Christa Povec, Clean Keto For Healthy Women #25

May 28, 2020 | Health and Fitness

Welcome my Women to Women series where I interview guest speakers from around the world and share their knowledge with you. Recently, I had the opportunity to interview Christa Povec, owner of Christa Povec Nutrition. She had some great tips for you all and encourages women to have faith that you can be healthier and fit at any age.

I have had the privilege of knowing Christa for a while, now let me introduce you to Christa Povec.

Lisa: Tell us about yourself and how you started your company.

Christa: I have been interested in nutrition and fitness for years, got certified, and coached one-on-one for about 10 years. I recently started a YouTube education channel all about my experience with keto.

Lisa: What is your biggest personal fitness challenge and how do you manage it? 

Christa: My biggest challenge is writing my own workouts. I will definitely make my workouts way too long or way too easy…I need a trainer to keep me dialed in for sure.

Lisa:  What do you think is the one thing middle-aged women are challenged by regarding health and fitness? 

Christa:  Honestly I think it’s their own self-limiting beliefs. The women I have worked with all start out not giving themselves enough credit, or they tell me what they can’t do before we even get started. As women, we already overcome so much, I don’t know why we sell ourselves short so quickly.

Lisa: How do you help them overcome it? 

Christa:  I ask clients to trust me. I ask them to allow me to take them through baby steps and when they start giving me excuses I start getting tougher lol.

Lisa:  What do you think is most important, exercise or diet, and why? 

Christa: The one you will do consistently. That might sound trite, but it’s true. Pushups have been called the “all-over, if-you-never-do-another-exercise-again-do-this-one exercise”…but if I only do them once a month, they won’t cut it. But I will say if you don’t have a passion for changing your physique, at least keep your extra weight off with walking. Walking is awesome for maintaining muscle, all your metabolic body functions, cardio health, and it is non-compensatory…meaning it won’t stimulate your appetite. You can walk 3 miles and you won’t feel like running to the fridge for a reward snack.

Lisa:  There is a lot of talk about KETO. What is Keto and is Keto healthy for women? 

Christa: Keto or the ketogenic diet was first developed in 1911 to mimic what the effects of starvation could do for epilepsy. Keto has been revisited decade after decade by clinical nutritionists and endocrinologists because of its subsequent health benefits that continue to be discovered. Some of the most recent ones, of course, are fat loss and an improved lipid panel and blood pressure, some newer ones that are being looked at are a reversal of type 2 diabetes, anti-cancer, anti-aging, cellular repair, improved cognitive function, and better sleep. For women who want to start keto I tell them that there are definitely many benefits, but like any other diet, please don’t “go hard”. Keto can cause electrolyte imbalances and hormone imbalances that you need to take slowly under consideration from a physician or a coach or a great educational book.

Lisa: What does a balanced diet look like for women who want to lose weight? 

Christa: The way I was originally trained by Mark Macdonald is to pair your foods into 3s, small amounts of proteins, fats, and carbs at each meal. What I have found for my clients who are a little older is that they don’t always need starchy carbs at every meal so the green leafy carbs or lighter fruits for many of their meals, spaced a few hours apart work great! This keeps an even blood sugar level all day and many people stay satiated and energized this way. Proteins for muscle, fats for hormones, and carbs for energy!

Lisa: What is the best way to retain and build muscle as we get older?

Christa: Prioritize protein. I like to get around .8-1g of protein per lean body mass…figure most women have 30-35% body fat on average in the middle of their lives. So If you’re 150 pounds, maybe you’ve got 100 pounds lean mass, eat around 80-100g of protein throughout the day, and be sure to do weight-bearing exercise like walking and even better do bodyweight exercises or lift :o)

Lisa: What are some tips on how to handle cravings for sweets?

Christa: So many different ways, you really have to find what works for you. Too many fake sweeteners aren’t the answer though. I like to give in to one or two sweet treats per week and just take responsibility for it. The rest of the week I don’t eat many sweets so I don’t feed the craving. Ask yourself why you want that sweet? Is your cortisol high from stress or too little of sleep or too much caffeine? Can you talk yourself out of it or go for a walk? Is this a special occasion where we are making memories? maybe have a few bites of birthday cake…but if it’s getting to be pretty frequent, start looking at what else is going on.

Lisa: How long do we need to exercise to maintain muscle and lose fat? 

Christa: If you are short on time you can throw in a quick Tabata workout a couple of times per week, (you have to go hard here for the full effect) but I really like to tell people to commit to at least 30 minutes of something, 4-5 days per week for a good 30 days.  I personally wake up early to get a full hour of movement, but I really enjoy it and have done it for years. If you are starting at zero, and you just commit to a daily 15-minute walk you will see fat loss in a couple of weeks.

Lisa: Who are the influencers, bloggers, and podcasters that you follow? 

Christa: I am following a lot of keto influencers right now and attending conferences around that topic. I follow Dr. Ryan Lowry (Ketogenic.com), Dr. Jaime Seeman (Doctor Fit and Fabulous), Danny and Maura Vega (Fat Fueled Family), Robert, and Crystal Sikes (Keto Savage), Thomas DeLauer.

Lisa: Tell us something about yourself that we wouldn’t know.

Christa: I started my nutrition journey so I could give my kids the proper information and self-confidence so they wouldn’t have to go through the self-doubt, diets, and tribulations I put upon myself when I was growing up…and at 19 and 15, many soccer teams, football teams, and track days later, I think we dodged the bullet! 

Thank you Christa for offering us your time and expertise regarding nutrition, and Keto for a cleaner living with some basic fitness tips. Thanks for reminding us all about how important protein is to consume throughout the day. To learn more about Christa and how you can make a clean Keto meal visit her website at Christapovec.com

I am Lisa Jollimois. I am a personal development coach for women who want to transform their lives. If you need more support getting through this current crisis, contact me. Or if you need support naturally maintaining your weight, rewriting your story, exploring new possibilities for an empty nest, or feeling stuck. I can help act as a guide to get your life into action.

If this interests you or if you want to level-up your standard of life despite our current circumstances email me for your FREE discovery call at lisa@lisajollimois.com or sign up at   https://calendly.com/lisa-365

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Big Hugs,