Strong as Hale

You should give yourself more credit.

To go against the norm and not give in to the expectation to be small and frail when it’s been modeled in front of you by family, pushed upon you by media, and demonstrated daily on social media…

That’s a huge deal.

Give yourself some credit strong woman - you’re breaking the chains of generational dieting with every decision to pour into your body for health rather than punish yourself for an aesthetic.

Keep going.

Ima make this simple ⬇️

If you train CrossFit and want to be GOOD at it (or look like your fave athletes) undereating is NOT gunna cut it.

So how do we make sure we’re eating enough overall calories?

1️⃣ We take our bodyweight and multiply it by 14.

This gives you your maintenance calories for someone who works out around one hour daily and gets an adequate amount of steps.

If you train more than this, this multiplier doesn’t apply to you. Message me and I’ll help you out.

Ex: 155x15=2,325

2️⃣ Decide your objective.

Training for performance? Eat the number you got from 1️⃣.

Want recomp? You need a slight deficit.
Want hella strength gain? You need a lil surplus.

This can range from 5-20% on either side.

‼️DO NOT EXCEED THIS RANGE NO MATTER WHAT‼️

3️⃣ Calculate your deficit/surplus.

If you want 5%, multiply maintenance x 0.05
If you want 10%, multiply maintenance x 0.1
If you want 15%, multiply maintenance x 0.15
If you want 20%, multiply maintenance x 0.2

Ex: 2,325x0.2=465

This is your deficit or surplus.

4️⃣ Add or subtract your deficit/surplus cals to get your overall total.

Deficit ex: 2,325-465=1,860
Surplus ex: 2,325+465=2,790

5️⃣ EAT THE DAMN FOOD AND DONT GET IN YOUR HEAD ABOUT IT.

Trust the process. If the scale goes up a lil at the beginning bc you’ve been constantly undereating, then GOOD - that’s your body telling you it’s working.

The magic is built in the consistent hitting of this target daily over time.

So don’t let your brain derail you and keep you from being consistent.

Fuel your body. Trust the process.

GLP-1s are in the CrossFit space and they’re not going anywhere anytime soon.

And as an affiliate owner and nutrition business owner, it’s not my place to judge or make those individuals feel lesser than.

Shame is what has led to the skinny epidemic.
Judgement is what has led so many women down destructive lanes.

So instead of judging, I’ll educate.

I already see the negative side effects coming through our doors.

➡️ Women eating so little they feel light headed and need to go home early in sessions.
➡️ Women throwing up in our bathrooms and outside our facility due to increased nausea under intensity.
➡️ Women excited about their weight loss, but gutted from loss or inability to gain strength.

These are real things happening to real women.

And though GLP-1s are not a route I’d personally go down, it’s still our place as health and fitness professionals to teach women regardless of their weight loss mechanism what it means and looks like to take care of their bodies from a place of care for them, rather than ignoring it because we’re judging them.

This is where we educate proper dieting techniques and educate on eating enough food to support their body and fitness.

This is where we encourage them to keep strength training to reduce unnecessary muscle loss.

This is where we help them gauge intensity to reduce the risk of nausea/vomiting.

I’m not saying I agree with GLP-1 use.

What I’m saying is that a judgmental and shaming environment will never lead to the openness to have such important conversations.

Trying to de-influence women from 1200 calorie diets is not a shame tactic.

It’s a research-backed, health-optimizing movement rooted in helping women become their healthiest, strongest, most capable selves - not their smallest, weakest, and most depleted.

We have the research.
We have the data.
We have the tools to know that extremely low calorie diets are rarely necessary anymore.

Are there exceptions? Absolutely.

Medical necessity, rare genetic conditions, and now GLP-1 use can absolutely change the conversation - and those cases should be handled by medical professionals and licensed practitioners, as they often fall outside the scope of standard nutrition coaching.

But for the majority of healthy, active women?

No, 1200 calories is not necessary.

In many cases, it’s negligent.

It risks a woman’s muscle tissue, metabolic health, bone density, recovery capacity, and hormone/reproductive health all for faster scale movement or a quick transformation photo.

And that’s not empowerment.

I don’t necessarily disagree with your overall point, . There likely is a very small subset of the population that may require extremely low intakes for a period of time.

But looking at your page and seeing you encourage strength training, balanced nutrition, and a healthy lifestyle (claps for you, we love 👏), the majority of your audience is most likely not that group.

Which is why this messaging becomes dangerous.

Because what’s most likely to happen is women currently under-eating and seeing the scale move at the expense of their health are going to feel validated in continuing… instead of realizing they deserve to fuel their bodies appropriately, sustainably, and with long-term health in mind.

With respect,
Haley

How the turn tables… 🧐

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