234-SYNCPodcast_SimplifyNutrition

[00:00:00] Jenny Swisher: Welcome friends to this episode of the Sync Your Life Podcast. Today we’re diving into the topic of keeping your nutrition simple. But before we begin, I’ve got to say I’m recording this in the middle of a spring thunderstorm here in Indiana. And so if you hear a little rumble of thunder in the background, just know everything’s good.

[00:01:15] Jenny Swisher: Everything is safe. I’m safe, but you may just hear some thunder and stuff in the background. So let’s talk about keeping our nutrition simple today. I feel like a broken record with this truly, but we as women have a lot of unlearning to do, and it seems like nutrition tends to be the area that we need the unlearning the most.

[00:01:32] Jenny Swisher: It goes without saying, especially if you tune into this show more often, that most people are under fueling for their activity level. We aren’t eating enough of the right foods, and we’re instead filling up on the wrong ones. Usually, processed foods, starchy carbohydrates, and even sugar. As we get older, perimenopause is known for more insulin resistance tendencies.

[00:01:54] Jenny Swisher: And with cortisol changes due to those adrenal glands that are now taking over for sex hormone production, the next thing we know, we find ourselves dealing with more belly fat and all the excess weight. So what do we do? We follow what society has taught us and we go back to what’s been branded into our brains, which is to eat less and work out harder.

[00:02:13] Jenny Swisher: But my friends, nothing could be worse for us, truly. Restricting protein and healthy fats has a direct correlation to impacting our hormone health and it can lead to havoc on our endocrine system. So today I’m simplifying it for you. In fact, I thought about making this podcast just one minute long just to show you how simple it really can be.

[00:02:33] Jenny Swisher: But for the sake of helping you learn the unlearning, we’re actually going to go with repetitive encouragement so that it really sinks in. Here’s what I want you to know. I’m calling it the 5 All of my favorite words begin with F. Especially the word food. So get your head out of the gutter. But I’m calling this the 5F so that you can remember it.

[00:02:52] Jenny Swisher: Here it is. Protein forward. Fiber is your fave. Fats are your friend. That’s a lot of F’s. But it really is this simple my friends. And here’s how we narrow it down. We focus on consuming 1 gram of protein per pound of ideal body weight. That ideal body weight is determined by the BMI index chart, which by the way, I do not endorse using whatsoever aside from this reason.

[00:03:18] Jenny Swisher: I use it as a calculator only for protein measurement. So the healthy weight according to your BMI chart for your height is what we’re looking at for protein intake in grams per day. You can ignore what it says for true weight indications and instead just use it for protein goals.

[00:03:33] Jenny Swisher: For me, my protein goal per day is 135 grams of protein per day. Now, I don’t know about you, but for me, to get that much protein, it takes focus. Look, another F word, focus. Eating enough can take focus and intentionality. In order for me, personally, to get 135 grams of protein per day, I have to divide that into three meals and a snack.

[00:03:56] Jenny Swisher: That’s 35 grams of protein at each meal and a 30 gram snack mid afternoon usually as my post workout meal, which tends to be my post workout recovery drink with a high protein snack. So this means that I’m eating a giant bowl of organic free range scrambled eggs with turkey sausage and veggies in the morning and large portions of protein at both lunch and dinner.

[00:04:17] Jenny Swisher: I find that my body does best on animal protein. Next on the list is fiber is your fave. Most women are also under eating fiber, and way too many are dealing with stagnant liver issues, excess estrogen buildup, trouble staying regular, and even things like irritable bowel disease. If I had a dollar for every woman who complained of bloating, I would be rich.

[00:04:39] Jenny Swisher: We need more fiber. 25 grams per day at a minimum. We get this through whole foods, veggies, and making sure that our plates are colorful with foods that God made, as my kids say. And finally, fats are our friends. See, I told you we are unlearning. We’ve been taught as a society that fats are bad for us. We have fat free salad dressings, fat free marketing.

[00:05:01] Jenny Swisher: It’s everywhere. But girl, your hormones come from cholesterol, which comes from the protein and healthy fat that you’re eating. You need healthy fats, olive oil, coconut oil, avocados, almonds, all of these are great options for healthy fat. You guys know if you’ve been listening to the show that I’m not a huge dairy fan because for most women, it tends to be highly inflammatory.

[00:05:23] Jenny Swisher: But my friends, eating a healthy fat at each meal is what we should be doing. And if society has tried to condition you into cutting that back, it could be why your hormones are in a bit of hell. So what if it really was this simple? What if we focused on large portions of protein, hitting our fiber minimum each day and incorporating a small dose of healthy fat at each meal?

[00:05:43] Jenny Swisher: I know there are people out there raving about macro counting or portion containers or restricting calories or carbs. And trust me, I have done it all. I’ve been pescatarian, vegan, keto, I’ve done macro counting, I’ve done all of it. And I’ve had to live and learn. And you know what I’ve learned? That I do not want food to be my job.

[00:06:04] Jenny Swisher: I used to spend hours meal prepping and counting food. It drove me absolutely insane. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m still very food bougie, as my husband says. I like to choose organic, non GMO, I’m very picky and weird about my groceries. But I’ve let go of what for me was obsessive tendencies to micromanage my food.

[00:06:23] Jenny Swisher: It is so freeing. And now, the research and the science out there, especially from Dr. Gabrielle Lyon and her new book, Forever Strong, is just proving what my body already feels. We need a protein forward diet, with a fiber focus, and healthy fats. In 2021, I made one change to my health. I started with just more protein.

[00:06:43] Jenny Swisher: That was my goal for the year. I shot for 135 grams per day with intentionality and within four months I had dropped the excess weight that I was starting to carry and I started feeling so much better. My brain fog lifted and I started to have no more afternoon crashes. From there I focused on my fiber and I dove into more of my own bio individuality.

[00:07:04] Jenny Swisher: It turns out, my body doesn’t do very well with dairy or gluten, and certain high histamine foods can even trigger migraines for me. So now I focus on the foods that I know make me feel best. Which, guess what? They’re probably not the same foods that make you feel your best. We are all individual. Health is individual.

[00:07:21] Jenny Swisher: And this leads me to my point. There is no magic formula or mathematical equation to help you reach size Jennifer Aniston. What you need is unique to what your body needs. It’s navigating that through things like proper testing, even genetic testing, which I’ll be exploring more here on the podcast soon.

[00:07:38] Jenny Swisher: And focusing on these five F’s is truly where it’s at. So let’s recap protein forward. Fiber is your fave and fat is your friend. I assure you that if you can dig into your bio individuality, stick to this simple nutrition plan without driving yourself crazy. Remember, life is also meant to be lived.

[00:07:59] Jenny Swisher: and you can train in alignment with your female cycle. You are over halfway there. Speaking of training, I’m not sure if you heard last week’s episode with Kelsey Lintzman. She’s our sync fitness trainer, but it is going to blow your mind. I’ll make sure that I link it up in the show notes in case you missed it.

[00:08:12] Jenny Swisher: It is so good. I’m so excited to finally be launching the sync fitness program in just one month. Um, again, I’m excited for it because it’s not only addressing fitness and cycle syncing, but it’s also taking a look at our nutrition. We’ll be supplying four weeks worth of meal plans to help you align that with your workouts as well.

[00:08:29] Jenny Swisher: So my friends, it really can be this simple. Protein forward, fiber is your fave, fat is your friend. Got it? Don’t overcomplicate it. I totally believe in you. And I promise you that just three to four weeks of following this, you will start to feel the energy that you deserve. So let’s start fueling, yes that’s another F word, for our bodies and see how good they’re meant to feel.

[00:08:53] Jenny Swisher: I think it might surprise you. Thank you so much as always my friends for tuning in, and until next time, we’ll talk soon. Bye bye.