Precision Nutrition introduced us to the traffic light eating method.

This system can help you define your own “green light,” “yellow light,” and “red light” foods based on how they work for you. Spoiler alert: “Red light” doesn’t mean bad.

Quality nutrition is important in choosing foods—but you also have to factor in your likes and dislikes, habits, goals, and mindset.

 

Green light foods = anytime, anywhere foods

These are foods you eat regularly and with ease. You can eat them normally, slowly, and enjoy reasonable servings.

A lot of whole foods usually make up most of this list, but your list may also have foods that you enjoy just because, in amounts that work well for you.

Nutrient density isn’t the only criteria here: Your “green lights” are foods that you enjoy, fit with your culture and lifestyle, and that make you feel great physically and mentally when you enjoy them!

 

Yellow light foods = “sometimes” / “maybe” / “smaller dose” foods

Your “yellow lights” are foods you might eat occasionally, with awesome caution or more mindfulness.

Maybe they trigger a bit of indigestion (but not a full-scale emergency trip to the restroom).

Perhaps you prefer to enjoy them in small, bite-sized doses. Or only on certain occasions, like out at a restaurant with friends.

It’s worth noting that yellow light foods don’t have to be “problem” foods.

 

Red light foods = foods you typically avoid, minimize, or make less available

Red light foods aren’t bad. They’re just foods that you choose not to eat (at least most of the time).

Here is why some Red light foods might not work for you:

• They don’t help you achieve your goals
• You tend to overeat them
• You’re allergic to them
• You can’t easily digest them
• You just don’t like them
• Ultra-processed foods often fall into this category since many folks find that, once they start eating them, they can’t stop. Some people even call them “trigger foods,” because after taking a single bite, they blink, and the couch is covered in Dorito dust and empty ice cream cartons.

This doesn’t mean you avoid these foods all the time.

You might not want to keep the freezer stocked with Cherry Pie, but perhaps you’ll happily enjoy a generous slice on a special occasion.

At the same time, so-called “healthy” foods can wind up on the red light list too.

If green beans makes you gag, put it on the red light list. ( who wants to eat foods they hate?)

If eggs cause you to break out in hives, that’s a red light.

If plain, baked chicken breast makes you feel like a deprived dieter, you guessed it—red light food.

 

Worth noting again: Just because it’s on your Red light list doesn’t mean you can never eat it again. In fact, unless you have severe allergies, it can be worth experimenting with now and then.

You might grow to love something you currently dislike. Or become better at eating it in moderation.

I personally have been able to move many foods from my red light list to my yellow light list.  Give it a go! You just might like their traffic light method.

“If all you do is go to the dentist twice a year, your teeth will fall out. You have to brush your teeth twice a day for two minutes to have a healthy mouth. “ Simon Sinek

Listen up: consistency over effort matters.

What does a trek to the South Pole or chopping wood have to do with weight loss? 

In both instances. It’s not the big pushes or the final swings that got results!!! It was the slow steady consistent effort with each day and each swing that made for success! 

Healthy sustainable weight loss is exactly the same way! Can we prescribe a crazy fad cleanse or diet that will get you to drop weight quickly! Yes! Will you see better health and sustain or maintain that weight!??? It’s not likely.  We’re not in the game for quick fixes! 

If you want to learn a healthy sustainable manner to lose weight join us for a Master Your Macros course/challenge!! 

pst……Are you confused or frustrated with trying to lose weight or understand what “diet” is right for you and your body?”

There are millions of diets claiming to be THE BEST and claiming to offer you THE BEST RESULTS.  

What we need to do is listen, learn and adjust.  

• Do you know what your body needs on a daily basis for both energy and focus? 
• How about if you want to perform better? What micros and macronutrients does your body need to support that? 
• How about if you’d like to lose weight?  How many calories should you be eating?

If you are unsure of what you personally need with YOUR goals in mind.  Join us for master your macros.  We will create a nutrition prescription that is designed specifically for you! – slide

How does birth control affect my weight loss journey? 

Could it be the reason I’m not losing consistently?

Short answer: yes.

Complicated answer: it depends.

A lot of women, specifically 18-30 take birth control and for a lot of different reasons. Yes, we are trying to prevent unwanted pregnancies, but it can also be used to help teenage girls regulate their cycles or control their acne. I did learn in a podcast, however, that until your early 20s, using it to regulate your cycle can actually be harmful to your cycle’s rhythm long term.

Birth control is super effective in doing these things, but it also has some huge risks, possibly the biggest one being putting you at an increased risk of cervical, liver and breast cancer. That should scare you.

Another side effect, though, is often an increase in body fat, specifically in the lower body and upper arms, and extreme difficulty losing fat in these areas even when increasing exercise or decreasing calorie intake.

I read a few case studies, and came across a few where the client had been on birth control for years went off of it, and their body fat decreased in two months, and that’s without changing anything with their exercise routine or calorie intake. Now, these girls were pretty lean to being with and didn’t have a super hard time staying in shape, but if they EVER went off track, they’d immediately backslide in a way that made it seem almost impossible to come back from. And if they tried to get leaner, like for a competition, they couldn’t do it.

A lot of the other side effects go far beyond physical health, and I’d argue that they’re worse.

First off, many women report a decrease in their sexual desire and arousal, and discomfort during sex. This is tough on us emotionally and can really strain our relationships, which as we know, can affect our physical health.

So what exactly causes these side effects? Hormones. If you are taking a pill, or have something in your body that is affecting your hormones, you are chemically preventing one of the principle functions your body is designed to carry out, and you’re doing that by altering your hormonal environment. Because everyone’s starting point is different, the pill will affect everyone differently. For some people (me), it’s terrible and I will never do it again. For others, like my sister, an unwanted pregnancy would not go over well, and she has no side effects. And for some, it’s fairly neutral, you use it for a time to prevent unwanted pregnancy or whatever you need it for, and then have an easy time transitioning off of it. 

So, even though they work great as contraception, you are still altering your hormonal set-up which has effects to your physique as well as your overall health. Interestingly, many women report a depressive and “down” mood when on birth control, and many of the symptoms we deal with are the reason that men’s hormonal birth control was actually denied approval by the FDA.

• Things that CAN happen as a result of birth control:
  • You aren’t losing weight no matter what you do exercise-wise or comply with your diet. This COULD be why.
  • The trade off of gaining a little weight or not being able to lean out might be worth it to prevent pregnancy, say for a college student or young professional.
  • Sexual desire COULD decrease which strains relationships and thus strains health.
  • It COULD be hard to lean out if you’re working really hard, and it also COULD lead to fast weight gain if you took a break from working out or eating clean, and you COULD see this reverse pretty immediately when you go off of it.
  • You COULD see a change in mood, just not feeling like yourself, feeling sleepy and tired a lot of the time
  • If you take progesterone, you know that feeling before/during your period? That’s how you ALWAYS feel

 

• What do I do?
  • Research what options are out there and don’t just go with the first things your doctor recommends, there are non-hormonal methods like the copper IUD or condoms
  • Not every birth control will give you every side effect. Some people do fine on the pill, but don’t respond well to injections, etc.
  • Remember: no bikini contest is worth an unwanted pregnancy, but no prescription is worth years of hormonal disruptions

Want fat loss? Want your clothes to fit better? FACT! Why should you strength train regularly ! 

1- Boosts fat loss! 

Muscle burns metabolically more calories than any other tissue on the body. Increasing muscle means you will burn more fat even when you’re sedentary

 

2- builds stronger bones! 

Weight-bearing exercise actually can strengthen bones so as we age this is super key for longevity and health! 

 

3- Reduces your risk of heart disease and diabetes. 

Building more muscle and maintaining it helps the bodies response to excess fat and carbohydrates. In turn reducing your risk of these lifestyle diseases

 

4- reduces your risk of injury 

Along with building stronger bones lifting weights build stronger tendons and connective tissue which intern can make you more resilient and resistant to small tweeks & sprains 

 

5- more lean muscle looks darn great and your favorite pair of jeans! Forget what the scale says lean muscle helps us to feel so confident in whatever we’re wearing because we look tight toned and fit! 

1 – CHEAT MEALS – 
You aren’t cheating anything – You enjoyed a calorie dense meal. That is it

2- You are what you eat?
Do I look like broccoli?
How about a bag of chips?

3- I have “fallen off the wagon?”
There is no wagon.
Our journey can take a lot of turns.
It does not have to mean that we are “ON” or “off”!
Find a sustainable plan not one that is so restrictive you feel like “falling off”

4 – She eats this and is shredded! So I should do the same!
What you need is unique to you.
Stop asking your friends “what their numbers are?”
Stop trying to eat what the influencers are.
Find what is right for you and follow that! 

5- I’ll be happy when… 
I get a six pack
I lose the weight
I get the promotion
We have to learn to find joy and happiness in the present and the process.  If we don’t we will find it illusive when we reach the goal that we thought would bring it! 

Summit Health has helped over 300 people find a better path to HEALTH, WELLNESS & NUTRITION!  300 people! Wow. And to think we are just getting started! 

We started out with 0 clients and right away 3 people showed trust, faith and confidence in our ability.  And the rest is history.  When we look at clients served it’s not just the 2500+ pounds we have helped people to lose.  Want to know what really matters to us…it’s 

• The confidence our clients have gained.
• The ability to run and play with their kids.
• The clothes that were sitting at the back of their closet that they finally get to wear!
• The photos they aren’t afraid to share of their beach vacation.
• The energy they have to slay the day! Everyday! 
• The quality sound sleep they have always desired but never attained.
• The millions of emails and advertisements that they get to scroll on by because they don’t need the “fat loss secrets” or the “secret supplement” because they have learned what a balanced healthy diet looks like FOR THEM! And they are LIVING IT! 

 

I’m not asking you…..I am ASKING you.

 

So many clients come to us ready for FAT LOSS and wanting to see immediate changes! We get it! We need changes. However … .If your body is not READY for fat loss no matter how hard we try, it will not happen. 

 

So how do we get ready?  

 

Regulate your intake and output.

Start by tracking your food simply to see what you’re eating each day.  Is it close to your daily needs?  Is it a roller coaster each day? One day SUPER HIGH and the next SUPER LOW?

How about output?  Do you hit the gym 5 days one week and none the next?

 

Just start by seeing where things are at and that will give us an accurate idea of where to take things to see progress as fast as possible.

 

How to feel great everyday and lose weight!

Breakfast – 30-50 grams of protein

Lunch – 30-50 grams of protein

Dinner – 30-50 grams of protein

A minimum of one snack / day 25-40 grams of protein 

Simple.  Focus on the macro that not only makes you feel fullest but also stabilizes blood sugar at the same time.

Effective.  Up to 30% of the calories in protein are burned in digestion so it’s the only macronutrient that aids in weight loss just in digestion.

Sustainable.  The noticeable increased energy and satiety will be so addictive you will never want to go back to your protein deficient days! 

“Thanks to Amie I just hit my goal weight this morning.  Haven’t been this weight for 17 years….and have been eating a little bit of Cheetos this week.” -Nicholas S

Nicolas has been crushing his nutrition as a busy entrepreneur for over six months.  when he started with Summit Health his biggest concern was being able to enjoy some treats all while reaching his goals.  He definitely has been able to do that!