Become a Nutrition Ninja

A Proven Method For Losing Fat

Without Losing Your Mind

By Betsy Pake

 Copyright © 2015 Betsy Pake
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any
form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical
methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.
ISBN: 1522905235
ISBN-13: 978-1522905233

To my husband, Craig, who believes I can do just about anything and in doing so, makes me
believe it too.

To my daughter Olive who shows me that being yourself is the best (and really only) way to live,
even when it’s scary.

And to my sister Amy, who always answers the call and helps guide my crazy ship into the next
port. My life is so awesome because you all are in it.

Table of contents

1. Introduction- Why Your Current Diet Doesn’t Work

2. Flexible Dieting Defined
3. Weigh, Track, and Measure
4. Your Macro Prescription
5. Hitting Your Numbers.
6. Adjustments to Your Macros
7. Weekly Evaluation
8. Supplementation
9. Move It

 Download the FREE Workbook To Get Started!

To help you on your journey, download the workbook to develop your own plan, record your baseline and
find foods to help you hit your goals.

CLICK HERE TO GET ACCESS

Or head to http://www.Betsypake.com/MacroGifts

 Chapter 1:
Introduction – Why Your Current Diet Doesn’t Work

Are you tired of the constant struggle between food and your waistline? It seems like a losing
battle, wanting to make the right choices and feeling like you have no idea what those choices
should be.

Heading into a bookstore, you’re overwhelmed by diet books that tell you to do one thing and
others that tell you to do the opposite. It’s hard to know what will work, and if you aren’t having
success immediately, you may start to wonder if you’re on the right path.

There’s a way to eat that doesn’t restrict your choices, gives you energy, and helps you build
your metabolism. You don’t have to cut foods out of your life and define your choices as ‘good’
or ‘bad.’ This book will tell you about this other way.

I lost close to 75 pounds 13 years ago, so I understand the frustrations of feeling lost and
confused when it comes to what to eat and how often. I found the way to beat the fluff—and
keep it off—using the method I’m about to share with you. Over the past three years, I got lean,
fed my muscles, and obtained the aesthetic look I was after.

I’m a Precision Nutrition Certified Coach, and I’ve learned how our bodies work—specifically
so I could help other people do what I’ve done. I’ve helped people who are new to exercise start
on this plan to help support their efforts and build the body they want, and I’ve helped people
who exercise regularly take their fitness to the next level by incorporating the system you’ll read
about in this book.

By following this approach to eating, and evaluating your progress, you’ll finally get the results
you’ve been working so hard for in the gym. Nutrition is such a big player in our body
composition, so to leave this piece out is to essentially make the decision to stay the same.

This book isn’t full of science and won’t be a biology lesson. My goal isn’t to teach you in detail
the why and the how of food and nutrition but to provide a simple framework for you to follow
to create a customizable, flexible dieting plan for yourself.

I hope this book helps educate you and allows you to start thinking about your relationship with
food and how it fuels your body. Everything I share here is an attempt to increase your
knowledge and give you a road map to create success for yourself, but you may find you need
more. If you need additional help and accountability, you can seek out my guidance through my
Nutrition Ninja program or find accountability with a friend.

I’ll teach you the basics of how metabolism works, what a ‘macro’ is, and how to calculate,
count, and track macros daily. You won’t have to worry about eating the wrong thing or whether

you’re headed in the right direction. You’ll learn what fuels your body best, the effects food has
on your performance, and how to adjust your macros along the way.

 Chapter 2
Flexible Dieting Defined

You have probably tried a variety of different diets in your adult life, trying to find a program to
follow that not only works but that’s sustainable as well. You may have heard the term ‘macros’
or ‘IIFYM’ or ‘Flexible Dieting’.

I first want to explain what Flexible Dieting is and why I believe it can be the tool that changes
not only your body composition but the way you view and make decisions about food. You may
have heard about ‘macro counting’ and perhaps seen pictures on social media of people eating
Pop Tarts and ice cream even while claiming to be dieting. These images have helped create the
misconception that those who follow this way of eating just sit around and eat crap, without any
regard to health, so Flexible Dieting hasn’t been seen as a serious way to get lean for life.

Although those foods aren’t off limits to us, it’s not that simple.

Flexible Dieting, as I like to refer to it, has actually been around for years—specifically in the
bodybuilding arena, where 'dieting down' to show off hard-earned muscle is the
goal. Nowadays, people are interested in Flexible Dieting not just for aesthetic reasons but as a
method to fuel them for sp
ort, change weight classes within their sport, and hit goals they’ve been unsuccessful in reaching
before.

I prefer to refer to this way of eating as ‘Flexible Dieting’ because, although we’re ‘counting
macros,’ it’s really about being flexible in our eating habits every day while making choices that
support our overall goals.

So what is it?
Flexible Dieting is the practice of tracking and adhering to a prescribed amount of
macronutrients (‘macros’)—carbohydrates, fat, and protein—so your body can achieve optimal
performance. You may wish to do this for a specific sport goal or simply for aesthetic reasons,
but whatever the case, we follow the same program guidelines.

Our bodies need both macronutrients and micronutrients to not only survive but to thrive.
Vitamins and minerals are micronutrients that play a role in our body function and help keep us
healthy and energized. These micronutrients are only needed in small quantities and can taken in
through the food we eat or by supplementation.

Macronutrients, on the other hand, are needed in large quantities, and they make up all the food
we eat. Whether the food is seen as ‘healthy’ or ‘junk,’ all of it is made up of macronutrients.
Macronutrients fuel our bodies and provide the energy needed to not only keep our bodies alive

but to fuel us for the activities we do all day long.

Most foods are made up of a percentage of all three macronutrients (carbohydrates, fat, and
protein), although some foods are ‘single macro foods,’ like oils and butters, which are simply
fat sources. I want to describe each of these macronutrients so you have some general knowledge
of what they each consist of and how they work inside our bodies.

Protein:
Think of your body as a house made of bricks. The bricks are amino acids—the building blocks
of protein. In fact, other than water, your body is mainly made up of protein (with some fat and
minerals mixed in!). Our body is constantly breaking down those bricks in a process called
protein synthesis. If we don't get enough protein in our diets to rebuild those bricks again, the
body will begin to use muscle for this purpose. When that happens, we are using up more
protein than we are building, and our whole house can begin to crumble.

Our bodies are pretty kick booty and can make a lot of amino acids on their own, but some of the
amino acids we need to keep our house strong we can only get from food. These are the so-called
BCAAs (Branch Chain Amino Acids), and we can only get these from our diets!

BCAAs are involved in many recovery and metabolic activities in our bodies, but the thing that
makes them different is this: most other aminos must pass through your gut and liver before
being sent out into the rest of your body, but BCAAs are absorbed directly into your blood
stream! BCAAs help make new proteins, give you energy, AND help kick-start protein
synthesis.

What does any of that mean? It means that if you don't eat enough protein, your body can't
support the structure you already have and, as time goes by, you get farther and farther from your
goal. This is the reason for our focus on protein in Flexible Dieting.

Here are some other reasons why protein is so great:

• It helps you feel more satiated.

• Eating protein burns more calories than it takes to process fat or carbs.
• It helps support our muscles and aids in building more muscle. (More muscle equals burning
more calories during the day.)
• If you don’t eat enough protein, your muscles can’t support and rebuild themselves.

Some examples of high-quality, condensed protein are chicken, fish, protein shakes, tofu, and
eggs.

Carbohydrates
Our bodies need carbohydrates to function—for our brains to run properly and our muscles to
have energy to do what we need them to do. Food is an energy source, and when you’re working
hard, carbohydrates are necessary for optimal performance.

When we eat carbohydrates, they’re processed and some are used immediately for energy.

Leftover carbs are stored as glycogen in our liver as a source of energy to be used later. Whether
you use this energy immediately or store depends on how active you are. The more you move,
the more you deplete these sources and leave less to be stored for later. Because of this, athletes
who are extremely active, like marathon runners and triathletes, tend to have a higher need for
carbohydrates than someone who is less active.

There are two types of carbohydrates: simple and complex. Simple carbs are foods and
beverages that are super quick to process and provide an immediate source of energy. Simple
carbs are things like sugar, molasses, sodas, and candy.

Complex carbs are foods that generally ‘stick to your ribs’ and cause you to feel fuller. They
typically have more fiber and are broken down by your system more slowly, so you stay full
longer. Complex carbs are things like grains, oatmeal, vegetables, and potatoes. Beans are also a
complex carbohydrate, although they contain a small amount of protein, too.

You may have heard the phrase, ‘Fat burns on an oxygen flame.’ This means that the metabolic
process it takes to burn fat requires carbohydrates to perform properly. For all these reasons,
carbs are your friend, but we’re going to discuss how to manage them so they work for you in
accordance with the amount of your daily activity.

Here are some reasons why carbohydrates are great:

• They provide your body with energy to stay strong through the day.
• They feed your brain so you can sleep better, think better, and be in a better mood.
• They can help keep you full and have less calories than fat per gram.

In addition to vegetables, breads, grains, beans, and fruit, sugars are carbs too, so soda and candy
are included on the list!

Fat
Fats have such a bad reputation, yet they’re so necessary for proper metabolism—including fat
burning. Fat is a source of energy but also acts as a lubricant for our joints and helps keep our
hair, nails, and skin healthy. One thing fat doesn’t do is make you fat. (Read on.)

Some good sources of healthy fat are avocado, nuts and seeds, and oils (like coconut oil and
olive oil).

Pro tip: Remember, not all foods are one-macro foods. In fact, most are multiple-macro foods
such as avocado, which is made up of protein, fat, and carbohydrates.

Years ago, food marketers made us believe that fat was bad and introduced dozens of ‘fat-free’
products to the market. And what happened? We got fatter. Not because we were eating fat but
because we were taking in more calories, including additional sugar and carbohydrate sources,
than we could process and use.

So what’s the answer? It’s simple: Eating the right amount of carbs, fat, and protein every day, If
you eat too many calories overall, you’re going to store it as fat. It’s not just fat sources that

make you fat or carbohydrates sources that make you fat. It’s too many calories overall that
make you fat. You must provide your body enough protein to carry out protein synthesis and
maintain your muscle while covering your carb and fat needs without taking in extra. Sound
complicated? Not at all.

Eat fewer calories and lose weight

So does it matter what you eat? Is a calorie just a calorie? Yes, the choices DO matter but not in
the way that you think.

There are many different types of carbohydrates, and your body processes some much more
quickly than others. The slower the carbohydrate digests, the longer you’ll feel full, will have
better energy, and will feel more satisfied. For example, if I eat 35 grams of carbohydrates from
a Pop Tart, is that the same as eating 35 grams of zucchini? Once your body processes it, it’s all
used the same way—for energy—but the zucchini is loaded with fiber (not to mention vitamins)
and will help keep you feeling full, possibly preventing you from taking in too many calories
later on when you get the munchies.

The typical diet cycle and why Flexible Dieting is different

Typically, when people decide they want to diet, they begin by drastically cutting their calories,
whether it’s cutting out an entire macronutrient family (like carbs) or reducing intake all around.
This creates a cycle that causes them to get fatter and fatter.

There are a few basics to know about metabolism before we get started discussing how Flexible
Dieting is different. Our rate of metabolism matches our food intake. This is why we remain at
basically the same weight, month after month, even while eating differing amounts of calories
each day. If you aren’t counting your macros now, have you been relatively the same weight for
the past few months or even years? You may experience ups and downs daily, but your trending
weight over time is the same. Your metabolism is matching what you’re providing to your body
as calories.

Because of this, when we drastically lower our caloric intake, our weight will drop and we’ll feel
motivated and excited to keep on our diet. We probably have no idea of the kind of weight we’re
losing—Is it water, fat, or muscle? There’s a window after we dramatically begin reducing
caloric intake during which our metabolism still matches the caloric intake we’ve had for years.
However, soon our rate of metabolism drops to match our intake, which is now much lower.

What happens next is the demise of all good weight-loss intentions. We can’t sustain this amount
of fewer calories for long, and soon we start to increase our caloric intake. What happens then?

Not only do we gain the weight back that we lost, but we’ve created a situation where our rate of
metabolism is now aligned to our new, lower caloric intake. When we increase the amount of
calories we eat, we gain even more weight than we had before.

To top it off, our muscles have been compromised by not being provided the proper fuel
(protein) to sustain and build them. This means we’ve lost muscle, which in turn lowers our
metabolism even further.

Muscle loss decreases our metabolism and muscle gain increases our metabolism. Muscle loss,
combined with the change in your metabolism, creates a terrible cycle that gets repeated over and
over, pushing you farther from your goal. You put in a ton of effort to lose weight, but you get
the opposite result you were looking for.

Let’s turn that effort into a focused plan and create something that works.

Tracking your daily intake of protein, fat, and carbohydrates is the key to ending this mad cycle
and starts you on a path in which you’ll see the transition in your body composition that you’re
after. It’s not complicated, but it does take some understanding and planning, initially. In the
next chapter, I’ll explain the ins and outs of weighing, tracking, and measuring to assure success
on this program.

 Chapter 3
Weigh, Track, and Measure
Now that you have a good idea of what Flexible Dieting is and what happens in a typical diet
cycle, I want to go into the details of tracking and measuring, which is a staple of the Flexible
Dieting program.

Let’s start by talking about how to track changes in our bodies and then I’ll go into the specifics
about tracking our food.

To know where you’re going, it’s a good idea to know where you are right now. I suggest doing
a number of things to document your starting line. This isn’t only so you have some great before-
and-after shots to show off to your friends but also so that you have a true baseline for
comparison as you move through your macro journey.

Being really focused on a goal is the key to achievement, but it can also cloud your vision when
evaluating where you are, so plan on creating a baseline document with your basic stats to get
started. You can download a baseline worksheet that I’ve created for you at
betsypake.com/macrogifts

Pictures:
Let’s start with pictures. Pictures will be key to tracking your progress as you go along. Photos
are important because, although we’ll be tracking on the scale also, the scale doesn’t always tell
the whole story, and pictures can save the day when it comes to your motivation and seeing
success.

Set up a place where you know you can take weekly pictures to save for comparison. Women,
get into a bikini or sports bra and shorts, and men, shorts or boxers work well. You want to be
able to see your body—specifically your thighs, hips, stomach, and upper arms. Take pictures
from the front, side, and back. If you can, have a friend or family member take them, so you get
your entire body, from your feet to the top of your head. Or, if you prefer, find a full-length
mirror and get the shots that way. Try to take the pictures weekly in the same outfit, at the same
time of day, and in the same place to assure consistency of lighting for accurate comparison.

You may prefer to take these photos while wearing shorts or a one-piece swimsuit, but I
encourage you to get shots where you can really see yourself. Remember, you don’t have to
show these pictures to anyone else! After a few months of working hard, you’ll be thankful to
have these photos for easy comparison and without having to struggle to see parts of your body
to compare.

Body measurements:

A great way to track progress is by taking body measurements. If you decide to go this route,
make it easy on yourself and pick three or four areas to track. If you try to do too much, you
won’t be consistent. Choose areas like your upper thigh, waist at your belly button, upper arm,
and chest. If you use markers like your belly button, it will help you be more exact with the
weekly tracking and prevent errors in measurement. Having the measuring tape an inch or two
higher or lower on your leg could lead you to believe you’re making zero progress or even
moving in the wrong direction. Make helpful notes and always measure in the same spots on
your body from week to week.

Body fat tests:

If you’re unsure of your body fat percentage, which is the amount of fat you have in relation to
the amount of lean body mass (i.e.; muscles, organs, bones), you may want to consider getting a
test. Some people like to get really precise and have a body fat test done. This is up to you,
because I have a way for us to calculate your body fat for the sake of your macro calculation
without the use of body fat test results. If you like the idea of having a test done, I want to
compare some of the options available out there so you’re educated on your choices.

There are multiple ways to have this test done, depending on where you live. I’m going to go
over a few options and you can pick the best one for you. Remember, this isn’t required and you
can still have tons of success with Flexible Dieting without having this information. This is just
another tool that can help you assess where you are and measure your results as you proceed to
where you want to be.

Body fat home scales: These are scales you can buy online or at a variety store. You program in
your height and age, and it weighs you and calculates your body fat percentage. These scales use
bioelectrical impedance, which means they send a safe, very low, electrical current through your
body. The current flows quicker through water and muscle than it does through fat. The scale
measures the speed that the current goes through your body and gives you a body fat percentage
based on that speed. I don't typically find these to be very accurate. The results can differ based
on your level of hydration, your muscle percentage, and other factors. Because muscle is so
much heavier than fat, if you’re muscle dense, this can throw off the calculation.

Gym fat calipers: You may have seen the little calipers used by personal trainers. These
measure the skin fold thickness in specific target areas on your body—usually the front of your
quad, back of your arm, and torso—and the skin fold measurement is then used to provide your
percentage of body fat. It’s extremely difficult to get an accurate reading if you do these
measurements yourself, so you need someone else to do it. Also, I don’t find them to be very
reliable because, with each reading, the target area may be off by an inch or more and provide a
completely different result than the previous test. These are better than nothing, but not the ideal.

Bod Pod: The Bod Pod is a service, typically found in larger cities, in which you wear
compression gear and sit inside an egg shaped ‘pod.’ The Bod Pod results are based on Air
Displacement Plethysmography (ADP) technology. Air pressure changes in the pod are
translated into a calculation that tells the technician what your body fat percentage is.

Hydrostatic weighing: This is typically thought of as the Gold Standard of body fat

measurements and is done by measuring your weight out of water and under water. You’re
completely submersed in a tank of water that has a mechanism for weighing you. You blow out
all the air in your lungs once underwater, your weight is measured, and an exact amount of body
fat, lean tissue, and your range for base calories is provided to you. This is my favorite way to be
measured, as I think it’s the most accurate and easiest.

Dexascan: These scans are typically done in a clinical setting at a hospital or university. A
Dexascan reports not only overall fat percentage but also its distribution throughout the body.
The scan is relatively easy, as the person simply lies on a table in tight-fitting clothes and is
‘scanned,’ similar to having a full-body X-ray. This is typically more expensive than the
hydrostatic weighing option but gives accurate results and a more in-depth report on fat
distribution throughout the body.

Whatever way you decide to measure, be sure to have follow-up tests using the same method.
Don’t jump from calipers to a Dexascan and think that will provide an accurate measure for
comparison. If you don’t want to measure, that’s okay too! I think, for most people, taking
pictures and visually seeing results and improvement is enough.

The tools of the trade

When you’re ready to calculate your macros, you need proper tools to do it right. There are a few
basics that you’ll need, and they don’t have to cost a lot of money. In fact, many times, the
simpler the better, so there’s nothing to learn or ‘figure out.’

First, you need a food scale. This doesn’t have to be anything fancy, but it must have the ability
to weigh ounces and grams. The only additional feature that will make your life easier is a ‘tare’
feature. This is what allows you to put a bowl or plate on top of the scale and zero it out so that
you’re truly only weighing the food in that bowl or plate. I like to have a scale small enough that
I can stick it in my purse or bag for use when I’m on the go. This comes in handy if you’re eating
out or traveling and want to be able to track on the road.

You’ll need a body weight scale. Depending on whether you weigh in for your sport in kilos or
pounds, you may want to be sure it has both features. Be sure that it’s digital and weighs you to
the ounce. For example, you’ll want to know whether you’re 130.2 pounds, not just 130.

When you start tracking your macros, we won’t be ‘guessing’ about how much a serving is or
measuring with measuring spoons and cups. Everything will be weighed. A tablespoon of peanut
butter is 33 grams, and this information is given to you on the nutritional label. If you tried to
measure a tablespoon of peanut butter, you’d probably go over every time. I know I can manage
to balance a LOT of peanut butter on a tablespoon and pretend I haven’t gone over! Weigh
everything from coffee creamer to peanut butter, and you’ll have success.

When using a recipe, you can still count everything and eat with your family. I typically try to
weigh my protein separate from the rest of the recipe if it all possible, since protein is so
important to my program. We’ll talk about apps to use for tracking in a bit, but know that many
of them have a function that allows you to input a recipe or even the URL for a recipe and it will

automatically calculate for you, making it super simple to track even when you have a family to
feed.

All meat, fish, and chicken should be weighed raw. The protein content per ounce will be
different when protein is cooked because much of the water is cooked out. Be sure to weigh your
protein raw or, if you forget, use the following calculation to determine its cooked weight:

Raw weight x (1.2 for med rare) (1.5 for well done) = cooked weight (this is what you track)

If you’re weighing chicken, the variable is closer to 1.4 or 1.5, and rare steak is closer to 1.1. If
you eat at a restaurant or buy something precooked, track it in your app by searching for the food
as a cooked option, searching for the specific restaurant, or using the nutritional label for the
cooked product to determine the weight and macro count.

The last tool that’s essential is an app or other way to track your macros. This, of course, can be
done in a notebook, as I did back in the ‘90s, but a much easier and simpler way of doing it is to
download an application to your phone that allows you to track throughout the day.

The two applications I typically see people using are ‘My Fitness Pal’ and ‘Macros+.’ These can
be accessed through their respective websites or on your phone, and both allow you to enter in
your own items and add recipes, and both have a community functionality so you can see what
others are eating (if they choose to share) and watch their progress (and cheer them on!).

My Fitness Pal: This application is free, but the paid service will allow you to put in your
precise macros by gram as well as to create specific days on which your macro goals may be
different. You’ll see foods that are ‘verified’ within the app, and those will be the ones you want
to choose when possible. A great feature of My Fitness Pal (MFP) is you can create your own
foods, but be watchful, because this feature creates the opportunity for items to be created
incorrectly and added in the database. So, choose verified foods when you can or use the scanner
to scan the nutrition label of the foods you eat. You can track workouts in the app, but most
tracking apps will calculate the number of calories you’ve burned, and add them back into your
calories and macros available to eat for the day. So be aware if you track workouts that you
aren’t eating up the calories that you’ve burned since we are trying to create a deficit for weight
loss. The premium version is also ad free, which helps visually when working inside the app.

Macros+: This app is $2.99 but doesn’t have a monthly service fee. You can adjust your macros
higher or lower for specific days when your macro goals may be different. As with MFP, you
can create your own foods and recipes inside the app and track your daily weight. You can also
tag foods as favorites for easy tracking inside the app. Visually, I think Macros+ has a better-
looking interface and online format, but take a look at both and see what works best for you.

Whichever one you decide on, be sure to use it daily. The key to success is to track every single
thing you eat! Whatever you put into your mouth, it goes into the app—gum, supplements, and
any food. Track it all!

Pro tip: Track all your food before you eat it. If you wait until after, you may find you ate more
than your prescribed amount, and there’s nothing you can do about it! Many newbie macro
counters will plan out their whole day the night before so they’re assured to hit their goals and
are able to plan for meals at work or when on the road.

 Chapter 4
Your Macro Prescription
Are you ready to dig in and get to the meat (no pun intended!) of this program? I’ll start off by
cautioning you that this is as much an art as it is a science. The steps I give you will help get you
started, but you’ll have to pay close attention to determine what’s working and make adjustments
along the way. You may have already seen some ways to calculate your macronutrients maybe
on a Pinterest post or from a friend, and each calculation was different. No need to worry. I have
the secret formula and I’ll share it with you in an easy-to-follow process.

When I first heard about counting macros, it was over 20 years ago and I was competing in my
first bodybuilding competition. I had no scale and no real way to successfully track, as there
were no apps or even an Internet.

I had a big, thick, paperback book that had macro breakdowns for a variety of foods, and I was
able to successfully get lean for a competition just by paying attention to how my body was
changing and make adjustments as I needed them.

Now, with all our tools, gadgets, and tracking devices, the path to perfect macro calculation is
easier than ever! The key is to strictly stick to the plan and to have the tools to get the job done.

Before we can determine how much of each macronutrient you need, we have to understand how
many calories you burn daily. Our goal is to keep your intake of calories as high as we can while
still causing you to lose body fat. There will be no dropping calories to see a quick weight loss
because doing that causes all sorts of problems, as you may have seen with your previous diets.

We want to:
• Keep those calories high so we keep our metabolism high (remember our metabolism
matches our calories).
• Slowly burn fat while feeding our muscles enough protein so we don’t lose muscle mass;
this also keeps our metabolism burning hot.
• Give up the dream of super-quick weight loss in which you’re promised flat abs in 30
minutes. That doesn’t happen.

We’re developing a plan for the long haul, and building this way will be worth the effort. We
build a plan we can stick to. That’s how you’ll see improvements and results that last for years.

Step 1: Determining your base calories

Your baseline caloric intake is the amount of calories needed to keep your body at the same
weight with the same activity level you have right now.

To calculate this number, we’ll use your body weight and multiply it by a number between 10
and 14. The multiplier depends on your daily activity level and will determine your daily calorie
intake.

Choose 10 , 11, or 12 if you live a pretty sedentary life. These are some things to consider to
determine if you’re in this category:
• You work a desk job.
• You go the gym a few times a week for low to moderate activity.
• You’re over 35.

Choose either 13 or 14 if you’re much more active, training for an event, or have a job that
involves physical activity. Here are some things to consider that put you in this category:
• You’re young (under 35).
• You’re training for an endurance event.
• You lose weight pretty easily.
• You have a job that’s physically demanding.

Be honest with yourself about what your activity really is, but recognize there isn’t that big of a
difference between the two options as far as your baseline calories are concerned, So don’t worry
too much about it. Just pick a number and stay with it throughout this exercise. You’ll start to see
how it all fits together after you’ve been ‘in the field’ practicing for a week or two.

Pro tip: If you’re obese, you’ll want to use your goal weight as your baseline number to
calculate from. Be realistic and keep in mind that you want to keep your calories as high as you
can while still seeing progress each week. If you do this right, you’ll have ‘room to move’ to
create more of a deficit as we go along.

Speed isn’t the game with macros; consistent effort and success over the long haul is. So don’t
pick a 10 just to see quicker results. It doesn’t work that way. You’ll be halted at plateaus and
possibly lose muscle if you don’t allow yourself enough food.

Now that you have your baseline, we want to think about your goals. If your goal is to lean out or
‘cut’, you need to lower your caloric intake so you create a deficit that results in fat loss. If your
goal is to gain weight, you do the opposite.

To lean out

If you’re looking to lean out, you want to subtract calories from your baseline. You don’t want to
reduce these too quickly. Remember, our metabolism matches our intake, so we want to slowly
reduce calories to avoid a drop in metabolism. Start with a 150- to 250-calorie reduction per day
if you’re looking to do a lean out. Never drop your calories to under 1,200 daily.

To increase the speed of our efforts, we’ll add in additional cardio to further create a deficit.
HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training), LISS (Low Intensity Steady State Training), and MISS
(Moderate Intensity Steady State Training) are the best ways to do this, and I’ve provided some
exercise options in Chapter 8 for you to use. By including this additional training, we can create

a greater deficit by burning 200 to 300 calories per workout session.

To Bulk
If you’re looking to add muscle mass, or ‘bulk’, there’s no reduction in calories; instead, you add
450 to 700 calories to your daily intake. In a bulking phase, no cardio is added and any current
cardio will be stopped.

Let’s go through an example together

Stacy weighs 175 pounds and has a goal weight of 145. She sits at a desk all day at work and
tries to attend a fitness class two times a week. She’s 33 and has two kids. She’s generally active
after work and busy around the house. Stacy would start with a multiplier of 11 to determine her
base calories:

175 x 11 = 1,925 calories

Stacy would eat 1,925 calories to stay at her current weight. It’s her ‘baseline’ to maintain. But
she wants to lose, so she needs to subtract 200 calories, giving her 1,725 calories daily. She’ll
also add specific cardio workouts. These workouts will burn 300 calories during each session.
She now has a deficit of 1,400 calories a week from food and burns an additional 2,100 calories
in exercise, for a total of 3,500 calories, which results in her losing a pound a week.

Step 2: Determining how much fat, carbs, and protein are right for you
Now that you have your baseline calories calculated, you need to determine how much of each
macronutrient you should be getting daily. This is what will guide you in all your food-related
decisions throughout the day and what you’ll put into your app or tracker as your ‘goal’ so you
can keep tabs throughout the day.

Protein
I always start with protein, because I believe it’s the most important of the macros when
calculating what I eat every day. You want to be sure you’re taking in enough protein to cover
the lean body mass you have and to build muscle from the exercise you’ll be doing daily.

We want to start with enough protein to cover our lean body mass, at the least. In our example, if
Stacy knows her body fat percentage is 30%, she knows her lean body mass is 122 pounds.
She’ll need to have at least 122 grams of protein every day to support that lean tissue.

If you don’t know your body fat percentage, we can still calculate for you using the formula
below. Although it’s great to be exact, it’s not necessary, and you can have excellent results by
taking an educated guess and following some of my guidelines.

Choose your goal weight, or a weight that you felt good at in the past.
• If you’re a woman, multiple that number by 18%.
• If you’re man, multiply by 13%.

Take your goal weight and subtract the result of the above calculation. This is the number we’re
going to use for lean body mass.

Let’s follow Stacy on her macro calculation, assuming she didn’t have a body fat test done.
Stacy weights 175 and is unsure of her body fat percentage. She knows when she was 145 she
felt really good and fit, and she chooses this as her goal weight. Stacy multiplies that 145 by 18%
to get 25.2

She then takes her 145 goal weight and subtracts 25 from it. The result is 120. We’ll calculate
using 120 as Stacy’s lean body mass, which is used for macro calculations.

To Lean out:
For step two, we multiple our lean body mass number by 1.15 to get the number of daily protein
grams we need to consume.

Pro tip: Don’t calculate your protein using your body weight. This is generally too much
protein for your kidneys to process, and it leaves less carbs and fat available for your next
calculation. Stick to your lean body mass and go from there.

Bulking

If you’re in a bulking phase and are looking to add some muscle, you want to set your protein
goal higher. Move this number closer to your goal weight but keep in mind that any abundance
of calories—from whatever source—can cause weight gain. You want to be sure you’re being
realistic about how much muscle you can gain for the amount of time you’ll be bulking and set
that number accordingly.

Carbohydrates

Next up is … the dreaded carb! I know you’re probably trying to remain open, but, in the back of
your mind, you’re terrified that you’ll be forced to eat a bunch of carbs and gain weight in the
process. You’re afraid of eating carbs at night for fear the Insulin Fairy will come into your
bedroom as you sleep and make you fat.

None of this will happen.

Can you get fat eating carbs? Yes! But you can get fat eating protein if you eat too much.

We’re building a system for you that creates balance among the macronutrients so you can build
the body you want. There’s no need to fear any individual food or macronutrient family, and I
hope, as you go through this process, you start to change your mindset around food and the
power we’ve given it.

In deciding your carbohydrate number, take into consideration your daily activity level. If you’re
training for a marathon, you need a different amount of carbs than if you’re training for a
bodybuilding competition. Our bodies take carbs and turn them into energy to use now and also

that’s stored for use later. If we’re running a long distance, for example, we want to have energy
stored in our muscles as glycogen, and eating carbs is how we build that storage.

To calculate your carbs, take your body weight number and multiply it by a number between 0.8
and 1.2. Don’t use your lean body mass; use your body weight. If you’re obese, use your goal
weight for this exercise.

If I’m trying to bulk, I’m going to use the higher number to calculate my carbs. If I’m trying to
lean out, I’ll use a lower number.

To continue with our example of Stacy, she’s 175 pounds and wanting to cut weight and get
more lean. She needs to multiply by 0.9, which results in 157 carbs. She should start out with
more carbs (using 0.9) and see if she has success, and then have room to decrease the amount if
she needs to.

If you’re an endurance athlete, start with a higher carbohydrate number and adjust as needed.
We’ll go over tweaking and adjusting in Chapter 5, so don’t worry about getting everything right
on the first shot.

Fat

Now that I know my protein number and my carbohydrate number, I need to calculate my final
macro, which is fat. Fat is different from the other two macros in that it’s more calorie dense.
Both protein and carbs have four calories for every gram, whereas fat has nine calories per gram.
For example, if I eat 50 grams of protein, that would be the equivalent of 200 calories of protein
(50 x 4 = 200). However, 50 grams of fat equals 450 calories (50 x 9).

Let’s go back to Stacy and her macro calculation.

Stacy had a baseline of 1,925 calories. We wanted to create a deficit, so we moved her working
calories to 1,725.

We determined her lean body mass to be 120, so we gave her 138 grams of protein.
138 grams x 4 calories = 552 calories of protein daily.

We determined her carb intake should be 157 grams daily.

157 grams x 4 calories = 630 calories of carbs daily.

Using her working calories number of 1,725, 552 (protein calories) + 630 (carb calories) = 543
fat calories.

Using nine calories per gram for our calculation, we use her calorie number of 543 and divide by
9 to get 60 grams of fat.

Stacy’s macro prescription is:

P: 138 gms

C: 157 gms
F: 60 gms

Now that you have your macro nutrient profile set up, all you have to do is get to work. The real
benefit of macro counting is when you’re doing the work—every single day.

Flexible Dieting requires some time to see progress, so don’t start on your new macro profile and
decide on day three that it’s not working. If you’ve been eating a diet higher in fat and lower in
carbs, you may notice changes in how you feel based on the increase in glycogen storage, water
weight, and sense of fullness after eating. Don’t make ‘willy nilly’ changes mid-week. Commit
to moving forward and track your macros so you’re within three grams, plus or minus, for each
macro at the end of the day.

Give yourself a chance to focus in, hit your number, and then, at the end of the week, objectively
evaluate your progress. If you’re going over your fat macro every day by 10 grams, your results
aren’t going to be indicative of the macro profile you created. You must plan ahead and track
before you eat to be on schedule. Resist the urge to constantly change and recalculate. It won’t
benefit you. It will slow down your progress and make the whole process that much more
confusing.

Once you begin, don’t change anything until you have a full week under your belt. The more
closely you track, the more you’ll get a real feel for how your body reacts to the foods you chose
and what progress is being made. If you have trouble with this, you may find it helpful to seek
out a coach or accountability partner to help you stay on track and persevere. Don’t
underestimate the power of having to report in to someone else and having another person who
isn’t emotionally involved make recommendations for your success.

Remember that everything that goes into your mouth must be tracked and counted. Even sugar-
free gum has carb macros, as do some medications (Nyquil, for example, contains 19 carbs) and
supplements. Once you’re on a regular routine with this, it will become second nature and easy
to follow.

Don’t get discouraged the first week or two. The transition can be hard, especially if it’s very
different from how you typically eat and keep track of your food. Being able to think about food
differently—as an energy source. Not having any food off limits can truly change your
relationship with food long after you move on from counting macronutrients.

 Chapter 5
Hitting your Numbers
Once you’re started on your macro plan, you may find situations come up that you’re not sure
how to handle. It could be a night out with friends, tracking alcohol, or just plain being hungry.
We’ll talk about all those things and I’ll provide you with tools to help create a plan you can
build on so you stay the course and achieve your goals.

You’ll be chugging along, counting like a pro, and really getting into the swing of things and
then a friend’s birthday party comes up! What do you do? Everyone is meeting for drinks and
you don’t want to abandon the program. You know you have to have a plan to be successful.

Alcohol is tricky because it’s actually its own macronutrient category, containing seven calories
per gram, but, for Flexible Dieting, we’re going to calculate this a little differently. Regular
consumption of alcohol can slow down your progress and make your weight loss lag. Plus, it’s
empty calories, providing no nutritional value. The beautiful thing about Flexible Dieting,
though, is that it allows you to be flexible when you need to.

You have two options when tracking alcohol, and we aren’t going to use the label on the bottle!
You can take either the::

• Total number of calories per drink divided by 4 = track this amount under carbs
• Total number of calories per drink divided by 9 = track this number as fat

If you use an online tracking app for your phone, you should have the option for ‘quick add
calories’ in the diary. Add in the number for your carbs or the number for your fat. Keep in mind
this will add up quickly so you must plan ahead if you expect to have some drinks when you go
out. Typically, there’s only room for a drink or two without going completely off plan.

Pro tip: Planning is always the key to staying on track! It’s when we fail to have a plan that
decisions are made that take us off track from our larger goal. When you plan to have alcohol,
it’s even more important that you know what your choices are ahead of time. We’re more
vulnerable when drinking, and we’ll make decisions about our food intake that we normally
wouldn’t under other circumstances!

Hunger
Hunger can be a miserable situation if you’re Flexible Dieting. Things may go well as you start
eating your way through the day, but soon you notice you’re running low on available macros
and there’s still loads of day left! When your stomach is growling, it can be hard to stay focused.
The longer we Flexible Diet, the more likely we are to run into the hunger issue. The best way to
deal with hunger is by adding more volume into your food choices. The more volume, the less
hunger. The foods to choose will be foods full of fiber—like veggies, especially beans—and
always drinking lots of water!

Fiber plays an important role in the body, not just in creating a feeling of fullness but in gut
health as well. Your body can’t absorb fiber, and that’s one of the reasons it’s so awesome.

There are two types of fiber: Soluble and insoluble.

Soluble fiber turns into a gelatin-like mixture in your stomach and slows down digestion,
keeping you feeling full longer.

Insoluble fiber doesn’t digest at all, so it helps in stool formation so you can get the waste out of
your system easier and quicker.

Many food sources contain both soluble and insoluble fiber, so we want to focus on our overall
fiber number.

Fiber is a carbohydrate, and you want to plan to have at least 25 gms each day for women and 38
gms for men. When tracking this in your app, you should be able to see the fiber intake for the
food you’ve logged. This can help in your planning and is a good way to be sure you’re staying
healthy and eating wholesome foods as your carbohydrate sources. Remember, Flexible Dieting
can include Pop Tarts, but they shouldn’t be the majority of your macro intake!

Flexible Dieting is about more than just fitting in your macros. It’s about increasing your health
and changing the way you view and use food. Because fiber can help tame the hunger monster,
it’s a win-win addition to your diet.

 Chapter 6
Adjustments to Your Program
I know I’ve said it already, but it’s important, so I’m going to say it again: Please don’t go
making all sorts of changes to your program willy nilly! You need to give it at least a week of
being consistent and hitting your macros exactly before you can assess if it’s working for you or
if you need to tweak your macro balance.

Once you have a good routine and you’ve been making progress, you WILL find you need to
adjust the macros. It could be that you’ve stopped seeing progress for a few weeks or your body
weight has changed to such a degree that you need to recalculate. Now we’ll talk about some
reasons to adjust your macros for your training and how that will affect your progress.

Training and non-training days

You can change up your macro profile based on training days and non-training days. This can be
done to motivate you to get your workout in because it allows you to eat more on those days, but
it also provides more fuel for you to push through your workouts.

Training days are the days you’re lifting weights for more than 20 minutes or endurance training
for more than an hour. On those days, you can increase your carbohydrates by a small amount,
typically 40 to 150 calories. Remember, we’re still trying to create a deficit, so you don’t want to
eat as many calories as you burn in the workouts. However, you want to be able to push hard and
have the energy to get through those tougher workouts.

Choose your number based on how hard you’re going to work out and for how long. Take the
number of calories and divide by four to determine the additional grams of carbohydrates you’ll
consume. Remember when I said that counting macros can be more of an art than a science? This
is one of those times. Everyone’s body reacts differently, so it’s important that you’re objective
and making decisions rationally! This is where having a coach or someone who’s on the path
with you can really help out.

Rest days

On days when you’re not working out at all or not weight training, lower your carb and/or fat
intake. Generally, if you’re working out and you don’t need all that fuel, reducing your intake is
a good idea. Make these adjustments based on how you feel and the energy you have and require
on those days. Some people choose to keep their macros the same on off days to maintain a
regular schedule, stay sane, and be able to plan and fuel themselves for the next day. It’s up to
you if you want to adjust these downward, but I recommend doing so slowly and evaluating your
results to guide adjustments for the next week. Again, it’s not necessary to adjust on non-training
days, but it’s an option if you’re looking for different results in your progress.

Refeed days

Refeed days are critical for mental health and to keep your body happy with the fat loss.
Refeeding means we increase our carbohydrate number for that day. Doing this increases those
glycogen stores and raises our hormone levels to balance out our metabolism. I like to wait at
least two weeks into the program before adding in a refeed day, but it depends on what you’ve
been doing with your diet and where you are mentally.

A refeed should generally be done weekly and on the same day of the week, if at all possible.
Plan your refeed on a training day if you work out in the afternoon or the day before if you work
out in the early morning. Keep your protein and your fat the same, while increasing your carbs
by 50% to 100% of their current level. This number will be lower if your goal is to lean out and
higher if your goal is to add bulk.

When we increase our carbs in this way, we trigger our leptin hormone. This hormone helps
regulate hunger and metabolism and triggers our brains to know when we’re full. When we
deplete our bodies of calories, like when we are working to lean out, our brains recognize this
drop in leptin and will increase cravings and hunger. If you notice you’re having increased
hunger that doesn’t subside for weeks, it may be because of your leptin and you may need to
have a bigger refeed than your typical weekly refeed.

There have been times when I’ve had clients who were hitting their macros dead on for weeks,
but were suffering with a lot of hunger. We were aware that their calorie level was high enough,
but I suspected leptin levels had dropped. Adding in a few days of refeed was necessary to put
the hunger at bay and get back to making progress.

Whether you add in a refeed, make adjustments, or tweak for weight loss, remember everyone is
different. Make these adjustments specific to you, but once you make a change, move forward
with it long enough to know if you’re making progress. Don’t change your mind mid-stream.
Move forward and evaluate weekly.

 Chapter 7
Weekly Evaluation
Each week, you need to stop and evaluate where you are and determine if you need to make any
adjustments. In the beginning, as you’re learning more about macros and working to hit those
numbers every day, you may feel a bit lost. You may even gain weight. Check in with yourself
and the list of possible reasons that your weight may be fluctuating before you panic. Learn to
hit those numbers dead on for days in a row before you assume you’ve calculated incorrectly.

There are a number of ways we can evaluate—we weigh, track, and measure, as mentioned in
Chapter 2. This is where you start to put that into practice. Start your program and then, each
week, evaluate where you are, what you could do better, and what you’re going to adjust for the
week ahead.

There are three things you’ll evaluate:

1. Picture progress
2. Scale
3. Feelings

Pictures:

Each week, take the same photos of yourself. Compare your pictures to those taken the week
before, or even go back to your starting pictures, and look at yourself from the front, side, and
back. You know best where you carry fat, but watch for indicators in your legs, lower stomach,
armpit fold, and neck.

Scale:

Track your weight every single day and log it to notice trends. For ease, track it in the app on
your phone and move that data to a spreadsheet weekly so you can see your average, which is
much better than the daily numbers for seeing trends up or down.

Feelings

Each week, look back and evaluate yourself based on your energy levels, changes in how your
clothes fit, how well you’re sleeping, and your general attitude. If you’re feeling sluggish and run
down, you may need to take another look at your profile or adjust the timing of your workouts.

The scale and what the weight gain could really be

When Flexible Dieting, I think it’s important to learn what’s working for your body. One way to
do this is to track your weight every day. If you’ve had an eating disorder in the past, I’d
encourage you to consider this practice from a different perspective, but, for most folks, tracking
daily can show trends that help us understand if we’re moving in the direction we want. Our
daily ups and downs don’t matter as much as the weekly average in assessing whether the trend
is heading in the direction we want.

There are many reasons that our weight could go up or down on a daily basis, so don’t let that
determine your mood. I tell my clients to decide how they feel about themselves, and then get on
the scale. In this way, the number doesn’t matter because the decision has already been made that
whatever it is, we can work with it. This small shift in attitude can make a big difference in how
you view your relationship with the scale.

The following are some reasons you may see fluctuations on the scale on any given day that have
nothing to do with fat gain or loss:

Salt. Did you recently eat loads of foods that you typically stay away from? Processed foods and
store-bought goodies can be loaded with additional sodium. This can cause all sorts of mayhem
in your body, including excess water retention. Your face can look puffy, your jeans feel tight,
and there may even be noticeable swelling in your hands and fingers. If you ate foods that you
normally don’t, you could have gained some gravitational pull as a result of the extra water in
your system. (All the scale really shows is that gravitation pull!)

Carbs. I’m always telling the clients I coach that after a holiday feast or ‘refeed’ day (when we
increase our carbs), it will take a few days to see their weight stabilize. When we eat
carbohydrates—such as rolls, sweet potato pie, and crackers with our cheese—our bodies retain
water and, more importantly, store any extra carbs in our liver and muscles as an energy
resource. This is actually why carbs are so great if we’re competing in an endurance event or
work at a physically demanding job. Our bodies need a way to store additional energy for later.

Our bodies are super efficient and smart, and, in order to have energy in the future, the extra
carbs are stored as glycogen mainly in our liver and muscles. How much we store depends on
our size and our body fat percentage, among other things, but you can count on around 100
grams of carbs to be stored in your liver and anywhere from 350 to 800 grams to be stored in
muscles.

So what does this mean when we’ve been keeping our stores low and watching our carbohydrate
intake and then we have Thanksgiving dinner at Grandma’s? Well, it means there’s more room
available to store more carbs. Think of it like a drawer that was only 25% full. Your weight was
based on that percentage, so when you add the additional 75% to the drawer, you have a big
increase! Each gram of glycogen can hold three to four times its amount in water, so if you have
a 75% increase in glycogen (assuming your body can hold 800 grams), that translates to 5.3
pounds, just in water weight!

Alcohol. Chances are that if you’re boozin’, you’re dehydrating yourself as well. Every time we
drink, not only do we slow down the metabolic processes in our body but we increase the speed

in which we … er… eliminate. And not just urine. Drinking can cause an increase in our poo too,
cleaning our system right out. Depending on your size, this can be several pounds of poo. So, if
you drank alcohol the day before you hopped on the scale, chances are you’re a bit dehydrated
and emptied out, and that will affect your weight.

Hormones. Ladies, you know that changes in your hormones can make you retain water and feel
bloated. Hormones affect the amount of water held in our cells, and that can affect the numbers
on the scale. Remember, we have a huge amount of fluid in our bodies, and about a week before
your period, your progesterone levels fall. That drop causes our kidneys to release LESS urine
into our bladders, making us retain more water in our system, causing us to feel uncomfortable…
and gain weight.

So, don’t despair! Know that your weight gain is typically not what you think it is. The better
option is to watch the scale every day and look for trends. You’ll see, over a week or two, that
you’re trending up, staying the same, or trending down, by looking at your average.

Planning

Planning ahead is key to hitting those numbers, and using a tool like My Fitness Pal can help you
preplan the night before so you know what to eat for breakfast, what to pack for lunch, and
what’s for dinner. When you plan in this way, you should be able to hit those macros within a
few grams for each carb, fat, and protein. I typically tell my clients to shoot for just under the
ideal number, and then they can eat some one-macro foods to supplement the difference. This is
where the ‘flexible dieting’ in Flexible Dieting comes in, and where it actually becomes fun to
eat this way.

There was a rush of people during the past few years who discovered flexible dieting or IIFYM
(If It Fits Your Macros), and a belief arose that people who followed this way of eating sat
around all day could eat whatever they wanted, including sweets and junk food. These foods are
no longer off limits if you balance them correctly in your macro plan. However, it’s important to
note that you won’t be able to hit your numbers and be healthy if you don’t eat good, wholesome
foods. If you try to fill your macros with junk and sugar, you’ll be left feeling hungry and
unsatisfied. So, be flexible, eat out with friends, enjoy your life, and have a donut once in a
while, but be focused on your numbers and eating as often as possible within your macro profile.

 Chapter 8
Supplementation
Our best options for meeting our macronutrient goals are found in the food we eat. To feel full
and meet our micronutrient goals, we want to focus on healthy, fiber-rich options. But what if
we’re traveling or having trouble meeting one of our macronutrient goals? The question always
comes up—Can I achieve this with a supplement?

With Flexible Dieting, you can eat whatever you want, even if it’s supplements, as long as it fits
your macro profile for the day. You may find that hitting your protein number is harder on some
days than others. On those days, you may have met your carbs and fat numbers but still have a
protein need, and that’s when supplements can really come in handy.

Have on hand protein options that are low in other macros. Premade, boxed shakes that can be
kept in the refrigerator and grabbed on the go are a great way to keep your protein needs met.

Other ‘must haves’ are BCAAs, a magnesium supplement that can be used to help with sleep,
and additional fiber if your fiber goal isn’t being met.

Our goal is to get what we need from our food choices, but being honest with yourself about
whether this is happening and having other options available are key to success in the program.

Not all supplements are created equal, so you want to do some research before you choose. The
FDA doesn’t regulate supplements in the United States, so look for a nutrition company that
discloses all ingredients in their supplements and has them verified by a third party like Informed
Choice.

Informed Choice is a certification process for supplement ingredients and manufacturing

facilities. If you’re a competitive athlete that could be drug tested, it’s important to know the
source of ingredients. If you choose a product that’s Informed Choice Certified, you’re ensured,
as an athlete, that these products are regularly inspected for banned substances. I want to be clear
that because a substance is banned by a sports-governing authority doesn’t mean it’s illegal. You
could walk into a store and purchase a product that’s fully legal to be sold in the US, but it may
not have an accurate ingredient label or may contain something on your sport’s banned substance
list.

Use supplements to help you achieve the results you’re after, but choose wisely and choose food
when possible, to keep hunger at bay.

Here are some supplements that work:

Omega 3 fatty acids: Fish oil contains valuable omega-3 fatty acids, which we can only get by
eating fish or omega-3-enriched foods, or taking supplements. Chances are that you don’t eat the
amount of fish necessary to get enough of the goods, so you should look at supplementation to
satisfy this need. Fish oil is important for cardiovascular health, immune system development
and maintenance, and brain function. Research shows that low DHA (docosahexaenoic acid, an
omega-3-fatty acid) consumption is related to memory loss, difficulty concentrating, and other
cognitive problems.

Greens powders: Greens powders are great, especially if you’re traveling or on the go and
aren’t getting enough vegetables. Try to eat the real thing, but use greens powders to fill in the
gaps. There are many ways to incorporate greens powders into your diet, and a fantastic option is
to put them into a smoothie or protein shake. Most of these powders won’t alter the taste of your
drink at all.

Probiotics: Gut health is vitally important to our overall well being, and ‘feeding the good bugs’
in our digestive tract helps keep our systems running well. Remember, a well-functioning GI
tract keeps everything moving and can possibly lead to accelerated fat loss.

BCAAs: Branch Chain Amino Acids, as we talked about in Chapter 1, provide key aminos to
keep our systems recovering well and building muscle to make us look lean and mean! I believe
BCAAs are a great addition to a well-rounded diet program that includes exercise.

: Caffeine can be a great addition to your workouts to provide you with some extra juice on
challenging days. It only takes six ounces of coffee to have the required effect, so drink your
java, and get after it!

Vitamin D: If you’re a vegetarian, be sure to add Vitamin D12 to your diet. You must get it
from food sources or supplements because your body doesn’t make it on its own.

Creatine: Creatine is necessary for anyone seeking improved performance at the gym. It can
help improve ATP transfer, which enhances intense, short-term energy tasks like lifting weights
or sprinting. Creatine can cause you to retain water, so be aware of that when you step on the
scale.

There are loads of options for supplementation and many are great for achieving optimal health
and wellness, but be sure to work toward getting everything you can from your food sources.
This way, you dispel hunger and keep your costs down too! However, even if you’re on top of
your food game, supplements can help take you to the next level and aid in recovery, so don’t
disregard them altogether. Whatever choice you make, remember to count and track all
supplements if they contain macros!

 Chapter 9
Move It
Now that we have our food and supplementation worked out, we may still have the need to burn
additional calories to hit our goals. You probably have a workout schedule, and if you do, that’s
great. Keep moving forward with that.

If you find you need to add additional training, I want to suggest HIIT (High Intensity Interval
Training), LISS (Low Intesity Steady State Training), and MISS (Moderate Intensity Steady
State Training). All of these options are designed to burn fat in short, intense periods of exercise.
Below I’ve summarized the difference between the three. If you’re overweight and unable to
perform HIIT training, I suggest the LISS option. We all start somewhere, and it’s just good to
have options!

HIIT: High Intensity Interval Training is really nothing more than a method of working out that
includes high-intensity periods of training with periods of low-intensity training, cycled back and
forth. Tabata training is a popular way to cycle. This method involves 20 seconds of work with
10 seconds of rest for eight cycles.

LISS: This is Low Intensity Steady State cardio. You should be keeping your heart rate around
65% to 75% and do work for more than 30 minutes. You can use an app or fitness watch to see
when you’ve done enough work to burn the desired amount of calories.

MISS: This is Moderate Intensity Steady State cardio. This is just your standard, ‘going for a
jog’ sort of workout and keeping it up for 30 to 45 minutes or until you see you’ve reached your
desired number of calories burned.

All of these approaches can help you achieve your goals, and there are a variety of workout
resources you can incorporate into them. You can do exercises like burpees, jump rope (double
unders), sprints, or bike for your high-interval exercise phase, and then slow up to walking; slow,
single-jump ropes; and slower biking for your recovery intervals. If you use a machine like a
treadmill, keep your hands off the side rails and don’t lean. It’s better to do something without
relying on a machine for this type of training.

The goal is to keep at it, understanding that if at first you don’t have the fitness to complete the
HIIT training, just keep at it, increasing your cycles as you increase your fitness.

Hopefully this book has helped you develop a plan and generate the motivation to tackle your
goals. You should have a clear outline of how to develop your macros, what to look for when it’s
time to adjust, and how to track your changes. Remember, consistency is king when it comes to
macro tracking, and being objective will make the road much easier. Seek out help when you
need it and follow the guidelines in this book to move toward a leaner, improved version of
yourself.

Don’t compare yourself to others. Just stay focused on how you’re improving and changing
yourself along the way. Plan what you’re going to eat, log everything after you eat it, and be
honest with yourself in situations in which you can’t weigh and measure!

You’ll begin to see changes quickly if you stay the course. Don’t over think it, and have the
patience to carry on. I’m confident you’ll have success and improve your mindset along the way.

Copyright © 2015 by BetsyPake.com. All rights reserved.

You’re welcome to print a copy of this document for your personal use. Other than that, no part
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Limitation of liability/disclaimer of warranty: While the publisher and author have used their
best efforts in preparing this guide and workbook, they make no representations or warranties
with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this document and specifically
disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for particular purpose. No warranty
may be created or extended by sales representatives, promoters, or written sales materials.

The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should
consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for
any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special,
incidental, consequential, or other damages.

Due to the dynamic nature of the Internet, certain links and website information contained in this
publication may have changed. The author and publisher make no representations to the current
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I am not a licensed dietician and cannot address any health concerns. The information in this
book should not be taken as a replacement for any medical advice and is not intended to treat,
cure, or diagnose any medical condition. Please contact your doctor before starting any fitness
program.

About The Author:

Betsy Pake is a Precision Nutrition L1 Certified coach, the creator of The Nutrition Ninja
program and works with clients all over the country to look and perform how they want. She is
passionate about helping people find clarity, be inspired and get busy working toward a life they
love, and she believes this starts with health and fitness. Betsy has competed in bodybuilding
competitions, ran a marathon and began competing as an adult in Olympic Lifting Competitions,
winning a bronze medal at the 2015 Pan American Masters. She used Flexible Dieting to build
the body that she wanted and drop two weight classes for her competition. She resides outside
Atlanta, Georgia with her husband and daughter.