How to Calculate Calories for an Aggressive Mini Cut
Posted by Ben Disseldorp
Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
A Personal Trainer With A Passion For Nutrition & Mindset Coaching... Meet Tia!
Hi, I'm Tia😊
I spent years of my life struggling with body image, my attachment to the number on the scale, binging and restricting, and yo-yo diets - I thought there was something wrong with me and had just about accepted I would never feel comfortable or confident in my physique.
As a last attempt I decided to hire a coach, and I was introduced to powerlifting. Through this time I learned everything I could about training and nutrition - I learned how to fuel my body for performance and fell in love with how empowering it was to train in strength.
I learned the missing link was mindset coaching, and once I figured this out I began to discover a need in the industry. I decided to study and become the coach I needed years ago to help others struggling with the same issues and help them break the cycle and find the confidence they are seeking.
Now, I am training to become a competitive bodybuilder and I work full time as a coach - I support clients by working with them on their training, nutrition and mindset and pinch myself that this is what I get to do every day.
The most exciting thing I have achieved so far is the launch of The Evolution Project - this is a tailored 12 week transformation experience, and the participants get to celebrate the end of their 12 weeks with a full day of glam and a professional photoshoot. I believe everyone deserves to feel centre stage and be celebrated, and I continue to run these experiences regularly.
I pride myself on my authenticity and integrity and am beyond excited to work with Bulk Nutrients as I genuinely believe it is the best brand of supplements I can offer to my clients.
Whey Protein Isolate
Why I love it: This is by far the best protein powder I have ever used, it is the largest amount of protein per 30 gram serve I've encountered and as it mixes so well with everything I am able to use it in all of my recipes - given that I am a bodybuilder and my life revolves around food this is a huge benefit for me. I love that there are so many flavours and most importantly that they all taste good - I've used so many protein powders in the past where you couldn't venture out with flavours as everything other than chocolate or vanilla tasted heavily manufactured. Salted Caramel is one of my non-negotiables!
How I use it: Generally I'll use WPI to mix in with foods (oats is an amazing combination). However I also use it quite a lot for baking, it also goes super well in a smoothie or acai bowl.
Creatine Monohydrate
Why I love it: As a bodybuilder, muscle gain is the goal - anything that I can add in to aid this naturally is a huge plus for me. As a female, creatine was always vilifed and I was hesitant to add it in to my supplement stack - however after being able to absorb all of the information provided in the blogs on the website and then continuing on a bit of additional research, I felt comfortable to give it a go. Since adding this product I've seen a substantial increase in my muscle gain, ability to achieve a solid pump during my sessions, and strength gain too.
How I use it: Personally I train in the mornings - so I add 3 grams of creatine to my morning coffee and stir in. I can't taste it at all and it helps me remember as it's now a part of my routine.
HCP - Hydrolysed Collagen Peptides
Why I love it: As an online coach I am also qualified in performance nutrition and love to support my clients in developing tailored meal plans for them. I find that the more tailored to the clients tastes and preferences I can be while hitting their nutritional requirements - the more adherent they are as it is more enjoyable and sustainable. This is how we get the greatest results. Because of this I have found I tend to attract clients with a myriad of food allergies, intolerances and requirements. HCP is an incredible alternative to those not nutritionally suited to whey protein and the feedback from my clients is always amazing!
How I use it: HCP seems to combine best with water, in smoothies and with some baked goods also.
Acetyl L-Carnitine (Alcar)
Why I love it: I was diagnosed with ADHD at 30 years old and since then I have been able to make connections and develop strategies to help me function best. One of the struggles I have (particularly when dieting down) is lowered cognitive function and memory. I love adding this product in to my rotation when I am dieting down as it not only has a thermogenic effect and aids my fat loss, but it helps support me in thinking more clearly and improving my memory. Being a business owner and working with clients, I need to always be on my a-game and this helps me do that.
How I use it: I'll add this to my pre-workout and consume prior to training.
Pre Workout 101
Why I love it: I have a very high stimulant tolerance (caffeine addict) and as a result I've always found it difficult to find a pre workout that works for me. With so many on the market and such crazy marketing surrounding pre-workout I always found it quite overwhelming to know which to choose. Often I would opt against using one at all as I didn't want to spend $80+ on something to find it didn't work for me. With the affordable price of Pre Workout 101 it was easy to justify giving it a go, the clean nutrition panel made it easy to see what was in the product and how it would benefit me. I've found it gives me exactly what I need and I don't crash afterwards, so I would highly recommend!
How I use it: Probably not recommended but I tend to dry scoop... alternatively though I mix with water pre-training.
Tia's approach to Nutrition
I religiously meal prep and tend to live my life out of containers. This is what works best for me, my schedule and my goals.
My husband is very into this lifestyle also so it works for us- and we even meal prep for our daughter, we pick a couple of bulk meals a week for her, prep and freeze leftovers and she then has a range of meals to choose from each day to keep things interesting for her. Often our dishwasher is nothing but containers and cutlery!
We don't tend to have an incredibly active social life but we do value balance - so unless we are in prep we absolutely will go and enjoy events and eat off plan. When we are prepping though we are very compliant and develop strategies around events so that we are able to still attend and remain compliant.
In terms of nutritional content, I do not tend to restrict food groups - I ensure that I eat to my macronutrient requirements and also incorporate a range of micronutrients in my meal planning.
I absolutely love to bake and I purchased a Thermomix at the beginning of last year - I love to experiment with recipes and adapt them to make them macronutrient and meal prep friendly. One of the things I love to do within my business (and as a bit of a hobby) is to research recipes and figure out how to make them more suitable to my needs.
Average Daily Calorie Intake: It varies, right now I am maintaining at 2100 calories per day.
Are there foods you crave? Why? Anything chocolate.
Are there foods you avoid? Why? I don't enjoy seafood or egg.
What's your go-to cheat meal? Why? I love experiences, so when I have a cheat meal it is generally going out for brunch with my family - I absolutely love pancakes or an acai bowl.
My day on a plate
Morning Coffee: Long black with 3 grams of Creatine
Breakfast: 40 grams of oats, 15 grams of Salted Caramel WPI, 100 grams of strawberries, 15 grams hazelnut spread.
Lunch: 80 grams of basmati rice, 150 grams of chicken breast, 150 grams seasonal vegetables, paprika seasoning and sauce.
Dinner: 200 grams beef rump steak, 100 grams pumpkin, 200 grams potatoes, 100 grams green beans.
Snacks: 6 rice cakes, 20g manuka honey, 20g peanut butter, banana.
Weekly Workout Plan
Current Plan
- Monday: Lower body (glute/hamstring focus) - Abduction, barbell RDL, barbell hip thrusts, multi-hip kickbacks, lying leg curl, calf raises.
- Tuesday: Upper body (chest & accessories) - incline chest press (machine), iliiac row, lateral raises, reverse peck deck, hammer curls, cross body tricep extensions.
- Wednesday: Accessories (lower body & core) - dumbbell RDL (tempo), 1 & 1/4 hip thrusts, Bulgarian split squats (tempo, glute focused), multi-hip kickbacks, hanging knee raises.
- Friday: Upper Body (back & accessories) - shoulder press, lat pulldowns, SA chest supported horizontal row, machine lateral raise, seated NG tricep extensions, preacher curl machine.
- Saturday: Quad focus - seated leg curl, hack squat, SL leg press, Bulgarian split squats, leg extensions.
Latest Results
Do you have any medium/long term goals you're working towards?
I am going to expand my coaching business to accommodate a virtual assistant, a marketing and social media specialist and a content creator. It will also employ a minimum of 3 coaches within the next 3 years.
TMST will run The Evolution Project a minimum of 2 times per year, and these events will run over two consecutive days of photoshoots for participants. A long term goal for The Evolution Project is to run quarterly and offer in multiple states.
Personally, I will compete in the Bikini division of FMG in season A or B of 2025 - long term I would love to become a pro athlete within the federation.
Lastly, I will compete in a powerlifting competition - with the goal of 3x bodyweight for my squat and deadlift, and 1.5x bodyweight for bench. The goal would be a 450kg total.
Have you had any exceptional results (in competitions or otherwise) in the last few years?
I wouldn't say I have achieved anything "exceptional" when we speak of competing or the likes, I don't have any trophies or medals to display as yet, however I'd like to think I have achieved exceptional things in my time.
I consider being able to secure this ambassadorship without a solid social media following to be reasonably exceptional. The amount of messages I receive from my clients sincerely thanking me for having a hand in changing their lives is exceptional to me.
Running a successful business and maintaining my home, marriage, daughter and my own training objectives is also exceptional to me - all of this is worth celebrating but I believe the accolades are yet to come.
