Habit Co Nutrition I By Ash

👏 Habits of my most successful clients when it comes to meal prep 👏

At the end of the day - prioritising your health, weight loss or training goals takes WORK and effort, but if we find the weakest points and the right system for you, this 'work' is actually really energising and feels good.⁠

Prepping and organising your food is key - and no - this doesn't always mean bulk prep on a Sunday, and yes, it takes work and effort day in and day out.⁠

With ALL of my clients - the first thing we do in our coaching is set a FRAMEWORK and system, within that we can then tweak the WHAT and HOW MUCH of food. I don't move any of my clients into the next phase or a fat loss or muscle building goals UNTIL we get this dialled. Priming your life is often overlooked before reaching for your fat loss/build/training goals. Even making the tweaks below you’ll start to notice changes in how you feel - any many of my clients stay at this approach for months before feeling like they need to take it up a notch.

These are some of the habits my clients apply to guarantee a successful week;⁠
- deciding on dinner options and have all ingredients readily available⁠
- repeat repeat repeat - keep it simple and repeatable - once you nail getting organised you can add in variety⁠
- looking ahead for your week, when are you at home, at work, going straight to the gym after school etc ⁠
- doing a mid-week vege/salad/protein shop⁠
- knowing your portion requirements so you can tweak what the family loves to eat to suit your goals⁠
- have an abundance of protein add-ins available all week long⁠
- doubling veges/salad from dinner and putting it in containers to grab and go⁠
- having protein powder and snacks at work⁠
- doubling the protein in your dinners for saving for lunch the next day⁠
- knowing an emergency throw together high protein meal (mine is usually an omelet and salad/veg)⁠

DM me - we can chat about how you best apply these tips!

Hiking food | A few of the goods!

I’m still keeping a calorie deficit in mind but this is not super appropriate for a long multi day hike as energy and safety and enjoyment is top priority. So keeping protein high, and carbs from fruit and veges and seeds for satiety and energy was my go to.
✅ High protein every snack
✅ Lightweight (cans are not optional for more than one night!)
✅ Low to mod fibre (keep the tum happy..)
✅ Easy to digest quick energy
✅ Shareable and things to look forward to
✅ Edible at various/variable temperatures, kept in dry form or left out
(Except the kombucha, that was a luxury carry.. and frozen veges were prepped that morning for that days lunch)
🛍️ If storage and weight of your bags is a concern, protein powder, soy protein, oats, cous cous, dehydrated fruit pieces, milk powder, jerky, seeds, peanut butter slugs, and single serve (shown) dehydrated meals are gold!

👌👌

📱 Looking for a bite? Try Foodprint NZ, a food rescue app, which launches in Nelson today! The app has partnered with some of our awesome local eateries, to allow them to sell their surplus food at discounted prices to prevent food waste.

The app received one of Nelson City Council's Rethink Waste Whakaarohia grants to help it get started in our city, and if you've got a great idea to reduce waste, you could apply for one too! Now there's some food for thought. (More details 👉 https://buff.ly/405y2FV )

The Foodprint app is available free to download from the Apple App Store or Google Play
https://buff.ly/2ZuztOE

So you missed a workout.
Went over your calories.
Had a weekend holiday and didn't get any movement in.
How you get back into your routine, what you learned or needed or reflected on from this experience, and what the experience 'meant' to you is more valuable and leads to more success, in the long run, MORE than the fact you 'took a day off tracking so went over your calories' etc. In the scheme of things these 'slip ups' don't really attribute to much - but your ability to redirect, reframe and rebuild is what will mean your continued success and progress over all.

💥 Client Experience 💥 The Highlight!
👉What was the highlight of your coaching experience?👈
"The closeness and individuality about each program and meal plan. Ash made it so easy and manageable plus she was always call whenever you had any questions."

✨ Your coaching experience is 1000% tailored to your needs, goals, life, style of communication, training preferences, work, family.. the list goes on - I'm here to make YOUR goals WORK for you.. it's about a strategy BABY! And NOT about a meal plan.... ✨

Here are a few ways you might be sneakily sabotaging your goals ✍️
Which one resonates with you most?

12 week coaching blocks - DM for details!

Client #2 - 4 week - BODY RECOMP 🔥🙌
Another success story, in just over 4 weeks this male client has put some simple habits in place daily, and it has changed EVERYTHING! 🙏
Not only are we seeing HUGE improvements in health, sleep, energy and fat loss, we are also seeing a healthy metabolism, an ease and happiness around meals and progress in the gym and in muscle definition💪
😲
The ONE defining action that he has shown in the past month has been commitment to wanting to improve his health and life - and the results have followed 🤍 being committed has meant staying in communication with me as a coach, reflecting on the hard stuff, and putting in the admin to be organised ahead of every day. This is quality change for a life time 🥰
One to watch 🙌

Why scale weight shouldn't be your main measure of progress! ➡️➡️➡️➡️➡️➡️

An incredible snapshot of current progress for one of my clients. More muscle, more mojo, more confidence and more health 🙏

Now we’re shifting up a gear for more training focus, bringing in specific programming for building muscle and strength 🔥

🫶🏽 I can’t even begin to explain how much her unreal self awareness, self accountability, honesty and reflection has made this journey so much more powerful on a deeper level, truly changing her life and mindset not to mention having a positive impact on her family too. A coaches dream to have someone lean in like this wonderful gal! 🫶🏽

➡️ 👏 My rockstar client started out wanting to make a life change, once and for all. We didn't overhaul EVERYTHING all at once - we took a slow and steady approach to assess, reflect, REBUILD mindset, systems and really address the root causes of so many habits that were holding back from seeing long-term progress.
🚫Not just following a plan.
🚫Not just tracking calories.
🚫Not just training herself into the ground.

✅ This resulted in an understanding on how her body thrives and responds to food, relief from food guilt and swinging between overeating and undereating, a healthier family and role modeling, confident choices in ALL situations (this recent pic was after 3 weeks on holiday), and excitement to keep learning, training smarter and getting hecka STRONGER!!!!!

🔥We are ONLY JUST GETTING STARTED GAL!🔥

Tips for hitting the gym when you’re away or travelling & it not feeling WEIRD or wandering in circles👇
🔥 Start on the cardio machines, take a breath and take it all in!
🔥 Start with the exercises you feel most confident in that make you feel 💯 and are simple set up - like barbell work or DBs and benches
🔥 If you need to mix it up, do! You won’t lose your gains or progress in one session and you’ll likely feel more satisfied working with what you’ve got than trying to make it fit
🔥 Superset some exercises to keep you from wandering aimlessly around the gym
🔥 All machines feel different, work to RPE (perceived intensity) and to almost failure/1-2 reps in reserve rather than worrying about hitting the same loads
🔥 Short on time? Aim for full body, UB push, UB pull, LB squat, LB hinge, some glutes and abs and arms 8-12 reps, 3-4 sets and you’ll be away!
🔥 Ask where things are - seems simple but once you ask, you’ll have connected with another gym human and it feels more comfortable and a safer experience
🔥 Have fun with it! Try the hack squat, the plate loaded machines, a hip thrust machine, ski erg… no one knows you right!
🔥 You’re practising getting uncomfortable - it’s a skill to work through and it GETS EASIER
🔥 Allow for more time usually an extra half an hour, plus some photo time! Enjoy the experience
🔥 Doing a few simple exercises well is better than hitting every machine once and not knowing how to best use it
🔥 It might be a 1000% best session you’ve ever had, or it might be ticking the boxes and just getting through your programme, or you just wanted to move your body- go in with no expectations and you’ll leave feeling GREAT and accomplished 🙏

🔥 5 things that are GAME CHANGERS for seeing results, strength progress & more training satisfaction 🔥
HARD TRUTHS 😏
If you’re going to do the work, do it properly - avoid going through the motions and hoping for the body of your dreams..😮‍💨
1 ✔️ Taking your movement and muscles through the FULL range of movement (ROM) to see better muscle ‘damage’, tension and more muscle fibre recruitment for better growth - which means getting the exercise form correct and addressing tightness and mobility issues FIRST or you will be shortchanging yourself in the long run GUARANTEED.
2 ✔️ Slowing things down, getting tempo or time under tension (TUT) in the bag. Again, hitting tension and muscle stress for growth. Adding speed or momentum serves a purpose in certain performance contexts or adding a cardiovascular focus, but not when it comes to growth or getting the shape or muscle density you want. It also helps you identify the muscles you’re using (ie mind muscle connection) and not side step correct form.
3 ✔️ You won’t build muscle until you’re out of a calorie deficit, period. This means eating carbs too. And not just the fun ones on the weekends. You can only reveal muscle in a fat loss phase, that you’ve already built - it won’t happen while dieting. Give yourself time at maintenance to WORK, or do a reverse diet with a coach to build while minimising fat gain. Nutrition with a purpose, just like your training.
4 ✔️ Recovery days is where the muscle building happens. Rest periods in sets equals optimising strength potential every set. Do both, trust in the law of diminishing returns.
5 ✔️ Get form right and target the right muscle every rep. You won’t grow a b***y if you feel it in your lower back. You won’t grow shoulders if you feel it only in your traps.
Thoughts?

I hear it all the time.
“Once things slow down over the next few months I feel like I’ll be able to start”
“I’ll add in exercise once I’ve got on top of my food”
“After the school holidays I’ll be able to get into it again”
“I just need to figure out what I’m doing with work before I start planning my meals”
✨
I call BS.
These are wishy washy all or nothing statements.
Okay so you won’t be able to start training 5 days a week, getting 10 hours of sleep and bodybuilder style tracking and meal prepping your food BUT-
🔥 What if THIS ‘NOT IDEAL TIME’ was the exact time that you need help making changes, creating a better system and getting organised with your nutrition?
Planning your dinners could SAVE YOU TIME
Going for a walk could HELP REDUCE STRESS
Seeking out a coach WILL REDUCE OVERWHELM
Making a grocery list will SAVE YOU MONEY
🔥
The SMALL changes you work on when you’re busy or feel like ‘it’s not the right time’ will be the things that get you through. If you can nail a few basics when life is hard or busy or stressful, think of how much further ahead you’ll be when ‘life settles down’ 🙏

3 things that have been a GAME CHANGER for seeing results in the gym 🔥
1️⃣ Experimenting with lifting heavier weights.. like get CURIOUS.. what would the 15kg feel like? What does 2 more reps feel like? What could you ‘play’ with in your leg press? What happens if I try a couple of reps of slightly higher - little ‘tests’ along that way add in more fun, more reward, more confidence, more trust, and more gains over time!
2️⃣ Film your lifts - not only does it help practise the ‘I don’t care what people think’ mindset, it also gives you the opportunity to self check, reflect on what you see cos what you feel and check on tempo and form based on any feedback you get from self (internal and visually) or coached. You’re also not going to grow that bo**ie if you keep progressing a deadlift you only feel in your lower back.
3️⃣ Tempo - slow that sh** down. Not only does it progress your growth, and strength more quickly, it helps you maintain better engagement mentally and with the correct muscle, keeps you focused and improves set and rep consistency. Focus on slow tempo into the hardest part of the movement, add pauses and finish each rep fully before starting the next rep🔥 don’t ignore it in your programmes!

I got to catch up with this beautiful lady Claire Dooney in Wanaka ☀️ Very grateful for her support, chats and being able to be part of such a exceptional team and business with Leafcutter Business Support 🙏

Big smiles catching up with this vibrant and inspirational human - Ash Cowper

Visiting Wanaka, from Nelson, Ash delivers business administration and wellbeing for our clients.

Love your work Ash! I’m so proud of your business you are successfully building Habit Co Nutrition I By Ash and smashing your goals. Xx

JULY - I’ve reached capacity for this month which means I’m not taking on any new clients until August.
Maintaining quality and integrity in my coaching is imperative and as I teach in many sessions - the more energy or intensity you put out, the more time or space you need to be at the opposite end of the spectrum, meaning I can show up better for you!
If you’re keen to join the waitlist for coaching in August send me a DM.
✨

Opening a few spots for free consultations;
Tomorrow 9-1230pm - Zoom
Tues 12-2pm - Zoom
Thur 9-10 and 12-2 Miki D's Gym office

———————-

DECIDE.⁠
It doesn't have to be big, but it will be significant if you commit.⁠
Don't wait for the day you wake up motivated and have it all laid out in front of you. That's your end game.⁠
Decide right now - put it in your diary - and SHOW UP.

IT'S NOT YOU, IT'S YOUR SYSTEM 🤯⁠.⁠
I didn't go to the gym yesterday. I didn't go to the gym the day before that. I tried a run before that. Had a few half-assed walks the day before that...⁠⁠
Hating on the fact I had moved SO FAR out of my 'on- track & staying fit' space and what I normally call my 'routine' and feeling totally like I DID NOT HAVE MY LIFE TOGETHER!⁠⁠
I realised.⁠⁠
My job had slowed down.⁠
My house had changed.⁠
My energy had changed.⁠
My sleep had changed.⁠
My social routine had changed.⁠
My dogs routine had changed.⁠
My food preferences had changed.⁠⁠
It wasn't me that was in a funk. My routine was no longer my routine for a reason - IT WASNT SERVING ME ANYMORE!⁠⁠
This is where things get exciting and you can GET REAL NITTY GRITTY about what YOU WANT TO DO TO FEEL EPIC and HOW YOU WANT TO LIVE YOUR LIFE.⁠⁠
1) Reprioritise - what is your 'non negotiable', what's new that needs your focus RIGHT now?⁠
2) What can go, what's not serving you right now? Is it time you accept IT'S NOT DOING IT FOR YOU ANY MORE.⁠
3) What can you dabble in.. even just for fun?⁠
4) What non-exercise areas can you put energy into instead that will also benefit your life and wellbeing?⁠⁠
Time to mix things up people. Change never felt so good.

🪄 the partnership of coaching and working together on all the moving parts is where the magic happens 🥰

Women in Sport Aotearoa and The Shift Foundation have co-designed a leadership programme for young women and applications are now open!

Whanake o te Kōpara 2.0 is for young women aged 18 - 25 (turning 19 in 2022), who have left secondary school and are working, studying or looking for employment AND are passionate about the connection between movement and wellbeing.

Please share this link with anyone you think might be interested – entries close this Friday 27 May! More details here. https://fal.cn/3oPDV

Part of my story ➡️➡️ swipe to see a small part of my journey. Found these photos and was umming and ahhing about if I should share. But transparency is a core value of my coaching and this is a part of me, and I want you to know I’m human.
*ED trigger potential*
I’ve been in the space of under eating and over exercising. Multiple times of varying degrees both intentionally and unintentionally. I don’t have many photos at my worst, this photo I was around 20, and I don’t remember a lot about this part of my journey probably as a coping mechanism, but also as my brain wouldn’t have been functioning optimally, but I do remember how I felt or wanted to feel.
How I wanted to feel emotionally, physically and where I fit in the world, to offer less of me which was supposed to be what I though made me have more value.
I remember the anxiety, everything being hard on so many levels, the counting down the minutes on the treadmill and the researching menus and the sticky notes with calories calculated (when I didn’t even know what they meant). The googling and searching and seeking and hours wasted on foodie sites for low calorie swaps. I remember the loneliness. I remember the chronic deep tiredness for basic tasks and the fights caused when other people were cooking. I remember feeling little but feeling lost. Everyone’s journey is different of what feels healthy and what feels out of alignment, but this is a little of mine and I chose to feel different.
I remember the parts I need to which now make me a better coach and the person I need to be today.
🤍
We deserve to thrive.
🤍
*if any part of this resonates with you or you feel like you’d like some support in this area please reach out so I can connect you with options for support and contacts who are specialised in this area, as this is my personal journey and offering specific guidance for ED is outside of my scope of practice.

Nutrition periodisation or diet phases for fat loss💥
SWIPE ➡️ for all the learnings.
✅ Having a plan and long term vision in your approach to nutrition is key to seeing ongoing progress towards your goals, but also appreciating what your body can do in all phases and ‘seasons’!
Having purpose in each part of your timeline really helps align all the moving parts and means better adherence, focused support and less emotional stress when we can see the importance of the current phase.
💥 Thoughts, questions, disagree? Comment below or send me a message

Changing how we talk about young women's bodies The physical and social changes teenage girls go through can often push them away from sport. So we need to change the way we talk about puberty and periods, says WHISPA

Working on the moving parts, tailored to your life and priorities = faster and more sustainable results.

CARBS.⁠
How does this picture make you feel?
Question it.
Why carbs.
Your body needs them.⁠
We need them for energy.⁠
We need them for thyroid health.⁠
We need them for immune function.⁠
We need them for mood, and satiety.⁠
We need them to maintain muscle & strength.⁠
We need them to manage our stress hormones.⁠
We need them to manage our blood sugar levels.⁠
We need them for vitamins and minerals.⁠
We need them for performance in life, hobbies and sport.⁠
We need them for fibre and a healthy digestion.⁠
We need them for a good nights sleep.⁠
We need them because they are fruit and vegetables.⁠
💥
It's not about the carbs.⁠
It's about how we are eating them and how we are moving our bodies and about QUALITY. It’s no different to any other macronutrient in the sense the the amount and source needs to be appropriate to your goals on multiple levels and how your body responds to any particular change in approach. Both physically and in your life and soul! And this will change constantly as with all the other moving parts.
Imagine if you could let that sh** go, and feel better than you ever imagined. It's about finding what works for your body. Not about 'rules'.⁠

💥 ➡️➡️➡️ *swipe* 9 signs that it might be time to take a break from tracking your food - or maybe tracking isn't the right tool for you (right now).. 💥⁠
〰️⁠
Tracking your food is [one of many] super useful tools to achieve consistency with your nutrition, see and share data, check, understand and follow your intake of macros (carbs/fats/protein), check sugar and fibre intake (as well as other micronutrients with some tracking platforms) as well as identify patterns with your nutritional habits that often correlate with qualitative data - such as how you feel, what you notice or other behaviours.⁠
〰️⁠
However, sometimes the use of tracking isn't right for us either as a long term tool or short term checkin - it can interfere with listening to important body signals, we haven't mastered the basics of consistency or nutritional habits in the first instance, it can create anxiety and stress or overwhelm, it can leave us to focus on numbers over health and progress in other areas of our journey, or we just don't understand how to use it optimally.⁠
〰️⁠
Have you had a break from tracking, and how did it help you in the long run?

When I’m walking up these hills it’s not about if I hit my 5 workouts this week, not about hitting that squat pb, not that I ticked of my hiit session, not about the body fat % going down and not about making myself hit the 10k steps when I only had time for 5k. It doesn’t matter that I didn’t have time for my last exercise in my pull day programme or that I went over my calories yesterday. That stuff in this moment means F all. Walking up here I was literally thinking, thank goodness for bloody deadlifts and every second step was basically a front foot split squat 😂

What matters in this moment is that I was strong enough to carry a pack for kms without getting a sore back. That I could keep walking when I was tired and still hold a conversation. That I was happy to go the extra km because we wanted to keep going and because the end point didn’t need to be the hut. That I could put my pack on and off by myself. What mattered was knowing that it felt hard but that was okay and that I would be okay. That if I had to carry something out I would make it happen. What mattered was how good the treats and hot meals we had tasted and that we needed it to fuel the extra steps. Broccoli was not the right food for me or my bod today. Those things mattered.

It’s important for you to consider your why in all of your training. It might change or fade or progress or be less relevant, but at the end of the day, if you’re going to the gym day in and day out for weight loss alone, or because you ‘should’ maybe it’s worth taking a step back and looking at what you really need and want life to look and feel like.
Your why.
That’s what equals sustainability.
That’s what keeps you showing up, riding the peaks and lows, making failure and pivoting and deloads still feel like you’re moving forward with purpose.
What is your moment?

Here's the rules.⁠⁠
There are no rules.⁠⁠
I challenge you - next time you say 'No I can't' or 'I should be' or 'I need to' ... to something - ask WHY. ⁠⁠
Write down your 'shoulds' when it comes to food or training.⁠⁠
Where did this 'rule' or expectation come from? ⁠
Have you always thought this way, or when did it become your new rule? ⁠
What did you hope to achieve by following it? Is it helping? Or just causing stress? ⁠
Is it the 'rule' that is causing you success or change, or is it something else?⁠
Why is it working?⁠
,⁠
It's important to zoom out, and ask - how is this 'rule' or belief around food or exercise serving you. ⁠
How do you know it's helping you move forward? ⁠
How do you know it's true? ⁠
How do you know it's not the thing holding you back?⁠⁠
Is training fasted, cutting out carbs, cutting out sugar, adding in running, taking supplements - if you're doing them because you feel like you 'should' instead of wanting to/out of joy, prescription or informed choice, and still don't know why it might work for you - it's time to start asking questions or dive a little deeper.⁠⁠
That doesn't mean to say that there aren't actions, science-based principles, or processes out there that you can do based on what we believe to be accurate or backed by data or studies. But it doesn't mean it is necessarily right for you, or that you are doing it in the right order or in combination with many other variables to make it work for you.⁠⁠
Move away from jumping to follow a rule out of hope for the best - and FIRST seek understanding, knowledge, purpose and support.

Back to square one.. again?⁠
To be able to move forward (and this is a process we work together when coaching) it is important to identify;⁠
- what it is exactly that isn't working for you right now⁠
- why isn't it working (time, lack of knowledge, family pressure)⁠
- one thing you can do to overcome that barrier⁠
- decide how you can commit to this and be accountable - make a list, book it in, communicate to your family)⁠
- end of the week - did it work, why/why not, what would you do to progress this/make it more successful next week?