Lose Weight Without Tracking - Ep 2

 In this episode of Kraken Power Podcast, Joskoko and Brandon tackle the popular question: how do you lose fat without tracking calories? They share personal experiences and three key strategies that can help you shed pounds without the hassle. If you're tired of tracking every meal but still want results, tune in to hear their insights! 

Transcript

0:00

All right, welcome back to the Kraken Power podcast. We're your hosts, Yoshko and Brandon. And in this episode, we're gonna be talking about fat loss without tracking your calories. And I know that everybody's interested in how to do that because nobody wants to track, apparently. Roll the intro. Welcome back to the Frackin Power podcast. Everybody wants to be a bodybuilder, but no one wants to track the macros. Yeah, but. So, in this episode, we're going to be talking about fat loss without tracking. So many of our clients come to the gym, and they hear the words, like, tracking your macros, tracking your calories, and they just, like, just, like, crumble. They're like, I don't want to do this. It just seems way too much. I don't think it's like that. I don't think it takes that much effort. I think it can be a lot of effort. But if you figure out how to do it properly, you can make it as easy as possible. Like, it can be super easy. Yeah, it can be easy. And I've been doing it consistently for about, like, three years, but. But I remember the very first day that you were like, brendan, you're going to be coaching this. You should track your macros. And I was like, oh, man, this is going to be such a huge life shift for me. I was like, oh, my. I don't even know how I'm going to do this. And then once I started doing it, I was like, oh, okay, it's not too bad, but I can understand not everyone being, like, neurotic as me and doing it every day. And even I get fatigued of it. So that's why we have to have other ways of tracking. Without weighing everything, how do you still get your results without having to track your macros? So, basically, I've been tracking my macros for, like, seven years, and I haven't tracked my calories and macros for the last, like, three to four months. And I have been seeing really good results not tracking my macros. And the thing is, though, I've built all of this background knowledge because I've tracked my macros for that long. But now that I've not been tracking, I've realized there's so much to nutrition other than just, like, putting numbers into an app. And I want to share some of the insights that I've had and how I've been managing my weight while not tracking and some of the mistakes that I made in the past, but basically, the main things or there's three things that we're going to talk about in this podcast episode and basic that will help you manage your weight or lose weight while not tracking. Okay, so the first one is going to be, I know people are going to be like, oh my God, not this again from this stupid podcast. But like, like stop eating before three to 4 hours before bed so that your sleep can improve, you know? Yeah. Like in our nutrition program at Crackton, like one of the big things that we always kind of harp on. And then in our old podcast, we, I think we talk about sleep. Every podcast, pretty much every single podcast. Yeah, yeah, every podcast. Cuz it's just that important. Yeah. And even like everyone thinks that like, oh, I just need to eat like less cake. Calories and stuff like that. But I'm like, if you focus on your sleep, you're inherently gonna do a lot of those things, and you're not gonna eat as many calories. Just go to bed. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So the sleep is, like, one of the key pieces that anybody can fix, and nobody has perfect sleep out there. And even I have my oura ring on. And I try my best, like, I wake up in the morning at, like 445 to, like,

05: 3:30

00 every single day, and I, like, try to be as diligent as I can going to bed at the perfect time, and I still don't have, like, the greatest stats all the time. Like, I have to be super good with my sleep. And there's people out there who, like, think that they're having a good sleep because they're like, oh, I sleep, like, am.

I go to bed at 10: 3:45

00 and I wake up at six, and yet they're. If they put on aura ring, their stats are, like, absolute trash. Yeah. I was absolutely shocked when I first got my oura ring and I started tracking my sleep. I always say, like, people are like, well, how do you like the oura ring? I'm like, oh, it changed my life. Yeah. Because I had such a big perspective shift, so. But by the way, if you don't know what an oura ring is, it's basically just a, like, fitness tracker. It's a sleep tracker that you wear as on your ring. This ring? Yeah. So. But, yeah, it is. It is a shock. And a lot of people, like, they think that, oh, you know, it's just like a snack at night. What's the big deal? Or, like it's just one beer or one drink or, you know, like, I only wake up to go to the washroom once or twice per night or whatever. Something like that. Right. But it makes a huge difference. And you can see it on your stats, and then once you see it on the stats, you're like, okay, I can, like, I can fix this, first of all. And then when I do fix it, I feel way better. Yeah. But so this specific thing, though, is just not eating three to 4 hours before bedt. So let's say if you're going to

bed at 10: 4:51

00 all meals should be cut off between, like,

five to 06: 4:55

00 p.m. like, you should not be snacking after that. Even a little snack. Just, like, cut off all your meals after that. And then the thing is, you will limit the amount of calories that you're eating in a day. Right. Because you're going to start your fast for overnight a little bit earlier. But also at the same time, you're going to be improving your sleep, which is going to improve your hunger hormones. And if you improve your hunger hormones, then you're gonna feel full. And you're also not gonna feel as hungry throughout the day. And let's be real, like, most people are going to have a lot of unnecessary calories and snacks and stuff closer to that bedtime. You're like, oh, I'm just gonna wind down and watch tv. And then what is usually available is chips or ice cream. Yeah, those are just the most typical examples, but it's always those very calorically dense, processed stuff that usually you kind of crave right before bed. And it's just, it's purely habitual. Yeah, it is purely habitual because, like, you're never craving anything that's like nutrient dense, ever. So that means you're not really that hungry. Right. Like, if you didn't have that in your house, you'd probably just go to bed. Yeah, no one's at like 08:00 p.m. like, you know what? I really want to just like, have a steak with this movie. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's always. Just, like, crap food every single time. So it's such an easy way to lose weight. Just cut off all food three to 4 hours before bed and then get a great sleep, and then cut out a bunch of calories. You don't even need an oura ring to see this. Like, you will start to see it in your physique. You'll start to see it on the scale. But speaking of Oura ring, though, the oura ring, like, whenever I have a late night meal, like, let's say if I had, like, a dinner that I had to go to or something, and then I wake up, my stats are all, like, crashed. It's a. Did you eat too late last night? It's like, fuck you. Yeah. Do you think there's a sleep championship out there where people are just trying to get the best score on aura? Oh, yeah. There's Reddit guys who do that. Yeah. But do you think there's an official thing? No. Cause people have gotten 100. You know who got. Yeah. Kim Kardashian. Kim Kardashian. He got 100. Sleep score. Yeah. Wow. Readiness. Sleep. And I think activity, that might be. The only thing that I'm kind of envious of. Kim Kardashian. What, you don't like those glutes? Yeah. Yeah. All right. I don't know how I'd look with those kind of hips. Yeah, but, yeah. So she actually got 100. She's, like, on Reddit. Yeah. Thats the only reason I know. You sure she didn't swear? I'm not following her or anything. Yeah. Did she hire someone else to do it for her? I think that when you're just famous like that and you just, like, automatically just care about your health. Cause you wanna, like, make more money and be healthier. And she's got just, like, the nicest bed. Yeah, probably. Yeah. Just egyptian cotton everywhere. Yeah. So much down. So three to 4 hours before bed, cut off all food. Super easy. And all you have to do, all you have to do is just be, like, super strict about it. Just say, like, I don't eat past 06:00 done. And it's gonna be hard in the first few days. Yeah, it will. Yeah, for sure. Especially if you're, like, habitually, like, eating something, like I said, while you're doing some kind of wind down activity. But it does get easier. Yeah, it will get easier a week or two, and then you're gonna forget about it. Yeah. So number two is walking 30 to 60 minutes per day, and this is, like, a dedicated walk that you're going on for exercise. 30 to 60 minutes per day. So this isn't like, you, like, walking from your car to the grocery store, and that counts as 1 minute, and then, like, I walk from the office to the. To the starbucks, and that counts as two minutes. No, no, I'm talking about, like, you are going on a walk. And the reason why is because you burn significantly more calories. And also, it puts you in the mindset of, like, I am trying to be healthy or I am trying to be I am trying to lose weight. Right. So that's another super easy thing to add in. And we call it a dedicated walk. Dedicated walks. Yes. You're really good at this. So I do a 30 to 60 minutes walk every single day. With your family? No, not with my family. I used to do with my family, but then home. The thing is. Now what? Just leave them home? Just leave them at home. Yeah. So before the thing, I used to do them all the time with my family, but that was back when the kids are in strollers. But the kids aren't in strollers anymore. One of them is, because one of them is only two months old, but the other two are walking, and they're, like, so slow. And also, like, they're they're three, so they're not, they're like super distracted. Like they wouldn't be able to just like walk like that. If we go on a walk somewhere, they're like picking up rocks and stuff. That's part of walking. Yeah. Except I need to get this done, you know? Come on, kids. So rock them. Just strap. Yeah, that's true. I could. Well, actually, they're getting. Not even at this age. No, they'd get bored, but. So, yeah, I go on a dedicated walk and I usually do two in a day. So I'll wake up or after, like around like nine or ten. So I wake up at like 445 05:00 and around nine or ten I'll do a walk like 30 to 45 minutes. And then at nighttime I'll do another 30 to 45 minutes. And I don't do it for weight loss. I don't do it well. I mean, I do, yes. And then I do do it for like health and stuff, of course. But the main thing is that it just puts my mind at ease. You know, it's a time where it's not anything strenuous to the point where I'm like super gassed and it like makes me feel good after. And it just puts my mindset into that place where it's like you know, I'm getting stuff done, you know? Wasn't that one of the things with like a lot of the great thinkers in our time? There's just like just something about ambulating and like thinking like very closely intertwined. Yeah, totally. I believe that. Yeah. I don't even know if it's necessarily about you walking. Cause like, sometimes even when I'm driving, like, I go into that space. So it's just traveling. I think it's traveling. Yeah. It's like having to go from one place to another. Yeah, but now that you think about it. So like when you're on a treadmill, you're definitely not thinking like that. No, I'm thinking like, when the hell can I get off? Maybe we should just have those ones where it has like trees going by you. Yeah, yeah. It should be like a 40 experience. Yeah, totally. So yeah, basically you know, calorie burn stress reduction. That's the goal of the, of the walk. And then also, you know, just being in nature and just, it's so awesome. Like, I love walking. And then on top of that just making sure that you target like at least 8000 steps minimum. So 8000. Plus you can go up as high as you want. I'm sure there's some diminishing returns once you're, like, pushing, like, 20 every single day. But a dedicated walk, 8000 steps every single day. And hit go for a walk. Even if you're over 8000 steps, you know, if it's gonna push you over 8000 steps. Cause you had, like, a day where you were, like, going out a lot and, like, grocery store and stuff like that, and you. You reach the end of the day and you have, like, 8000. It's not like, yeah, I don't have to go for a walk. It's like, no, I go for a walk every day because it's good for me. You know, it's a dedicated walk that you're going on. Right. It's like putting time aside for your exercise or putting time aside to brush your teeth. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And the best time to walk is also just after you eat. Yep. I'm gonna bring your blood sugar down. Yeah. Regulate Yep. So that's that's number two. And then number three is focus on protein, of course, with hand measurements. So, like I said, I'm not tracking. My macros anymore. I'm not using pal or anything with a scale. Yes. But I still kind of have an idea of how much I'm eating by using my hand as a measurement tool. So, for example I eat two palms of protein per meal. So palm is, like, this part. I don't even know how to explain it. Like, the palm is, like, without the fingers and people that are listening. Yeah. And without the finger. Okay. And so I have one of those. Sorry. Two of those per meal, three times per day. And that's going to push me to around, like, 130 to 180 grams of protein, depending on the type of protein that I eat. And that is more than enough for a person my size. So I weigh 175 pounds. 170 pounds. And that's more than enough for somebody my size. And you know, maybe it's not perfect that I'm having 170 grams every single day, but some days I have 180, some days I have 130, some days 140, and then it ends up being probably around, like, 150 to 160 ish, on average. Yeah. You're averaging, like, 0.8 grams to one pound gram per body weight. Yeah. But does it need to be exact, like, every day as much as, like, everyone wants to be exact, like, 185 grams of protein every single day. It's like there's so many variances in your life just from day to day, how much activity you do, how much stress level you have throughout the day. It's like, yes, we want to keep those measurements consistent, but also, it's like, if you're off by, like, ten to 20, even 30 grams every other day, it's not going to make that much of a difference. No, no. For most people that are just trying to just get fit, healthy, lean build some muscle, it doesn't matter at. All as long as you focus on it, though. One thing you do have to do is you intentionally have to add protein into your diet. It's not like you're accidentally stumble upon, like, whoa, you. 185 grams. Unless you're going to, like, I don't know, like, all you can eat or something. Right. The problem with a lot of people, when they first join with us anyway, is that they're eating, like, 60 grams of protein per day, which is, like, barely enough for anybody. And what we do is we, like, slowly increase the amount of protein that you're having over time. So that's. I. That's what your goal should be, is not just, like, trying to eat 185, but just like, increasing it slowly over time. If you're having a hard time with protein anyway. So But, yeah, use your hand measurement tools. Like you have. Your hand is on you at all times, and you could just easily decide how much protein to eat. But I also use it for all of my macronutrients, so I'll use it, like, for my carbohydrates. So I do a cup, two cups, cup tans, two to three cup hands of carbohydrates. So this could be like, something like, let's say, like, I don't know, round potatoes. Yeah, like, let's say, like, I don't know, that many potatoes. Like, two or three of them. You know, I'm not super strict. Sometimes I'll have four, sometimes I'll have two, sometimes I'll have three. It's not a big deal to me, but it's just a you. It's just a way that I. That I can control how much I'm eating and making sure that I'm not going overboard, and then I just make sure that I'm having my one plate, and then I'm not going to go back to the kitchen and have more. And that's how I regulate my Weight is just using my hand. Oh, and then also, of course two fistfuls of veggies. I don't personally eat any veggies because they suck, but, like, two fistfuls of veggies and then two thumbs of fat. So you can have, like, two to three or whatever, sometimes four, but just trying to average around, like, whatever. Anyway, you have to decide what works for you. But you can use your hand as a measurement tool. And I think, like, with each one of these servings, like, let's say if you were to have one cupped hand of carbohydrates, one palm of protein. Protein, and two thumbs of fat, each one is probably about, like, let's say like, the cupped hand, and the, and the palm of protein is probably somewhere around, 25 to 40 grams of protein. Okay. And then the for the carbs, it's probably about, like, 25 to 30 grams, 40 grams ish of carbs. And the thumbs is probably around, like, 10 grams per thumb. So you could just, like, look at it like that. Like, how many of these, like, hand measurements do I need? You know, but there's also tools online that you can find this stuff out, like precisionnutrition.com. i don't know if it's precision nutrition.com, but search, like precision nutrition hand portion guide. They do a really good one. They'll print one out exactly for your measurements. And just follow that. And you don't really have to track anymore. Right. But you're tracking. But you're not really tracking. Yeah, it's just like, a much more, like, I wouldn't say less disciplined, because people think that, like, they're not following something if they go to hand portions. It's just, just not as intense. Right. Yeah. And you're gonna get great results doing it as well. Yeah. And you just keep every single meal consistent. You say, like, I eat three meals per day, which is gonna be this many, like, fingers or whatever, right? Yeah Palms, fists, or whatever. Yeah. And so then that's how you measure it. And super easy. And when you're talking about, like, focusing on protein specifically, like, which kinds of proteins are you specifically focusing? So focus on meat. Like, that should be your focus. Like, that's where you're gonna get the most protein from. But of course, there's protein in, like, rice and potatoes and all that other stuff that you eat, but the focus should be on meat, and that's gonna give you the most bang for your buck, for sure. So, like, that you know, chicken breast, steak, lamb, chicken thighs, fish. Those are, those are the protein sources that you're going to be targeting. And then there's going to be some, for example, if you have like a rib eye that's going to take your thumbs away, you know, like, because it's so high in fat. But this is something that you should be experiencing, experimenting with yourself. And this is more of like an intuitive approach to eating as well, which is the main thing that you're learning when you're trying to go from tracking your calories so diligently every single day. Two, being, trying to. Intuitively, you're basically forgetting all of the numbers. You're trying to forget about all the numbers and stuff and just being like, do I feel full right now? And ever since I started doing that, I've becoming more in tune with my body and realizing that those hunger cues that I used to have were just an illusion. It's like if I have a full meal I might still be feeling hungry for about ten, maybe even like 20 minutes after, but then it just literally goes away. So that means it was an illusion. I'm not actually hungry. So you're saying that you're becoming much more, like, present and in tune with what your body and your relationship with food? Exactly, yeah. And then when I noticed that, like, because I'm not focusing on my calories so much and putting it into an app that I'm, like, eating at specific times in the day instead of just like, being like, oh, I need to hit my macros. Like, it's like, like, I plan, like, oh, yeah, look, for lunch I'm gonna have like, 1000 calories and 2000 calories. It's more just like, oh, yeah, I wake up in the morning, I'm hungry, and then, like,

11: 19:07

00, I'm hungry again. And I'm like, it's time to eat. And then, like, 04:00, I'm hungry again, you know? Yeah. And then if I get hungry outside of those windows, either I don't eat and I just wait for the next meal and have a slightly bigger meal because I'm assuming that I'm going to be more hungry. If I'm not more hungry, then I just have the same size meal. Or if I'm, like, at home or, like, it's readily available, then I'll have fruit and I'll just be able to fill those gaps with, like, some snacks, you know? But yeah, it is, like, just a lot of listening to your body. Whereas before, it was just looking at numbers all the time. I would still say, like, looking at the numbers is valuable, but your end goal should be to shift to something like this. Most of my clients are tracking their calories, so. But it's it's also a tool for me to see, like, how much this person's eating and how they're reacting to it. But if somebody says, like, I don't want to track my calories anymore, it's like, I have a solution for you, you know? Like, you don't have to do that, right? Yeah. Yeah. You're not, like, completely falling off the bandwagon. It's like you're just doing something else to help you still stay on that path. But it's also like, you know what? Calorie tracking helps you so much with just recognizing, like, what's good and what's bad? Well, I don't want to say bad, but, like, let's say I mean, yeah, bad. Yeah. What's worth it and what's not. What's worth it and what's not? Exactly. It's like, oh, yeah, like that. Those cheetos, like, it's not worth it. Like, they're okay, but, like, I like how they taste, but, like, I don't. I like how my physique looks better, you know? So that's There are positives, benefits to both, but I think over time, well if you. If you've gone to the point where you've are experienced enough with your nutrition when it comes to, like, macro tracking and stuff, then you should try to do it a more intuitive way where you don't have to track because it does take up a lot of your mental bandwidth and it does take up a lot of time as well. As much as we say it doesn't like, it totally does. So yeah, that's basically what we wanted to sum up in this episode. So, in conclusion, stop eating three to 4 hours before bed so you can improve your sleep and also limit the amount of calories that you're eating. And then from there, number two is walk 30 to 60 minutes per day, every single day as a dedicated walk outside of the steps that you're currently doing. And also focus on protein and hand measurements. Yeah that's pretty much it for this podcast episode. And I guess we'll see you in the next one. See ya. How long is that?