Here’s the second part of the interview I had with Erin Nielsen. Watch the video below and learn more about healthy lifestyles and eating habits to slow down the aging process.
CLICK HERE to watch the YouTube video interview.
In the above interview, you will discover:
- Best high-protein diets
- Easy food portion control trick
- Ways to stop unhealthy food cravings
- Tidbits on her new book called Toned in Ten
I hope you enjoyed the interview.
If you missed the 1st part of the interview, you can watch it here.
Take care and have a great day.
Rick Kaselj, MS
If you are unable to watch or listen to the video interview, check out the transcript below.
Proteins that you Eat
Rick: Yes, then what are some examples of proteins that you eat, or do you kind of recommendations for people to focus on?
Erin: That’s actually important and I’m glad that you mentioned that. The best protein you can eat if you can find it and you can afford it is trying to find grass-fed beef. Sometimes in your local supermarket, they’ll be much more expensive so a lot of people tend to shy away from buying them, but if you can find like a local farmer’s market or a local farm that actually sells grass-fed beef and grass-fed other types of meats, those are so much better for you because there’s so much better healthy fat ratio within the grass-fed beef and the grass-fed meats.
Same thing if you’re eating eggs, you want to try to buy eggs that are called cage-free eggs, I think because the chickens are allowed to just kind of rummage and go and they’re not stuck in a cage. So all those healthy fats with those eggs and those types of proteins will be a lot better for you.
Rick: Definitely. We have a butcher here that we go to and they have all amazing meat but they have organic turkey which is incredible. They make these amazing turkey sausages, absolutely incredible. They almost taste identical to beef sausages. I’m not a beef person so we replace a lot of our beef recipes with really good quality turkey.
Erin: That’s what you will find in those local farmer’s markets. It’s so great because it’s not having to travel, it’s all fresh, so yummy. And I think a lot of people shy away from it because in the supermarket it is more expensive, quite a bit. So if you can find those markets and those farms it’s not much more at all. It’s really worth it.
Portion Control
Rick: What do you do for portion control?
Erin: My portion control, my rule of thumb with that is depending on your size this works really well. So I tend to do it for myself because I try to eat 4 to 6 ounces of meat or protein at a meal. So for me, that’s about the size of my fist. It’s a pretty good rule of thumb for everyone because obviously someone like you, you’re going to have a bigger hand than I am. So your fist is bigger so you’ll have bigger portion control. You want to put a fist, the thickness of it.
So if it’s a little thinner piece of meat, you can go bigger but if it’s thick it’s just about the size of your fist. That works really well. For veggies, I say go for it. I mean there’s no portion control for veggies. To me, what I try to portion control the most is my amount of protein because you don’t want to have too much protein, you don’t want to have too little. That seems to work really well for me.
If you’re an ounce type of person, a lot of people do between 4 to 6 ounces, sometimes 8 if you’re like lifting heavy weights every day. That seems to work really well. For my dark chocolate, I usually take about two little squares off the bar each day. (laughing)
Rick: I know with me, I have these white bowls, they’re one cup in size and those were my portion control things. We all know this. I mean, if you take a bag of chips you’re going to eat the whole bag of chips. If it’s in front of you, on your lap you’re just going to eat until you get to the bottom of them.
But if you take a little bowl of whatever it might be you’re going to eat that little bowl and usually you’re going to feel satisfied after the little bowl as opposed to eating the whole thing. And it could be eating the whole turkey or it could be a whole bag of chips so I find a little bowl that I know is one cup in size, that’s my little portion thing
Erin: Yes, I do that because one of my other dark chocolate little treats is dark chocolate almonds. So I have, like what you’re talking about. It’s probably even smaller. I just put some little almonds in there and I say, “Okay, that’s my serving size”. That’s another trick.
Rick: Yes. I mean, definitely you eat what’s in front of you. So there are all these tricks. It’s kind of like this balancing act between giving yourself permission, not totally sacrificing everything, and not eating anything that’s fun and enjoyable. But you’re not overindulging or pretending that you’re every day at home in a buffet, you’re eating as much as you can until you explode. You’re looking at something in the middle. Give yourself permission but really focus on doing better every single day.
Erin: I think that’s the key. I think people put a lot of pressure on themselves if they’re not perfect. And then they just totally fall off the wagon and they don’t want to do it anymore. It’s too hard, you know? So give yourself. If you fall off the wagon and you do eat a bag of chips one night because you’re exhausted or you had a bad day, start a new day, just start over. It’s all that you get used to as you practice it and if you don’t give up each time you fall off the wagon, it gets easier and easier.
Rick: Definitely you just rub it out and start over if you end up having a bad day or a bad week with your workouts or exercises. You just got to start over and get back, get back fresh on whatever the next day is.
Erin: Exactly. That’s the key. None of us are perfect and you don’t have to be.
Dealing with Your Comfort Food
Rick: I remember, I was training this lady and she saw me eating a bag of chips and she was horrified. She had this perception that I was this pinnacle of health. And she saw me eating and thought all I ate was lettuce and carrots, but I was eating this bag of chips.
Her perspective of me changed but it also shows the reality that we’re all not perfect and we end up dealing with things in different ways. If you’re stressed or had a horrible day or going through a rough period of time. You grab foods that are comfort foods like potato chips.
Erin: Yes, and I like what you said about people, they think healthy food is carrots and salad. I got an email from one of my clients the other day saying this is what I’m eating, why am I not losing weight? So I give her the whole spiel I just gave you about. You got to have more fat in your diet, you got to have more protein, you got to have those things that satiate you so you don’t have those cravings as much.
Not that you won’t ever have them because like you said we all need some comfort food sometimes. But when you satiate your body in the right way, you feed it with real food, and it responds in a really beautiful way. You feel healthy and you feel satisfied and most of the time your cravings go away. Unless it’s something that happened. And you just have a really bad day or you’re having a day you can’t get the right nutrients, which happens sometimes if you’re on the road or traveling. So we don’t have to eat like rabbits. (laughing)
Rick: Carrots are great but in moderation. Having my little white bowl full of carrots it’s not a meal, it’s definitely not a meal. You got to mix it with some protein or some good fat like coconut oil. And then we’re starting to get a little bit better.
Erin: Oh, yes. Then you’re on the right track.
Final Thought
Rick: Okay. I mean, I don’t have any more questions for you but is there a question that I didn’t ask you? Or anything that you want to leave people with?
Erin: I think the biggest thing I usually like to talk about is, one, particularly my program with the 10 minutes. I think I talked about there being an area of time between 10 and 30 minutes that is healthy. And what’s worked so well for me and what’s it’s such a thing that I am passionate about is that I finally got to the point where I would stop working out. Because I felt guilty cause I didn’t work out. So the 10 minutes was super freeing for me. Because there are still days I get up in the morning because I usually do it in the morning and I don’t want to do it. (laughing)
Rick: Yes.
Erin: I laugh those off and I’m like tired and I don’t want to do it. But then I’m like, “It’s 10 minutes. Get your body out of bed. Go do it”. And those 10 minutes are over so fast and it’s so much less of a burden to be thinking about it. So whether it’s going to be 10 minutes for you or 30 minutes for you. It can make such a difference in your life and the way you feel. I think if you keep it shorter you’re just much more able to stick with it. Other than that, I’d like to say too, is a lot of my clients and myself because I’m over forty now, unfortunately.
Rick: No. I’m over forty as well and I don’t want the problems I had in my thirties or the problems I had in my twenties. I’m quite happy.
Erin: We’re very wise now, right?
Rick: Yes. It’s much more calming in the forties, I think
Erin: What I like to say is now that I’m in my forties too, a lot of people feel like your life ends at forty and you’re going to be old and you’re going to be in too much pain all the time. Like you’re saying we’re wiser and better now. We can enjoy life even better now especially if we take the right steps to take care of our bodies. And don’t harm it with the long cardio that we’re talking about. So just have fun and start living life, eat lots of good yummy food that’s good for you and dark chocolate. (laughing)
Rick: Every day try to do a little bit better. If you have a little bowl of potato chips, the world is not going to end.
Erin: Exactly.
Rick: You’ll have potato chips every other day. (laughing) And then once a week and then once a month.
Erin: Little baby steps.
Rick: Exactly! Now Erin, where can people get more information about you?
Erin: Yes. So, check out my website www.tonedintenfitness.com. Got lots of good information on there. I also have a blog that is just the same as that with just a slash blog after the same address. So check it out! I think you’ll love it.
Rick: Awesome! So thank you very much, Erin, for your time.
Erin: Thank you! It was a pleasure.
For your guide to the best foods to heal your body, check out The Best Foods that Rapidly Slim & Heal in 7 Days, here!
