Processed food, with its extreme energy density and intense salty \/ sweet \/ fatty \/ crunchy \/ creamy tastes, tells our brain that we\u2019ve hit the calorie jackpot:\u00a0Eat until it\u2019s gone! Stock up! You\u2019ll have enough energy and nutrients to last for weeks!<\/em>\u00a0Of course, for most people, the junk food never runs out, so you\u2019re left eating and eating and eating with zero satiation (and almost zero actual nutrition).<\/p>\n What progress looks like:<\/strong><\/p>\n With your new nutrition plan, you\u2019re eating slowly. Choosing fresh foods. Leaving less room in your diet for processed foods that rev the appetite and never seem to fill you up. Fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, beans, and legumes are taking up new space in your body, nourishing you, helping you feel satisfied. They signal to your gut and brain that\u00a0It\u2019s OK. We are OK. We are safe and comfortable and fed. We can stop now<\/em>.<\/p>\n Imagine, for the first time, feeling \u201cfull\u201d. Not stuffed. Just satisfied. Feeling like you\u2019ve had\u00a0enough<\/em>. Your gut and brain are calm. No panic. No restless pacing to the pantry. You\u2019re just\u2026 done. Without any worry.Yep, this is all possible. In fact, this is what you\u2019ll start to experience once your nutrition (and exercise) plan is on track. It\u2019s an early sign of progress you can sense into even before you lose any weight.<\/p>\n (Quick note: If you\u2019re a smaller \u2014 and younger \u2014 guy trying to put on muscle, this may not apply to you. Being hungry all the time may be a good thing. Keep eating and lifting heavy!)<\/p>\n Want help tuning into your appetite and hunger cues? Check out our downloadable tracking sheets at the end of this article.<\/strong><\/p>\n 2. You have more energy<\/b><\/p>\n Maybe you can\u2019t remember a time when you didn\u2019t feel exhausted. Your alarm is your enemy. You don\u2019t hit snooze; you literally punch the clock to make it shut up. Mid-afternoon, you need a caffeine and sugar hit to keep your eyelids propped open, and by 8pm you\u2019re crashing in your La-Z-Boy chair in front of the TV. Your brain feels like mush and your body like molasses.<\/p>\n Maybe your brain and body are getting too much processed food and too much sugar; maybe you\u2019re borrowing energy from the future with stimulants. Maybe you\u2019re not getting enough vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients. Even small deficiencies in certain nutrients \u2014 which are\u00a0much more common than you think<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 can drain your energy and fog up your focus. One day, you wake up one minute before your alarm. Your eyes are actually\u00a0open<\/em>. You even feel\u2026 kind of\u2026 happy?<\/p>\n You don\u2019t need seven shots of espresso throughout the day just to cope with your work inbox. You pay attention, even during the 3pm accounting meeting. When you take your kids to the playground after dinner, you find yourself clambering up the climbing wall and slithering down the slide along with them. Back at home, your La-Z-Boy feels lonely and your TV abandoned.<\/p>\n A good nutrition plan gives you energy \u2014 constant, steady, all-day energy rather than a brief buzz and a crash. If you get it right, you\u2019ll start experiencing this over time. Sometimes even before the scale needle starts to move. How vitamins and minerals influence your energy levels. The feeling of having more energy can come from the nutrients in fresh, whole foods, which we need for our bodies and brains to work properly. Try to get these nutrients through your diet, instead of supplementing.<\/p>\n 3. You\u2019re sleeping better<\/strong><\/p>\n You know those nights when you just can\u2019t seem to fall asleep? Or when you toss and turn in a weird, hallucinogenic, sleeping-but-not-sleeping state? Sometimes, clients don\u2019t even know how tired and sleep-deprived they are, because five hours of fitful flailing is their normal.<\/p>\n There can be many reasons for poor sleep: stress, aging, hormonal changes, being a new parent, getting too much light late at night, jet lag, and so on. Nutrition and exercise can play a role. For instance, if we diet too stringently, over-train (or under-recover), amp ourselves up with tough workouts, or over-eat heavy meals late at night, we may not sleep well. We may drink too much alcohol and caffeine. We may not get enough protein (to make the right neurotransmitters), nor enough vitamins and minerals (ditto).<\/p>\n We may also have disrupted hormones (such as cortisol, growth hormone, thyroid hormone, and sex hormones such as estrogen and testosterone) from stress and poor eating habits, all of which are important for good and restful sleep.<\/p>\n What progress looks like:<\/strong><\/p>\n Now, with your nutrition plan, you\u2019re getting enough good stuff to make the brain chemicals you need.<\/p>\n You\u2019ve switched to half-glasses of wine with dinner, and \u2014 thanks to your newfound energy \u2014 laid off the afternoon espresso. Speaking of dinner, it\u2019s a smaller portion that doesn\u2019t leave you breathing in little huffs and give you nightmares about being chased by cheese. In short, your body is no longer in an\u00a0always-on-battle-stations-go<\/em>\u00a0state of chemical panic. All of a sudden, you seem to wind down an hour before bedtime without a problem. You follow your sleep ritual and conk out easier than ever.<\/p>\n Remember: If you want to change your body and improve your health,\u00a0sleeping well consistently is crucial<\/a>. And hey, it just feels good too.<\/p>\n How does nutrition help encourage better sleep?<\/p>\n 4. Your clothes feel just a little looser (or tighter)<\/b><\/p>\n Today\u2019s the day. You reach into your closet, into the back, for\u00a0that<\/em>\u00a0piece of clothing. You know, the one that almost never fits unless you\u2019re massively dehydrated, wrapped in Saran Wrap, and holding your breath simultaneously.<\/p>\n Wow. It fits. Not just suck-it-in-and-suffer fits. But, like, really\u00a0fits<\/em>. It feels good. It looks good. No pulling fabric, no weird wrinkles, no strangling collars, no bulges of buttons or belts or bra straps. Or maybe you\u2019ve pulled out some other piece of clothing. The one that normally drapes over you like an oversized beach towel over a coat hanger. The T-shirt you can\u2019t seem to fill out, the armholes with room to spare and a flapping curtain where you feel like billowing pecs should be.<\/p>\n Wow again. It\u00a0doesn\u2019t<\/em>\u00a0fit. And that\u2019s great. Because your chest and arms and shoulders and back are now\u00a0too muscular for it.<\/em>\u00a0The shirt is still flapping loose in one area, though: your newly whittled waist. Muscle and bone are denser than body fat. When we build this lean mass, we often get heavier but smaller (at least in certain areas). If you\u2019re male, you may find your shoulders broadening, chest filling out, back wings fluttering, and a new case of \u201chockey ass\u201d from muscular glutes\u2026 but your waist shrinking.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re female, you may find that your scale weight goes up but your clothing size goes down (and you ace your bone density scan!). This is why, in addition to tuning into how their clothes fit, we suggest clients use a tape measure to track the circumference of various body parts.<\/p>\n How does lean mass compare to fat?Muscle cells are tightly packed with myofibrils.<\/strong>\u00a0When these contract with enough intensity, the body adapts by generating more myofibrils and sarcomeres (assuming proper training and nutrition), increasing the density (and strength) of the muscle.<\/p>\n Even denser,\u00a0bone is composed of complex combinations of calcium and phosphorus<\/strong>, heavy minerals that provide strength, flexibility, and support for all the stress we put on them. Bones also contain a significant amount of protein (mostly collagen-type proteins).<\/p>\n Adipose (fat) tissue, on the other hand, is loosely composed of adipocytes, cells that contain light, fluffy lipid molecules<\/strong>\u00a0(mainly triglycerides). Unlike bone and muscle mass, fat tissue provides unlimited storage all over the body, so it will continue to grow when we over-eat.<\/p>\n This means: Muscle and bone are 18 and 33 percent heavier than fat by volume. It also means that your exercise and nutrition plan can help you look (and function) better without leading to weight loss.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n 5. You\u2019re in a better mood<\/b><\/p>\n Have people secretly nicknamed you Stabby, Grumpy, Angsty, Miserable Cuss, or Party Pooper? Does it physically hurt you to smile? \u00a0The phenomenon of \u201changry\u201d (hungry + angry) is so well known, candy bar commercials joke about it, noting that \u201cYou\u2019re not yourself when you\u2019re hungry.\u201d \u00a0You may also not be your best self when you\u2019re deprived of the nutrients your brain needs to\u00a0keep you sailing on an even emotional keel<\/a>, without crashing into the rocks.<\/p>\n What progress looks like:<\/strong><\/p>\n Improving our mental and emotional outlook with good nutrition can show up in surprising ways. Here are some of the things our clients have discovered after consistently improving their nutrition habits.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel\u2026<\/p>\n In part, these changes come from the experience of changing habits. When we try something, and succeed, we get a little jolt of inspiration that encourages us to keep going. \u00a0These changes also come from the nutrition itself: Our brains and bodies have the nutrients and chemical tools they need to do their jobs \u2014 to regulate our emotions, to make our \u201chappy neurotransmitters\u201d, and to send those cheery and calming signals where they should go.<\/p>\n How food influences your mood.The connection between our food, neurotransmitters, and blood sugar regulation means that how we feel depends a lot on what we eat.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n 6. You\u2019re stronger and have more endurance<\/b><\/p>\n Around the time you first start your nutrition overhaul, workouts might feel like a slog. Maybe you feel weak, uncoordinated and slow. Maybe you pick your dumbbells off the small end of the rack. And boy are you sore afterwards. \u00a0And then, gradually, you\u2019re less sore. More of an \u201cumph\u201d getting out of bed than an \u201cAAAAAUUUUGHHHH!!!!\u201d You\u2019re more zesty.\u00a0Perhaps another set<\/em>! you think, jauntily, suddenly full of beans. You eye the next dumbbell up.<\/p>\n What progress looks like:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n 7. It feels more like a lifestyle than a \u201cdiet\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cDiets\u201d are a chore. They\u2019re another to-do that you superimpose over your busy life, and another boring, strict, overly complicated task you can\u2019t wait to quit. \u00a0When we do quit \u2014 because of course we do, it\u2019s temporary, right? \u2014 we\u2019re back where we started. Back \u201coff the diet\u201d. Back to processed foods, never-ending hunger, frustration, and weight gain.<\/p>\n What progress looks like:<\/strong><\/p>\n Progress here happens when you\u2019re just\u2026 living. You\u2019re in a nice, natural, normal-day rhythm that doesn\u2019t feel like being \u201con\u201d or \u201coff\u201d anything.<\/p>\n Eating well stops being A Thing and just starts being your daily life.<\/p>\n Yep, this is also possible. It\u2019s a natural and normal consequence of eating and exercising in a sensible and sane way. And it\u2019s a sign of progress, regardless of what the scale is doing.<\/p>\n What to do next: If you\u2019re tired of being a slave to the scale, here are some ways to start breaking free.<\/p>\n Add, don\u2019t subtract.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re in a \u201cdiet mentality\u201d, each day feels like a new battle to avoid the \u201cbad foods\u201d. So let\u2019s flip that.\u00a0Add, don\u2019t subtract.<\/strong><\/p>\n Don\u2019t \u201cavoid\u201d your \u201cjunk food\u201d. Just\u00a0add<\/em>\u00a0so much healthy stuff \u2014 water, lean protein, fresh fruit and vegetables \u2014 that there\u2019s less room or desire left over for food that doesn\u2019t support your goals.<\/p>\n And at first, look for what you\u00a0gain<\/em>\u00a0rather than what you lose. Like muscle. Strength. Confidence. Energy. Sanity.<\/p>\n Measure \u2014 and celebrate \u2014 your progress.<\/p>\n Look for signs of progress everywhere. Everything counts, no matter how small.<\/p>\n Track them.<\/p>\n Celebrate them like that first springtime crocus.<\/p>\n Focus on little things.<\/p>\n Make mini-goals. Nano-goals, if you want.<\/p>\n For the day. For the week. For the next five minutes. Whatever you need to stay on track and feeling like you can do this.<\/p>\n Each time you hit those tiny goals, reward yourself (in a healthy way).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Celebrate your wins while getting in the best shape of your life.<\/p>\n
\n
\nWhat progress looks like:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/kiwifit.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/salad-506a8940-1920w-300x225.webp\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/kiwifit.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/desert-bdc5b754-1920w-300x225.webp\")
<\/a><\/p>\n
\n
\nWhat progress looks like:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\nSome tips from Precision Nutrition<\/p>\n
\nDon\u2019t \u201cavoid\u201d your prepackaged meals.
\nDon\u2019t \u201cavoid\u201d dessert.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/kiwifit.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/diets_78__300x0-94d9fed7-1920w.webp\")
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"