I’m about to make the leap from nutrition-help to self-help.

Only, it’s not actually a leap…it’s barely a hop.

Let’ start with a generalization:

I’m guessing that you would like to have a bit less body fat, a bit more money and a lot more time.

Maybe you want to have a LOT less body fat, a LOT more money and a LOT more time.

The key is- there’s a RELATIONSHIP between these three things.

And it’s a big one.

Here’s a personal fact that plays into this story ==> I spend as much money on snacks, lunches and coffee’s away from my home as I do on gas for my car every month.

And I won’t be vague….I spent $311.22 in November on ’snacks, lunches and coffees’ eaten or drank away from my home.

Doesn’t seem like that big a deal until you consider the fact that I fast twice a week, don’t take any supplements and typically try to eat responsibly (IE eat a little less).

I think that most of us spend much more money on foods and drinks then we think we do.

I don’t have research to prove this, but let’s assume its true.

So here’s the irony…we want to be leaner and the cause of our extra body fat is how much we eat; and how much we eat directly takes away from how much disposable money we have and how much free time we have.

Here is an ironclad fact – If you are overweight, you’ve spent more money on food than you needed to.

Now I’m not saying I wish that the 300 dollars I spend on coffee etc was actually zero dollars.

After all,  I REALLY enjoy my coffee, and I REALLY prefer my coffees out. I like the atmosphere and the break provided by the 3 or 4 different coffee houses I visit each week.

The point isn’t self denial, the point is that responsible eating can also allow you be fiscally responsible (ie more money in your pocket).

Between groceries I didn’t really need and a couple extra coffees or lunches I didn’t really need, I figure that monthly I have about 200 dollars that could be spared.

This is 200 dollars worth of food not contributing to my waistline, and its 200 dollars that could be divided up evenly…100 bucks extra against my morgage, 100 bucks extra dong something fun with my family.

And it’s not just money, it’s your time.

I spend about a half hour in the morning and a half hour before bed doing dishes and cleaning the kitchen. Granted I’m doing dishes for four, but we’re not exactly a 6 meals a day family, and Heather and I both fast….I can only imagine what kind of time people who have 4 kids and who are overweight must spend in the kitchen.

Dishes…what a collosal waste of time, but…they need to get done.

So here’s the point to this ramble: Food is a very important part of your life…and there’s more than the reason of ‘weight loss’ to really be responsible with how you eat and what you spend your money on.

The facts are, you probably need your car, and the gas you buy to get to and from work. You need gas, electricity etc for your house. You HAVE to pay taxes and your mortgage…so food is one of the few expenses that you can control.

Learn to eat a little less and you:

A) lose weight

B) save money

C) gain time.

Perfect.

So here are 6 tips that have worked for me:

Lunch meetings – Order coffee or tea instead of lunch. For some reason if you order a water or diet soda people look at your funny like you are doing something wrong, but coffee or tea is OK. I don’t know why this is, but I know it works.

Groceries – Once a month take one week and don’t buy anything. Try your best to work your way through what is in your fridge and pantry. Get creative.

Out of home expenses – Set up simple rules that fit into your life that limit times you can eat out of your home. I try my best to never eat in my car. This works for me.

Dishes - Look, if you are trying to lose weight it means at some point you’ve eaten more than you wanted to. so to add some balance AND save time in the kitchen this try this technique…towards the end of the day, clean your kitchen, once it’s clean the kitchen is now ‘closed’. You are not going to go hungry, your kitchen stays clean, you eat less, you don’t spend time doing dishes again… (Obviously if you have young children this only half works)

Dining out – In this day and age there is simply no shame in sharing a meal. Besides, most restaurant meals have at LEAST double the calories you need anyways. Split a personal Pizza AND a dessert. You get way more flavour and probably less calories than if you ordered your own Entre.

Finally – Fast. Once or twice a week.

BP

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Just received a message alert from AM 640 Radio (local Toronto station) that read:

“Mark McGwire admits using steroids when he broke baseball’s home run record in 1998. Sent 3:13pm

Makes for an interesting prelude to the Olympic games.

BP

False Advertising or just perpetuating a myth?

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“Always start beginners with body weight exercises”

Sounds good in theory…However something just dawned on me…

More precisely, something nearly crushed me.

I was just in my basement doing a workout consisting mostly of weighted pushups.

I had about 100 pounds of chain wrapped around me and I was struggling to get ten good solid reps.

Then it dawned on me – I weight 175 pounds, with the chain I weigh 275 pounds.

So this crushing feeling I have of BARELY making it to ten reps on my third set..this would be what simple BODY WEIGHT push-ups would feel like to a man or women who weighs 275 pounds.

SO WHY WOULD YOU EVER START AN OBESE PERSON ON BODY WEIGHT EXERCISES?

Just doesn’t make sense to me.

A good guideline but NOT a rule

I’m OK with average weight or slightly heavy people starting with body weight work, but use some common sense.

If you are more than 50 or so pounds over your ideal weight and just starting into wieght training…maybe start with dumbbells.

BP

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I thought you might enjoy the conversation I had over the holidays. Great questions from Andrew who really helped me spell out my theories on muscle building.

BP

………

Hey Brad, I’m a big lover of Eat Stop Eat, and a massive proponent of many of your thoughts and theories, so don’t take any of this as confrontational or second guessing in nature, I just wondered which variables you would manipulate in order to gain LBM most effectively whilst following the ESE lifestyle?

Correct me if I’m wrong but I’m sure I’ve seen you comment that you don’t believe eating much above your BMR is necessary, neither is excessive protein intake or mega dosing your peri-workout nutrition. So I guess my real question is, if you HAD TO gain say 5-10lbs of skeletal muscle as quickly as possible, naturally, and assuming you’re already training using a program with built in progressive overload, which nutritional variables would you tweak? Would love to know exactly how you would go about it. Thanks for reading, and have a great New Year!

Great Question! If I had to gain 5-10 pounds of Skeletal muscle as quickly as possible, I’d be screwed. I’m 32 and have been training for over 15 years. Without drugs, I’m not putting on another ten pounds of skeletal muscle. Another ten pounds would put me well above the normal range for my height. Now, I can put on 10 pounds of lean mass…I could do that in an hour or two…add ten pounds to my bench/squat/deadlift/clean…I could do that too..maybe over the course of a year, but ten pounds of actual muscle, not happening.

B

OK, apologies. Allow me to rephrase the question if you will. What if you were 21, 180 lbs @ 5′9” and had all the time in the world to eat, sleep and train? How would you then optimally add actual muscle, whilst adhering (possibly the wrong word, I don’t even see ESE as something you need to adhere to, it’s so easy!) to Eat Stop Eat?

Ah…Ok that’s way more fun.

I’d do stuff you can do for high volume, that is taxing on the big muscles and that doesn’t break you down. I would workout in the gym 2-3 times a week working the muscles but not blowing myself apart. But that wouldn’t be the big stuff, the big stuff would be 2 times a week outside with a couple of buddies doing a combination of sled dragging and farmers walks. Each session would be two to three hours long. The goal wouldn’t be to burn out, or to be a sweaty mess, but just to do lots of work.

At 21 I wouldn’t rule out ‘eating big’ since their is probably still some juvenile muscle growth going on…but I would still ‘temper’ it with Eat Stop Eat.

I’m still not convinced that a 5?9? frame can add 10 more pounds of straight muscle (depending on how long you’ve been training for), but based on my experience this would be how I’d try to get there.

Thanks for the response. Great advice, much appreciated!

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Why do I eat so much?

It’s a question we’ve probably all asked ourselves at one point or another.

After all, eating too much is what is keeping most of us from having the bodies we want.

Sure there are a lot of different answers, ones that make it sound like it’s not our fault (hormones like ghrelin and adiponectin), some that make it sound like its ALL our fault (complete lack of will power), and a bunch that are somewhere in between.

So here’s a list of 5 little known reasons why you may be eating more than you want to…some are blunt, but it may help if we finally open up and consider these as possibilities.

1 . You are thirsty - Lots of us mistake thirst for hunger.

• Quick fix - Drink some water first…can’t hurt.

2. You are covering for something – OK…honesty time…most of us eat because we need the stimulation. Think of it this way – If a person is skydiving for the VERY FIRST time, and finally makes the decision to step out of the plane the thing going through their head is not “Gee, I could really go for a muffin right now”. If you find you are constantly eating, it may be time to look at your life? Are you bored at work? In your relationship? with your friends? More stimulation may mean less food.

• Quick fix – When eating at work ask yourself “am I hungry, or bored?”, if bored is the consistent answer, instead of eating, pass the time by fixing your resume and looking for a new job.

3. You are trying too hard to be healthy - Let’s face it, if we ate ALL the foods that we’re supposed, we’d be overeating. Take your standard low calorie diet, but then add in some almond butter, some goji juice, coconut oil, maybe a organic-fair trade-wheat grass shake, and you can see how the numbers start to sneak back up on you.

• Quick fix – Ignore any lists of ’super foods’. If you do want to try a new food, replace an old one, don’t just add it in..

4. You are being mindless - Ever sit down in front of the TV with a plate full of food, then reach for the food only to find you plate empty? It might be tempting to blame the cat, but chances are you ate the food and didn’t even realize it.

• Quick fix - Don’t eat in front of the TV or Computer.

5. Your paying too much attention to your pre, -during, -and post workout nutrition – Look, I know the theories and ’science’ behind the magic that eating during your workout, our before your workout or right after your workout can cause, but if your goal is weight loss…these meals could be keeping your from reaching your goal.

• Quick fix - cut back on your ‘around workout’ meals and see what happens.

BP

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Here’s the classic way of thinking about hormones.

• We know of all the hormones in the body.
• We know what all the hormones in our bodies do.

Now here’s the truth…

We are discovering new hormones and signaling molecules every day. We are also discovering new roles for hormones every day.

It is true that your hormones regulate the functions in your body, but they do so in concert, with dozens if not hundreds acting together to cause a certain effect, and to regulate and guide that particular effect.

In this way you can picture your hormones and the roles they play in your body like a spider web…

Your Metabolism

With all the hormones working together, depending on each other while at the same time creating checks and balances that allow for an intricate design to take….This design being your metabolism.

The thought that we can decide health or a health-outcome by any one hormone is ludicrous.

Don’t get caught up in the thinking that there are ‘good’ and ‘bad’ hormones in your body…It doesn’t matter if we’re talking fat loss, muscle building or disease prevention.

They all work together and they all serve a purpose.

BP

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In high school, I loved art and hated math.

Until I took geometry.

That’s when I realized that their was MATH in ART.

It wasn’t until 15 years later, when I started doing the background research for the Adonis Index that I realized there was also ART in Math.

Nowadays, numbers fascinate me, so to share my fascination with you, check out the following picture.

Not really relevant to anything Health or Nutrition, but entertaining nonetheless.

BP

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Building more Muscle.

Considering some of the things happening in the news today, I thought this was timely. Biggest mistake we make with regards to building muscle is false expectations of what is actually possible.

Hi Brad!

I read almost every article u wrote, and your view is very impressive.
But I have 1 question (maybe off topic, sorry)
You say the amount of protein is not so important, the quality of the food is not so important (ok avoid crap), 2-3 workout per week is enough to keep or build muscle.
What is then the mistake what most of the average  gym rat make?
Ok we can see some real life example like you, but every competitive bodybuilder use (or they lie) the old method (6-8 meals, lot of protein above 300 grams, lot of training, cardio everyday) and not only for the end of the preparation, but from the beginning.

Hey Wood,

The average gym rat makes the mistake of thinking they can get ’steroid-like’ growth without taking steroids, plain and simple.

I don’t think bodybuilders lie when they say they eat 8 meals a day, protein above 300 grams, lots of training and Cardio. I think this is 100% true.

I’ll even admit that this might be the right way to do things when you are on 3 grams of test a week, combined with some GH and Insulin, plus maybe a little Clenbuterol.

And, I’ll also admit that there is a possibility that even the non-bodybuilder-guys who use a “small amount of drugs” like cover models (and I suspect even before and after models), might benefit from eating this way.

I’m no expert when it come to drugs and the way they alter nutrient needs.

But for normal, non-drug using adult human beings it is your genetics combined with your training that determines how much muscle you can add, your protein intake and food quality has very little to do with it. They still plays a role mind you, just not the role that advertisers would make you think.

Bottom line: You can NOT get drug like effects from powdered protein.

BP

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This video is from 1951.

Not much as changed.

BP

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