Ian Gibbs, M.S.

07/11/2025

🧘‍♀️ Eating is more than chewing, it's a full sensory experience. Enter: Mindful Eating. 🍽️

👀 Watch your food, chew slowly, and savor every bite.

🛑 Put the phone down and eat with intention.

😌 Mindful eating helps you avoid overeating, improves digestion, and reconnects you with food.

🍓 Try this at your next meal: Put down your fork between bites. Chew more than you think you should. Describe your food in your head like a food critic.

🚫 No guilt, no rush, just real nourishment, one bite at a time.

07/07/2025

🔍 Confused by nutrition labels? You’re not alone!

Top things to look for:
✅ Serving Size
✅ Added Sugars
✅ Fiber & Protein Content

📦 Manufacturers love sneaky tactics: small fonts, confusing claims ('natural', 'low-fat'), and serving sizes that don’t match reality. Your secret weapon? The ingredients list and nutrient breakdown.

🥴 If sugar is in the top 3 ingredients (or hiding as 5 different names), consider a better option.
🧠 Knowledge is power. And in this case, t’s the power to shop smarter and feel better.

Reading labels = smarter food choices!

06/30/2025

🚫 Skip the fad diets and focus on making sustainable, healthy nutritional choices. 🍎

✅ Tip: Start by adding more whole foods like fruits, veggies, lean proteins, and whole grains to your plate.

💡 Small, consistent changes lead to long-term results.

🥗 Fad diets promise quick wins, but they often fail to teach you how to eat for real life. Eating should be joyful, not stressful.

Try the 80/20 rule: eat nutrient-rich foods most of the time, and allow room for treats so nothing ever feels “off-limits.”

👉 Let’s build habits that nourish and last!

06/30/2025

99.9% of us have tried dieting at least once.

Maybe you'll even stuck with it for a week or two.

But then life happens and everything becomes unraveled.

So what do you do???

06/27/2025

Stop starving yourself just to see results! Eating less is NOT the only way to lose weight!!

Volume Eating is a smart and sustainable approach where you eat more food but from the right sources. Think high volume, low-calorie options like leafy greens, fresh veggies, lean proteins, and fruits that keep you fuller longer without the calorie overload.

Now look at the image:

On one plate, you have a large, colorful salad filled with leafy greens, crunchy veggies, and lean grilled chicken. On the other, just a few pieces of fried food.
Guess what? The salad has fewer calories but fills you up way more and it’s packed with fiber, nutrients, and protein.

This is a perfect example of how you can eat more food and still support your weight loss or wellness goals.

🙌 You don’t have to be hungry to be healthy.
🥦 You don’t have to skip meals or give up flavor.
❤️ You don’t have to deprive yourself to make progress.

You don't need to shrink your portions! Just consider changing the types of food on your plate!!

06/25/2025

Ever wonder why you're not seeing results even though you're eating “healthy”? 🤔

Caloric Expenditure, aka the total number of calories your body burns each day. Think of it like your body's energy bill. You pay for it in calories, not cash.

🔍 So, what makes up your total caloric burn? It’s not just your workouts.....

✅ BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate): Calories you burn just to stay alive. This involves breathing, circulating blood, etc.

✅ TEF (Thermic Effect of Food): The calories your body uses just to digest your food.

✅ EAT (Exercise Activity Thermogenesis): The calories burned through workouts.

✅ NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis): Everyday movement from fidgeting, walking, chores, dancing in your kitchen 🎶

🧮 Want to Calculate Your Caloric Burn?

💡 Once you know your BMR, multiply it by your activity level:

Sedentary: ×1.2
Lightly active: ×1.375
Moderately active: ×1.55
Very active: ×1.725
Extra active: ×1.9

If you're aiming to lose, gain, or maintain weight then understanding how your body uses energy can help you fuel smarter, move with purpose, and live well. 🙌

🛠 Tips for Staying on Track
✨ Track what you eat. Use an app or journal.
✨ Move more. Take the stairs. Walk during calls.
✨ Strength train. Muscle burns more calories at rest.
✨ Hydrate. Water helps with digestion and metabolism.
✨ Sleep and stress matter. Poor sleep or high stress = lower metabolism.
✨ Stay consistent. Be patient. Long-term > quick fixes.
✨ Get support. Tell friends or hire a pro (RD, coach, trainer)

06/20/2025

Caffeine is one of the most widely consumed stimulants on the planet, and for good reason. Its found naturally in over 60 different plants, and it’s best known through your daily dose of coffee, tea, or energy drinks. But what’s really going on when you take that first sip?

Let’s break it down…..

⚙️ How Caffeine Works in the Brain

While you’re awake, a molecule called adenosine builds up in the brain, making you feel tired. Caffeine mimics adenosine and blocks its receptors, preventing that sleepy signal from getting through. This also boosts dopamine production, enhancing mood, alertness, and brain function.

🧠 Brain Benefits of Coffee

Not only does caffeine keep you alert, but regular consumption may also offer long-term health benefits:

• Drinking 3–5 cups of coffee a day could reduce the risk of degenerative brain diseases by up to 60%.

• Consuming 1–4 cups daily may reduce the risk of heart disease by 16–18%.

• Coffee drinkers have been shown to have a 29% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

🏋️‍♂️ Caffeine and Performance: The Fat-Burning Bonus

Caffeine is a known ergogenic aid. It enhances physical performance and it reduces perceived effort and fatigue, helping you train harder and longer. It also stimulates adrenaline, which releases stored fat into the bloodstream to be used for energy.

But let’s be real, even at 300 mg per day, caffeine only helps burn around 79 additional calories, so it’s not a magic fat burner. However, it’s still a staple in most fat burning supplements.

⚠️ Tolerance & Timing Matter

Regular caffeine use builds up a tolerance, especially to its stimulating effects. After a while, you might only feel the anti-sleep effect without the same energy or focus boost.

Here’s what you should know:

- Caffeine has a half-life of ~6 hours. So if you drink 200 mg at 7 AM, 100 mg remains at 1 PM, and 50 mg is still lingering by 7 PM.

- To avoid disrupting your sleep, it’s best to stop caffeine 6–8 hours before bed.

Want to reset your sensitivity? Take a month long break from caffeine. You’ll come back feeling it like it’s your first cup all over again.

💧 The Diuretic Myth

Despite popular belief, caffeine does not dehydrate you. Its diuretic effect is very mild, and drinks like coffee, tea, and energy drinks still count toward your daily hydration needs. That said, don’t skip the water! Your body still needs it!

📏 How Much Is Too Much?

A healthy daily caffeine range is around 3–5 mg per kilogram of body weight.

For someone weighing about 176 lbs, that’s 200–400 mg of caffeine daily. Which is roughly:
• ☕ 1 Venti Americano
• 🥤 3–5 cans of Red Bull

Using caffeine as a pre-workout? Take it 30–60 minutes before training for best results.

My Final Thoughts

Caffeine is more than just a productivity booster, it’s a scientifically supported compound that can enhance mental clarity, performance, and even long term health when consumed responsibly.

Just remember: moderation, smart timing, and the occasional tolerance break can help you get the most out of it. As always, stay healthy friends 🫡

06/16/2025

I’m sure you’re sick of seeing my nutrition posts but let’s quickly discuss accessibility.

Yes, nutrition is important. Life changing even.
But also… groceries are expensive, gas prices can get ridiculous, and sometimes that $5 fast food combo is the only thing standing between you and starvation lol.

Truth is, eating healthy can get a bit pricey. Not to mention, not everyone has a Whole Foods or Trader Joes down the street. Life is busy and complicated, so your meals will be too sometimes.

HOWEVER, your nutrition still matters. Eating whole, nutrient dense foods regularly helps your energy, mood, weight, digestion, sleep, and your long term health. But that doesn’t mean perfection or bankruptcy. It means balance and strategy!!

So what can I do Ian? Well I’m glad you asked!

* Buy frozen veggies: similar nutrients, obviously longer shelf life.
* Foods packed with fiber are your new BFFs.
* Add color when you can. (No, Skittles don’t count.)
* Hydrate! You’re probably thirsty, not hungry.
* Shop the sales and build your meals around what’s cheaper that week! Oh, broccoli’s on sale? looks like we’re having stir-fry haha

The goal is not to be perfect. Your goal should be “do better when and where you can”. If today’s meal came from a drive thru, cool. But maybe tomorrow we sneak a fruit in there.

It’s about progress over pressure. Nutrition isn’t a trend, t’s a tool. Use it wisely, and remain flexible. Life happens….. With that being said, stay healthy my friends 💪

05/30/2025

Florida Residents!!!!

05/30/2025

Good morning everyone!

My message for you today: You can’t out-exercise a poor diet.

It’s much easier (and more effective) to reduce 500 calories through your food choices than it is to burn 500 calories through exercise.

Burning that many calories will take you hours of activity, and I can almost guarantee that most people don’t have the time or energy for that every single day, especially when just starting out.

If fat loss is your goal, your top priority should be creating a calorie deficit through nutrition first. Just know that exercise is a fantastic complement to your efforts. It helps with fitness, strength, and your overall health but it won’t offset consistently eating too many calories.

Focus on your nutrition, set a manageable calorie deficit, and use exercise to support your overall progress. Exercise is NOT a tool to “burn off” poor eating habits. And as always, stay healthy friends 💪 !

03/05/2025

As we celebrate National Month, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has launched a new online resource hub to promote science based nutrition information.

What I personally LOVE about this initiative is that it provides my fellow health professionals, policymakers, and the public with credible, research backed insights to counter the misinformation out there. This also ensures that nutrition policies and recommendations are grounded in . You can learn more about this initiative by following the link below! Stay healthy friends 💪

LEARN MORE HERE:

Misinformation about nutrition is widespread and it’s more important than ever to rely on science and evidence-based expertise.

03/03/2025

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Did you eat real food today… or was it processed?

A simple rule of thumb is if it has a food label, it’s processed. And if it has more than five ingredients, it’s highly processed!

I want you all to think about what you’ve eaten today (or what you plan on eating today), and ask yourself this:

✅ Does it have a food label?
✅ Does it have more than 5 ingredients?

If you answered YES to both, you’re likely consuming a processed food product.

Why does this matter? Well, many processed foods are loaded with added sugars, preservatives, and unhealthy fats that can contribute to chronic health issues like obesity, inflammation, and metabolic diseases.

So how do you rely less on processed foods throughout the day? It starts with choosing more whole foods. You know, the kind that don’t even need a label. Think about it; fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, eggs, fish, and meats don’t come with a long ingredient list because THEY ARE the ingredient.

At the end of the day, it’s the small, intentional choices that shape your health. Every meal is an opportunity! Stay healthy friends 💪