Nutrition When Working From Home

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Working from home can bring with it new challenges and opportunities. It’s important to build productive and effective routines early that form healthy habits.

This blog will focus on Nutritional Strategies when Working From Home.

An important thing to remind yourself of is that you are in control and to think of the things you CAN do.

Here are 4 things you can control with your nutrition:

Remember just because you may not be training the way you normally would, it isn’t a licence to forget about your nutrition.

It’s more important than ever to stay healthy with a diet focused on Protein and Plants. 

Not caring about your nutrition simply because you can’t train optimally is just like spending all your money because you don’t have an income.

Both a relevant right now.

Don’t write them off.

It’s even more important to take care of your nutrition and your savings.

With working from home or being home more often, there will be new challenges and temptations. 

Try to use this time to develop skills in identifying barriers, problem-solving and coming up with possible solutions to test out. That’s what we all need to do now - identify barriers, test solutions.

Being at home a lot more could lead to these barriers with these potential solutions:

Barrier: More temptation to eat being near the kitchen >

Solution: Creating a supportive environment starts with shopping. Buy foods which support you (protein & plants) and limit purchases of foods which you struggle with appropriate portions. With your indulgences, if you do have them at home, keep them out of sight. 

Barrier: Less routine leading to more snacking > 

Solution: Maintain your meal schedule. How many meals do you usually eat in a day? Continue your usual habits with meal frequency. Me personally, it’s 4 meals around 4 hours apart. That gives me a solid time structure with my meals and if I’m thinking about food in between meals, it’s just a time to test hunger and see that it does come and go.
Solution: Calorie-free liquids. Boredom hunger can often be quenched with a glass of water or a sugar-free soft drink/cordial.

Barrier: Overeating is easier, as there is always something else to eat. Eg. you find yourself going for seconds, adding a dessert to more meals than usual > Mindful eating - eat slowly, taste the food, try to focus on the flavours, try to notice how it makes you feel and when you start feeling full.

Solution: When you portion out your meals put all the leftovers away before you start eating. It’s tempting when the food is still warm in the kitchen to have another plate. 

The next blog in this series will focus on 7 Tips to Build Healthy Habits when Working From Home.

If your circumstances, goals and schedule have changed recently, it might be time to get some more individual guidance to help support your nutritional needs. An FNC Coach can provide you with strategies that suit you and your lifestyle to help you remain in control of your nutrition and stay on track with your health and fitness goals.

Click the button below for more information on our 1 on 1 Coaching service.

The next blog in this working from home series provides you with 7 Healthy Habits.

To read, follow this link

Find The FN'Sweet Spot: Goals, Values & Convenience

Shocking Facts:

• You can eat a healthy meal that tastes good

• You can eat a healthy meal that is cheap

• You can eat a healthy meal that doesn’t take much time to prepare

• You can eat a healthy meal that doesn’t require high levels of cooking skills

• You can eat a healthy meal that aligns with your culture

• You can eat a healthy meal when you go out or are with friends

• You can eat a healthy meal that you enjoy, that tastes good, is aligned with your goals, aligns with your values and is convenient.

Can you consistently consume meals that tick the 3 boxes of Goals, Values and Convenience?

Now termed the FN’Sweet Spot.

A new term and strategy to help promote adherence and sustainability for your way of eating.

This is a truly vital component of healthy eating because “Healthy eating is an important determinant of health, but adherence to dietary guidelines remains a public health concern.” [1]

*NOTE: We are using the term healthy eating to mean eating for your goals.

In the research, common influences on healthy eating are:

• Social and cultural factors

• knowledge

• social media

• the relevance of information

• peers, taste

• convenience [4, 5, 6]

Alongside those are common barriers to healthy eating such as:

• Social

• heritage (perceived to lose heritage/cultural component of meals)

• poor taste

• expense

• lack of information

• cooking skills

• confidence

• time

• effort

• convenience

• cost

• support

• availability

• competing priorities

• ease of access to unhealthy foods [2, 3, 7, 8]

One study had expense and taste coming in the top 3, just after willpower. [2]

One study even showed a common reason being eating healthy is not a masculine/bloke thing to do. [3] (Clearly an Aussie study).

From this list, we’ve placed them in 3 categories:

Goals, Values and Convenience.

We can try to improve our adherence and consistency with our diet by ticking all 3 boxes.

Under each category we have:

Goals - Education, Informed Decisions, Legit Knowledge, Goal Aligned

Values - Taste, Culture, Social, Physical Health, Emotional, Personality, Enjoyment

Convenience -  Time, Effort, Energy, Money, Cooking Skills

Why is important to tick all 3 boxes?

If we just tick the goals and values box eg. they are healthy and taste good - they might not be convenient, it might be expensive, take too long to make, have too many ingredients.

If we just tick the values and convenience box eg they are tasty, enjoyable, cheap and easy - they might not be goal aligned.

Then if we just tick the goals and convenience box eg they are goal aligned, cheap and easy - they might not be very tasty or enjoyable.

We know that taste certainly goes a long way when it comes to rewarding. From previous webinars and blogs, we know that the reward is an important final part of the habit-building sequence. We are more likely to continue the behaviour that provides us with immediate rewards.

How do we put the FN’Sweet Spot into practice?

If you feel like struggling to adhere to your diet, do a check-in with yourself. 

Use the FN’Sweet Spot graphic as a guide. Do most of your meals tick all these boxes?
If there is a constant theme of a certain box not being fulfilled, look at some strategies to try and improve that area.

Here are some examples for each:

Goals: Improve your knowledge and understanding of nutrition such as food selection, portion control, energy balance, calories per bite. Make sure this is legit information too, not guru health. Make sure it is information that is aligned with your goals

Values: Can you improve the taste of your meals by using low calories sauces, herbs and seasons? Can you bring your culture and heritage into the meal creation? Can you invite friends over for healthy dinners or learn how to read menus and pick goal aligned foods? Can you still enjoy foods and flavours that resonate with your personality?

Convenience: Can you find easy/no prep protein and plant options? Can you shop smarter to keep costs down? Can you find recipes that are within your skill level and don’t have 10+ ingredients? 

So to reinforce the point from earlier, you can eat healthy meals that are tasty and convenient.

Take the time to find ways to make the experience and process of healthy eating a little sweeter by using the FN’Sweet Spot.

At FNC we can help you improve the consistency of each category by improving your knowledge and understanding of nutrition, providing you with convenient and enjoyable ways to create your meals.

Contact us today to learn more from our team

[1] https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs13679-016-0192-0

[2] https://academic.oup.com/jpubhealth/article/39/2/330/3002965

[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5675273/

[4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15702586

[5] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15570680

[6] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29892990

[7] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4276670/

[8] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309314854_The_barriers_and_enablers_of_healthy_eating_among_young_adults_a_missing_piece_of_the_obesity_puzzle_A_scoping_review

Weight Maintenance

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Most people can lose weight. Most people who try to lose weight, do so. However, most people who lose weight put it back on within a few years (1). 

Maintaining weight loss is a challenge. The body can actually encourage weight regain by lowering the amount of energy burned at rest, impacting hormones relating to hunger and fullness (2)(3)(4). 

Weight maintenance does not have to signify the exact same weight every day . Long term maintenance of weight is defined as consistently being within 3% of weight (5).

Successful weight loss maintainers typically combine diet and exercise and may rely more on exercise to maintain body composition compared to the initial weight loss period (2).

The key to weight loss is a Calorie deficit, easiest through a reduction in energy intake. However to maintain weight loss, physical activity likely becomes more useful in conjunction with a sustained lower energy intake (2).

• Weight loss - reduce intake > perform some physical activity

• Maintenance - increase physical activity > maintain reduced intake

Community support can aid self regulation of diet and flexible restraint rather than strict restraint is likely to be more successful. 

• Eg: Have a community of like-minded people for ongoing support and learn to manage overall nutrition with flexibility, rather than following a meal plan. (6)(7)(8)

Weight maintenance is something that is not defined regularly and there is really only one main research article which is cited when defining weight maintenance as within 3% of body weight (5). 

Just because one day the scales show a slightly higher number does not mean you are not maintaining your weight. It does not mean you have “regressed” or “failed”. It’s expected. Normal. Part of the fluctuations of life. 

Weight maintenance does not mean the exact same weight every day. 

There will be times in the year where your weight is slightly higher:

• Holidays, the festive season, travels where food choices are harder to control, winter when we might be less active and seek some stodgy comforts. 

These times will be offset by:

• Times of high motivation for home cooking and meal prep, summer when the days are longer and we are typically more active, breaks from work when we have more control over food choices. 

It will be different for everyone but the point is that life isn’t the same every day, every week or every season. We can’t expect to eat the same thing every day and burn the same amount of energy every day. Things change, life is varied and so is our food intake, choices and movement. 

So what’s the point? 

Give yourself some flexibility with body measurements over time but also set yourself some parameters (3%) which will signify a time to focus more on nutrition and activity. Don’t worry if there are small variations to your body and weight during the year. Recognise if the slight change corresponds to your current situation, then plan for when and how things will be balanced. It might be committing to a mini-cut after a holiday, setting a date to return to meal prep and morning gym sessions after New Years or finding a new active hobby when motivation drops. 

Check in with yourself. If you notice your body changing away from what you want, take some measurements and averages. Don’t consider a daily weight fluctuation as part of weight maintenance (5). Take at least 3-4 measurements over the week and average them out. If the number on average has crept up to your 3% parameter, it’s just a reminder to make some little reductions in Calorie intake and/or make an increase in Calories burned.

Plan some steps (not just physical ones), some real steps with times, dates and locations, to ride the wave of maintenance back away from the little weight increase. “I will meal prep on Sunday in my kitchen at 2pm and I will cook Spaghetti Bolognese with zoodles and half a serve of pasta.” Make it specific, make it actionable.

Make sure you are confident in how you lost weight. Not just that it happened, but how and why and record what you did. Write down what works for you. Write it out in enough detail so that someone else could pick it up and understand without the need for clarification. You might need this refresher one day. 

If you lost weight but you don’t understand how it corresponded to energy balance (Calories in / Calories out) please take steps to have this explained. There is no nutrition magic - all weight loss strategies relate to energy balance. Understanding your “how” could help with long term maintenance. 

Social, community support may be a very helpful tool in creating nutritional awareness, habit/behaviour change and maintaining weight loss (7)(8).

At FNC, we’ve created an online community where all of our members belong to a community of like-minded people. The community offers educational videos and articles, meal inspiration and recipes as well as weekly opportunities to ask questions (even anonymously). It’s an opportunity to be part of an online group of like minded people, develop knowledge and ask about your “how” if unsure.

With the maintenance of weight loss being difficult, we give all of our 1-1 clients a full 12 months access to the community.

Reach out to us if there is something we can help you with in 2020!

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16002825

2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30801984

3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5764193/

4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18842775

5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16302013

6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23265405

7. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3221350/

8. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18020940

How Thinking Slowly Now Can Help You Make Better, Quicker Decisions In The Future

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The factors that influence our decision making and the 2 systems of our thinking.

Without even knowing, our nutritional choices are being influenced by external factors in our environment. We may believe we are in control of our choices and our actions in regards to food selections and purposes. This is true in a sense. Our brain is in control, however what we may not be sure of is which System of thinking in our brain is working. The purpose of this article is to help you slow down your thinking and train your brain to make quick and automatic decisions that are aligned with your goals.

Here are a few factors that influence our nutritional choices and behaviour:

• Foods away from home tend to have more Calories, fat, sugar and salt and less fruits, veg, fibre.

• Sensory elements such as lighting and sound (ambience), even the waiters personality can influence what and how much we eat at a restaurant.

• Price is a huge factor. Price alone can have a greater impact over a health message.

• When we’re given a large portion, we tend to eat a large portion. 

• Making foods more accessible leads to increased consumption/purchase and inversely making the less accessible reduces consumption/purchase. 

• In most stores the ratio of highly processed foods exceeds the volume of foods like fruits and vegetables.

• Even just the sight of a highly preferred food increases our desire to eat [3]

It is quite important to note that most people don’t recognise the environmental factors that influence their decisions or deny being subject to influence by these contextual cues. 

Our brains are amazing organs. They are small in comparison to our body but control everything that we do. Every thought, movement, action, memory. Our brains are in control of us, but what is in control of our brain?

In this article we will be discussing the 2 systems of thinking of our brain and the factors that influence our decision making when it comes to nutrition.

Key words:

Contextual influences: factors that influence our decisions

Heuristic: to find or discover, problem solving, self discovery

There are believed to be 2 systems in the brain:

System 1 is the brain’s fast, automatic, intuitive approach. System 1 is fast, automatic, frequent, emotional, stereotypic, unconscious.

System 2 is the mind’s slower, analytical mode, where reason dominates. System 2 is slow, effortful, infrequent, logical, calculating, conscious.

By building skills through System 2, they can then become System 1 skills (more automatic).

Think about maths, simple addition or subtraction. You can automatically answer 2 + 2 = 4 or 7 x 3 = 21. At one point in time it was a lot more difficult, requiring more time and effort through System 2, but now it’s a System 1 task. 

In nutrition, it might’ve taken a while to look at a food and say whether it was a Protein, Carb or Fat. Now you know Chicken = Protein, Bread = Carb, Avo = Fat. Once System 2, now System 1.

We can develop the System 1 skill by training System 2 thinking.

Basically how we can improve our nutritional knowledge and understanding to make informed decisions. 

What is affecting our informed level of nutritional knowledge. 

You might follow some great evidence based people on Instagram like Layne Norton, Martin MacDonald, RP Strength, Mackenzie Baker, and James Smith. Plus you’re huge FNC fans.

However there is still some gurus out there that add some biases into the brain that make you doubt some things or add confusion to the mix. 

Not only that, everywhere you go, you’re processing information from your environment. Not only the people that you follow, the things on your newsfeed, the people you spend your time with - but nearly everywhere you go there is one or more of our senses being stimulated and informed about food. 

There is research that suggests that our dietary behaviours are in large the consequence of our automatic responses to contextual food cues, many of which lead to increased Caloric consumption and poor dietary choices. [1] It also states that our brains have a limited capacity to recognise, ignore and resist the cues that influence our eating. Further confirming that humans have a finite amount of energy and willpower. There is only so much temptation we can endure before we give in. 

When we look at restaurants and grocery stores, their primary role is for people to purchase food items. They are designed strategically to maximise sales. Research has been done on the location, labelling, pricing and pairing of items that influence us to buy certain foods. These foods generally aren’t the ones that fit into our “Protein and Plants” or goal aligned categories. 

As we don’t have control over our senses (such as sight, smell, sound), we also don’t have control over the ways these senses are influenced through our environment in settings where food is available. We don’t even realise how the factors influence our food choices. 

There is a growing body of research suggests that people respond to contextual cues without conscious thought or decision-making. This is our System 1 thinking taking over. Fast, automatic, instinctual, without conscious thought. 

A study actually measured how quickly consumers can make a decision to choose a preferred snack food [2]. After ranking their favourites out of 50, they were presented with a series of random images of two of the snacks lasting 20 milliseconds and were able to choose their preferred food item in over 70% of trials at average speeds of 404 ms.

In more natural settings we tend to make decisions about food very quickly without weighing up options or consequences.  When people make rapid decisions they rely on heuristic devices, such as the appearance of objects, familiar pictures, shapes, sizes, logos, brands and prices. 

When we rely on this heuristic cues we tend to make larger, more Calorie dense choices that contain more sugar and/or fat. Food cues such as marketing or labelling also often tend to mislead and confuse people into making a decision by suggesting a food is more appealing or even more “healthy” than is really is. Think “protein” products, low carb/low fat items or our health halo foods.

When we make decisions surrounding food we often weigh up things like: price, sensory appeal (taste, texture, smell, sight), convenience, familiarity and even whether it is goal aligned.  

This is all well and good if we actually took the time to do this by using our System 2 thinking process. However we often stick to the speedier System 1 version that requires the minimum amount of effort. 

We previously mentioned that we have a finite amount of energy, willpower and self control. 

Behavioural studies have been done and suggest that self control can fatigue just like a muscle. Self control can also be depleted by tasks that don’t require self control such as making decisions or doing cognitive tasks. 

A study was done where participants who had to memorise a 7-digit number were 50% more likely to choose chocolate cake over fruit salad compared to participants who had to memorise a 2-digit number [4]. Imagine how much information your brain needs to process each day before it even thinks about food. Then throw in a tempting environment or a choice between ice cream or yogurt and you can see why it gets harder as the day or week goes on. 

Hence why building healthy habits and making informed decisions are further endorsed by us at FNC. 

When people are overwhelmed with too much information, they often resort to their more automatic behaviours. If your automatic behaviours (habits) aren’t goal aligned, this can cause an issue. 

Cognitive depletion is considered a prime reason why dieters fail to maintain their diets and weight loss over the long term. [5,6] This means the more we are required to think during a given period of time, the less energy/willpower we will have and the more important it is to have a solid foundation of nutritional habits. Ideally we don’t want to take on  more than our brain is actually capable of especially when trying to build new and positive behaviours for our health and fitness goals.

Hence why we promote a step by step approach at FNC. 

How do we do this?

In the initial phases of building habits, take your time. Use your System 2 thinking process.

This requires you to be careful, intentional. Weigh-up your options, make comparisons, read labels, look at the benefits or consequences of certain choices. 

Build up your knowledge and confidence in making choices that are aligned with your goals before relying on your System 1. Train your brain to make good, positive, goal aligned choices automatically just like you trained it to do quick math and label foods into their macronutrient category. 

When you’re confident that your goal aligned choices are automatic, put your new System 1 thinking skills to the test.

If you’d like to improve your knowledge of nutrition to help make informed and automatic decision that are aligned with your goals, contact us today to start working with a coach or sign up to our education programs.

[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3667220/

[2] https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1998456

[3] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0195666384800082

[4] https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article-abstract/26/3/278/1815363

[5] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18444745

[6] https://guilfordjournals.com/doi/abs/10.1521/soco.2000.18.2.130

Conquering Procrastination: How To Value Future You Over Present you

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“Discipline equals Freedom”

“How you do one thing is how you do anything”

These are 2 quotes that are often used as motivators in helping us become the people we desire to be. 


We’ve previously discussed our believe that it isn’t necessary “discipline” that is what is required forever, rather our habits. With that said, some discipline is required in the initial phases of habit building. Today, we are going to discuss how some acts of discipline in various areas of your life can help you build character and confidence into other areas of your life. 

We can then say “Conquering one thing can help you muster the confidence to conquer another”.

Especially when it comes to procrastination. 

Many of us a serial procrastinators. 

Procrastination is the action of delaying or postponing something.

We usually think of this in a work or study sense but how often do we procrastinate with our health and fitness? Putting something off like cooking, prepping, shopping, training, journalling, even waking up.

So why do we procrastinate? 

One reason is that when we are faced with an uncomfortable task, our mind generates a negative emotion or tension build up. We want to achieve or maintain a level of comfort, so we put off a task. But the truth is, the task is going to cause the same tension when it comes along later on. We just delay the inevitable and sometimes add more pressure to the situation by adding a time constraint.

When you think about it, the criteria of the task remains constant. We are going to have to cook our meals eventually. We are going to have to wake up eventually. We are going to have to do that report eventually. It sounds bizarre that we would intensify the situation by reducing the time variable on that. If you’ve ever had to do your grocery shopping on a Sunday night, you almost immediately regret your decision to put it off and not get it done earlier on. 

Another is that we tend to care too much about our present selves and not about our future selves. Most of us know what things we “should” be doing like: saving money, eating protein and plants, sleeping 7-9 hours, meal prepping, studying. 

So why don’t we do it even when we know something is good for us?

We’d rather enjoy the immediate benefits of the present especially if the costs or consequences don’t show up until the distant future. We also search for instant gratification rather than delayed gratification.

Eg. Ordering uber eats and watching netflix has an immediate reward but the delayed cost of skipping the gym and a higher calorie meal won’t show up until a few months later when you don’t quite have the lean and healthy body you’re after.

Spending money on a new pair of jeans and shoes you don’t really need has an immediate rewards but a delayed cost when you don’t have enough money to go on that holiday you were hoping to have saved for.

We tend to over value the immediate benefits of unproductive behaviours such as scrolling social media, snoozing our alarms, uber eats, drive through take-away, taking the escalator.

What we can do is start to consider our future self and consider how our choices impact our distant future. In 6 months time would you rather be lean and healthy OR out of shape and out of netflix shows to watch? Would you rather be on a holiday or have 5 pairs of jeans you’ve worn once?

Future You knows you should do things that lead to the highest benefit in the long-term, but Present You tends to overvalue things that lead to immediate benefit right now.

Ideally we want to get our present self to act in the best interest of our future self.

We can do this in 3 ways.

Make the rewards of long-term behavior more immediate.

Make the costs of procrastination more immediate.

Remove procrastination triggers from your environment.

1. Make the rewards of long-term behaviour more immediate. 

Our mind wants an immediate benefit, a reward. How do we bring forward our long term benefits even when they’ll take a while to achieve. Visualisation. Imagine the benefits of your future self. Imagine how you’ll look and feel in 6 months time if you prepare your own meals consistently, sleep 7-9 hours a night, train regularly, walk a bit more. OR give yourself a visual reward like in the chain method Jerry Seinfeld used to practice by ticking off a day on the calendar whenever you complete a desired behaviour.

2. Make the costs of procrastination more immediate.

Create an immediate consequence for your procrastination. When we are only accountable to ourselves, the consequences are only applied to our future self. Skipping the gym, snoozing, getting takeaway, not studying, etc. They consequences only show up in 6 months time when you don’t quite have the lean and healthy body you’re after. When you aren’t as prepared for the exam as you thought. You could either get an accountability partner so you are immediately letting someone else down if you don’t practice certain behaviours. OR you can give yourself a light hearted punishment. Miss a workout, that’s 3 less beers you can have on the weekend. Don’t make the bed, that’s 50 burpees. Snooze your alarm, eat your most hated foods (more on that one later). I even once heard of an athlete who had to pay his coach $100 for not doing a daily check in. Hmmm, I might keep that one in mind. 

3. Remove procrastination triggers from your environment. 

Yup, we’ve said it again. It’s your environment. One of the best ways to value your future self is to remove procrastination triggers, to remove the temptation. Don’t give your present self an option that doesn’t favour your future self. Remove distraction. If you don’t want to snooze anymore, then put your phone/alarm in another room or out of arm’s reach. If you don’t want to face the temptation of indulgence items, don’t buy them or bring them in the house. If you want to prepare your own meals and not order uber eats, delete the app. Become a choice architect!

Every day we have a choice, actually hundreds of choices, to either give in to instant gratification for our present self OR commit to our future selves and seek delayed gratification.

This is not to say never satisfy your present self, just in the scorecard let is show that your future self is winning most of the time.

Whenever faced with a difficult choice or a battle between the present and future selves; 

ask yourself:

How will I feel about this choice in an hour?

How will I feel about this choice in a day?

How will I feel about this choice in a month?

How will I feel about this choice in 6 months?

Things to things about: 

• The Pain is in the Anticipation. Things are never as painful as they seem. We delay doing things because they make us feel uncomfortable. Instead of dwelling on doing something and letting the tension build up, just do it. Rip it off like a bandaid. Once we’ve overcome the start, the pain dissipates and we then realise it was never as bad as we thought. 

*Personal experience. Josh has put off doing the cold shower thing for years. Finally decided to give it a crack, and it really wasn’t as bad as the story he told himself in his head.

• There is no perfect time and you will not feel more like doing it tomorrow. Get started or do the thing sooner rather than later. Once started, let the good times roll and the benefits build up for your future self.

• Getting started is magic. Not only does it relieve the pain built up in the anticipation, it changes your perception of the task and of yourself. You become more confident, motivated and optimistic. You did this, so you can easily do the next thing. Confidence breeds confidence.

• Focus on the next step, not the next 100 steps. Break the goal into smaller achievable tasks.

• Try the 2 minute rule. If it takes less than 2 minutes to do, do it straight away. 

• Try the other 2 minute rule. Do something for 2 minutes. Walking, cooking, exercising, reading, meditating. Once you’ve started you’ll probably do it for longer than 2 minutes anyway. Just commit to 2 minutes to start. 

• Talk to yourself. Tell yourself the story in simple terms. If you want to meal prep: “I’m just going to cook some chicken in the oven and fry up some vegetables, easy. If you want to go to the gym: “I’m just going to go to the gym on the way home from work and do the class workout”. If you want to read: “I’m just going to read my book after I have my morning shower”. 

• List your obstacles and work out a strategy to overcome them.

This self control thing. This avoiding procrastination and valuing your future self over your present self is like a muscle. The more you do it, the stronger it gets. The easier it will then become. Then “How you do one thing is how you do anything” 

And what is the one thing most of us can do to start our day valuing our future self over our present self? 

Stop Snoozing!!! 

Last year, we kind of created No Snooze November. (only to find out that is was also somewhere else in the insta hashtags, but we will still claim it). 

How does No Snooze November work?

Simple. You commit to not press the snooze button on your alarm for the month of November. 

As mentioned above we are going to make the consequences of procrastination more immediate. 

If you do press the snooze alarm, you’ll have to eat “insert least favourite food” here. 

Josh’s is peas (close to pea-phobic). So if he pressed the snooze alarm, he will eat a bowl of peas. 

If you don’t have any food you cannot bear the thought of eating, pick an activity that you absolutely dream and make that your consequence. Cold shower, half marathon, 50 burpees, signing up for 1 on 1 nutrition coaching. Whatever it is, that’s your thing. 

You may find after a month, you’ll continue the habit and just get up first go. Win the morning win the day and start your day with the confidence to value your future self over your present self.

To learn how to make choices for your future self that help you become the person you want to be, contact us today for 1 on 1 nutrition coaching.

4 Tips To Build New Habits

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4 TIPS TO BUILD NEW HABITS

We live in a world full of information - literally called the information age.

We know what to do, but why don’t we do it?

Sometimes there is too much information, or even misinformation. Yet, when we know the fundamentals, the biggest bang for buck behaviours that are aligned with our goals and the person we want to be, we don’t do it. 

One of the reasons is due to our habits.

We are trying to undo years of actions and behaviours that have been practiced over and over again until they become habits. 

Our lives are essentially a sum of our habits. Our body composition, our happiness, our bank account, our successes. All a sum of our habits. We are what we repeatedly do. If we can change our habits, we can ultimately change our lives.

Today we are going to go through some strategies to help build new habits that are aligned with your desired identity - the person you wish to become.

Keep this thought in the back of your mind as you read this and even afterwards.

BIG DREAM, SMALL STEPS

Building habits is not based on a time domain. It is about getting successful reps in. How many times your practice that behaviour

So here are the 4 tips on how to help BUILD NEW HABITS and getting those successful reps in.

1. MAKE IT EASY

When Chinese weight-lifters first start learning their skill, they spend 12 months on a PVC pipe and 6 months on an empty barbell. Arguably the best in the world, spend 18 months practicing a new skill the easiest possible way to ensure the movement patterns become engrained, become a habit. That is how they get the successful reps in. If they added weight too early, their form may have faltered and the amount of good form successful reps would be reduced.

In nutrition we can MAKE IT EASY in 2 ways.

Create an environment where making the right choice is easy. We want to remove the barriers of practicing a desired behaviour whilst also making it more difficult to practice old behaviours. 

Make it easy to make Protein and NDFs your first choice by having them visible and easy to consume. Have a variety of Protein sources available in your fridge, freezer and pantry. Keep fresh and frozen fruits and veggies in an easily accessible area whilst reducing the ease at which you can choose more indulgent, processed, calorie dense items.

The next is to cook and prepare meals within your skill level. When I first started my nutrition journey, I began with Kangaroo burger patties, frozen veggies, tins of tuna and microwave rice. I built the habits of making healthier choices that were aligned with my goals and then build upon that skill. 

Look for No Prep or Easy Prep options that don’t require much time or effort so it is easy to get started. 

A new habit shouldn’t feel like a challenge at the start. It should feel easy. 

2. MAKE IT OBVIOUS, MAKE A PLAN - IMPLEMENTATION INTENTIONS

We all have goals but a common misconception is that we lack motivation. What we actually lack is a plan. 

Studies have been done where people who actually wrote down a plan of when and where they intended to practice a new behaviour such as exercise we more likely to follow through with that intention when compared to groups who simply said they wanted to exercise more. 

This is known as an “Implementation Intention” and they are effective for sticking to goals in numerous studies. They increase the odds of sticking to a new behaviour such as studying, exercising, recycling, quitting smoking, going to bed earlier, etc.

People who make a specific plan for when and where they will perform a new habit are more likely to follow through. Often we are too vague with our goals and intentions. “I want to exercise more” or “I want to eat healthier”, but we never say where or when these habits will happen OR even what we intend to do. 

This process creates CLARITY in the actions you intend to implement.

Here is an example. 

I will [BEHAVIOUR] at [TIME] in [LOCATION]

I wanted to start reading more and be on my phone less to start the day so mine was.

I will READ MY BOOK at 530am in the LOUNGEROOM, after I shower every morning.

Want to get to the gym more? 

I will GO TO THE GYM at 5pm at CROSSFIT GEO.

Want to meditate?

I will MEDITATE at 8pm in my BEDROOM

For your nutrition, writing a plan of what you intend to eat can be how you implement this strategy. 

Want to add more PROTEIN to your diet?

I will add PROTEIN POWDER to my Oats and Berries for BREAKFAST at 8am.

I will eat CHICKEN with Rice and Veggies for LUNCH at 12pm.

I will eat YOGURT and Fruit for my SNACK at 4pm

I will eat FISH with Salad for my DINNER at 8pm. 

If you don’t plan out your actions, you rely on willpower or motivation but if you plan out when and where you will practice your desired behaviours, your goal has become real. 

3. MAKE IT ATTRACTIVE - FUN GETS IT DONE

Let’s be honest, if good habits were fun you’d already be doing them. When we find a task boring or monotonous, we may not want to practice it but we know that we need to practice them to get the successful reps in to form new habits. And, healthy nutrition habits are perceived to be pretty boring - meal prep, shopping, boring meals - but that doesn’t have to be the case.

There was an engineer who loved Netflix and wanted to exercise more, so he created an exercise bike that was powered Netflix if he cycled at a certain speed. 

What we can learn from this is that if we combine the fun stuff with the not so fun stuff, the latter is more likely to be completed. 

This is known as “Temptation Bundling”.

Pairing an action you want to do with an action that you need to do.

Pair something you love with a habit you want to build and you may find yourself doing it more, and even enjoying it. When we enjoy things, we do them more often - successful reps!

Personally I love music and podcasts. For me I like to pair that with my more boring tasks like cooking or shopping. 

How do you create a temptation bundle?

Create 2 columns. 

In the first column, write down a list of pleasures and temptations you enjoy doing. 

In the second, write a list of tasks and behaviours that you should be doing, that you want to start doing that are aligned with your desired identity - but you often procrastinate.

Then, pair them up.

Eg. Taking your headphones to listen to music while doing the shopping

Listening to music/podcasts/audio-books while walking to get your step ups

Watching Netflix while chopping the veggies or cooking dinner.

You’re more likely to find a behaviour attractive if you get to do one of your favourite things at the same time.

4. MAKE IT SATISFYING

The cardinal rule of behaviour change. 

What is immediately rewarded is repeated, what is immediately punished is avoided.

Reward yourself immediately after completing a new habits. “If the puppy does a trick, it gets a treat” - yes you are a puppy in the metaphor.

And no, we aren’t saying to have some chocolate after you eat some Protein and NDFs. 

Our goals are delayed rewards that obviously take time, so we need an immediate reward to stay on track. We need some reinforcement to keep practicing the healthy eating behaviours. 

With nutrition, we can increase the satisfaction of a meal by making it taste good. WHAT? A healthy meal that tastes good? It can’t be true! But it is!! Using flavours, herbs, spices, seasonings, and low calorie sauces can reward us to make this a repeated behaviour while in the background our delayed reward of health and body composition are accumulating.

In SUMMARY

Make It Easy: Cook at your skill level, Control your environment

Make It Obvious: Make a Plan in advance

Make It Attractive: Bundle fun stuff with new habits.

Make It Satisfying: Reward yourself with flavoursome goal aligned foods.


As previously mentioned, there is no shortage of nutrition information out there. It is important then that we find a way to apply it to our lives that is easy, obvious, attractive and satisfying to ensure we enjoy the process and get the successful reps in to form these habits that ultimately shape our lives.

At FNC, you get the nutrition education - the knowledge needed to get you towards your goals. 

You also get the guidance and the tools of how to implement the knowledge. 

Plus you get the support of the FNC Coaches and the FNC community.

If you would like to learn more about our services, our education program, our community, contact us today by clicking the link below.

Knowledge without action is wastefulness and action without knowledge is foolishness.

REFERENCES:

Atomic Habits by James Clear

Top tips to enjoy social events and occasions

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In the real world of fat loss dieting and healthful eating endeavors people are faced with instances (often social) where accurate tracking isn't viable nor should it be insisted upon, and/or they have limited control over their intake of food.

These are the instances where eating routine, habits, and schedule are out of whack whether it be for a party, event, holiday, wedding, etc. Rather than thinking these important contributors to total health need to be avoided, approaching and executing them well is the solution.

So here are my top 9 tips to avoid 'going backward' with your fat loss, or weight maintenance goals whilst still getting the most out of the occasion.

1. PLAN AHEAD, EAT A LITTLE LESS CARBS AND FATS THE DAY OF - on the day of an event/occasion involving food or Calories, reducing your intake of carbs and/or fats in the prior meals is not a bad idea to free up some extra room for the occurrence of higher Calorie intakes.

2. NAIL PROTEIN & PLANTS FIRST & FOREMOST. - consider the food order of importance, nail the things of most importance and the greatest positive influence on the suppression of the drive to eat. Ensure sufficiency of protein and plants before you reach for carb, fat dense foods.

3. FILL UP ON FIBRE - closely tying into point 2 but with the addition of wholegrains alongside fruit and vegetable matter. When in doubt just fill up on higher fiber plant matter. Even if you eat a lot of food, if 'food' means plant matter, you'll unlikely end up eating a lot of Calories.

4. FILL UP ON WATER & DIET DRINKS - Fill the stomach, stretch it out, drive down the urge to consume excessive amounts of food thereafter. Drink something prior to ordering, eating and/or if food is everywhere grab water or a diet soda.

5. DON'T USE LIQUIDS FOR CALORIES- Liquids do help fill you up, but in comparison to solid foods their effect on fullness is limited. So if you're going to consume Calories aim to make it from solids. If it's about alcoholic beverages, go for the lower Calorie options like vodka soda, or vodka diet coke.

6. SLOW DOWN YOUR THINKING AROUND FOOD. - slow down your thought process, ask logical questions, give yourself time, and think before you mindlessly grab food and shove it in your gob. If the food or more of it won't make your time better, and you don't really want to, then why eat it, if you need something in your hand, to eat, grab a diet coke.

7. SLOW DOWN YOUR EATING - Chew your food, eat slowly, encourage slower eating via smaller or less efficient utensils, have a chat during the meal all in a bed to let your hunger satisfaction catch up before you reach for more.

8. ALCOHOL = MINIMUM ENJOYABLE DOSE MINDSET WITH NO NEED TO TRACK IT. - There is a point where more drinks, won't yield much of a return on the enjoyment of the occasion, this is the point where you become that 'drunk idiot'. Estimate that point and understand going beyond it probably isn't worth it. IMO tracking alcohol and trading off carbs and/or fats to fit in drinks is overkill for most people. Simply freeing some additional Calories by consuming slightly fewer carbs and fats in the meals prior and exercising a logical moderation, or 'minimum enjoyable dose' limit of standard drinks works just fine without creating distractions from social occasions.

9. LOOK TO SAVE CALORIES WITHOUT EATING LESS FOOD - Consider the presence of lower fiber, Calorie-dense fat and/or carb-dense food, ingredients, cooking oils, dressings, sauces, and condiments. Reduce, moderate or even eliminate where possible. A low-fat approach is probably the easiest way to make this happen. Then refer to point number 2 and 3.

At FNC we understand social occasions involving Calories are part of a totally healthy human. Ask us for more practical ways you work towards your goals with your social and total health in mind.

TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT NUTRITION COACHING CLICK THE BUTTON BELOW

Managing urges, impulses and unplanned eating

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This blog is not intended to replace medical and psychological support and guidance. If you believe you may have any risk factors for an eating disorder, please speak to a medical professional.

Why do we overeat in situations even when we don’t want to? We often discuss the benefits and importance of controlling your environment (you can’t eat what isn’t there), however sometimes it goes beyond that and it isn’t just as simple as setting up an environment that is conducive to your goals, especially when we think of work, family and social settings.

Firstly, let’s define a few terms.

Urge: a strong desire

Impulse: a sudden strong and unreflective urge or desire to act (in this instance to eat)

Binge: loss of control episode of eating, unplanned 

*these are all generally opposite to a goal behaviour

A few studies have been done on the mindset of dieting. 

These results confirm that merely planning to go on a diet can trigger overeating in restrained eaters, reflecting the dynamic connection between dieting and overeating. (Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we diet: Effects of anticipated deprivation on food intake in restrained and unrestrained eaters: D Urbszat - ‎2002)

The last supper effect : merely thinking you’re on a diet can trigger overeating. It can promote a good vs bad foods, all or nothing, on/off diet mentality. 

The brain doesn’t seem to hear “don’t, no, can’t.” So when you say no pizza, no chocolate, no biscuits, no ice cream, the brain just hears pizza, chocolate, biscuits, ice cream. This strategy is also used for athletes in skill development by instructing them what to do, not what to do.

In nutrition, saying eat more protein, eat more plants instead of don’t eat this, don’t eat that.

Some people may be bored of their diets and seek highly palatable foods. A strategy for this is to improve the taste, texture and variety of your meals within your energy needs that are aligned with your goals. So looking to flavour your food with low calories sauces, herbs, spices and seasoning.

Emotions are complex processes. Our emotions also need to be nourished and can drive unplanned eating. When our emotions become stimulated by something the whole body gets in on the action. It is an idea to learn to gain a sense of knowledge over your emotional states and the physical sensations/urges your experience as a result of your emotions.

But when it comes to nutrition and food choices reflect on the following:

• Is food a form of comfort? Excitement? Only source of enjoyment? 

• Is it a form of safety? A way to distract from emotions?

• Is it a form of rebellion or self sabotage?

What we can do is collaboratively work together (client and coach) to find out why this is happening. If not with a coach, then play detective on your own.

Now some people use food as a reward to self medicate as a result of stress, emotion, anxiety, depression, etc. This is to achieve a sense of control and also by choosing highly rewarding foods that signal a dopamine, pleasure response.

The eating episodes are driven by vulnerabilities such as:

• Thoughts: “I deserve a treat”

• Emotions (sad/anxious/angry)

• Physical (hunger/tired) 

There are 5 Stages of Impulse control:

• Urge 

• Tension

• Acting

• Relief

• Guilt / Consequences

The urge and the tension is a bit of a chicken and egg situation, it is unsure which comes first and it may also be dependent on the situation/individual.

Example:

• Tension Build Up

• Followed by a thought: “I can’t stand it”

• Followed by physical urge to eat

• Followed by thought: “I must do something” to relieve tension/urge

• Followed by the behaviour of eating 

• Followed by relief

• Followed by thought: “Why did I do that?” as a result of guilt/consequence. 

If you experience bouts of emotional eating you can learn to describe your experience.

• Where do you feel it? Are there physical symptoms?

• List your emotions/feelings/mood

• How bad are the urges/cravings on a scale of 1-10?

• How long do they last?

• What happens afterwards?

• Is it a true impulse or has it been influenced your environment?

A lot of our unplanned eating episodes are affected by our vulnerabilities.

• Hunger

• Anger, negative emotions, low mood

• Self sabotage

• Loneliness, boredom, procrastination

• Tiredness, feeling overwhelmed

• Peers, environment

• Access to highly rewarding foods, high risk situations such as functions, work/office/buffets

• Peer pressure

Our vulnerabilities tend to be our antecedents: a thing that existed before the behaviour of unplanned eating, which is then followed by a consequence.

A way we can learn to overcome these bouts of unplanned eating is to do a CHAIN ANALYSIS.

The term chain is used, because you can break the chain at a number of points and prevents the following sequence of events..

The CHAIN ANALYSIS looks at:

• Vulnerability (hunger/tired/low mood)

• Prompting event (access to food)

• Links to thoughts (deserve the treat)

• Problem behaviour (over eating)

• Consequence

Attached is an example of a CHAIN ANALYSIS you can complete next time you experience an unplanned eating episode.

VULNERABILITY + ENVIRONMENT = HIGH RISK OF PROBLEM BEHAVIOUR

Remember, beating yourself up won’t help the situation.

Look over the chain analysis, the events leading up to the episode and see where it can be broken. Can you reduce/avoid the high risk situation? Can you work to reduce vulnerabilities such as hunger, mood, fatigue? 

Just as before where we mentioned the brain doesn’t hear no’s/don’t/can’t, suppressing feelings doesn’t help either. Trying to suppress a thought/feeling increases it. 

If I ask you to think about a shark, you might be able to.

But if I ask you not to think about a shark, you’ll only think about sharks. 

Strategies to put into practice:

*Key word PRACTICE. They won’t work first time every time. 

Retrain the brain

Practice doing something different is the same circumstance. Create new habits, patterns, pathways, memories.

Practice new behaviours in a challenging but not high risk situation to build the skill. 

Practice portion control when you’re strong/confident not when tired/vulnerable.

Urge Surfing

• Ride out the cravings until they go away

• Remember urges pass by themselves, we normally give in before the urge passes which reinforces the craving/behaviour

• Just like ocean waves urges start small, grow in size then break up and dissipate

• Practice mindfulness regularly and sit with it

• Watch your breath, notice your thoughts, describe your thoughts and feelings

• PRACTICE THIS DAILY or when the craving/urge regularly occurs

In summary, identify and list the steps that lead up to the episodes of unplanned eating. 

• Where in the order of events can you break the chain? 

• What strategies can you put in place to avoid/reduce the risk of the situation? 

• Can you create a new set of behaviours to positively deal with emotions/thoughts? 

• Can you ride out urges/cravings?

If you feel you need further assistance identifying/controlling/dealing with your thoughts/emotions/feelings, this is beyond our scope so please don’t be afraid to talk to your GP to get referred to a qualified practitioner. 

To learn more about controlling your environment or food choices that are aligned with your goals, contact us today

Nutrition for busy people

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In reality, there aren't many 'rules' to a good fat loss centric day of eating. People have this massive list of 'important diet things', which only makes 'eating well' and achieving weight loss, seem out of reach and unattainable. Perceptions that 'eating veg with every meal', 'eating 6 times a day', and 'cold chicken & veg for lunch', matter are all incorrect concepts. It's these sorts of things that don't matter and only make your life harder for no benefit. All you really need to worry about is Calories, protein, and plants which all tie into one another once practically applied.

The above is an example of what would be perfectly fine and appropriate for the individual whos working hours are an absolute mess of work and stress where 'eating & food' is a low priority. It's not going to work for everyone who has busy jobs/days, but I've found that taking 'food thought' away at appropriate times over the day as a useful strategy for my busier, clients. (think corporates)

Breakfast
The protein and plants focus is achieved through the non-fat yogurt and fruit. A small-ish amount of whole grains and healthy fats are added as extras.

Lunch
Too busy to think about eating, but want to crush that drive towards the work office cookie jar? Protein bars are a perfectly okay protein dense food in the context of an overall healthy diet that can sit in your desk drawer, and satisfy those peckish snack food workplace cravings. Bulk the meal up with some filling plants (fruit) that you picked up on the way to work, to fill out your daily fruit requirements.

Dinner
You're back at home, a little more relaxed and keen for a big bowl of food volume. Start with a lean protein and a whole days work of vegetable needs via mixed ingredients. Top it off with a little carb via some high fibre grains, potato or beans. Enhance it with herbs, spices, low-Calorie sauces or passata.

Food cravings

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Ever felt food cravings? Maybe you are someone that feels like your cravings control the outcome of your nutrition?

Chances are your cravings are a direct result of something you are unconsciously are doing to your nutrition and appetite.

Cravings can teach us a lot, for example:

Inadequately supplied nutrition: A common cause of cravings is poorly timed or inadequate sources of fuel, particularly when it comes to cravings feeling compulsive. Often we blame this on willpower or lack of discipline when really it could be that you are unsatisfied and undernourished. Often we deprive ourselves of carbohydrates, but isn't it normally high carbohydrate treats that we end up craving and succumbing to? Checking up on your carbohydrate intake, as well as having a good balance of all three macronutrients is important.

Food insecurity: We typically associate food insecurity with people who don’t have access to enough food. While that’s true, it could also be self-inflicted through dieting or restrictive mindsets. When you feel like food isn’t going to be there tomorrow, it could absolutely affect your thoughts and behaviors today. Giving yourself unconditional permission to eat will decrease the power food has over you. Being in control by having food rules is actually an illusion because those rules are actually controlling you.

Emotional hunger: eating outside of hunger due to our emotions is a completely normal thing, and happens to all of us. Consistently using food as the only way to meet your needs is leaving the body confused and lacking in the confidence it needs to take care of you. Like all things we need (rest, connection, movement, love and variety) food is important,   If you feel like something is lacking, it could be easier to distract or numb with food instead of leaning into what it is or how you’re feeling. In this case, working to become more emotionally aware would be worthwhile to you. This could be done through journaling, therapy or some other form of self-reflection.

Variety: Have you been eating the same thing over and over again? Our bodies want and need a wide variety of foods to function optimally. It’s physically and psychologically unsatisfying to eat the same foods day in and day out. Building more flexibility into your meals and snacks will likely help you feel less preoccupied with food.

Medical concerns: Some cravings — like salty foods, for example — may indicate a medical issue. If you find these cravings to be very intense and very frequent, it may be necessary to seek medical advice.

Lastly, be sure you aren’t confusing hunger, appetite or food preferences with cravings. It's normal to get hungry and want something satisfying to eat, which may vary from day to day. Remember to listen to your body. If you're craving pizza, then a salad may not do. If you want a treat, fruit may not cut it. While it's good to be aware, don’t waste too much of your time overthinking cravings. Most of the time it’s best just to honor it and move on.

To gain a greater understanding of nutrition for your individual needs and goals, contact us

Visualise Yourself

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Visualisation is an extremely effective tool utilised by highly successful people in all fields.

Whether it be athletes or business people, they implement visualisation techniques into their life regularly.

This is a technique I also use with my clients.

It can be used in a number of ways.
 

Firstly, they can visualise themselves looking and feeling healthy, performing at their peak, being happy in their own skin; achieving their goals.

Another tactic we implement at FNC is when the client is faced with temptation, or a path with 2 choices. The 2 choices being making healthy or unhealthy nutritional choices. Whether it be binge eating, ordering take out, not preparing meals; we constantly find ourselves having to make choices.
 

How does visualisation help us make the right choice?

Step 1. The Fork In The Road.
Identify your 2 options, often the healthy and the unhealthy. Order take out or cook dinner, give in to your sugar cravings or eat a piece of fruit, sit on the couch or go to the gym, meal prep or eat out for lunch.

Step 2. Visualise yourself making the poor decision
Write down how you will feel after making that decision. Guilty, angry, annoyed. How will you feel 2 hours after that? Sad, depressed. How about the next day? Don't even want to think about it. The more upset and ashamed we are of the decision we made, the more likely we are to fall into a downward spiral of bad decisions and self sabotage.

Step 3. Visualise yourself making the healthy decision
Write down how you will feel after making that decision. Happy, energised. How will you feel 2 hours after that? Proud. How about the next day? Confident that you are able to make positive choices that will help you achieve your goals.

Step 4. Weigh up your options
Which path is aligned with your goals? Which path will get you there quicker?

The first step in the right direction is hard, but it is easier than a step in the wrong direction if you want to achieve your goals. The more often we make the right choice, the easier it is going to become.

Visualising yourself making decisions is an important step towards getting where you want to be in your life, your career, your sport and your health.