Persistence makes a difference.

Last week, we were playing the 4th match of our soccer season.

Undefeated so far, we started the match with high expectations.

By the beginning of the second half, we were 4-1 down.

Nearly the entire match, we were outclassed and outpassed.

Yet, as a team, we rallied.

We got a penalty and brought it 4-2.

I whipped in a cross, and we scored 3rd goal.

And 10 minutes from the end, we had a counterattack.

The winger broke away from the end line and passed into the middle.

I tapped in the 4th goal.

The whole game, I ran across the pitch chasing the ball and guys 10-15 years younger than me.

Persistence matters.

A soccer match is 90 minutes, and our human life is, on average 80-100 years.

Like a soccer game, don’t toss in the white towel if you had a bad start.

Don’t give up on your fitness after a bad week or month.

Don’t stop caring about your health after a bad season.

Stay focused on your goals.

On who you want to become.

Persistence is a key character trait of every successful person.

Lesson: Nothing can stop the person who says, ‘I won’t give up. Ever’.

Here's Your 5 Minute Friday:

#1.) What are Calories & Macros

So what are calories?

A calorie is a unit of energy.

It’s how we measure energy, specifically when it comes to food.

Why are they important?

Because it lets us estimate how much energy is in a gram of food.

It’s a helpful tool (but not the only one) to sculpt and change your physique.

Calories are directed to energy balance (aka how much food/energy your body needs).

Learning how many calories your body needs to drop body fat, build muscle, or improve sports performance is important.

There’s also 3 main macronutrient groups:

Protein: Protein or amino acids are the building blocks of our body. Protein is how we repair our body and rebuild new muscle tissue. It’s important for body composition goals and overall health, especially as we age.

(4 calories per 1 gram of protein)

Carbohydrates: Carbs are often demonized in our protein—and fat-heavy cultures, but they’re the unsung hero. They help build muscle, aid in recovery, and fuel our brain, liver, and other key organs.

Carbs also store 3 grams of water per 1 gram of carb, so most people who drop weight quickly from cutting carbs by dropping water weight.

Carbs will be a BIG ally for your body to get stronger, leaner, and healthier, especially when eating clean, healthy carbs.

(4 calories per 1 gram of carb)

Fats: Fats help aid in the hormonal process. However, their importance is the least out of the Big 3 Macros.

Too much fat can harm health & fitness while your liver is overloaded with trying to break down fat.

Ideally, fats should be kept to a minimum while the main bulk of calories comes from healthy carbs and lean protein.

(9 calories per 1 gram of fat)

#2.) 3 Ways To Simplify Your Nutrition Tracking

So how do you simplify your nutrition tracking process?

Here’s the hierarchy:

1. Consistency first
2. Calories next
3. Macros last (protein & carbs)

There are a few ways you can streamline your nutrition tracking process:

#1 Create templated meals (6-8 core meals) inside your nutrition tracker (Cronometer or MyFitnessPal are good options)

Once you create these templated meals, the only thing you’ll need to do is make slight adjustments per meal.

The less work you need to do regarding tracking, the more likely you’ll be consistent.

The goal is to be within 80% accuracy and 80% consistent (more is better, but striving for progress over perfection here).

When you have templated meals, this allows you to create your foodhub.

A foodhub is your main source of foods.

With a foodhub comes food freedom.

The reason why?

It allows you to gain insight into what foods are easy to overeat vs the meals that are nutritious.

There’s no right or wrong here.

There’s just data.

Learning to detach ourselves from our food (since it’s very emotional for many of us), can be a powerful tool to rewire our relationship with food.

Create your base of meals and start learning what works - and what doesn’t.

#2 Eat the same thing for 2 weeks before changing

Simplicity is the key when it comes to tracking your food.

What I’ve found works best is creating meals YOU LIKE already and using these for a few weeks before changing meals.

Rather than reinventing the wheel every few days, systemize your success.

Find what meals work best for your caloric budget.

Test out what works.

Discard what isn’t working.

A good rule of thumb is to give yourself 2-3 weeks for each testing phase.

That way you have the opportunity to gather data and make an informed decision.

The more data you can gather?

The better your decisions will become over time.

#3 Experiment using new recipes

Test new meals every month. Tweak recipes. Try new things.

When it comes to nutrition (and exercise) experimentation is the name of the game.

However, one caveat with this.

Give yourself enough time when testing new things.

Don’t fall into shiny object syndrome and jump from thing to thing.

Give yourself sufficient time to get results, notice what’s working, and track what isn’t.

This won’t happen overnight.

Soooo….

Be consistent.

The goal isn’t to track your nutrition FOREVER.

It’s to bring awareness to your food choices.

And ideally create internal and external regulation tools that can work for you wherever you are.

That’s what I call progress over perfection.

One Quote To Finish Your Week Strong

Taking care of our health isn’t a luxury.

It’s a prerequiste.

Treat it as such.

- Gabriel

Whenever you're ready, there are three ways I can help you:

#1 Join our free high-performance fitness FB group to get access to dozens of live trainings recorded along with a tight-knit group of leaders who want to get healthy, lean, and strong.

#2 Are you a high achiever who wants to be lean, strong, and lead by example? Apply for private 1:1 coaching and get in the best shape of your life (2-week waiting list).

#3 Want to fuel your fitness curiosity and follow along with the latest findings, insights, and evidence-based practices? Let's be friends on Facebook and Instagram. :)