Remember the “5 habits” I talked about before that would help you lose weight?

1.  Eat Slowly.
2.  Where are your proteins coming from?
3.  Where are your veggies?
4.  Where are your carbs coming from?
5.  Where are your fats coming from?

If you don’t remember downloading your copy of the “5-Habit Cheat Sheet”, then you can get it HERE.

Knowing the “5 habits” is just the beginning and just knowing them won’t be enough if you’re looking for optimal results; it takes implementation, patience, consistency, and some form of accountability.

At the beginning when I started to incorporate the principles of Precision Nutrition into my business I found the consistency to be a bit difficult because after a client had their first nutrition consultation I didn’t have a way to give a synopsis of the whole program and they thought that the “5 habits” cheat sheet I provided them would be an indication of the sessions to follow. More handouts.

I believed some clients didn’t place enough value on the process because I couldn’t explain the whole process, the big picture and it was hard for them to wrap their heads around sitting down for an hour talking about nutrition. No sweating, no grunting, no endorphin rush after the workout that would make them feel good, reminding them of a job well done…

So anyway, some of those clients would just take the “5 habits” cheat sheet, look it over quickly and say, “looks easy enough” or something along those lines and never really wanted to schedule a second nutrition consult, probably cause of the no sweating thing.

Though, I would insist on scheduling a second nutrition consult (cause I know that’s where the results will come from) and come in all prepared only to have the client ask if they could workout instead because they had a bad eating week (happened quite a few times) and they didn’t want to see it on the scale.

Back then I’d oblige and we’d go onto the gym floor for an awesome workout, knowing that more information about what kinds of things to eat after a workout (which would have been presented that day) would be far more valuable and beneficial to their goals than the actual workout.

A skipped nutrition lesson, several workouts, and a dozen poorly chosen meals later (from a lack of information) we’d finally get back on track. So the next nutrition consult would take place, do some measurements, weigh-in and oh sh*t!!!

You gained weight, how did that happen?

Oh, that’s right… we missed the last lesson and some things from the previous lesson were taken out of context, missed the new accountability handout and stopped doing the assigned tasks because of it… but they knew the 5 habits, heck they even memorized it, so WTF? Obviously I didn’t say that, but I was thinking it at the time.

Well the problem goes back to my initial point that knowing the “5 habits” alone isn’t enough. It takes implementation, patience, consistency and some form of accountability.

So what’s the solution?

One thing you’ll have to do for sure is increase your physical activity up to 5 hours per week, at least so that you can create a caloric deficit with exercise rather than creating it with food. This is one thing that I make crystal clear with all my clients that train with me, regardless if they chose to participate in my nutrition coaching or not.

Daily exercise doesn’t have to be limited to a gym though, there are lots of other options such as yoga, swimming running, cycling, even a brisk walk in the park for older adults or sex (for younger adults), kidding, but not really… The point is you just need to get moving.

Supplementation is another key component in achieving optimal health because for some people it’s hard to consume enough quality food throughout the day with their busy lives but not only that, times have changed and so has the quality of the soil that our foods are grown from.

Despite our best interest we simply don’t get as many nutrients from the foods we eat and that’s why we have to add supplements into our balanced nutrition program to ensure that we’re providing our bodies with what it needs.

It’s important to understand that there is no easy way to reach your weight-loss goal, no magic pill. The way you train, the food that you eat, and what supplements you take have an enormous impact on whether or not you achieve your health and fitness goals.

You do have to know all that stuff, but not right away. Taking the time to learn and implement one habit at a time will prevent you from getting frustrated and/or burnt out. Keep things super simple and don’t over complicate things.

By following (not just knowing) the “5-habits” you would be amazed at the positive impact it can have on your nutrition and how it can help you to achieve your goals.

Many of my clients have seen far better results opting to sacrifice a workout for a nutrition consultation than with training alone.

Remember, 80/20. The kitchen is 80% and activity is 20%.