Frequently Asked Questions
Weight Loss Templates Overview
Read the Weight Loss Templates Overview.
Templates Overview Video
Why do the templates work?
- Every template we send is based on information that you provide so that we can deliver the best template to meet your needs.
- Our Personal Nutrition Templates are carefully calculated and structured to help you lose weight and body fat while still maintaining lean muscle. Your templates come with versions for "non-training days", "standard training days", and "heavy training days" so there's no guess work on how much you have to eat on any given day.
- Your templates are based on the most effective nutrition regimen we have found that has enabled our clients to burn calories without feeling hungry by balancing the amounts of protein, carbs, and fat you eat. This regimen has proved best in eliciting the fastest and most effective fat loss, body composition improvements, and performance results in our clients. Eating in accordance with your templates will melt away body fat and add healthy lean muscle to your frame. At the same time it will result in increased energy, heightened sense of well being, better sleep, and increased alertness.
What types of food should I eat?
- Eat the foods that are listed in your templates. For best results the majority of the foods you eat should be real, contain minimal ingredients, and unprocessed. Base your diet on garden vegetables, especially greens, lean protein sources, nuts and seeds, little starch, and no processed sugar. By keeping your grocery cart to the perimeter of the grocery store, and avoiding the aisles is a simple way to get most of the best foods you need. Real food has a short shelf life. Foods with excessively long shelf-lives contain chemicals and preservatives that are harmful to your body.
What times should I be eating?
- Spread your meals and snacks out as evenly as possible throughout your day.
What types of carbohydrates are best?
- Most folks are better served by getting a majority of their carbs from vegetables and lower glycemic sources, and limiting or avoiding higher glycemic carbohydrates. Consumption of large amounts of high-glycemic carbohydrates is a common factor in many nutritionally related health problems. Foods with a high GI raise blood glucose faster and more quickly than foods with low GI. Hi GI foods include rice, bread, candy, potato, sweets, sodas, and most processed carbohydrates. Processing can include bleaching, baking, grinding, and refining, which greatly increases their glycemic index. High-glycemic carbohydrates produce a higher than normal insulin response. Insulin is an essential hormone for life. However, elevation of circulating insulin leads to obesity, high blood pressure, mood dysfunction, and higher levels of cholesterol.
Do I need to count calories?
- You do not need to count calories while following your templates. Each template provides the exact number of meals, snacks, and quantities of food you should be eating at each of them based on your body composition measurements.
What should I eat before I workout?
- If you work out first thing in the morning, you may want to hold off on eating until after your workout. Any food intake eaten within 30 - 90 minutes before a workout should be kept to a minimum (ideally this would be one of your snacks).
What should I eat after I workout?
- Within 15-20 minutes of your workout you should be ingesting some type of post-workout recovery protein. This can be in the form of a protein shake. Within 30 - 60 minutes after working out you should eat a meal or a snack based on your templates.
Should I count my protein shake towards my daily serving allotments?
- Depending on the templates you ordered, you may have Protein Powder listed in your protein column. If you intend to use protein powder to supplement the protein requirement for a meal or snack, count this towards your serving allotments.
- If consuming a protein shake within 30 minutes post-workout for the sole purpose of delivering fast absorbing protein to your muscles, aiding in post-workout recovery, do not count this towards your serving allotments. For this type of protein recovery shake, it is best to choose one that is low in carbohydrates (less than 10g of carbs) and fat (less than 3g of fat) to minimize the caloric load. If consuming a protein shake that's higher in carbs and fat, you may consider counting this towards your daily serving allotments due to a higher caloric load. This will differ from person to person based on body weight, body composition, and activity levels.
What about other supplements?
- A daily multivitamins is great for getting those additional vitamins, minerals, and other micronutrients you may be missing from your food. Fish oil has been proven highly effective in decreasing inflammation and promoting healthy recovery. Creatine helps your body regenerate energy. Pre-workout supplements should be used in moderation and adhere to recommended doses on the packaging. None of these supplements need to be included in your templates daily serving allotments.
What about herbs & spices?
- Herbs and spices are great! Most herbs and spices contain little or a negligible amount of calories. Herbs and spices that do not contain sugar or artificial sweeteners do not need to be counted towards your daily serving allotments. Herbs and spices are helpful to add new and different flavors to your foods.
What about salt?
- When it comes to salt, less is usually better. High salt intake increases blood pressure. There are no salt restrictions built into your templates. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommends that individuals consume no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day, and that certain groups limit intake to 1,500 milligrams per day.
What about caffeine?
- There are no restrictions on caffeine built into your templates. According to some medical sources, up to 400 milligrams (mg) of caffeine a day appears to be safe for most healthy adults. That's roughly the amount of caffeine in four cups of brewed coffee. Heavy daily caffeine use — more than 500 to 600 mg a day — may cause side effects such as Insomnia, Nervousness, Restlessness, Irritability, Upset Stomach, Fast heartbeat, and Muscle tremors.
What about Soft Drinks?
- Soft drinks, sodas, and other sugary beverages are not recommended for consumption. Drinking beverages loaded with sugar causes our bodies to absorb that sugar very quickly and send it directly to our liver in extremely high concentrations. Soft drinks, sodas, and other beverages high in sugar lead to increased risk of obesity, diabetes, fatty-liver disease, chronic liver disease, and many other metabolic derangements. Drink more water instead.
What about Diet Soda?
- Diet Sodas are not recommended for consumption. They typically use some type of artificial sweetener and/or sugar substitute to give them their sweet taste. These artificial sweeteners have been shown to "trick" our bodies into thinking we are consuming larger amounts of calories, which throws off our metabolism, creating difficulty in regulating our appetite. Most of these have also been shown to have some level of negative long-term health effects such as cancer, tumors, thyroid issues, and a host of others. Drink more water instead.
How much water should I drink?
- A healthy recommendation is to consume .5 oz of water for every pound of body weight.
Should I eat the same foods every day?
- Eating the same foods day in and day out can get boring for most folks. For others, it provides consistency and makes it easier for them to follow their templates. This will differ from person to person. The more variety you can introduce, the more likely it is that you will be getting all the required vitamins, minerals, and other micronutrients your body requires.
Can I eat something that's not on my templates?
- Eating items not on your templates is not recommended. However, if you decide to eat something not on your templates you can count the macronutrients listed in the nutritional information and calculate how it fits into your templates.The basic arithmetic is:
- 7g of protein = 1 serving of protein
- 9g of carbohydrates = 1 serving of carbohydrates
- 3g of fat = 1 serving of fat.
How strict are the templates?
- Your templates include the healthiest foods in the most appropriate quantities to help you lose weight, increase performance, and feel better. The clients who get the best results are the ones who follow their templates as strict as possible.
How do I know what type of "Workout Day" it is?
- Non-Workout Days: These are days that you do not workout; your workout is relatively light, burning less than 400 calories; or your workout is less than 20 minutes in duration. This includes days where the most physically challenging activities you did that day was getting outside for a walk, or doing some light activity where your heart rate stays relatively low at around ~125 bpm or less.
- Standard Workout Days: These are days that you exercise with intensity for 20 minutes to 1.5 hours. This includes strength training; moderate endurance training; and “CrossFit” type workouts. These are workouts that burn 400 - 1000 calories and/or keep your heart rate at or above ~125 bpm and/or your level of exertion is moderate to high for the duration of the session.
- Heavy Workout Days: These are days that you exercise with intensity for 1.5 hours or more. This includes high volume and heavy strength training; longer endurance training; and heavy, long, or multiple “CrossFit” type workouts. These are workouts that burn more than 1,000 calories and/or keep your heart rate at or above ~125 bpm and/or your level of exertion is high for the duration of the session.
What do I do if I'm not losing/gaining like I want to?
- Your templates are designed to provide the ideal amount of nutrition for a person of your body composition with an average metabolism. Depending on your metabolism, you may end up needing more or less calories each day. Follow the instructions listed in your "How To Use Your Templates" guide to know when and how to adjust your intake based on changes in your body composition.
Can I have a "cheat meal"?
- The stricter you follow your templates, the better results you will get. Cheat meals are not recommended and will significantly slow your progress. If you have a “cheat meal”, the best recourse is to immediately resume eating in accordance with your templates at your next meal.
What about alcohol?
- The stricter you follow your templates, the better results you will get. Alcohol is not recommended and will significantly slow your progress. If you consume alcohol, count it against your carbohydrate allotment. If you consume alcohol, the best recourse is to immediately resume eating in accordance with your templates at your next meal.
What if I miss a meal?
- Missing meals and snacks is not ideal, and will not deliver optimal results from your templates. You should make every effort to ensure you are eating all of your meals and snacks each day. If you miss a meal or a snack you can try to make up some or all of the missed servings in your next meal.
I'm really hungry, what should I do?
- You can increase your servings of protein and fats to help decrease your hunger feelings, but know that you are not eating in accordance with your templates and you will likely slow and/or counteract your results by doing this. Losing weight and body fat is challenging and requires discipline and commitment.