How to Eat More Food and Look Leaner in the Long-Run

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately on what most people really want when it comes to the relationship between their body composition and their lifestyle.

And I think I've made one big realization.

It has to do with our metabolisms.

Are you ready for it?

Most people who want to improve their body composition also want to be able to eat enough food to enjoy their lives.

In other words, being super lean and "hot-looking" probably isn't worth it if you have to eat like a bird, never go out for pizza with friends, and punt your favorite alcoholic beverages to the curb for a lifetime.

In this case, I think a picture is worth a thousand words.

Have you seen a photo like this at some point on social media?

My guess is that you have.

After all, what could possibly be more jealousy-inducing than a picture of a super fit guy or gal in a luxurious resort setting enjoying what seems to be a plethora of delicious foods and drinks?

They're lean, muscular, and aesthetically pleasing in a way that would make nine out of ten people whisper, “I want that,” under their breath.

My point?

I think this is what nearly all of us are secretly longing for in quiet desperation.

But before we get too far, I want to be clear about what you can expect from this article:

• Firstly, I’m going to continue to make the case that living a lean lifestyle is more enjoyable when you can eat plenty of food.

• I’m going to remind you and encourage you that your metabolism is adaptable.

• I’m going to offer you my two best tips for how to improve your metabolism for the sake of eating more while keeping your lean look long-term.

• I’m going to highlight a few specific lifestyle examples of how to take actionable steps today.

In short, if you’re interested in how to eat more food while looking lean and feeling confident in your own skin, you’re in the right place.

Your metabolism can change.

Most of you reading this article won't know me personally, but I think it’s relevant here to mention that I have an insane appetite, which means I couldn't be less interested in looking super peeled if it means I have to be on something like 1,800 calories for an extended period of time.

Pass!

I'd rather be fatter and happier.

But here's the silver lining.

Your metabolism can be improved over time, which seems to be somewhat classified information in the fitness industry.

And as much as I hate to admit this, even I wasn’t aware of this until I entered the pre-planning phase of my own body recomposition effort in 2018.

I remember it distinctly: I was watching a Paul Revelia video on YouTube, and he kept talking about adaptive metabolisms.

I was shocked.

Up until then, I had assumed our metabolisms were kind of like femurs or noses in the sense that they were fixed and unchangeable. I assumed we were just born with them and that they were completely out of our control.

But in that moment I learned that that’s not the case:

You can, in fact, up-regulate and down-regulate your metabolism based on how you live your life.

Ever since then I've been fascinated with the idea of improving my own metabolism for the sake of eating as much food as possible while looking lean and muscular.

Is anyone with me?

Assuming you are, I want to throw two big tips at you today for how to improve your metabolism for the long haul.

1. Building Muscle Is Probably the Best Way to Improve Your Metabolism

I've mentioned this before in content I've put out, but muscle tissue is roughly three times as metabolically active as fat tissue, which means your body requires more energy to maintain muscle than it does fat.

This is great news for jacked people because it means you need approximately three times as many calories to support your muscle tissue than your fat tissue.

The implication? Arguably the best thing you can do for the sake of improving your metabolism is to add as much muscle mass to your frame as possible.

More muscle means more food.

And this is true for you as well, ladies! Adding muscle can be done strategically to maintain whichever curves you currently love about your body.

In other words, building muscle doesn’t mean you have to “get bulky.” Like many female physique competitors these days, you can focus heavily on certain areas of your body like the glutes, hamstrings, quads, and back to help you emphasize that stereotypically feminine appearance.

I might even argue that it’s more important for women to try to build muscle since they tend to be smaller than men by nature. Smaller people require less food than bigger people, so as much as you can muscle-up your frame while maintaining a physical appearance that supports your confidence, the better.

So again, more muscle means more food.

Are we tracking?

To illustrate this point further, I want to offer you quick, personal anecdote.

How I Improved My Own Metabolism

In my mid-to-late twenties, I started trying to figure out the whole “macros” thing because I was unhappy with how I had “let go” of my formerly athletic and trim physique.

At the time, I was eating a decent amount of protein, but my calories were generally still pretty low.

But they weren't low enough to have me in a meaningful caloric deficit, which landed me in a state of perma-chubbiness with a "bad" metabolism while making little to no progress in terms of improving my body composition.

In my opinion, that's one of the worst places to be: chubby with a sluggish metabolism.

For for those who are curious, I was eating around 2,300 calories per day (when I wasn’t overeating on the weekends) with plenty of belly pudge and no definition. I was hovering between 200-205 pounds at six feet tall.

Now I'm eating between 3,500-4,000 calories per day at 190 pounds with way more muscle and way less chub while gaining weight slowly at a rate of around 0.25% per week (on purpose).

That's a 1,200-1,700-calorie increase in my metabolic performance, which is the equivalent of four to five large pieces of pepperoni pizza from Papa John's or 20 Double Stuf Oreos per day.

Oh, and I’ve lost between 10-15 pounds since then.

So the question is…

What the heck did I do?

And the answer is simple.

I tried to build as much muscle as possible.

• I resistance trained intelligently and systematically within evidence-based training guidelines and best practices from leading industry experts.

  • More specifically, I sought to hit between 10-20 sets per muscle group within a few reps of technical failure per week.

  • I chose exercises with an optimal stimulus to fatigue ratio.

  • I made minor technique adjustments on those exercises to favor hypertrophy as much as possible.

  • I overloaded my sessions properly over time.

  • I manipulated my session to session volume strategically to allow for optimal recovery.

• I ate enough protein to support my muscle growth goals.

• And most importantly, I trained this way consistently for four years.

And now I’m a real life example of what it can look like to juice up your metabolism simply by putting in the work toward training for muscle growth, eating a high-protein diet, and implementing those habits consistently over time.

Pretty cool, yeah?

The somewhat unspoken implications here, however, are the following:

• You might have to sacrifice a lean look now for the sake of a lean look later.

  • What I mean by this is that muscle is built best when we eat in a slight surplus or at least match our total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) calorie-for-calorie with our caloric intake.

  • Unless you’re brand new to training, this probably means you are going to have to gain weight slowly.

    • Although I think this is best accomplished in the context of a one-on-one coaching relationship, the general rule of thumb is to aim to gain weight at a rate of 0.25-0.5% of your body weight per week.

  • Fortunately, I can proudly say that I’ve led by example here. I forfeited my 173-pound photo shoot bod to multiple cycles of surplus eating to favor muscle growth instead of being tight-fisted with my six-pack and shoulder veins.

• Your training needs to be your greatest focus.

  • As much as activities like hiking, group cardio classes, boxing, yoga, and pure barre can be wonderful for overall fitness, I’m not aware of any powerful scientific literature that suggests they have any exciting metabolism-boosting benefits.

  • Stick to hypertrophy training or another form of high-volume resistance training like CrossFit for optimal metabolic improvements.

• You are going to have to be patient.

  • In fact, “Play the long game,” is one of the most common phrases I use with my clients.

  • In a society driven by everything but delayed gratification, I find that a combined lack of patience and perspective are what prove to be most self-inhibiting for people who want to eat in abundance while sporting an increasingly lean and physique look long-term.

And really it’s that simple in most cases.

Having said all of this, I can guide you down this same path if you’re willing to adjust your lifestyle and put in the work.

Just keep in mind that I'm not a metabolic wizard with a fancy wand that unleashes its magical powers at the subtle swipe of a credit card.

You will still have to train hard and manipulate your dietary habits strategically (and sometimes even counterintuitively) for months and years, which transitions me smoothly to my next point.

2. You Might Have to Reverse Diet and Be Willing to Get Chubbier Before You Get Leaner

Honestly, I think this is one of the most valuable strategies any coach could ever bring to the table.

Why? Because it's super counterintuitive and terrifying for most people who have struggled to lose weight for years.

Eat more and actually gain weight temporarily? Yes!

It's called metabolic building and/or reverse dieting, and the point is to set you up for better body recomposition success in the long-term by up-regulating your metabolism and enhancing your training quality.

Unfortunately, this article would be way too long if I got into the exact details of how to reverse diet, but just know that increasing your calories systematically in controlled increments is an extremely effective way to improve your metabolism over time while training hard and eating a well-balanced diet designed for physique improvement.

The only downside to this tip is that most people won’t be able to implement a well-designed reverse diet protocol on their own, which means the best way to reverse properly is to hire a reputable coach.

But if a one-on-one coaching relationship isn’t something you can afford right now, don’t fret.

There are still things you can start doing right now.

How to Get Started Right Away

If you’ve been sold on the idea of “playing the long game” in favor of eating more over time while keeping your physique intact, here are a very quick ideas that may or may not help you get started:

• Quit hopping from plan to plan and settle into something consistent and sustainable for the long-term.

  • In other words, quit experimenting with new dietary patterns and training plans in search of the one “perfect” plan for you. Consistency is the name of the game.

• Similar to that first point, make sure the main focus of your exercise regimen is resistance training.

  • I’m feel like I’m feeding a fed horse with this point since I seem to mention it in nearly all of my articles, but it really is that important.

  • If you aren’t training with weights, you aren’t going to build an appreciable amount of muscle that will allow you to eat more in the long-run.

• You could consider joining a CrossFit gym.

  • But before you drive to my house and toss a Molotov cocktail through my living room window because you hate CrossFit with all of your mind, body, and soul, know that I have to mention it here due to the potential metabolic and lifestyle benefits it can offer.

    • Without belaboring the point, CrossFit is unique in that it incorporates resistance training while challenging the cardiovascular system at the same time. So as it pertains to living that lean lifestyle while eating in abundance, CrossFit can be a quicker road to Rome because you can reap the metabolic benefits of adding muscle mass while cashing in on an increased energy expenditure from demanding workouts that allow you to eat more on a daily basis.

    • In a lot of ways, I think CrossFit allows people to recomp more effectively than any other training strategy, but I realize it won’t be for everyone.

Summary

• Most people don’t just want to look good. They want to look good and be able to eat plenty of food while enjoying life to the fullest.

• The best way to do this is to focus on building as much muscle as your lifestyle allows. This is because muscle tissue is approximately three times more metabolically active than fat tissue. In other words, the more muscle you have, the more you get to eat without gaining weight.

• The best way to build muscle is to focus primarily on hypertrophy training or something that incorporates resistance training like CrossFit.

• You’ll also want to spend as much time eating at maintenance or in a small caloric surplus as possible.

• And in some unique cases, some people will need to reverse diet and “risk” weight gain in favor of improving their metabolism before attempting a focused fat loss phase.

• Lastly, remember that nothing about this process will be quick and effortless.

  • Most people with impressive metabolic “transformations” will have accumulated years of strategic training and dieting. In my case, it took me about four years to be able to eat 3,500 calories per day while staying relatively lean.

  • Be willing to play the long game as you think about whether or not metabolic building is something you want to attempt. Although the rewards can be truly life-changing, the path to success will require discipline, diligence, consistency, and patience.

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As always, I really enjoyed writing this article, so if you found it helpful, do me a favor and send it to a friend who would rather be smashing the all-you-can-eat buffet as a lean machine than smashing their face into a wall from metabolic frustration.

Until next time,

-Andrew

What Should I Eat to Lose Weight?

What should you eat to lose weight?

It’s the trillion dollar question everyone is asking because…

If we just knew what to eat to lose weight, we would eat it, right?

I’m actually not so sure.

But before we get too far, I want to let you know what you can expect from this article.

1. I’m going to tell you that losing weight is mostly about calories - not the specific foods you eat, which makes the question, “What should I eat to lose weight?” quite complex.

2. I’m going to help you think through that reality by using a financial analogy that relates calories consumed to dollars spent.

3. I’m going to tell you which foods I think are “best” for fat loss for those who appreciate practical suggestions.

4. I’m going to tell you which foods make up the majority of my own diet when I aim to lose weight on purpose.

MOST PEOPLE ALREADY UNDERSTAND BASIC NUTRITION

In my opinion, most people have a basic understanding of which foods tend to be best for fat loss.

For example, if we gave the entire planet a questionnaire about basic nutrition, I think we’d see that…

• Most people know that oatmeal with berries and a few tablespoons of chia seeds is a fat loss-friendly breakfast.

• Most people know that salads with lean proteins and modest portions of healthy fats are helpful, fat loss-friendly lunch options.

• Most people know that tofu, broccoli, and rice can be a fat loss-friendly dinner combination.

• And most people know that snacking on apples is probably more fat loss-friendly than eating Nutella straight out of the jar.

So where’s the disconnect?

Why are people still typing “what to eat to lose weight” into Google?

I could be wrong, but I think I know why.

In fact, it’s the reason I wrote an entire article called The Single Biggest Mistake You’re Making in How You Think About Fat Loss, but I’m committed to bringing you an updated perspective on the topic of food selection for weight loss.

Are you ready for it?

The problem with focusing exclusively on what you should eat is that there's little to no consideration of how much you should eat.

So the implication is that you can eat all of the “right foods” and yet never lose weight if you eat them in the “wrong amounts.”

This is why thinking of your caloric allotment for the day as a monetary budget can be a very helpful analogy for fat loss.

THINK OF YOUR CALORIC INTAKE AS A MONETARY BUDGET

We’re going to start thinking about calories like dollars.

To start, let’s use an example of someone with a maintenance calorie intake of 2,500 calories, and let’s say their goal is to lose weight.

We’ll also use a direct conversion of calories to dollars for the sake of making this analogy as easy to understand as possible.

So now, instead of eating 2,500 calories per day, we’re going to think of our example person as spending $2,500 per day.

Sound fun?

Just pretend our example person is Warren Buffet for a moment.

The first thing we need to do is tailor their new budget to their goal.

In this analogy, think of saving money as losing fat.

So, if we want to lose fat by 10%, all we need to do is reduce their daily spending by 10%, which would shift their current budget of $2,500 per day to a more prudent $2,250 per day.

Over the course of a week, they would save about $1,750. And, over the course of a month, they would save about $7,000, which is about two pounds of fat once we abandon our analogy.

And this is essentially exactly how weight loss works.

It’s like you’re a little kid being given an allowance of $2,250 per day and you can spend it however you want, but…

Once it’s gone, it’s gone.

To further the analogy, that means that spending more than your allotted $2,250 per day means you’ve put yourself in debt, and debt (in this particular analogy) negates any weight loss attempt and could even lead to weight gain depending on the magnitude of that debt.

The more debt you accrue, the more unwanted body fat you accumulate.

Interestingly enough, buying things on credit is a thing when it comes to dieting for fat loss, but credit (in this analogy) is stored body fat.

And finally, perhaps one of the most important implications of this analogy is that it really doesn’t matter how you spend your money as long as you stay within the budget.

Hear me out.

Some might be tempted to think it’s “better” to spend your budgeted money on things like your mortgage, utilities, food for your family, and clothes to put on their backs, but you technically could go spend it on strippers and cocaine as long as you can afford it.

Stick with me.

But it’s only “better” in the sense that it’s better for your overall wellbeing. Most people would probably agree that the way to flourish in life probably isn’t to spend your evenings frequenting seedy nightclubs and “doing lines” off of Tiffany’s lower back.

But it’s technically not “better” if the goal is simply to stay within your budget (at least in the short-term).

That being said, if you have a goal of staying within your budget and living a responsible life, then you would be smart to consider your purchases as more than “just pennies.”

So I’ll say it again.

It really doesn’t matter (much) how your spend your money if your only goal is to stay within the budget.

And this is the essence of flexible dieting, which is a popular dietary pattern that communicates this very same idea within the context of food.

WHAT’S FLEXIBLE DIETING?

Flexible dieting or the “If It Fits Your Macros” (IIFYM) movement says that…

If your caloric budget for the day is 2,250 calories, you really are free to consume those calories from whichever food sources you please if weight loss is all you care about (which is an important caveat).

Jelly-filled donuts? Yep.

Pizza? Yep.

Burgers and fries? If you must.

Cake and ice cream? Yes!

However, if you want that lean, hard-body look that we help people achieve here at IVRY, you’ll need to make sure you’re ticking a few more important boxes within your flexible dieting routine.

After all, there’s a big difference between weight loss and body recomposition.

It’s probably good to mention too that a flexible dieting approach doesn’t take your health into consideration either, which is why I prefer to encourage people to eat a whole food, plant-based diet as much as possible.

So what’s the takeaway from this section of the article?

Calories matter most for weight loss. Consume them however you please within your caloric allotment.

The Truth about Which Foods Are “Best” for Weight Loss

Once you understand that weight loss is mostly about the manipulation of your overall caloric intake, you’ll slowly realize that the only intelligent answer to the question regarding which foods are “best” for weight loss is…

That there are no specific foods that you should eat to lose weight.

I hope this is powerful and illuminating!

But, there are, of course, foods that tend to make weight loss much easier and more sustainable due to a few reasons:

• They're naturally lower in calories.

• They're voluminous.

• They're satiating, which means they leave you feeling full for longer.

• They’re usually plants.

• They work really well for your own personal preferences and lifestyle.

In my opinion, the following list of foods fit most of these categories I’ve just mentioned.

Do you have to eat them? No.

Should you feel limited to only eat these foods? Not at all.

If anything, I’m just giving you a brief peek into my own life and the foods I personally choose to consume on a regular basis in order to maintain my lean, hard-body physique.

And, if you didn’t already know, I do eat a 100% plant-based diet, which means you won’t see any animal products in the list below (although you certainly can use them to lose weight).

FOODS I EAT MOST often FOR FAT LOSS AND MUSCLE GAIN

• Oats

• Berries like strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries

• Other fruits like bananas, mangos, and cherries

• Plant “milks” like soy “milk” and almond “milk”

• Nuts like walnuts, pecans, and pistachios

• Nut butters like peanut butter and almond butter

• Seeds like hemp seeds, chia seeds, flax seeds, and pumpkin seeds

• Enormous salads made primarily with a spring mix or spinach

• Tahini

• Tofu and tempeh

• Sweet potatoes

• Vegetables of all kinds

• Rice (or quinoa) and bean combinations

• Burritos

• Chickpea and lentil-based pastas

• Nutritional yeast

• Chilis

• Plant-based protein powders

• Plant-based protein bars

And there are certainly many more, but this is just a list of the major players.

Remember, the reason it's good to focus on foods that are low-calorie, voluminous, and filling is because being in a caloric deficit is what drives weight loss, and foods with these qualities make it easier to maintain being in a caloric deficit for as long as it takes for you to get rid of your unwanted fat.

That being said, you can totally enjoy less “traditional” dieting foods like pizza or ice cream or brownies as long as you stay within your caloric budget.

At the end of the day, calories matter most for weight loss.

You don't need to make it any more complicated than that unless you’re interested in optimizing your weight loss effort and your health.

Summary

• There are no foods you should consume for weight loss since calories matter most for weight loss. It’s primarily a discussion of “how much” versus “which foods.”

  • That being said, I personally think everyone would benefit from a health perspective from eating most of their calories from whole or minimally-processed plant foods.

  • It’s important to remember that weight loss and improved health are not always synonymous.

• It can be helpful to think of weight loss in terms of a monetary budget.

• It’s probably easiest to lose weight when you consume the majority of your calories from plant foods that are naturally low in calories, voluminous, and satiating.

  • This also probably leads to better health outcomes, but this is outside of the scope of this particular article and beyond my expertise.

• Certain foods like pizza, burgers, fries, and ice creams can be difficult to incorporate into a weight loss effort due to their caloric density, but it’s still doable when your overall caloric intake is kept in check.

  • This is commonly referred to as flexible dieting, and can be a very useful strategy for many people.

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I really enjoyed writing this short article, so if you found it helpful, do me a favor and send it to that person in your life who seems eternally perplexed about why they can’t ditch their muffin top for a trimmer midline.

Until next time,

-Andrew

How to Improve Your Body Composition Without Tracking Calories

Once upon a time, I wrote an article about why caloric deficits are overhyped, and the summary was generally this:

Most of us want to have leaner and more muscular bodies, and yet a disproportionate amount of enthusiasm and marketing in the fitness space go toward calorie deficits instead of modest caloric surpluses or eating at maintenance.

And I'm really no one to talk. I find myself tooting the caloric deficit horn much more than the surplus horn.

Why?

Because most people are chubby and like the idea of losing some fat immediately as a boost of confidence that they're moving in the right direction.

Right! That makes a lot of sense, and that approach is still going to work really well for most people.

But there's another way for another crowd that you just might fall into, and it’s likely why this article piqued your interest in the first place.

You want to know how to improve your body composition without tracking calories.

Personally, I think that’s wonderful.

In fact, if I had it my way, everyone would be working toward how to eat an abundance of nutrient-dense foods while pursuing a healthy bodyweight and body composition.

Why do I say this?

Although tracking calories meticulously for fat loss can be extremely effective, it’s not all rose petals and bubblebaths.

In fact, it can be quite the opposite when done poorly.

To illustrate that point, let's start by briefly addressing a frustrating yet very common reality for a lot of people who plunge headfirst into the “deficit or die” mentality when it comes to tracking calories.

WHY TRACKING CALORIES FOR improved body composition can be frustrating

Tracking calories works, but...

• The problem with tracking calories is that you start to think about food as just calories.

• And being in a calorie deficit usually implies eating fewer calories than you might like.

• So to maximize food volume, you start doing weird things to eat fewer calories like making Frankenstein French toast with low calorie bread, sugar-free syrup, and egg whites.

• And then your energy starts to decrease because you're depriving yourself of energy on purpose (and eating weird foods that might be void of any real nutritional value).

• You become afraid of bananas because they're the "highest calorie fruit!" Gah!

• And peanut butter is the devil because fat! Gah!

• And then all of sudden you’re the weird guy or gal who eats weird things in the name of “fitness.”

• And then going to the gym becomes a real pain in the bum because "you just don't feel like it."

• And then your training starts to suck. You're not getting stronger. You’re actually getting weaker. And you've maybe lost a few pounds, but you're still soft, chubby, and unhappy.

• And then you order 47 Papa John's pizzas and a birthday cake to yourself on a Friday night and never see the gym again.

That last bullet point is a bit of a joke, obviously, but hopefully you see the truth in the comedy.

Let me just pause briefly and remind you that doing the above absolutely works if all you care about is losing fat.

And that's not me trying to passively shame you into being "that person.” It’s totally fine to care about losing the fat above all else.

In fact, that above list is exactly what I did to lose 31 pounds and land myself the physique you see here.

So it definitely works. And I'm not taking a dig at it at all. I'm just being objective about the pros and cons while trying to make a specific point.

But again, we’re here to talk about how to avoid tracking calories while still making meaningful progress in improving our body compositions.

Are you ready for it?

Here it is:

Start training really hard while eating an abundance of whole foods without tracking a single calorie.

Some of you may be thinking, "That sounds reckless! All of this banter about how calories matter most for looking like Ken and Barbie and now you're telling me to eat in abundance. Lies!"

Let me explain.

Why not tracking calories for improved body composition might be better for some people

• From day one there is no notion of unnecessary restriction. In fact, the only restriction in this game is that you're bound only to whole, minimally processed foods. In other words, this is "clean eating" for lack of a better term. Vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, seeds, whole grains, and lean proteins.

• That's cool because being restricted is annoying. But I've found that being restricted to certain categories of food is more fun than being restricted to certain quantities of food. You might be different, and that would be totally fine. I'm just making that point.

• It's also cool because now you get to focus on your health instead of math. You're only eating whole foods, so there's a really good chance the nutrient density of your diet goes way up! That's great.

• You're also probably eating much more fiber now because you may have traded in a microwavable Lean Pocket for a bowl of oats with berries and soy milk.

• You're also probably not binging anymore because you can't really binge on "healthy food," you know? Seriously, grab yourself a bowl of brown rice, steamed veggies, and tofu and see how wild things get. I doubt they get very wild.

• So now you just have to train hard and effectively! If you need some direction on what that means, click here.

• Training hard is more fun now because you actually have energy to push around big weights. Yes, I am suggesting that a diet of oats and berries for breakfast might make you feel better and more energetic than frosted donuts and a whey shake.

• In fact, maybe you really start to enjoy training because you're seeing the numbers go up. Good vibes!

• And you're catching pumps in the gym. Ladies, the legs and the glutes are growing! Fellas, you just noticed a juicy new bicep vein in your right arm.

• And then you move from 3x per week in the gym to 4x to week in the gym because it feels like medicine and you're actually learning to love the process.

• And then all of a sudden you've been crushing your gym sessions for a month without having tracked a single calorie.

• Maybe you weigh the exact same, but you've built muscle underneath!

• Or maybe you weigh less "on accident" because you started fueling your body with pure goodness instead of occasional junk, and the sum effect of it all was a reduction in scale weight.

• Or maybe you weigh more because you're building muscle while eating like a beast.

• And slowly but surely you get leaner and more muscular through the simple practices of eating exclusively nutritious foods and then using that energy to fuel your increasingly productive training sessions.

That's what a life without calorie-tracking could look like.

CONS OF NOT TRACKING YOUR CALORIES

The obvious cons to this strategy might be:

• That you're not guaranteed any systematic fat loss results. I want to make this very clear. You can absolutely eat more than you need to even while eating a whole food diet, but it's just less likely to happen than in the context of a diet littered with pizza, burgers, ice creams, and donuts. This could be frustrating to some people with a very specific goal, but my guess is that some people would actually enjoy the freedom of the motto, "Eat in abundance. Train like a freak." I know I sure do.

  • The key here is not to make obvious mistakes like sitting down to watch a TV show with a jar of peanut butter or a back of pistachios. We all know nuts and nut butters are healthful food choices, but they are also very calorically-dense, which means you need to be careful to consume them in moderation.

• You also have to actually train hard and intelligently. The caveat here is that you might gain some unwanted fat if you only adopt the eating portion of this framework. Or you might not! I still think it would be a great step in the right direction regarding your overall health, but if you think that's a con, this approach might not be for you.

PROS OF NOT TRACKING YOUR CALORIES

The pros (in my opinion) are:

• You're free to eat foods without looking at them like numbers! That can be so freeing for a lot of people.

• You then start to see your dietary freedom as a motivator for training hard! Speaking personally, I’ve gone through phases when I was eating 4,000 calories per day (which I never thought would be the case), which means I was able to show up to the gym with purpose every day. It's like, "Okay, 4,000 calories per day? I literally have no excuse not to wreck this workout. Game on." What a fun way to train!

• You have an abundance mindset instead of a scarcity mindset.

• Your health and fitness get top priority instead of the mirror and/or the comments from friends and co-workers.

• It's suited well for people who are willing to embrace habits-based change and long-term improvements.

The question then becomes, “How do you want to live?”

If you decide you would prefer the systematic results of a tracking approach, that’s great! Seriously, it’s amazing approach for a lot of people (including me in certain seasons of training).

On the other hand, if you decide you like the idea of focusing purely on the consumption of nutrient-dense whole foods while training with purpose, that’s also great!

I have done both and will continue to utilize both as needed depending on my specific goals.

Similarly, the point is to make an educated decision about what is most likely to work best for you.

How to Take Action If You Don’t Want to Track Calories

• Commit yourself to eating only (or mostly) whole foods.

  • This means getting nearly all of your calories from vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, nuts, seeds, avocados, and lean proteins.

• If you like to snack aimlessly, try to snack mostly on vegetables and fruits instead of fats like nuts and seeds.

  • Nuts and seeds have amazing health benefits, but you’ll always want to consume them in moderation to help minimize the risk of caloric overconsumption.

  • Some good options would be carrots and celery or apples and oranges.

• Drink mostly if not exclusively water with maybe black coffee or tea.

• Make sure you have a great training program. If you don’t know where to start, click here.

• Try to sleep and reduce stress as much as you can.

  • We didn’t discuss these in this article, but these two in tandem seem to be the mostly commonly neglected step-children in the context of successful body recomposition efforts.

Summary

Remember that you don't have to put yourself in a specifically-calculated calorie deficit from day one.

You can keep it very simple by eating lots of nutritious whole foods and training effectively and with purpose.

I can almost guarantee that the results in due time will come and that you’ll be happier than ever.

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Thanks for reading! I really hope you were able to take something meaningful away from this article.

If you feel like it brought you any value at all, consider sending it to a friend or family member - especially someone whose lifestyle just simply doesn’t allow for a life of food scales and perfectly-tailored macro splits.

Later, guys.

-Andrew

Why Caloric Deficits Are Overhyped

I think caloric deficits are overhyped.

No, this is not clickbait, and I'm prepared to explain why through a series of observations.

Why Caloric Deficits Are Overhyped

Observation 1: We All Want to Look Better Naked.

Most people in the fitness industry share a very similar goal in that they want to look better naked and feel more confident in their own skin.

Usually this means building muscle in certain areas and losing fat in other areas.

Most women want strong legs, plump glutes, and a flat tummy while most guys want broad shoulders, big arms, and six-pack abs.

I say this because these are by far the most commonly referenced physical attributes when I ask people about their goals.

Simply put, people want to look “hot.”

So we could summarize this point by saying that most people, by their own admission, believe that their bodies would appear the most attractive with the following characteristics:

• An appreciable amount of muscle mass

• Relatively low body fat

Observation 2: We All Want to Eat Plenty of Food.

My second observation is that most people also want to eat a good amount of food and enjoy life abundantly.

Consider how often we find ourselves in social situations centered on food and drink.

Fellas, have you ever had a jacked friend who seemed to be able to show up to a night out, crush a pizza, down a few beers, and stay as lean and muscular as ever?

Ladies, have you ever been jealous of “that one girl” whose body always seems to be perfect even though she can eat seemingly whatever she wants?

Most of us have, and I would argue that it’s a wildly enticing state of being.

It’s the desire to be able to eat without restriction while looking as amazing as possible, and it’s essentially the crux of my second point.

So, combined with that first observation, you're left with someone who wants to build muscle, lose fat, and eat in abundance.

I actually refer to this as the “golden zone” with my clients.

The “golden zone” is when you’ve trained and eaten strategically for long enough to be confidently lean while eating plenty of food on a day to day basis.

It’s the combination of being lean and have a high maintenance-calorie intake.

Now let’s move onto my third observation.

Observation 3: We’re All Being Told to Eat Less.

Most people in the fitness industry are obsessed with getting shredded or unsustainably lean, which has lead to a disproportionate level of attention given to caloric deficits.

Maybe you see where I'm going with this.

The problem here is that building muscle optimally actually requires most people to be eating in a slight surplus - not a deficit.

But the confusion comes from a very understandable place.

Most people are overweight or even obese when they begin, which means a caloric deficit is absolutely an appropriate first step (usually) in terms of burning some fat.

Let me make that very clear. I’m not saying that caloric deficits are overhyped because they don’t work. They definitely work when understood and applied properly and consistently.

The problem is that too many people never properly transition out of a caloric deficit into other phases of dieting (like maintenance periods and strategic weight gain periods).

In fact, I would argue that most of your body recomposition journey should be spent eating slightly above maintenance if you want to get increasingly muscular over time.

Why?

Because aside from very early beginnings in fitness, you don't really build a meaningful amount of muscle while eating beneath your body's needs.

Plus, it’s well known that the quality of your training dictates the quality of your fitness and physique outcomes.

Low quality training? Less exciting physical adaptations.

Extremely high quality training? Maximally exciting physical adaptations.

You can only grow your chest so much as a man who eats 1,500 calories per day just like you can only grow your glutes so much as a woman who eats 1,000 calories per day.

Long-term, the fuel simply will not be there to support the quality of training required to produce the quality of outcomes you desire.

This leads me to my next thought.

The “Chasing Two Rabbits” Analogy

It's much like the analogy of chasing two rabbits and catching none.

Let’s say you have two adorable rabbits in an open meadow. You set them both down to run freely and enjoy themselves, but then you realize you miss cuddling them and want to pick them up again.

In the beginning, you can actually clone yourself and chase both rabbits and catch both of them. It's super cool!

But after a while, you lose your superpower to clone yourself and you have to pick one or the other.

You can chase the fat loss and muscle retention rabbit or you can chase the fat gain and muscle gain rabbit.

To be fair, you can still choose to chase the recomposition bunny once you’ve lost your cloning superpowers, but it’s a far slower pursuit that many find discouraging.

The idea here is that you can’t eat in a caloric deficit indefinitely and while continuing to build more and more muscle mass.

At some point, you will probably have to choose between eating more and gaining more muscle or eating less and severely limiting your muscle gain.

What’s the Takeaway Here?

Here's the point.

Caloric deficits are overhyped in the sense that the fitness industry spends too much time talking about how to get into them and not enough time talking about how to get out of them and onto more glorious and healthful muscle-building endeavors.

If you're overweight right now but someday you want to be jacked and lean, think of your initial fat loss phase as a bank robbery. Get in and get out.

Once you've lost an appropriate amount of initial body fat, start eating more food, training harder, chasing performance improvements and strength gains, and improving your metabolism.

I fear that too many people are under the impression that eating in a caloric deficit is a permanent endeavor rather than a means to an end.

Let me say that again. Eating in a caloric deficit should always be a means to an end.

In other words, get into your caloric deficit, lose the fat, and then move on to strategic phases of maintenance eating and even eating in a modest surplus.

In time, you'll be eating way more, sporting a thriving metabolism, flourishing in the gym, and looking leaner and more built than you ever have before.

And that's a really good feeling.

Fortunately, I know this is possible because I've done it myself.

In 2019 I was a very unflattering 200 pounds and eating 2,300 calories per day.

Now, I can maintain a much leaner and muscle-bound 190-pound physique while consuming upwards of 3,000 calories per day.

Which would you prefer?

It's safe to say I prefer the latter, but the choice is yours.

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As always I hope you found this article helpful!

If you feel like this brought you any value at all, consider sending it to a friend or family member - especially someone who might be struggling with the despair of living life in a perma-deficit.

Later, guys.

-Andrew

7 Reminders to Keep Things Simple for Muscle Gain and Fat Loss

The fitness industry is always buzzing with controversy and confusion, which makes it easy to chase headlines and dabble in new ideas while neglecting the fundamentals. 

In light of that temptation, this article is a quick list of how to keep things simple for the long-run while seeing consistent and encouraging improvements in your body composition.

If you are not doing any of these and your goal is to get that lean yet muscular, hard-body look, you'd be smart to ask yourself, "Do I really have a good reason for making this more complicated?" 

There are often good reasons for complexity, but make sure you challenge them thoroughly before you abandon simplicity. 

And if you’ve stumbled onto this article because you’re brand new to the idea of body recomposition, these seven reminders are the perfect place to start.

7 Reminders to Keep Things Simple for Muscle Gain and Fat Loss

1. You need to be getting stronger over time in the main movement patterns to grow muscle.

This is what we call progressive overload.

Transparently, this is probably the one strength training and body recomposition principle I have personally neglected the most, which is a shame considering I’ve given it the number one slot. 

For whatever reason, I have always been more attracted to the pursuit of accumulating increased volume through additional sets over the pursuit of putting more weight on the bar.

And although increasing your work capacity over time can be a powerful driver of muscle growth, most would agree that it should be accompanied by a gradual increase in absolute load over time as well. 

Long story short, keep things simple by focusing on getting meaningfully stronger in some kind of squat, hinge, lunge, push, pull, and row pattern over time. 

If you’re looking for specific exercise recommendations within those categories, I would point you to the following:

• Squat: Heel-Elevated Smith Machine Squat to Full Depth

• Hinge: Romanian Deadlift 

• Lunge/Thrust: Reverse Barbell Lunges

• Push: Barbell Bench Press

• Pull: Weighted Pull-Ups

• Row: Barbell Bent Over Rows 

If you were to consistently add weight to all of those movements over the next five years without doing any other exercise, I’d be willing to bet you’d be a very muscular person assuming proper diet and recovery.

This goes for both men and women. 

2. You need to be doing enough challenging sets of mostly 6-20 reps within a few reps of failure to grow muscle consistently over time. 

In other words, you need to make sure you’re training with sufficient volume.

I think 12-20 sets per muscle group per week is the sweet spot for growing muscle consistently over time, but even I can admit that this seems like a large, ambiguous range.

“Well, is it 12 sets or is it 20? And how do I know what’s appropriate for me?”

In my opinion, the best way to identify the “perfect” number of sets to complete per week per body part is to start conservatively low at 10 sets per week and move upward from there as recovery allows. 

For example, if you want to grow your quads, you could split up your weekly quad volume into three different movements. We’ll use the following exercises for this example. 

1. Barbell Back Squat

2. Hack Squat

3. Leg Extensions

Given our goal of distributing 10 sets sensibly across those 3 movements, I might choose to delegate the volume as you see below:

1. Barbell Back Squat (4 sets) on Monday 

2. Hack Squat (3 sets) on Thursday

3. Leg Extensions (3 sets) on Thursday

Without going into too much detail regarding the “why” behind that distribution of set volume, this would be a logical and evidence-based baseline of training if your goal is to grow your quads. 

“So how do you know when it’s appropriate to add more sets?” 

If you can overload your sessions modestly and progressively while clearing nearly all of your muscle soreness by the next time you train your quads each time per week, I think you would be justified to add more sets. 

For example, maybe I find that the 4 sets of Barbell Back Squats on Monday are actually very fatiguing and soreness-inducing to the point that it takes Tuesday and Wednesday to recover fully. In that case, I would not add sets to that Monday session. But if I felt completely recovered by Tuesday evening, I would consider adding a fifth set of Barbell Back Squats the following week.

3. You should probably be eating most of your calories from whole food sources while keeping processed foods to a minimum.

There is no need to make this one more complicated than it needs to be. 

Although you can certainly enjoy “junk foods” and highly-processed treats from time to time, those who consistently see improvements in their physique and overall well-being over the long-term tend to be those who prioritize basic nutrition practices rooted primarily in a whole food diet.

Vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, teas, and lean proteins should probably make up the majority of your diet.

Bonus Reminder: I’d also like to throw in a bonus reminder here that you don’t have to eat meat or animal products of any kind to build muscle effectively, which means the “No Meat No Gains” motto from of old doesn’t need to be a guiding principle in your body recomposition journey.

If you’re curious about how to make the transition to a more plant-based life, email me personally at andrewwesleywhite@gmail.com with the subject line “Let’s Chat Plants.”

4. You need to consume an adequate amount of protein. 

To be honest, I've really been challenging the notion of ultra-high protein diets lately, so I think it makes sense for each individual to experiment with what seems to work best for them. 

In the evidence-based body recomposition community, most people agree that eating around 0.7-1g of protein per pound of lean body mass is sufficient to maximize muscle growth outcomes. 

Within that overall daily target, it’s probably a good idea to spread that protein across 3-6 meals depending on your lifestyle, preferences, and how much protein you need to consume to support your goals. 

Making it more complicated than that likely won’t yield any additional benefits. 

What do I do personally?

You can read more about my own plant-based dietary approach during gaining phases here, but I generally eat 3-4 high-protein meals per day with an emphasis on pre-workout and post-workout nutrition.

5. Your caloric consumption needs to match your goal. 

If you're trying to lose fat, you'll need to be in a modest caloric deficit.

If you're looking to build muscle, you'll need to be eating at maintenance (at the very least) or in a modest caloric surplus. 

If your caloric deficit is too aggressive, you risk burnout, unnecessarily decreased performance in the gym, and muscle loss.

If your caloric surplus is too aggressive, you risk gaining too much fat too quickly and reducing the overall productivity of your muscle gain phases. 

It’s that simple. 

If you need help determining those numbers for yourself, I would highly recommend reaching out to us for online coaching.

6. You need to be taking responsibility for your sleep quality. You can only train and grow as hard as you can recover.

It seems like no one in the fitness industry wants to talk about sleep quality because you can’t monetize it as easily as training programs and nutrition plans.

But you need to let your muscles and systems recover in order to introduce increasingly powerful stimuli over time.

Practically speaking, most research that I’ve seen over the years suggests that most people recover near optimally when sleeping between 7-9 hours per night. 

Although this won’t be possible for everyone in every season of life, its importance is certainly worth mentioning so that you can optimize it when possible.

In other words, there’s a big difference between losing sleep because you have a newborn versus losing sleep because you’re out partying or binging Netflix.

7. You can lose all of the fat you want simply by walking. You can make it more complex or intense than that, but you don't have to. 

As sexy as it may be to design a program that has you rowing on Mondays, biking on Tuesdays, swimming on Wednesdays, and sprinting on Thursdays, anything more complicated than a strategic walking plan is unnecessary for fat loss. 

Can you make it more complicated? Absolutely. 

Is there a place for more complicated methodologies for some people? Absolutely.

I’m just highlighting the reality that, if you want to, you can tailor your diet and training in a way that allows you to walk your way to your fat loss goal.

In fact, I wrote an in-depth article about exactly how to leverage walking to your fat loss advantage, so give that a read if you’re interested in learning more.

Conclusion 

How you get the physique of your dreams can be very simple. 

Does that mean it will be easy? Absolutely not. But the principles are simple and most effective when repeated and manipulated strategically over time. 

In fact, if I had to try to put all seven of those statements into one sentence, it would be something like this:

Getting lean and muscular is the result of progressively overloading the main movement patterns of squatting, hinging, pushing, and pulling while strategically manipulating your food selection, overall caloric consumption, and recovery within periodized phases of varied focus over time. 

Screenshot that for the moment you’re tempted to jump ship for Keto 3000 and Johnny Bravo’s latest Arm Blitz Split to add 6 inches to your biceps in 6 weeks.

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Thanks for reading, everyone! I sincerely hope you enjoyed the content and learned something.

If you feel like this blog brought you any value at all, consider sending it to a friend or family member!

Cheers, everyone!

-Andrew

"Should I Eat Low-Carb to Lose Fat?"

The tabloids and internet advertisements have us all wondering:

Should you eat low-carb or low-fat if you want to lose body fat and look lean and jacked?

Which one is it?

This is an immensely loaded question, but I'm going to keep it short and sweet.

Do What Is Sustainable and Feels Best

My extremely unsexy yet honest answer is that I think you should probably do what makes you feel best in context of your day to day energy, dietary preference, and performance in the gym.

Second to that, make sure this is something you do long-term. In other words, set your own adherence up for success in choosing a macronutrient distribution that you’re confident you can maintain for months and years.

But why? Shouldn’t there be a more definitive answer to this?

Not really, and this is why:

Looking lean and jacked is about having lost enough body fat to look lean and having built enough muscle to look jacked. And, since you can lose body fat and build muscle on both low-carb and low-fat diets, it doesn’t make much to heavily bias one over the other for most recreational lifters.

That being said, most physique and bodybuilders would agree that a high-carb, low-fat approach is best if you’re interested in building the most muscle possible due to the anabolic benefits of carbohydrates.

But this may not be you.

You might not be interested in “optimally jacked,” but you are interested in losing some body fat and building some muscle in a sustainable way because you don’t want to be a fluffy father or a mushy mommy.

So this brings me back to my initial point. It’s probably a good idea to do what allows for long-term adherence and feels best to you on a daily basis.

Questions to Ask Yourself

For example, these could be some helpful questions to ask yourself:

• Do you feel really good when you eat a higher carb diet?

• Do you naturally enjoy eating more carbs than fats?

• Do meals heavy in fat make you feel sluggish?

Or is it the reverse?

• Do fats keep you noticeably satiated and energetic throughout the day?

• Does eating fat give you a great mental clarity in the morning?

In my opinion, it might be as straight-forward as paying attention to the answers of those simple questions and acting accordingly.

As long as you are respecting essential levels of healthy fat consumption per day, which most experts in the field define as around 0.35x your body weight (in pounds) in grams of fat per day, I don't think it's worth overcomplicating your macronutrient distribution beyond that.

In practical terms, I think a conservative lower end for most men is around 50g per day while women can eat a bit less around 35-40g per day.

So to be clear, I think most people should distribute their macros in a way that allows them to enjoy their diet maximally while feeling and performing optimally. 

5 Reasons I Prefer High-Carb Dietary Patterns for Looking Better Naked

But, what do I do personally? What helped me lose my 31 pounds?

My bias is 100% toward high-carb, low-fat dieting, and here's why:

#1: All of My Favorite Foods Are Carbs

I freaking love carbs. I used to eat up to 6 bowls of Honey Bunches of Oats before bed each night. In fact, most days I'm actually trying to figure out how to add more fats into my diet to get to 50-60g of fat per day. 

So this first point comes down to preference and nothing else.

All of my favorite foods are carbs: sweet potatoes, white potatoes, oats, rice, quinoa, pasta, beans, bananas, berries, cereals, etc.

And now that I’ve made the transition to eating a predominantly whole food plant-based diet, it’s easier than ever to bias my macronutrients heavily in favor of carbohydrates over fats. 

#2: Carbs Make My Muscles Look Like Big Balloons 

Carbs create that full muscle effect that makes your guns look like freshly inflated balloons due to intramuscular water retention. 

When I keep my carbs low, I just look deflated. I don't like looking deflated. I like filling out my t-shirts.

If I enjoyed looking deflated all of the time, I’d probably take up marathon running. That’s no shade thrown at my long-distance brothers and sisters, but let’s call it how it is. There aren’t too many marathon runners out there experiencing restricted blood flow to their forearms because the sleeves on their t-shirts are inadvertently functioning as a tourniquet. 

Here’s a professional photo of me on more than 600g of carbohydrates the day of the photoshoot.

#3: Carbs Give Me Nasty Pumps at the Gym

High-carb dieting gives me sick pumps in the gym due to topped off glycogen stores. I like sick pumps in the gym, so I eat high-carb. Makes sense, right?

I also think there is a powerful psychological component here.

There’s an old adage that goes something like this: look good, feel good, play good. And as simple as it may sound, I think there’s quite a bit of truth there.

If you’ve ever had a skin-splitting pump in the gym, you probably know exactly what I’m talking about. When you catch a pump, you feel invincible. So what happens? You really start to connect both mentally and physically to the session. With each curl, you drive more and more blood into the biceps until you can’t help but sneak off to the group classroom and snatch a shameless selfie like I did in the photo you see here.

To summarize, I really think half of the fun of lifting weights is chasing the pump and feeling confident in your own skin, which is bound to produce other positive outcomes in both your psychology and your physique.

#4: Carbs Keep Me Feeling High-Energy

I just feel generally low energy when I eat high-fat and restrict my carb intake. Even when calories are equated, I just don't feel the same. 

There’s really no better feeling to me than smashing an enormous salad with berries, hemp seeds, and Italian dressing. Or even a Mexican-inspired bowl of rice or quinoa topped with a medley of beans, corn, tomatoes, and just a touch of avocado.

But again, this is just personal to me. You may not feel the same way, and there are plenty of intelligent people in the industry pushing for a higher-fat, ketogenic approach.  

#5: Carbs Seem to Help Me Stay Focused

I have a great mental focus when I'm eating carbs. I know some people swear by fat (and good for them), but I swear by carbs. Pick your poison.

I’m really not trying to tell you what to do. I’m just telling you what I do and what I’ve found success in over the years. 

For example, smash an enormous 800-calorie bowl of oatmeal in the morning can oftentimes sustain my mental focus through the lunch hour (without food) and well into the late afternoon.

If you need inspiration, check out this recent upload from my phone because you know I take pictures of my oatmeal like first-time parents take photos of their children.

"What does high-carb mean though? Give me some numbers!"

I do like giving people specific numbers, so when I talk about high-carb dieting I'm essentially talking about maximally high-carb dieting. In other words, I keep fats as low as possible (while maintaining general health parameters) to maximize the anabolic benefits of carbs.

My Current High-Carb Diet

Right now, my macros are 120-150P, 50-60F, and 500-600C, and you can check out this recent full day of eating in Cronometer for a more in-depth look.

But keep in mind that this comes in context of my personal body, my personal metabolism, my personal phase of training, my personal phase of dieting, and my personal preferences. 

Do not take my macros and try to implement them into your own life with the hopes of achieving the same success I have had.

That’s just not how it works.

If, however, you are interested in calculating your own macros for fat loss or muscle gain, send us an email and let’s set up a consultation call. If that sounds too scary, I highly recommend this article I wrote about how to know if you’re ready to hire an online body recomposition coach.

Lastly, if you want an additional “non-me” resource on the benefits of high-carb eating, check out this article by Dr. Mike Israetel.

I love Dr. Mike, and even though this article is written in the context of massing (or bulking), the ideas apply across all phases of training and dieting assuming no outstanding medical issues. It's an absolute smash of a write-up, so I highly recommend the read. 

Summary

• Which style of eating makes you feel good and perform well? Do that probably.

• Eating high-carb instead of high-fat tends to be more popular among physique sport enthusiasts and bodybuilders.

• I am personally biased toward high-carb, minimal fat approaches.

• I personally lost 31 pounds eating high-carb in context of a caloric deficit.

  • I just toss that in there to say that I was still maximizing carbs (although much lower than usual) while dieting for extended fat loss.

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Thanks for reading, everyone! I sincerely hope you enjoyed the content and learned something.

If you feel like this blog brought you any value at all, consider sending it to a friend or family member!

And, if you're interested in working with me one-on-one, visit The Vegan Gym and apply for coaching. I’ve had nothing but success in guiding people toward their fat loss goals.

Cheers, everyone!

-Andrew

"Which Protein Bar Should I Buy?"

Let's chat briefly about protein bars.

We all know what it’s like to casually stroll into the health market section of a grocery store in search of a protein snack just to be met by a seemingly endless selection of sometimes 50 or more protein bars.

It can be intense, overwhelming, and discouraging, and I wouldn’t be surprised if some people wind up leaving those aisles just as soon as they’ve entered in hot pursuit of a Cosmic Brownie and a bag of chips instead.

So, which protein bars should you buy?

That’s a great question, but let’s first talk about what I mean when I personally use the word “should.”

Every “should” you will ever hear from me will be accompanied by a disclaimer that answers the question, “Why?”

I’m a big believer that anyone telling anyone what they “should” do would be well-suited to have a good reason for suggesting such things. In other words, when there’s a “should,” I always provide a “why.”

So, the only sense in which you “should” take my advice on which protein bars to buy is if you want to optimize your body composition in the most efficient and sustainable way possible.

I want to be clear that buying and consuming protein bars without a nuanced understanding of the goal behind the behavior is not an automatic ticket to “looking better naked” or even being a healthier person overall.

And, remember I don't write for general fitness or health tips usually - this is about body recomposition, which means gaining muscle and losing body fat over the long term to reshape the integrity of your body.

Sound good?

So if you want to change the shape of your body by ditching body fat and building lean mass over the long term, this is my advice to you regarding protein bars.

Tips for Buying Protein Bars When Body Recomposition Is the Goal

Tip 1 - Try to get 20-40g of protein if possible.

To me, the most important thing to look for is that you're getting at least 20g of protein from the bar or that you're eating the bar with another protein source that gets you to that 20g minimum threshold.

We don't need to get too much into the science, but research tends to show that eating protein in doses of 20-40g per eating event stimulates near optimal muscle growth signaling through muscle protein synthesis.

Basically, if you’re going to eat protein, you might as well eat at least 20g of it per sitting to make it worth your while.

That being said, it's not an on/off switch, so you haven't "failed" if you only get something like 15g or 17g. That is certainly better than no protein at all.

In fact, most mainstream protein bars won't have 20g, which means you’ll probably have to do a bit of searching.

It'll be the ones that seem to be marketed a bit more to the bros that have 20-35g, which actually makes a lot of sense.

Bros want muscle, so bros eat more protein. You want muscle, so now you're a bro by a loose application of the transitive property, which means it’s time to level up your protein consumption per meal.

Why settle for 17g when you go for something more optimal?

So make sure you’re getting 20-40g of protein from your bars if you’re interested in maximizing your lean tissue accumulation.

Tip 2 - Do the calories fit your goal and overall eating strategy?

Make sure the calories make sense in context of your full day of eating, which needs to be tailored to your overall goal.

For example, you might find a protein bar that passes the protein test of 20-40g, but it might also be packing way too many calories if your goal is fat loss.

That means that bar isn't a good fit for you!

I have the perfect, real-life example.

Check out these Super Cookie Crunch Bars from MET-Rx that Josh and I used to pound.

You'll notice that they advertise a robust 32g of protein, which is great, right? It ticks our first box.

But they aren't advertising the calories, which are a hefty 420 calories per bar.

Yikes!

And although I can't offer anyone a magical number of calories that an ideal protein bar “should” contain, I can tell you with confidence that 420 calories per bar is probably going to be too many calories for most fat loss dieters (even men) unless you’re using it as a meal replacement bar as the brand recommends.

Even then though, the numbers just don’t add up well, and I’ll show you how.

Let's take some of my exact numbers for example. At the tail end of my diet when I was peeling back the layers for the photoshoot you see at the top of this article, I was eating 1,800 calories per day, which wasn’t much food for someone who was around 170 pounds.

In that case, spending 420 calories on a single bar would have been 23% of my entire day of eating but only 16% of my protein target.

That’s a meaningful percentage of my caloric allotment for the day from a processed brick of pseudo-Oreo happiness, which means it just probably wouldn't have been a good fit in context of the bigger picture.

In other words, it would have been a better idea to replace those calories with whole food option likes lean proteins, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and healthy fats for a more complete nutritional profile.

Now, apply this same bar to the life of a 110-pound female who is dieting on 1,300 calories per day, and it's now 32% of her daily calories.

You get the point.

It's probably not going to be a good bet just because it likely won't fill you up as much as whole foods would, which is ultimately a poor overall strategy for sustained diet adherence.

Could you do it though? Absolutely. The key is simply to make an informed decision for yourself.

You have to make sure the calories in the bar fit your goal.

Oh, and one last thing: You're probably realizing how a lot of people can actually gain weight eating what they thought would make them "fit."

Remember Regina George from Mean Girls?

Yeah, perfect example. Don't get duped like Regina.

Tip 3 - Are you okay with the ingredient list from a health perspective?

Some people like the idea of keeping the ingredient list as short as possible for personal preference and health.

If that's you, do it!

Just remember that pursuing general health and pursuing a body recomposition goal aren’t necessarily always intimately intertwined, so this consideration is less relevant when it comes to building muscle and losing fat in a direct sense.

For more on that, check out this article.

And, as a bit of a pro-tip, keep in mind too that protein bars are usually processed by nature, so if you're an ingredient purist you've sort of been kicked in the knee before you ever set foot in the aisle.

As far as I know, protein bars don’t grow on trees next to the bananas nor in the soil alongside the yams.

I would also mention that if you're vegan you'll want to make sure your bar's protein is sourced with a soy or pea protein instead of whey.

Tip 4 - Does it taste good?

If taste matters to you, make sure the bar you are buying on a consistent basis tastes good!

That's probably a no-brainer, but it's worth mentioning as a quick fourth point.

When it comes to a fat loss diet, sustainability and adherence are the most important factors for success, so be sure you at least somewhat enjoy the protein bars you’ve chosen to help you reach your goals.

At the same time, don’t expect them to taste like your favorite childhood Halloween treat.

My Personal Recommendations

I know what some of you are probably thinking...

"Just tell me which one to get, dude! I don't have time to think about this stuff!"

Fine.

Although I have to be honest in that I originally published this article before I adopted a plant-based diet.

So, instead of completing reworking the article to be more plant-predominant, I’ve just sprinkled in a few disclaimers here and there to help nuance my new position.

My Ex-Protein Bar

For a long time, my favorite protein bar was the Pure Protein bar for the following reasons:

1. They pack 19-21g of protein depending on the flavor, which means you could either eat 2 in order to hit the 40g of protein mark or happily settle for just one. First rule checked!

2. The Chocolate Deluxe variety only has 180 calories, which means the macros are really great for body recomposition purposes. Keep in mind that the calories have to go up as the protein content goes up, but that's okay! You want your calories to come from protein when you're eating a protein bar, right?

So even when I would eat 2, I was only eating 360 total calories, which is something I could personally afford even when eating like a peasant for fat loss. Second rule checked!

3. The ingredient isn't impressively short like an RX Bar, but I was personally okay with it. Third rule checked!

4. I personally loved the taste. Fourth rule checked!

5. They were very affordable. Fifth rule checked!

Walmart carries these bad boys if you need to make a sprint after work, and I'm definitely not sponsored by them.

Should you buy this one? If it makes sense for your life and your goals!

My Current Protein Bar

There are only two protein bars I regularly consume now that I eat a completely plant-based diet.

The first and most common one is the Clif Builders bar series.

They’re a bit more calorically dense than they whey-based bars I used to consume, but they make up a very small portion of my diet now, so I simply make it work as needed.

These are still great for busy moments, so I try to keep a few in my gym bag or in my vehicle at all times.

The second bar I utilize from time to time is the NuGo Slim Chocolate Mint bar.

It’s a bit more calorically-friendly than the Clif Builders bar, but I try to eat them in pairs since each bar contains 17g of protein.

Curious about what else I eat as a part of my plant-based diet? I’ve got you covered.

Be sure to click on over to my article called Vegan Bulking: My Most Common Meals for Building Muscle on a Plant-Based Diet.

I hope this write-up helps you think about how to navigate the millions of protein bar options you've probably been presented with when shopping.

If you have any specific questions, just email me at ivry.fitness@gmail.com and we can have a humanizing chat about it.

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Thanks for reading, everyone! I sincerely hope you enjoyed the content and learned something.

If you feel like this blog brought you any value at all, consider sending it to a friend or family member!

And, if you're interested in working with me one-on-one, visit The Vegan Gym and apply for coaching. I’ve had nothing but success in guiding people toward their fat loss goals.

Cheers, everyone!

-Andrew

The Single Biggest Mistake You're Making in How You Think About Fat Loss

Are you ready for it? Because I’m going to hit you with the entire summary of this write-up in this very first sentence.

The single biggest mistake you’re making in how you think about fat loss is...

You still think fat loss is something you achieve through eating a specific menu of foods instead of a specific caloric density of foods consumed strategically through an optimal distribution of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. 

Now, if you wanted to, you could make that sentence a little easier to digest and say something like, “Fat loss is all about how much you eat and not the specific foods you eat.”

While that’s not necessarily false, I think it misses some important nuance that can actually help us all shape the way we think about the entire fat loss process.

What do I mean by that?

I mean that you can easily fix this mistake by doing three simple things.

1. Be Careful Dabbling in Omission Diets in Search of an Effortless Fat Loss Experience

I honestly don’t know if an “omission diet” is already a term, but if it’s not I’d like to coin that right now. 

What I mean by an omission diet is simply a way of eating that is predicated upon the removal or extreme restriction of one major category of food. 

The most obvious of these in this camp would be any “no carb” diet, the ketogenic diet, the carnivore diet, or even your stereotypical “clean eating” diet.

“But Andrew, don’t you eat a 100% plant-based diet?” I do!

And you could absolutely make the case that a plant-based diet is an omission diet.

However, I think the main difference here is that I’ve adopted an exclusively plant-based dietary pattern in attempt to reduce animal suffering.

In other words, I didn’t “go vegan” hoping to lose fat and build muscle effortlessly, which is what I’m encouraging people to be cautious of in this particular article.

So what’s the concern with omission diets?

Diets like these tend to thrive off of getting ignorant people into a caloric deficit by insinuating that carbohydrates or sugar or processed foods are the driving force behind their inability to lose weight.

And although such approaches can work, it’s the calorie deficit that initiates the fat loss - not the foods or the particular nuances of the dietary patterns themselves.

To be clear, there’s nothing wrong with aiming to limit certain food groups in an intelligent effort to improve your body composition.

I’m merely encouraging people not to be mislead in thinking that there’s any one food or group of foods that are solely responsible for their increasing waist circumference.

The first take-home point here is this: You have to start believing that excess calories relative to your current metabolic needs are what “make you fat” - not any specific food. More pointedly, that means your love handles are an “energy issue” - not a “food category issue.”

2. It’s Not Quite as Simple as “Eating Less” and “Moving More”

If you get it into your head that “eating less” is all that it takes to lose fat, your fat loss success is now at the expense of whatever your diet was before you came to this conclusion in terms of the foods you consumed on a regular basis. If that’s confusing, let me explain.

If you just start “eating less,” you’re probably not going to change the foods you’re eating, which means the food selection remains the same but the amounts change.

Let me give you an example.

Let’s say your normal breakfast is a large bowl of cereal and a handful of blueberries.

You’ve just been told by a friend that losing body fat is just about “eating less” and “moving more.” Easy enough, right?

So what do you do? You take your bowl of cereal that was 100g and reduce it to 50g and half the number of berries you add.

In some sense, you’d certainly be on track to losing body fat due to your simple math equation for caloric reduction, but you’d also be failing to consider one massive piece of the body recomposition puzzle, which is the consideration of whether those calories are coming from protein, fats, or carbohydrates and in which ratios.

Eating a peasant’s serving of cereal and toddler’s handful of blueberries is essentially a meal made up of pure carbohydrates.

We’ll get to this in point three, but that’s just simply not an evidence-based diet strategy for optimal body recomposition.

Can you eat cereal and blueberries for breakfast each morning and live to see another day? Of course. I’m just saying it’s not the most effective approach for optimizing your body composition.

So, the second take-home point is this: It very much matters whether you are getting your calories from proteins, fats, or carbohydrates when it comes to “looking better” even when overall calories are equated.

But, this brings me to another great point worth addressing before we move on.

What the Heck Does It Mean to “Look Better?”

When people say they want to lose body fat, they also usually mean that they want to “look better” in the process. 

Without harping on the subjectivity of what it means to “look better,” let’s just all assume for our purposes right now that “looking better” probably means trading unwanted body fat for shapely muscle in all the “right places.” Right?

People want to look good and feel good in their own skin.

So, if you just take your current diet and start reducing calories, you will most likely lose weight! But, will the “look” be what you thought it would be? 

Will you start to take on that harder, leaner look that we all seem to be so drawn to these days? Or will you start to look like a melting ice cream cone?

A person who eats a 2500-calorie diet from an optimal distribution of macronutrients (namely adequate daily protein consumption) would not look the same in a parallel universe if they were eating a 2500-calorie diet from a suboptimal distribution of macronutrients (namely inadequate daily protein consumption).

In short, eating morning pastries and sipping orange juice all day isn’t going to lead to the same results as if you were to eat 3-5 servings of protein in 20-40g doses spread evenly across the day.

And now we’re talking about protein, which leads me into my third and final point.

3. Make Sure You’re Eating an Adequate Amount of Protein If You Want That Hard and Lean Look

This might be a bit direct, but I honestly think you are wasting your time if you’re claiming to be serious about getting lean while neglecting your protein intake.

If you’re wondering how much protein you should be eating per day, I highly recommend you reference my article where I tackle that topic in-depth. 

How much protein do I eat personally? As a 6’ male at 187 pounds and around 12% body fat, I eat around 150g of protein per day and here’s why:

• The general rule of thumb in protein consumption for physique development is to eat around 0.7-1.0g of protein per pound of lean body mass (LBM).

• Personally, I’ve seen no meaningful differences in terms of muscle gain when eating more than 150g of protein per day. In fact, I’ve experimented with even lower protein intakes of 80-120g per day for short periods of time and observed no apparent difference.

  • For those of you who don’t know, I used to eat upwards of 200g of animal protein per day before I adopted a fully plant-based diet.

My third take-home point is this: If you’re serious about getting in shape, get stategic about your protein too.

Summary

The biggest mistake you might be making in terms of how you think about fat loss is focusing on specific foods over the caloric density of those foods. 

In short, calories and macronutrients matter most when it comes to body recomposition, which means you can “get fat” on avocado toast just like you can “get fat” on ice cream.

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I had a blast writing this article, so if you enjoyed it, do me a favor and send it to that one friend in your life who’s still looking to the Super Keto 9000 Diet to bring them the six-pack of their wildest dreams. You know who I’m talking about.

And, if you're interested in working with me one-on-one, visit The Vegan Gym and apply for coaching. I’ve had nothing but success in guiding people toward their fat loss goals.

Cheers, everyone!

-Andrew

Deceptively "Healthy" Choices That May Hinder Your Fat Loss Goals

It’s funny how my concept of “healthy” has evolved and grown over my lifetime. I can remember grouping foods into “healthy” and “not healthy” in my head for a long time. For example, I used to think of the following foods and food groups like this:

• Fast Food = “Unhealthy”

• Salad = “Healthy”

• Pizza = “Unhealthy”

• Fruit = “Healthy”

And, you can probably see where I’m going with my list.

This is how I thought about “healthy” and “unhealthy” for a long time. To be fair, learning to categorize foods to some extent is a great educational place to start, but as I personally learned more about nutrition, my definition of “healthy” evolved into something much more specific (for the better).

The reason that my view of “healthy” vs “unhealthy” foods evolved is because:

1. Whatever I had been practicing for my nutrition for a long time was not working. How did I know that? Because I wasn’t getting the results I wanted.

2. I wanted a more wholistic view of the word “healthy” from an educational perspective.

3. My goals became more specific, and thus my nutrition had to be more specific as well.

What I learned about my assumptions between “healthy” and “unhealthy” was striking - especially regarding some of the apparently “healthy” choices I had been making that actually turned out to be setting me back in a powerful way.

My goal with this write-up is this: I want to present a consideration of a handful of diet choices we commonly make that appear “healthy” on the surface but might actually be a hindrance to our diet goals when misapplied.

#1: Ordering or Buying Products that Contain “Superfoods” or are Ambiguously Thought of as “Nutritious”

This was a big hurdle for me personally.

When I was in high school, I remember starting to care more about my diet choices for the first time. I was an athlete and I wanted to make choices that wouldn’t “slow me down” on the field.

At least that’s how I thought about it.

So, I would put avocado on everything when given the option because the internet said avocados contain healthy fats, which they do, but that was my only thought about avocados at the time. Healthy foods will make me a better athlete, right?

I had also heard that nut butters were a good source of healthy fats, so I gave myself the green light on those as well.

Now, this increase in fat intake was great for me in high school because I looked like a scrawny alien twig, but if I were to implement that same viewpoint now as an adult while making a focused effort to lose body fat, it would most likely be setting me back due to the excessive caloric intake alone.

For that reason, it’s always a good idea to know the macronutrient content of your foods along with the micronutrient breakdown that may qualify a food as nutritious.

Because in my opinion, the last thing you want to be doing when trying to lose body fat is eating foods you think should be helping you when they are actually slowing down your progress or even pushing you in the wrong direction. Unfortunately, plenty of well-intentioned people unknowingly make that mistake all the time.

On a coaching note, part of what Andrew and I do with our clients is educate them on basic nutrition while providing structured macronutrient goals so that we can be as optimal as possible with their body recomposition goal. In other words, we try to guide you through a calorie-controlled approach to your goal without ignoring the overall importance of eating nutrient-dense foods.

#2: Blindly Ordering Salads at a Restaurant as Opposed to Another Entrée

Back when my novice definition of “healthy” sat on the nutrition throne of my brain, I began to order salads out at restaurants.

Because salads are healthy, right?

Actually, yes! Salads can be amazingly healthy for us, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get fat from eating too many nutrient-dense salads.

Think about it. When most of us order salads at restaurants, we cover them in things like:

• Croutons - Mostly carbs and extra fat

• Cheese - Contains protein, but generally an equal amount of fat or more

• Fatty Dressings - Most salad dressings contain a LOT of fat.

• Avocado - High fat content, even though they are nutritious

• Fatty Meats - A lot of salads (especially Italian salads) can pile on heaps of salami, pepperoni, bacon, prosciutto, etc.

• Nuts (especially candied/glazed) - While nutritious, these nuts contain a lot of fat. And, if they are candied or glazed, they will also include a lot of sugar which equals extra carbs.

Realistically, if you have a caloric plan in mind or are keeping a mindful eye on your macronutrient intake, you could add a few of these to your salad and still reach your goal.

But, these toppings become a problem if you decide to add three or four of these to one salad because it dramatically changes the caloric total of the entire meal. It’s the cumulative calorie effect that results in weight gain.

Some things to add to your salad instead of some of the ingredients above to add another element could be:

• Grilled Chicken - high in protein and will help fill you up with a much needed macronutrient, especially if trying to hold onto hard-earned lean muscle tissue

• Vegetables - For me personally, texture is a big deal, so adding veggies with a little crunch to them is great! You could even try chipped cucumbers, celery, broccoli, carrots, and/or peppers next time.

• Egg Whites - Whole eggs can be great as well, but I prefer hard-boiling an egg and then chopping up the whites for some easy extra protein

• Beans - Rinse out a can of your favorite beans and add some extra protein to your diet. This is a great option for those that eat plant-based diets.

• Fresh Herbs and Spices - Talk about taking flavor to another level without adding any unwanted fats! Try using some basil, mint, dill, or cilantro with your salad. Just make sure you know the herb you choose will pair well with your other flavors.

• Lemon Juice - I like using just a little bit of oil and then squeezing fresh lemon juice onto my salad as a dressing. As it turns out, a little bit of citrus can go a long way.

Again, depending on your goal, any of the options above could be a good substitution or mindful addition.

#3: The Misapplication of Intermittent Fasting

I have been effectively using intermittent fasting in my current fat loss phase, so I’m certainly not making intermittent fasting the enemy here.

I still consume three to four large meals during my “eating window” (which is 10 hours for me instead of the commonly recommended eight-hour window), and I also consume several high-protein snacks.

But, where does it go wrong for some people?

In my opinion, here are two common ways intermittent fasting is frequently abused:

1. You’re narrowing your eating window to less than eight hours and only giving yourself time for one or two large meals.

   • When we do this, we can sometimes negotiate with ourselves and eat foods that are less nutritious or have unfavorable macronutrient compositions since we are sacrificing an entire meal. In other words, we lose sight of nutrition in favor of a game of calories and calories alone. Just because you could eat a plate of nachos and cheese for 1500 calories doesn’t mean that is going to lead to the body recomposition outcomes you want.

   • I’ve also found that intermittent fasting can lead to more snacking, and generally the snacks we tend to pick aren’t as nutrient-dense or macro-friendly as something we might cook for a proper meal.

   • Eating one large meal can also make people feel sluggish and lethargic.

2. Your protein consumption might not be as optimal as it could be.

   • If your goal is to lose fat while maintaining lean muscle tissue and you choose to enter the intermittent fasting world, you may not be able to eat all of the protein you could benefit from according to most evidence-based guidelines.

     • And, as I mentioned above, typical snack foods tend to be high in carbohydrates and fats and generally low in protein. So, if you tend to be a snacker while practicing intermittent fasting, your snacks may be a limiting factor in your progress.

     • If you need more clarity about how you could go about calculating your own protein intake, check out this blog.

Again, intermittent fasting doesn’t have to be the enemy, but it is often touted as a very healthy diet strategy even though it can easily be misapplied.

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Feeling Motivated?

Like I said at the beginning of the article, it’s probably a good idea to be very careful about making sure that the “healthy” choices we are making are actually choices that help us move toward our goals rather than push us further back.

I also mentioned that part of a coaching relationship with an IVRY Fitness coach is a personalized macronutrient goal to help you reach a specific body composition goal. So, if you have always wanted to make a change but have continuously felt stuck because nothing you have ever tried in the past has worked, consider reaching out to us.

We have open coaching slots and are looking for highly motivated clients that want to make a significant change in their body composition.

Click here to learn more, The journey always has to begin somewhere, so why not here and now?

Exposing the Silliness Behind the Excuse of "Not Having Time to Eat Healthy"

Have you ever heard people talk about how they just “don’t have time to eat healthy?”

For whatever reason, I hear that all the time, and I’m going to be honest with you: It drives me a little crazy on the inside.

So, I decided to write this article to put a stop to the madness.

That means the next time you hear someone leveraging their extreme busyness as justification for their terrible diet (and probably an unhealthy body composition), you can blast them with this write-up.

Because, let’s be honest, it’s probably something they need to hear.

Just kidding. Don’t be a jerk.

Only pass it along if they’re genuinely feeling discouraged about what they are perceiving as a lack of time needed to eat in a way that supports their goal rather than carrying them farther and farther away from it.

You’ll come off a lot nicer that way, and compassion is cool.

But, let’s get into it.

Why You Really Do Have Time to Eat Healthy

The excuse of not having enough time to eat healthy is super silly for one main reason: You have to eat something just to exist as a human being, so why not put forth the effort to make it good for you?

That’s kind of like saying you don’t have time to breathe clean air. You have to breathe some kind of air, but you’re trying to make the point to me that there’s no time to breathe the clean air - just the dirty air.

What?

On top of that, it takes roughly the same amount of time to prepare a bowl of oatmeal with berries and almonds as it does a microwavable Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwich loaded with enough calories to feed your favorite six year-old’s entire kindergarten class.

So, what gives?

What are people really getting at when they say they don’t have time to eat more nutritious foods?

Here are my theories.

Theory 1: You genuinely don’t know that eating healthier foods can still be quick and easy.

In other words, I want to give the benefit of the doubt to anyone out there who just doesn’t know any better.

Some people just non-negotiably associate quick and easy foods as “bad” foods.

For example, if you’re a busy corporate person who rarely has time to eat a proper sit-down lunch due to the high volume of sales calls you have to make each day, you might assume that eating the seemingly never-ending supply of leftover junk food in the workroom really is the only option - purely on the basis of convenience.

And, to be fair, I totally understand where you’re coming from.

Time is precious, and the last thing you have time for is to pop home, air-fry a block of tofu and some lightly seasoned asparagus, and chug 40 ounces of water when your paycheck is on the line.

So, you opt for the cold pizza and the leftover birthday cake in the workroom. I get it.

But, there are actually plenty of quick and easy snacks that you can grab in a pinch if time is really your greatest concern.

Here are my best practical tips for busy folks.

1. Meal Prepped Lean Proteins and Vegetables

Just commit to bringing your healthy meals to work.

And if you’re concerned about the time spent prepping your food as a reason not to do it, learn to fall in love with bulk meals.

During the right seasons, my wife and I will make a big batch of plant-based chili that we can eat from all week.

Also, remember that you don’t have to go day by day in terms of preparing your food.

Prep all five lunches on Sunday for a full week free of fat loss thought-fatigue.

You could also easily do this with a chickpea pasta or even Mexican medleys featuring exciting new products like chorizo seitan with beans, rice, avocado, and salsa.

2. Protein products, oats to go, or smoothies

Protein bars are a no-brainer unless you’re too proud to be “eating like a bro” at work in a pinch.

But, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve smashed one (but usually two) protein bars as a meal replacement on days when “life was busy.”

Or, if you’re an on-the-go breakfast person, you could toss 40g of oatmeal into a cup of soy milk with a scoop of plant-based protein the night before so that once the morning comes you literally just snag that bad boy out of the fridge and sip it in the car.

Better yet? Make yourself a full-blown smoothie with soy milk, plant-based protein powder, frozen berries or mangos, 1-2 bananas, and some hemp seeds for nutritional flare.

What could be easier?

Whether you’re 120 pounds, 250+ pounds, or anywhere in the middle, these are both quick and easy meals/snacks that can fit literally anyone’s macros.

Theory 2: You’re really just saying you’re a little too lazy to put forth the effort.

My second theory regarding why people are convinced they don’t have enough time to eat healthy is simple because they’re lazy and don’t want to admit it.

Why are you slamming Oreos during your 3PM lull when you could be eating an apple or a modest handful of heart-healthy nuts?

Now, it’s totally cool if you’d just rather eat your Twinkies and be left in peace because body recomposition isn’t a priority of yours, but let’s not be hiding behind the guise of “not having the time” to eat healthy when really you’re just being a lazy sack of potatoes.

The same goes for the snacks you choose to have around the house. What’s the difference in buying Doritos versus hard pretzels or even a less processed option like apples or carrots?

Sure, Doritos are delicious. I realize that.

But taste has nothing to do with time.

Even small adjustments like that can be a step in the right direction toward reorienting the way you think about quick foods and their nutritional makeup.

Theory 3: You’re unwilling to choose healthier eat-out food options even when they’re just as easy to order as the unhealthy options.

I’ve heard this one from “important business gurus” - you know, the types that are always flying around first-class and joining other important guys and gals for happy hours and luxurious meals in high-dollar restaurants.

For this group of people, it really just comes down to coming to terms with the seriousness of your goal.

Because the bottom line is this: You can get a leafy green salad with a lean protein and a low-calorie dressing on the side just about wherever you go.

You just have to make the choice to order it over the burger and fries or the house steak with loaded mashed potatoes and cheesy biscuits.

And don’t forget about your liquid calories when you dine out. There’s a big difference calorically between ordering a tall glass of water and opting for a few starter beers or a tasting of their finest whiskey.

Again, the choice is yours, but this certainly isn’t a time issue - it’s a choice issue.

And, I encourage all of my clients to take extreme ownership of their choices.

Summary

• Remember that quick and easy foods don’t always have to be unhealthy foods. Although it’s convenient to eat frosted mini donuts, it’s almost equally convenient to make a quick bowl of oatmeal with berries and nuts.

• Your “time issue” might actually be a laziness issue. If that’s you, be honest with yourself and take ownership of that reality rather than blaming it on a lack of time.

• Almost every restaurant has a healthiest option on the menu. Be willing to choose that meal if you’re serious about improving your body composition.

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And there you have it!

As always, thank you for engaging with our content! If you feel like this blog was helpful, pass it on to someone else who might enjoy it, and don’t forget to flip through some of our other recent blog posts for additional content

You could even give us a follow on Instagram for a completely different set of informational posts should it interest you.

And finally, if this is your first time interacting with evidence-based body recomposition and you’re considering hiring a coach, we encourage you to take the plunge.

You just have to find the courage to send that first email and say hi - no one is going to do it for you. Seriously, you’ll thank yourself later.

Happy eating, people.

-Andrew

8 Food Tracking Mistakes That Might Be Duping You Out of Your Caloric Deficit

First of all, why is it even important to be tracking your food accurately?

Well, it might not be. If you’re just trying to “get a decent idea” of what you consume per day, it might not be worth it to you to weigh-out every single morsel of food you consume.

If that’s you, take this article with a grain of salt and remember that it’s not always a worthwhile trade-off to be tracking meticulously 24/7.

On the other hand, if you do have a serious fat loss or body recomposition goal, these really are things you should probably be paying attention to in terms of your tracking accuracy - especially if you’re currently paying a coach your hard-earned cash for their week-to-week macronutrient adjustments.

This article is for you.

I promise you don’t want to be the person who swears they’re eating 1,500 calories when really they’re crushing upwards of 2,000 per day.

So, let’s get into it.

Mistake #1: You’re using measuring cups instead of a food scale.

This is by far the most common error I see.

The classic example of this is peanut butter.

If you’re still measuring a tablespoon of peanut butter with an actual spoon, you’re really setting yourself up for inaccuracy due to the large degree of error you introduce when you opt for plastic utensils rather than your food scale.

In fact, since peanut butter is so calorically dense, I wouldn’t be surprised if some people were actually serving themselves twice the recommended serving size, which could result in an additional 190-200 calories from one simple mistake.

When it comes to eating below your needs for fat loss, those extra 200 calories alone could kick some people out of their daily deficit.

So, plop that jar on the scale, zero it out, and remove 16g of peanut butter if you’re serious about tracking your one tablespoon accurately.

Here are a few other awkward items that emphasize the point:

• Spinach - A serving of spinach in the bags I buy is 3 cups. What does that even mean? How do you put spinach in a cup? How hard am I supposed to squish in the spinach?

  • Although I don’t think weighing your greens to the gram is necessary in most cases, the point stands.

• Berries - Again, how do I measure non-liquid items in cups? Are the berries allowed to go above the rim of the cup? What if one berry is awkwardly shaped and creates a lot of free space in the cup?

  • This is the same idea as the spinach example.

And you get the idea.

Takeaway: Measure your foods in grams or ounces on your food scale for the greatest tracking accuracy.

If you need help figuring out which food scale to buy, I really like the Coffee Gator Coffee Scale. Even though I’m pretty sure this thing was designed to help you weigh your coffee grounds to the tenth of the gram, I’ve found it to be an amazing tool for body recomposition. I use it literally every day in order to weigh out my oats, berries, bananas, hemp seeds, soy milk, and protein powder.

Mistake #2: You’re weighing certain things cooked when you should be weighing them dry.

The most common culprits of this are rice, pasta, and quinoa.

Be sure to weigh these items dry, log them into MyFitnessPal, and then cook them in water.

For example, if you’re weighing cooked rice by the dry weight on the box, you’re actually going to be under-eating by quite a bit.

Don’t do that to yourself - especially if the true serving size would already have had you in a deficit.

Make the quick adjustment and keep your tracking on point.

Takeaway: Weigh and log your rices, pastas, and quinoa dry before cooking them unless you already know the conversion equation.

Pro Tip: If you’re thinking, “Well, wait. What if I want to make it in bulk?” then I recommend doing an experiment to figure out the conversion. For example, the way I make rice, one cup of dried rice comes out to about 135g of cooked rice. Once you have that conversion, you’ll be set for every future meal your prepare that contains rice the way you make it.

Some food tracking apps can actually do this well for you. For example, I use Cronometer and frequently use the “steamed white rice” or “quinoa, cooked” option and experience reliable results.

Mistake #3: You think you are much better at finding your favorite eat-out equivalents in MyFitnessPal than you really are.

For example, if you go out to a local place to get a double cheeseburger slathered in BBQ sauce and mayonnaise and wind up logging the McDonald’s double cheeseburger because that “should be close,” you’re being a silly rabbit and probably just looking for an excuse to smash some extra calories because you “didn’t know any better.” Give me a break, Spongebob.

The burger you consumed could have twice the amount of calories than the version you found in MyFitnessPal, which could easily wipe away your target deficit for the day in a single blow.

For that reason, it’s probably best to limit eating out when it’s really time to get serious about tracking accuracy. Is that inconvenient? Totally.

But, sometimes it’s the price you pay for having a serious body recomposition goal.

And, remember, it’s temporary. There will time for you to enjoy a relaxed, untracked meal of a black bean burger and fries once you’ve reach your goal and are back to maintenance or surplus eating.

Takeaway: Don’t be naive about trying to find calorically equivalent items in MyFitnessPal for food items that are just frankly impossible to track.

Mistake #4: You’re weighing and logging your meats incorrectly.

When you cook meats, their weight goes down.

Keep in mind that when you scan the code on the chicken breasts you bought, that information is logging into MyFitnessPal as the raw weight, which isn’t the same as cooked weight.

Each lean meat has a slightly different raw to cooked ratio, but in my meat-eating days I found that 4:3 was a decent rule of thumb to use - at least for chicken. That means that four ounces of chicken usually cooks down to around three ounces.

If you need practical help on the math side of things, multiply your cooked weight by 1.333 in MyFitnessPal if you’re using the raw meat macros to log.

So, if you put four ounces of cooked chicken on your homemade burrito, log that as 4x1.333, which equals about 5.3 ounces of raw chicken.

Is it perfect? No, but it’s about as close as we can get, and your consistency over time will level out the minor inaccuracies on a meal to meal basis.

Also, I always take the opportunity to use this platform to raise awareness around the benefits of eating a plant-predominant diet.

So if there’s any part of you that is “plant-curious” or tired of being encouraged to eat a ton of meat to support your body recomposition goals, click here to read about the meals I personally eat to build muscle on a completely plant-based diet.

Mistake #5: You’re forgetting about butters and oils and dressings.

Just because you go to Addison’s and get the steamed broccoli on the side doesn’t mean your boy in the back didn’t bathe your broccoli in butter or oil.

Remember, chefs don’t care about your fat loss goals. They care about food tasting good so they don’t get fired.

Another culprit? Oils in pastas and on fish like salmon.

Olive oil, although widely touted as a healthy fat, is one of the most calorically dense foods on the planet. Just one tablespoon packs 14g of fat.

And, if you need context to make sense of that number, know that I’m a 185-pound male and eat around 60g of total fat per day when dieting for fat loss. Just two tablespoons of olive oil would account for 46% of my daily needs.

But this is no reason to be afraid of olive oil. It just means you should be educated about olive oil.

The same mistake can be made with something simple like a Cobb salad, which plenty of people order thinking they’re making the “healthy choice.”

And really, they’re not technically wrong. Most of the foods in a salad are technically healthy, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to support your fat loss goal. Why?

Because Cobb salads typically come with bacon, avocado, egg, cheese, and dressing, which are all high-calorie tack-ons to keep your tastebuds happy.

If those portion sizes get loose at all, you’re looking at a 1,500+ calorie salad, which is what plenty of my female clients eat in an entire day to support their fat loss efforts.

Worth it? Maybe, but I doubt it unless you really like Cobb salads.

Takeaway: Don’t be a noob when it comes to being oblivious about butters, oils, and dressings - especially when you’re not preparing your own food or eating out. When in doubt, pass on unnecessary high-fat add-ons or limit yourself to one modestly-portioned, plant-based fat source like avocado.

Mistake #6: You’re putting too much faith in the caloric numbers some companies put on their menus or online nutrition guides.

Think about it.

How can some nutrition expert at Chipotle headquarters guarantee that every random bro working the burrito line is going to give you the exact serving size of steak, black beans, rice, and guac to make that 700-calorie burrito bowl you designed on their website exactly 700 calories?

That burrito that the website technically says is 700 calories could easily be 1,000 or more - especially if fat sources like cheese and sour cream are involved.

And, what about the chips and queso?

What if you get the guy with tiny hands versus the girl with huge hands? Or the guy who is feeling generous versus the girl who shorts you so bad you ask to speak to the manager?

The caloric differences can be massive.

Takeaway: Again, don’t be green. Just because the website says what you ordered is 700 calories, keep in mind that it could be 500 or 1,000 calories (or anywhere in between) depending on which random college kid happened to be working that day.

Mistake #7: You aren’t tracking alcohol.⠀

I don’t know why this happens so much, but a lot of people just don’t track their booze.

Alcohol has quite a few calories, so if you’re not tracking them you’re really doing yourself a disservice.

Personally, my favorite fat loss friendly beverages are either gin and tonics or diet sodas with a bit of rum or whiskey.

You’ll find my two favorite combos below with accompanying moods:

• Diet Sprite and Malibu (if I feel like listening to Taylor Swift by the pool)

• Diet Coke and Whiskey (if I feel like pressing into masculine stereotypes)

• Alcoholic seltzers like Truly or White Claw can be low-calorie options as well.

Booze to be careful with

You’ll probably want to be careful with wines and beers (especially IPAs or stouts) as they tend to pack a hefty caloric punch.

“But, I thought red wine was good for you?”

Maybe it is, but it still has a boat-load of calories if you and the girls starting getting wily with your pours during The Bachelor premier.

And for the beer drinkers, even just two cans of your favorite IPA can contain nearly 500 calories - and, let’s be honest, that’s just the beginning for some people on the weekends.

Takeaway: Track your booze, and make sure you craft enough space in your diet for them if you’re passionate about enjoying an alcoholic beverage from time to time.

Mistake #8: You justify going hog wild with your calories when you’re away from your food scale.

For some people, life falls apart when they don’t have their scale, which means on the weekends they go bananas when out with friends.

Let me encourage you not to do that. Those extra calories really do matter.

It’s like being a good kid during the week and then throwing a total banger of a house party on Friday night and burning your parents’ place down in true Project X fashion.

Fat loss is pretty similar. Even though one “bad day” probably won’t ruin the consistency of weeks and months, it can certainly slow down the fat loss process and leave some people feeling set back and discouraged.

And, to be fair enough, if you go hard enough on the weekend, you can absolutely undo an entire week’s worth of disciplined dieting toward your gal.

My opinion? Try to strike a balance and rely on good habits when you’re separated from your food scale.

If you need something concrete, here are some strategies I implement:

• Prioritize whole foods.

• Focus on consuming plenty of vegetables and fruits.

• Try to get your fats from healthy sources (or keep them to a minimum).

• Enjoy one modestly-portioned sweet treat if you really want to participate and enjoy the moment.

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So there you go! Hopefully highlighting these easy-to-make mistakes will help you tidy up your food tracking methods and get the results you want.

As always, thank you for engaging with my content! If you feel like this blog was helpful, I would love it if you sent it to a friend who might be struggling to make sense of all this calorie talk. It can certainly be overwhelming.

Lastly, I want to disclose that I do earn from qualifying purchases as an Amazon Associate.

Later, friends.

-Andrew

What Should You Order at Las Margaritas (or Any Mexican Restaurant) for Fat Loss?

Summer is right around the corner, which means we’ll all be sipping margaritas and stuffing our faces with chips and queso before we know it.

The question is: Is it possible to eat at your favorite Mexican restaurant and still stay on track with your physique or fat loss goals?

Well, it’s definitely possible, but I’m not going to sugarcoat the truth.

If you think you can order the jumbo peach margarita, smash two baskets of tortilla chips drenched in queso, and then move on to demolish the Franzia Special (which is a plate of rice and chicken soaked in even more queso) as a part of an effective fat loss plan, you just might be dreaming.

In fact, I would argue that eating at a Mexican restaurant while trying to lose body fat is kind of like trying to play soccer in a mine field. But don’t let that scare you away.

It can be done, but how?

Let’s cut to the chase.

The chicken fajitas are probably your best bet - especially if you’re willing to omit a high fat option from the side plate like sour cream. If you’re really tight on calories, you could even pass on a carbohydrate source (or two) like Mexican rice, beans, or the tortillas.

In my personal opinion, this is the way to go for a host of reasons. But really, the “power” in chicken fajitas is simply the fact that they’re a low calorie, high protein option that is likely to leave you feeling full without food baby bloat and an intense bout of caloric regret a few hours later.

Now, if you just crash-landed on this blog wanting the quick answer of ordering the chicken fajitas, there you have it. But, if you’re interested in knowing the why behind it, I highly encourage you to keep reading.

The reasons might be eyeopening.

Why the Chicken Fajitas Might Be Your Saving Grace for Fat Loss

We’ll get back to the specificity of the chicken fajitas later, but I want to start from ground zero when it comes to thinking about the entire dining experience at most Mexican joints.

The whole experience is set up for your fat loss failure, and here’s why:

1. The calories start accumulating in chip and dip fashion from the moment you walk in the door.

As soon as you sit down, you’re presented with a lovely basket of Mexican chips. Chips seem harmless, right? Totally! Except they aren’t harmless.

Some chips can have up to 150 calories and 7g of fat per seven-chip portion size. Oof, that’s literally a gram of fat per chip.

I don't know about you, but I can think back on plenty of occasions when I smashed at least a full basket myself - not to mention the queso. And I’m fairly certain there were more than seven chips.

Oh, and then there’s the queso, which is another high fat add-on. Remember, each gram of fat has 9 calories, so the chips and queso duo can be a calorically catastrophic start to your dinner out if you’re not careful.

Let me show you an example.

As you’ll see below, the non-large serving of chips and white queso from Chipotle packs a brutal 780 calories and 43g of fat. If you’re not familiar with calorie and fat talk, that’s quite a bit of both.

If you order the large chips and large queso, it jumps up to 1290 calories and 75g of fat. That’s more fat than I personally eat in an entire day as a six-foot, 185-pound male.

My approach? I skip the chips altogether because I know that once I get going I just won’t stop.

If, however, you’re set on eating the chips, consider opting for the salsa since salsa usually only has around 10 calories per two tablespoon serving, which is much more fat loss friendly than her Cousin Queso.

You can even see that demonstrated in the Chipotle graphics above.

Some of you might be wondering, “But, how does this relate back to the chicken fajitas?”

Well, it’s simple. The chicken fajitas are probably going to be the lowest calorie (yet still high in protein) option on the menu. Keeping your entree low calorie gives you the best chance of walking out having eaten between 500-800 calories instead of 2,000+ in a lot of cases.

2. Margaritas and beer can be caloric explosions.

What do you get to drink at a Mexican place? The margaritas! Or maybe a beer if that’s more your style.

The problem with margaritas is that they are absolute sugar bombs. Now, I’m not against sugar for sugar’s sake, but I am skeptical of blowing 500-1,000 calories on a peach flavored drink before my actual entree even arrives. They might look light and dainty, but calorically they sure aren’t.

Fortunately, beer isn’t nearly as calorically dense if you stick to light varieties. Most light beers have around 100 calories, but a local IPA or heavier beer can carry up to 240 calories or more per can. Drink if you want to, but be wary of the caloric cost.

My approach? I drink water. Boring? Maybe, but water is the most obvious beverage option for anyone with a fat loss goal, and my fat loss goal matters more to me personally than a little salt and lemon on my tongue. I’ll just chomp on the ice cubes for fun.

3. Portion sizes at most Mexican places are out of control, which means the calories are out of control.

So we’ve conquered the chips and the drinks and now it’s time to order the “real” food.

If you haven’t noticed, most menus at Mexican restaurants are essentially unnecessarily long lists of about a thousand different shapes and combinations of the same basic foods: beans, rice, meats, lettuce, pico, cheese, guacamole, sour cream, and tortillas.

And the portion sizes are typically huge.

Now, it’s not that beans and rice and tortillas and guacamole are inherently terrible for you, it’s just that when you eat anything in enormous portions you’re going to accumulate quite a few calories. And unfortunately, excess calories beyond what your body needs to maintain your current bodyweight are what lead to unwanted fat gain.

Practically speaking, one small to medium-sized tortilla is probably around 75-150 calories. Two would be 150-300, and three would be 225-450. Do that same math with additional servings of everything on your plate, and the calories continue to pile up.

So, the tip here is this: If you don’t want to waste food by limiting your portion sizes, just order a lower calorie option to begin with.

If you’re not excited about the chicken fajitas, consider a fish taco option with the dressing brought on the side.

4. The sour cream and guacamole in particular can wreck your daily caloric intake.

Ideally, at this point you still haven’t ordered (unless you’ve already committed to the chicken fajitas), so it’s the perfect time to discuss sour cream and guacamole briefly - two frequent add-ons to plenty of Mexican dishes you’ll be perusing on the menu.

Sour cream is basically pure fat. Guacamole is basically pure fat.

To be clear, I’m not against fat by any means, but when you eat a lot of fat (even nutrient-dense fats), the calories skyrocket because a gram of fat contains more calories than a gram of carbohydrates or a gram of protein. In some sense, you get a better bang for your caloric buck when you opt for carbohydrates or proteins instead.

For example, two tablespoons of sour cream tend to pack around 5g of fat while two ounces of guac are about 100 calories and 9g of fat.

But again, when is the last time you stuck to that portion size?

Be careful with ordering dishes that you know will be bombed with sour cream or guac.

5. You’re probably getting duped by cooking oils and you don’t even realize it.

Oils are one of those things people rarely consider because they doesn’t come burbling and gurgling in a side cup when they bring out the rest of your entree.

Basically, we can’t really see it so we don’t really think about it. Invisible calories shouldn’t count, right?

Unfortunately, oil is extremely calorically dense, and most cooks of popular restaurants care way more about you liking the food, paying for that food happily, and coming back a few days later than they do your waistline. Their job depends on the satisfaction of your palate - not the crispness of your abdominal crevices.

In fact, just one tablespoon of olive oil has about 140 calories and 14g of fat, and you know the cooks aren’t back there measuring things meticulously for you so you can pop it into MyFitnessPal later.

So, what happens? A lot of your meats and veggies are going to be soaked in high fat oils, which can very easily sabotage your caloric target for the day.

Don’t get duped by oils.

The Takeaway

So, the takeaway here is this: Chicken fajitas are low in calories, high in protein, and you can easily omit a few of the add-ons if they’re typically served with a side plate of beans, rice, pico, and sour cream, which make them a wonderful pick while dieting for fat loss.

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Thanks for reading! If you feel like this blog was helpful, we would love it if you sent it to someone you know who might benefit from it as well! You (and your friends) don’t have to be sidelined from your fat loss endeavors because of one uninformed night out to your favorite Mexican place.

And, of course, we encourage you to take the time to flip through some of our other recent posts for additional content.

Finally, if this is your first time interacting with evidence-based fat loss and you’re thinking, “Wow, I didn’t know fat loss was actually that simple”, we do have coaching slots open for the summer months and it’s not too late to apply. Josh and I really can guide you into a non-fad diet journey toward a leaner, more muscular version of yourself.

You just have to be brave enough to send the first email. Seriously, you’ll thank yourself later. Just do it.

Happy summer shredding, everyone.

-Andrew

What Eating 200 Grams of Protein Looks Like

I’ve gotten several questions about what it looks like to eat 200 grams of protein in a day, which is my current goal, and this is my attempt to show you what I am doing by explaining an entire day of eating.

Before I go into all of the details, I am choosing to eat 200 grams of protein because that is my “goal weight.”

If you refer back to this article from Andrew, you can see different ways to calculate what your protein intake should be.

Example Day of 200g of Protein

BREAKFAST

This is one of my normal variations of oatmeal that I will have for breakfast.

I love mixing my protein powder with oatmeal and much prefer milk over water to aid in the mixing process for taste and a little protein boost.

I usually just buy whatever berries are on sale to throw on top.

Here is another variation of my morning oats if this doesn’t look as tasty to you.

LUNCH

This lunch might be a little higher in fat than I would like, but right now it works for me and it is super tasty!

I am getting all of my protein here from natural sources which is always nice; sometimes three protein shakes a day gets annoying. If you want to limit the fat as well, you could switch to using only egg whites or remove the cheese altogether.

AFTERNOON SNACK

Nothing special about this snack other than I really love pretzel sticks. Also, shoutout to a friend who shared these specific pretzels with me. They are the absolute best.

DINNER

As boring as it sounds, chicken and rice in some form is a pretty common combination for me.

I try to spice things up by using different recipes and cooking the chicken different ways and using different vegetables each meal prep.

Boneless, skinless chicken breast is one of my personal staples for my current fat loss diet.

The spinach here was sautéed in a fat free spray, which caused it to taste a little more sad than if I had used olive oil, but I have to cut out things here and there for my goals!

EVENING SNACK

As you can see, I finished off my day by drinking another protein shake (with water this time) and also treated myself to a spoonful of almond butter for desert.

The idea of having a spoonful of almond butter for desert might not excite most people, however, it is a really great compromise for me to get something that is very sweet and enjoyable into my diet.

Looking Back At My Day

Overall this was a very good day in regards to how much protein I ate, and where my calories were coming from. I am always happy to have a day where I can limit the amount of processed foods in my diet, and I always seem to feel better after a day of eating like this.

The adjustment of coming from a bulking diet to a fat loss diet was tough at first, but the human body is pretty incredible.

For example, I was eating almost twice as many calories as what this entire day shows when I was bulking and there is no way I would’ve thought this amount of food would have filled me up.

After a few weeks of dieting, my stomach has adjusted to what I am feeding it, and this amount of food kept me satisfied all day.

Also, keep in mind that you don’t have to track your calories meticulously to achieve exciting fat loss outcomes. This is just the methodology I’ve chosen based on what works well for my own lifestyle.

If the thought of tracking your calories is overwhelming to you, I highly recommend you check out this article called “How to Improve Your Body Composition Without Tracking Calories.”

And finally, we do offer online body recomposition coaching for anyone who is looking to enter into that next level of commitment and accountability.

If that has your curiosity piqued, click here to learn more about how it works and how to apply.

Creating Healthier Eating Habits When Dieting

If you have ever struggled to diet consistently well or to have a healthy mindset while trying to lose weight, this article is for you. I’m going to provide some insight into how I approach the shift from a bulk to a cut, then provide some tangible practices that may help your relationship with food become healthier when dieting.

Struggling to Find a Healthy Relationship With Food

I felt inspired to write this article because it is really hard for me to transition from bulking to cutting, mainly from the mindset of my relationship with food. The same principles apply if you are coming from poor diet habits to beginning a fat loss diet.

When I am bulking, there are so many calories and foods to be consumed throughout the day that it sometimes feels like a chore to eat. 

Anyone who has tried to bulk can probably relate.

Eating a ton of food always sounds awesome at first, but it gets tiring quite rapidly. I might take some flak from bro culture for saying that, but it is truly quite a challenge for me. 

So when I initially shifted to my current fat loss diet, I carried over some bad habits from bulking that were really impeding my progress:

• My meals were way too big.

• I did a lot of late night binging (habit from bulking to try and get my calories!)

• I ate a lot of fast food for quick and easy calories.

I needed to change these habits if I wanted to lose weight and live healthier.

Creating a Healthy Mindset

So now enter the fat loss diet. This is where it is important to really set the correct mindset for dieting and how you treat food. 

During my bulk, when calories were in excess, my mindset for food was more like a chore. It was something that needed to get done to reach my goals, and so unfortunately my outlook on food sort of became soured. 

So the first couple of days when I cut calories (arguably the harder days), I kept some of those bad habits. I tried to fast until a certain time of day, or drink lots of coffee to try and fill myself up just so I could save my calories for a couple of large meals later in the evening. 

It was seriously almost like I was torturing myself to make it to a point of the day where I could torture my stomach with way more food than it could handle. 

It is honestly a little bit hard to admit that, but it’s true. 

So it finally hit me that what I was doing was not only unhealthy, but not working very well as far as the scale was concerned either. So I really sat down and examined how I was treating food and my diet and tried to be mindful about ways to combat a negative mindset. 

Here are some things that helped me have a more positive mindset when it comes to dieting.

Ways to Build Healthy Eating Habits When Dieting

1. Put Your Fork Down Between Bites

If you really spent some time watching people eat, you might be a little grossed out. I can only imagine what my mom thought of me when I was in high school; I probably looked like Joey Chestnut at a hot dog eating contest.

So something I have been doing to try and monitor fullness and satisfaction is just to set my fork down between bites. If you aren’t using a fork, same idea! Set the slice of pizza down between bites, I promise it won’t sprout legs and run away.

If you really want to take this practice to the next level, just be thankful for every bite. 

You don’t have to verbally acknowledge it, just in your head think about how you are thankful that you get to eat in a way that can help meet your goals and realize how blessed you are.

2. Don’t Stuff Yourself Full Every Meal

This one is hard because I don’t know how everyone really approaches food and their meals. 

I think psychologically, somewhere in our brains, there is that primitive voice saying “eat until you are full because you don’t know when you will eat again.”

Well, guess what? You aren’t a primitive nomad, and you more than likely know when your next meal is and probably even have options for what to eat.

So since we know we have another meal coming, try to eat in such a way where you don’t stuff your belly until you can’t fit anything else. 

Arguments can be made that you may be forced to do that when bulking, but when we are cutting, we don’t need to stuff ourselves. 

Outliers exist, such as doing some crazy intermittent fasting diet where you have to eat all of your calories in 4 hours, but for the most part, this is a safe and helpful practice.

A tangible way to try and think about this is to eat until you feel satisfied, not painfully full. If we want to put a number to it, eat until your stomach is at about 80% capacity. 

Eventually you start to figure out the amount of food it takes to get you to that ~80% level and then you can be more efficient with your cooking and preparation. 

3. Drink a LOT of water

I need to listen to myself with this one, but I cannot stress how important water is for the health of our bodies. 

I am no scientist, but there are way too many pieces of evidence out there pointing to why we should all be drinking more water. 

Now how you do this is totally personal, and how much you drink depends on many factors.

You could be the gallon jug person.

You could be the one who slams two full glasses upon waking up in the morning. 

It really doesn’t matter to me, but drinking more water will not only benefit your body, but also how you feel in general and how full you feel.

4. Find the Balance Between Food as Enjoyment and Fuel

After growing up in a house with a lot of diversity in the foods we would cook and eat, I have a great appreciation for the different flavors, combinations, and creations that people share.

I don’t know how that experience differs from others, but what I learned from my experience is that I may have learned to enjoy the food a little too much.

I rarely thought about how food was fueling my body and giving me the energy I needed for all of my sports, lifts, etc…

I mean we all know that food is fuel, but do we all actively think about that?

A simple way to rationalize your thoughts before you think about your next meal might be: “Will my body appreciate what I am about to give it, and will this help me reach my goals?”

Now don’t go all food nazi on me here. If you need to grab a McDouble on a road trip or settle for some Kraft Mac in a bind, it’s okay! 

I think it’s just important to be aware that healthier and more nutritious foods are probably going to fuel your body more efficiently than highly processed and fast foods. This is mainly due to the usually lacking nutrient profile in fast and processed foods.

Finding fun and tasty recipes that are full of healthy and satisfying ingredients that can both fill you up and make you feel well may take a little work, but is totally worth it.

Takeaways

It can be hard to set the correct mindset when trying to begin a diet, especially if there are pre-existing bad habits.

Try these to practice healthy eating habits: 

1. Put your fork down between bites

2. Don’t stuff yourself full every meal

3. Drink lots of water

4. Find the balance between food as enjoyment and fuel

These may not be anything groundbreaking, but practicing these habits personally has helped me on my current fat loss journey. 

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If you found this article helpful it would be amazing if you shared it with friends and family! Andrew and I both love creating content and helping others, and we have been really putting in the time recently to pump out quality content.

We post a lot of quick hitters and thoughts that require less explanation than a blog might on our Instagram page @ivry.fitness. Give us a follow if you like what you see because there will always be more to come!

Finally, we have coaching spots available for this summer if you are still thinking about taking your goals seriously and want a coach to help get you there! We are very confident in our past successes and can’t wait to work with you in the future.

-Josh

How I Plan For Pizza While Cutting

What You Should Know First

When I am cutting, I keep to one simple, basic rule: be in a caloric deficit, or, burn more calories than I consume. I guess there would be tiers of rules that follow that basic one, but that will have to be for a different post. In the next tier, my personal goal is to eat enough protein, which is about 200* grams in my case. There are a few other goals or landmarks that I try to follow while cutting, but those are the two big ones.

So the question is: If I am someone who is trying to lose weight thoughtfully, how can pizza be a part of my diet to accomplish that goal? It truly all goes back to the idea of being in a caloric deficit. Technically speaking you could probably eat pizza every day and still lose weight (though I don’t think you’d feel too hot). The best way to eat the foods you enjoy that may not be the most “healthy” or macro-friendly is to plan ahead for those foods. I will gladly take the extra few minutes in my day to plan a few meals out just so I can fit something like pizza into my diet from time to time.

How I Manipulated My Diet

Regular day of cutting (in quarantine): I try to get about 10,000 steps in on a hike in the morning, then fast until about noon or so. I will then eat a meal with 50g of protein, and get my workout in shortly after. I will then eat another “meal” (snack really) that has another 50g of protein and get some work done.. or watch a movie. I will then go for another short walk before dinner and then have another 50g of protein with dinner. I usually relax in the evenings, may go for another walk, but get in another meal an hour or so before bed with another 50g of protein.

I wanted to set up a normal day just to refer back to, but also to be open about when and what I’m eating. Going into yesterday I knew I was going to have pizza, so I planned out what I wanted to eat earlier in the day to be able to fit pizza happily into my diet for the day. It really is easy to do if you’re willing to put in a few minutes of effort to plan! I essentially just fasted a few hours longer (thank you, coffee), ate smaller, high-protein meals in the afternoon, and then had that one big meal with my pizza in the evening.

Some people think of this planning as being boring, and people accuse me of not enjoying myself or “living life,” but I care enough about trying to reach my goals, and if I can still do that while eating the foods I love, the quick planning is a no-brainer to get there. 

One thing you may have to accept when trying to squeeze other foods into your diet is the fact that your macronutrient distribution at the end of the day may not be as perfect as your aiming for, but as long as you are still eating at a caloric deficit, the makeup of the calories doesn’t matter AS much. This isn’t to be confused with the IIFYM movement (eating anything if it fits your macros); planning a healthy diet and occasionally fitting in some “treats” is a very rational and successful way of dieting.

Macro Breakdown for Regular and Pizza Days

Normal Day of Cutting:

Protein: 210 grams*

Carbs: 280 grams

Fats: 70 grams

Total Calories: 2,600**

On pizza day, this was my breakdown:

Protein: 205 grams*

Carbs: 209 grams

Fats: 119 grams

Calories: 2,681**

My calorie goal is currently a max of 2,700 calories, but I aim for about 2,600** for my day. Clearly there are some big differences there, but overall, my caloric goal was met, and I met my protein numbers. Having this flexibility in a diet is awesome; there is something powerful about knowing that you are in control of your diet and that you can still lose weight while eating pizza occasionally. What a world!

"Can I Go Out to Eat?"

Everyone has such different schedules and has a different relationship with food in regards to being healthy, eating out, and cooking at home. There is no one size fits all approach when talking about diets and how to implement nutrition into your daily routine, but we think it’s important to understand what you are getting yourself into, nutritionally, when you eat out.

After diligently tracking food for well over a year now, I’ve come to realize that almost every entree a restaurant provides has an excess of fat, even the “healthy” or “low calorie” options. Now, no matter if your goal is one of fat loss, or lean mass gain, fat levels are generally recommended to be low or moderate. Most people are just generally unaware of the amount of fat content in the entree’s they order when eating out, or have never really cared or thought to look up the foods they might order at the restaurant, but our hope here is that you at least become aware of what you’re ordering!

I grew up in a family where my dad loved to cook and would cook when he had the time, but there were many seasons growing up where both of my parents were busy at work and my siblings and I had sports and activities we had to get to, so we ate out frequently. Since one’s upbringing has an impact on the decisions they make as they get older, I integrated a similar ratio of cooking to eating out when I got to college.

More recently, now that I’ve started trying to live a healthier lifestyle, I’ve cut back on eating out as much as possible. Don’t get me wrong, there is almost always an option that won’t be too detrimental to your goals at every restaurant, but the options are few and generally not as tasty as all of those other items on the menu that are begging to be eaten. My self-control can be inconsistent at times, so now I just try to limit the amount of times I eat out, or at least try to have a plan before I arrive at a restaurant. I know the last sentence can sound silly, or that I’m being really picky, but nutrition has such a huge impact on your fitness and lifestyle goals that I tend to take it very seriously.

I recently went to a restaurant with my family that we would go to all the time when I was growing up. It’s a small regional chain that is a bar and grill type of setting where they have a wide variety of entree options. So a few weeks ago my family decided we were going to head there for dinner. Now that I check the nutrition facts before I eat at a restaurant, I hopped online to check them out, and to my surprise almost every entree had a minimum of 40-50 grams of fat. My mind was blown. I would venture to say the average fat content per entree was around 60 grams of fat. I would eat some meals at this place and consume god-awful amounts of calories and grams of fat, and I had no idea. Some of those entrees were even entrees you might think were “healthy.” I don’t bring this up to scare anyone, but I think this anecdote is relevant for those that have started tracking nutrition themselves.

Hopefully that knowledge is enough for you to at least think more about what you are eating when you go out, but I wanted to leave you with some recommendations for how to approach eating out.

Option 1: Never eat out. Obviously this option is very restrictive, impractical, and probably not very realistic for most people. However, if you commit to this, you will always be in control of what you are consuming, and you can easily figure out the composition of the macronutrients in your food.

Option 2: Eating out when necessary or to be social. This option is probably the most optimal option for most people out there. The idea here is that you cook and prep as many of your meals as you can, but then eat out when you run out of time due to an unexpected project at work, or when you have three kids trying to make it to three different practices in one evening. Life happens, and we have to be realistic! We are also social creatures, and so no one wants to be the lame one not spending time with friends and family just because they are going out to eat. The best advice for this option is to plan ahead of time and try to find something healthier to eat at the restaurant.

Option 3: Eat out whenever you want. This option would definitely not be recommended, but it is the least restrictive yet also the least optimal for nutrition goals. If you take this approach, there is little work in cooking and food prep that needs to be done, but I guarantee you will miss your nutrition targets again and again if you take this approach.

Again, everyone’s lifestyle is different, but in general we think option 2 is the best to fit most people’s needs. We also recommend that if you do eat out, try and limit the times you eat at fast food establishments versus an actual restaurant because often times the fast food quality is a step down from a restaurant.

Cheers,

Josh