10. Tamara’s Tips on Nutrition and Training (Part 2)

Teagan (00:00):

Quick note before we start this episode touches on topics like weight loss and calorie counting that some people might find triggering. Please prioritize your wellbeing and mental health and decide whether this episode is right for you. On today's episode of Nibble and Splash, we're talking all things food, but a different kind of food. Today we're talking health and nutrition, fitness, everything I've learned in my life to lead me where I am today, especially with my health and fitness goals. So over the past year I've managed to drop just over 20 kilos now from changing my mindset. And we wanna talk to you today about the education around that stuff. And Crystal's sister was here today.

Krystal (00:42):

Yes, we're very lucky to have Tamara in the studio with us recording this podcast. Full disclaimer though, this is just all based on our own experience and you know, Tamara can educate you around food, but really we chat about the difference between hiring a personal trainer or an online coach versus what a nutritionist and dietician can do for you. I'm a big one. My kids go to the dentist, but they also need an orthodontist. So dentist is really good at guiding us. Um, you know, they help do the job that they need to do, but then sometimes you need a little bit of extra help and that's where the orthodontist come in. Same when you talk about food and nutrition. So tomorrow kind of debunks some good little macro facts. Um, our BMR what calorie in versus calorie out, we talk about all that kind of stuff. But mostly we were gonna have one big episode with food and training. So this is actually gonna be two parts. So you're about to tune into part one, which is food related. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did. It's crystal here. I've got Teagan with me and I've also got my sister Tamara here today. She is gonna introduce herself in a moment, but before we do, she has just had a little Bubba, which I've spoken about on another episode and we, Tegan and I have just been like waiting for this moment to talk about this. So we're gonna delve into Teagan's weight loss journey and then we're gonna talk a little bit about how tomorrow helped us. But before we do all of that, welcome.

Tamara (02:09):

Thank you <laugh>.

Teagan (02:10):

Yeah, welcome. Tomorrow you can look at me as intently as you like. Thank you. And you can put your hand up to go to the toilet <laugh>.

Tamara (02:15):

Yes. This is all new for me and I'm very nervous, but it's okay. We'll, we'll see how we go. I do have a tendency to say like a lot and yawn a lot, but we'll see. I've been told we can make some cuts. So

Krystal (02:27):

<laugh>.

Teagan (02:28):

So just tell us tomorrow what you actually do for people listening. You work in the fitness industry and you've been doing it for many, many years and I love watching all your posts and stories. Like they just, they resonate with people. Thank you. They do though. Like you just say it, it's just like it is and you make it easy for people that are doing it from home. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. You know, like it's just real. So tell us where you started and what started you.

Tamara (02:50):

I feel like I was thinking about this yesterday 'cause I often forget like what year it was <laugh> when, when it started. I'm like wow, it's almost 2025. Um, but I am a personal trainer and new online coach. So it was 2018 I think when I sort of got started into the industry. Before that I just worked in a um, dentist and that was fun. Like I did like being a dental assistant, but I wouldn't say I was like passionate about it. Um, but it was, I dunno, there was something therapeutic about sterilizing the instruments. Um, but I was sort of getting into my fitness probably like a little bit more. I think I was 20 when I started to like study and this was when all the F 40 fives were popping off like everywhere. So I feel like I

Speaker 4 (03:36):

Love it. When you were working there, you did the little

Tamara (03:38):

Competition as well? Yes. Yeah. Well not little but, but before they were like, obviously we did use to have hunting gula, but before that the closest one was like Golden Grove. So this, I worked in Golden Grove at the time and I used to go there before and after work and it was just so easy through a day.

Tamara (03:51):

Yeah. But I was like, had no responsibilities. I feel it easy <laugh> that's, I couldn't do that now. I couldn't do that now. But yeah, I would literally, you know, get up from Gula, go there and then I just remember thinking that it was just such a cool job, like getting to be social with everyone and like hyping people up and yeah, that's definitely where it started. And then I thought, I'm gonna study, find out what you need to study, which is just your cert three and four and fitness. Um, and then I thought even if it doesn't eventuate into anything, I'm learning about something that I just enjoy. So like what will be will be. Um, and then, yeah. And then I remember when Goul opened and I went in there, I was like, I have to find out like how you can get into this because I just wanted to do it so bad.

Tamara (04:33):

Yeah. Um, didn't wanna get up at 4:00 AM but we did that for a few years <laugh>. Um, but yeah, that's how it all sort of started. And then eventually I decided to leave the dental assisting to go sort of full-time with it. And then I did manage the 45 in Gula for a while. Um, but then once you do kind of group fitness for a while, then you sort of wanna go onto the more personalized thing, which is your personal training. And then in the more recent years, the online sort of coaching where you can work with people just in an individual setting because it's that thing. Like some people love group fitness, some people don't, some people love the one-on-one thing, some people don't. So I just wanted to open myself up to like catering to more people. So I did both for a while.

Tamara (05:16):

Like I did my um, in-person PT sessions and F 45. Um, and then it was kind of like I was very limited in my time because I would do so many group classes. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. So I had to make the decision to step away sort of from that. And then I was just doing my one-on-one thing for a few years and then that was super busy. But then you get to that next itch of like, how can I help more people? Mm-hmm <affirmative>. And obviously online work is, it's such a big like thing, especially social media is like such a big thing at the moment. And so I thought we'll dive into that. Which scared me because I'm so bad with like technology and social media stuff. And you got

Speaker 4 (05:53):

The right sister though. Yeah, I

Tamara (05:55):

Was just gonna say very different. She's gonna kill me 'cause like I don't have a website and stuff. I remember years ago we tried to do that and I tried to do like a domain and all that stuff. It's just not my like niche I guess. Um, but I just needed to kind of get past that and just,

Teagan (06:11):

And do you know what, having a baby now as well and working in the industry and doing PTs, like PTs are probably very morning and afternoon, whereas now you've got something to fill in the gaps. You've got something more flexible that you can be at home with Bob's. Yeah. Yeah. So that's kind of taking the next step in the business to make it more work around you and what you like as well.

Tamara (06:29):

Yeah, I, I did it at first because I wanted to just help my like existing clients do sessions outside of our pt and then when we initially had a discussion that we wanted to start trying, I was like, I feel like I need to do this more because I'm not gonna be able to do my get up at five go to work split shift. Mm-hmm. Sort of vibe. And I just needed to, you know, do something that I could do on maternity leave and like work from home essentially like more so I could be at home more. Um, and then the more that I got stuck into it, the more that I really enjoyed it. Yeah. And then you kick yourself and it's like, why didn't I do it like sooner kind of thing. Um, but I like how it has eventuated like naturally I guess through like different stages like of life.

Teagan (07:11):

So the app that you use, crystal and I downloaded it and it was freaking awesome. Like it's just, I said, what have you got? Gimme that <laugh>. She's like, well it's my sister's thing, but I'm sure we could give her a meal prep. But I'm like, yeah, okay. So anyway, it was just so clear and you tick off your things and you can add things like take your daily vitamins. Like I'm a list girl, so I like doing that kind of stuff. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. But I just found it so easy to understand. And so you, you do give people nutrition plans or fitness plans? Mm,

Tamara (07:39):

So I do new, uh, sorry, fitness plans, training programs, but I help clients with nutrition support. So as a pt, so the qualifications I have is a cert three and four in fitness. Um, and I also have my certifications for pre and postnatal like training, which is obviously something that I wanted to do. Like I think I'm pretty sure I did that before I felt pregnant because it was, you know, I work with both female and male but like you want to make your female clientele comfortable and it's been really cool 'cause I've had a lot of people go through those seasons as well and I've trained people pre and post um, as well. Um, but yeah, you are not qualified as a trainer to provide, you know, meal plans. So I guess like you can, it's in your scope to help people can, you

Teagan (08:28):

Can give macros.

Tamara (08:29):

Yes. Yeah. So it's in your scope to help people with their nutrition Of course. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. Because a part of why personal training is such a big thing in the gym is like weight loss, building muscle, like all the body composition stuff. So obviously nutrition information comes with that. Um, but like unless someone had a reason that they needed to go and I guess see a dietician or a nutritionist and, and lots of health issues could come into that. I'm always super upfront with anyone who inquires that it's not something that I would want to offer even if I felt capable. Like it's something that a lot of people do because they understand it and they feel capable but it's not within their like scope. So it would feel wrong of me to yeah to do that. But it's like everyone can follow something for a short term and then they finish that and then they don't know what they're doing after that because they've not learned.

Tamara (09:20):

They've just followed something which we can all do. Um, and the app that I use is like, especially when you are a trainer in the industry, it's you know, some of the big dogs, they might go and have their own app made. Um, but a lot of trainers just will pay for an app to provide their clients and then you pay per month based on how many clients you have using it. But the one that I use is just really, yeah, like you said, it's easy, it's user friendly, it's clear. And like I said, I'm not like a tech guru so I needed something that was just easier for myself and the other people. There's a really popular one called like trainer eyes, which people would be familiar with. Mine is not that one. But yeah, I've had heaps of good like feedback with it. But I do enjoy the nutrition support a lot because I do just wanna make it easy. There's a lot out there that confuses people and like they think that they have to do a hundred things at one time for it to be like successful but then

Teagan (10:18):

Or the all or nothing. Yeah.

Tamara (10:19):

All or nothing. All or nothing.

Teagan (10:20):

They're so all or many all or nothings like I was just talking to Chris still and Marissa before about my mother-in-law because she's like, oh what have you done? You know, you're looking really good. And I'm like, well you know, I've been sticking, I've been consistent. But she's like, oh, so have you done like shakes or have you done this? Or you know, like how many calories are you having? You know, like what

Tamara (10:37):

Diet are you

Teagan (10:37):

On? Yeah. So she was someone that would have to have a shake and a shake and then a tiny dinner and have to stick to that for three months, drop all the weight. Why

Tamara (10:46):

Is she so like

Teagan (10:47):

Drop all the weight and then put it all back on again? Yeah. Because she's not learning how to incorporate just the way you have to live. Yeah. Yeah. So anyway, it's funny how many people don't understand that you can eat whatever you want still within reason. Yeah. And just prioritize the good stuff. Yes. Yeah. But yeah. So I did wanna talk a bit today about macros and things like that. Yeah. Because the way you explain it's probably way better than the way I do <laugh>

Tamara (11:11):

<laugh>. But I also just like to explain in a way that, you know, anyone would understand it. Yeah. I guess like I'm not the smartest person out there either. I remember doing my studies and all of the anatomy and physiology stuff, it's like it's not easy with nutrition, it's, you know, a way of, I guess yeah, dumbing it down. But I want it to be so that everyone can understand it. 'cause you go on social media and you see X, Y, Z and then it's overwhelming. And then there's so many good people out there that are like the professionals and there's the scientists and they do their podcasts about you know, all of the meal timing and insulin and foods that spike and blah blah blah.

Teagan (11:46):

Like general population, people all meat diets and

Tamara (11:48):

Yeah. Like don't need to worry about that. And I think it's hard because you think you need to, to worry about that, but

Krystal (11:54):

You should not go to a personal trainer for that device. And this is coming from someone who had severe diabetes, like gestational diabetes and a lot of autoimmune problems. Like I've seen nutritionists, dieticians and it is just like a whole different kettle fish. It is not what you see on the internet at all. Yeah.

Tamara (12:11):

And that's why like people will, you know, initially inquire and the first thing that you get is like, do you do meal plans? And I'm like, well firstly my, I'm a, I'm a trainer so my first thing is like I like to help people feel comfortable in the gym and exercise. And that's my top like priority. But I do understand that there's like, what comes with that is understanding nutrition and getting the most outta your training. 'cause you don't wanna do all these things in the gym and then you're not fueling your body for that. So there's, you know, you need to prioritize that. But then you can only work with someone, we call it like gen pop, which is just general population. So most people is

Teagan (12:47):

That what that means? <laugh>? Yeah.

Tamara (12:50):

Like well there you

Teagan (12:51):

Go. Right. I thought it was like a genre of music. Were you thinking the

Krystal (12:56):

Prisons like gen

Teagan (12:58):

Book? I dunno. I dunno what I was thinking but I'm

Tamara (13:00):

No. So like yeah. Someone

Teagan (13:02):

I just learned something. Yeah,

Tamara (13:03):

That's good. Um, so yeah, some, someone like Crystal who has other health underlying issues, if someone had said that to me I'd be like, well well it's not in my scope to, you know, look after you in that way because you clearly need to avoid or you know, try other certain foods. And that's not my place to say like, like even as a trainer, like I don't recommend any really like supplements to people or anything because that's a very personal thing. Yeah. Um,

Teagan (13:35):

You can't see their bloods or anything like that. No. You're not trained for that. There are

Tamara (13:38):

People to take this supplement, take these vitamins, take this sleep powder, like whatever,

Teagan (13:43):

Or like digestive things and then like you actually can't not use them after a while. You, but the thing about about vitamins

Tamara (13:50):

That people don't understand is that like a lot of vitamins cancel each other out. Correct.

Teagan (13:55):

I know. I

Krystal (13:56):

Know. Yeah. And the time that you take them. Yes. And what food?

Teagan (13:58):

Yes. So is it magnesium and zinc? You can't have together

Krystal (14:01):

See this, this is where you need to get an actual like

Teagan (14:04):

Yeah, we've another

Krystal (14:05):

Dietician person

Tamara (14:06):

Because imagine if I'm telling someone, oh yeah, I you should be having all these supplements and all this stuff. Or you know, if Crystal has come to me or if someone comes to me with like PCOS and endometriosis and diabetes and all this stuff mm-hmm <affirmative>. Like I do not know enough about that. So I will always

Teagan (14:21):

Tell And you could flare it. Yeah.

Tamara (14:22):

That's it. Yeah, absolutely. It just, yeah. So I always um, will point someone in the right direction with that like if I needed them to. Um, but that's where it's very personal. Personal. Yeah. It's

Teagan (14:34):

Personal. Anyway, I've got a great question to be able to start off the, you know, macronutrient talk. Yeah. So when people get their macros as such, like their breakdown of how many calories they should have in a day. Yeah. How do you, how do you judge that? Like how do people know? Because people probably go, oh I need to have 1200 calories to lose weight. Yeah. And that's just the bottom bottom. Like you're probably gonna drop over a kilo a week but you're not gonna get Yeah. The nutrients you need or anything. So how does someone find out the macros they need?

Tamara (15:01):

Yeah, I love that question because 1200 calories is obviously something that has just been around for ages, but a lot of the time that's below a lot. Like majority of adults' basal metabolic rate, which is like your body's baseline. Um, and 1200 calories is something that like a toddler should be eating. So you can't do that for very long. But when it comes to like macro splits and like say someone goes to a trainer or they wanna try to lose fat or maintain or eat in a surplus to build muscle that will typically get given like calories and macros. So macros being your carbs, fats, um, and proteins. But the thing that people don't realize is there's no magical macro split. So like while yes, what it might take you to lose fat is gonna be different amount of calories, you know, to me because age, height, weight, exercise levels, lifestyle comes like into it.

Tamara (15:53):

Um, but it's not to say that you can't eat similarly to someone and still like lose on those calories because there's probably like a million ways that you can get 2000 calories when it comes to the breakdown. So there's so many online macro calculators and they use like two different scientific equations. So typically if someone came to me and they wanted to lose fat and I would be like, the best thing you can do initially is to just start tracking off the off the bat to know what your calorie in intake is, um, and see give that coach an idea of how you are eating at the moment. Because it could be heaps or it could be like way too little

Teagan (16:36):

Like you're eating 5,000 calories a day. Yeah. Which I probably was, let's be honest. Yeah. At some days. Some days

Tamara (16:42):

Definitely. Yeah. So you need to know like the starting point essentially. Um, but if then when I'm like, okay, so now we're gonna go into a deficit and if that person's goal is to like lose fat, I will go and use a couple of different calculators online. The app that I use has one in there and they'll all spit out different, um, different figures. Like they might give the rough average guide, but the macro breakdown on each website, it's gonna be completely different. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. And this is where people get, get lost because they think they have to track that to a T and they have to do it to the gram, but

Teagan (17:15):

They fats and carbs, yeah. You can split it however you want. Yeah. As long as you're under the right calories. Yeah. That's it. Yeah. Mm-hmm. But also depends on the body composition you want. Like you're gonna need to hit your proteins if you wanna build muscle or keep muscle. Yeah.

Tamara (17:27):

And this is where like when I'm giving people those figures like macros and calories, like you'll have it all laid out for you. But when I give it to people, I say to people that your protein and your calories are like king. They're, they're what you wanna look at the most. Because naturally we find carbs and fats super easy to hit without really, and even thinking about it delicious. Yeah. That's not the hard part. Normally it's the paying attention to calories and paying attention to your protein. And this is where before people try to lose fat or before people dip their toe into tracking, they're not paying attention to those things. So then when they all of a sudden do they think that they have to be really like anal about it. But you don't because you're not gonna live like that for the rest of your life. And your carbs and your fats can really fluctuate. You could eat a different amount of carbs, fats, protein every day and still hit potentially 2000 calories. But obviously we want more protein so there's no magical macro split. Everyone could eat something entirely different. You know, make

Teagan (18:28):

Up those stick figures. It's hard protein though. Like it is hard to hit protein. I know you're really good at it, Tamara, but I know with my weight loss journey over the past year, I have neglected protein. Mm. Not neglected it, but like my breakfast won't have it or I'll skip breakfast or something like that. But to hit it you have to have your protein powders, your protein yogurts. Yeah. Meat in every well protein in every meal. Yeah. And it's hard. It's not something that it's

Tamara (18:53):

Right. And and that's what I,

Teagan (18:54):

IM a mite and toast kind of girl. Like, you know, people are brought up like we meats for breakfast or it's, it's

Tamara (18:59):

Not that there's, I guess anything wrong with that because like there's really good um, vitamins in Vegemite for example. And like bread is awesome and you can have really good carbs in the morning, but it's, if you're not having a decent amount of protein at breakfast, you're probably hungry like an hour later and then you're snacking more and breakfast is such a main meal component in your whole day that if you're not getting enough then you are probably not getting enough protein throughout the whole day. You're missing like a, a big opportunity. Huge portion Yeah. To do it. But this is where I guess as a coach and what I do with my online stuff is I help people navigate that. Mm-hmm. Like it's not about trying to follow something to a tea. I don't wanna give someone a meal plan of food that they don't actually like or they're not gonna stick to or like their, their family is gonna eat completely different. It's like I wanna know your hubs and how we can just improve one hub each week. So like you might have had Vegemite on toast in week one every day and then we had a look and there was a big dip in protein in the mornings but then it was pretty good at night but overall we weren't hitting it. So next week we are gonna try to have a protein-rich breakfast he options kind

Teagan (20:04):

Of thing. Eggs on toast. Yeah, eggs. Just

Krystal (20:07):

One, one piece of toast with veggie. Right. But then also some eggs on the side.

Teagan (20:10):

Yeah.

Tamara (20:11):

But that is like one thing weirdly that you hear a lot is like if someone has toast or breakfast, I'm like, oh okay well we'll try to incorporate some protein. They're like, we'll have eggs.

Teagan (20:19):

But you have cheese.

Tamara (20:20):

Yes.

Krystal (20:21):

Ham and cheese toasties. Yeah.

Tamara (20:22):

And why do people think stuff like ham and cheese toasties or bacon egg muffins or like milk in your cereal is like bad

Teagan (20:28):

Because I'm a slept for a bacon egg muffin <laugh>. Like I make that every day. I had one today actually.

Tamara (20:32):

It's like easy, convenient. I

Teagan (20:35):

Know I made it. Did you make 'em? I made it proud of you. Yeah.

Tamara (20:37):

Well even if someone did go to Macca's and get it, it's like it's not as bad as what we are accustomed to think, you know?

Teagan (20:43):

No. You just get no cheese if you're being really good and then it's just bacon and egg. Yeah.

Tamara (20:48):

But even cheese though, like unless Yeah, I know.

Teagan (20:50):

Unless someone I've actually looked it up on my fitness pal, it's really not that bad. No, just don't get the hash browns. Sorry. Yeah, well that's probably fry

Tamara (20:56):

Then then all of a sudden get a large double cheeseburger meal with a sugar coke. Yeah. We don't need to go crazy. Or like the frappes or the cream and this is where like the education comes from. Yeah. So that's what I wanna help people with. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. Because someone might think that, oh I have to um, not have cheese on my thing because like dairy's bad or something. Can I need to have an egg with my, with my toast? But like really that one egg is only six grams of protein, which is good but it's nowhere near enough. Like really, I tell people a minimum of 20 grams at breakfast is super important. But then yeah, people just assume, oh I can't have yeah. Cheese on my thing. But cheese is such good protein as well. So like if you add a slice of cheese to your bacon egg muffins, if you make it at home, depending on what cheese you get, that could be like close to like 10 grams of protein in just a slice of cheese and Yeah. Yeah. Before you know it you've like increased that dramatically. Yeah. But it's, those are the things that I like to help people with. Just yeah. Their understanding and their, and their habits. Because

Teagan (21:54):

That's easy. Just their mindset around food. Especially bread as well. Bread and pasta. They think, oh my gosh it's bad but it's just portions. Yeah, yeah. Portion can just don't have the whole loaf.

Tamara (22:01):

Yeah. And it's learning about portion control based on you know, your go your goals. So like if someone wanted to lose fat, it's making sure we're not having huge portions and if someone wanted to maintain and know what their maintenance calories were like it's knowing what portions are like for that. And then if someone wanted to go into a surplus and maybe someone's goal was to actually put weight on or put muscle on or then they would need to eat more than their body's requirements and help them navigate portion sizes to that. So it's just more, that's why I label it as nutrition support because it's more Yeah. Supporting people in their understanding of nutrition so that when they're not working with a coach anymore, they understand the process and they could potentially put themself into a fat loss phase in the future. Or if they wanted to track their calories themselves, they know what they're doing. I think any good coach we, we obviously love when we have long-term clients and we build a relationship and it's obviously how we make a living. But if I've done my job well someone should be like, I feel really good about doing my own thing on my own. Like you've taught me so much. Like and that's sort of the end end goal. Yeah. Just helping

Teagan (23:08):

Them, helping them be able to carry it on. Yeah. So with um, my little weight loss journey that I've done, like the way I started out, like obviously with your app and then I stopped logging in after a while but I kept going. Yeah, you did. That's good. I just did it in my own time. Yeah. But so like people listening might not know what the BMR is your base metabolic rate. So basically that's the amount of calories you burn if you just to lay in bed all day. Is that right? Yeah, pretty much.

Tamara (23:31):

Sometimes people call it coma calories because obviously like if you are bedridden and you are laying there, there's so much happening internally in our bodies like blood's pumping, your heart's still beating, like there's still motor going so your body is working and so it's burning that, you know, at a minimum. So everyone's basal metabolic rate is slightly different because it's dependent on them and their body composition and how much muscle mass to body fat ratio they have. And males is typically higher than females 'cause that's just how it is. Like, and

Teagan (24:04):

They've got more muscle generally too, so.

Tamara (24:06):

Yeah. And like, well because of all the hormonal impacts that females have, like scientifically like males, it's a lot quicker for them to lose fat and quicker for them to gain muscle. And it's annoying but it's just,

Krystal (24:16):

Yeah. that me off.

Tamara (24:18):

Yes. It's so

Krystal (24:18):

Annoying Jake and I'll both eat the same thing for like two weeks straight and he has dropped a few kilos. He is looking a bit more toned and I'm like, I don't think I've, like I've put on

Teagan (24:28):

300 grand Yeah. <laugh>

Krystal (24:30):

Like I've got a period. So thanks.

Tamara (24:33):

Yeah. It's super, like it is a bit annoying but so that, that's where like with the basal metabolic rate because everyone's is slightly different and that's where like when someone is tracking their calories, that's why we say it's, it's sort of unique to them because we take into consideration those things. Um, but that's why people say, oh you shouldn't copy this person's calories because it's gonna be different to mine. And like yes they might be, but like you could be, you could lose fat on the same calories as potentially someone else because maybe their lifestyle is completely different. Like someone could be a nurse on their

Teagan (25:05):

Feet or they've got more muscle.

Tamara (25:06):

Yeah. Or like

Teagan (25:07):

They're team, they train, they train

Tamara (25:08):

More or whatever. Versus

Krystal (25:09):

Someone they don't, they don't have a newborn and they get eight hours uninterrupted sleep every night. Yes.

Tamara (25:14):

Like, like so really like a good coach would try to give you something that's like to do with your lifestyle and that's where it's not, it's very trial and error. So like if you go to a coach and they give you those calories, it's not to say hand over heart that's gonna work if you stick to that 100% because

Teagan (25:31):

They always reassess the one two week mark.

Tamara (25:33):

Have to. Yeah. And that's why people work with someone usually because it definitely depends on, you know, your day-to-day activity levels.

Teagan (25:40):

So that's just the way I did it though. Like dumbing it down again. Yeah. So my BMR when I was at 96 kilos was roughly the 1800 mark, which was my bare minimum of

Tamara (25:52):

Your basal metabolic rate would be like different to your maintenance calories essentially.

Teagan (25:57):

No. Oh yeah. But I just went off my bare, like I went off my BMR. Okay. And then whatever training I, whatever my watch said on top of that, on top of that. Yeah. I kind of counted as my weight loss calories. Yeah. Like this is very rough and very loose but it has worked so I'm allowed to say it. Um, but you know, so when I went to the gym or like if I had a really active day, like my watch would say that for the day I've burnt a thousand calories. So if I ate 1800 and I burnt a thousand that day, I would bank that a thousand in the kiddie's weight loss

Tamara (26:24):

Essentially. That's how roughly

Teagan (26:26):

Loosely. Yeah.

Tamara (26:27):

And that's how a lot of people understand it. And

Teagan (26:29):

7,000 calories is one kilo.

Tamara (26:34):

7,700. Yeah.

Teagan (26:34):

7,700 or so. 1100 calories a day in a minus is what you need to lose a kilo a week. But a kilo a week is a lot and probably not

Tamara (26:42):

Sustainable. Yeah, I was just about to say that A kilo a week is where I

Teagan (26:45):

Just got my numbers from Michelle Bridges book that one <laugh>

Tamara (26:48):

And it's kind

Krystal (26:48):

Of, that's probably where your 1200 calorie thing came from. Duke

Teagan (26:51):

Probably. Yeah.

Krystal (26:52):

I feel like I remember when shows like the Biggest Loser and like Michelle Bridges and like that era of fitness that that 1200 calorie

Teagan (27:00):

For like the quick fix. Yeah. But you know, you have to work on like learning your maintenance and everything

Tamara (27:05):

Afterwards. Yeah. And a lot of people just think that a kilo a week is something to strive for or something really good but doesn't stay off. You know, 500 grams a week is even kind of considered like a lot. So if you are, if someone's losing 250 grams a week, like that's still really good because it means they're not losing fat on extremely low calories kind of thing. Yeah. It's good for people

Teagan (27:27):

To, and it's such, it's so hard like when you're trying to get healthier or like start the, the, the wheels in motion as such. Yeah. Because it's so disheartening. Especially if you're weighing yourself a, you fluctuate with like hormones or whatever it is, like no sleep, whatever. Yeah. But like until you actually push through that initial time until you start to see and feel the difference, like it is literally so hard to keep going. Like

Tamara (27:50):

It is hard, but it's like

Teagan (27:51):

The amount of times you fall off the wagon, that's

Tamara (27:54):

It. The, the more times you quit the more times you have to start again. So it's, you might as well just stick to it for once in your life maybe. But in saying what, what you had said before about how you were working out your calories that you stuck to and you were talking about, you know, your watches, it's, we're in a time that we have all this technology available to us, which is cool. I mean I have an Apple watch like most people have some form of a watch and they really take that as Bible but it's also, they're not the most accurate things ever in the world. No,

Teagan (28:25):

It was very loosely.

Tamara (28:25):

Yeah. It's good to take those things with a grain of salt and not just be like, oh yeah I definitely burnt that today. 'cause then on the other hand, this is where people go wrong 'cause they'll think they can eat a thousand calories.

Teagan (28:35):

Well that's what my problem was. And you know what? See I don't wear my watch now. Yeah. I haven't worn it for a few months now. Yeah. Because I was actually getting caught up in it. Yeah. And it was actually unhealthy. Yeah. So when I got to the stage where I knew I was on the right track, I actually don't wear it even to the gym anymore. Yeah. Mm-hmm <affirmative> And I just, it feels so good. I feel like a weight's been lifted off my shoulders. Yeah. 'cause I know I am eating less. I know that I'm like putting less on my plate. Yeah. I know that I'm not eating at night. Like I fast sometimes if I feel like I need to if I've had a big day the night before and like I just feel like I know when I'm working hard in the gym, that's so I've just got rid of it now and it's so much better because if I didn't hit my 10 K steps, I was like, I felt. Yeah. And now I'm just like, it. But get 10

Tamara (29:18):

K is just this magic number. Right. There's 1200 calories, 10 k, like this and that and it's just

Teagan (29:23):

Loosely but you know, it just, it's really helped me just knowing what I'm doing is working. But to get me started, I thought it was really good.

Tamara (29:30):

I like the watches for the accountability of like Apple watches have closing your rings and like you can see your steps and it will be like, oh you should stand up and whatever. But I like 'em for that but not so much the accuracy. So as long as someone understands it, they're not that accurate. I mean it's cool and it does track your heart rate and it gives you an idea. But typically it's very over calculated so mm-hmm <affirmative> if it's said I burn 400 calories in a workout, I'll just know that it's nowhere near that much recovering

Krystal (30:00):

Actually. Like have you seen the new little feature now you can add your effort into your workouts. Ooh,

Tamara (30:05):

No, but my watch is not ancient. So <laugh>,

Krystal (30:08):

So I did the new um, iPhone and watch update and so now when you do a workout on there, you can actually add in your effort.

Teagan (30:14):

Oh. So it's like who cares The calories you burn because I tried really hard. I

Krystal (30:17):

Tried really hard. Yeah. And you can, you can even like log notes on there now. Like, you know, I was doing weights on Tuesday and you know, too much info, but like I've got a period at the moment so I was feeling really weak, struggled to finish my sets, but I logged all of that in like my effort and my notes just,

Teagan (30:34):

Hey five outta five effort. 'cause I'm here <laugh>. Yeah,

Krystal (30:36):

Exactly. No, but

Teagan (30:38):

It's like, I know it's

Krystal (30:39):

True though. I know. And like, to be fair, the most thing I use my watch for is to find my phone so

Teagan (30:44):

<laugh> and until the time

Krystal (30:45):

Don't and until the

Teagan (30:46):

Time I know lately I'm like, what's the time? I'm like, don't have a watch.

Tamara (30:48):

Yeah. My watch is connected to my phone at the moment and I miss all my calls and like notifications and everything and it's really annoying. But that's what I like to use it for. And obviously when I fell pregnant I was not closing my rings every day. And like people get really funny about that. Yeah. And so it was really like nice to addiction, just not wear it some days and not just become like addictive towards it because it, you can

Teagan (31:12):

Get addicted to my fitness power too. Well I know some people that have. Yeah, yeah.

Tamara (31:15):

Like, but it's also, it's a mindset thing though. A lot of people when they, you don't know what you don't know. So if you are thinking that you're eating really well and you're exercising and this and you're seeing no change, well it's not too me like tracking really look

Teagan (31:31):

Because the thing is with that as well, it's like it's science. Like it's calories in, calories out. And I know there's some things that obviously are gonna stop you, hinder you from losing weight, but there's obviously something you're not doing. Right.

Tamara (31:42):

That's it. But you mentioned before when you weren't tracking so much you, we all know when we're overeating. Yeah. We all know when we're cooking like pasta at home and we've had five serves of it in a bowl. Like

Teagan (31:55):

We know I made dinner last night for the family and I picked so much at dinner, I realized by the time dinner was ready I wasn't hungry. And I used eaten a meal <laugh> and I used to have a whole whopper meal like on top of that. And last night I just went like, no, the kids ate early. Like I don't need dinner tonight. Yeah. And like I woke up this morning and I dropped again and it's like usually I would've eaten that whole massive soup plate. But I just went and brushed my teeth. I had a hot chocolate, brushed my teeth and put myself to bed.

Tamara (32:19):

Sometimes you need to brush your teeth. Yeah. Straight outta dinner. That's

Krystal (32:22):

Bad

Teagan (32:22):

Thing. Brush your teeth. And you know what, every cupboard in my house is really clean after this weight loss <laugh>. Because if I feel like eating now I clean out a cupboard.

Tamara (32:29):

That's smart. Yeah.

Teagan (32:30):

Because it makes me feel satisfied, like yeah, you

Krystal (32:33):

Do need, you just need that fulfillment. Yes.

Teagan (32:34):

Yeah. It's

Krystal (32:35):

Like I'm a binge eater, I'm a cereal binge eater. That's just my like, I like food, I like chocolate.

Teagan (32:41):

Yeah,

Krystal (32:42):

You can. But I've definitely, I I think But

Teagan (32:46):

You've had like weight loss and like Yeah,

Krystal (32:48):

I, I fluctuate all the time but when I do really like put in the effort and prioritize it, I think that's my biggest thing is I don't, I don't prioritize

Teagan (32:58):

Like as soon as you have a little bit of stress, my health

Krystal (33:00):

You're like chocolate food.

Teagan (33:01):

Yeah. <laugh>.

Krystal (33:03):

But no, I've been good. I actually, I haven't binge ate chocolate in the last two years. I can pretty safely say that I've can count on one hand the amount of times that I would binge through a few family blocks.

Tamara (33:15):

But that is like family blocks, like the big ones. Yeah.

Teagan (33:18):

<laugh>, she's your zipper. You have witnessed it.

Tamara (33:21):

No, I know she likes you.

Teagan (33:23):

You probably bought me

Krystal (33:24):

The blocks when I was sad about

Teagan (33:25):

Something. <laugh>. Wait until she's gone. It's funny,

Tamara (33:29):

Like you and Grace are such chocolate. Like

Teagan (33:31):

I don't like chocolate. Like I'll have a row. Yeah. But I cannot have

Tamara (33:35):

A block. It's very sweet. But I'm, I'm like bakery baked goods like

Teagan (33:38):

Donuts s and tarts. Right. Yeah. I remember you used to work for me tomorrow like Yeah. 'cause obviously Crystal, the whole bread roll basket would just go and they don't have butter. This family, it's weird, they just eat bread crystal's

Tamara (33:49):

Like do you wanna come cater a wedding? I was like, there's gonna be bread there. So yes,

Teagan (33:53):

<laugh> like the amount these girls can put away and like, I don't think really put on much weight like for how much you can put away. Like it's 'cause your muscle mass is high I reckon. Oh it

Krystal (34:03):

Is fuel

Tamara (34:03):

<laugh>. But also in saying, you know with your, you have an underactive thyroid and you have a lot of health things that mm-hmm. Impact your weight fluctuation. And those are things that, you know, not everyone's gonna know, but, but that's where it's sort of different for everyone. I think everyone can improve on their nutrition in ways. And even though you might feel like you're fluctuating in your weight, you've just said that you have not binged on chocolate in ages and you've, you've gotta past that like barrier.

Krystal (34:28):

I've definitely got much healthier habits now. I think my biggest thing is I'm at my healthiest and like what I like to have is like my maintenance weight when I'm eating more regularly. But again, that comes down to the fact that I've had diabetes and my insulin's difference. Everybody else. Yeah. And I have severe malabsorption, so I need iron celiacs. Yeah. I, I shouldn't eat gluten. Uh, yeah, if, if a you go down and look at my blood work and via what like my dietician, nutritionist, doctor specialist, endocrinologist, like all those people say like as a team, um, the kind of person that needs to be eating one hour fasting, an hour medicating during the next hour, eating again, changing medications again the following hour. Like for your body to work like to, its tea. There's so much science and Yeah. You know, all the chemistry and biology.

Krystal (35:19):

I was actually talking to a teacher at the school about this out the front of the cafe the other day. Um, you know there's, you can't have any dairy when you're taking iron supplements. But also when you are on iron infusions and things like that, you shouldn't be taking iron supplements anyway. And the way my body absorbs things is very time-based. Like you mentioned before, like the times that you eat. There's so much science in that and yeah, that's, I know my body runs the best when I'm eating more frequently. I split up what I need to take in the medications that I need to take into the certain hours that I've, I've started logging now, um, again with all these new updates by the way, they're great, uh, notifications on when I should take what. And so that's my goal for the rest of the year is to just stick to that, eat a little bit more often, make sure I'm taking the right medications or if I need supplements, I'm taking them at the right time with the right things because I know that's what works.

Tamara (36:14):

And this is where it's so different for everyone because obviously someone who, like myself, I don't have any of that. I don't have to take medication for anything. Like Yeah. So that's very, my nutrition lifestyle is very different to yours with your habits. Yeah, because I don't have to think like that. So I guess as a coach I work with people and if someone had said to me that that's what it was like for them, I'd be, you know, maybe I'm not the right fit for you or I can help you on a very basic level. I can help someone understand nutrition better, but I'm not gonna guarantee you fat loss because your body is needing a little bit more than what I can, my understanding can give you. So I'm always transparent about that. But that's where

Teagan (36:55):

I think that's what you need to give people though, is like the actual education. Like that's what people need for, for long term.

Tamara (37:02):

And that's why like tracking, using my fitness power, like you can still make progress and learn things without that. But it's a really good tool 'cause you learn a lot. Mm-hmm. But for Crystal, obviously meal timing and everything is sort of important, but for majority of people it's not. And it's just doing something that works for your lifestyle that you can consistently stick to because it's gonna make sense for you and it's a bit easier. So for me, I don't like snack a lot. It's very rare that I will snack. I just really have breakfast, lunch and dinner. And I'll always have something small for dessert. But some people they might need to snack a lot because maybe their work, they don't get to just, well obviously at the moment I'm on maternity leave if I'm at home is easy for me to like make lunch.

Tamara (37:44):

But like someone who's really busy, maybe they can't do that so they'll just have more snacks throughout the day to fill up their day. Or if they find that fasting works for them, where they might just eat breakfast later be because they're so busy in the morning that they'll then sit down maybe like 10 or 11 and then have their breakfast. That's fine. Whereas when I used to go to work, I'd have to have my breakfast soup early in the morning because if I didn't eat then, then I would just miss it. And I just don't wanna miss that. But that is so individual. So there's no right or wrong way to prioritize your eating. It's as long as you're, you're eating and you're doing it, it's good. It doesn't matter like what your approach is to it, it's very individual but people get really caught up in like

Teagan (38:26):

Yeah. It's just knowing isn't it like a lot of people don't realize how many calories are in mayonnaise or an avocado or olive oil. Yeah. You know, it's like, oh avocados are healthy so I'm gonna have a whole avocado. I'm gonna make my dressing with a quarter of a cup of olive oil and that's nearly your whole daily as cal calories. Yeah. Mm. But it's just learning, like educating and that's why my fitness power is good. Like if you wanna track what you're eating now. Yeah. Have a look at it. Oh holy. I'm eating 3000 calories a day. No wonder I'm not losing weight. Yeah. Add your bottle of wine on the end at the end of the day. 'cause the kids are driving me nuts. Got a macro in the wine. I know you me, I've learned how a macro in wine, don't you worry,

Tamara (38:58):

Track you. Like I've tracked my mind and that always

Teagan (39:00):

Might not have lunch, but that's okay. <laugh> <laugh>. But yeah, so you know, but you've gotta, you've gotta have balance. Oh absolutely. Like I enjoy my life and I've gotta a very social life and that ain't never gonna change. And

Tamara (39:10):

That's the thing, it's never gonna change, but people will be like, oh, I'm not gonna do this because I'm so busy and it's just not a good time. I feel like it's never a good time. Right. Even when you think it's a good time, something's gonna happen. And people think that being social means you can't like achieve any goals or improve your nutrition, but you absolutely can. So with, with something like tracking, like you mentioned people think they're eating really healthy when they're having like olive oil dressing and avocado and stuff. Like those are amazing fats. But yes, they are quite calorie dense and those are the things that are like people to

Teagan (39:44):

Know,

Tamara (39:44):

To know and to learn because that you could be doing on paper,

Teagan (39:48):

People

Tamara (39:48):

Don't know. Right. And then maybe that whole other avocado that you're having is just making little improvements to to,

Teagan (39:54):

Well there's more calories in the mayonnaise on your sandwich than the actual sandwich. Yes. And

Tamara (39:57):

This is

Teagan (39:57):

Where it's a huge one. Like I can't lose weight, but I have like half a tub of mayonnaise a day. Yeah. Like my husband, his whole belly is mayonnaise. The Coles brand too. Like ugh. I mean nothing against coals, but it's just, you know, mayonnaise is oil. That's all it is. Yeah. That's it. And to make it mayonnaise is oil.

Tamara (40:13):

I like it. And this is something that people don't realize that you can be eating really, really healthy but you're just over consuming in your calories. And then someone could be under consuming their calories, which is why they're potentially still losing weight even if they're not eating particularly healthy.

Teagan (40:31):

Like my mom with cigarettes and coffee <laugh>. Yeah.

Tamara (40:34):

So that's not super and you're not gonna feel that great. And if you're someone who does enjoy exercise and you know wants to go to the gym and train, you are probably going to feel a lot better if you are eating healthier. Mm. But at the end of the day, food is energy, so there's no good or bad foods. You could eat a block of chocolate and go to the gym because it's energy and it will give you some, but it's also gonna give you a crush because it's full of sugar versus having something else and a few

Teagan (40:59):

Pimples, <laugh>. Yeah.

Tamara (41:01):

And you it's, you could have something like honey or on rice crackers and then go to the gym and have potentially a really good session. But it's hard because everyone in this day and age we're so time poor, meal prepping. No one wants to spend ages in the kitchen, meal prepping, which I get, but there's so much out there now. Is this

Teagan (41:19):

A segue to meal prep? It's <laugh>. There's so much. I know A was something about that. So our meal prep is something that's really helped me on my health journey and I know Crystal and I, we use it for our families. You've even had it when you just had a baby baby. But our clean range is macro and has high protein. The macronutrients on 'em are really, really good. I designed the meal prep to be able to feed my family when I was busy and now it gives me my lunches as well. And when we have sports at night. So if anyone hasn't tried our meal prep, I highly recommend it. You'll hear us on Nova 9 1 9 now as well. Our epic ads, they're so cool.

Krystal (41:52):

They went live today.

Teagan (41:54):

Oh, so exciting. But yeah, so Crystal, let's wind this one up and we'll go to part two. Hey,

Krystal (41:59):

Absolutely. Yeah. So we have decided to do a part two on this because what are we like 45 minutes in and we've managed to just talk about food, which is awesome because we love talking about this so much. So I am sure you guys are gonna love listening to it. But stay tuned and we'll be back in a couple weeks for part two.

Teagan (42:20):

Thank you so much for listening everybody. If you like what you heard, please head down below, subscribe, check the show notes, follow us on socials. We'd love to hear from you and can't wait for next time.

Krystal (42:36):

She's the baddest of the all.

Krystal (42:38):

Ooh,

Teagan (42:42):

That's all I know.