Introduction

Speaker 1 0:44

What's up and welcome back to Talking Nutrition . Today's episode 77, . We are getting ready for the holiday season yes , already Now . I'm not trying to scare you here , I just want to get you ready . I want you to go into these last couple of months it's Q4 of 2023 , right , last couple of months of the year , knowing what's going to happen . You go in with a plan . We're not going to fuck around . We'll get you ready , we'll get you to a good spot , but we do need to talk about a couple things .

Speaker 1 1:12

Today is going to be potentially a bit of a shorter episode . We'll see , you know how it goes , but we're going to talk about October , november and December . What's coming up ? How are we going to plan for different phases these next couple months ? What are you going to work on ? Three months is not that much , so we do want to be smart about , okay , what are you going to be doing ? Spoiler alert we're definitely not going to be dining through Christmas . We're going to go back to maintenance , right , or even be in a small surplus to build muscle . We'll chat about that . We'll also talk about how many days we're really preparing for , if you think about it . We're going to talk about not thinking all or nothing . We're going to set you up to go through the holiday season stress and guilt free through preparing common sense , the moderation , applying that growth mindset we talked about . We're going to reflect a little bit . I wanted to do this episode early on and we're going to bring this back a couple times over the next couple of months Because , let's be honest , worldwide , the holiday season is an issue for a lot of people .

Speaker 1 2:26

Now , let's not worry about that . We're going to make sure that you're among the 1% of whatever the number is , but let's call it 1% , because it's not a lot of people . Let's make sure that you are among the 1% who's actually fine , who's able to go through the holiday season . Eat healthy , eat the fun stuff , be flexible . We're going to get through this feeling good . We're not going to take 20 steps back . No , we're going to be exactly where we want to be . We're also going to be realistic .

Speaker 1 3:01

Now , before we head into this episode , please do me a massive favor drop us a quick review and or rating . Spotify , apple , wherever you listen to us . It does really , really help us grow the show , and we do this for free . We don't do ads . We never will because , to be honest with you , I've been listening to a few podcasts recently that actually do have ads and it is the worst stuff ever . I can't stand it . To be honest with you , if you get into the episode , there's like five minutes of just kind of like this episode is brought to you by blah blah , blah and then there's like five sponsors back to back . It's nuts . So trust me , like we're not going to do that either , because I hate that stuff too . But I will ask you for one thing If you have not yet , go ahead to your app , apple or Spotify , wherever you listen , drop us a quick five star rating . It really , really does help us a lot and it helps us grow the show , reach more people like yourself , get through this holiday season , or you share this episode in your stories . Either way is cool . You pick that's my only rate that I'll charge you . Quick review or an Instagram story Sounds good , fair enough .

Speaker 1 4:16

Cool Q4 of 2023 , it's a little crazy to think about it . That is already Q4 . It has been a year . It's been super cool . The podcast has been growing . We have a lot of cool stuff going on at OCS . We're building our team , as I announced in January . Earlier this year , the goal was all along right to build a team of coaches . We're starting that process now , which is really , really cool . I'm so proud of that and I'm so excited to serve and help more people get healthy right and just help them reach our goals .

Speaker 1 4:58

I know this stuff is . I will say this it's gone from a passion to my responsibility as well , not in a bad way , but in a good way . I have to share this stuff right . I love doing this , but I see how much it means for people when they reach our goals . And , trust me , it's not about the macros and the fat loss and the muscle gain , whatever it is . Yes , that's stuff that we work on . That's stuff that people initially come to us for , but it's a life-changing shift in terms of mindset , in terms of habits people getting healthy , setting the example for their kids , breaking cycles of really unhealthy behavior when it comes to exercise and nutrition , breaking weird cycles in their families , actually being that person who not only takes action for themselves but for those around them . We have something really cool going on . I love this shit and I have to share it . So it's also through yes , passion still . It's still my passion , but it's also responsibility . That's why I keep showing up doing these podcasts , that's why I have to do this stuff , because I know how much this can help someone . And , to be honest with you , if there's only one person , listening to this episode from front to back , who will take away one little thing from this episode and who will apply it and who will improve this holiday season , then I'm happy . That's why I do this . And if you're that person , this episode is for you and every other episode after this one will be also for you . It's for the people who pay attention , for the people who are here to take action on this stuff .

Speaker 1 6:41

Christmas does not have to be an issue . Halloween doesn't have to be an issue . Thanksgiving doesn't have to be an issue . However , you and me both because it's teamwork right we need to set you up with the right plan , going into it , knowing what we're going to expect , being realistic Because , let's be honest , let's not compare being at home usual routines , getting to the gym , meal prep , tracking , weighing , all those kind of things to going away , not making our own meals , not being in the same city , our usual routines , etc . Those are different things . It doesn't have to be all or nothing , but those are different scenarios , so let's not expect to be as perfect in quotes as we usually are , which , by the way , we don't have to be perfect anyway .

Speaker 1 7:33

Before I ramble on it , I do want to pull out my notes , because here's the thing , guys what's the holiday season ? What is the holiday season ? I'm going to break it down for you . October 31st , we have Halloween one day . November 23rd , we have Thanksgiving one day . December 25th and 26th , christmas two days . And we have New Year's Eve one day , of course , december 31st . We are talking about five days . Five days . If you've been listening to this episode , you know I don't sugarcoat stuff . Right , I tell you how it is . Here's a big one . Five days October , november , december . We're really looking at five holidays . Now , of course , you're going to have your meanings , with work and school . There's going to be parties and those kind of things . I will say this because we have listeners from the US . We have people all around Europe . In Europe , halloween is not that big .

Speaker 1 8:55

We also don't celebrate Thanksgiving , but still , right , no matter where you're from , what you celebrate , we need to do the thing . It's called extreme ownership over actions . We need to know that whatever we do has a consequence , good or bad , good or bad . We need to also be realistic . This is common sense . It's kind of like okay , well , I know that these are kind of like the things we work on for my goals , et cetera . By the way , I don't want you to be stressing around nutrition , being very diligent , we're going to practice flexibility here . We also cannot allow ourselves and this is where we do need to own our own stuff and be just completely honest with ourselves and say , hey , you know what . This is , five days that we're talking about , maybe a couple extra , maybe a few extra if we have a couple work things or whatever it may be . Let me now look at this . This is just completely , just random .

It's really just a handful of days..

Speaker 1 10:00

Let's say we have 90 days in Q4 , and we have seven days . I'm going to give you a few extra seven days of those 90 days . That means that only 7.8% of Q4 is actually part of those holidays or part of what you're celebrating . If that 7.8 is the issue , then I think we'll have to look at something else , because it's usually not .

Speaker 1 10:29

I don't believe necessarily that it's the Thanksgiving's dinner , which , let's be honest , of course , I'm a big eater too . I can do my best and get a lot of catarousins . I know a lot of listeners here are probably the same . To really gain body fat , we need to really eat a whole lot . As much as yes , you can do a lot of damage on one day , don't get it wrong . You can absolutely overeat by a lot in one day . However , for the most part , I want to say it's maybe not that one Thanksgiving dinner , it's maybe not that one Halloween party or even the two Christmas days .

Speaker 1 11:55

I think a lot of times it's that we are allowing ourselves to get away with so much shit for three months straight , even though the actual holidays , like we talked about , is like five days . We do not have to think all or nothing here . We do not have to go in and be like , hey , you know what , september , okay , now we're heading into October and November , december , while the festivities coming up and , trust me , I'm super excited for that too . Don't get me wrong I'm here eating , not eating the Christmas cookie and just eating salads and drinking water , right ? No , we want to plan for these kind of things . We're going to talk about that today . But let's be honest here . It is really only a few days , meaning . This is the good news . Right , this is good news . It's like , hey , we can totally plan for it and be totally fine .

Speaker 1 12:47

Remember , we talk about this all the time flexible dieting , 80-20 rule You've probably heard me say this a million times and you will still , over the next couple of years and beyond that . Mineral process foods most of the time . Hey , make better choices most of the time . 80% of the time , just about , and you're going to be okay . Get your steps in , hit the gym , you're going to be okay . Eat your foods and vegetables , drink your water , have some fun stuff . And moderation , absolutely .

Speaker 1 13:18

We include the evenings out at the weekends , the holidays , the Christmas , whatever the birthdays . It's a process , learning how to where you can get there , but we need a growth mindset . So let's now look into , okay , what are we actually going to be doing ? Because we do need to talk about periodization and I want to know what's your goal here . What's your goal going into this ? It's hey , I want to lose a little bit more body fat for the holidays Fair if that's the case and you're actually ready , cool . If you're just coming out of a fat loss phase , cool . We're going to maintain the rest of the year .

Speaker 1 13:55

Amazing , perfect timing , and I have a lot of clients , by the way exactly at that point we just cut right after summer . We started that right , we did a good cut . We're now reverse dieting , guess what ? And that's either like kind of like now or maybe into like early November latest . But we're bringing you up . Why is that ? We want to be a maintenance there . We're not going to be in a deficit during Christmas or Thanksgiving .

Speaker 1 14:27

Like , no , like I want you to be a maintenance . We're going to have a lot of categories . I want you to go to the gym . I tell people all the time it's like when you have the Christmas dinner next day , get to the gym , like you're likely going to PR , like you're all you know , top top . You have a lot of energy right , lots of glycogen stored , like you're good . Use that energy . Go to the gym , go for a hike , do something that's active . But also be that person and we'll talk about this more down the road like as we get closer to Christmas . But hey , be that family member or that friend who says , hey , you know what like after a big fucking meal . You know what guys like . Let's go out and go to . You know , go for a walk or go into town for a little bit or have like a snowball fight or do whatever you want to do , you know , go skiing or sledding or whatever it is Like .

Speaker 1 15:16

Be that active person , like be the one who takes action and who's also not afraid of saying , hey , you know what ? Like let's just do something active , because fuck what someone else is going to think about it . And I'm saying this with the best intentions , because I my whole life , I care too much about what people would think . My whole life I spend , you know , thinking in my you know like , oh , I have a good idea , or I want to go do this stuff , or I want to suggest this . I want to say this , and I was too shy to kind of like mention it even and this is very unfortunate it's a very shitty place to be in . So I do get it .

Speaker 1 15:57

But let's break through that , because people like I mean there's going to be two reactions people maybe don't want to do it , or they do , great , cool . So 50-50 . People break your balls and they're friends okay , that's usually what friends do , but you still get to choose how to then respond to that and be like hey , you know , well , I'm going to go for a walk , you can join me or not , and that's cool . But if you are trying to do something for your health and you're like , hey , you know what , like I do want to do this stuff , or you know what , let's go to the gym Even if someone else doesn't want to go , be okay with that . Not everyone's going to like your ideas and this may be a little off topic , but it's going to come up right . So I already want a future pace .

Speaker 1 16:42

I want to kind of like mention a couple of things for you , because those little tips , they do help . Get to the gym , do something active . Just go for a walk . Even you know it can really help . Trust me , if you go for even a 10 minute walk after dinner , when you've had that big dinner , you kind of you know , get moving , you're going to feel so much better . So this is already a little tip for whatever holiday you're going to celebrate Now , getting into this right , like knowing what do we need to do to go in prepared .

Speaker 1 17:19

We want to make sure that you're going to go in stress-free , guilt-free , especially once you do have a little candy here and there . I can't wait for Christmas cookies . To be honest with you . It's like crack . They're super good . Christmas cookies and Christmas soda . I'm like I'm addicted . I will say I drank way too much Christmas soda last year . It was definitely it was like zero-cattery , but it was a lot . But okay , back to you .

Speaker 1 17:47

It doesn't have to be all or nothing . There is like let's call it YOLO on one side of the equation or one side

All or nothing thinking

Speaker 1 17:54

of the spectrum , sorry . And then we have completely optimal , right . Let's say , okay , bodybuilding like level , like professional bodybuilding , like getting on stage , strict , we don't have to be there and we don't want to be in YOLO mode either . Is it enjoyable ? Let's talk about that .

Speaker 1 18:12

On the YOLO side , people watching , like I'm making a spectrum here . We're like we have YOLO on the left which is let's just only like 100% enjoy , whatever . That's going to mean we're going to get drunk , we're going to eat only processed shit , we're not going to care , we're going to overeat , no limits , whatever . Okay , cool , that's going to fully benefit your enjoyment , kind of like wish , right , but it's by no means anywhere close to being good for your results and your goals . Cool , fair , and we have that out of the way . We need to look at the other end of the spectrum being like completely optimal for health , et cetera . Longevity goals where , hey , like , we're not going to have to cookie and we're going to just eat clean and whatever . Track everything , whatever . Okay , high in terms of what's optimal for your goals and how you're going to feel and whatever , but also a little right , it kind of takes away from enjoying . So we have two extremes . There's a whole lot in between . There's so much in between , and I always teach 80 , 20 , and it's a principle , it's a mindset . Let that be that mindset , let that be the goal .

Speaker 1 19:28

Going into this , and I quote a client of mine , or a past client of mine , who was with us in 2020 , I think even 2020 , yeah , 2020 , 2022 . And I remember him yeah , this was Christmas 2020 . He's like , if I need to worry about what happens between Christmas and New Year's , I think that says more about what happened between New Year's and Christmas . Right , it's like , hey , 80 , 20 , thinking longterm , those few days is it really going to make a difference or did you not really do your best the rest of the year ? Hey , by the way , it's October 3rd right now , time it is recording . You have a lot of time to prepare for this stuff . You can start doing your best . If you haven't started yet , that's cool , no matter where you're at . But let's make sure that we think of that spectrum being completely like YOLO . On one side I had used the words , but you know what I mean and then on the other side , it's completely optimal . Right , let's go 80 , 20 . Let's allow for flexible foods evenings .

Speaker 1 20:41

Are you going to track through Christmas ? Probably not . If you really like tracking , be my guest , but I'm always going to advise people not to , because you do not have to . That's for your fat loss phases . Tracking muscle gain , reverse diets . That's where we're tracking Absolutely 100% of the time , and then there's going to be a day here and there , or maybe we take a break Through Christmas when we're at maintenance .

Speaker 1 21:05

We're supposed to be at maintenance , you don't have to be . That's part of our program . We make sure that , hey , once you get back to maintenance , we're going to practice stepping away from tracking , because , hey , I want to see you do both . I want you to be on point with your targets when it's go time , when it's transformation season , but I also want you to show me hey , you know what We've tracked , we've used it . How much did we learn ? Can we slowly move away from it Because , guess what ? We're going to use a tool that we can apply when we want to and we can do without when we choose to , when the time is right , when the season is right , which is maintenance , and I like the thing that people are going to be at maintenance during Christmas . I hope that goes for you .

Speaker 1 21:48

So , first of all , preparation going into this , we have a couple months . We want to think of what makes the most sense in terms of your periodization plan . We need to start there , actually , because we could go in thinking , hey , I want to do these things and create this habit , whatever . It is Cool , but what is the goal ? What is the goal so we can work it back ? Reverse engineer , create a plan for you . Are you currently tracking ? If not , start right away .

Speaker 1 22:22

Learn how to track , use chronometer , don't even worry about any other app Chronometer . That's almost a way to go Chronometer first . Get a good grip of what you're currently doing and then start to make changes . If you need help with that , you go to Instagram at your investors on the score . Ocs Hit me up , happy to help and no , I'm not going to try to sell . You Just say , hey , you know what I listen to your Christmas podcast , or your holiday season I'm not sure what it's going to be called yet , but your holiday season episode . Hey , I actually need some help with macros . Hit me up , talk to me , let me know what you need help with . I mean it , I'm here to help . So let's start there . Start tracking so that we can look at hey , okay , you now know what's coming in and what needs work . Amazing , like I said , applying common sense , we do know that all those categories are going to count . We can accommodate for that , we can plan for that . We can make sure there's going to be plenty of your budget and , hey , if we do know it's going to be a big one , we can do a little bit of category cycling . We can do this . Multiple tools we can apply here .

Speaker 1 23:32

Practicing moderation is something you can already start to do . Now , again , we've talked about this . It's a few days and I know there's going to be candy at the office and whatever , and you're going to do Halloween with the kids , but we are still in control . And as much as this is difficult and I know there's a lot of people listening who struggle with this I used to as well . So I fully understand . But practicing moderation as much as also as grownups don't like those words

Training your moderation muscle

Speaker 1 24:03

. We all need to do this .

Speaker 1 24:07

If we don't flex and train our moderation skill or muscle , I should say we're going to have a hard time staying consistent and successful long term . You need to train that muscle and that moderation muscle will also allow you to sometimes be flexible . But too much , too little of anything , it's never good . It was being a sweet pot , that 80% Extreme ownership . I talked about this earlier . We need to know that whatever we do has a consequence , good or bad , and we just need to own that . That's cool , it's fine .

Speaker 1 24:49

Hey , if we decide , you know what , I don't care , I'm going to overeat , okay . If you're not sure enough , if that's your actual decision and you have thought about it and you choose to just go with the fucking mode , okay cool , there will be consequences , but go ahead . If you're like hey , you know what I'm not saying , right , I'm just kind of like painting pictures here . I'm giving you examples . If you're a person who wants to track I keep tracking and , by the way , maybe go from like , if you do really decide to do so , maybe go from macros to calories and protein . We just make it easier , right ? Okay , you're someone who really wants to track because they like the data , which that's how I am Cool . That's fine . Try it out . Maybe you like it , maybe you don't . Either way , we're going to learn something here . The whole list goes on .

Speaker 1 25:53

These were just two quick examples , but there's going to be we're going to have to play around stuff , guys and that's this whole growth mindset thing that I talked about that I want to get into now . Like it's that growth mindset ? It's figuring things out , being resourceful , being proactive with stuff and doing something , and not just being in that mode of doing , but practicing the process . What is the process ? And , by the way , I got this from the book mindset Check it out , but this is where I kind of steal this from . What is the process ? It's not just doing . It's , yeah , number one , it's part one is like doing the thing , but then , two , we collect information , feedback , data , and I want you to start doing this .

Speaker 1 26:42

So , before we even get into like , the next thing , doing , of course , right , we have multiple holidays coming up and I want you to be proactive here and I want you to put an actual effort into saying hey , you know what ? I'm going to do my best to not be strict . I almost bit my tongue there . Not be strict . I'm going to start practicing moderation , trying something new and kind of like there's going to be point here too , but like that's one doing the thing . The days are going to come up , do the thing , have a plan going in , but no , like I said , collect information , data review , and this is something you can already do , because obviously

Reflecting on past Holidays

Speaker 1 27:29

we're going to have to go through the thing and see how we do and then only afterwards we can think okay , cool , so this went well . Disney's more work .

Speaker 1 27:39

What should I do differently next time ? Guess what ? I think that if you think hard enough , you can visualize last year Thanksgiving , halloween , christmas , whatever it is . You can visualize and picture basically any , like you remember your last birthday or the last party you went to , or the evening out . Think about those moments , because they're not that different . Any holiday , vacation , birthday , whatever evening out , they're all pretty similar , all these special scenarios . It's going to be different than usual , it's going to be a little bit more flexible than usual , and that's okay . We're just trying to make better choices here , but as reflect on those moments , because that's like I can't give general advice here doing this podcast , because it's going to be different for everyone . Let's think about that . I want you to really reflect on this .

Speaker 1 28:39

Help pause this episode and then continue afterward . Put a timer 10 minutes , whatever . Go to YouTube , put on like 10 minutes . What did I look up again last week ? 10 minutes unguided meditation and then something with like white noise or music , just so you know , okay , as long as that music or the noise is going , you keep your eyes closed and you think about this stuff .

Speaker 1 29:02

I didn't mean it , though it sounds a little bit more out there , but try to really kind of like think about stuff and I know this works . This is how I kind of like overcome or work on business related stuff and my own fitness and content , whatever it is . I do this all the time . It works . But try it out , actually think about this . Don't just skip this step . Actually do this stuff , reflect and think , hey , you know , okay , cool . So last time , okay , ate a lot , okay , cool . But I ate my proteins first and my veggies . Okay , nice , okay cool . That went well . But I did kind of overdo it afterwards with the cookies again , or with the chocolate or whatever it is Okay , and I actually remember that before we even went , I already kind of had too much candy , okay , fair .

Speaker 1 29:54

So I used that as information to make a different slash , better decision this time . And these are the questions we ask our clients all the time , every single week . It's like every check . It's like , hey , how is your effort rated from one to five ? And why explain , right , what went well , what do we like ? What are we going to do next , next week or tomorrow , right ? Or next time in this scenario , to be 1% better and how will you make that 1% better ?

Speaker 1 30:26

Think about that stuff and I can guarantee that if you do this , like I said , it's a little bit . It sounds a little weird if you've never done this before , but if you sit down in silence and close your eyes for 10 minutes , I'm sure that you can visualize stuff and you can come up with , even if it's just one step that you want to take to try . And then step three because , like I said , I was talking about the process . Doing the thing is then reviewing , collecting information , data . Then , because we're here to learn with a growth mindset , I'm going to look and , okay , how will I achieve that ? What will I do ? What do I need to learn ? Who will I ask ? Because if we can't figure it out on our own yet , cool , let's ask someone who knows their shit . Feel free to hit me up . Let's go online and look for resources , and it's going to highly depend on whatever it is that you want to work on . Let's be proactive there . Proactive , that's the name of the game . Where are we currently at ? How many minutes in All ? Right , cool Last bit Periodization October , november , december .

Speaker 1 31:42

You might already know that we have a three-phase

Seasons of Nutrition

Speaker 1 31:45

system or strategy that we repeat , which is we prepare , we transform , we maintain when you're going to start , the way you're at currently . I don't know there's a lot of people listening to the podcast . It's going to be different for everyone . I want to break them down , though , for you , but typically we start people off in our coaching program in the preparation phase like hey , we're not going to be dieting , we are building habits , we are building momentum . Do you struggle with anything ? Is there any emotional eating involved ? How are you doing the weekends ? Xyz ? Do we need to up your protein ? Are you going to the gym yet ? Do you lift your weights ? Do you have a work program , like the storm and stuff , and we get a whole lot of stuff done .

Speaker 1 32:30

It's a very cool phase as well , because we really see people change their habits and like is where we start to work . But we don't just jump into a phallus phase , whatever it is . So , either way , I do recommend like , if you're completely new , let's start there . Let's start there , because I don't think you want to jump into a phallus phase now . If you're not ready and , by the way , if you already have been cutting whatever it is okay , cool , and maybe you do have you're tracking , all you have , it's in place , amazing , cool Then maybe look at a different phase , Maybe just maintain for the rest of the year . I have so many people just maintaining for the rest of the year . It's great .

Speaker 1 33:14

Even people want to lose more body fat . Guess what , when they then go into a cut and you know , come January their body's going to respond really well and they're going to have more muscle to reveal . So even though they are not dieting now , they are laying that groundwork . They're building strong , resilient bodies who actually they get to build the muscle , their metabolism is in a good spot , their hormones and I know there's a lot of buzzwords these days , but , like we need to be in maintenance , your body needs to achieve homeostasis , basically a state of balance , where it wants to be . You don't do that through under eating , and that also goes for your micronutrients , by the way . You need those , okay . So let's say you , at this moment , are right , october 3rd , you are ready to start a transformation phase , a cut , cool .

Speaker 1 34:06

I do want you to ask yourself the following question , and it's are you actually ready or do you want to start a fat loss phase ? Be honest with yourself Are you actually ready or do you want to start a fat loss phase ? There's a difference there . If you want to go in great October , november sorry , fat loss , crank calories up . First week of December , second week , again Boom , there you go . Maintain , hell , you can even jump to maintenance , but don't try to cut through Christmas .

Speaker 1 34:48

Go now , go hard for like eight weeks , take a break and you continue after new years . That is one way to do it . And then you maybe go for another month and then you reverse , diet back up . And I also want you to take this with a grain of salt , because I don't know where you're currently at . I'm just kind of like throwing ideas at you . Maybe , like a lot of my clients , you're at the till end of a fat loss phase or you're going to be soon Cool , good timing . Then let's reverse you slowly but surely , is that right ? Yeah , let's reverse you up , bring it back to maintenance , so that I mean , it kind of depends when you start . If you start now , you're going to be there like early November . If you're an enemy maintenance , if you start late October , that's still cool . Go like four to six weeks at least . Take it slow .

Speaker 1 35:48

It's not magic , but I will say , at the end of a fat loss phase , I've seen so many people do so much better when they are on point with that reverse diet . It's in my experience and I'm just speaking from my experience and I know there's discussions online , especially like bigger names in the space too , and it's like , yes , I know , but then again , these people are bodybuilders or people are GenPop bodybuilders . Sometimes I have to jump back up to maintenance . They have to do recovery diets to get super , super lean . Hey , we have a lot of people who are not there yet and also don't want to get that lean . They just want to get to a healthy body fat percentage . Guess what ? As much as it's sure , because I've heard this one multiple times now it's like you know , reverse diet is just kind of like more time and a deficit , so for that we are spending less time . Doing less time bulking Sorry . So for that we are wasting muscle . It's like a lot of GenPop doesn't want to be in a fat loss or , sorry , in a gaining phase for a long time . We will always push for like a lean gaining phase for a couple of months , 100% , but not until we are at like a healthy body fat percentage .

Speaker 1 37:00

So I want you to know if you're listening to the podcast . I know there's a lot of if and you know like conditions and different approaches . And if you're confused , hit me up , because this stuff nutrition , like it needs to be tailored to you . We cannot listen to a podcast and figure shit out . That is unfortunately how it is . We have many people listening and I can guarantee you that every single person needs a different approach . There's going to be similar things . You know stuff you need to work on , but then your struggles , your roadblocks , your face , your goals , your body , your diet history look , there's so many variables there . Okay , maintain is a great time . So if you're at the end of your cut , feel free to ride it out , depending on how long you've been going . Start to slowly go up , jump halfway in between where you entered your cut in the maintenance , make little steps , boom , there you go , and then to spend time and maintenance for the rest of the year .

Speaker 1 38:04

I have multiple people doing like three to four month maintenance phases , which , if you think about it , it's not even that crazy , because where should we be living life ? Not in a deficit . We need to be eating enough , and I preach this so much . And I still see people I have a lot of CrossFit friends at different CrossFit gyms Like you see , people under eat , even if they don't want to lose fat . They want to build muscle , they want to perform better Still under eating . We're still avoiding carbs for whatever reason .

Speaker 1 38:37

A lot of people who want to lose weight . But , like , let's make sure that we once again to kind of like recap everything , let's make sure that we go in with a plan and that we also incorporate in that plan lots of time eating enough . Also , if you want to lose fat , well , definitely , if I want to maintain , build muscle , perform , but also if you want to lose fat , we need to spend time and maintenance . There's no magic to any macro splits or food combination or meal plan or whatever it is , or exercise . It's about how well do you periodize your nutrition , how well do you stick to your weightlifting training sessions and do a little bit of cardio and you cover your bases when it comes to nutrition .

Speaker 1 39:27

But I think that's fat loss success really comes from spending enough time , eating enough , actually building muscle , actually feeding your body what it needs so that you don't feel a crap . All the time you have energy , your need is high , right , you're moving throughout the day . The more time you spend at maintenance , the better you will respond . If you do go into a deficit , guess what ? We have a bunch of people who are going to be maintaining . They're going to stay patient . Guess what ? January , a lot of them are going to be ready for round two and round two is going to look really , really good because they spend four months at maintenance .

Speaker 1 40:07

Now , I hope this gave you a little bit of insight . And then we touched on a bunch of stuff , a lot of general stuff . But I want you to

Outro

Speaker 1 40:16

know , hey , we can totally go in with the plan with the right expectations , knowing , hey , you know what . It doesn't have to be perfect 80 , 20 . But there are consequences . We do need to go in with the plan . We need to learn , remember the process . We always want to keep that growth mindset . Everything is figureoutable .

Speaker 1 40:37

Thank you for listening once again . I'm going to put this episode up right away because I'm a day late with our episode today . It happens We'll be back with a bonus episode on Friday . We're going to move that one too . Then I wish you a great holiday season , like a great Q4 . It's been super cool . I'm grateful for you listening to me ramble . Grateful for you dropping that rating or review . Spotify , apple . I'm grateful for you just asking questions , the Q&A episodes . I'm just stoked , I'm just excited . I'm very grateful to have that chance by sharing my passion for nutrition my responsibility also , like I said , and fitness and health with you . If you're still listening , thank you , I know that you're a real one and that you're going to bigger this out , that you're going to put this stuff into action . Once again , do not hesitate to reach out . If you do need more help , hit me up on Instagram and then we'll chat . Cool , have an amazing week . I'll chat to you on Friday again .