Are you struggling with stubborn fat loss?

Unknown food intolerances and/or allergies are huge contributors to stubborn fat. Often people come to us in despair because they’ve tried ‘everything’ to lose fat only to find they get to a certain point then get stuck.

Most people understand that in order to lose fat a few general concepts are required:

• Burn more than you eat (calories vs calories out)
• Reduce sugar intake
• Earn your carbs
• Limit processed foods
• Include adequate protein

However if you are eating something that is inflaming your body, the last thing your body is going to focus on is fat burning. So what do you do?

Do a ‘food elimination/introduction’ trial. We call this a ‘Nutrition Boot Camp’. For 14 days, avoid:

• All dairy
• All gluten
• All sugar, including fruit
• All alcohol
• All recreational drugs
• All processed food
• All soft drinks, juices, energy drinks

This will help your body break habits, re-set hormones, break addictions, and clean the system completely so that it is back to basics. Now this isn’t easy, and you will very likely feel like crap for a few days whilst your body is detoxing. You might experience headaches, have trouble sleeping, get the shakes, cravings, sweats and feel snappy (amongst many other side effects). This is all normal and is part of the detoxing and withdrawal. If you have even a bite of anything on the avoid list, you will need to start your 14 days again as it will re-trigger habits, addictions etc. But don’t despair, the crappy feeling only last 3-7 days, then you feel incredible.

Food to eat with each meal:

NB: These are general guides, and quantities will vary from person to person depending on their gender, body size and activity level. For more accurate portions it is best to have a personalised assessment with one of our coaches.

NB: Food weights are RAW weight of all foods.

Eat at least 4 meals per day to ensure you are going to be full enough to avoid snacking and not succumbing to cravings. Eat every 3-4 hours or so.

• Ladies – 100-130g of protein, such as chicken, lamb, beef, turkey, goat, fish, kangaroo etc. (equates to the size of the palm of your hand, width, length and thickness). This works out to about 2 whole eggs and 2 egg whites
• Gents – 130g-180g of protein, such as chicken, lamb, beef, turkey, goat, fish, kangaroo etc. (equates to the size of the palm of your hand, width, length and thickness). This works out to about 2 whole eggs and 3 egg whites
• Ladies & Gents – Choose a serve of good fats with each meal:
  • 1 Tablespoon (approx. 15g), Cooking Fats (Saturated – e.g. butter, coconut oil, ghee, lard)

OR

• 1 Tablespoon (approx. 15g), Cold Use Oil (Monounsaturated – e.g. Olive Oil, Macadamia Oil, Avocado Oil)

OR

• ¼ of large or ½ small Avocado (Monounsaturated)

OR

• 30g (your handful), Raw Nuts (Monounsaturated – e.g. almonds, cashews etc. not peanuts)

• Ladies – Starchy Carbs: (one serve post training AND one serve in your last meal of the day. It will help you sleep better) If it is a non-training day, then only one serve in your last meal of the day.
  • 370g (approx. 2 cups), Pumpkin
  • 180g (approx. 1 cup), Sweet Potato
  • 40g (1/4 cup), Rice
  • 40g (1/4 cup), Quinoa
• Gents – Starchy Carbs: (one serve post training AND one serve in your last meal of the day. It will help you sleep better) If it is a non-training day, then only one serve in your last meal of the day.
  • 400-500g (approx. 2.5-3 cups), Pumpkin
  • 180-270g (approx. 1-1.5 cup), Sweet Potato
  • 60g (1/3 cup), Rice
  • 60g (1/3 cup), Quinoa
• Non – Starchy Vegetables:
  • As much as you like, keeping within the 80/20 Rule – 80% Green and 20% coloured.

After the 14 days start by introducing one serve of dairy. One serve. Only one serve, then don’t have any again until after you completed the next step. Observe for 2-3 days post this one serve for the following symptoms: excessive burping, wind, stomach cramps, bloating, diarrhea, constipation, reflux, heart burn, headaches, skin changes such as acne, rashes or eczema. If you experience any of these, it is your body telling you it doesn’t like dairy and so does better without it. 4 days after your first serve of dairy, do the same experiment with gluten and observe. These are the 2 biggest culprits that we’ve have found. This is why we trial them with this process.

4 days after the gluten trial, you are then able to start introducing fruit back into your diet. Fruit will be part of the ‘starchy carbs’ category, so the above mentioned distribution is recommended. As a good guide to what is classified as a serve, whatever you can fit into your 2 cupped hands.

Alcohol, sugary beverages of any sort, and processed food (includes bacon), are all classified as treat food. Keep treat food to no more than twice per week.

At this point you should really see some serious movement in your weight and fat. You should see improvements in your sleep, ability to respond to stress, in how you are feeling with your digestion and toileting and feel generally ‘better’.

Just to re-iterate again, this is all a general guide which will help you kick start that stubborn fat and have you feeling better quickly. For a more accurate plan specific to you and your body size and type, book a consult with one of our coaches by emailing [email protected]

*This plan is ideal for omnivores. If you are vegetarian or vegan, a personalised plan is required to ensure sufficient nutrients and macros are covered to avoid deficiencies.

• Written by Coach Terri Batsakis