nutrition: stage two troubleshooting & tweaking · for coping, self-soothing, for fun and for...

TROUBLESHOOTING & TWEAKING

N U T R I T I O N : S TA G E T W O

P E R S O N A L I S I N G Y O U R A P P R O A C H

IT’S STILL NOT ROCKET SCIENCE

In Stage 1: The Basics, we began with the idea that nutrition doesn’t need to be complicated.

We begin stage 2 with that same point.

It’s in our nature to believe that there’s one special thing out there that will transform us if only we knew about it. A magical food or ingredient, a unique way of eating …another new diet. Most of us are suckers for these kinds of things …and not so great about practising the basics, with consistency, over a long period of time.

In this guide, we go a little deeper and introduce some troubleshooting.

Note: Much of this guide is influenced by the book, Lean & Strong by Josh Hillis. Check out our recommended reading at the end for more on that.

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A K R F I T N E S S ⁄ N U T R I T I O N : S TA G E T W O ⁄ T R O U B L E S H O O T I N G & T W E A K I N G

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REVIEWING THE BASICS

If you are unsure about the basics, re-read Stage 1: The Basics and come back to Stage 2. If you just need a short reminder, here’s a basic summary of the main points:

SIMPLE PRINCIPLES Effective nutrition programmes are based on a few simple principles that are just about making some more helpful choices.

FOUNDATIONS FIRST Focus on the most important things before you get lost in the finer details.

DROP THE BAGGAGE Work to move away from black and white thinking and use more rational labels to describe food. How calorie-dense is the food? How nutrient-dense? How filling? How enjoyable?

PRACTISE FOOD SKILLS Keep working on improving your food skills:

1. Eat at regular times2. Prioritise protein3. Eat colourful veggies4. Eat just enough5. Plan and prepare6. Eat like an adult

Calories In vs. Calories Out

Regardless of what some diet books might suggest, the science is clear: calories do count.

If you want to lose weight, you must consume fewer calories than you expend (known as a calorie deficit). If you want to gain weight, you must eat more calories than you burn (calorie surplus).

The reverse of this is also true: If you didn’t lose weight in the past fortnight then, by definition, you were not in a calorie deficit for that period.

You do not necessarily need to count calories in order to create a calorie deficit or surplus, nor do you need to starve yourself. However, if you are in a calorie deficit, you can and should expect to experience some hunger.

RESPECTING CALORIE BALANCE



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CALORIES IN VS CALORIES OUT

WEIGHT GAINCALORIES

CONSUMED

CALORIESBURNED

WEIGHT LOSS

CALORIESCONSUMED

CALORIESBURNED

CALORIESCONSUMED

BALANCED WEIGHT

CALORIESBURNED

Respecting calorie balance doesn’t need to mean going on a diet. In fact, for the majority of people, dieting is a bad idea. Here why:

DIETING PREDICTS WEIGHT GAIN In a large meta-analysis of long-term weight loss, 75% of studies found that dieting predicted future weight gain.

Let’s say that again: Dieting repeatedly, increases the likelihood of you gaining weight in the future.

Two-thirds of all people who diet will gain the weight back within one year. Nearly all of them will gain it back within five years. One third of dieters will gain back more weight than they lost …every time they diet.

…AND EMOTIONAL EATING On top of that, the research suggests that dieting makes you more vulnerable to emotional eating, cravings and binge eating.

This is why our focus at AKR is more on skills than on diets.

DON’T DIET

1 Front Psychol. 2013 Sep 2;4:577. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00577. Dieting and restrained eating as prospective predictors of weight gain. Lowe MR1, Doshi SD, Katterman SN, Feig EH.

2 Obes Rev. 2015 Feb;16 Suppl 1:1-6. doi: 10.1111/obr.12250. Pathways from dieting to weight regain, to obesity and to the metabolic syndrome: an overview. Dulloo AG1, Montani JP.

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DIETING VS. SKILLS

DIETING PRACTISING SKILLS

Tends to be a short-term approach.

Can bring both short and long-term success.

Tends to encourage black & white food rules.

Promotes flexibility.

Predisposes you to cravings, emotional eating and binge eating.

Encourages self-development and mastery.

Promotes all-or-nothing thinking. You’re either on the diet or off it.

You can practise a skill two or three times a week and still improve.

Predicts weight gain. Can increase subjective wellbeing.

High failure rate. Everyone gets better at skills with practise.

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In Stage 1: The Basics, we introduced food skills, now it’s time to delve a little deeper.

THE FOUR KEY AREAS Food skills can be subdivided into • Listen-to-your-body skills• Guidelines

These skills and guidelines can be applied• During meals• Between meals

This gives us just four key areas to work on to improve our food skills.

THE TROUBLE-SHOOTING MATRIX

DURING MEALS BETWEEN MEALS

LISTEN TO YOUR BODY

Notice when getting full and stop eating (when you reach this point).

Distinguish true hunger from cravings, boredom, tiredness, emotions or thoughts.

USE A GUIDELINE

Plate nutritious and balanced meals.

Eat a balanced meal every four to six hours without snacking.



LISTEN TO YOUR BODY SKILLS


Notice when getting full and stop eating (when you reach this point).

Distinguish true hunger from cravings, boredom, tiredness, emotions or thoughts.

Halftime: Check in with your stomach halfway through your meal.

Label the emotion. Say what you feel. Is it hunger in your stomach? Or some other thought or feeling?

Notice that flavour enjoyment is different from fullness.

Practise flexibility: say “yes” to treats sometimes, and “no” other times.

Use all of your senses to experience the meal. As well as the taste, consider what it looks like and smells like. How does it feel and sound in your mouth as you eat it?

Notice hunger building for around 30 minutes before eating.

Eat enough. You should find you get hungry 30-60 minutes before your next meal.

Notice when you are tired and go to sleep!

Eat just enough. Notice and stop eating before you become too full.

Check in with your stomach an hour after your meal and adjust portion sizes accordingly.

Listen-to-your-body skills are exactly what they sound like – they involve tuning in and paying attention to your mind and body.

Our main listen-to-your-body skill at AKR is what we call Eat Just Enough. However, there are many others you could practise.

LISTEN TO YOUR BODY

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GUIDELINES


Plate balanced portions (i.e. protein, veg, carbs and a little fat).

Eat a meal every 4-6 hours, without snacking in between.

Plate appropriate portion sizes. Wait 10 minutes before snacks or treats.

Put the fork down between bites. Practise Mindfulness – engage yourself with what is going on at the moment.

Eat without screens. Renew & Review – consider what you do for coping, self-soothing, for fun and for hobbies.

Do something engaging after eating – like a hobby – so you are not focussed on food.

Power Down – turn off screens and lights and go to bed at a set bedtime.

Wait 10 minutes before having seconds or treats.

Guidelines can be thought of as frameworks which enable you to make helpful decisions – particularly at times when you don’t have the energy to listen to your body or even think clearly. Guidelines are not rules.

At AKR, our main food skills include guidelines such as Eat At Regular Times and Prioritise Protein. As with listen-to-your-body skills, there are others you may want to try.

GUIDELINES

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You’ll notice that we have listen-to-your-body skills and guidelines for both during meals and for between meals.

Which period do you find most challenging?

For most people the issue isn’t what they eat during meals; the issue is snacking between meals. Calories consumed in snacks are often consumed mindlessly and snacking is often totally unrelated to hunger.

In fact, studies have shown that increased snacking has contributed more to the obesity epidemic than increased portion sizes.

SNACK SMART = NO SNACKS?Eating at regular times is an important first step that will help you distinguish between eating times and non-eating times.

If you’ve implemented this and are still not getting the results you want, consider eating 3-4 meals per day, without any snacking in between.

You might just find that eliminating grazing and snacking is the most powerful thing you can do to reduce your calorie intake.

DURING MEALS VS. BETWEEN MEALS

Take Action! Pick four things to start practising immediately. Aim for two listen-to-your-body skills and two guidelines. These can be for during meals and/ or between meals, depending on which you feel you’d most benefit from.

There is a notes section at the end of this guide that will help.

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Take Action! Make a list of all the types of data you could collect. Plot each data type in the Impact vs. Do-Ability Matrix at the end of this Guide. Decide on the few that are most valuable for you to track.

FOOD SKILLS & GUIDELINESNumber of days on which you practised a particular skill

Number of days on which you followed a guideline

PHYSICAL ACTIVITYDaily steps (for weekly total)

Number of workouts done p/month

MyZone Effort Points (MEPs)

BODY METRICSDaily body weight (for weekly average)

InBody Analyses

Body circumferences

NUTRITION NUMBERSCalories consumed

Protein consumed

Carbs / fat consumed

SLEEPConsistency of your Power Down Practise

Hours of sleep (weekly average)

Sleep quality, ranked 1-5

SUBJECTIVE DATAYour energy, ranked 1-5

Your appetite, ranked 1-5

Your mood, ranked 1-5

DATA TO CONSIDER COLLECTING

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IF-THEN PLANS

Research has found IF/THEN planning to be an extremely consistent predictor of goal achievement.

People who create IF/THEN plans to overcome obstacles are more successful in their actions, behaviour change and goal achievement than those who don’t.

IF/THEN plans are also effective – and therefore particularly useful – when you’re tired, anxious, irritable or in a bad mood.

So, what is an IF/THEN Plan?

It’s simply a case of thinking through potential obstacles and deciding in advance what you will do should that obstacle show up.

1. IF obstacle ________ shows up,

2. THEN I am going to do ________ to help me stay on track.

3 Advances in Experimental Social Psychology. Volume 38, 2006, Pages 69-119. Implementation Intentions and Goal Achievement: A Meta‐analysis of Effects and Processes. Gollwitzer, PM & Sheeran, P.



› Focus your if/then plan on what you will do; not what you’ll avoid. Deciding that you will not eat the chocolate, for instance, is not something you can actually do. If you are going to avoid the chocolate, what will you do instead?

› Focus on the actions you want to take (practising skills, following guidelines) as opposed to the outcomes you want to achieve (weight loss/increased strength).

› Focus on your biggest challenges. If/then plans are not so effective for easier obstacles.

EXAMPLES

External Obstacle

IF Thursday is going to be a hectic day, THEN I will prepare my food in advance on Wednesday.

Internal Obstacle

IF I have a craving for sweets in the afternoon, THEN I will check to see if I’m genuinely hungry or if I actually need something else (a drink, a break, a stretch, a chat).

TIPS

Take Action! Take some time to consider some of your biggest potential obstacles and make an If/Then Plan for each.

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FLEXIBILITY & VALUES



RIGID DIET RULES PREDICT FAILURE Rigidity and perfectionism are your enemies. An all-or-nothing approach usually results in a lot of time on the “nothing” side of things.

The opposite of rigidity is flexibility. Flexibility is more of a continuum. Sometimes it’s about making a good choice rather than the best choice.

Flexibility is harder to learn than rigidity because it means sometimes saying “yes”, sometimes saying “no”. It requires more self-insight, more self-compassion and it requires you to clarify your values.

YOU’RE A GROWN ADULT, YOU CAN DO WHAT YOU WANT Rather than talking to yourself about what you have to or should do, consider that as an adult, you have permission to do what you want.

Rules lead to rebellion. Permission leads to values-based decisions.

Clarify your personal values. Clarify what matters most to you, what it is you actually want. Then choose.

Sometimes you might choose beer or ice-cream because you value socialising and having fun. If you genuinely value being fit and healthy – and if you let go of what you think you should do – you might also find that most of the time you want to do your workout and practise your food skills.

The more clarity and trust you have in your values, the easier it is to be flexible. The more flexibility you have, the less all-or-nothing you suffer.

“THE HEIGHT OF FLEXIBILITY ISN’T JUST KNOWING HOW TO USE A SKILL IN MULTIPLE SITUATIONS, BUT TO BE OKAY WITH NOT USING THE SKILL AT TIMES, WITH NO FEAR OF “BLOWING IT” OR WORRYING IF YOU’RE CAPABLE. FLEXIBILITY MEANS KNOWING YOU HAVE THE SKILL, AND ARE ABLE TO CHOOSE TO USE IT WHEN YOU WANT.”(JOSH HILLIS, LEAN & STRONG)

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RECOMMENDED READING

FROM AKR

NUTRITION STAGE 1: THE BASICS Introducing Food Skills If you’ve not already read our Stage 1 guidebook, be sure to check that one out as well.

BEATING BINGE EATING If you’re struggling with emotional or binge eating behaviours, be sure to check out our Beating Binge Eating guide.

FROM OTHER AUTHORS

LEAN & STRONG Much of this guide has been influenced by the book, Lean & Strong by Josh Hillis. If you’d like more detailed descriptions on the skills and guidelines outlined here, and more on eating skills and psychology in general we recommend you pick up that book.

ATOMIC HABITS James Clear’s Atomic Habits is a book about creating behaviour change through tiny steps. It could be considered an excellent companion guide to how we do things here at AKR.

THE HAPPINESS TRAP For more on the emotional side of things, including strategies for managing unwanted thoughts, feelings and emotions, check out The Happiness Trap by Russ Harris.

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SKILLS TO PRACTISE

During Meals

Between Meals

SKILLS TO PRACTISE

During Meals

Between Meals

NOTES

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NOTES

IMPACT VS. DO-ABILITY

IMPA

CT

DO-ABILITY




MY IF/THEN PLANS

IF

THEN

IF

THEN

IF

THEN

IF

THEN

IF

THEN

IF

THEN

IF

THEN

IF

THEN

NOTES

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18 S College Street, Aberdeen, AB11 6JX follow us @AKR_Fitness

AKRFitness.com01224 587039

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nutrition: stage two troubleshooting & tweaking · for coping, self-soothing, for fun and for...

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