Nutrition Guide

Nutrition plays a big role in helping you transform your body – 80% to be exact.

Our 8fit Nutrition Guide will teach you everything you need to know to create wholesome, balanced and health-promoting meals at home. Each meal is designed to help you look and feel your best.

You’ll learn…

• What and how to eat to reach your goal

• How to compose a healthy plate

• What to choose

You won’t…

• Spend thousands on mysterious ‘nutritional’ products

• Be limited to a

   

• Eat dull food

• Feel hungry and miserable

We aren’t proposing a new, temporary diet. It’s a lifestyle shift to help you feel comfortable and confident in your body.

Get a personalized nutrition plan and workout plan

With the 8fit app, you’ll receive a personalized meal plan created by our in-house fitness and nutrition professionals. Whether you want to lose weight, gain muscle or improve your fitness level, each recipe in your meal plan is customized to assist you in reaching your unique wellness goal. It is our belief that getting to your goal is not about following a strict meal plan or enduring a grueling fitness plan, but rather about building confidence, learning how to make the right food choices, and incorporating new healthy, sustainable habits into your day-to-day life.

Log meals outside of your 8fit meal plan

The simple act of logging what you eat helps you become more aware of what you’re putting into your body. In fact, studies show that a food diary can double weight loss efforts.

The 8fit app makes logging meals easy. If you cook an 8fit recipe from your meal plan, tracking the meal is as simple as selecting, “Done.” You can also log a meal that wasn’t included in your daily meal plan (e.g. an unplanned snack, a meal at a restaurant, or dinner that your friend cooked). This regular act of logging a meal will make you far less likely to absentmindedly snack on cookies, candy or a bag of chips.

Your caloric needs

We don’t love counting calories, but calories do play a big role in helping us reach our goals. For example, if you consume a surplus of calories (i.e. eating more calories than you burn), you are more likely to gain weight over time. In order to reach our weight loss goals, we must create a caloric deficit by eating fewer calories than we burn.

However, it’s not all about calories in versus calories out. If you eat irregularly, consume processed foods, or go from one restrictive diet to another, your metabolism can slow down. But don’t let this get you down, the right nutrition plan and exercise plan can boost it again.

Understanding metabolism

Think of your metabolism like a fire. When you fuel the fire with a log (i.e. wholesome foods like healthy protein, carbohydrates and fat), the fire burns hot for a longer period of time. When you don’t fuel the fire enough, or you fuel it with paper or twigs (refined carbohydrates and sugar), it dies down.

The 8fit meal plan is designed to keep your fire burning.

Macronutrient basics

Let’s get back to calories. A calorie is not an entity unto itself. Calories come from the three building blocks of food: protein, fat and carbohydrates. These three important nutrients are called macronutrients, and your body needs each of them to function properly.

If you balance macronutrients the right way with the right combination of foods, your body will metabolize fat, be able to build muscle (with exercise) and feel energized for prolonged periods of time.

Here’s how we craft the perfect meal at 8fit: we start with protein and ensure that each meal has enough. This gives your muscles the nutrients they need to grow. Then, we add carbohydrates to help you feel satisfied and energized. The remainder of your meal calories come from healthy fat. Remember, eating fat will not make you fat. In fact, it can help you feel more satisfied and maintain steady blood sugar levels.

Foods to limit

Limiting the foods below will set you up for success and achieve long-term health. When you’re crafting a meal or setting up your meal plan for the week, pay special attention to this part of our nutritional guide.

• Refined carbohydrates: Refined carbs like white bread, pasta, rice, cereal, and snack foods on their own will result in high blood sugar levels and insulin peak. This spike in sugar will stop your body from burning fat and make you crave more food.

• Too much fruit: Fruit is nature’s candy, and the fructose found in it can make you feel hungrier, so aim for no more than 2-3 pieces a day. Limit dehydrated fruit, which has water removed, and avoid fruit juices, which have the fiber removed.

• Added sugar: Be mindful of sugar and all its derivatives (e.g. table sugar, honey, agave nectar, molasses, maple syrup). Enjoy them in moderation and pair them with some protein.

• Sugary beverage: Aim to cut out soda and drinks with added sugar completely, including fruit juice. Try sparkling water with a slice of lemon or lime to satisfy your need for bubbles and flavor.

• Processed oils: Avoid processed and heat-treated oils like refined corn, canola, cottonseed, safflower and sunflower oils. Also, steer clear of anything containing refined, hydrogenated and trans fats (e.g. packaged and fried foods). Your body doesn’t know how to digest these kinds of fats, plus they increase inflammation and your risk for heart disease.

• Processed and packaged foods: Manufacturers generally add salt, sugar and fat to processed and packaged foods to keep us coming back for more.

Food to enjoy

As we mentioned earlier, your customized 8fit meal plan focuses on macronutrient (protein, fat and carbohydrates) consumption. Do your best to buy organic ingredients from sustainable sources when possible.

Great whole sources of protein include:

• Fish (white fish, salmon, tuna, mackerel, trout, sardines, anchovies, tilapia, catfish, swordfish, halibut, herring)

• Shellfish (shrimps, prawns, crab, lobster, oysters, mussels)

• Poultry (chicken, turkey)

• Lean or organic meat (beef, pork, goat, lamb, veal, rabbit, deer)

• Eggs (preferably organic)

• Dairy (minimally processed cheese, cottage cheese, unsweetened yogurt and non-dairy alternatives)

• Tofu and soy products (minimally processed)

Why aren’t legumes on that list? Legumes offer lots of protein, but they are also high in carbohydrates. What’s good is that the glycemic load of legumes is rather low, meaning that blood sugar stays more constant.

Great sources of fat include:

• Fatty fish (salmon, herring, trout, mackerel, anchovies)

• Avocado

• Coconut oil and extra virgin olive oil

• Dairy and butter from organic, grass-fed animals

• Olives

• Nuts (almonds, walnuts, macadamia nuts, peanuts*)

• Seeds (pumpkin, sesame, chia, flaxseed) If you don’t like fish, consider either eating more chia seeds, walnuts, flaxseed or taking a fish oil supplement to ensure you get enough omega-3 fatty acids (which our bodies require).

Great sources of carbohydrates include:

• Whole grains (amaranth, brown and wild rice, millet, quinoa**)

• Starchy vegetables (sweet potatoes, potatoes, yams, corn)

• Legumes (lentils, beans, chickpeas)

• Fruits (apples, pears, oranges and berries)

*peanuts are technically a legume **quinoa is technically a seed

Setting yourself up for success when it comes to nutrition

Follow these tips every day to feel satisfied and energized while you work towards your wellness goal. The bottom line and 8fit philosophy is that if you balance complex carbohydrates with a protein and fat, you’ll feel satisfied for longer periods, cravings will decrease and you’ll avoid dangerous insulin spikes and crashes. To make your meal plan fun, incorporate flavors that you enjoy (i.e. herbs and spices, citrus, hot sauce, soy sauce, etc.).

If you have any questions, we’re here for you. Change starts now.