SHOULD YOU BE COUNTING YOUR CALORIES?

Hi Hi Hi! 

I'm really excited to talk to you guys about this topic because I've been talking to my clients about this a lot more lately and it's been one of the biggest and easiest factors in their weight loss journey. 

Okay so you guys know how I'm going to school to be a trainer right now? YEAH. School to be a PERSONAL TRAINER. Ever heard of it ;) Honestly, I hadn't. I thought you just took a class online and then got certified and then BAM, you're a personal trainer. 

Turns out that thats what most trainers do which is why most trainers actually aren't very good but - that's a different post. 

Anyways - I go to school at Show Up Academy here in LA and I AM OBSESSED WITH IT. My coach is super dope and VERY knowledgeable which is where this whole concept of counting calories came back into my life. 

So like 5 years ago, I was horribly OBSESSED with counting my calories. I put myself on a strict 1,000 calories a day diet while working out because - well - I was an idiot haha and I'm pretty sure I had body dysmorphia. 

Once I realized that I had an obsession with counting calories every second of every day, I did my best to stop, and let myself eat according to what felt good. Ever since then, I stopped counting calories and really just tried to pay attention to the ingredients that were in the foods I was eating. 

I think because I already had a good idea of the calories in most things that I was able to choose super healthy things and not feel like I was over eating them, AND THIS is where I notice a lot of girls are confused today. 

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A lot of girls are on the "counting ingredients" train. Meaning - a lot of us are eating things that are healthy and trendy like non gmo, organic, all natural etc, which is GREAT, but because it's healthy doesn't mean that we can eat endless amounts of it. 

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This is why when clients come to me and tell me that they eat super healthy but they aren't losing weight...as a matter of fact they're GAINING weight, I ask them to do a food log for me. 

The food log consists of logging your macronutrients (carbohydrates, fats, and protein) plus calories for 2-3 days. And NO cheating!

I want to see it all!

The almond milk in your coffee, the olive oil on your salad and in your sauteed veggies, plus the 1 glass of wine and 1 small bag of chips you had after dinner. 

THESE ALL HAVE CALORIES! We like to make up rules when it comes to food and say that "this doesn't count" or "this is basically like 0 calories" haha, it's actually pretty funny when you think about it. It's like mmmm nope! Pretty sure that olive oil just added an extra 130 calories to your daily intake.

Or when we say "I just had hummus. Hummus is healthy!" Did you eat half of the container? I think I've probably done that before, it's pretty easy to be honest haha and it's also like 350 calories. Also did you eat it with about 13 gluten free crackers? That's another 140 calories. 

I'm not saying that any of this is bad AT ALL. I'm just suggesting that maybe we should consider paying closer attention to what the calories are in the foods we're eating if our goal is weight loss. Because if it IS, then a hummus and gluten free cracker snack that is 490 calories is something we need to be aware of, ya know?!

And I hope that I'm not coming off like I'm some kind of saint because I'm not haha. Doing a food log is very humbling even for me! I'll go a week or two thinking I'm eating cleaner than I am and doing a food log always brings me back to reality. 

So it's not so that we can look it over and beat ourselves up over it, it's just so that we can be aware of what were doing and change it if necessary !

Here's what I suggest:

Download this food log that I created and fill it out for 2-3 days! (You'll want to print multiple copies, I'd say 1-2 per day). If you have a cheat day, fill out the food log, if you have a super clean day, fill out the food log, if you have a day where you didn't have much time to eat and your energy sucked all day, fill out the food log. 

This will give you an idea of what your range is :)

After you fill it out, e-mail me at info@chelseyrosehealth.com and we can discuss what to do next! I can help you figure out how many calories you should be eating on a day to day basis depending on your goals, and I can help you figure out what to start removing from your diet in order to make weight loss happen smoothly :)

OR - just start with the two week reset cleanse!! All of my clients have noticed results with this cleanse so this is a great place to start :)

That's all for today! I hope the food log helps you out :)

X

Chelsey

WHY YOU'RE STILL GETTING BLOATED, EVEN AFTER A HEALTHY MEAL

Okay, does this ever happen to you guys?

I work late nights at a Hotel cocktail lounge and sometimes it just gets so insanely busy that there is NOOO time for a break. There's hardly any time to breathe let alone think about food. 

I'll get slammed for like 4 hours straight and then as soon as I have a second, I'll run to the guys at room service (they love me) and see if they can make me a salmon salad. Then I'll go back out to the floor and bust my ass for another 15 minutes then I'll run and get my food and bring it back up stairs with me where I try to grab a bite ( or 5) of it in between all the other shit I'm doing.  

I get a 5 star meal packed with the best protein, the best veggies, butter lettuce, goat cheese and a lemon vinaigrette and eat it like a starved dog without any recollection of how it smelled or tasted. (Sometimes if I'm feeling really slutty I'll throw in a pretzel roll with basically a stick of butter and just die and go to my own little heaven for a second). 

I hardly (aka NEVER) feel satisfied after eating like this and then THE WORST PART, I go home two hours later with a fucking food baby the size of a football and just wonder to myself...

HOW THE EF, am I so bloated?!?!

I probably just walked 10,000 steps, I haven't sat down in at least 6 hours and I ate a SALMON SALAD Jesus Christ I just CANNOT. 

SO. with me going back to school and all to be a health coach (holla at me ;) ) I'm learning A LOT. There is so much info that I can't wait to share with you guys but for today, we're talking allll about this eating healthy, staying active, and still getting bloated situation, because it's pretty effing annoying. 

Here's the main thing that we are all doing wrong and some tips on how to fix the problem, for good. 

EATING UNDER STRESS

The number one, worst thing you can possibly do if you are trying to avoid getting bloated. When we are stressed our brain can't differentiate from 'real life about to be swallowed by a shark' stress versus 'short staffed hectic night at work' stress. 

All it knows is that it is in a fight or flight mode. So when it comes to stress and our digestion, there's a few things that happen here. 

First, our blood leaves our stomach and get's pumped to our arms and legs (essentially, to run if we need to) and causes our body to NOT try and focus on digesting ANYTHING. It's only thought is to RUN. Nothing else. 

So our nervous system turns our stress on, and our digestion OFF. 

So right off the bat we know that if we want to digest anything we need to be relaxed. A good analogy for this is basically any other culture other than Americans haha. 

This shows that WHAT we eat is actually just 1/2 of the equation. HOW we eat is the other half. 

I even decided to test this out the other night after learning all of this amazing information. I was at work, hungry, but not busy. I decided to go grab a pretzel roll with butter and a salmon salad just to have something to munch on and I ate it over the course of about 30 minutes. 

I didn't get bloated, i felt satisfied and I didn't even feel too full. I FELT AMAZING. 

So the question that we all need to focus on is HOW do we focus more on staying in a calm state while we eat so that we don't overeat, become bloated, and cause in digestion?

Try these 6 tips next time you sit down for a meal and see how it QUICKLY helps you and makes you more aware of how you really feel. 

1. HAVE A 20 MINUTE MEAL.

Okay NO MATTER WHAT, from here on out, I want every meal you have to take 20 minutes. Next time you eat something, just turn the timer on on your phone, eat normally, and turn the timer off when you're finished. 

You might be SHOCKED with how quickly you we're able to put down a meal haha, I usually hover around 10 minutes.

Next time you eat try to just make sure that you add 5 minutes to your eating time. Do this until you've hit 20 minutes and then repeat that for 7 days and notice how different you feel. 

When we eat too quickly, we don't give our brain and our stomach enough time to make the connection that we are eating. So we stuff our faces with all this food and then BAM. ALL OF THE SUDDEN our brain realizes what is going on and tells us to STOPPPPP. 

At this point we've already over indulged and if we're in a stressful environment or ate while we were internally stressed, then alll that food is going to sit there until your body feels like it is safe. THEN it will start the digestion process. 

If we eat slowly over a period of 20 minutes, we will be able to properly work with our body and allow it to signal us if we are full or not. 

2. PUT UTENSIL DOWN 3 TIMES DURING A MEAL

This will help you hit your 20 minute mark. Have a few bites and then set your fork DOWN. JUST CHILL the ef out for a second, okay?! Make this your goal, maybe even make it 5 times! This will help you to eat less instead of having one bite in your throat with another bite in your mouth and another bite on your fork. 

3. BREATHE BETWEEN BITES

Okay, this is interesting. Oxygen helps to speed up the metabolism. I know this makes sense because when I work out, I'm hungrier throughout the day and I usually always go to the bathroom more regularly when I work out. Just FYI. 

There's actually something called Villi (Pronounced VEAL) in our intestines that's PRIMARY job is to absorb nutrients and it does this by extracting large quantities of oxygen to break down a meal. 

• When the blood lacks oxygen for the villi to pick up, the nutrient absorption decreases. 
• When the blood has plenty of oxygen, the nutrient absorption increases. 

SO BREATHE in between your bites. This is basically the OPPOSITE of what I would do while I was stuffing my face with salmon behind a wall at work so, I'm working on this too haha. 

4. CHEW YOUR FOOD AND EAT WITH YOUR SENSES. 

Did you know that your digestive process actually begins in your mouth? Your mouth starts releasing enzymes that break down your food which is why REALLY chewing each bite and USING your sense of taste and smell is so important. 

When food is inadequately broken down, it can easily pass through your GI tract without absorbing the appropriate nutrients. 

ALSO did you know, there's actually a muscle at the base of your stomach that CONTROLS the passage of food into your small intestine. You know how we relax that muscle? SIMPLY CHEWING. So just chew that ish. 

5. EAT UNTIL SATISFIED, NOT FULL.

Why the hell do we eat until we're too full anyways when we KNOW we HATE the way it makes us feel? Well one, it's a habit. And because it's likely that throughout the day or the week, we are constantly depriving, denying, disconnecting and dieting. 

Once you start the "20 minute meal" like we mentioned above, you'll notice at a certain point that you actually are satisfied and you'll probably start moving away from getting SO full. 

Next time you go out to eat with friends, play the "slowest eater" game with yourself. 

Just be the last one to finish your plate and I bet that 1. you'll notice how FAST everyone around you eats, and you'll notice that as the dinner goes on, you won't finish your food or you'll realize you weren't quite as hungry as you thought you were. 

Keep me updated on how you feel after trying 1 or all of these tips!!

XX

THE SMOKING TREND IS OUT

I feel like people used to be attracted to cigarettes as quickly as they were attracted to a dope bomber jacket. It just became a statement piece, weird right? Like this outfit would be perfect if onlyyyy I had a cigarette. 

Over the last couple of years I feel like the trend has definitely died down, like a lot. I remember when I used to go visit my grandparents and their house would just REEK of smoke. I swear, now when anyone even walks through a house with a cigarette in their hand I can sense it.

Our older generations we're definitely in the cigarette scene but like I said, times have changed... I mean the box even states SMOKING KILLS on it now. YIKES.

I personally CANNOT STAND the smell. I've just never been into it. When someone smokes I can smell it on the breath, in their hair, on their clothes, in their car, on their hands...EVERYWHERE.

What's interesting though is that smokers actually begin to lose their sense of smell and taste so they really don't understand how overwhelming it can be.

Not only that but smoking drys out your skin which eventually starts to make it look grey because there is a lack of oxygen supply in the body. 

They also cause MAAAAJJOR wrinkles, causing you to look much older than you really are and they turn your teeth and your fingers yellow :(

Smoking is one of the biggest forms of preventable death. By smoking you increase the risk of cancer in your mouth, esophagus, liver, kidneys and you have an increased risk of cervix cancer.

What really bothers me about cigarettes is that when I look at it, I have NO EFFING IDEA what's in it. I do know though that it is packed with carbon monoxide, you know, that thing you have an alarm for in your home? Because if you inhale to much you can die in about 3 minutes.

Carbon monoxide basically high jacks your oxygen and completely robs you of your red blood cells. As soon as carbon monoxide grabs ahold of these cells, you can NEVER get them back or repair them, no matter what you do. 

On the up side though, red blood cells only last about 4 months so IT IS POSSIBLE to stop the habit in it's tracks, and create a new you!

Smoking is a serious issue that a lot of people are hooked on. I totally understand that it would be hard to quit, especially if you have been doing it for most of your life. for most people it is a serious way of relaxing, relieving stress, and having something to do for 5 minutes.

A lot of people like to smoke on their break, or in their car, and unfortunately, a lot of girls have turned to smoking to resist the urge to eat since smoking reduces your appetite.

This is what I call "a quick fix", and I'm not for those.

I don't think you should pick up a new bad habit for a short term result because that bad habit will have even longer lasting BAD consequences than good ones. 

if you're feeling like you have a problem snacking too much or feel like you just want to lose a little weight, drink 24oz of water in the morning and eat 3 pears + 2 oranges and tell me you're not full. 

Eating things with fiber and drinking plenty of water will reduce cravings, curb your appetite and promote weight loss + give you ENERGY while making you feel full. See? Not that hard, and your not trashing your body and your beautiful hair and skin with toxins.

If you don't smoke right now, PLEASE don't start, you will just start chipping away years on your life. If you do smoke now, try something new everyday to quit. 

Smoke less for the first few days, then tell yourself that you're done. Get nicotine packets or start exercising to help keep it off of your mind. This will start adding years to your life!

You can do it!

xoxo

Chels

CARB TIMING: BEST TIMES TO EAT CARBS FOR WEIGHT LOSS

So after a lot of research looking into all the reasons why it’s bad to eat carbs right before bed, I found that it actually ISN’T as big of an issue as people make it seem.

There are reasons why eating A LOT of carbs right before bed isn’t a good idea but it’s not absolutely necessary to completely cut them out. Eating a ton of carbs right before you pass out for the night isn’t recommended because carbs give you energy, which you don’t need a lot of in order to dream for a few hours. Also, when you eat right before bed you may not get a GOOD nights sleep because your digestive system is so busy breaking down a large meal.

But the bigger issue is that most people eat TOO MANY carbs at night and the WRONG KIND so it’s just easier to cut them out all together and replace them with proteins and veggies. It’s also easier on your stomach when it comes to the digestion process. 

• As far as eating in general... you want to avoid processed foods and simple carbs. 
• As far as eating before bed... you want to have a light meal.
• So as far as eating carbs before bed........ you want to keep it light and you want to enjoy COMPLEX carbs.

Simple carbs = Basically anything white. White bread, white rice, white sugar, white pasta, white potatoes....

Complex Carbs = Multi grain/seed/whole grain bread, brown rice, quinoa, lentils, whole grain pasta, sweet potatoes...

Personally, I can’t sit at home and make pasta and tell myself i’m only going to have a 1/2 cup so I just don’t make it. I stick to the proteins and veggies because I like knowing that I’ll wake up with a flat stomach after a good night of sleep and I can have carbs in the morning and have all day to burn it off, BUT, to each is own.

So this made me curious about when the best time to eat carbs really is, and why! 

I came to find that we want to be consuming our carbs when we have high levels of insulin.

Our insulin levels are high when our glucose storage is depleted. So for example, when we first wake up our glucose is depleted because our bodies used it all night long to run our basic survival needs. MEANING, it’s a good time for carbs!!

When we eat carbs during times that we have high insulin, our muscles act like sponges and slowly take in all the energy and nutrients from the carbs.

Now say we were to eat carbs right before bed, if our muscles are already stocked up then the insulin will just turn the carbs into fat and store them somewhere.

So can you think of two other times that you might have high insulin levels and can get away with enjoying the hell out of some carbs?!!

BOOM. Yes. Before and after a workout.

It’s a good idea to have them before a workout because while you’re working out you are burning through all of your glucose storages. By having some complex carbs in your system, your body will have more to work with and will allow you to power through a workout without feeling dizzy.

After a workout, you are SPENT. You used up some to ALL of your energy and your muscles are ready to be fed. A few carbs here won’t be anything but helpful to you!

So for those of you who love their carbs and just can’t seem to find a way to make them love you back...try this :) 

My Examples: (I like to do cardio on an empty stomach first thing in the morning so on some days, my Wake up meal also acts as my post workout meal.

Wake up: 1 piece multi grain toast with 2 egg whites, basil , sun dried tomatoes and avocado.

If I go back that day to work out again whether its weights, a class, or more running, I make sure to have my pre workout snack

Pre Workout Snack: 1/2 cup oatmeal with granola and almond milk

Post Workout Snack: 1/2 cup black beans, steamed broccoli and flax seed chips.

Visit chelseyrosehealth.com if you would like to purchase one of my meal plans OR email me at chelseyrose.health@gmail.com if you would like to talk about working together to set you up with your very own personalized 4-12 week meal plan and fitness guide :)