06.14.23

FIELD NOTES

Hello friends,

​

If you’re a client of mine or are curious about my training style, there’s one thing I’m about - building all of this into your lifestyle.

When I have a client come to me, particularly if they express an interest in body composition changes, I tend to try to dial in a few things from the beginning.

The first is their average activity level. Usually this is where I get on someone about steps or activity throughout the day.

While that’s going on, I like to start to work on protein intake. This is usually a more gradual process.

Here’s why.

Steps - you’ve probably heard about trying to hit 10,000 steps per day. While the number can vary depending on your goals and where you are currently, I like to encourage increasing steps because it’s actually a lot easier than people make it out to be. It can also play into many different aspects of your health beyond just activity (mental health, digestion, strength, etc).

Rarely do I ever need to get people to move less, so the approach is fairly straight forward, try to walk more. Break this up how you need to. I always recommend getting a longer walk in the morning, if possible, to sort of kick start your day as I find it usually leads to wanting to move more the rest of the day too.

But, for those who need a visual on why I like to dial in on steps, take a look at the chart below. The top bar represents “what you eat” and the bottom represents “what you burn”, on a daily basis assuming your intake and expenditure are balanced.

That red section where it says “look here” makes up your NEAT - or your non-exercise activity thermogenesis. Basically, this is the activity you do that isn’t intentional exercise (like walking place to place, fidgeting, breathing, etc). This is where your steps come in.

The light grey represents your basal metabolic rate (what you burn just surviving), the light blue shows what your body uses to digest your food, and the dark blue is actually a rough average of the energy you use during exercise, if you were curious.

Obviously this is different for everyone, but this is just a visual.

Now, just by increasing your steps, you might see something like the following chart.

The only thing in this graph that has changed is that the red section is a little larger to indicate you’ve taken more steps. That’s it.

As you can see by the “now look here” text pointing to a circle, there’s now a difference between your intake and expenditure. You didn’t have to change anything about “what you eat” - just more steps.

And this is why I like to start here with most clients. This is a very easy win from the beginning for most people.

Protein - this will be more succinct than the steps breakdown, but the reason I like to focus on protein next is because, similar to steps, I find that most people under eat it.

Without getting too detailed, protein is responsible for the repair and growth of tissues throughout our bodies. It’s also important for hormone regulation. These two reasons alone are why I like to focus on it.

When you train or workout, you are literally breaking down tissues in an attempt to adapt to new demands. Obviously there are exceptions, but most people coming to a personal trainer have some type of goal where this is or will be the case, so the thought of under-consuming protein baffles me, to be honest.

Average recommendations vary depending on who you ask, but a common suggestion is about 0.8-1.2g / lb of bodyweight. Most people, in my experience, aren’t close to the lower range of this at the start, so I take a very gradual approach, increasing every two weeks or so until we are at a better intake. This is where patience can come in handy.

Oftentimes what I find is that people start to notice they are recovering better, are feeling stronger, and are feeling more full.

So yeah. Protein + increasing steps can be a nasty combination. And I mean that in the best way possible.

Once those two things are dialed in more and adherence stays high with training too, I find additional changes made after that show a lot more promise from the beginning.

As with anything in this realm, it’s about consistency. But the real question comes down to how do you make something consistent for you?

So I don’t leave you all just trying to think of actionable next steps on your own, try some of these tips to help you increase your steps and/or protein!

Steps:

• Start your day with a walk. Sip on your coffee during this!
• If you have a dog (or pet that you walk), go ahead and give it another one! You’ll definitely win the “best pet parent” award.
• Try implementing brief walks after meals. This can also help with your digestion.
• Park further away during any of your errands.
• Take public transportation, if available. Just walking to and from transit stops really adds up.
• Wrap up your day with a pre-bed walk!

Protein:

• Try to add protein where you already have it. If you’re having some chicken for lunch, try eating a little bit more.
• Consider a protein shake or adding protein powder to your smoothies!
• Greek yogurt can be a great source of protein - play with yogurt bowls!
• Add a couple egg whites to any eggs you’re already cooking with.
• Remember that roughly a palm-sized portion of a protein has about 20-30g protein. This can help you keep a better idea of what you’re actually eating without tracking macros.
• My go-to lately has been cottage cheese with tomatoes. Might sound a little weird, but it’s a great breakfast or snack!

Give some of those a shot and let me know how they go!

​

Stay stoked!

Alli 🤙🏼

​

And, if you haven’t already, check out our new e-book, “The Guide”!

​​​​

113 Cherry St #92768, Seattle, WA 98104-2205
​Unsubscribe · Preferences​