Nutrition Archives -

cravings, temptations, + appetite challenges

Posted on June 22, 2023June 22, 2023 by Clarissa Thomas

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Cravings, temptation, and an appetite that just won’t seem to go away. These are some of the biggest struggles people have when going through premenstrual disorders.

Broadly speaking, people know which foods are fairly healthy, and which aren’t so healthy. And, when dieting, these people want to lose weight; that’s the reason they’re dieting, after all.

So, they know what they want to achieve, and roughly know which foods they should be eating. So why are long term success rates so low?

It’s because cravings, temptation, and your appetite eventually wear you down. Once the initial motivation you had begins to wane, it becomes harder to resist these. Your brain doesn’t want you to lose weight.

In an evolutionary sense, food was scarce. So, a drive to eat meant greater chances of survival and therefore passing on your genes. The difference now is that food is not scarce. In fact, it’s abundant. We are surrounded by high-calorie, high-reward food, but we still have a brain geared towards survival in a very different environment. This mismatch is a key reason why dieting is so hard.

Remove temptation from your environment

Clear out tempting foods, don’t keep them in the house. If it’s out of sight, it’s out of mind. If this isn’t feasible because you live with others and they won’t accept you throwing out the junk, then hide tempting foods instead. Keep them in separate cupboards, away from the ones you usually use. Keep them in opaque containers so you can’t see them. It’s amazing how small changes like this can have a big impact on our behavior.

You want to make it harder to eat unhealthy foods. Our brain wants to minimize effort, so increase the effort it takes to make poor choices. For example, having to go to the shops to buy a chocolate bar is a lot more effort than just picking it out of the snack drawer.

Willpower is like a muscle, you can only use it a certain amount of times before it’s weakened. So, don’t rely on willpower. Instead, alter your environment so you don’t need to use willpower every time you enter the kitchen.

Create an environment that supports your goals, not one that sabotages them.

2. Separate eating from other activities

Eat at the dinner table. Don’t eat while watching the TV, or while scrolling through your phone. You want to minimize distractions that take you away from the experience of eating.

Eat slowly. Separating eating from other activities will naturally allow you to slow down, focus on your food, and be more mindful when eating. You will feel more full and satisfied after eating in this way.

If you stop eating while watching the TV, for example, your brain stops associating food with these activities. If you’re used to watching TV in the evening with a few biscuits, you’ll find you start to think about biscuits when you sit down in front of the TV. Your brain has learned that evening TV = biscuit time and will urge you, through cravings, to continue this habit.

If you separate these activities, your brain stops associating them. If you have a rule that you don’t eat in front of the TV, the effort required to get a snack and sit at the table without your phone or TV means you’re unlikely to do it unless you’re truly hungry.

Again, it comes down to increasing the effort required to make poor dietary choices.

3. Stop snacking

Controversial, right? You don’t have to stop it completely, but I would recommend focusing on full meals first and foremost.

Snacking throughout the day, without having full meals, can lead to what I call the Not-Quite Cycle™. This is when you spend your whole day being not-quite hungry between meals, and not-quite satisfied after meals. This sucks.

Snack foods are typically easy to over eat and don’t fill you up. Think crisps, sweets, chocolate and other processed, packaged snack foods. You’d be better off saving these calories for a filling, nutritious meal.

If you do snack, choose things like fruit and plain yoghurt. These are minimally-processed, highly satiating, and therefore hard to overeat.

4. Limit hyper-palatable foods

Hyper-palatable just means tasty and easy to overeat. A combination of fat/salt/sugar is often what makes foods hyper-palatable. These types of food rarely occur naturally, and so are often highly-processed and calorie-dense.

Your brain get familiar with these tastes and that’s how cravings develop. Even protein bars, fiber one bars, and other ‘low calorie’ or ‘healthy’ snacks would still fall into this category. That’s not at all to say you can’t include them in your diet. But, if you’re someone who struggles with your appetite and cravings, it may be wise to forego them.

5. Prioritize high satiety, minimally-processed whole foods

These are foods like fruits, vegetables, lean meats, potatoes, fish, eggs, wholegrains, beans and legumes, oats, and plain yoghurt.

These foods are hard to overeat. They are often less-calorie dense, higher protein, and higher fiber, meaning they are highly satiating and therefore, you’re unlikely to over-consume them.

6. Don’t allow hunger to become extreme

Intermittent fasting is a useful tool but it’s not magic, and it’s not for everyone. You need to find what works for you. If you can happily skip breakfast and have lunch as your first meal, go for it. But, if trying to fast leads you to overeat later in the day, then don’t do it! I can’t believe I have to say this, but I do. Again, it’s not magic, it’s just one method. – if it doesn’t work for you, try a different method.

Spreading your meals evenly throughout the day can help to keep you hunger levels under control, and prevent you falling into the Not-Quite Cycle™, or restricting to the point where you end up overeating.

7. Consult your future self

This is a psychological technique called episodic future-thinking. It involves removing yourself from the present moment, and thinking about how this decision is going to affect you in the future.

Remember your goals, the reasons why you’re dieting, and the hard work you’ve put in so far. Ask yourself this question: “would my future self thank me for the decision I’m about to make?”

If you’re following the 6 previous strategies, then your cravings will be more like an occasional whisper, rather than a persistent chatter. Consulting your future self can allow you to look at the big picture, and make the right decision for you.

Here’s a quick recap of the eight strategies to manage your appetite:

Remove temptation from your environment

Separate eating from other activities

Stop snacking

Limit hyper-palatable foods

Priorities minimally-processed whole foods

Don’t allow hunger to become too extreme

Consult your future self

Manage your stress and sleep

Following this advice could be the difference between reaching your goals or not. Read it, understand it, implement it. Words mean nothing if you don’t put it into action. So, give yourself a checklist of action points to take away from this article, and it could change your life for the better.

Want Health Success? 2000 Calories may not be your answer

Posted on January 2, 2023January 2, 2023 by Clarissa Thomas

Counting calories is a great strategy when trying to lose, maintain or gain weight, but the question is how many should you be working towards?

How many calories should you eat?

Counting Calories with A Trainer can help you have better success towards your goals at Adagio FIT — Counting Calories with A Trainer can help you have better success towards your goals

One size definitely does not fit all when it comes to determining your caloric needs. Some of the factors you need to consider are:

Age: Calorie needs peak around age 25, and then start to decline by about two percent every 10 years. An aging body replaces muscle with fat, which burns fewer calories than muscle so if you aren’t using an exercise regime and other healthy lifestyle habits to keep muscle, your caloric needs will also from those that are.
Gender: Generally, a man’s calorie level is five to ten percent higher than a woman’s! The exception is during pregnancy and breastfeeding women can need more. But male biochemistry normally has less body fat and a higher percentage of muscle mass.
Metabolism: Everyone has a minimum number of calories needed to maintain vital functions. This is your basal metabolic rate (BMR). Certain medical conditions, medications, and your gender can affect your BMR. In our nutrition coaching we help you figure your BMR correctly.
Genetic blueprint: If you have a metabolic disease (e.g., hypothyroidism), factor it in. If you have hormone disorders (e.g., PCOS, PMDD, endometriosis, hashimotos), factor those in. There are SO many ways our genes can affect your calorie needs and a certified coach can help you incorporate these in well.
Body shape and athletic shape you’re in: These affect a number of calories you need. Did you know there are different body types that burn more calories or hold onto calories more? It is important to look at that and how much you exercise right now too, which is next.
Activity level: The type, length, and intensity of exercise all affect how many calories you’ll burn.

On average a female can eat between 1,800 and 2,200 calories per day to maintain her current weight. A male can eat between 2,200 and 2,600 calories. These figures are based on men and women between the ages of 30 to 50 who have a BMI of 22 to 23 (a normal weight). But that number can then vary greatly taking in the above factors and more!

All calories aren’t created equal

A calorie is defined as a unit of energy supplied by food. One calorie is one calorie regardless of its source (e.g., carbohydrate, fat, or protein). But how calories are digested, absorbed, stored, and burned differs.

A good example of this is 100 cals of broccoli vs 100 cals of oreos (a classic example I use in coaching). Broccoli is nutrient dense with lots of natural vitamins, minerals, and prebiotics. Plus due to its unprocessed nature, it has strong building blocks for your body building. On the opposite side of that is our 100 cals of oreos – synthetic and made for you to not just eat one, but to eat the whole sleeve and still feel wanting.

Eating a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins along with healthy fats to keep your weight in check and help you to stay healthy and honestly, eat less calories overall because most nutrient dense foods that are less processed are high in volume.

Losing or maintaining weight

If you’re looking to lose weight or maintain your weight, you ought to consider your blood sugar levels and therefore eat 4-6 times a day. This can also keep your metabolism (what uses up your calories) running. Eating 4-6x a day can make it so you don’t get “hangy” and overeat at your next meal.

Counting calories

Adagio FIT teaches a pyramid of nutrition and on the base of the pyramid is mindfulness. With that mindfulness comes awareness of where we are currently at. So in order to know that, we track our intake of calories and then use that as a starting point to then work towards your goals.

Eating too much or too little

Interestingly enough, you can eat too little and not get results. Be sure to eat enough calories when trying to lose weight. Sometimes people restrict too much, which will slow metabolism, hinder weight loss, and actually make you gain weight.

So how much do you need to eat? Hopefully you know now that it can differ for everyone at any time. Adagio FIT would love to help you calculate your needs. There are so many options for calculating caloric needs.

You can calculate them yourself with a website like this one but it can be a really bad reflection of what you need if the calculator doesn’t consider the factors we talked about above.

Simple Calorie Calculator

You can get a macro count session with or without coaching with Adagio FIT or you can dive deep and do a package of nutrition coaching to learn all the whys of your body. It will be an education about you that will serve you for a lifetime.

15 Weeks of Bikini Prep?!

Posted on June 3, 2021June 3, 2021 by Clarissa Thomas

I have just completed 15 weeks of a bikini prep program. No competition but all the work to get to one. Let’s say, I started full force with great success and came crawling through mud to the end. Wow, did I learn SO much! Pros and Cons! I cannot wait to share these things with you. As always, it may look different for each one of you. All our bodies are SO different and circumstances/lifestyles – so what I needed, wanted, experienced is all from my perspective and not through others. I’d love to hear what you have learned if you have done one before.

First, I wanted to start with my why and motivation. For years I have pushed hard in the exercise realm and also ate well. But I noticed I was missing some key components to getting “ripped.” I wanted to prove to myself that getting my body fat % below 15% was possible and doable without a gym membership. I also was totally ready to grow as a personal trainer and nutrition coach. I wanted to experience the process so I can coach my own clients with empathy, understanding, and vision.

Next in the process. You start at a moderate but low calorie amount. Foods are mainly one ingredient foods with some exceptions. No sugar, no dairy, no gluten. Pairings of foods are placed together to give you the most bang for your pound. Every week there are subtractions or replacements to your feeds so you eat less but your body adapts because they are well placed adjustments. Exercise runs the opposite course – five one-hour sessions to six two- to three-hour sessions a week.

Alright, without further ado, my list. I have been pondering on this for about 5 weeks now as I came dragging into the homestretch. They are in no particular order and definitely aren’t exclusive to all of my thoughts.

The same insecurities I had 18 pounds ago are the same insecurities I have now.
Eating whole, one ingredient foods make me feel the best
I am emotionally connected to food
I am socially connected to food
There was a point where my body rejected more programming and I needed to pull back for a while and reset.
My mental health is almost MORE important than my physical health. Without good mental health, anything good I pursue didn’t matter.
Eating one ingredient foods and ridding my body of sugar, gluten, and dairy changed three things drastically that weren’t my size – my acne is all but gone, my hormones were in a better balance range, my mental health is DEPENDANT on whole, one ingredient foods
You need a good coach to guide you and talk you off of the wall at times
You need serious accountability to make serious changes
This world is obese because of added sugars and too little protein
What you learn about yourself is WAY more important than the results at the end
Even a small step forward is a BIG win!
I wanted to throw the towel in multiple times and I am SO thankful that I gritted up and tried again – because 80% or even 50% or even 30% is better than 0%
Different goals require different nutrition and exercise programs —- too many women try to do everything ALL at once. Example: I had a client text me to see if I could coach her while she 1) lost weight 2) built 10 lbs of muscle 3) trained for a triathlon 4) wanted to intuitively eat. Yikes! We do better when we pick one or we’ll be knocking heads with the cross points of our goals.
Supplementation is a must with a cutting diet
Timing in your eating is IMPERATIVE to keeping muscle and not crashing mid-day.
You can do anything!!!
Because of this program, I have revamped parts of my nutrition coaching in what I have learned and am implementing it to be a better coach for you.
If you don’t eat right, you won’t see change. I swear nutrition is 90% of the equation to body change.
Get a coach! Nuff said there!
Food can be ritualistic and there’s definitely a FOMO in certain ritual situations (like my birthday) when you don’t eat what everyone else is eating and what you look forward to so much.
I love allowing myself a treat on Sunday’s. It keeps me sane.
Sugar makes me feel SO junky and slow and bloated and all the wrong things.
But my body craves sugar if I am not eating the right kinds of foods at the right times.
When you lose enough weight to change clothes sizes, it is really strange and difficult to fork up the money to purchase new stuff.
Sometimes weight drops don’t lead to clothing size drops. Don’t go there with expectations.
When you lose a bunch of weight, there is a fear of gaining it all back every single time you eat or shop for a new clothing size or get close to finishing your program.
You can’t possibly maintain a super low weight on a restricted diet without injuring your hormones or body in general.
To achieve an extremely low body fat %, it will take complete sacrifice of all else. Between meal prep, recovery, and gym time, it is hours of each day. Too many women want the body but aren’t willing or can’t do 3 hours a day, 6 days a week in the gym.
My body can’t eat cake and cut weight at the same time.
It is always about trusting the process and hanging onto your coach’s knowledge
There is an end to every season – from the actual program and challenge it was to even the weight I ended with, it is all temporary and the only thing certain is change.
Peanut Butter is king!
My body craves nuts and peanut butter when I am in a calorie deficit – like cannot stop thinking about anything in that realm.
This is a lifestyle I’d like to continue in – I truly was eating the right foods, just in a deficit. So now, I get to keep eating them in, but more!!!
You can fuel your body super efficiently with whole, one ingredient food.
It is all about finding volume foods and spices to liven and fill you.
There is always an event or an excuse. There just is.
Foods during low hormone phases vs high hormone phases tasted and pleased/disgusted differently.
Two hours in the gym plus little caloric intake wipes you out. YOU MUST REST and rest MORE.

So here are some before and after photos – honestly, I can’t see much change in myself but I FEEL better and have had others notice a difference. I guess it is all the eye of the beholder and sometimes we have to hold onto how others see us if we cannot see that change and know there is one.

Hopefully you have gained some insight into all the thoughts (even contradicting ones) of a rigorous program. There is a right season to everything, just not all at once. That is why I NEVER give my clients the same program as anyone else and NEVER try to achieve too many goals at one time. Everything is thought out to where the client is at and the circumstances they are in and where they want to be. Time, accountability, and consistency in anything is key and that is what I, as your coach, can do for you.

If you’d like to take a 12 week nutrition coaching course, do a bikini prep program, or get some amazing personal, personal training, reach out via the Contact Us link in the Train menu up top. I’d love to coach with you.

Overall, would I do the program again? Yes, I would, and I am planning on it already – I know there is more progress I can make. Would I make some changes in how the program is set up and given? Yes, I would. Was I perfect in keeping with my guidelines? Nope, I definitely had fails, but we have to be honest in our mortal bodies. Can I be a better coach because of this? Yes, I can and have already implemented some of the process to dos into my coaching to get better results for my clients.

***We do not claim to be a doctor or anything of the like. This document is for educational and journaling purposes only. Any action taken by the reader is their sole responsibility and should be done with discretion. No claim can be made against Adagio FIT or its employees. If you ever have any questions, take them to your primary care doctor.***

The Break Up with Sugar Strategies – Part 3

Posted on January 29, 2021January 29, 2021 by Clarissa Thomas

Let’s talk sugar strategy here… Now remember that everyone’s definition and needs are different. Why? We are all on different health paths and our readiness or behavioral change journeys are different too. So take what you feel to apply to you to help you be just one step better and work on it.

We are talking three strategies today – food ingredients, abstaining vs moderating, and replacing. Along with some other tips to get your sugar break up started, there is something for everyone here.

First item of business, learning how to find sugar in your foods. You won’t find it on the front of a label, but you can search for it in a couple places on the back of labeled foods. Here are five tips that I use with my clients on nutrition labels:

The best tip I can give is to purchase foods that come with NO ingredient labels. Can you think of any? Like fresh meats, fruits, veggies, etc.
Going along with #1, if it does have a nutrition label, try to stick to less than 5 ingredients. The number is pretty arbitrary but the principle is that the less ingredients, usually the less processed. And less processed usually means more nutrients because they haven’t been stripped away during the processing and random additives put back in.
In looking at the ingredients, if there is sugar (see the many names below), try to look for foods that do not have sugar in the top 5 ingredients. The top 5 ingredients mainly constitute the bulk of the food you are eating, so the further down, the better.
There are SO many names for sugar (see section below). Companies are getting smarter about the placement of sugar on their ingredient list. To make sugar later on the list, they are actually using more than one kind of sugar to break things up so there are two + types of sugar in your product, but all those sugars can add up to a lot. So educate yourself on the names of sugar and what you need to look for on a label.
Look at the added sugar line in the nutrition facts. If it has less that 10 grams of ADDED sugar, you are pretty good for a more whole food.

So an apple doesn’t come with a label (good), it has less than 5 ingredients (good), and there is NO added sugar (even though they are super sweet). These are just great basic guidelines to practice in your shopping.

Next strategy is to learn if you are an Abstainer or Moderator. This comes from the amazing book of Gretchen Ruben called The Four Tendencies. Such a great read btw and worth your time! Helped me parent and wife in a whole new way. Anyway, she talks about people who are really good at being moderators and those that find it easier to just abstain. My hubby is a total moderator. He can take one bite of cake, taste it, and say no more. Me? I have a slice. Then a second. Then a third. And the rest of the pan when I am cleaning up. Then I’m sick. It is like I don’t have a system that tells me to stop. I’m that way in a lot of other areas of my life too. So it is MUCH easier for me to say NO to everything. And it works really well once I get going.

This can help you decide better how a sugar strategy might look for you.

During my luteal phase of my PMDD cycle I HAVE to be a complete abstainer because my hormones mess with my ability to regulate/moderate. During the follicular phase when hormones are running my body through a wringer, I am much better at regulation and can relax a little bit, but still do try to stay in the abstainer habit. Just makes it easier for me.

If you are a moderator, it is helpful to set your limit before you eat your sweets so you stick to that with no exceptions. I have heard that after three bites of a dessert you really don’t taste it anymore. So you could set yourself at three bites, one small slice, one cookie, etc. We actually have set some guidelines like this with our girls. I talked a little about this in part 2 of this series but we have set that we only do baking on saturday or sunday, we don’t purchase and premade sweets from the store, and we only need one serving of what we make and can share the rest.

This has saved our house immensely. There is less pressure to eat sweets as a “snack”, less pressure to snitch sweets because there aren’t any lying around, and we are enjoying our sweets more because we are making them ourselves! The girls (I only have girls) also can have any candy they get from school, class, friends, etc. There is no pressure from us as parents there because we know that there isn’t the rest of the bag. Loved setting some guidelines on health with our girls. They were part of that discussion. We talked about fully abstaining or allowing everything and we found what would work for use as a whole.

The next strategy is a replacement strategy. I love to use this one with my clients but it always seems to take a while to kick in because we have to remember we have options and in the middle of a craving, this can be tough. The idea is this: instead of focusing on what you can’t have, what are some things you can have without guilt and that also add nutrients to your body.

Other ways to cut back on added sugars:

Sugary drinks – stick with sparkling water, Zevia soda, herbal teas, infused water (I love mango and strawberries), and pure water
Avoid Sauces and Condiments – stick with spices, herbs, mustard, salsa (no sugar added), vinegars, and pesto.
Eat more healthy and full fat foods – there is usually more added sugar in low fat varieties of foods to help it taste good. Also healthy and full fat foods make you feel full.
Avoid any processed foods – you can be an unhealthy healthy – stick to as whole foods as possible
Watch your breakfast – one of the sweetest meals of the day – start your day with a good protein and fat filled meal – eggs and ham, protein oatmeal, etc
Add your own sugar – purchase unsweetened and then add your own sweetener in like stevia or erythritol.
Don’t keep sugar in the house
Don’t shop when you are hungry
Get enough sleep
Destress!

In conclusion, I hope that this series has been helpful for your awareness and desire to take bits and pieces and apply them to your life to be healthier. It isn’t about perfection, it is about small little steps over time to create a lasting lifestyle.

Below are the many names of sugar. I am sure this list probably isn’t all of them since new products are coming on the market, but it is great to be aware of the names when you are shopping.

The Most Common Names for Sugar

(Excluding artificial sweeteners and sugar substitutes)

‍Basic Simple Sugars (monosaccharides and disaccharides):

Dextrose
Fructose
Galactose
Glucose
Lactose
Maltose
Sucrose

Solid or Granulated Sugars:

Beet sugar
Brown sugar
Cane juice crystals
Cane sugar
Castor sugar
Coconut sugar
Confectioner’s sugar (aka, powdered sugar)
Corn syrup solids
Crystalline fructose
Date sugar
Demerara sugar
Dextrin
Diastatic malt
Ethyl maltol
Florida crystals
Golden sugar
Glucose syrup solids
Grape sugar
Icing sugar
Maltodextrin
Muscovado sugar
Panela sugar
Raw sugar
Sugar (granulated or table)
Sucanat
Turbinado sugar
Yellow sugar

Liquid or Syrup Sugars:

Agave Nectar/Syrup
Barley malt
Blackstrap molasses
Brown rice syrup
Buttered sugar/buttercream
Caramel
Carob syrup
Corn syrup
Evaporated cane juice
Fruit juice
Fruit juice concentrate
Golden syrup
High-Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)
Honey
Invert sugar
Malt syrup
Maple syrup
Molasses
Rice syrup
Refiner’s syrup
Sorghum syrup
Treacle

The Break Up with Sugar Part 2

Posted on January 22, 2021January 22, 2021 by Clarissa Thomas

After posting the last post, I was surprised and happy to hear how this resonated with so many of you. Breaking up with sugar was something you have either thought about or are putting into practice. I did, however, get some questions that I would like to answer in this post, the second in the Breakup with Sugar Series.

First question I had gotten. What do you define as sugar?

I think how this “breakup” can be defined is mainly left up to who is choosing how to break up. It could be a break up where you go pretty much “KETO” eating only proteins and fats with minimal veggies and fruits. Or it could go to only candy and the “breakup” isn’t necessarily about ALL sugars. As your coach I would ask you how you want that to look like for you right now. What can you leave out that won’t “rock your world” or make you feel “deprived” because if you feel that way, your choice isn’t a lifestyle you can sustain.

Sugars are found in pretty much everything we eat. Not only are we bombarded with sweets (cookies, cakes, candy, sodas, chocolates, ice creams, etc) but then there are ADDED sugars in SO many items in the grocery store (like 99% of grocery items). But there are also natural sugars found in anything with a carbohydrate – from breads to fruits to even veggies because carbohydrates are essentially sugars.

However, our bodies use different kinds of sugars in different ways. So they may all be calories (another word for energy) but the different sugars will leave different results. An oreo is going to affect your body differently than a pear.

Sugar from the Oxford Dictionary is defined as:

noun

a sweet crystalline substance obtained from various plants, especially sugar cane and sugar beet, consisting essentially of sucrose, and used as a sweetener in food and drink.

Our bodies are GEARED for sugar – it was a mechanism for survival before the years and technological advancements in food. But with these advancements, we aren’t in life threatening danger anymore. In fact, humans eat about 700 more calories a day than they did 60 years ago. But also our obesity rate has risen exponentially during that same time. Why? Because of what we are choosing to put in our bodies. Yes, you are in charge.

Why do we love sugar so much outside of survival?

It makes food taste good – most processed foods HAVE to add in sugar (and salt/sodium) to make the food they processed taste good to our pallet
It is quick energy
It is a coping mechanism due to its chemical reaction to our brains = it gives us comfort when in distress
It is everywhere and inexpensive

There are simple and complex carbs/sugars…. Those that hit your bloodstream really fast and those that hit it slower. When sugars hit hard and fast, your blood sugar rises quickly, you get a severe dopamine hit to the pleasure center of the brain, insulin is released to cope and then everything drops steeply to levels below where you started, leaving you low energy, depressed, and not satisfied. When you eat a complex carb the spike and hits are less steep and so is the drop. You also tend to stay heightened for longer before your blood sugar drops. Essentially it takes your body longer to digest the complex carbs.

Coming back to my breakup, I have chosen to define sugar as – all “junk foods or calorie condensed foods in the sweet categories” and as much added sugars as possible are out. With the exception (because moderation in all things) of when my girls bake on the weekend, I can have one serving if I desire.

Your choice of breakup may look different and that’s okay. I picked these guidelines for a couple of reasons, both personally and scientifically… When your diet consists of too many sugars, testosterone (a hormone) rises and can cause weight gain, hair loss or growth in unwanted areas, and anxiety. Estrogen also rises and progesterone (also hormones) can drop which is called Estrogen dominance and can lead to infertility, PMS symptoms, breast tenderness and irritability. Over time the amount of insulin and sugar pulsing through your veins trying to level eachother out gets exhausted and in excess and can cause massive inflammation – which ALL chronic diseases (arthritis, cancer, diabetes, asthma, heart disease, mood disorders, etc) are caused by inflammation.

With PMDD I have found that because I am SO sensitive to normal hormonal changes even a small amount of sugar effects will derail my body and mental health for a long time. If I eat, let’s say, a bowl of ice cream (because who ever eats just a scoop), not only will I have a massive headache, but angry digestive issues from stomach all through the intestines from inflammation and I will also get really foggy in my thinking, less emotionally regulated, and I tend to slip into negative thought patterns really fast. If I have too much sugar (which usually happens if I start with one piece, I eat a lot more) my limbs will even buzz with almost a jittery feeling. I sleep awful and can have body dysmorphia too.

And these things all can happen within an hour of a dessert that has too much for my body. And effects can be lasting long after the sugar rush dies down.

If I were to eat simple sugars/carbs during my luteal phase (the week before my period) my PMDD and sugar buzz are the perfect storm to crash my ship into a million pieces and my PMDD symptoms can be severe and life threatening.

What is so crazy and may be scientific or psychological, but it is truly real for me, I do not get these effects from complex carbs – berries, rice, sweet potatoes, whole grains, veggies, other fruits. So I truly do agree with the studies saying different sugars can affect our bodies differently.

I feel good when I eat right for MY body’s needs today. Period.

So as much as possible, I am saying “nope” to them. However, I mentioned my girls baking. I think that life still needs to be full of memories and making good ones can get us through the bad days. We have decided as a family that if we are going to have sweets, it needs to be something we make from scratch and with love.

***TIP: When coaching my nutrition clients we talk about how if you are going to eat something sweetened – whether that’s yogurt or pasta sauce or cake – it is ALWAYS better to add your own sugar than let a company add it for you. #1 you are in control #2 you can decide what that sweetener is – you could add honey instead of table sugar #3 you know what is going into your food.

In my next post I am going to talk about how to look for sugars (education) and ways to change your food choices (application).

As with all things, we are creating an awareness through these posts and not rigid rules. Once you create awareness, you will be able to look clearly at your food choices and start to gain questions and curiosity on what your body needs. As with all my clients, take what rings true to you and what sparks the “I need to add that in/take that out” promptings and use them to better your life. One little step at a time. It is a process as always.

A way you can do that is to make a list of foods that you eat that make you feel good when you eat them… truly energized and content, and food that make you feel guilty or “buzzed” for lack of a better word. I think we all know what those are for us when we are honest. Just keeping a postit note on the fridge and jotting something down after you eat it can help too.

Break Up with Sugar – Part 1

Posted on January 7, 2021January 29, 2021 by Clarissa Thomas

Sugar and I had a good go, but it is time to break up. The more I study about it, the more I just can’t have it as a part of my life. I’m going to have to get my joy ride from something else. For 2021 (and I can’t believe I am saying this out loud and on paper FOR-EV-ER in the clouds) that I am going to try my darndest to go the whole year without it. And, from what I’ve studied, it may take up to 5 years, FIVE, to get the cravings to go away. Sheesh… I’m in it for the long haul. But it is imperative that we breakup.

Not convinced you are ready to say goodbye to your best friend who always has your back, even though you know that they aren’t doing you good? I get that. It is a sneaky one and an addicting one as well. but being open to this idea may help you create some awareness around your body and diet and you may be able to start some simple changes to help your health.

Here are just some of the main ways sugar affects your body. Definitely a big list and seriously not even the tip of the iceberg….

First off, sugar messes with your energy regulation. No one needs energy drops. Eating sugar alone can be an issue too so pair it with a protein and small amount of healthy fat to sustain and regulate energy better.
Sugar can mess with your brain’s ability to regulate. When you eat sugar, you can get the same rush of endorphins that can be equal or even greater than a hit of cocaine to the pleasure center of the brain. And next time, in order to get the same degree of rush, you must eat more sugar. If you are an emotional eater, this could cause a problem with consuming sweets to “feel better.”
Studies are showing that too much sugar leads to higher depression in adults. One of the main thoughts on this is that sugar can give you a burst of energy, but when that energy runs through your body, you body may drop to an even lower state of mood and energy than before. So think twice about hitting up for that mid-afternoon slump. Witching hour anyone? But also sugar decreases and interferes neurotransmitter effectiveness in your brain due to… you guessed it, inflammation of the brain on sugar.
We all know that sugar can rot your gorgeous smile, even if you brush your teeth, your saliva can hold more sugary goodness long after you eat it.
Did you know that sugar can also cause joint aches and pains? Yep. Sugar is an inflammatory, dare I say, DRUG. With that inflammation your joints cannot work in full range of motion and you are more likely to cause injury to them. Too much sugar over time is also linked to rheumatoid arthritis. Yikes!
Inflammation just doesn’t happen in your joints, it can also happen on your skin… hello acne AND wrinkles! We definitely don’t wait to age faster for any reason but that is what sugar is going to do to your skin due to the loss of elasticity because of how sugar reacts with the collagen in your skin. You will get acne because the inflammation causes the fatty layer of your skin to produce more oil and your pores cannot keep up so they get clogged.
When you eat excess sugar, the extra insulin in your bloodstream can affect the arteries all over your body. It causes their walls to get inflamed (another inflammatory response), grow thicker than normal and more stiff, this stresses your heart and damages it over time. This can lead to heart disease, like heart failure, heart attacks, and strokes.
When you eat, your pancreas pumps out insulin to help your blood sugar levels regulate. If you’re eating too much sugar, your body stops responding properly to insulin and regulations. It is on overload. So then your pancreas starts pumping out even more insulin. Eventually, your overworked pancreas will break down and your blood sugar levels will rise, setting you up for type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Or even milder symptoms such as bad sleep and heart palpitations… which as a mom, sleep if everything for me!
Added and refined sugars in your diet can increase your risk of cancer. Cancer FEEDS on sugar and so does estrogen which can be instrumental in breast cancer is levels get too high or the hormone mutates.
And it can cause weight gain due to the inflammation stress that happens to your body with increased blood sugar levels. Soda is the biggest offender here because of its concentrated and liquid sugar content.
AND (maybe the most important lol) it can seriously decrease your sex drive because your blood flow isn’t working properly due to the chemicals and sugar fighting throughout your body. I don’t think we need ANY of that going on.

For me, having PMDD, eating sugar really messes with my hormone balance and therefore my mood and body image. The times when I have eaten a sugary diet (around the holidays for example or even a “craving week”), my anxiety and disruptive thoughts skyrocket. I don’t necessarily know the science of why but I can only guess that inflammation has a major part in this change. I feel crappy and therefore I act crappy. Super sciency words right there!

I hate that I don’t sleep well when sugar is a main part of my diet and I feel like I can’t be a good teacher and coach being sluggish. Everything is so connected in my body (and yours) that removing sugar is going to help in SO many areas as I talked about above.

Check out my next post on ways to limit sugar and a further post on some other ideas about sugar. In the meantime, you can watch this video that was produced a while ago, but still so pertinent to the breakup with sugar…

Robert H. Lustig, MD, UCSF Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology, explores the damage caused by sugary foods. He argues that fructose (too much) and fiber (not enough) appear to be cornerstones of the obesity epidemic through their effects on insulin. Find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM&t=69s&ab_channel=UniversityofCaliforniaTelevision%28UCTV%29

Thoughts on December

Posted on December 23, 2020December 23, 2020 by Clarissa Thomas

December is always a month that I see numbers drop at all studios I teach at. Never fails. Because of all the “happenings”, attendance drops and I worry about my students and their health.

At the same time that attendance drops, pounds pile on. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard all about the holiday binge eating and lack of “self control” during these times. Don’t get me wrong, I love food. Food is the key to the soul and speaks to memories and community. It truly is a love language and gathers people. Especially to me.

With this being said, we need to love ourselves. Most of the time, binging or eating too much comes from our lack of connection to food, connection to the real reason we have gatherings, and our fear of missing out or lack for later. Below are a couple of tips for honoring your relationship with food.

Slow Down. Take a deep breath and become mindful of the food you are choosing to eat. Be thankful for the bounty of the holidays.
Get curious. Analyze what you are eating with questions like: Why did I choose to put these foods on my plate? What hints of spices can I taste? What textures are in this and how do they changes as I chew? What could I add or take away that might enhance of change this if I were to make it myself?
Choose foods for health AND fun! It isn’t an either/or event. It is a full event and when you respect, you tend to choose better.
Plan your treats – if you are going to eat something sweet, be present with it and enjoy every single bite. To be honest, I have learned that most sugar isn’t worth it and there are very few desserts that I love that I am willing to have the headache afterwards. It is a tradeoff and I plan with focus.
Be present with the people around you. You aren’t there for the food, you are there to have better relationships with others. Ask those around you as many questions as you can and listen with true curiosity to their answers.
Leftovers… are you hungry, bored, tired, or emotionally wound up? Again, slow down and get curious, go through the same process again. Also, sometimes we also think we are hungry when we really need hydration, so take a drink and wait 10 mins to hit the leftover decision.

If you are feeling guilt after a celebration, get curious why your relationship with food and your body are not happy. This may lead to some coaching needs that I can help you with. We want to have good holiday memories and your guilt will not help that come to pass. We can work together to overcome that roadblock. Just shoot me an email to set up a time to coach – clarissa@adagiofit.com

To finish my thoughts on the month, There is NO bandwagon, but there is your priority, your values, and your behaviors. Priority changes after certain seasons in life but we choose our outcomes by behaviors meshing with our values. So this month, think about what 3 things you need to accomplish every day to come out of the holiday season feeling the best you can and do something each day that lines up with those three things. Exercise is my #1 – I need it to emotionally stabilize daily (ask my hubby and kids). It is probably one of your top three too. Nutrition is my #2 and creation/productivity is my #3.

I’d love to know what your top three are! Drop them in the comments below and enjoy your nutritional feast this week!

Workout Recovery and Overtraining

Posted on November 3, 2020November 3, 2020 by Clarissa Thomas

***We do not claim to be a doctor or anything of the like. This document is for educational purposes only. Any action taken by the reader is their sole responsibility and should be done with discretion. No claim can be made against Adagio FIT or its employees. If you ever have any questions, take them to your primary care doctor.***

Rest and recovery is essential to any training program, especially if you want to train long-term and sustainable growth. From personal experience doing the wrong thing, I think it is more important than training itself. We only workout for a small portion of our days and if we are giving everything we have to that workout we will have nothing left.

While training is good for your body, the more intense you train the more intensely you need to schedule rest. If you don’t schedule rest, you could stall in your progress, deplete nutrients faster, and sustain injuries.

It is easy to get caught up in the muscle gains and weight losses and start to train for hours and hours without rest. Kind of leading to an obsession (although you may not realize it or call it that).

This happened to me this year. I was teaching and training 3-4 hours a day – I couldn’t gain muscle or lose weight so I worked out harder because I had gotten caught in the momentum of training for results. After 3 months of this I experienced great adrenal fatigue. I could barely get out of bed and was forced to stop training at all. My hormones were greatly imbalanced and took over a month for me to even get back to the gym. Even now I have to take it easy and am lifting little volume compared to what I was doing in the spring.

Here are some of my rest and recovery tips to replenish your body and give you the ability to sustain your training and your life.

Plan it Out!

Every 3-5 weeks plan a rest week – half the reps and half the weight used for big lifts.

Delayed onset muscle soreness—DOMS, for short—is a common sensation felt after lifting weights. Most trainees actually base the success or effectiveness of their training sessions on how sore they get; however, this is not a good way to think about your progress. Typically, DOMS is characterized by muscle tenderness, stiffness, and reduced joint range of motion, muscle flexibility and force production, about 24 hours after your training session. Compensating for muscle fiber damage and returning to the gym prematurely will increase your risk for injury.
Ensure you have 24-72 hours rest between intense training sessions involving the same musculature. Less rest is needed between sub-maximal training sessions.

Sleep

It has been shown that lack of adequate sleep can decrease the tolerance to training, throw off hormone balance, alter mood, increase perception of fatigue and negatively affect the physiological mechanisms responsible for adaptation from the stresses of training. Hormonal secretion during sleep is one of the most important factors influencing recovery; after all, the purpose of sleep is to induce a state of recovery in the body. Anabolic (muscle-building) hormone concentrations and activity increase during sleep while catabolic (muscle-wasting) hormone concentrations and activity decrease. Disrupted or shortened sleep will negatively influence the effects of these anabolic hormones.
Try to develop a regular sleeping routine where you go to bed at a similar time each night of the week. Remove distractions like light, smartphones, and TVs. If possible, try for 8 hours of sleep per night and/or fit in an afternoon power nap for 30 minutes to rejuvenate the body.

Hydrate

Dehydration can reduce performance potential, but also delay the recovery process. Exercise and an increased metabolic rate both increase the body’s need for water and electrolytes. So water just isn’t enough.
If you are sweating, you are losing not just H2O but magnesium, sodium, and potassium. If you are just drinking water thinking this will do it, you are also just washing out and depleting those micronutrients more. For excessive workouts (intensity and/or longer than 40 minutes), workouts in the heat, or the like, add in an electrolyte. BUT watch those packets for added sugars and make sure they have sodium, potassium, and magnesium… not just one of them.
Also, shoot for ½ the ounces of weight in pounds you are. So if I weighed 150lbs I would need at least 75 ounces for a normal day. Add in 8 ounces for every 30-60 minutes of activity too depending on the intensity level.

Nutrition

Recovery is a time where proper nutrition is essential. Protein sources are required to rebuild muscle tissue and to supply the building blocks for various cells, tissues, enzymes, and hormones. Depending on how often you train during the week, protein recommendations can range from .08 to 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day.
Carbohydrates, on the other hand, are muscles’ major source of energy; therefore, eating carbohydrates is essential at refueling your body’s glycogen stores. Your body refuels glycogen at a higher rate within 3.0 to 60 minutes post workout so it’s important to consume a post workout snack or shake during this time. It has also been shown that including a small amount of protein in this snack speeds up the rebuilding and recovery process.
Eat a post workout snack that contains roughly 50 grams of carbohydrates and 30 grams of protein. A well-balanced meal should be consumed roughly 2 hours post workout to continue the recovery process.
A great and easy way to do this is to make a protein shake using the rule of 5:
- Protein Shake
  - Ingredients (one serving)- Follow the Rule of 5
    - 1c. Liquid (almond milk, low fat milk, coconut milk)
    - Handful Greens (spinach or kale – I love frozen chopped spinach)
    - 1c. Fiber (Berries, cherries, banana, apple, tropical fruits, canned pumpkin, etc)
    - 20-30g/one scoop Protein (plant or whey based – look for one with 10g or less of carbs per serving)
    - 1 TBSP Healthy Fat (Chia seeds, flax seeds, nut butters, avocado)
  - Directions
    - Blend over ice and enjoy.
  - Extras
    - I love to make two or three of these for a day. I will just put in extra ice when I blend them, and then take them in a cooler bag for after workout and usually my lunch. This is a complete meal and is fun to play around with.
    - Sometimes I will add almond, pumpkin spice, vanilla, or coconut extract. I love to add cinnamon or even some stevia drops to change up flavors

Massage

Massage from a therapist or self-massage AKA self myofascial release (SMR) with foam rollers, massage sticks and even baseballs can reduce muscle stiffness, promote circulation and induce a state of relaxation in the muscle. It might be painful during, but SMR can be performed the night of a hard workout to remove scar tissue, adhesions in the muscle and restrictions in the fascia (a type of connective tissue that wraps around the whole body).
Gently roll a baseball or massage stick over all major muscle groups until you find a sensitive spot. Apply direct pressure until the pain dissipates. Roll over the muscle again and repeat if necessary. Even if massage doesn’t speed up recovery, it might make you feel better compared to not getting massaged in the first place.

OVER TRAINING

There is a fine line between overtraining and a healthy lifestyle. Many (especially women who have an innate desire to feel confident and beautiful) have no clue how much they actually are overtraining.

You can overtrain by hitting it too hard in the gym as a beginner. Don’t ever think that the inability to sit on the toilet because you’re sore is a good thing. No go hard or go home mentality here. You can also over train by training too long, too heavy, and too often.

Symptoms of overtraining are mainly in three categories: performance, physiological, and psychological

Performance
- Decreasing in stats
- Early onset of fatigue during workouts
- Slowed or delayed recovery
- Not scheduling rest
- Not able to lose weight even with extended workout sessions or even gaining in spite of being spot on in nutrition
Physiological
- Feeling sore for extended periods of time
- Increase in injuries
- Always getting or feeling sick
- Increase in Resting Heart Rate
- Feeling low energy and fatigue all the time
- Not sleeping well
Psychological
- Impatient
- Irritable
- Mood swings
- Large dips in motivation, enthusiasm, and drive
- Difficulty concentrating

Tips to help overtraining and balance your hormones better – decrease your lifting days, switch up your workout routines, decrease the amount of time in the gym, get more sleep, and make sure you are getting the correct micronutrients.

#25 – Fats

Posted on October 9, 2018September 18, 2018 by Clarissa Thomas

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Something we once thought was the reason we were seeing obesity was actually convicted wrong! Fats are extremely important for our growth, hormone balance and creation, and to get other nutrients to absorb when we eat them. We need fats and thankfully we love them too! Come listen and learn about what fats are, why they are important, how much you need and from what sources, and how the vision of fats has changed over the past 40 years.

After you listen, leave us some feedback right below here in our show notes! We’d love to start a conversation. Also, I mentioned in the podcast about a free mini session… those sign ups are in the link below!

#24 – Urges + Cravings

Posted on October 2, 2018September 18, 2018 by Clarissa Thomas

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In the podcast today we are talking all about urges and cravings. What does it take to make a craving and answer a craving – the science of our brains is amazing. We also chat about tools we can use to rewire our brains to answer our cravings differently using the PAZ technique.