This is a text I sent to one of my clients this morning. The backstory is that he is fit, athletic and was a longtime runner but hasn't been running since we began training (twice weekly) about a year ago. Our program is multi-format, high-yield and he's made a number of improvements (strength, anaerobic power, core, flexibility) but he had put on some weight a few months prior to commencing our training due to dropping off running and poor eating practices. The habits persisted so the weight stayed on too.
I looked over his intake and we agreed that he needed more protein and veggies, less late-day eating and could use at least one more day of exercise each week. He added a post-workout shake a couple of months ago and started including it as part of his breakfast on non-workout days as well. As is common when an athlete corrects a protein deficit, he felt a more consistent and controlled appetite and his energy improved almost immediately. And though the excess body fat (not much; I'd estimate his BF% is in the 22 - 26 range) has slowly and noticeably reduced, opportunity remains for him to both increase weekly calorie use and decrease daily intake. Because he (like many - you, perhaps?) tends to "backload" calories, I recommended he take these specific actions starting this week:
Shift the PRO shake to before or during (sipping slowly and perhaps alternating between the shake and water) the workout (WO). Because it's a liquid form and because ingestion will be very slow, it's highly unlikely he'll have GI issues (upset stomach, indigestion) as a result. When he follows the WO with a typical protein/carb-rich meal (eggs, V8 and a whole wheat bagel; overnight oats soaked in low fat milk with a banana, etc.), he should be in the neighborhood of 30-35% of his recommended daily PRO range (around 120g). This will also help stabilize his blood sugar (hunger curve) for the rest of the day.
He confided to me that his major opportunity for creating a calorie deficit was his indulgence in more pleasure-focused eating than purpose-focused eating, especially at night (sound familiar?). I recommended that he "front-load" his calories and taper as the day progresses, if actual hunger accommodates it. The tactic we discussed is to eat, roughly, 1/3 of his intended/patterned volume at dinner, wait 15-20 minutes, and then eat more only if he's truly hungry, and then only enough to take the edge off that hunger. Doing this consistently will also set up a more robust appetite the following morning that will encourage the practice listed above.
Add a third workout day as a repeating appointment in his phone calendar in the day and timeslot he's most likely to be available that complements our current schedule. For instance, I see him at 6:15am Mon and Wed. When he can't make one of those he usually requests a make-up for 6:15am Fri. So we found an easy, intuitive candidate for the repeating appointment. Why is this helpful? Because if you put it in your calendar, you give it the presumed equal importance of a work meeting or social engagement. Rather than simply forgetting about your intention, this forces you to address each instant by either following through, canceling or rescheduling it. But each instance has to be confronted individually, so following through becomes a more organic response over time.
Are these issues for you? Try the responses I suggested to my client and let me know how it goes for you!
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