grams
in an upcoming podcast.
If you'd like to learn moreabout macros and protein so that
you can feel really good whilelosing weight, join me on
October 25th at 11 am, pacifictime for my free masterclass,
the Holiday Health Odyssey.
(09:57):
What's a holiday health odyssey?
It's you knowing how to enjoythe holidays so that you wake up
on January 1st feeling better,looking better and being
healthier than you are today, sothat you have the body, comfort
and confidence to say yes whenopportunity knocks.
In this live interactivemasterclass, we'll be covering
(10:18):
the best diet practices forblood sugar balance, to control
cravings and boost energy.
Ideal protein goals for weightloss without hunger, managing
macros so food feels easy,enjoying indulgences without
weight gain or self-judgment.
Click the registration linkbelow the show notes and then
mark your calendar so you don'tmiss the live masterclass.
(10:40):
All right, have a great week.
I will be back in the nextepisode.
Do you like the idea of eatingfor the body you want?
Is there a piece of you that'seager to learn how to become
leaner, stronger and healthierwithout having to overhaul your
entire life?
If this is you, then you're inluck, because this is what I do.
I can help you reconnect andwork with your body so that you
(11:05):
can enjoy the body, comfort andconfidence you deserve, eating
foods you love.
Click the free consult link inthe show notes.
Let's talk about where you are,what you want and how you can
get there.
Welcome to the Simplicity of Wellness podcast.
I'm your host, board-certifiedholistic nutritionist and
professional life coach, amyWhite.
The purpose of this podcast isto share information that you
can use to become leaner,stronger and healthier by losing
weight, shedding inches,maintaining muscle and managing
(00:21):
your mind, all while living yournormal busy life in this modern
, sugar-filled world.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Hello, Simplifiers.
If you listened to last week'spodcast or if you follow me on
Instagram, you're probably awarethat my husband and I did a big
Grand Canyon hike last week.
We hiked down the south rim ofthe Grand Canyon, camped
overnight in the bottom of thecanyon and then hiked up to the
north rim the following day.
This was a strenuous, long hike.
(00:52):
We thought day one going downwas going to be pretty easy, but
it turned out to be super steepand very hot Unseasonably hot,
in fact.
We climbed seven miles down anddescended 4,800 feet over those
seven miles.
I believe the total hike to ourcampground was eight miles and
it took us five and a half hourswithout any real breaks.
(01:14):
We knew the hike up was goingto be hard, because 15 miles is
hard no matter where you'rewalking, and we were also
carrying weight, so uphill for15 miles with the extra 20
pounds of my backpack.
The hardest part about going upwas the documented mileage was
off.
There's nothing worse thanexpecting a rest stop at a
(01:34):
certain point and then findingout it's further than expected.
The reason I'm giving you all ofthis backstory is because today
I want to talk about your bodydial.
This is a concept that I teachall of my clients.
The simple way I explain thisis think of your body as having
three settings fat gain orexcess energy mode, maintenance
(01:56):
or hold steady mode, and thenfat burn or what I call high
protein mode For anyone who hasa weight loss or really a fat
loss goal.
You want your body dial set tofat burn mode until you reach
your goal and then you want toreset that dial to maintenance.
If you have a weight loss goal,the fat gain or excess energy
(02:18):
mode may not make sense.
Why would anybody want to be inexcess energy mode?
It's important to rememberevery body is different and we
all live our lives in differentways with different goals.
The excess energy mode is whenthe body is taking in a lot of
calories.
I refer to this as fat gainmode because my clients are
(02:38):
people who will typically gainfat and weight if their diet is
causing them to eat a lot ofexcess calories.
My clients are generallysedentary people.
A sedentary lifestyle doesn'trequire an excessive amount of
calories.
Now, if you're thinking well,I'm not sedentary, you might be
right, but let's dig into thisidea just a little bit more.
(03:00):
I personally exercise three tofour days a week with weights.
I try to hit eight to 10,000steps a day, but I don't always
get there.
I also consider myself a mostlysedentary person.
My exercise happens during asingle 40 to 60 minute block of
time.
My steps can and do build upover the day, but again, most of
(03:20):
my day is sitting at my desk.
I have to really focus to geteight to 10,000 steps on a
regular day.
So even if you exercise, if youspend seven hours or more of
your awake time sitting orlaying down, you are considered
sedentary.
Unfortunately, a busy day willhave me at my desk for five to
(03:41):
six hours.
As you can imagine, it's nothard to get that extra hour or
two of sedentary time in theevenings after dinner, while
you're kind of hanging aroundwaiting to go to bed.
So for me, eating excessenergy-rich calories in the form
of fats and carbs while livingmy everyday, mostly sedentary
life will make it difficult forme to maintain my happy weight.
(04:04):
But what about those people whoare not sedentary?
Professional athletes, forexample, who expend tons of
energy all day long, or evenregular people who enjoy
endurance sports, 100 mile runsor bike rides, training for
triathlons and marathons?
These people will feel morecomfortable with their body dial
set more in that excess energyzone.
(04:25):
They need these calories tosupport their activity.
Most of the time my life ismostly sedentary.
Last week my life was not Lastweek, during our time hiking in
the Grand Canyon.
We ate very differently than wedo on a normal day.
We ate mostly high energy foodand it made a difference.
It really helped us get up andout of the canyon last Friday.
(04:47):
I'll give you a detailedexplanation of the food we ate
versus what we normally eat in aminute.
But first the reason I'mtelling you this is to give an
example of lifestyle and orenvironment change and how that
can shift how you choose to eat.
A healthy diet is a diet thatsupports your lifestyle.
I think of a healthy diet asone that breaks food into three
(05:09):
categories what you eat most ofthe time, what you eat some of
the time and those foods you eatrarely or never by choice.
In my normal sedentary life, mymost of the time food is a lot
of protein, vegetables and somefruit with some healthy fat like
butter, olive oil, olives andavocado.
(05:29):
When my life shifts to mostlyactive with an endurance
component, like our hike lastweek, my food shifts to more of
my sometimes and rarely foods,foods that are high calorie,
carbs and fats.
I tracked my food from lastFriday, the day we did our 15
mile climb out of the canyon.
That climb took us about 10hours.
(05:49):
I ate about 3000 calories thatday.
Those calories came from onecup of maple, brown sugar,
gluten-free oatmeal that Istarted my day with.
Homemade snack packs of mixednuts and dried fruit, homemade
peanut butter and honey,sandwiches on gluten-free bread,
homemade peanut butter andjelly sandwiches on gluten-free
(06:10):
bread, mini packets of peanutM&Ms, beef sticks and beef jerky
.
So here's how my macros brokedown for Friday's trail food 96
grams of protein, 152 grams offat, 316 total carbs.
Again, that added up to about3,000 calories.
13.3% of those 3,000 caloriescame from protein, 46% came from
(06:36):
fat and 41% of my calories camefrom carbs.
This is how a typical Americandiet tends to break down.
Most people tend to eat 13-14%of calories from protein, which
is why most people areoverweight.
They live a sedentary life inthe fat gain food zone.
I would be very overweight if Iate like this even half the
(06:59):
time.
My calories on a typical day athome usually top out at about
1500 calories.
So here's what I ate on Sunday.
This is a more typical day forme.
I had one and a quarter cups oflow-fat cottage cheese, which
is about 31 grams of protein,with 100 grams of chopped
pineapple and a chicken sausagefor breakfast.
Lunch was five and a halfounces of roasted chicken.
(07:21):
Now, normally I have this withsalad, but on this particular
day I was deboning the chickenfor the week and so I basically
ate while I was deboning thechicken.
But I knew I was tracking myfood, so I did weigh the amount
of chicken that I ate.
So I know it was five and ahalf ounces.
Dinner was an eight ounce porkchop with 190 grams of roasted
butternut squash and 150 gramsof roasted broccoli with about a
(07:45):
teaspoon of olive oil.
I sprayed the butternut squashand I sprayed the broccoli with
some olive oil spray, so not aton of olive oil, but there was
olive oil.
I also had a snack on Sunday,which was another serving of
cottage cheese and pineapple.
My total calories for the daycame out to 1,445, so just shy
of 1,500, with 164 grams ofprotein, 64 grams of fat and 78
(08:09):
grams of total carbohydrates.
My calorie percentages were 44%of my calories came from
protein, 39% came from fat and17% came from carbs.
When people eat in the fat gainzone, they tend to be
chronically hungry because theyaren't getting the nutrients
their body needs.
They feel like they hardly eatanything and can't lose weight,
(08:32):
and that's because they reallydon't eat a lot.
But their calories add up veryquickly.
The nut and dried fruit snackpacks that we put together were
in those little snack-sized bagquickly.
The nut and dried fruit snackpacks that we put together were
in those little snack-sizedbaggies.
The total calories for one ofthose snack packs was 621.
Three of those snack packswhich isn't a lot of food at all
would have your calories over1,800.
(08:54):
For most sedentary people, thiswill cause weight gain.
If you have a weight loss goal,you want your body dial set
somewhere within the fat burnzone.
You do this by prioritizingprotein while limiting excess
calories from carbs and fats.
If you really want to dial inyour protein so that it's
working as a weight loss tool,shoot for 40% of your calories
(09:14):
coming from protein.
Once you hit your goal weight,you can shift your percent of
calories from protein down sothat you can include a level of
carbs and fats that help youmaintain your steady, healthy
weight.
The increase of carbs and fatswill be different for everyone.
Some people will be moretolerant of carb and fat energy,
while others will need to bemore selective about what they
(09:35):
choose to eat.
Most of the time, I'll talkmore about the difference of
managing protein as a percent ofcalories versus number of grams
in an upcoming podcast.
If you'd like to learn moreabout macros and protein so that
you can feel really good whilelosing weight, join me on
October 25th at 11 am, pacifictime for my free masterclass,
the Holiday Health Odyssey.
(09:57):
What's a holiday health odyssey?
It's you knowing how to enjoythe holidays so that you wake up
on January 1st feeling better,looking better and being
healthier than you are today, sothat you have the body, comfort
and confidence to say yes whenopportunity knocks.
In this live interactivemasterclass, we'll be covering
(10:18):
the best diet practices forblood sugar balance, to control
cravings and boost energy.
Ideal protein goals for weightloss without hunger, managing
macros so food feels easy,enjoying indulgences without
weight gain or self-judgment.
Click the registration linkbelow the show notes and then
mark your calendar so you don'tmiss the live masterclass.
(10:40):
All right, have a great week.
I will be back in the nextepisode.
Do you like the idea of eatingfor the body you want?
Is there a piece of you that'seager to learn how to become
leaner, stronger and healthierwithout having to overhaul your
entire life?
If this is you, then you're inluck, because this is what I do.
I can help you reconnect andwork with your body so that you
(11:05):
can enjoy the body, comfort andconfidence you deserve, eating
foods you love.
Click the free consult link inthe show notes.
Let's talk about where you are,what you want and how you can
get there.
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