Daenerys Stormborn
Goal
Garner as much knowledge as possible with regards to fueling my body for my lifestyle and performance
Testimonial
I started WAG so I could gain facts and knowledge about how best to feed myself. I wanted to learn about Flexible dieting and decided the best way for me to do so was to experiment with different scenarios while having a guided coach. My hope was that I would be able to independently apply my newfound knowledge to my real life after leaving WAG. My experience with WAG and my coach, Francesco, far exceeded this expectation.
Before I started WAG I was in a pretty restrictive mindset, eating around 1300-1500 calories/day and about 110 g or protein, 150 grams of carbs and 30 grams of fat. My coach, started me with 120 g protein, 50 grams of fat and a what I thought was a whopping 205 carbs. The protein and fat never changed, but he gradually increased my carbs to 310 grams resulting in 2100 calories / day over the course of 16 weeks.
When you see my pictures, my appearance may seem relatively the same at beginning and end, but that is very deceiving when you consider the difference in the quantity of food, macro proportions and how significantly my balance of energy has improved!
The following is a summary of my experience:
Weeks1 -2: C205, P120, F50 - Learning not to fear the 215 g of carbs and eating enough to actually hit the numbers.
Weeks 3-4: C215 Learning HOW to hit my macros (meal timing, frequency, size of meals) in a manner that works for my body and lifestyle.
Weeks 5-7: C245 Increase variety of foods, eat something other than fruits and veggies for carb sources. Try things that I would have previously restricted as “not healthy”.
Weeks 6-8: C245 When life hits you with something unexpected and stressful, just maintaining your nutrition status quo is a win. I asked my coach for reading suggestions which led me to ask many more questions and to reading more books.
Weeks 9-11: C 270 Cooking for a large Family Thanksgiving dinner and managing macros were not as hard as I expected. I experiment with eating more caloric dense meals than my normal volumetric salads and no snacking to better understand portions. This also alleviates my “macro scarcity” fear that I’m going to be hungry later if I eat too much early in the day”.
Weeks 12-14: C285 Looking at progress photos when I get frustrated by the number on the scale is a reminder that the scale is “1 second of 1 day” and just data to consider. I appreciate the knowledge that I gained through the Thanksgiving experiment because now I have much more confidence going into the Christmas/New Year season.
Weeks 15-16: C310 I can’t look at a plate without running the macro numbers in my head. I can’t unknow what I have learned. Thank goodness because I went to the most unfriendly macro place in the U.S. – Disneyworld, for 5 days and used the “eat lean over the course of the day so you can indulge a bit later” tools I had learned from my coach and came home in good shape.
Francesco led me through this process with facts, data and an uncanny ability to manage my hesitations and progress. Ask your coach a lot of questions about the why and how of their approach. Ask for reading suggestions, go back with more questions. The more you learn to understand the process, the better you will become at managing the changes that come after you jump off the WAG train.