The Angry Typist

NUTRITION:

About 2 months in, this is the first week I have managed to eat an average of 1667 calories (Goal 1650-1750 calories) and consumed enough protein (Goal 100-125g).

PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES:

Simple but powerful question – Is This Heavy Enough (“ITHE”) is one of the most valuable tools that my Nutrition Coach had provided. Every time I wanted to default to what’s comfortable, I ask myself ITHE and I push past my comfort zone. Although I’ve been in CrossFit for almost 2 years now, it’s like the light bulb JUST went on and I am actually getting what ‘lift heavy’ feels like for me.

SLEEP:

Getting a minimum of 7 hours of sleep has been such a tremendous hurdle. To be perfectly honest it just seems to be an impossible task. I incorporated a hard stop for lights out instead of fu-fu-ing around and also had to consciously carve out time to wind down & decompress.

Q&A WITH NUTRTION COACH

QUESTION: How do I increase my total caloric intake if I can barely finish 600-700 cal meals now? 

ANSWER: Increasing calorically dense foods instead of eating more volume.

• Healthy Fats (1g = 9 Calories) vs Carbs & Protein (1g = 4 Calories) ie. Olive Oil, Avocado, Nut/Seed Butters
• Higher-Fat Proteins: Salmon, Ground Turkey (80% or 85% lean instead of 90%), or Add Whole Eggs.
• Dried Fruits vs. Fresh Fruit: Swap grapes for raisins or fresh mango for dried mango.
• More Liquid Calories: Protein Shakes with Coconut or Oat Milk for additional calories or Smoothies with banana, chia seeds, protein powder, and nut/seed butters but not drinks like juice that are just sugars
• RESOURCE: Eat What You Need 

QUESTION: Do I need to reduce my fat intake to lose more fat?

ANSWER: In menopause, the old strategy of Calories In/Calories Out just doesn’t work like it used to its much more complicated. We need appropriate proportions of protein, carbs, fat and fiber to balance blood sugar. Low estrogen makes it more difficult to keep blood sugar balanced so it requires more nutritional work at this stage of life. In addition to blood sugar balance, cortisol must be managed which is easier said than done. Stress releases cortisol. Not getting enough sleep releases cortisol. Exercise is stress – even though it’s a good stress, our bodies don’t know the difference and releases cortisol.

Chronically elevated levels of stress → Chronically elevated blood sugar → Harder to lose body fat

So, as much as it may seem reasonable to eat less fat or eat less calories to lose fat, out bodies translate the deficit as another stress which only backfires if the goal is to lose fat. 

CHECKLIST TO BALANCE SUGAR FOR FAT LOSS:

• Consistently eating enough calories
• Eat enough protein
• No naked carbs: pair carbs  with a protein or fat
• Increased Fiber – Fiber keeps blood sugar balanced, helps improve digestion and helps with cholesterol levels.
• Minimum 7 Hours of Sleep
• Strength Training: Lifting Heavy

QUESTION: Can you please explain on a high-level why eating more calories contributes to weight loss?

ANSWER: The key to successful body recompositing (fat lost, maintain/gain muscle)

1. eating enough protein
2. lifting heavy
3. enough sleep
4. eating for blood sugar balance
5. recovering from workouts

 Q: Are there any additional physical activities that I should add to boost fat loss over muscle loss? Or is this a matter of nutrition?

If anything, add more strength training and reduce the cardio. This is a great podcast on Crossfit during Menopause and how to look at WODS through a lens of lifting heavy.