Palmer Nutrition

🥦 Fiber: Small Changes, Big Benefits!

Want better digestion, more energy, and to feel full longer? Optimizing your fiber intake can make a huge difference! Here’s how to do it easily: 👇

🌱 Focus on Whole Foods

Start with real foods:

* Fruits & veggies (aim for 5+ servings daily 🍎🥕)
* Beans & lentils 🌱
* Whole grains (oats, brown rice 🍚)
* Nuts & seeds 🥜

🚰 Ease into It & Hydrate

Don’t rush—add fiber gradually to avoid bloating or gas.

* Swap white bread for whole-grain 🍞
* Add an extra serving of veggies at meals 🥗
* Drink at least 8 cups of water daily 💦 (more if active!)

⏰ Spread Your Fiber Throughout the Day

Spacing fiber-rich meals supports smooth digestion and sustained energy.

* High-fiber breakfast (oatmeal anyone? 🥣)
* Veggies or nuts as snacks 🌰🥦
* Balanced fiber at each meal, not just one giant salad!

💊 Consider Supplements (If Needed)

Fiber from whole foods is best, but if you’re falling short, supplements (like psyllium husk or methylcellulose) can help.

* Introduce them slowly and hydrate well 💧
* Talk to your dietitian or doctor first if you have gut issues!

👉 Need personalized guidance or meal ideas? DM me! I’m here to help you crush your nutrition goals. 🔥

What’s your favorite protein source?

The majority of us need to eat more regardless of goal. Just keeping the muscle you have requires much more than the current RDA.

Figuring out where to get protein from can be easier said than done.

Hopefully this cheat sheet can get you started in the right direction 🙏🏼

Are you struggling to achieve your goal?

Setting a big goal can be daunting.

You don’t want to be a failure or be seen as a failure.

It’s important to remember that most people don’t even try, so even setting a goal puts you ahead of a lot of people.

You may have heard the phrase or advice that when tackling a big problem it’s best to break it down into little baby steps that, when actioned, will solve the problem.

The big problem is your outcome goal. Your “I want to lose 10lbs in two months”.

Let’s now take that advice and break down the outcome goal into manageable process goals.

Sit down and thinks about the seemingly small daily actions you can make that will help achieve the outcome goal.

- I will eat at my meals at the dining table and not in front of the TV
- I will include vegetables with each meal
- I will take a 30 minute walk after work.
- I’ll do 20 bodyweight squats before I watch TV at night
- I’ll watch one less episode of TV so I can get an extra hour of sleep
- I’ll drink water in the morning instead of orange juice
- I’ll get a latte with almond milk, not whole milk
- I’ll take the stairs instead of an elevator when I can

You get the idea.

Just implementing those processes consistently over time without ever thinking of the outcome goal will increase your chances of making the outcome goal and make the journey more enjoyable and less stressful.

DM me with a process goal you’ve just started doing!

Cheers

Cravings up at night?

This is a very common feeling for a lot of people.

They can happen for a variety of reasons, some of which include:

- At night there are usually less distractions, like work.
- Working all day can come at the expense of eating regular meals.
- Consciously restricting during the day.
- Consciously avoiding “Bad” foods and not allowing yourself to enjoy them from time to time.

Here are some proven ways to combat these nighttime cravings.

1. Protein. Protein is well known to be the most satiating macronutrient and it’s also well known that most of us do not eat enough. Including a 25-40g serving of protein with breakfast and lunch - as the image in this post attests - can really help curb nighttime cravings due to the fact you’re just not as hungry.

2. Breakfast. This is still a personal preference but finding time to have breakfast, even if it’s a quick protein shake, can set you up for success in the evening.

3. Don’t Buy. I find this helps me a lot when I’m being more strict with my diet. I simply do not buy or keep the foods I would crave (ice cream, chocolate, candy/sweets) in the house.

4. Bad Food. There are no such thing as good and bad foods. It’s an important mindset to get out of. Including some of what you consider “bad” in your day to day life will likely help curb your cravings for that item(s). Restricting this way can also lead to not just cravings but binging.

Personally, points 1 and 2 I find yield the best results for the majority of people.

Let me know if it helps you! DM me.

Cheers

Craving “bad” food at night??! 🍫

I’m here to help.

Firstly, bad food, much like my calves, don’t exist.

No food is inherently bad.

Now, night time cravings are very common. You’re not alone.

Reason (3) in my slides above touched on cravings that occur when work is done for the day.

You’re mind is now free to fixate on food.

In other words you want to eat because your bored.

I know mindfulness sounds all hippy but just saying to yourself “am I hungry or bored” or “why am I really looking in the fridge right now” when you’re in the kitchen aimlessly rooting through the snack drawer can be extremely beneficial.

Just acknowledging it can be enough to stop it.

What is equally important is not punishing yourself if you do over indulge at night.

Just drop me a DM and I can help you further.

🙏🏼

To sum up, for goals relating to body composition energy balance - calories in vs calories out - trumps any form of meal timing or restricted eating windows.

Manage calories and time your meals in a way that works best for you. Hunger, work schedules, fitness goals are different for everyone.

Low Carb, Low Fat, Vegetarian, Vegan, Paleo, Tw***ie…

All these diets will work, if you’re in a calorie deficit.

The one you choose should best fit your goals, lifestyle, and tastebuds.

This will increase adherence consistency, which will expedite progress.

Disclaimer: I don’t advise the Tw***ie diet but by all means enjoy a Tw***ie or two as part of a nutrient dense diet 🙏🏼😂

Drop me a DM 📧 if you have any questions 🚀

Many people get stuck in low calorie diets for long periods of time.

Looking lean has long been attributed as attractive and people will do anything to achieve it.

Even at the expense of their own happiness and mental health.

As this post states, raising calories will likely result in a better and more desired outcome.

However, for those struggling it’s not as simple as that. It’s a mental challenge that needs help to overcome.

The same way telling someone who is obese to “just eat less” is more detrimental than helpful. You think they don’t know that is what’s required?!

Start your journey to a better mental and physical state.

Counting Calories is an incredibly useful tool, even if you only do it for a few weeks.

It teaches you…

🥞 True calorie to portion size ratios. Serving sizes aren’t realistic.

🍕Which foods are more nutrient dense and low in calories. This allows you to eat more of them and remain satiated for longer.

🥓 How much protein, carbs, and fat you get during a day. Protein under consumption will affect satiety and muscle retention/growth.

🍔 Where ‘empty’ calories come from. Thanks like cooking oil spray, dips and sauces, drinks. They all count and they often make a difference.

“Calories still count, whether you count them or not” is a phrase to keep in mind.

Go on, give it a try. It’s a great skill to have.

Energy Balance is simply the balance between energy in vs energy out.

This balance determines if you lose weight, gain weight, or stay the same, known as maintenance.

However, calories out is dynamic, meaning it can and will change.

For example, if you diet down and become leaner you metabolism adapts to the decreased calories.

Other variables like NEAT can also lessen as a person gets leaner as you tend to be less energetic.

Assuming you’re also consistently exercising your body becomes more efficient at those exercises, so you actually burn less the better and more attuned you get.

All this means that eating 1600 calories may initially be a calorie deficit but over time it could become maintenance, meaning you’d have to lower you calories or up your exercise to continue losing weight.

“Calories In” is everything you eat that your body can absorb. This includes things like alcohol and cooking sprays, etc.

A calorie is a unit of energy. You could put a TV remote in a Bomb Calorimeter (used to determine calorie content) and it would give you a calorie output.

However, if you ate your TV remote you would not absorb any calories.

“Calories Out” is next.

Your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is by far the greatest calorie expenditure, coming in at around 75% of your daily total.

NEAT and EEE refers to exercise, both intentional and not. Lifting weights and playing tennis is EEE and walking, mowing the lawn, carrying the baby, is NEAT.

The food you eat burns calories. Your metabolism will increase inline with the amount you eat. This is called TEF (thermic effect of food).

Protein has a TEF of 30%. If you ate 100 calories of chicken your body would burn 30 calories digesting it.

Carbs and Fat are about 5-10%.

The equation for body weight changes is simple.

Manipulating the equation for your desired body composition is harder.

Think of it in terms of finance.

It’s easy to understand that spending less than you earn will allow you to save a lot of money, yet people still live paycheck to paycheck because it can be easier said than done

It’s a pretty common desire.

Most people who express a desire to lose fat will have a specific area on their body in mind.

Getting rid of unwanted belly fat, for example.

That begs the question…

Is it possible to lose body fat from a specific area of your body by working out the underlying muscle?

For example, doing a ton of ab crunches to lose fat around your abdomen.

A study in 2013 (Rodrigo Ramirez-Campillo et al.) set out to do just that.

They concentrated on high-volume localized resistance training.

No studies to date had focused on that level of volume.

They also used valid measuring techniques such as DEXA and MRI, while controlling calories.

During training, subjects completed a very high training volume.

Reaching a total of 34,560–43,200 muscle contractions in 12 weeks.

This is ten times the volume of other studies.

This volume was done entirely in the non-dominant leg using one exercise: leg press.

The dominant leg was not trained.

After 12 weeks the study found a significant decrease in fat mass in the arms and trunk.

Neither the trained leg, or untrained leg, showed any significant changes in fat mass!

Despite training one leg at insane volumes the leg showed no fat mass reduction.

The conclusion being that if you want to lose fat from your abs you don’t have to do 1,000 crunches.

Spot reduction remains a myth for the time being.