Category: Nutrition

7 Ways To Know If Your Nutrition Plan Is Working

Oscar AgramonteNutrition

Sometimes, it can be tough to tell if you’re making progress on your journey to become the fittest, strongest, healthiest version of yourself.

Because many of the common ways to measure progress — body composition, blood work, and the scale — are prone to false negatives.

They can make it seem as if nothing’s happening when, in fact, you’re making great progress.

That’s why it’s important to use other progress indicators as well. So, before you give up on a nutrition plan, consider whether…

You feel satisfied after meals.

That might be because you’re eating slowly, choosing fresh foods, and leaving less room in your diet for processed foods reviving the appetite and never seeming to fill you up.

You have more energy. 

One day, you wake up one minute before your alarm. Your eyes are open. Do you even feel… kind of… happy?

You’re sleeping better.

All of a sudden, you seem to wind down an hour before bedtime without a problem. You follow your sleep ritual and conk out easier than ever. 

You feel great.

And you’re making friends with your body shape and size.

You’re in a better mood.

More confident, like change is possible.

You’re stronger and have more endurance.

Maybe you start to notice your muscles aren’t as sore, you can do more work overall, and you’re fresher and recover better.

It feels more like a lifestyle.

You’re just… living. You’re in a nice, natural normal-day rhythm that doesn’t feel like being “on” or “off” anything.

Each of these progress indicators can show you real, meaningful change.

Sifu Oscar

 

P.S. Whenever you’re ready, here are ways we can help you get started.

1. Schedule a time to observe a class.
Interested in Kung Fu or Tai Chi?  First step is to watch a class and see if we would be a good fit! Email: kungfu@wahlum.com for an appointment.

2. Become part of my exclusive Coaching Group with CYH Remote Coaching.  Get personalized coaching delivered right to your phone and catered to your specific goals.
Email: kungfu@wahlum.com for info.

Tip of The Week: Slow Eating

Oscar AgramonteNutrition

I’m a big believer that slow and mindful eating is one of the MASTER SKILLS for fat loss.

Because the goal is to eat a sufficient amount to be reasonably comfortable, but not more than that.

This week I wanted to share some recent research published in Appetite on how what you hear while you eat can impact how fast you eat.

Check it out and let me know what you think.

The scientists report that:

  • People ate faster when they listened to music with a fast tempo (145 bpm). (Example: “Born to Run”—Bruce Springsteen)
  • People ate slower when they listened to music with a slow tempo (45 bpm). (Example: “Call Out My Name”—The Weekend)
  • When people listened to any kind of music—even the up-tempo stuff—they ate slower compared to when they ate in silence.

The researchers hypothesized that faster music makes people feel more aroused or excited, stimulating their senses and making them eat faster. 

Slower music, on the other hand, may help people feel calmer and more relaxed, which could lead to more mindful eating.  

The study’s findings also affirm something bigger: What people feel while they eat is important.

Folks who struggle to eat slowly and mindfully may be more likely to succeed if they take steps to feel more relaxed during meal times.

And if slow music—or tunes of any tempo helps—you do that, then it could be worth trying. Think of it as “setting the mood.” (But please: No Muzak.)

PMID: 32682852

Mathiesen SL, Mielby LA, Byrne DV, Wang QJ. Music to eat by: A systematic investigation of the relative importance of tempo and articulation on eating time. Appetite. 2020 Dec 1;155:104801.

Sifu Oscar

 

P.S. Whenever you’re ready, here are ways we can help you get started.

1. Schedule a time to observe a class.
Interested in Kung Fu or Tai Chi?  First step is to watch a class and see if we would be a good fit! Email: kungfu@wahlum.com for an appointment.

2. Become part of my exclusive Coaching Group with CYH Remote Coaching.  Get personalized coaching delivered right to your phone and catered to your specific goals.
Email: kungfu@wahlum.com for info.

Can I Get A Spell Check Please?

Oscar AgramonteNutrition

Hello Wah Lum® Family, 

“Seriously!? Again!?”

That is my internal response when my wife finds grammatical errors in my weekly emails. The feedback usually (and maybe too often) goes something like this: 

“Oh… oops! You wrote ‘there’ instead of ‘there are.’ Huh?”

I proceed to take a deep breath and forgive myself. 

Because it’s ok to make mis-steaks (That was intentional. We are nearing lunch time as I write this). 

Especially when it comes to health, nutrition, fitness, AND your martial arts training. Most of us have failed in a particular goal because we expected total perfection. 

Fear of failure can be motivating for certain things, but when it comes to diet, weight loss, or your training, chasing perfection is an impossible trap. 

For example, the best meat you can have is grass-fed beef. 

Great, but was it ethically slaughtered? 

Was it ethically slaughtered by a Tibetan Warrior Monk? 

By a monk with one arm? 

Right arm or left arm missing? 

Those are ridiculous questions, especially the last one because everyone knows it has to be the left arm. 

But our minds have a funny way of rationalizing failure, “Well, I went to a family gathering and I wasn’t 100% perfect on my diet, so… time for a tub of Ben and Jerry’s.”

Ditching perfection as a goal is an act of compassion and kindness towards yourself. 

Forgive yourself, move on, and decide to do something that will get you closer to your goals. 

If you are training at Wah Lum® and your body just doesn’t have the ability yet to do something, the instructors will help our students make adjustments to a particular exercise or move. 

Or if you were stuck in traffic, just drive safely and get into class a little bit late. (Though if possible, just leave earlier… you know who you are!)

Showing up and doing something is always better than doing nothing!

With nutrition, stop worrying about everything you need to eliminate, and start thinking about what you can add to make your meal more nutritious.

That’s all for know. I have to help my almost perfect wife with something. (see what I did there?)

See you in training. 

Sifu Oscar

P.S. Whenever you’re ready, here are 2 ways we can help you get started:

  1. Request a time to observe a class Interested in Kung Fu or Tai Chi? The first step is to watch a class and see if we would be a good fit! Email kungfu@wahlum.com for an appointment.
  2. Join our 30-Day Mindful Eating Challenge ($19) Ditch the “all-or-nothing” diet mindset before the holiday season hits. Join our 30-day guided challenge inside my coaching app to practice simple, daily habits, forgive the slip-ups, and build real consistency. Email kungfu@wahlum.com with the subject line “CHALLENGE” to claim your spot.

Sloth and Gluttony

Oscar AgramonteNutrition

Hello Wah Lum® Family,

I’m going to attempt to summarize a message from a mentor (and frequent Sifu Mimi Chan Show podcast guest), Coach Dan John, about sloth and gluttony.

It appealed directly to my Catholic childhood.

It goes something like this:

We get out of shape through sloth and gluttony. Then, to undo it, we think we have to punish ourselves with sweat and starvation for a few weeks, days, or minutes to reverse the habits gathered around our waistlines over the past four decades.

It’s an interesting thought, that a few days of punishment can fix a few decades of neglect. But why does focusing on our health have to involve punishment at all?

Why do we constantly label food and exercise as strictly “good” or “bad”?

  • Coffee is good. Coffee is bad.
  • Squats are good. Squats are bad.
  • Grains are good. Grains are bad.

As a movement coach, I frequently get asked to answer complex questions about fitness and performance. My go-to answer is always to start with the basics… and that’s usually when I get that eyes-glazed-over look!

Here they are anyway, if you’re still reading:

  1. Sleep: Aim for 7 to 9 hours a night.
  2. Move: Stay active consistently throughout the day, week, month, year, and lifetime (my personal choices are Kung Fu, Tai Chi, and Strength Training).
  3. Eat like an adult: Don’t eat too many things that come out of a box.
  4. Hydrate: Drink mostly water (most of us don’t need sports drinks).
  5. Connect: Spend time with people you enjoy (your spouse, Wah Lum® Family).

Do these core things well most of the time (not even all of the time!), and you will be in the best shape of your life.

See you in training,

Sifu Oscar

 

 

P.S. Whenever you’re ready, here are 2 ways we can help you get started:

  1. Request a time to observe a class Interested in Kung Fu or Tai Chi? The first step is to watch a class and see if we would be a good fit! Email kungfu@wahlum.com for an appointment.
  2. Join our 30-Day Mindful Eating Challenge ($19) Stop relying on extreme diets or punishment routines to reset your health. Join our 30-day guided challenge inside my coaching app to master simple eating habits and build real momentum before the holiday season hits. Email kungfu@wahlum.com with the subject line “CHALLENGE” to claim your spot.

The Simplest Way to Eat Better

Oscar AgramonteNutrition

Hello Wah Lum® Family,

I get a lot of questions about nutrition, and I notice that most people worry about the minor details:

  • “Are potatoes fattening?”
  • “If I don’t drink a protein shake immediately after my workout, was it even worth exercising?”
  • “Is keto really the best way to lose weight? Or should I do Paleo? What about the alkaline diet?!”

Yet, those same people eat over the kitchen sink, in their car on the way to work, or in a total daze in front of the TV (myself included at times!).

I don’t blame you. We’ve been conditioned to think endlessly about WHAT we eat, while completely ignoring HOW we eat.

That’s a missed opportunity, because eating slowly and mindfully is one of the most powerful habits for driving a major physical transformation.

Instead of stressing over complex meal plans, exact macros, and strict portion sizes (which have their place, of course), slowing down your eating is the absolute simplest way to feel better immediately.

Why does this work?

  1. Satiety signals take time: It takes about 20 minutes for your brain and stomach to register that you’re full. Slow eating gives that internal system time to catch up so you know when to stop.
  2. You feel satisfied with less: When you slow down and actually savor your meal, you tend to feel content with smaller amounts and don’t feel “deprived.”

Of course, people struggle with this habit. It sounds simple, but it is surprisingly tough to pull off consistently.

How to practice it:

Treat slow eating as a skill. You won’t be perfect every meal, and that’s fine. It’s actually why focusing on just this single habit for a full month can be so effective.

If you want to test it out, pick one of these practical strategies for your next meal (or try a 30-day slow-eating experiment):

 

  • Take a breath: Before you start, pause. Take one deep breath, take one bite, and then take another breath. Go one bite and one breath at a time.

 

  • Add one minute: Start a timer at the beginning of your meal. See if you can make this meal last just 60 seconds longer than your last one.

 

  • Pause between bites: Set your fork or spoon down completely between bites, take a sip of water, or engage in a quick conversation with whoever is at the table.

 

  • Savor the experience: Pay attention to the food. Is it salty or sweet? What’s the texture like? Truly taste what you are eating instead of just rushing to clear the plate.

 

  • Notice your environment: Background noise and screen time speed up your eating pace. Some people even find success playing a 20-minute relaxing playlist during dinner to keep their pace down.

 

And as a simple rule of thumb: Don’t put more food on your fork if there’s still food in your mouth.

Give one of these a shot at dinner tonight.

See you in training,

 

Sifu Oscar

P.S. Whenever you’re ready, here are 2 ways we can help you get started:

  1. Request a time to observe a class Interested in Kung Fu or Tai Chi? The first step is to watch a class and see if we would be a good fit! Email kungfu@wahlum.com for an appointment.
  2. Join our 30-Day Mindful Eating Challenge ($19) Want to build better habits before the holiday season hits? Join our 30-day guided challenge inside my coaching app to practice slow eating, gain control over your nutrition, and lock in real results before Halloween and Thanksgiving arrive. Email kungfu@wahlum.com with the subject line “CHALLENGE” to claim your spot.