Hint of Nutrition

You pay a lot for your hard earned money for your health insurance benefits so please start utilizing your nutrition benefits!

Did you know that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) mandated that insurance companies cover preventative services that include healthy diet and physical activity counseling and obesity screening.

What this means for you:
Most insurance companies cover nutrition counseling 100% as long as they’re coded as preventative services.

👉 No co-pay
👉 No-deductible
👉 No out-of-pocket cost for you

And many times, your insurance covers unlimited visits!

You pay a lot of money for your health insurance to not take advantage of this!

Book your first nutrition session with me today via telehealth. I provide individual sessions and packages that are suited to your needs and goals.

At this time we are accepting BCBS, Aetna, United Healthcare, MVP, Cigna, Independent Health, and Medicare.

Hey there, I've been gone for a bit, but I'm back and I've got some big news!

I'm accepting new patients!

Do you want to get healthier and learn how to eat to lose weight, improve performance, and fit nutrition into your life?

I teach you how to choose healthy, nutrient dense foods that provide your body with what it needs to help you reach your health and wellness goals. No foods are off limits and we'll work to personalize the plan for YOU!

I work with patients to help them with weight loss, managing diabetes, lowering cholesterol/blood pressure, etc. I help you stay accountable too with regular follow-ups.

And I can now work with you too!

Visit my website or contact me today to learn more about how I can help you improve your health with nutrition counseling. Most insurances cover nutrition counseling 100% with no out of pocket costs! At this time I am accepting the above insurances, HSA/FSA, and private pay clients.

If you know someone who could benefit, hit that share button! 🙏

https://hintofnutrition.com/insert-diet-here-diet/

New Blog Post: "Insert Diet Here" Diet

A look at nutrition information overload and my review of 5 of the most popular diets of 2020.

The “Insert Diet Here” Diet - Hint Of Nutrition It’s 2020, the year is half gone, the world is crazy right now. Amongst all of that, obesity is still at an all time high. Whats the best diet?

THIS MAY SHOCK YOU! 🤯

1️⃣ BMR - Your BMR is the total calories you need to maintain your basic human functions and stay alive. (Increase muscle to increase BMR).

2️⃣ NEAT - This is the amount of energy your body spends doing NON-EXERCISE activity so think shaking you knee, doing yard work, chores around the house, moving throughout the day. By increasing NEAT you also increase physical activity expenditure.

3️⃣ TEF - This is the amount of energy your body uses to digest certain foods. Protein has the highest TEF, meaning it requires the most energy to digest. Next is high fiber carbohydrates, and then fat.

4️⃣ EA - This is the amount of energy you expend during your planned workouts. Shocking that its so small right? This also depends on the type, duration, etc.

SO…What now?

Well I think you should take this and understand the following.

✅ You need to fuel your body appropriately for your activity, stop eating 1200 calories, that’s the amount a baby should eat.

✅ Your workout that you do is a minuscule portion of your daily energy needs. It’s still important, but know that the number of calories burned via a Fitbit, smart watch, etc is probably inaccurate.

✅ If you’re sedentary for most of the day outside of your workout, you’re severely missing out on NEAT that could help add a lot of calories burned. An easy way to help increase NEAT is to aim for 10k steps per day.

✅ A calorie is NOT just a calorie. Certain calories are digested different. Protein and fiber can be highly beneficial especially when dieting.

A multitude of factors affect your TDEE including: age, s*x, height, weight, body composition, medical conditions, stress, sleep, history of dieting, etc.

It’s vital that you are mindful of them all and understand your TDEE is always fluctuating and changing.

Questions - shoot me a DM! 😊

It’s important to understand you don’t need to live your life in a calorie deficit.

Two common themes among dieters are...

1️⃣ That they’re not able to maintain the changes that they’ve made in order to lose the weight. Maybe they didn’t lose the weight the right way.

2️⃣ Or, they didn’t realize or have a strategy for increasing calories back up from maintenance.

For example, if you’re in a calorie deficit and you’re losing weight at 1500 calories. Do you continue to eat 1500 calories for the rest of your life?

Of course not!

Your needs are always changing depending on what phase of dieting you’re working towards. After a dieting phase should be a Maintenance Phase.

This is undoubtedly the most important phase, as it is where you should spend the MAJORITY of your life. Most people have it backwards and spend the most time in a dieting phase - which sounds miserable!

Returning to maintenance calories after a diet phase is one of the last steps of “graduating” from my coaching program. Having that understanding helps me know you’re ready and have control of your nutrition. Which makes me happy. 😊

Click the link in my bio to read more about returning to maintenance in my FREE ebook! 📙

And if you need help with the ins-and-outs of dieting phases of your successful weight loss journey or you’re worried about maintaining your hard earned results, DM me and we can discuss your individual needs!

The results of 5 years of hard work and dedication.

5 years ago I decided to return to school to fulfill my passion for nutrition and helping others reach their nutrition goals.

The culmination of my hard work paid off today as I am happy to say that I have PASSED my CDR RD examination to become a registered dietitian.

One journey has ended, but this is just the beginning of my journey to helping as many people as possible learn that healthy eating and weight loss is possible.

I’m just getting started.

“Curtis, I really blew it over the weekend with my diet, what should I do?”

If it’s Monday morning and you’re sitting here reading this feeling sad and remorseful because of how “bad” you ate this weekend, you NEED to keep reading.

What should you do when you blow your diet on the weekend?

In my opinion, you should do absolutely nothing different, except ask yourself why did it happen in the first place?

Here is what I did this weekend.

My Friday:
I had Pizza and Wings
Drank 2 Gin and Tonics

My Saturday:
Had BBQ with Family
Had 4 strawberry daiquiris and 1 beer
Had zero vegetables

My Sunday:
Had Cinnamon Roll Pancakes and Corned Beef Hash
And the Biggest Pork Chop for Dinner
With a delicious cocktail
Oh and Birthday cake

Am I sitting here feeling remorse or guilt?

Not at all!

I am well aware of my decisions and their impact they have on my goals, yet I still made them but I OWNED them.

The biggest mistake you could make my friends is to blame your circumstances.
�“Well I was out and about and they didn’t have good choices”

Bu****it! You chose wrong - that’s all.

Self-Reflect
The best thing to do after a weekend of overindulgence is to become self-aware of why it happened. So you can change it in the future (if you want).

Move on and Set Goals
The second thing would be to resume your habits/nutrition plan and set SMART goals for your next weekend.

Actually DO SOMETHING
The third thing is to TAKE ACTION on these goals.

Stop guilt-restricting yourself during the week because of your weekend diet. It will put you right back into the cycle all over again.

This is why you’re not seeing the results you want. You’re treating your weekends like a vacation.

You want to see change, start by changing your choices on weekends my friends!

Did you have a “bad” weekend? Comment below and tell me what you are going to do to change that this week.

IT IS NOT YOUR LACK OF WILLPOWER!

You have plenty. You have enough. You have everything you need to be successful inside of you.

The thing is, we always tend to think it’s willpower, but really it’s THIS!

You have big weight loss goals, which is - AMAZING.

BUT…you don’t yet have the lifestyle, the habits, or the mindset to GET YOU THERE.

NOT WILLPOWER.

So let’s try this.

Let’s stop beating yourself up and hoping that you’ll wake up a different person.

Let’s start by creating smaller habits and shifting your mindset.

Let’s focus on being proud of where you’re at.

Let’s pick you up and celebrate the willpower that you DO HAVE.

And remember: YOU CAN BECOME ANY PERSON THAT YOU WANT TO BECOME.

Now, save this, share it, tag a friend. Let’s all do this together.

Dietitians are the Nutrition Experts.

This is a table showing the difference between a dietitian and a nutritionist. Depending on where you live, giving dietary advice might be limited to dietitians due to legal reasons. But some states don’t have licensure laws and allow nutritionists to practice giving dietary advice.

After reviewing the table you’ll see why that’s scary.

I’m not coming after other people handing out dietary advice to people for general health. But, it’s important that you understand the person you’re taking dietary advice from has credentials and an education to back the information that they’re providing you.

If you want the best look for the Registered Dietitian (RD or RDN) (working on studying for my exam now..or I should be working on studying for my exam now.)

I like to use this analogy for people to understand.

I don’t have to be an RN to help someone with a skinned knee or CPR in the street if they need it. That said, if you are the one in the street that needs CPR, I’m pretty sure you’re going to want the RN there instead of me.
�Same goes for Nutrition. A Nutritionist might provide you with decent information, but why risk it. A Registered Dietitian has the training necessary to handle it not Joe Schmoe.

Double tap if you knew this!!

Four Fundamentals of Weight Maintenance

Without these four things, you’re most likely not going to be able to maintain your weight loss.

1️⃣ Mental Mastery:
- Learn to identify and celebrate non-scale victories.
- Focus on growth mindset.
- Lose the all-or-nothing mentality.

2️⃣ Behavior Mastery:
- Identify bad habits holding you back.
- Identify good habits that are working.
- Create cornerstone habits - those that produce BIG results.
- Develop new habits that create positive impact.

3️⃣ Exercise:
- Consistent exercise is part of your weekly routine.
- Create a plan with something you enjoy, even if it’s just walking.

4️⃣ Nutrition:
- Develop healthy eating habits.
- Focus on nutrient rich foods.
- Food can be both fuel and pleasure.
- Determine optimal meal time/portions to control cravings and hunger.

If you can master these you’re likely to be able to maintain your weight. If you need help, let me know. I’m happy to help those struggling in one area or another.

What’s one area you’re struggling with? Let me know in the comments. ⤵️⤵️⤵️

Happy Sunday! I’d like to introduce you all to my good boy Miles. And I also wanted to remind you that stress and weight loss do not mix. Hope you’re calming your stress with your very own good boy! 🐶

Give me a ❤️ if this sounds familiar.
Start 90 day challenge.
Restrict yourself of all your favorite foods and make unrealistic changes over the next 90 days.
See results, but get frustrated in the process by the lack of enjoyment with what you’re eating.
End of 90 day challenge (if you made it the whole way), you go right back to eating ALL the foods you LOVE.
End up gaining all the weight right back, and maybe more.
You feel depressed, defeated, and demoralized at how you could’ve possibly let this happen.
Wait a couple months and then decide to try again with a new different “magical weight loss diet.”
🤬🤬THIS CYCLE IS INFURIATING🤬🤬
Never start a diet or program if you can’t see yourself doing that same diet or program 1, 3, 5, 10, 20 years from now.
It’s silly to deprive yourself of the foods you love just to see quick results. That’s not sustainable.
Don’t give up your favorite foods to see some silly number on a scale.
Stop wondering how can you get the FASTEST results, and start wondering how you get LASTING results.
The average American tries to lose weight FOUR times each year it’s evident we don’t have a WEIGHT LOSS problem.
We have a weight REGAIN problem.
Focus on LONG LASTING CHANGE starting TODAY. 😊💪

10 Lessons Learned While Losing 125+ pounds.

This isn’t a post to teach you everything you need to know to lose 125+ pounds. It’s not that type of lesson. You’re still going to slip up every once in awhile, and you’ll make a mistake here or there, and that’s okay.

However, these 10 lessors can help put you on the path to success.

IF you listen and follow my advice.

1️⃣ The WAY you lose the weight, is more important than how fast you lose the weight.

As I always say, you don’t get BONUS POINTS for being the fastest to lose the weight. But if you lose it slowly, using habits, you’ll be able to MAINTAIN it.

2️⃣ If you only doing it to get to a CERTAIN NUMBER on the scale, you’ll struggle forever.

Your weight is simply a metric of measurement, it by no means defines you as a person. You’re more than your weight.

3️⃣ You need to include FOODS YOU LOVE, or you’ll yo-yo diet in and out of misery.

Eat whole foods you enjoy, but also include your favorite foods now and again to enjoy life. Don’t eat things you hate, life is too short for that.

4️⃣ Your diet doesn’t need to be PERFECT, but it needs to be CONSISTENT.

Perfection isn’t going to happen, we’re all human. We have emotions and food are sometimes tied to emotions. Be mindful and realize that one meal isn’t going to ruin your progress and get back on track the very next meal.

5️⃣ Cravings don’t vanish, but you can LEARN TO CONTROL THEM.

It get’s easier, I promise.

6️⃣ If you don’t ENJOY THE JOURNEY, then you’re not going to like the destination.

If your diet is miserable, you’re not going to maintain it long term. So find something sustainable.

7️⃣ People will tell you YOU’RE OBSESSED.

You need to ignore them and keep killing it.

8️⃣ Those same people will ask you HOW YOU DID IT.

Help them out, you were there once. Remember.

9️⃣ It’s going to take LONGER THAN YOU THINK, and definitely longer than you want.

But it’s definitely worth working for.

🔟 In the end it will all BE WORTH IT.

Health should be a priority. I can’t make it a priority for you, but YOU can. So if you want to look better, feel better, and DO better than it’s time to take control.

Curtis

Cutting calories causes quite a bit of hunger.

This hunger can make your dieting miserable and can make falling or jumping off the wagon even more tempting.
�So here are 4 simple ways to reduce hunger and increase chances of success with your weight loss.

1️⃣ More Protein

Higher protein intakes increase satiety, or feeling of fullness. This will reduce hunger levels substantially. If you spread it out over your daily meals you will see the best effects.

2️⃣ Focus on Vegetables & Fruits

Veggies and Fruits (especially fresh) are full of fiber and water. This makes them low in calories and high in nutrients and volume. The volume takes up space in your stomach to help signal your brain that you’re full. Eating more calories from veggies and fruits also have other health benefits.

3️⃣ Go Easy on Saturated Fats and Sugars

People eat more tasty foods than bland foods. Junk foods are loaded with saturated fats and sugars. It’s why sugar isn’t the problem its the combination of the two. Fats and sugars are energy dense, so they pack a lot of calories. Processed foods are loaded with fats and sugars, so try to limit or avoid while dieting.

4️⃣ Try Not to Eat out of Boredom

All humans eat for entertainment. But if it is a big source of entertainment, anti-boredom or comfort. You’re going to be packing on calories pretty quickly. Make sure to find other activities to avoid eating out of boredom and only eating when you’re hungry. This will help avoid snacking when you’re really just bored.

Double tap if you agree and comment below your favorite way to curb hunger!

Most people make this mistake when dieting…

They only use scale weight to determine their success.

Using the above Success Square (trademark pending), you’ll be able to measure progress in other areas outside of the scale.

Yes, ideally you would like to see the scale go down, that is why you diet after all. But, by using these other methods to measure dieting success you will be able to see your progress and not get frustrated on days when the scale may increase.

The first corner is of course the scale weight. Scale weight doesn’t always move the way we want it to. Likewise, just because it has gone down doesn’t mean you made progress. You could have burned fat, but now you’re retaining water.

If you’re only using the scale you may prematurely drop your calories before it is necessary. This is why it’s important that you monitor other factors outside of body weight alone.

I like to measure three things in addition to body weight.

1️⃣ Body Measurements
2️⃣ Progress Photos
3️⃣ Energy, Mood & Sleep

These are all areas which can be impacted greatly by your diet, but will not be reflected by a number on the scale.

My point in all of this is that if you’re getting frustrated because the scale isn’t moving and stopping your diet early, then maybe you should reevaluate how you’re measuring your progress.

If you’ve never taken progress photos, or body measurements, or thought about your daily mood/energy/sleep. Then I highly suggest you start now!!!

Know someone this could help? Tag ‘em below! ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Sifting through the bu****it so you don’t have to.

Listen, nutrition is tough. I get it, I studied it for 4 years to earn my degree. It’s tough because it’s highly individualized. What works for one person, more than likely won’t work for the next.

These are examples of diets that are highly restrictive. Some go after sugar, some after processed foods, some after all carbohydrates, some after animal products. This is a small sample of what the diet industry has to offer in the way of education to the public.

It’s also why I still have a job and a purpose, to HELP you understand all this nonsense.

Only one of these books is written by a Dietitian. The rest are written by self-proclaimed nutritionists or nutrition “gurus”. That means that what they’re selling is highly anecdotal. Just because it worked for their sample size of 1 doesn’t mean it will work for you.

I want to help clear the water and make nutrition easier to understand for you.

Double tap if you think nutrition should be simple.

And ask me a question that concerns you about your nutrition in the comments or DM me!

No single food should ever be considered OFF LIMITS.

Other diets you may have done in the past probably taught you that in order to lose weight you needed to completely avoid sugar, pizza, cookies, etc. However, this kind of avoidance from the foods you love is going to be miserable and make you want to abandon your diet.

When it comes to your diet, it’s important that you shift your mindset. You need to eat MOSTLY healthier food choices, and LESS unhealthy food choices.

Granted, you could eat cookies daily if you really wanted to. But, if you’re trying to lose weight eating more filling foods which are lower in calories and higher in nutrients will help you achieve that.

That said, it’s important to not force yourself to eat ONLY healthy foods every meal. If you’re forcing yourself to eat certain foods, you’re not going to sustain that. Find healthy foods/meals you enjoy and allow yourself the occasional donut or cookie.

“Eat this, not that” is garbage. It puts food into categories that are GOOD or BAD. And foods aren’t GOOD or BAD, they’re simply foods. I firmly believe that a healthy diet is one where all foods fit.

Happy Father’s Day, go out and if you have the opportunity to spend time with your father, enjoy that time eating foods you love, not stressing over the amount of calories you may consume. Memories over calories.

Double tap if you agree.

Having trouble coming up with a healthy meal?
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Try this meal healthy meal template. The meals are simple and easy to make.
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I understand the struggle of cooking your own meals at home, especially in a pandemic. Add in other life stressors and you can see why people order takeout. But with a little planning you can make healthy meals quick and delicious.
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This guide will hopefully simplify that process for you.
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To start you will simply choose any combination of Protein, Healthy Carb, and Veggie, add some spices or seasonings and VOILA….your very own healthy FAT LOSS meal.
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These are the healthiest options you could use but you can certainly choose others. Remember, that “fat loss foods,” aren’t a thing, and all foods can be enjoyed in moderation as part of your diet.
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The meals on this template are great because they make creating that calorie deficit a lot easier due to keeping you fuller longer.
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Lean Protein + Healthy Carbs + Filling Veggies keep you satisfied without blowing up your daily calorie total.
-�Which combo are you going with? Comment below.
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Listen, I’m not perfect. I’m just like most other people. And sometimes I struggle with overeating still. It’s something I’m still working on to this day, and will probably CONSISTENTLY have to work on for the rest of my life.
That said. This thought is something that we often overthink. .
The first bite tastes the same as the last. .
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a product of the clean plate generation. And I typically do not leave food on my plate - again something I’m working on. But it’s important that we make the conscious effort to think about what we’re eating and why we’re eating it.
I’m always amazed at people who can take 3 bites of cake or eat half a cookie and wrap up the rest for later. But they’ve trained their minds differently and you can too.
Next time you’re eating something delicious try thinking more mindfully about what you’re eating after only a few bites.
Use these questions:
- Does it give me energy? - Does it give me joy?
- Does it make me feel guilty? (Should ALWAYS be NO)
- Do I need the whole serving?
- Am I still hungry?

Comment below if you’ve ever tried mindful eating as a way to reduce your calorie intake.
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One of the biggest reasons I had success in my weight loss journey was that at some point, and I don’t know when, I switched from restriction to education.
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I knew the previous methods of being hungry all the time, feeling like I had no control, being under stress, missing something emotionally we’re crazy. If that was how to lose weight, then I knew that’s not what I wanted.
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But then I started reading labels and found it wasn’t necessarily about REMOVING things from my diet and eating less. It was about INCLUDING things, like choosing more nutrient dense foods which could keep me fuller longer.
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I realized how many daily choices are made around food and I just had to learn how to make the right ones, MOST of the time.
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In addition to my experience, studies actually show that those who read nutrition labels are less likely to be overweight. And those who actually KNOW what they’re looking for make even better choices.
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AWARENESS PRECEDES CHANGE
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INTRO TO MACROS & CALORIES
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A CALORIE is simply a unit of energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree Celcius. A kilocalorie, or Calorie, is the equivalent of 1,000 calories, and is the unit used when discussion the nutrition found in foods.
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MACRONUTRIENTS, commonly called MACROS for short, are the nutrients or body REQUIRES in large amounts. There are 3 macronutrients: Protein, Carbohydrate, and Fat. And if you want to get technical, you might even consider Alcohol as a fourth.
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PROTEIN is a hot topic in today’s fitness industry for its muscle building capabilities. But it also helps with DNA repair, biochemical reactions throughout the body, and helping make hormones. Protein can be found in meat, poultry, dairy, eggs, fish, and in plant sources such as tofu, beans, lentils, etc. 1 gram of Protein has 4 calories.
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CARBOHYDRATES or CARBS as you may know them. Contrary to what you may have heard, carbs are the bodies primary energy source. The more activity you do the more you need. We can live without carbs, but that doesn’t mean it’s optimal. Sources of carbs include grains, fruits, rice, and vegetables. 1 gram of carbs has 4 calories.
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FAT, are essential for helping us maintain hormone function. They can help us improve our blood lipid profiles, and reduce our risk for cardiovascular disease. They can be found in avocado, oils, nuts, and seeds. Fats have 9 calories per gram.
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ALCOHOL is obviously not essential, its actually considered a TOXIN, but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy in moderation. Alcohol has 7 calories in each gram.
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Most foods are made of all three macronutrients, though some only have 1 or 2 of them. For example Eggs are primarily protein and fat. If you want to count your calories count the grams of each macronutrient and multiply by the calories of each to get your overall calorie intake. If you track macros, it means you are tracking calories.
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Does this sound familiar? 🙋‍♂️🙋‍♀️
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The fad diet cycle is a vicious one.
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The early stages of losing weight can be exciting and extremely motivating. You feel as though this is the time and nothing can stop you.
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Unfortunately, most people make changes which are TOO drastic. These changes are unsustainable.
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Even worse is that they don’t learn from these mistakes and continue on this never ending cycle of gaining and losing weight.
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I used to be stuck in this vicious cycle years ago before I started making real habit/behavior change.
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I found success when I stopped making big changes from the start, and instead made small incremental changes.
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What happens, is when you make small changes over time they become HABITS. HABITS are easier to maintain with more CONSISTENCY.
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The Fad Diet Cycle is a terrible cycle. If you’re stuck spinning your wheels in this cycle and not seeing the results you want. Then maybe it’s time to try something different.
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Tag someone below who needs to see this.
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