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What's in store for today:
- 3 Reasons Everyone Should Train Their Body To Fast
- The New Fancy Scale Craze That Is Stressing Everyone Out
- My Top 10 Protein Sources I Eat Every Week
Hey friend,
It's a big week for me in my world with a HUGE life change, that I can't fully talk about yet. But, I'll share more next week.
In the meantime I'll just say that something that I am learning in this stage of my life is how important it is to take time to really assess what is working for you and what isn't working for you in your life.
And then to take bold action to design your life in such a way that excites you and lights you up.
Truthfully, there's a big change in my life happening this week that is LONG overdue, and it's going to free me up to serve in so many new ways for you and others with regard to sustainable health.
I'm so excited...and I'll share more next week.
In the meantime, here's your Feel Good Friday edition...
3 Reasons I Think Everyone Should
Train Their Body For Fasting
I started intermittent fasting back in 2014 when it first started to gain a lot of popularity.
And while intermittent fasting is NOT required by any means in order to lose weight and keep it off...it IS a massively helpful tool and it opens up so many new options and possibilities when you learn to do it.
So I want to share 3 reasons why I think everyone should spend at least a few weeks training their body to fast for lengths up to 20-24 hours, even if you dont' practice fasting on a daily basis in the future.
1. Fasting makes calorie restriction feel more natural...
One of the reasons I grew to love intermittent fasting is because it made reducing my calorie intake feel less restrictive and more natural.
Nobody likes eating less, especially me. I usually like to eat big meals. So when I go on a cut to drop body fat if I am having to eat really small meals more frequently, I always feel unsatisfied.
But with intermittent fasting, I am able to still eat larger meals and still stay within my ideal calories for weight loss.
The reason for this is because instead of eating breakfast, or a morning snack, I can take those things and roll them into later meals allowing me to feel more satisfied when I do eat.
So I usually roll my breakfast into dinner and have a double meal portion for dinner, and I roll my morning snack into lunch and have a slightly larger lunch.
Since I have trained my body to be used to fasting for longer periods of up to even 48-72 hours at times...sticking to coffee and low or no calorie beverages until lunch feels SUPER easy, and then my actual meals later in the day feel normal instead of restrictive.
2. Fasting gives you extreme flexibility for cheats...
If you have trained your body to be able to fast for up to 20-24 hours, then that means that you can comfortably get through the day with low or no calorie beverages and not feel horrible...
This gives you a HUGE advantage over people who are not trained and capable of fasting when it comes to cheats and indulgences.
Let's say you know you are going out for dinner with friends at a restaurant on Friday night.
If you aren't trained to fast and feel like you MUST eat throughout the day...then you have already consumed almost an entire days calories before you get to the restaurant. Now, if you let loose at the restaurant, you are adding massive calories on top of the rest of your days eating, causing a huge overage of calories.
But if you are trained and comfortable with fasting, you can save all of your meals and snacks for that large dinner time at the restaurant. This means you can enjoy a meal with your family or friends without feeling guilty or restricted, because you saved a lot of calories for that meal.
We call this "strategic fasting" in our program Heathy & Whole. And it adds an incredible layer of sustainability to your lifestyle.
3. Increased productivity and reduced food stress...
When you FIRST start fasting, there will be a little discomfort because your body isn't trained for it. So initially, your productivity during the fasting window might actually go down and you might actually feel a little stressed.
This is totally normal and natural. It's necessary actually because your body needs to adapt physically to fasting.
But if you can stick it out and get through a few days of this, your body will adapt and you won't feel the physical hunger or mental obsession with food anymore during your fasts.
This means you can get up and focus on productivity and go for as long as you want during the day without worry as much about your next meal or snack.
Think about how much more you could get done and how much healthier it would be to have an internal peace of knowing that food is not an emergency anymore?
If you have never learned how to fast, I recommend starting with 16:8 intermittent fasting as a great starting point. The flexibility it gives you it's really helpful even if you don't practice it every day.
The New Fancy Scale Craze
That Is Stressing Everyone Out
We're seeing all sorts of expensive new health tech — like the Hume Body Pod — hit the market, promising comprehensive body analysis and, with a paid subscription of course, all the insights you've been missing.
And people are buying them up like hotcakes.
Here's the problem: what I'm actually witnessing as a coach is that all this "data," paired with AI-generated recommendations, is raising anxiety, creating confusion, and leaving people overwhelmed about what to actually do.
I've had many clients come to me doing amazing work and seeing real progress — suddenly freaking out over some metric or recommendation their Hume gave them. And I have to calmly walk them back to the basics.
The basics that actually matter?
- How many calories are you eating daily
- How many steps are you walking daily
- How much protein are you eating daily
- How much electrolyte-infused water are you drinking daily
- How many times a week are you strength training
These are the only metrics we track at Healthy & Whole — and with them, we get clients all the way to their ideal maintenance weight in a sustainable way, with virtually all important blood markers (blood sugars, insulin, cholesterol, etc.) normalizing along the way.
The moral of the story is this...if you are thinking you might need one of these super expensive and super fancy body pods...think again. My recommendation is to get a simple wifi scale that only measures body weight, BMI, and maybe body fat. No subscriptions necessary. Withings has a bare bones wifi scale that measures bodyweight and BMI only here. The one I have at home is also from Withings and it's just one step up from their most basic scale as it does track body fat % in addition to weight and BMI. Both of these are basic enough that they give you enough data to know if you are moving in the right direction, but not so much that you are obsessing over things that don't matter.
My Top 10 Protein Sources
I Eat Every Week
As a sustainble weight loss coach I commonly see two big struggles in people who are coming to me for help.
First, they aren't sure what proteins are best or what a "lean" protein actually is. And they are often consuming fattier proteins and taking in more calories than they realize.
Second, they struggle to get enough protein in general because they aren't aware of some of the new fun ways to get protein in that aren't chicken breast or protein shakes.
So to that end, here are my top 10 favorite protein sources I buy and eat on a weekly basis.
This I use in a ton of recipes, but mainly in my smashburger recipes that I eat on an almost DAILY basis. Seriously my favorite. It's about 70% protein and still tastes great.
2. Shrimp
This is also something I eat a ton of because I just love shrimp. I season and grill shrimp on my griddle, I throw grilled shrimp into tons of pasta recipes like this one, and I use it in asian stir fry dishes a lot. It's ULTRA lean at usually over 90% protein so you can't go wrong.
3. Keto Bread
This is one of my favorites because you feel like you are eating carbs, but it is mostly protein. My favorite zero carb bread, Lewis Keto Hawaiian Bread, is over 60% protein when you account for net carbs. I use it for french toast, sandwiches, garlic toast, oven bakes, and more.
4. Low Cal / High Protein Chicken Tenders or Nuggets
These are another huge hack because when cooked in the air fryer you get a very tasty food that tastes like you are cheating, but you really aren't. My favorite right now is Simple Truth Lightly Breaded Protein Chicken Bites. They are over 60% protein, and taste great. I use them in a TON of recipes as well as just toss them in Frank's Red Hot Buffalo Sauce or sugar free dipping sauces and eat them like boneless wings.
5. Fat Free Cheeses
These are a serious cheat code. Normal cheese is mostly fat, with just a little protain. Fat free Cheese is mostly protein, with just a little carbohydrate. I use Fat Free Singles, Fat Free Shredded Cheddar, and Fat Free Mozzarella a ton. I use it on smashburgers, my favorite chip dip, lots of oven bakes, a other sandwich and panini recipes in my cookbook. A great way to get protein up without feeling like it. They are typically at least 70% protein or higher.
6. Protein Cereal
While not QUITE as high in protein as the other options on this list so far, I am still including this one because when you pair it with the next item on the list, a high protein milk, then the combination is super high protein and super satisfying. Not to mention convenient. My favorite brand is Ghost Protein Cereal and they have a peanut butter flavor, Lucky Charms flavor, and a Cinnamon Toast Crunch flavor. They are over 40% protein before you add them to a high protein milk.
7. Fat Free Ultra Filtered Milks
I love fat free ultra filtered milks because they are essentially protein shakes, but less expensive and more flexible. My favorites right now are Kroger Carbmaster Fat Free Ultrafiltered Milks. They have unflavored, Vanilla, and Chocolate, which my kids absolutely love. They are usually over 60% protein.
When I need a change up from lean beef, shrimp, and chicken, I throw in some centercut pork tenderloin. This is nice because you can by a tenderloin and bake it, smoke it, throw it in the crockpot for a few hours and shred it, you can make a pot roast with it. The options are endless and it's usually about 70-80% protein.
9. Liquid Egg Makers or Egg Whites
For all things breakfast this is my go to for maximum protein. Egg whites are essentially a pure protein. No carb, no fat. I use these in my french toast recipe with the keto bread and some cinnamon and it's FIRE. Also good in pretty much any breakfast sandwich, breakfast burrito, breakfast scramble, etc. to get protein way up. Essentially 100% protein.
10. High Protein Pasta
There are a growing number of high protein pasta options out on the market. Many of the best ones you still have to buy online such as Kaizen Pasta, but you can get some in stores like Kroger such as Pastabilities Protein Pasta. I am also now a huge fan of protein pasta cups like the new Legendary Protein Pasta cups I shared last week. They are a little pricey, but you get 35g of protein in a pasta cup which is INSANE. You can also use pasta cups like Goodles cups which are about 11g protein per cup and if you pair them with a lean protein like 96% lean beef, shrimp, etc. you will have a very nicely balanced meal.
Anyways, I hope this list spurs some new ideas for you!
Client Win Of The Week:
50 Pounds Lost 🤯
He was usually the life of the room.
The outgoing, fun guy everyone gravitates toward and who lights things up when he walks in.
But somewhere along the way, Seth started disappearing.
Not all at once. Gradually.
He stopped wanting to go out. Reached for sweatpants and baggy clothes instead of anything that fit. Avoided cameras and people.
At 299 pounds, he found himself quietly hoping nobody who knew him would notice how much things had changed.
He had a pool in his backyard and couldn't bring himself to walk around it without a shirt on. He dreamed of getting on a plane without anxiety. Of showing up to a wedding in dress clothes and actually feeling good.
He described himself in one phrase:
Kinda sad.
That wasn't the Seth people knew. And deep down, it wasn't the Seth he knew either.
So he decided to do something about it.
He joined Healthy & Whole.
Six weeks in — down 13 pounds, energy returning. Twelve weeks in — down 28 pounds and "excited to see where I can go from here." Now — 50 pounds lost and counting.
More than the weight, he's learning how to eat based on his actual day. How to find a meal when life throws a curveball. How to keep going when things aren't perfect.
The last feedback form Seth submitted said it all. When we asked what challenges he was facing, he wrote:
"No challenges. Feeling great."
That's confidence returning. That's the old Seth returning. 💪🏻
He's not done — but he is absolutely ready for what's next.
Incredible work, Seth. I'm excited to watch you keep crushing it. 🔥
Ready to start your journey?
Here's how I can help...
If you're feeling overwhelmed and frustrated with your body and health, I know how you feel. Apply for coaching here with Healthy & Whole, I'll work with you to find the perfect support level for you in our program that fits your needs and your budget. We have options starting as low as $39.99 per month 💪🏻
Disclaimer: This email is provided for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute providing medical advice or professional services. The information provided should not be used for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease, and those seeking personal medical advice should consult with a licensed physician.
