Mary Teunis

Nutrition + Fitness

Flexible Dieting

Pre and Post-workout Nutrition

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Pre and Post-workout Nutrition

If you want to feel good while training and maximize recovery it is suggested to eat 60-90 minutes before hitting the gym. If you prefer to train early in the morning it is okay to train fast, but it is important to get in a large dinner filled with protein and carbs the night before. Below is a guide on how to feel good and be well-fueled during a training session.

Before working out fuel the body with a high amount of lean protein and carbs. Keep fat and fiber content low to avoid bloating. Pre-training example meals include egg whites and English muffins, grilled chicken and rice, or ground turkey and sweet potatoes. 

If you are exercising for longer than 60 minutes you may need a mid-workout snack. Intra workout snacks should be quick, easily digestible carbs. Liquid protein shakes are also a good option. Examples include dried fruit, rice cakes, apple sauce, protein shakes.

After the workout, the body will need fuel for optimal recovery. It is suggested to consume a balanced meal that includes lots of lean protein and carbs. Post-workout meals include lean ground beef, brown rice, broccoli, avocado, and a side of fruit. 

No fancy supplements are needed to feel great and look good. Fuel your body with high-quality, nutrient-dense meals, and train smart!

Chronic Dieting and Excessive Exercising

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Chronic Dieting and Excessive Exercising

Many females struggle with hormonal imbalances due to chronic dieting and overexercising. When we eat below maintenance calories our hormone level drops, which can cause major health complications and may play a role in why we are not achieving the aesthetic or performance goals we have. Below are key points to consider when building a balanced and sustainable diet and exercise routine that supports hormone health.

1.       Maintenance calories for most active females are well beyond 1,800-2,000 calories. If you have been switching from diet to diet, your body will need some time to maintenance calories. Eating 1,200 calories is not enough for your body to repair. Consider working with a nutrition professional who can slowly help build you back to eating maintenance.  

2.       Eating a diet that contains proper portions of carbs and fat will help create happy hormones. When we consume a consistent low carb and low-fat diet, we may experience hormone and period problems. Most active females should eat a minimum of 60 grams of fat and 150-200 g of protein. Remember that macronutrient breakdown will be based on the person’s lifestyle, genetics, and goals. A sustainable diet should include all three macronutrients: Protein, carbs, and fat.

3.       Eating whole food meals frequently throughout the day will help the body’s blood sugar levels remain stable. When building a meal choose minimally processed foods and include protein, carb, fat, veggie, and fiber at every meal. Eat at least 25 grams of fiber and add veggies including broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts to aid healthy levels of estrogen in the body.  

4.       Sleep 7-10 hours and keep caffeine consumption less 200-300 mg.

5.       Drink ½ your body weight of water in fluid oz daily.

6.       Workout 3-5 x a week in a way that you enjoy and walk 7-10k steps daily. If you are repairing hormone health consider taking a break from high-intensity training like CrossFit, Orange Theory, Spin, or Bootcamp classes.

Making simple nutrition and lifestyle changes can result in positive outcomes when it comes to our health and how we feel, and guess what? When we chase health aesthetics will follow. Instead of focusing on a short-term diet plan that will change the body for a short period of time, we need to create a sustainable and balanced diet that makes both our bodies and minds healthy. A diet is not something you do for 30 days, a diet is a lifestyle, something that both your body and mind can sustain over a long period of time. 

FACTS about FAD dieting

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FACTS about FAD dieting

Fad diets are trendy weight loss plans that promise quick results over a short period of time. These types of diets involve a great amount of nutrient restriction making the diet unsustainable and does not offer long term weight loss. The most popular FAD diets today are the keto diet and intermittent fasting.

When looking at diets we must look at the facts. If the diet seems too good to be true it usually is. If the diet worked great for your neighbor and they tell everyone to try it, it will most likely fail many others, even If they follow the plan with 100% compliance. Why does this happen? Look at science. We are all unique humans with different genetic makeup, living in different environments, with different personal lifestyle habits.

When starting any new diet it is highly encouraged to work with a  trained nutrition professional that helps you critically think through whether the diet makes any sense for you personally and has research to back it up. The key to long term weight loss is with a sustainable, habit-based approach that consistently helps you build healthier routines into your lifestyle, one step at a time. Short term results often never lead to long term results. So how do you tell If the diet is worth the money?

1.       Use common sense. If the person who is selling the diet has no credentials, or nutrition education, question the advice and ask them for some in-depth details.

2.       Look for science and research that backs up the diet. If there is no evidence-based research on the diet save your money.

Understand that there is no perfect diet and something as simple as nutrition should not be complicated. Looking to live a healthy lifestyle?  The average person can start by eating 3 meals a day that consists of the plate being ½ non-starchy veggies, ¼ lean protein, ¼ complex carbohydrates.

Intermittent Fasting and Female Health

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Intermittent Fasting and Female Health

Intermittent fasting is the new hot topic in the nutrition and fitness world. Let us start by discussing what Intermittent fasting is. This diet is a time-restricted eating approach where you eat in certain time windows and fast the remainder of the time. It simply is a guide on when you can and cannot eat. The most popular IF approach is the 16/8 rule. This is when you fast for 16 hours and consume calories for the remaining 8 hours. For example, you only would consume calories 12-8 pm. Some may find great benefits on this diet approach because it shortens the amount of time during the day that we can consume calories. Although Intermittent may have potential benefits for some, including fat loss, due to caloric restriction, improved blood sugar levels, mental clarity, improved digestion, reduced inflammation, and improved metabolic health, it is not the best diet approach for females.

Intermittent fasting is totally different for women than for men. This is because we females are not tiny men! Changing how much and when a female can eat may have a major impact on reproductive hormones. Ovulation, metabolism, and mood are all sensitive to energy intake. If a woman tries the IF approach to eating the body may become overly stressed and the diet may work against her. You see our bodies are smart, its main job is to keep us alive. It does not know the difference between if we are restricting calories for aesthetic reasons or if we are starving from a lack of resources. If we consistently consume less energy than we expend, we are in what is called a negative energy balance. This is how the body loses fat. If it goes on for too long it stresses the body and hormone issues arise. Females then will see a pause in progress.

Instead of trying the new fad diet, Intermittent fasting, females may see better results with a more individualized approach to nutrition. Flexible dieting is a lifestyle change where you can eat all your favorite foods, within moderation, and still reach your nutrition and fitness-related goals. Nutrition is very individualized. What works for me, is not going to work for you. Why? Because we have completely different genetic makeups and live totally different lifestyles. It is time to stop following the cookie-cutter diets and find eating habits that fit with your UNIQUE needs.

Need help finding a nutrition approach that works for you? Check out the service page and contact me to book your free nutrition consultation call today!

The Best Diet For You

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The Best Diet For You

As humans, we want an easy way out. If someone provided us two options:

  1. Clap your hands and get your dream body
  2. Work your butt off, eat well, and build the discipline to have that dream body.

We would all choose the first option.

Unfortunately, the “clap your hands and get your dream body” is not possible because nutrition is complex. There are so many different diets out there, and they typically hold conflicting research. Eating is deeply tied to emotion, satisfaction, and the relationship we have with our bodies.

You may be struggling with what is the right diet? Well, the best diet is a diet where you can sustain over a long period of time, even in the most challenging circumstances. The best diet includes:

  • Your favorite food in moderation
  • Achieves your body composition goals
  • Can be followed during holidays and vacations
  • It keeps your body at peak performance
  • It keeps you mentally stable
  • Can be followed during hard times, such as a death or losing a job
  • Has flexibility

Finding the best diet for you is going to take time, experimenting, and discipline. During this process, you will build self-awareness, skills you never knew you had, and you will gain a new set of tools for your toolbox.

Before you start a new diet such as Keto, Paleo, or Whole 30, ask yourself this question- Is this a diet where I can sustain over a long period of time while maintaining a healthy relationship with food?