Episode 49: Planning for Fat Loss with Kris Lee  @Terrible_Hime ​

Trainer Tips
Written By Jayd Harrison

Hey there! 👋 I'm Jayd Harrison (Jaydigains), personal trainer and host of the Coaching Corner podcast.

In this episode of the Coaching Corner Podcast, I sit down with my friend and fellow content creator, Kris Lee (aka Terrible Hime), to talk about the ins and outs of planning for a successful fat loss phase. Kris shares her personal experiences, discussing the mental and physical preparation needed, how to set realistic goals, and how to manage calorie intake effectively.

We also cover the importance of self-awareness, setting boundaries, and creating a supportive environment. Fat loss isn’t just about numbers—it’s about mindset, habits, and sustainability. If you’re in a fat loss phase or considering one, this episode is packed with actionable strategies to help you stay on track.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

✅ How to mentally and physically prepare for a fat loss phase

✅ The impact of social interactions on fat loss progress

✅ Managing the mental fatigue of calorie deficits

✅ Why boundaries and self-care are essential for long-term success

✅ The role of hobbies and stress management in achieving fitness goals

🔗 Resources & Links:

🎯 Tune in next week for more expert tips to help you crush your fitness goals!

 

  • Kris (00:00):

    If you're like me and you weigh yourself every day, you feel really good when you see a low weigh in, but you see a high weigh in and you feel stressed about it or you feel bad. You're like, why did I just gain two pounds overnight when it's probably like water retention or food in your stomach or something like that. But yeah, the mental fatigue a lot of times is just as bad, if not worse than the actual physical fatigue of working out and being tired.

    Jayd (00:38):

    Hey there. Welcome to the Coaching Corner podcast. I'm Jayd Harrison, AKA Jaydigains. In today's episode, I'm really excited to share with you a conversation that I had with my very good friend and fellow content creator, Terrible Hime or Krista Lee. Now, Kris has been on a fat loss journey over the last couple of months and she's been documenting her progress through her fat loss journey on her YouTube channel. Make sure to subscribe to her channel, which is linked in the description of this video below. If you're watching on YouTube, you can also find a link to her channel if you're listening to this podcast in the show notes. In a couple of the previous episodes, we've talked about what to expect if your body is comping. We've also talked about what to expect and what to plan for when you want to go into a bulk phase or an improvement phase.

    (01:28)

    I wanted to talk to Kris about her fat loss journey and have her share some of the tips and tricks that she's learned over the last couple of years as someone who has gone on different phases of dieting and muscle building and maintenance, I really have loved her updates on her YouTube channel and she has just so many great tips to offer for people who are looking to cut weight and go into a calorie deficit. So this is a little bit of a longer episode, but it is so well worth it. Kris offers so much insight and so many very helpful strategies for navigating going into a cut phase. So if you are thinking about going into a calorie deficit, I really recommend giving this episode a listen and taking some notes. And before we get into the episode, make sure to this video and leave a comment in the comment section of what you want to know in regards to what to expect when you are planning a cut, a bulk or a maintenance phase. If you're listening to this podcast, thank you so much. Please make sure to follow the show so that you get notified whenever there's a new episode. Without further ado, let's get into the discussion with Kris. A Terrible Hime, how are you doing today?

    Kris (02:49):

    I'm good. As good as can be expected, I guess.

    Jayd (02:52):

    Right. How many weeks are you now into your cut?

    Kris (02:55):

    This is coming to the end of week 10. Week 10 out of 16.

    Jayd (03:02):

    Okay. Where's your motivation and mood at right now?

    Kris (03:12):

    It's okay. Right around week eight, the halfway point, I was not really feeling so great. I was getting pretty fatigued mentally and physically, but I took a weekend to deload and I did a very conservative refeed day. Just one very conservative refeed day and actually I'm feeling a lot better after that.

    Jayd (03:38):

    Good.

    Kris (03:38):

    And obviously the end is approaching, so I'm feeling good about that as well and I have a big vacation planned after that.

    Jayd (03:47):

    Yes, yes. Well, for everybody who is joining in has not met this lovely, lovely lady before. This is terrible. I'm Jaydigains, Jayd Harrison, terrible Heime and I met as streamers on Twitch in the fitness and health category and we've been friends for the last couple of years and both of us moved over onto YouTube. She moved over a lot earlier than I did and she has been documenting her fat loss journey over the last 10 weeks And

    (04:23)

    It's been really cool. I love your vlogs and I will be linking those below in the description of this video, so make sure that you subscribe to Terrible Hime's channel. She is doing vlogs for her fat loss journey, but she also has a lot of other really cool vlogs. I love your planners and your journal content As a planner journal, girly myself, it's always fun to see how other people are doing their planners and their journals. And I wanted to have you on today because I have been kind of covering the bases with my audience on the different phases of fitness and diet that people can go through depending on what their focus is. We have covered comping or being in a maintenance phase. We've also had a discussion on things to think about before going into a bulk and what to expect before going into a bulk.

    (05:27)

    And I wanted to talk to you specifically about things too that people should think about going into a cut phase or a diet phase focusing on fat loss because it is something that you don't want to enter into too lightly. You want to have a plan about it and also have your mindset in the right place. And like I said, plan through it and I figured who would be best to talk to about planning a cut phase than you because you are so organized yours and you manage your cut phases well and you have so much success with them. So could you just introduce yourself a little bit to my audience?

    Kris (06:07):

    Yeah. Hi, I'm Kris, a Terrible Hime on the internet. I also make videos here on YouTube about, as Jayd said, fitness planners and the occasional vlog. I have been on a fitness journey or living a fitness lifestyle for over 10 years. I was at one point a certified personal trainer, but unlike Jayd, I've never actually worked with clients. I did it more for personal education I would say. And yeah, I am mostly a lifting girly. I primarily do weight training and I've gone through several bulking and cutting cycles and honestly right now I feel like the current fat loss phase that I am on has been the easiest and the most successful fat loss phase I've ever done.

    Jayd (07:01):

    That's amazing. I think that I've seen you go through fat loss phases. I think maybe you've done one every year. Is it once a year?

    Kris (07:11):

    About once a year. The last time I got very lean was like two years ago, I think in 2023, but then I had a hernia and I had to get surgery and I kind of fell off a little bit after that. Not on fitness in general, but just kind of being on the very lean side. I did a small fat loss phase in 2024, but I didn't get super lean I would say.

    Jayd (07:45):

    I mean, you've been a gym girly for almost, it's got to be 10 years now, right?

    Kris (07:51):

    Yeah, I'm not sure exactly. 10 plus something like that. Somewhere in that time. I'm really bad with dates. Me too. So honestly, I couldn't tell you exactly when I started. But

    Jayd (08:01):

    Yeah, it has been a while and I think that for people who have been on a fitness journey for as long as we have in that intermediate to advanced level of fitness, we do have to be more concentrated and focused in order to make a difference on our bodies. We are way past newbie gains, which for most people when they first start on their fitness journey, they they can experience a drastic change in their bodies. They can burn a lot of fat and build a lot of muscle pretty quickly within the first six months to year or even two years sometimes, depending on the person.

    Kris (08:51):

    In the first three years of lifting weights, I probably put on about 30 pounds of muscle. It estimated about 30 pounds. And then since then it's definitely slowed down significantly, but still slowly gaining over time.

    Jayd (09:09):

    And I mean that's just normal and I think a lot of people who hit that three year mark or that six month mark whenever it is that they're going to hit the end of their newbie gains, which is different for every person. They can sometimes be like, oh no, I am doing something wrong. My gains are not happening as fast as they were before. I'm not burning fat as fast and I'm not building muscle as fast. And that's right on track. That's right on schedule. When you kind of cross over from the newbie gains, you do need to focus what you're doing with your training and what you're doing with your diet to make significant gains. If you want to speed up the gains that you're making, whether it's fat or fat loss or building muscle, you kind of have to alternate between blocks or phases of training and diet where you're either focusing on specifically burning fat or building muscle. And I think for both of us, we spend the majority of each year in more of a muscle building phase or a maintenance phase at the least, right?

    Kris (10:15):

    Yes, for sure. At some point when you're in a fat loss phase, what do you say? Diminishing returns. It's diminishing returns. You have to keep slowly dropping your calories. Over time you're more and more fatigued and at some point it's so awful, it's not really worth the extra half a pound or one pound of fat loss. So for me personally, 16 weeks is about the maximum I will do for a fat loss phase, and then I'll either go back into maintenance for a little while, let my body recover, let my fatigue levels drop off, and then if I wasn't quite where I wanted to be with that fat loss phase, I might go into another fat loss after a few months or I might go into an improvement phase or a muscle building phase.

    Jayd (11:10):

    I really love that you call it an improvement phase because a lot of people, particularly women, are really sketched out by calling fat phase a bulk, which is what most gym goers will call it, is a bulk when you're trying to build muscle, when you're focusing on building muscle. And I think it's because it evokes this idea of like, oh, I'm going to get bulky, which I think as lifting weights has become more popular for women, that does seem to be less of a fear, but it's still something that I hear from clients, a lot of women who are like, I want to build muscle, but I don't want to become bulky. And they kind of have this sort of misunderstanding that they're going to look like a competitive bodybuilder man if they build muscle.

    Kris (12:04):

    Yes.

    Jayd (12:04):

    Do you have anything to speak to that in particular?

    Kris (12:08):

    I mean, it's kind of like for me personally, the proof is in the pudding. If somebody says that to me, I ask them, well, what do you think about my body type? I've been training weights for 10 plus years. Do you think that I look bulky? Do you think that I look like a man or a male body that's a competitive bodybuilder? And I think in most cases the answer is no. I probably look more fit and more muscular than the average woman, but not in a way that is super masculine. I still have a smaller waist, I have wider hips. I have kind of that hourglass shape, and actually I've built that through weightlifting because prior to lifting weights, I had more of a straight up and down figure.

    Jayd (13:03):

    Yeah, I do have to say your booty has come such a long way since I've known you because a couple of years ago you really didn't like to do leg work and you and your husband Joey, working out on stream, you would mostly prioritize hitting upper body. And I think maybe it was three years ago you started to really focus on doing leg work. And I can tell a huge difference. Respectfully. I'm looking respectfully, but your booty, your legs, they look so good. And I know what actually, to me it looks like, I think that for a woman who wants to get into weightlifting or has in the back of their mind this fear of getting bulky, I think the best case scenario really for you is that she'll look like an action, an action character,

    Kris (14:03):

    Like a superhero

    Jayd (14:04):

    Like

    Kris (14:05):

    Wonder Woman.

    Jayd (14:06):

    Yeah. You'll end up more, the more likely thing that's going to happen is you're going to look like a video game character or an action movie star like Angelina Jolie, tomb Raider. So that's the more likely scenario because as women, it's just really hard. Well, it's hard actually for anybody, men and women, it is hard to build muscle.

    Kris (14:31):

    Yes, it's hard.

    Jayd (14:32):

    Yeah. Competitive bodybuilders, most of them are on gear. Most of them are on steroids to get as big as they are, and they also have to eat a stupid amount of food to get as big as they are.

    Kris (14:45):

    Yes.

    Jayd (14:46):

    For most gym goers like you and me, most gym girlies, like you and me, we do spend the majority of the year in an improvement phase trying to build muscle or a bulk phase in the traditional term, and even in a bulk, even in an improvement phase, we don't look like men. In fact, I think I look way curvier during bulk phases.

    Kris (15:11):

    I think I do as well.

    Jayd (15:13):

    I love being in a bulk. I get so many compliments on my butt when I'm in a bulk because I also respond really, really quickly to being in a bulk. I start building muscle really, really quickly, especially in my legs. So my legs start to look really like my thighs start to look really nice and big and firm, and then my butt just starts to get really firm as well. And then when I cut it, it can be a little demoralizing in a different way.

    Kris (15:47):

    You can't choose where you start losing the weight. And most of the time for most people, you start losing in your limbs, which includes your legs, and a lot of times we retain the fat around our midsection, which is where everybody wants to lose it first. So yeah, you start to see yourself changing, but you don't always love the very specific results that you get, unfortunately.

    Jayd (16:16):

    Exactly. And when I do go into a bulk, one of the first things that I lose is that definition in my belly, and that can be really a little bit jarring for my personal body dysmorphia, which I think a lot of us have to some degree, and it's something you just kind of have to go with. But I probably won't be going into a cut phase myself anytime soon because I'm really, really enjoying the gains. I'm really enjoying how quickly my muscles are growing now that I'm actually feeding them properly.

    Kris (16:53):

    The strength too

    Jayd (16:54):

    And the strength, I really love my strength gains. It's so fun to be able to put more weight on the bar and it not feel uncomfortable or scary, you know what I mean? So I probably won't be heading into a cut anytime soon. It probably won't be until next year, and that's normal. I think when you get to that intermediate phase of training, not only is it like you're going to spend most of the year probably in an improvement phase where you're focusing on building muscle, you may not even cut. You might go through a whole year where you don't even cut at all and you might just bulk or build muscle throughout that whole year. But I think a lot of gym goers do tend to bulk cut and recomp pretty cyclically according to the season.

    Kris (17:45):

    A lot of people want to get more lean summer for vacations for going to the beach and stuff like that. Personally, it just so happens that my cut kind of coincides with getting leaner for the summer, but in the whole of my fitness career, more often than not, I've been leaner in the wintertime. It really depends on how my fitness journey is going. Mean I like to be in an improvement phase for much, much longer than I'm in a fat loss phase because building muscle takes time and I don't really want to put on a large percentage of fat. Obviously when you're gaining weight, usually it's a little bit of both, but if you gain a bunch of weight really quickly, it's more likely it's fat content rather than muscle. So I prefer eight months to a year or more in an improvement phase.

    Jayd (18:46):

    Well, let's talk about, if you're thinking about going into a cut, I think one of the first things that you should think about is when and for how long are you going to be cutting? What's your goal? So when you yourself reach a point where you want to start to cut, what are the things that kind of trigger that for you? What are the things that make you think, okay, I'm going to start planning out a cut phase for myself?

    Kris (19:13):

    So I usually take into account my body fat percentage, and it's usually not an exact measurement, just kind of a visual estimate of what my body fat percentage is. When I personally get to around 25%, that's when I start thinking about going into a fat loss phase. The other really big factor for me is my hunger levels. A lot of times because I do these fat loss and then weight gaining phases when I'm eating a lot to gain weight, I don't want to really say that I'm a hard gainer. I don't necessarily think that's what I am, but sometimes it does get to the point where I just don't feel like I want to eat to keep growing. I feel full a lot. I feel like I'm forcing myself to eat. I'm feeling sluggish and also just how my body feels. If I am getting to the point where I'm finding it harder to move or I'm finding that a lot of my clothes are not fitting in a way that I find flattering or comfortable, that also starts to tell me, Hey, maybe it's time to start dialing it back and go into a fat loss phase.

    (20:38)

    So yeah, I guess that's three main things. My body fat percentage, my appetite, and how comfortable I feel in my own body.

    Jayd (20:47):

    I think that's a really good point. Number two that I don't often think about because just like when we are in a fat loss phase, as you decrease your body mass and your maintenance level of calories decreases, then you in order to continue to burn fat, you have to adjust your calorie intake. The same is true if you're deliberately trying to build muscle, because as you build muscle, your body needs more calories. And so if you've been in an improvement phase for a really long time, your body will adjust to the number of calories you're eating, and so you can very easily plateau in the amount of muscle that you're gaining in order to get over that plateau and get your body building muscle again. You have to eat more, you have to eat more calories, you have to eat more protein.

    (21:38)

    And yeah, that's definitely an issue that I think a lot of people in my audience probably never really have run into before or yet because a lot of people are mainly focused on fat loss, but the other side of the coin is true as well. You can reach a point when you're wearing your fitness journey where you're trying to build muscle and you can't eat enough and you feel like you're force feeding yourself, that is another really good sign that's maybe time to dial it in and consider either going into a maintenance phase or cutting.

    Kris (22:15):

    And definitely I'm not the kind of person that eats a very small amount. I love food. I love high calorie food, I love fatty foods, I love fast food, and I can really tell when I'm getting to that point of, okay, I really don't need to go out today. I really just need to eat a vegetable. You can feel it. You get to that point where you're just like, my body needs something more nutritious.

    Jayd (22:46):

    And you track your calories and your macros all year round, right?

    Kris (22:52):

    No.

    Jayd (22:52):

    No. Okay, gotcha. So

    Kris (22:55):

    I'm very specific about it.

    Jayd (22:58):

    Okay.

    Kris (22:59):

    I would say that generally speaking, I have a good relationship with food and mental health wise food, and we kind of vibe

    Jayd (23:07):

    That's Good.

    Kris (23:08):

    But I find that when I am tracking my macros and my calories all year round, especially when I'm in an improvement phase trying to eat more, I get into kind of a weird head space where I have a hard time eating foods that I don't feel like are worth it. So I'll on purpose stay away from higher calorie, less satiating foods, even though I can fit them into my macros. So things like candy, chips, snacks, even protein bars, sometimes I won't eat them because I feel like it's not worth it. So usually when I'm in an improvement phase, I'm still really focused on eating a lot of protein, but I don't necessarily track my food all the time just to give myself a mental break.

    Jayd (24:05):

    That's interesting because it just kind of shows that you don't have to be tracking all the time in order to be successful. So you just keep an eye on protein basically.

    Kris (24:16):

    I mean, I don't even really track anything.

    Jayd (24:19):

    Oh,

    Kris (24:20):

    When I get into a serious improvement phase, so I'll track when I am in a fat loss phase, I'll track when I'm at maintenance and I might track for a month or two into an improvement phase, but I've kind of been doing it for so long, I can tell when I'm getting enough protein. I also might incorporate some specific strategies. I always drink protein coffee in the morning, and that's just like an easy 20 grams of protein. And I might be like, okay, I definitely want to have an extra protein shake every single day, and that's another 25, 30 grams of protein. So that's already third of what I need throughout the day, and I'm definitely going to have some sort of protein with dinner, and I'm definitely going to have some sort of protein with lunch, and I just try to make sure you have your healthy plate model. I Just try to make sure that I have that kind of larger portion of protein on my plate whenever I eat something.

    Jayd (25:21):

    Hell yeah.

    Kris (25:22):

    I never have just a plate of plain noodles or instant ramen without adding eggs and meat or tofu into it.

    Jayd (25:33):

    Yeah, I just

    Kris (25:33):

    Always trying to prioritize.

    Jayd (25:35):

    I love that you allow for yourself to eat more intuitively when you're in an improvement phase because that is something that going into a cut phase. I think another thing that people need to think about and be conscious of is that if you are going into a fat loss phase, then you do have to be more careful and mindful about what you're eating because you can't really get away with as much as when you are in an improvement phase, an improvement phase, your body is going to use whatever energy you put into it. It may store some of it as fat, but especially if you're hitting the gym as hard as you should, then most of that is going to be going to your muscles. But when it comes to fat loss, you are going to have a hard time actually burning fat unless you're keeping an eye on your caloric intake.

    Kris (26:23):

    Yes.

    Jayd (26:24):

    So I love that you give that mental break for yourself so that you don't have to track all year round because that can be pretty fatiguing for people.

    Kris (26:32):

    Yes. Yeah, definitely.

    Jayd (26:34):

    And what do you use to track your food when you are in a maintenance or a fat loss phase?

    Kris (26:41):

    So I have used MyFitnessPal in the past. Currently I'm using Macro Factor. I think there are a lot of really good apps out there, and honestly, I mean you could just use a spreadsheet and a calculator if you just want the cheapest option possible. I think macro factor is good with some caveats that it is a paid app and most people can get away with using a free app or an app that has a free option. Like MyFitnessPal. I used MyFitnessPal for many, many, many years without paying for anything and without using the barcode scanner, just searching for stuff and using stuff that I had used many times in the past, and I had absolutely no issues with it. I was just looking to try something new. So I've decided to use macro factor for now.

    Jayd (27:38):

    When you are going into a fat loss phase. So we talked about what makes you decide to go into one, but when you actually sit down to plan it, what are the things that you think about when you're planning your fat loss phase? How long will it be and how many calories you're going to eat or what your macros will look like? Could you share a little bit about that part of the planning

    Kris (28:03):

    Process? Yeah, for sure. So for me, 16 weeks is the max, and I will usually have in my mind a certain body fat percentage look that I'm aiming for or I might have a specific weight goal. I tell myself, if I get that ahead of 16 weeks, maybe I'll stop early. So anywhere from 12 to 16 weeks is usually what I allow myself. Also, because I don't want to force myself to be so restricted to lose really, really quickly. I want to give myself time to kind of ease into a little bit and kind of lose at a steady, slower sort of pace. And then when it comes to planning, well, I will say that I have a very easy lifestyle for fat loss. So I don't have children. My husband is also into fitness and we typically will be in bulking and cutting cycles at the same time, he also takes care of most of his food throughout the day.

    (29:21)

    We only have dinner together, and it's easy for me to plan out how I'm going to schedule how I eat. So I have in my mind what I'm going to do throughout the day. So I'll have my protein coffee, I'll have a protein shake, I'll have a small lunch and I'll have a bigger dinner. And when it comes to deciding how my macros are formed, I guess I always prefer to get one gram of protein per pound of body weight. So as somebody who's already on kind of the leaner side, even when I have reached peak bulk, I'm still probably on the leaner side for women. One gram per pound of body weight usually works for me either way,

    Jayd (30:13):

    Right

    Kris (30:14):

    Around one 50, A little bit more, a little bit less day to day is totally okay with me for hormonal health, especially as a woman, I try not to let my fat intake get too low. I usually go for around 40 to 50 grams of fat a day, and then I just let the rest of the calories get eaten up by carbs. And when it comes to setting a specific calorie intake goal, I will start on the conservative side and then adjust over time based on how my weight is fluctuating. So I look at the trends. I do weigh myself every day and there's ups and downs to that, but I try to look at the trends over time, and if I see that it's not really going down, then I adjust.

    Jayd (31:08):

    Do you know your maintenance calories going into this or do you calculate them using your app or something?

    Kris (31:15):

    So the macro factor app, and I'm really not trying to plug this app too much because it has some downsizes.

    Jayd (31:23):

    No, I just want you to talk about what you use and what works for you. Because even if people are using MyFitnessPal, it's a very similar process. Most of these apps kind of give you some estimates.

    Kris (31:34):

    So at the beginning of my fat loss phase, which was right around the beginning of January, my estimated total daily energy expenditure was between 18 and 1900 calories a day, which seen, I would say I was surprised. I thought that was on the low side, but I'm also very sedentary unless I'm making myself move around more. I typically get around 5,000 Steps,

    Kris (32:05):

    Which is not a lot. Even with working out just lifting weights, it's very low. So even though I have kind of a higher muscle mass, total daily energy expenditure is pretty low. And then I would probably, I actually had macro factor tell me at the beginning of this fat loss phase what my calories and macros should be. But if I were to do it without that, I would probably cut about 300 calories off of that and adjust over time.

    Jayd (32:35):

    Got it.

    Kris (32:36):

    So if I was estimated around 1800, I'd probably drop down to 16 or 15 and see how that worked. For me,

    Jayd (32:47):

    That seems so low. That's so interesting. When I think about our lifestyle, because you are, you've always been way more leaner than me, I tend to run a little bit higher body fat percentage wise, and that's kind of where my body likes homeostasis wise. I stay a little bit higher. And then from time to time, really for maybe a month out of the year, I'll be super, super lean. And usually that's not on purpose. It's usually because of stress and I'm A DHD, just kind of forgetting meals and stuff, which is not good either. But also at the same time, I have a very, very, very active lifestyle. I'm on my feet moving around all day. I work full time as a personal trainer, and I have clients all day. Sometimes my sessions will be back to back for seven to 10 hours straight. So

    Kris (33:40):

    Yeah, that's on top of your own workouts.

    Jayd (33:43):

    Yeah, exactly. That

    Kris (33:44):

    Are pretty intense with the power lifting.

    Jayd (33:47):

    So for me, and I'm shorter than you, much shorter than you. It's just so interesting. The difference in, for me, eating 1500 calories, I would just be so miserable. 1500 calories for me would be mental health issues, and I would experience all of the things that happen when you're not eating enough calories, and that would be unhealthy for me. My usual maintenance level of calories tends to be somewhere around 2105, 3, 130 to 135 pounds. Although I've been trying to gain weight. I want to get to be 1 45, but I'm still 1 35. I just stay there.

    Kris (34:30):

    I mean, is it possible to recomp in the opposite direction

    Jayd (34:35):

    Where yeah, it

    Kris (34:37):

    Is, or is it still considered the same thing as you are not really gaining a lot of fat, but you're definitely getting stronger and probably building muscle at the same time? Yeah,

    Jayd (34:48):

    I actually, I think I have been recomp for a while because recently I've been much leaner and I've been building muscle and getting stronger. Yeah, definitely. Although I would say I'm like you. When I'm in an improvement phase, which I am, I consider myself to be in a bulk. I am very, very loosey goosey with my diet. I just try to eat enough protein. For me that's at least 95 grams of protein a day. And if I get that very minimum, then I'm happy. But I know that I could totally eat a lot more and probably make a lot more progress in my bulk, but I have to balance that out with busyness. But all that to say, one person's needs for calories and macros can be very wildly different from another person's, and you can't just compare what your body needs to what another person's body needs. It's

    Kris (35:52):

    100%

    Jayd (35:53):

    Right, because we all have different lifestyles, and in general, if you are more active, if you are on your feet a lot, you're going to need to eat more. So the amount that I have to eat in order to build muscle is just, it's not sustainable for most of the time. And so I do kind of just stay at a recomp. I just stay at maintenance most of the time. Even though I say I'm in a bulk, I'm really comping because it's not feasible with the amount of activity that I get. Probably if I was a little bit more sedentary that I probably would be able to build more muscle. And so I think it's important to make that distinction because people, we can sometimes get a little bit of different lifestyles, get a bad rap, and we can assign shame or bad to different things. And it's not necessarily bad. You can be healthy with different lifestyles. You can still be a gym girly if you have a sedentary job and it's not good or it's not bad. It's just what your body needs in terms of how many calories you need to eat.

    Kris (37:05):

    And also for you, I would say that eating more carbs probably helps with your energy levels being on your feet all day. Whereas for me, and just primarily lifting when I do move around, having really high protein actually helps a lot with muscle soreness. So yeah, I find that for me personally, having a really more protein that I need on a daily basis actually really, really helps with my recovery.

    Jayd (37:37):

    Hell yeah. I think that I get away with it. I mean, I do definitely have a lot of soreness at the beginning of a new block, but in general, once my body, once I get into the second week, I'm good, I'm good to go. And I think probably I get away with it because I do have a lot of sugar. I do eat more sugar

    (37:59)

    Because I have hot chocolate with my coffee twice a day, and I don't deny myself treats a couple of days, and if I feel like having donuts, I get some donuts and I'm not eating donuts all day, but I allow myself these things and because of the effect of protein sparing because I'm so active and I give my body enough sugars for the level of activity that I have, that's probably why I'm able to get away with having a lower protein intake, especially on those A DHD days where I hyper focus, then I don't eat enough.

    Kris (38:36):

    Probably also just the way that you move around so much and work with your clients, you're probably getting some mobility work out of that that kind of helps get the soreness out of your system. Whereas I'm sitting at my desk all day eight hours a day, just like,

    Jayd (38:54):

    Right, right. And that does make it harder. So that's another thing that someone should keep in mind if they're thinking about going into a cut phase. Let's talk about soreness because we've talked about how you plan going into a cut, and then also the limits that you put on your cut, you'll cut until you get a certain body fat percentage at the most 16 weeks. Let's talk about the things that people don't often think about going into a cut phase, what they need to know and what they need to expect because it's not going to be sunshine and roses and rainbows the whole time. There's very real negative downsides to being in a calorie deficit, especially if you are in a steep calorie deficit or if you've been in a cut for a really long time. So could we talk about the things that people need to have themselves prepared for going into a cut?

    Kris (39:57):

    Definitely the biggest thing that you need to prepare yourself for is not only the physical fatigue, but the mental fatigue of being in a calorie deficit. For me, even with all of my planning and all of my strategizing, the mental fatigue still builds up over time thinking about food all the time. What am I going to eat? What's going to fit into my calories? How am I going to get my protein? Thinking about my workouts, like, oh, am I going to get injured? Do I have to be careful? Am I doing all right? Do I have to get more steps? I added steps into my routine to help facilitate fat loss that I wasn't doing prior to this. So it's like, okay, how many steps do I need to get this week? Do I need to be on the treadmill for how long do I need to be on the treadmill?

    (40:48)

    These kinds of things just build up over time, and usually the longer you're in a fat loss phase, the worse it gets because you're also not eating a lot of food. Most people when they're not eating a lot, they're really grumpy. When they're low calories, they feel hungry, they feel tired because a lot of times when you're in a fat loss phase, you don't sleep as well. And I can't remember the specific reason why that happens, but there is a specific reason why that happens. One thing that I don't think gets talked about a lot that I find mentally fatiguing is that when I'm in a fat loss phase, I lose hair much more quickly.

    (41:36)

    So it's like when I take a shower, it's like a huge clump of hair in the drain. And as a woman, hair loss is not really something that you necessarily worry about. It's not as talked about among, I would say the female community, I guess. So sometimes that can be really draining. Sometimes if you're like me and you weigh yourself every day seeing you feel really good when you see a low weigh in, but you see a high weigh in and you feel like stressed about it or you feel bad, you're like, why did I just gain two pounds overnight when it's probably water retention or food in your stomach or something like that. But yeah, the mental fatigue a lot of times is just as bad, if not worse than the actual physical fatigue of working out and being tired.

    Jayd (42:29):

    I totally agree. That's something that I have seen with my clients. It is really the hardest thing to overcome. I find most of my clients the main struggle is mental, the mental health side of things. If you are prone to mental health issues, if you are prone to mental health issues, going into a calorie deficit can bring those out, can make those more exaggerated, especially when you are in a low calorie deficit. This is not to say that you can't cut and that you can't burn fat if you have mental health issues, but I generally am going to steer someone away from a really deep calorie deficit where they're eating way, way, way low calories if they are prone to mental health problems, and

    (43:22)

    Instead, I will have them do a longer but really shallow calorie deficit, and you can maintain a calorie deficit of just a hundred calories for a pretty long time, and a hundred calories is really easy to cut out. That's a matter of using a spritz can on your pan when you cook versus dumping olive oil into the pan. That's an easy,

    Kris (43:50):

    The way that most people use olive oil when they cook, that's probably more than a hundred calories, to be

    Jayd (43:57):

    Honest. When I'm in an improvement phase, which I am, I will just dump the olive oil on the vegetables, dump it into the pan. But if I'm trying to cut back a little bit and be more conservative in my calorie intake, then I switch that over into a spritz. That is a simple, easy way to get rid of a daily 100 to even 250 calories.

    Kris (44:22):

    If you switch your milk, if you typically drink whole milk, you switch it to 2%, 1% fat free. That's a ton of calories, even if you're the kind of person, for me, I don't just sit and drink a glass of milk, but I put it in my coffee and nowadays I'm using fat-free milk and I think it's, I don't know, 40 calories for as much as I dump into it. If that was whole milk, that'd probably be like three times as much.

    Jayd (44:52):

    Exactly. And so let's just make sure that we cover everything in terms of the mental things to expect or the downsides that you need to be prepared for, because if you're not prepared for the downsides, they can make you feel like a failure. That's the more common outcome is that if you're not expecting, oh, I'm going to be low energy, I'm probably going to be having some depressive low energy, or even just I'm going to be feeling sad and irritable. If you don't know that that's likely to happen, then it can make you feel all kinds

    Kris (45:28):

    Of gateway ways. I get really irritable.

    Jayd (45:29):

    Yeah, I do too. I just get really sad and doom and gloom when I am in a calorie deficit. If it's too low, if it's too low and it is more likely that these things become issues, the lower you go. What is the lowest that you personally will go in a fat loss phase? What's your cap on how quickly you burn fat?

    Kris (45:54):

    Right now, I am at 1450 calories a day, and I probably would not go lower than this. This is actually the lowest I've ever been in terms of calorie intake for a fat loss phase. And I think that maybe the goal that I set myself since I started out using macro factor to tell me what to set my calorie and macro intake at. I think my initial goal was a little too aggressive considering that I'm already on the leaner side, but I've kind of come into it and am doing really well on the 1450 calories. I am not feeling super hungry and I'm still able to eat a lot of foods that I like, but I wouldn't go lower than this personally. But I know that I am kind of on the bigger side and there are lots of people that would need to get a little bit lower in order to be in a fat loss state.

    Jayd (47:08):

    Personally, if nothing changes about my lifestyle with where I am now, I couldn't go lower than 1500. 1500 is really bare minimum for me. And I have lived at 1500 by accident for stretches of time, and I mean you've kind of seen how that was for me. I am more likely to burn out. I do have autism and A DHD and the lower that I go in my calories or the longer that I am in a calorie deficit, I am more often going to hit burnout. And burnout is that mental fatigue that sets in. It can often feel like a depressive episode where I just don't

    (47:55)

    Have the energy or motivation to do anything. I do a lot of bed rotting and I just need a lot of time to recharge after my very active, very social job, which makes it very hard for me to put in the work on my content, which is my other job. So that's a limitation for me in going into calorie deficits because I know if I have some big projects or a product launch or I'm trying to take on new clients or I'm designing a new program, that is not a good time for me to go into a calorie deficit or a cut phase. So you kind of have to think about that as well when you're planning on one.

    Kris (48:43):

    Yeah, you have to really think about your entire lifestyle. For me, I am very busy around the holidays because of work, And Then on top of family obligations with that, whatever people want to eat, they want you to eat. So personally speaking, I would never try to cut in October, November, December, it would be dooming myself to failure. It's just not a good idea. And I also usually go on vacation in May, so I wouldn't want to try to schedule a fat loss phase for that time either. Maybe when I got back, and I have done that before where I come back from vacation and I go right into a fat loss phase. But you have to think about the cycles in your everyday life and what makes the most sense for a fat loss phase. If you know your job is super duper busy at the beginning of the year, first quarter, you probably want to avoid going into a fat loss phase during that time. It just doesn't make sense to put yourself through that if you can do it some other time.

    Jayd (49:55):

    Oh, that's such a good point because a lot of people enter into the new year and they think, oh, it's the new year, so I should start my fat loss journey. But if they are in a business or in a field of that's very, very busy during Q1,

    (50:12)

    That is a terrible time to cut. I have a client who's a CPA and we've really struggled since he came to work with me. He came to work with me right out of grad school, so he's still kind of figuring out the waters in terms of his new life routine. But when it gets, there's multiple busy seasons throughout the year for CPAs. There are different deadline periods. He does work with businesses. So we've just figured out the best solution for him was initially let's settle into a generally healthy baseline lifestyle where you're generally following a baseline of following a healthy plate model and eating enough protein and then getting in two to three workouts a week and then just try to stay active when you can. And then once he passes a deadline, then we can do a mini cut, like a short and sweet period where we just cut back while he has the mental space and capacity, and then

    Kris (51:20):

    That totally makes sense.

    Jayd (51:21):

    And then that's a very short period because with CPAs, they have, I mean, there's a lot of different deadlines throughout the year, and so he's had to kind of think about when his cutting phases will happen according to that. And I think that's also important for most people to consider. I think around the holidays is a really bad time for most people to cut, but also don't be tempted by the New Year's resolutions if it doesn't really align with your lifestyle. Figure out when is the least stressful time of your year where you'll be able to actually put the effort into it, but at the same time, you have to ask yourself if that's worth it to you, because being in a calorie deficit is going to introduce stress into a time period for you that is normally not stressful, and your overall system may actually need that time to be more loosey goosey. You have to think about that as well,

    (52:24)

    Because you could very easily, for me, I have to be very careful about going into a burnout because with autism, burnout's a pretty serious threat. I think anybody with any brain type can burnout. You don't have to be on the spectrum. But for people who are on the spectrum, autistic burnout can lead to regression, regression in skills. It can literally cause brain damage. So there's a reason why many people, even people who are high masking or who are high passing in neurotypical society, a lot of them, once they reach burnout, there's some people who never recover from it and end up having to go on disability or it starts to manifest in physical illnesses. So you have to think about that as well. And that's not all to say that you can't burn fat, but doing a 500 to 1000 calorie deficit may not really be the best choice for you. So if you do want to focus on burning fat and you're going into a phase of your life where you feel like, I can focus on this right now, I think it's probably better to stick to longer periods with a very short amount of calorie deficit, 100 to 250 calories below maintenance versus trying to do an more extreme fat loss phase, which is 500 to a thousand calories below maintenance.

    Kris (54:00):

    And I think sometimes instead of going into a steep calorie deficit, you can go into a more moderate or low calorie deficit and add in more activity. A lot of people find that more sustainable going on walks or bike or something pretty low intensity that doesn't necessarily sap your energy a ton, but it's definitely burning an amount of calories.

    Jayd (54:30):

    Yeah, really

    Kris (54:31):

    Good point. Overall, you might be in more of a calorie deficit than you think. It's just not all through food.

    Jayd (54:37):

    Right? I think that's a really good point to make and also reminds me of my CPA client because he started making a lot of gains with his fat loss journey once he started playing disc golf with his friends. He does that a couple times A week, Disc golf, and I have a lot of clients who play pickleball as well, which has the added benefit of socializing time. So it's not just exercise, but it's something that they're doing in meeting with other people, maybe doing a little bit of business networking as well, or bonding, like social bonding. So that has a net positive in a number of different ways. One, it helps to kind of get calorie, the calorie burn high, but also you're scratching that social itch and getting to your social needs as well. I love that as a strategy.

    Kris (55:25):

    When I'm in a calorie deficit, I really try to not watch something that I know will be detrimental to my mental health. So I try to avoid sad movies and sad series. I try to find comedies or something fun to watch just to help boost my mood. I know that if something triggers me into a mood, like a sad mood or a depressive mood, I am going to be stuck there longer. I just won't have the mental energy to kind of hype myself out of it. So yeah, I try it specifically to look for things that I know are going to bring me joy.

    Jayd (56:13):

    Oh my God, that's such a good point. And I think that's another thing that people need to think about and plan for when they're going into a cut is how are you managing, how are managing your life to not add extra stress to it? And I think we can get into trouble, especially in the current climate currently, if you have a habit of doom scrolling on social media,

    Kris (56:40):

    Oh my gosh,

    Jayd (56:41):

    You are going to have a really hard time mental health wise while you're also in a calorie deficit. At the same time, you are also more likely to sabotage your fat loss by doing that because into, if you get stuck into that depressive spiral, that's when you're more likely to cheat on your diet and just to lose motivation with it. So you have to, in therapy, we talk about trauma triggers, right? So you definitely want to avoid triggers for yourself that could trigger a depressive episode when you're especially vulnerable like you are when you're in a cut. But there's also a term called glimmers, which are the opposite of triggers. Glimmers are things that spark joy. They're things that give you a shot of serotonin or oxytocin, which are your feel-good hormones. And so when you are in your cut phase, you want to make sure that you're filling your life, you're conscious of filling your life with the things that give you serotonin, your glimmers. What are some of your glimmers? What are your things that give you that little boost and shot of joy to keep you going? Well,

    Kris (57:59):

    Specifically in the past 10 weeks, I've watched more comedy series, like TV shows. So I watched what we do in the Shadows, which is very funny, very silly. I also watched only murders in the building, which is kind of a little serious, but it was also a lot of funny moments.

    (58:25)

    I specifically for social media, I specifically do not engage with stuff that I know is going to be mentally difficult for me. And when I'm not in a fat loss phase, I watch a lot of food content because I love food. So I watch a lot of YouTube videos centered around food or traveling and food. But I have to stop myself from watching that kind of stuff when I'm in a fat loss phase because not only does it, it just makes me feel bad all around. I can't eat it. It makes me hungry. So I try to focus on my other hobbies. So plant stuff, planners and journals, art, stuff like that. Something that like a hobby to keep me interested but isn't going to set me back or make it difficult for me to stick with my fat loss.

    Jayd (59:21):

    Yeah, I think leaning on hobbies and adding more hobbies is a really good

    Kris (59:26):

    Thing to specifically active hobbies, stuff that you do with your hands, not just, there's nothing wrong with just chilling out and watching tv, but sometimes when you don't have something to really focus on, you start boredom eating. I'm a big boredom eater. I'm big. Get up, go look at the pantry, see what's going on in there, and then maybe get something. And it's kind of hard to stop myself from doing that if I'm just sitting around not engaged actively with something.

    Jayd (01:00:01):

    For me, this is something that we share the plants. That's definitely a special interest for me. I love and adore my house plants and my vegetable garden. For me, it's also a low stimulus type of thing because my life is really busy and I'm in front of screens a lot. And so getting in front of just taking care of my plants is something outside in the real world, not in front of a screen. There's no lights and it's just low stimulus types of things. But also, I watch a lot of YouTube as well, but my self-care YouTube is mostly, or exploration videos of my favorite video games. I love to just think about Dark Souls and Elden Ring and Alan Wake and watch video essays on what's the deeper meaning behind this. And let's see, snuggling with my dog. I snuggle with my dog so much and play with my dog so much. So little glimmers like that help me to have the mental fortitude to get through not only the stress of being in a cut, but also, I mean, that's just kind of good self-care skills to have in general for whatever. These are things that we should be doing for ourselves no matter what.

    (01:01:21)

    Another thing that people should be wary of, which we mentioned were triggers. Being in a calorie deficit is a good opportunity for you to practice good self-care skills and therapeutic skills like journaling, because you do need to practice a lot of self-awareness and develop a lot of self-awareness to be in a cut successfully because you want to be aware of things like what situations tend to trigger you, not just mental health wise and depression wise, but also what are the things that tend to trigger you into mindless snacking or going off plan. What are the things that kind of trigger you into mindless snacking?

    Kris (01:02:04):

    I'm pretty okay when it comes to the mindless snacking, but I know that I have a really hard time holding back if I go to a restaurant.

    (01:02:17)

    So I am not saying that you should always avoid restaurants when you are in a calorie deficit, but I only go to restaurants when I know very specifically exactly what I will order, how it's going to fit into my plan. Otherwise, I will order everything on the menu and eat every last bite. I just go crazy when I go to restaurants sometimes it's a big problem. So yeah, for me, I have to avoid it when it comes to snacking. I'm the kind of person that can have just a very small amount of something and be okay with that. I can have one tiny piece of chocolate and I'll be good. I got the taste of it, so it's okay to have that kind of stuff in my pantry, but restaurants are just like, yeah, it's really hard when I'm at a restaurant.

    Jayd (01:03:15):

    Yeah, I noticed for a lot of my clients, if it is in the house, they can't have it in the house. If it's in the house, they'll eat it. And especially

    Kris (01:03:23):

    My husband is like that.

    Jayd (01:03:25):

    If it's in the house, they'll eat it and they won't have any self-control when it comes, they'll eat the whole bag. I think that I'm also that way. I am that way, especially if I'm super stressed. I could just house an entire box of Cheez-Its, or

    Kris (01:03:44):

    What I try to do is I try to get small things. So instead of getting a whole bag of chips, I'll get the little bags that are meant for kids'. Lunches

    Jayd (01:03:56):

    Doesn't stop me. I'm a cookie monster. I will be like, okay, well, I'm going to grab 1, 2, 3, I want some more.

    Kris (01:04:02):

    I can do just one or the mini bags of popcorn or just the two packs of Milano cookies from Costco. That's fine for me, but my husband in anything in the pantry try to eat it unless he just doesn't like it.

    Jayd (01:04:20):

    And those are things that we just have to learn about ourselves. And sometimes you don't know until it's like, Hmm, I'm really having trouble with this behavior.

    (01:04:29)

    And That's why I think journaling is such a powerful tool for life. But also when you're in a cut, it's important to journal, if not every day, at the end of every week, reflect on what you learned about yourself that week. Did you identify triggers that you weren't aware of before? And also it gives you an opportunity to brainstorm strategies to help you navigate those triggers.

    Kris (01:04:59):

    Sometimes

    Jayd (01:04:59):

    We can't avoid them for

    Kris (01:05:00):

    Sure.

    Jayd (01:05:01):

    Sometimes you can't avoid them. The biggest trigger for people I find is it's in the house, I'm going to eat it. But also social settings. Social settings is the biggest, but I don't like

    Kris (01:05:13):

    The house.

    Jayd (01:05:14):

    Right. That's the biggest hurdle for a lot of my clients, especially on the weekends. They'll get together with their friends, they'll be drinking, they will eat whatever. Shitty food, bar

    Kris (01:05:30):

    Food,

    Jayd (01:05:30):

    Bar food. Exactly.

    Kris (01:05:32):

    Yeah. Nothing healthy at a bar.

    Jayd (01:05:34):

    Exactly. That's not really a problem that you experienced because you guys aren't really in the bar scene type of thing, right?

    Kris (01:05:42):

    Yeah, I mean, I actually just don't like alcohol. I don't like the taste of it. I don't like the way that it makes me feel. So I have no problem avoiding it, but I'm also just not very social. I am truly privileged to have the type of lifestyle that makes it much easier for me to be in a fat loss phase than most people. But yeah, I have very few social obligations. I only leave the house once a week and that's like to go grocery shopping. I don't like bars, I don't like alcohol. Yeah.

    Jayd (01:06:22):

    Yeah, same. I am not really into that kind of scene as well

    (01:06:28)

    Because I am just too busy and I'm too tired by the end of the week usually if I have free time because my job is so social and because I'm streaming and whatnot, if I have free time, I really, I'm a grandma. I just kind of want to stay home and play with my plants or just read or watch TV or something because of just I'm talked out. But what I have found for a lot of my clients who do have social lives where they go out or they have parties or they have get togethers, a couple of things that have helped them. One is eating beforehand. If you go hungry to one of these gatherings, you are more likely to just go crazy and go off your diet and go off of your plan.

    Kris (01:07:12):

    Definitely.

    Jayd (01:07:13):

    Yes. So eating ahead of time, fall, eating ahead of time. What was according to your plan. Also, the thing, like you said, looking ahead of time, if you know where you're going to be going, if it's the restaurant or something, and ahead of time what is going to be on the menu, then you can go ahead and kind of plan for what you're going to eat and what you're going to drink while you're there. A lot of my clients plan for having two drinks max, which I think is kind of a good practice anyway just for health sake, but especially when you are on a calorie, when you're in a calorie deficit, that can be very helpful with setting a limit for yourself. And then also opting for lower calorie alcoholic beverages like a spritzer, like a vodka soda, something like that, versus a beer or a really sugary mixed Drink.

    (01:08:04)

    But also I have lot of other clients who they just don't do alcohol while they're in a cut, and that's fine because it's just empty calories anyway. It doesn't really do anything for you health wise. And also alcohol does tend to interfere with fat oxidation. So your body doesn't really burn fat while there's alcohol present in your system. So if you're focused on fat loss right now, drinking alcohol is really not going to help you. So you definitely want to think about reducing while you're in a cut phase or plan to reduce, or at least set a limit on what you're drinking. And in terms of the food plan ahead or eat ahead would be the best thing to do for social interactions. That one thing that one of my clients did, I'm super proud of him. He and his wife have a nerd night that they do once a week, and it's their very special time that they hang out with their friends.

    (01:09:08)

    They play board games or DD or they watch Lord of the Rings or something like that. And this is a creative outlet for this client because he really likes to cook. He likes to joke that his fantasy is being a 1950s housewife. He really loves to cook food for people. He loves to entertain. So for him, that's kind of how he shows love. And he had a little sit down with his group to explain to them, Hey, look, I'm really trying to eat healthier, and I know that I usually go all out and I make all of this really cheesy food, and he's polish too, so a lot of

    Kris (01:09:51):

    Cheese. I love cheese

    Jayd (01:09:52):

    Sausages and that kind of stuff. And he explained to them and said, I'm going to have to change the kind of stuff that I make for us during nerd night because I need to dial it back. And his friends were like, dude, that's fine. You're the one who makes the food. Nobody's holding a gun to your head. Make whatever you need and we're happy to eat whatever you cook. So it was like for him, a mental thing where he had to, he felt social pressure to create meals that were unhealthy or not unhealthy, but treat meals. Right, tasty.

    Kris (01:10:23):

    Yeah,

    Jayd (01:10:23):

    Tasty treat meals. And so when he talked to the people, he realized, oh, they didn't have any expectation of him to make these crazy, elaborate tasty foods. They were happy to just eat whatever he makes because it's a social situation. So sometimes you talk to your friends and be like, Hey, so here's what I'm trying to do with my lifestyle, and I'm not trying to push it onto you at all. It's just for me

    (01:10:49)

    Right now, I'm trying to make these changes. Is there something, would you be interested in being a part of it? And then you might be surprised that your friends will be like, oh, hell yeah, I need to cut back too. I need to get healthy too. So then maybe instead of meeting at this brewery or this bar, why don't we meet at somebody's house, maybe get catering from a Mediterranean restaurant or something, or maybe we make Mediterranean food something healthier and we hang out. We play d and d. And maybe not. Your people may be more supportive if you also bring them into the process, and actually they may actually be grateful to be part of it with you. So it's worth talking to your social circle about what your goals are and asking them without putting pressure on them, because

    (01:11:46)

    Everybody's Allowed to have their own journey, and nobody has the right to force fat loss on anybody else. But if you ask them if they want to be a part of what you're trying to do, if they want to support you and maybe keep you accountable, they might surprise you and be like, you know what? I kind of want to do that too. Let's do it together. And now it's a thing that you're doing together, which can be really beautiful. What other cautions or common pitfalls would you also want to want people to know about before they go into a cut that we haven't talked about already?

    Kris (01:12:21):

    For me, the thing that has been the most helpful and made this specific fat loss phase, the most successful one that I've ever done, is how much time and effort I put into planning before I even started. So this might not necessarily apply to a lot of your clients because they're working with you, but for other people that are watching or listening to this podcast that are kind of on their own, try to set yourself up for success ahead of time. So for me, what that looked like was having my entire workout program for the 16 week fat loss phase already completely planned out. So I made myself two eight week blocks of five workouts a week, and I literally set up my spreadsheet for 16 weeks so I don't have to think about what I'm doing for workouts at all. I just have to pick an appropriate weight the day of what I'm feeling is going to work for me. And that was awesome. That was so helpful. It's just one thing that's not causing me mental fatigue.

    Jayd (01:13:44):

    Hell yea

    Kris (01:13:46):

    When it comes to food, I don't meal prep or anything like that, but that might be something that you think about ahead of time. If food is something that stresses you out or something that is difficult for you, come up with a strategy, maybe have a set of recipes ready to go that you can choose from that are easy and quick for you to make or consider a meal prepping service to help you out, something like that. So just planning and strategizing ahead of time before you're already in a place where you're feeling really fatigued and stressed out. That was the thing that really, really, really helped me out this time around.

    Jayd (01:14:35):

    Yeah, I totally agree. I think that for me, the biggest thing that's helped me with my bulk, because it's the bulking part that I struggle with the most, is being on a rotating meal plan where I have the same recipes that I rotate through every six weeks and sticking to that. As long as I stick to that, I'm pretty successful and I'm able to eat as much as I need. But the same can be true of following a calorie deficit plan, having the same kind of rotation of things. And you don't have to eat the same thing every day, every week too. I personally,

    Kris (01:15:06):

    For sure,

    Jayd (01:15:07):

    Yeah, I prefer to have a rotating six week meal plan where week one is these three lunch and dinner recipes. Week two, we switch over to these three recipes and it is rotating every six weeks. And I eat the same thing for breakfast more or less, and I'll switch it out here and there as I get tired of eating Greek yogurt with blueberries or something like that. But yeah, making it so that you have to think about or plan in the moment as little as possible is so important because as you get tired, the mental fatigue of the cut sets in, you're going to have a lot less mental space for doing that, and that will make you more miserable.

    Kris (01:16:03):

    Yes, definitely.

    Jayd (01:16:05):

    I think one of the things that is important to do before you head into a cut as well is kind of prepare the people that are closest to you in your life, Because That is another really important influence on how you feel throughout your cut. And also those are the people who are more likely to sabotage, maybe not even meaning to. So it's worth having a conversation with the people that are closest to you, the people that you live with, maybe your Partner

    (01:16:39)

    Or other people in your life, especially if you tend to notice that you have certain triggers, like for you or for Joey when there's certain snacks in the house, he knows I don't have, I am not able to control myself with this thing. Please don't buy this at the grocery store.

    Kris (01:17:00):

    No, he actually, so he loves Oreos,

    Jayd (01:17:04):

    Right?

    Kris (01:17:06):

    He loves Oreos, and Oreos does this thing where a lot of times they have special limited edition variance. And he told me, if they have it at the store, buy it, but don't tell me if you buy it, but if you do, buy it, hide it and don't bring it out until May. And I was like, okay, I got you.

    Jayd (01:17:31):

    Yeah, that's beautiful. That's such a great way that you guys are working together, and it's so considerate and it's such a beautiful respect of boundaries. And I think that that's a testament to the strength of your relationship because that is, if you have a relationship where there's not clearly set boundaries and there's not the established expectation that the boundaries will be respected, then you are going to struggle a lot, especially if you live with that person. And that is going to be a major hurdle for you in your diet. So you have to plan for that. You may not be able to fix that part of the relationship. You may be living with someone that you know is just not going to change and their behavior, and they're not going to be respectful of those boundaries. So you have to know the person that you're with and whether or not a conversation like that or setting boundaries that might actually work, but with the assumption that you have a healthy, respectful relationship where you respect each other's boundaries, it's worthwhile to have that conversation with each other and say, look, this is what I'm trying to do for this period of time. It would really help me out if you could

    (01:18:58)

    Avoid having candy on the couch because if it's there or having candy on the coffee table, because if it's there, I'm going to eat it and I'm not going to be mindful of it. So Could You store your snacks somewhere else? That's a conversation that one of my clients had to have with his partner. But at the same time, if you know that your partner is not going to be cooperative, then you have to plan for that. And keep in mind that at the end of the day, you and you alone are responsible for your own gains. You are responsible for your own gains. You're going to have to take on a lot more responsibility for your gains to reach your goals, and don't expect any support from this other person and just plan for that

    (01:19:49)

    plan How You're going to navigate the obstacles of their behavior in order to do what you need to do. It's not acceptable to use your person or this other person as an excuse for you not doing the thing that you need to do. If you know that you're living with an uncooperative person, then you need to just plan for that and you can plan for it. And that's something that has kind of gotten on my nerves with some clients in the past where they kind of use their spouse, I imagine as an out of like, oh, well, she doesn't want to be doing this, and if she's eating ice cream, she wants me to be eating ice cream too. And it's like, well, you need to have a conversation about your relationship if you have the type of relationship where you're not able to say, no, that's not good for my body right now, but you do what you want to do. That's a problem with the relationship, and I think there's a larger conversation that needs to happen there.

    Kris (01:20:45):

    Definitely. My husband denies Joey, even though a lot of times we are in a similar phase in our fitness journey as a male body, he typically loses weight on much higher calories than me. He typically doesn't get below 1600 and 1600 is at the very, very end of a fat loss phase. So he has a lot more room to play with when it comes to his food intake. And a lot of times if he's snacking, that's on him and that's what he can do. But I'll have to remove myself from the situation. So we might be hanging out at night and he's having his cookies, and I'll just have to focus in on what we're watching completely have him out of my line of sight. And our house setup is very weird, but if I'm in the chill area and he's at the dining room table, we can both watch something, but I can't see what he's eating. I can't smell what he's eating, and it's still something we can watch together, but it's not tempting me. So if I have to remove myself from the dinner table, that's what I have to do.

    Jayd (01:22:08):

    And it all comes down to knowing yourself and knowing your triggers, practicing self-awareness, also, being able to set boundaries for yourself, respect those boundaries, and also be able to communicate those boundaries with the people in your life if they're the type of people who respect boundaries. And if not, then you have to strategize around that and plan for their, you have to plan for them not doing, you can't control other people and nor should you try, but if you sometimes have to remove yourself from a situation, then so be it. And I think that's important to go into this knowing. And I do also have to say, with that said, going into a calorie deficit, if you are in a new relationship and you do have a partner and you communicate this to them and you set boundaries around what you need from them, and that is a really great way to see what a person's made of and whether they are the type of people that will respect boundaries if they do begin behaviors where they sabotage what you're doing. I know people who have had partners that will playfully do the things that they ask them not to do and call it a joke, like, oh, I'm just joking around. And it's like, no, I've actually told you that this isn't funny to me. I've already asked you to stop and I've told you that this is something that I need from you, and you're making light of it. That's a good sign that this is a person who doesn't respect boundaries. And I would argue A Huge red flag, huge red flag, that tells you a lot because that's a behavior pattern that's going to continue and get worse over time. So I would take note of that. If you are with somebody who is sabotaging on purpose and you've had these conversations, you've set

    Kris (01:24:11):

    These

    Jayd (01:24:12):

    Boundaries, that is a sign,

    Kris (01:24:14):

    And not just around food, but also around your workouts. For me personally, the food is not really difficult. I enjoy cooking and I enjoy eating, and I am making 1,450 calories work for me without feeling like I'm missing out on a lot of stuff. But I really struggle to work out. I actually don't really like working out, and it can be hard to get myself into the gym to do the workouts that I know I need to do to keep my energy expenditure up. So not that he was trying to make me wait for him, but I've had to tell Joey, my husband, that I need to work out by this time of day, and if it gets any later than that, I lose all motivation to work out. If it's past six o'clock, I'm ready to lay down. I had to tell them, I know that we like to work out together, but if you have to work late, I need to get my workout in earlier in the day, otherwise it's not going to happen. So that's something that we had to have a little bit of a conversation about, and it was totally fine, and he understands, and if he wants to work out after he gets home, if it's later in the day, he'll get his workout in by himself.

    Jayd (01:25:36):

    I think that that's also really important that you had that conversation. I do have some clients that are a couple, and it was a pretty big deal once they realized she took on a job that was making her schedule different from her, and they had been doing all of their workouts together for the past five years, and they reached the point where they kind of had to do some without each other, and that was a really difficult transition emotionally for them. But again, at the end of the day, there comes a point where you do have to be mindful that you are, and you alone are responsible for your own gains and your own body.

    Kris (01:26:22):

    Exactly.

    Jayd (01:26:23):

    And it's okay for you to do some things together and some things apart because there's benefits to doing things on your own that actually can strengthen the bonds between you and your other person when you both have things that you do on your own and then you come back together and you bring those things to the relationship. Going into a cut is something that can put you in a vulnerable state, but it also can be a really great opportunity for you to grow as a person and also grow in your relationships, develop more.

    Kris (01:26:57):

    Communication is really important.

    Jayd (01:26:59):

    Exactly. More communication, refine your boundaries, practice respecting each other's boundaries, practice messing up and making the repairs to the relationship, all of that.

    Kris (01:27:10):

    And also know that you're probably going to be more irritable. So you also, both probably, if you and your partner are both in a fat loss phase, you need to be kind to each other. Maybe you need to take some time to yourself. Also, if something is getting a little bit heated, cool off and then come back and address it again later after you've had some time to think about the root of the problem or the root of the issue, whatever it is,

    Jayd (01:27:40):

    Yeah. And know that those things are going to likely happen more often. It's not an excuse for shitty behavior, it's not an excuse for treating each other badly, but your patience is going to be thinner, and you are going to more often have a harder time being your best self, which you should always be trying to be your best self. But just know that when those things come up, it's okay, like you said, to take a step back, cool down, and then come back and address things. And a lot of times it really comes down to I was just really hungry. I'm really sorry that I said that.

    Kris (01:28:18):

    A lot of times before I even will bring something up, I try to ask myself, is this bothering me because it's truly an issue that needs to be addressed, or is this bothering me because I'm hungry and irritable? And honestly, truly, nine times out of 10, I'm just being irritable. And if I sat down and was 100% real with myself, it was something that wouldn't have bothered me in the slightest if I wasn't

    Jayd (01:28:50):

    Hungry. Hell. And again, that's a really great thing that you've developed through many years of doing this, practicing self-awareness and also doing the work in your relationship and with yourself To Understand yourself and what's going on with you. So I think you're doing an amazing job.

    Kris (01:29:13):

    Thank you.

    Jayd (01:29:14):

    Congratulations on getting to week 10 of your 16 week cut. You're looking amazing. Your content is amazing. I love the quality of your vlogs. Everything you put out there is just so much, it's so relaxing to watch. We were talking about off stream or off recording, whatever. We Talk about how both of us really in this phase of our life are all about cozy, cozy fitness.

    Kris (01:29:42):

    And I said that it was funny because I don't really see myself that way, but you said it. And actually other people have said that to me as well. And I always kind of see myself as, I don't know, I don't know how I see myself, but not cozy and relaxing.

    Jayd (01:29:58):

    Yeah, no, you are though

    Kris (01:30:00):

    Kind of chaotic, I guess.

    Jayd (01:30:02):

    Well, there's relaxing chaos, I suppose.

    Kris (01:30:07):

    Yeah,

    Jayd (01:30:08):

    No, I love your channel. I've always loved your vibe. And when you were streaming on Twitch, I think one of the reasons why you were one of the more popular fitness streamers is because you do have, I

    Kris (01:30:19):

    Don't know about that.

    Jayd (01:30:20):

    You were, and I think the reason is because, well, it's just the vibes. Your vibes are very cozy, but also when someone comes to your stream or to whenever your YouTube videos, you are very straightforward. I don't feel like you're interacting with a person who is putting a false persona. You are always yourself. You're always 100% yourself. Maybe you just kind of dial up a little bit. The interactivity.

    Kris (01:30:51):

    I always tell people that when I am doing something for the public eye, I try to be myself, but I try to make it entertaining because if you saw me in real life, I'm just very quiet and not really moving around that much. But that's not very interesting for YouTube or Twitch or whatever,

    Jayd (01:31:15):

    Authentic.

    Kris (01:31:15):

    So I try to be myself. Yeah, I try to be authentic, but just engaging, I guess would be the word.

    Jayd (01:31:22):

    I like it. And I think one of the reasons why you are so successful in inspiring people to work out and to eat better and start a fitness journey is because,

    Kris (01:31:35):

    Which I also don't understand, because I'm just like, I tell people I hate working out, and I think it's just I'm being on a diet

    Jayd (01:31:45):

    Because you're walking the walk and you don't make a big deal out of it. I think there should be more people like that, which is just like, this is just part, I just have to take care of myself. I'm just here to take care of myself. I'm here to, I am just going to share what works for me, don't feel any pressure to do it my way. This is just kind of what helps me. And I think that that vibe really resonates with a lot of people, myself included, because there are enough people in the fitness industry, there are enough fitness influencers who are never eat this, don't eat that, and they really,

    Kris (01:32:22):

    I hate telling people what to do. I really do. I hate being a manager. I used to work at a grocery store, and I was starting to get to the point where I was in a managerial position and I really didn't like it. I just want to be responsible for my own gains, and that's it. No one else

    Jayd (01:32:41):

    Is. Well, I think that that's why it's so cozy, because it does definitely feel like a judgment free zone. And I think that that's why it is so inspiring, because I don't have to do anything that you are talking about, but seeing how you do it and how it's not really a big deal, you just do it even though sometimes you don't want to do it. That I think lowers the bar of entry for a lot of people because you are not making such a big deal out of it. And so many fitness influencers are just really in your face. And they also participate a lot in the shame culture. And I feel,

    Kris (01:33:21):

    Oh, I hate that. I can't. I try my best. And this is something that I have specifically tried to work on over the past few years because I think it's just something that we develop over time. Being in the society that we're in, it's just not even intentionally just accidentally shaming people. And I really hate it. And I'm sure that I have done it to other people without meaning to, and it has been done to me without people meaning to do it. But yeah, I try really hard to think about what I'm saying to other people and to my audience, I guess, and not to do that thing.

    Jayd (01:34:09):

    Yeah.

    Kris (01:34:09):

    Yeah. I mean, even just, and I hate to put her on blast, but I was out with Joey and his parents a couple weeks ago, and I love his parents. We have a really good relationship. I actually worked for them for many years, but the first thing his mom said to me, I hadn't seen them for a little bit, was like, oh, you look tired. And I was like, God, Jesus. And literally that morning I was filming for YouTube and I said to the camera, wow, I think I look great. My skin looks so good. And the first thing thing she says to me is, you look tired. I was like, I think I'm just old. You're not used to seeing me old. I'm like, almost 40, bro, please.

    Jayd (01:34:57):

    She's also, she's from Hong Kong.

    Kris (01:34:58):

    Right, right.

    Jayd (01:35:00):

    And I think there's also what I've noticed with a lot of Asian moms, they do tend to make comments like that

    Kris (01:35:10):

    Because

    Jayd (01:35:11):

    They feel it's not like a shaming,

    Kris (01:35:15):

    It's just the culture.

    (01:35:18)

    But it's also something that I have trained out of my own mom. And my mom is American from rural America, and my dad is Korean, but he's also very American because he was adopted. But my mom used to say things to me, not in a mean way, in more of a concerned way, because my weight fluctuates with the bulking and the cutting, and I've kind of trained her out of making comments about my body. She'll be like, oh, you look so skinny is everything. And I'll just be like, I am on a fitness journey. This is what happens. I lose and I gain weight. So she kind of doesn't really say that stuff to me anymore, and it's pretty nice.

    Jayd (01:36:05):

    That's good. I'm glad.

    Kris (01:36:07):

    Yeah.

    Jayd (01:36:07):

    Yeah.

    Kris (01:36:08):

    Sometimes you got to clap back a little bit.

    Jayd (01:36:12):

    What makes you think it's appropriate to make comments on my body?

    Kris (01:36:15):

    That's what I'm saying.

    Jayd (01:36:17):

    Yeah. And sometimes, especially from moms, and I think there's a lot of, they're afraid on a primal level, you have to look a certain way so that you can fit into society, so that you can find a man so that you can be safe, and so that you can, you know what I mean? So you can be taken care of, which those things don't really apply anymore, but they can't help it because they're concerned. They want to make sure you're okay. They have to say something.

    Kris (01:36:42):

    Right. To give my mom credit, when I was younger, in my teenage years, I was very thin and not in an unhealthy way. I didn't have an ED and I was eating, but I was just very thin. And there were definitely times where I accidentally fainted just because I had low blood sugar or whatever. So part of it could be that, but I literally have not been that person for 20 years.

    Jayd (01:37:13):

    Right. And I'm happy that she's responded to the training.

    Kris (01:37:18):

    Yeah. Yeah.

    Jayd (01:37:20):

    Well, thank you so much for sitting down with me and talking to my audience. I really, really wanted them to hear from you some tips on cutting and things to think about while cutting, because you are really at this point for me, you are the go-to of best tips, and could you tell people where they can find you and interact with you

    Kris (01:37:47):

    To be 100% real with you? I'm basically only on YouTube and my channel is terrible. He may is spelled HIME.

    Jayd (01:37:56):

    Perfect. I'll put some text on the screen so people can go to

    Kris (01:38:00):

    It.

    Jayd (01:38:00):

    And there will be a link in the description to this video when it goes live on YouTube. And it will also be in the show notes for the podcast listeners. Same. I really have pulled back a lot of my social media, and I feel like I'm living my best life right now. I love just being on YouTube,

    Kris (01:38:18):

    Honestly. Yeah. I straight up deleted most of my other accounts, and besides YouTube, I just kind of am browsing other forms of social media and not really posting anymore.

    Jayd (01:38:32):

    It feels really nice after

    Kris (01:38:34):

    It does.

    Jayd (01:38:35):

    Being a content creator for five years or more to kind of scale back and really just focus. It's been nice.

    Kris (01:38:43):

    Yeah. I think for me, my content is better.

    Jayd (01:38:47):

    Me too.

    Kris (01:38:47):

    Because my attention is less divided.

    Jayd (01:38:49):

    Exactly. Yeah. So please give Terrible Hime a subscribe. She is posting all about her fat loss journey. She's got six more weeks to go, so go and take a look at her videos and comment and check out her other content as well on the planners and stuff. And it's a really good channel to also just leave on while you are doing stuff because it's just kind of relaxing sort of

    Kris (01:39:19):

    Content. A lot of people tell me that they put on my videos while they do their cardio.

    Jayd (01:39:23):

    Hell yeah. That's great. And

    Kris (01:39:25):

    That's what I do with Jaydigains's videos up, put them on while I'm doing my cardio.

    Jayd (01:39:30):

    Oh my God. No way. I didn't know that.

    Kris (01:39:32):

    Yeah. Oh, wow. Well, I saved them. I get the Discord notifications. I'm like, Ooh, new video. I'm going to save that for later.

    Jayd (01:39:41):

    Thank you so much. I appreciate you. Yeah, I think that's everything. Thank you. Thank you again so much. Thank you so much for watching or listening to this episode of The Coaching Corner podcast. I hope that you found this discussion to be helpful. I always love sitting down and talking to Kris because she has just such a huge amount of knowledge when it comes to fitness building muscle and burning fat. Leave a comment in the comment section below if you're watching this on YouTube, and let me know what you thought about this episode. And if you don't mind, go ahead and give this video if you found it helpful, and subscribe to my channel to always get notified whenever I drop new videos. If you're listening to this podcast, make sure to follow the show so that you get new episodes delivered right to your device. Thank you again so much. I will see you in the next episode. In the meantime, take care.

 

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