We all know training is a big part of getting into
shape and gaining better health, but even more important is nutrition.
This is usually the missing link that keeps individuals from reaching
their goal. It takes both training and nutrition to effectively
reach your goals, but by fine tuning your nutrition program, you
will reach your goals more quickly.
I sat down with Dr. Chris Mohr of Meal Plans 101 to let him explain
just how easy it is to reach your nutritional goals.
He and Jayson Hunter, RD, CSCS have designed a piece of nutritional
software along with that makes it absolutely simple to create simple,
yet effective meal plans.
Question 1: How important is having a meal plan to follow in regards to nutrition
compliance?
It’s just as important as having driving directions if you
don’t know where you’re going. Having a nutrition plan
is the map to get you where you want to go. Or, for the more technologically
sounds folks, the meal plan is the GPS system for improving compliance.
I don’t know how to get to Fargo North Dakota—but if
I had to drive there, I would pull out a map and write my directions.
The same is true for nutrition—most folks know what they
need to do to lose fat or gain muscle, but they don’t have
the specific directions to get there.
Question 2: What do you think are the biggest barriers to following a good
nutrition program?
First is not planning. Like I described above, you need to plan
the best way to reach your destination—in this case, the
destination may be fat loss or gaining lean body mass. Meal Plans
101 does the planning for you. If you fail to plan, plan to fail.
Why struggle any longer; use the properly designed tools to help
you reach your goals.
Second, is watching your portions. Oatmeal is fantastic for you,
but sitting down every day to 2-3 cups of oatmeal per meal might
be a bit much. Wouldn’t it be nice, though, to know just
how much a portion size should actually be? We did that research
for you, and it’s all in the software.
Question 3: Do you have to be a nutrition expert to know how to eat healthy?
How hard is it to create an effective meal plan that will allow
someone to lose fat or gain muscle?
Nutrition experts are of course beneficial—I’d be
knocking myself and Jayson down if I didn’t think they were.
But we can’t be there with every single person who wants
a simple meal plan put together for them and, quite frankly, it
isn’t cheap to work with us individually. This software isn’t
meant to replace the advice of a qualified nutrition professional,
what it’s meant to do is provide you with science based tools,
such as specific formulas (they are behind the scenes, so you don’t
have to get involved with them) to tell you how many calories to
eat for your goals, along with providing you the ability to choose
your food preferences, so you don’t have a cookie cutter
program, but instead a unique, proprietary meal plan that fits
YOU!
Question 4: You have mentioned your software. What is it exactly and how can
it make the lives of my readers easier?
Simply put—it allows folks to plug in specific values they
get from clients or from themselves and it will spit out your specific
nutritional needs to achieve those goals. It will then give you
the breakdown of just how much of each food group you should be
eating, but you are able to customize it to your food choices!!
It’s takes just a few minutes to get the grasp of this and
then it’s just another tool to help you reach your health
and physical goals,
Question 5: One last question. How important is it to adjust your carbohydrates when it comes to weight loss?
This is the million dollar question. Some research supports a
modified carbohydrate diet for successful weight loss, while others
suggest a lower fat nutrition plan. The key is nutrient quality
and the answer is probably somewhere in the middle. The right types
of carbohydrates are excellent. Similarly, healthy fats are crucial,
so drastically restricting one or another is not the best way to
go about it, in my opinion. And that’s why you have the ability
to choose both in the food options under each category.
Chris, thank you for your time today--if you feel your nutrition
is the missing link, then check out Meal plans 101 to find out
just how easy it is to get your nutrition on track. Don’t
leave your nutrition to chance or else you may very well be wasting
all that hard work you put in at the gym.