CrossFit vs. Bodybuilding: Which is Better for Living a Lean Life?

To be honest with you, I never thought I would be writing this article.

For those of you who don't know, I was one of those classic “CrossFit-haters” before I woke up to the fitness, mobility, strength, and other positive health benefits of the CrossFit methodology, which means I would have given bodybuilding the award for “best training methodology for staying lean” over CrossFit in a heartbeat.

But after having dabbled in CrossFit for awhile now myself, I’m not so sure.

So it's time to discuss the battle of the training styles: Bodybuilding vs. CrossFit.

Which is better for getting that lean, hard-body look?

In this article, I am going to:

• Tell you what it means to train like a bodybuilder.

• Tell you what it means to train like a CrossFitter.

• Consider the general benefits of bodybuilding and CrossFit respectively.

• Tell you which one I think is “best” for living a lean, muscular life.

• Reveal how I personally train and eat based on my own goals and values.

You're busy, so let's define some terms and then jump right into it.

What does it mean to train like a bodybuilder?

Just know that the term "bodybuilding" here just means training with mostly straight sets of 6-20 reps with the primary goal of building muscle for aesthetic purposes above all else.

If you’re familiar with the term hypertrophy, you know that this is the name of the game for every serious bodybuilder - size and shreds at all costs.

But first, I want to make it clear that I don’t think you have to identify as a bodybuilder to train like a bodybuilder, and you certainly don’t have to be a competitive bodybuilder to train like a bodybuilder.

I wouldn't even have identified as a bodybuilder when I trained exclusively for hypertrophy from May 2019 through August 2021 because it simply wasn’t something I embraced as a part of my identity.

So when you see bodybuilding language being used in this article, remember that it just refers to that style of training, which is honestly what most normal people seem to do when they go to the gym to lift weights.

For example, they hit three sets of barbell bench press and then three sets of machine incline bench. Then they move on to a shoulder press and a few tricep movements to finish off their session with a skin-splitting pump and a quick flex in the mirror on their way back to the locker room.

Does this sound familiar?

In other words, most bodybuilders train with a particular training split in mind, which means they target specific muscle groups on specific days of the week (in most cases).

This is one of the main differences between bodybuilding and CrossFit.

Some of the most common training splits are:

• Push, Pull, Legs, Push, Pull, Legs, Rest

• Legs, Push, Pull, Rest, Legs, Rest, Arms

• Upper, Lower, Rest, Upper, Lower, Rest, Rest

• Full Body, Full Body, Rest, Full Body, Full Body, Rest, Rest

Mike Thurston, bodybuilder

To represent the bodybuilding side of the “argument” in this article, I’ve chosen to feature Mike Thurston, who has been one of my favorite fitness influencers for years.

And although Mike Thurston has often been accused of using performance enhancing drugs, he claims to be a drug-free bodybuilder (and I choose to believe him despite the rising intensity of the “natty witch hunt” movement).

For that reason, I think he's a great example of just about "as good as it can get" when it comes to training purely for physique outcomes.

So maybe consider his build as you continue reading about the bodybuilding side of things.

What does it mean to train like a CrossFitter?

CrossFit, for the purposes of this conversation, probably means that you actually go to a CrossFit gym and do their daily workouts usually called WODs or metcons.

You could maybe loop a more general circuit-like training style into this, but I'd rather not. It's just not the same, and I think we should keep CrossFit distinct from other training systems that might seem similar like Orangetheory or F45.

So for the purposes of this article, let’s assume that training like a serious CrossFitter is the dedicated equivalent of training like a serious bodybuilder.

For anyone who is unfamiliar with CrossFit, I think CrossFit is unique from bodybuilding in two distinct ways:

Noah Ohlsen, CrossFitter

1. True fitness is the goal of CrossFit - not aesthetics. And what’s important to remember here is that fitness refers to one’s ability to perform as much work as possible as efficiently as possible. What I mean here is that it’s not just about looking fit, which is a huge misconception in the fitness industry. While most people might agree that bodybuilders look fit, the truth is that most of them would struggle to post a respectable mile run time or even sprint 100 meters without straining a hamstring. And this isn’t meant to be an unfair dig at bodybuilders. Running in any capacity isn’t a primary component of what it means to be a bodybuilder.

2. CrossFitters don’t have training splits. In fact, one of the fundamental principles of CrossFit is known as The Hopper Model, which states that all-around fitness can be tested by pulling random fitness activities out of a bingo-like machine. For example, if you had 10 athletes looking to compete for the title of fittest of them all, you could pull out 10 random bingo balls with workouts on them and see who had the most impressive average performance. These workouts, however, would encompass a wide range of physical tasks: a max deadlift, a mile run, a couplet of pull-ups and overhead barbell presses for time, etc. The winner, in this case, would be the athlete who could perform the greatest variety of fitness exercises as well as possible. Because of this, CrossFit programming is about training in a way that best prepares you for the unknown. In other words, you won’t see CrossFitters doing bodybuilding splits. Instead, most of their training combines physical tasks in the categories of strength, gymnastics, and aerobic or anaerobic output (usually in the form of running, biking, rowing, or swimming).

Pictured above is Noah Ohlsen - one of my favorite physiques in the CrossFit space. Maybe think about him as you read about CrossFit and its perks.

He has finished in the top ten of the CrossFit Games seven times since 2014 and is frequently mentioned in conversations surrounding the “nastiest CrossFit physiques.”

Katrin Davidsdottir, CrossFitter

In both cases, I’ve tried to pick athletes who represent the cream of the crop for each of their respective sports.

And then obviously there are female representations as well, but I've decided not to go browsing the internet too intensely for women in minimal clothing, so you might have to do some of your own research for female physiques.

But for guidance you could Google "Gymshark chicks" "or “bikini competitors” for the bodybuildling/physique piece and then maybe Tia Toomey, Brook Wells, or Danielle Brandon for the CrossFit piece.

Pictured here is Katrin Davidsdottir, who won the CrossFit games in 2015 and 2016.

GENERAL BENEFITS OF BODYBUILDING

Keep in mind that the focus of this article is on which training modality is better for living a lean life - not necessarily which one is better all around.

But I've decided to start with a broader list of benefits of bodybuilding when compared to CrossFit to help people understand the bigger picture:

1. You can sculpt your physique more intentionally. So if aesthetics, symmetry, and shape are the most important things for you, this training methodology probably wins out. The most common example of this is probably women who want bigger glutes or men who want a bigger chest or bigger arms. CrossFit could certainly help with that, but a bodybuilding training style would be much more appropriate for a specific goal like bringing up a specific body part.

2. You're probably less likely to get injured, but it's no guarantee. I would just personally say it's less likely because the movements are generally less explosive, but some might disagree. You can hyperextend your knee on a leg press and fold in half like a piece of cheese just like you can tweak your back at CrossFit doing a heavy deadlift. And the only sense in which this injury piece has anything to do with getting and staying lean is that it’s hard to maintain an impressive physique as a wounded soldier.

3. Your workouts will be significantly easier in a "cardio sense" if you train like a bodybuilder. In other words, you never really get out of breath or feel like your lungs are going to explode. Some people really hate that feeling, so I think this is a notable perk for the bodybuilding camp.

4. You don't have to be athletic to train like a bodybuilder. While CrossFit might have you jumping onto boxes, running, and doing ring muscle-ups, bodybuilding is mostly about staying in fixed positions and focusing on a maximal mind-muscle connection.

GENERAL Benefits of CrossFit

On the other hand, I think the general benefits of CrossFit when compared to bodybuilding are:

1. Getting leaner and stronger happens fairly thoughtlessly if you show up consistently and continue to challenge yourself. That elimination of thought-fatigue is enormously important in my opinion. Most people already have enough to think about. Do you really want to have to design your own optimal diet and training program for glute hypertrophy?

2. You get to eat more food than bodybuilders and physique-minded people, which can have major lifestyle implications for people who don’t have the time or energy to be obsessing over food scales and precise macronutrient targets. Why? Bodybuilding doesn’t burn very many calories when compared to CrossFit workouts.

3. You actually get to take home a bit of fitness with your vanity. As amazing as some bodybuilders look externally, their aesthetic appearance is the extent of their “fitness.” CrossFit focuses on physical fitness above all else, which allows physique improvements to be byproduct of the greater goal. I think this has powerful psychological implications for people who want to be leaner and more muscular but are tired of being told to focus on “being in caloric deficit.”

Now that we’ve discussed the broader benefits of bodybuilding and CrossFit, which is better for living a lean, muscular life?

which one is better for a lean, muscular life?

Steve Cook, bodybuilder and fitness model

If your sole goal is to live lean life while looking like a Greek god or goddess, bodybuilding is going to better because it’s a more appropriate training methodology for your specific goal.

But a major caveat here is that it requires a level of discipline in the gym and the kitchen that most people are incapable of embracing.

For example, are you really going to make time to train 5-6 times per week for 60-90 minutes? Are you really going to hit 20 sets of quads taken within a few reps of mechanical failure? Are you really going to periodize seasons of cutting and bulking with specific macros and calories targets to accompany your goal?

Maybe! But maybe not.

For a lot of people, that level of self-responsibility and ownership just isn't realistic. They don't have the drive or the ambition or the time or the energy.

For that reason, I think CrossFit is better in terms of living that lean, muscular life that so many people seem to desire.

But let me be clear here about what I’m saying so you can understand the nuance.

In a vacuum, I think bodybuilding is better for overall aesthetics. But in real life, I think CrossFit is a better training system for longterm body recomposition.

In other words, if I had it my way, I would encourage everyone with a fat loss goal to start doing CrossFit over bodybuilding with the supervision of a weight loss specialist like me.

Why?

Firstly, bodybuilding just can't hold a candle to the time-effectiveness of CrossFit.

Christian Harris, CrossFitter

With CrossFit, you show up, get your bum kicked and lungs torched in less than an hour, and you go home having gotten a great stimulus for muscle growth and having burned a ton of calories in most cases.

This also leaves more grace for imperfect eating habits that bodybuilding folks don't get. In other words, you might be able to "get away with" training hard 4-5 times per week at your CrossFit gym while pretty much eating what you want within reason.

Does this mean you get to eat pizza and ice cream every night and be shredded?

No. It just means you can probably eat mostly whole foods to satiety and enjoy occasional (or even frequent treats) while staying respectably lean and in good health.

Secondly, most people are clueless when it comes to structuring a muscle-building workout (much less an entire cycle of evidence-based hypertrophy training) and lack the discipline required to execute that workout plan consistently.

In this case, the insurmountable benefits of CrossFit (in my opinion) are:

• The reduced thought fatigue of knowing the workout is already written for you.

  • All you have to do is show up and give your best effort.

• The accountability of a coach and other athletes in the class.

So, at the end of the day, I think it’s less of a question of which is “better” in an absolute sense and more of a question of which is “better” for you and your life.

Both bodybuilding and CrossFit can lead people toward leaner body compositions that boost health and confidence.

Ask yourself the following:

Which one do you enjoy more and which one can you see yourself doing sustainably?

If that’s bodybuilding, train like a bodybuilder.

If that’s CrossFit, train like a CrossFitter.

It just might be that simple.

What am I currently doing?

Right now, I'm blending both bodybuilding and CrossFit training concepts, but the majority of my training is centered around 5-6 CrossFit workouts per week.

Before or after those days, I do strength work primarily in the front squat, squat, and overhead press because improving my strength is a personal goal of mine.

Beyond that, I'm hitting extra bicep and side delt volume to help boost areas of my physique that I enjoy being more pronounced for aesthetic purposes.

In terms of how much I weigh, how lean I am, and how much I’m eating, I tend to hover around 190 pounds while eating about between 3,500-4,000 calories per day at somewhere between 12-15% body fat (according to the best body fat scan technology I have access to).

Why am I doing this?

This unique blend of training modalities is what most accurately reflects my personal values at this point in my life.

Personally, I value my overall physical fitness over my aesthetic appearance (which wasn’t always the case), and CrossFit is a much better lifestyle fit for me than bodybuilding.

It allows me to “eat in abundance” and “train like a freak,” which is personal motto of mine. I eat more than twice I used to eat as a bodybuilder, and I frequently enjoy 21-inch pizzas, toddler-sized burritos, Oreos, and red wine.

For me, nothing could be better, but I encourage everyone to make that choice for themselves.

Summary

• Bodybuilding will probably be better for anyone whose goal of being lean is driven by aesthetics above all else. While CrossFit will help you lose fat and build muscle, bodybuilding principles (when applied properly) will yield better aesthetic outcomes over time in most cases.

• CrossFit might be better for people who don’t have the time, energy, or ambition to write their own workouts and show up the gym consistently on their own accord.

• CrossFit might also be better for anyone who isn’t interested in looking like a Greek sculpture. There are plenty of people who just want to lose some weight, gain some muscle, and look and feel more confident in their clothes.

• I personally think CrossFit is a more practical approach for most people, but you can certainly live a lean, muscular life training like a bodybuilder as well.

• I am currently doing 5-6 CrossFit workouts per week while supplementing with some strength and hypertrophy work because it reflects my goals and values.

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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.

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 Fix Your Squishiness

Let’s talk about the squishy fix.

As silly as it may sound, nearly everyone I talk to about training or dieting is interested in mitigating their squishiness in favor of a harder-looking physique.

Some people call this the "skinny-fat dilemma," but to me it's more of a squishiness dilemma.

So what do you do if you're squishy and you don't like it?

Firstly, I think it's important to understand how we all get squishy in the first place because not everyone is in the same squishiness boat.

How do we get squishy in the first place?

Scenario 1: you were lean but let go.

Probably the most common route to squishy is what I would call the person who grew up thin or lean by nature and then let go at some point in life.

Some of you are probably nodding your heads and thinking, "Yep. That's me." You never really had to think about food as a young person because "your metabolism was awesome!" And now it's apparently less awesome because you're squishy?

Or maybe your food and exercise habits changed a bit along the way as well.

A lot of these people were athletes in high school or college and then lost their way in their twenties.

scenario 2: the long-time chubster

But there are also people who have never known life without their squishiness. This would be anyone who feels like they grew up as a "fat kid" or thinks of themselves as genetically cursed.

You've never really felt confident at the pool or on the beach. You've never loved your picture being taken and you've probably always been insecure about a t-shirt that's just a little too tight. Maybe you were even made fun of for your weight when you were younger.

For those who know me well, you know that I actually fall into this camp.

Scenario 3: The Freestyle Friday Protein-Deficient Cardio Crowd

This third camp is probably the one that gives me the most grief because it represents a group of people who are trying really hard in all of the wrong ways.

And usually, pervasive ignorance is a common denominator among these people.

I know that sounds terrible, but I plan to defend what I mean by that as gently as possible. I call this group the Freestyle Friday Protein-Deficient Cardio Crowd.

Let me break that one down for you.

• Freestyle Friday is a term my high school basketball coach used to talk about anything that wasn't designed for a specific goal in mind. In short, it's something random and it implies little to no consideration of the future. With these people, I find that there's usually no method to their madness. They just "do" a bunch of stuff, and it's never systematic enough to warrant any meaningful or predictable returns.

• Protein-Deficient is pretty self-explanatory. Even though I've shifted my focus away from ultra-high-protein diets in recent years, you still have to consume an adequate amount of protein for any semi-serious physique endeavor.

  • If you want a deeper dive on calculating your own protein needs, check out this article I personally wrote on the topic.

  • You can also check this article out for practical tips on how to eat more protein if you don't know where to start.

• Cardio Crowd simply refers to the fact that these people generally spend way more time doing cardio than they do getting stronger and lifting weights.

When these three forces combine, you're bound to find some degree of squishiness. You might be fit in the cardio sense! But you might be squishy too.

For a surprising example, check out this photo of David Beckham I found the other day.

I'm not saying the guy looks "bad," but it's definitely a softer look for an elite soccer player in a photoshoot setting.

In my experience, most people want to be both more muscular and leaner than his physique in this particular photo.

Why Most People Don’t Love Their Squishiness

This is simple. Squishiness usually implies the combination of two unappealing factors: little to no muscle mass and unwanted fat.

This is a problem because most people would rather be the opposite of at least one but ideally both of those factors!

In other words, having little no muscle while carrying extra body fat is kind of the worst case scenario for most people.

You'd probably prefer having the combination of muscle and fat or the combination of no muscle and no fat than being all around squishy.

For example, powerlifters can sometimes be a decent example of what it means to have plenty of muscle but also plenty of fat, but, as you can see here, this lifter has a ton of muscle and a very healthy and aesthetic amount of body fat.

On the other hand, long distance runners tend to be a decent example of what it means to have little to no muscle or fat.

It's kind of like preferring to have your favorite team be 1-1 instead of 0-2 going into the third week of the football season.

Why would you want anything other than everything?

So in short, people don't love their squishiness because it's a double-opposite of what most people want.

Although each of those camps would benefit from slightly different strategies, the baseline principles are going to be the same.

5 Steps to Fixing Squishy

Be warned, these fixes are not sexy, and you won’t see any mention of lemon juice solutions.

Step 1: set a specific goal.

Firstly, you need to decide if you're going to lose fat first or build muscle first.

You can always try for a nice, slow, and steady recomp, but I think most people would be smart to pick one road or the other and get going.

This decision is important because it dictates how many calories you will be consuming as you start your new program.

Step 2: REMEMBER THAT calories matter most.

Once you have a clear direction and a specific goal, you've got to take extreme ownership of your caloric intake.

Remember that there are only ever three ways to eat:

• In a caloric deficit for a primary goal of fat loss

• In a caloric surplus for a primary goal of muscle gain

• At maintenance calories for a body recomposition effort

In any of these cases, I personally believe a modest approach will work best for most people.

In other words, I would recommend against any aggressive caloric deficit or caloric surplus, and I will tell you why.

Keep in mind that squishy or “skinny fat” people are typically visually softer and less muscular than they need to be for a hard-body look, which means…

• Eating in an aggressive deficit is going to severely limit the muscle you can gain.

• Eating in an aggressive surplus is going to cause excess weight gain and create an ever softer appearance.

As you can see, those are both unwanted outcomes.

So for some general advice, I think a 0-10% deficit or surplus depending on your goal is a very conservative place to start.

This means if your maintenance calories are 2,000 per day, you’d switch to an 1,800-calorie or 2,200-calorie diet depending on the goal (if you were to use the 10% figure).

STEp 3: make sure your protein intake is adequate.

You've got to get your protein in check.

Since so many people struggle to optimize their protein, I’m willing to throw out a few general recommendations.

I really think most females would benefit from targeting a minimum of 80g of protein per day while most males would benefit from targeting a minimum of 120g per day.

Obviously, you can eat much more than that if you personally feel you need to. That choice is yours. I'm just one guy yelling in a noisy room.

For a much more nuanced discussion on this, click here.

STEP 4: prioritize resistance training and progressive overload.

Train consistently with weights while minimizing unnecessary cardio.

You're just never going to develop succulent, balloon-like muscles that look impressive in your best outfits if you never train with weights.

I also realize it may sound a bit counterintuitive to minimize cardio, but you have to remember that building muscle is much more difficult than losing fat.

For that reason alone, I try to encourage people to commit to longer phases of muscle gain knowing in the back of their mind that cutting the fat later is always an option.

So if you're on the fence about training for muscle gain or dieting for fat loss, I might encourage you to train for muscle gain.

Some might argue it’s the less satisfying short-term move, but I firmly believe it’s the more gratifying long-term move.

You’re also going to want to make sure that your program is designed to allow for progressive overload, which means you’ll gradually be increasing the load, reps, or sets performed over time.

If you’re new to the idea of progressive overload, click here.

Step 5: diet in phases.

Diet phasically. I don't have the space to get into that here, but it's worth saying.

If you're squishy, you're probably not going to be able to do a single dieting phase and wake up lean and muscle-puffy someday.

In other words, you might start with an 6-week body recomposition effort at maintenance calories while optimizing your training quality and then deload for a week before jumping into a small surplus to start burning away some of the unwanted fat that’s preventing you from looking trimmer.

It might even take multiple phases of manipulating your strategy, which is where I personally think having a body recomposition coach can be extremely helpful.

Special Considerations

If you used to be lean but you've let go, there's a good chance you can "get your old self back" simply by getting back to old habits.

It's also most likely that you can go straight to cutting body fat since you might have some lingering muscle from your leaner days as a high school athlete or something similar.

If that’s you, it would certainly be my recommendation to start eating in a small deficit of around 10%.

For anyone who feels like they're bigger by nature, you might have to make a more dramatic shift than our leaner friends. But in my opinion, it's better to face the facts and get to work than it is to mope over the unfairness of genetic predispositions.

And I'm allowed to say that since I grew up "husky."

If your metabolism seems to be in a decent place, you're probably best to start chipping away at body fat and then building muscle once you get to a leaner base. Also, don't expect it to be easy. You might have to be more meticulous with your diet than the naturally thin girl at your office you secretly despise.

For these people, I would also recommend a small deficit of around 10%.

For the FFPDCC, you're in a bit of a pickle but it's not void of all hope. It's a hopeful pickle.

But you probably need to decide if you care more about being a cardio monster or a Greek statue. They just really don't go hand in hand in any optimal sense.

If you're more about cardio, then a lower-protein life makes good sense. You're not actually trying to build muscle and that's fine!

But if you're sick of squishy more than anything, get on a structured weight training program, bump your protein intake, and snooze the cardio for a few months to give yourself a chance to build some lean tissue.

For these people, I would actually recommend maintenance eating or a small surplus of around 10%.

And that's that!

Just some thoughts on being squishy and how to rewrite your story if you're in pursuit of leaner and more muscular body composition.

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Thanks for reading! I genuinely 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 who might be tired of having their love handles melt over the sides of their favorite jeans.

Later, guys.

-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

The One Thing All Jacked People Have In Common

Every jacked person has one thing in common.

And I'm willing to bet you're going to be very disappointed when I tell you.

It's not some secret behavioral hack that you might pick off of a motivational Instagram account, and it's not some superfood or supplement.

And, to be clear, I’m also not saying it’s the only thing that matters.

I’m just saying that it’s the one common denominator among everyone who has built a very muscular physique.

Are you ready for it?

Every person with a well-built physique trains hard.

Truthfully, I wish I could modify that adjective to say something like "intelligently" or "strategically" or "in a periodized fashion with a well-planned diet," but that's just simply not the case in my experience.

Jacked people train hard...

• Even if the training program was wack.

• Even if their diet was suboptimal.

• Even if their recovery could have been better.

And when I use the term hard, I mean some combination of heavy lifting (usually in the 6-20 rep range), lots of sets (usually 10-20 per muscle group per week), and plenty of intensity.

And this is actually really annoying to me.

Why?

Because training hard (for whatever reason) was pretty much the last thing I tried over the years in my efforts to gain muscle.

I know that sounds stupid.

You're probably wondering what exactly I was doing if I wasn't training hard, but for whatever reason I just had this notion that I could outsmart the discomfort of training.

I would think things like…

• "Maybe if I do the perfect number of sets and time my perfectly macro-calculated meal post-workout to ignite maximum anabolism, I'll get jacked."

• "Maybe if I train 7 days a week, I'll get jacked."

• "Maybe if I sleep 9 hours per night and eat 200g of protein a day, I'll get jacked."

It just doesn't work like that because...

The training stimulus is what ignites the adaptation.

That is by far the most important thing for you to take away from this article today.

The training stimulus is what ignites the adaptation.
The training stimulus is what ignites the adaptation.
The training stimulus is what ignites the adaptation.

Get it?

So as much as I want to encourage you to optimize as many things as you possibly can in order to get the most out of your body recomposition endeavor, none of that stuff really matters meaningfully unless you introduce an incredible training stimulus.

A good analogy might be to think of it like a general and his army.

The General and his army analogy

You could have an infantry of 100,000 of the most skilled soldiers in the world, but if they don't have a general to tell them what to do, they'll never be as effective as they could have been with good direction.

Does that make sense? You need both a clear signal and an effective response to that signal for optimal outcomes..

In this case, the general represents the training stimulus - the thing that communicates the mission to everything else down the line.

And the army represents your caloric intake, your protein intake, your overall diet quality, your hydration, your recovery, your sleep, etc.

If the general says, "Grow muscle," then your army of food, water, and recovery will know exactly what to do.

And if you have an incredible army to support an incredible general, you'll get amazing results - arguably the best results you could possibly get!

But let's consider the other combinations:

• A great general with a terrible army

  • This basically means you're training really hard but you're not optimizing the rest of your lifestyle for muscle growth. It's slightly better than the second option, but it's still sub-optimal.

• A terrible general with a great army

  • This is the mistake I made for years. I had everything dialed in except for my training quality and intensity. Because of it, I still got decent results because my training wasn't a complete disaster. But it wasn't as good as it could have been is the point I want to make here. Again, it was sub-optimal.

• A terrible general with a terrible army

  • Hopefully you aren't this person! This would mean your training is wack and you're literally not taking care of your diet, hydration, or recovery in any meaningful sense. But if you do find yourself thinking, "Yeah, that's me," don't fret! Just make the necessary changes and redefine your narrative. That choice is always available.

So to make the best of your situation, be sure to:

1. Maximize your training quality. This includes exercise selection and execution/technique.

2. Optimize your training volume. This usually refers to how many sets you do per week.

3. Optimize your training intensity. This means performing most of your sets within 0-3 reps of technical failure.

4. Eat well.

5. Drink well.

6. Rest well.

7. Repeat until jacked.

Is this true for women too? Or just guys who want to get huge?

This absolutely goes for you all well, ladies! The same muscle-building principles apply.

This is not some exclusive tip for dudes who want shoulders that no longer properly fit through a doorway.

This is for any woman who wants strong and aesthetically pleasing legs and glutes (or a strong, attractive back) as well.

In fact, unless you came out of the oven with satisfactorily enormous buns (to your own standards and desires), you're going to have to squat, lunge, hinge, and thrust your way to glory just like every gym bro had to curl his way to making his biceps look like mutant chickpeas.

Summary

Every jacked person trains hard.

It’s not the only thing that matters, but it’s what matters most if building an impressive amount of muscle mass is the goal, and it’s the one common denominator among all well-built physiques.

However, if you’re less interested in building muscle and more interested in losing body fat while maintaining your muscle mass, energy balance will be the most important factor in achieving that goal. But that’s for another article.

If you’re here to get jacked, be sure to dial in your training quality, workload, and intensity first. Then eat well and rest well consistently until you reach your goal.

Not sure where to start? Check out this article about How to Build Muscle Effectively Using the Rule of 7’s and 11’s.

You’ll be on your way to sporting the best body composition you’ve had in years (or ever).

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I sincerely hope you found this article helpful or illuminating in some way!

If you feel like it brought you value, consider sending it to a friend or family member - especially someone who might be failing to optimize a few important aspects of their body recomposition journey.

Later, friends.

-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

Vegan Bulking: My Most Common Meals for Building Muscle on a Plant-Based Diet

Today I'm coming at you with a quick-hitter about which meals I'm eating most often as a plant-based fitness enthusiast with an emphasis on building muscle.

I'm doing this because I’m realizing that more and more people are getting curious about how to consume more of their calories from plant foods while optimizing their fitness and their ability to build muscle.

The problem is that they just don't know how to do it.

And maybe you’re in that very same situation. You love the idea of getting jacked on plants, but you don’t you know where to start and the entire idea seems overwhelming, unpractical, and unsustainable.

I was the same way.

I was mesmerized by the idea of eating more plants, consuming fewer animal products, and getting more jacked than ever. It seemed like a win for the animals, a win for the planet, and a win for my own health, longevity, and moral compass.

And yet I had no practical knowledge of how to make it happen.

Fortunately, all of that has changed!

At the time of publishing this article, I’ve been flourishing on a 100% plant-based diet for 160 days.

In that time, I’ve noticed the following things:

• Dramatically accelerated recovery from weight training in both bodybuilding and CrossFit

• Increased volume capacity in terms of recoverable sets between 0-3 reps in reserve

• Increased cardio capacity

• Better pumps and improved vascularity

• Improved blood flow

• Increased sex drive

• Better day to day energy levels

• Sustained mental focus

• Heightened ability to resist irritability and be more patient

• Improved sleep quality

• Reduced body pain specifically in my sides and lower back

• No “gut clog,” which is what I call that heavy, sluggish feeling I used to get after eating meat or dairy-heavy meals.

• Better poops

• Being happier and more content overall knowing that my dietary choices are in alignment with my desire to be a more compassionate and selfless person

Not bad, right?

And, because I’ve had such a positive experience in my transition to a plant-based life, I want to pay it forward by giving you some specific ideas from my own dietary pattern about what to eat if you're wanting to eat more plants, excel in the gym, and look more muscular in the mirror. 

Let’s get into it.

My Most Common Plant-Based Meals for Building Muscle and Getting Lean 

1. Smoothies with Plant-Based Protein Powder 

I have a plant-based smoothie almost everyday because it's just too easy to smash 30-50g of protein in a single meal this way.

Back when I was a meat-eater, I remember following a lot of vegans who would say, "It's not hard to find protein on a plant-based diet!" And to be honest, it always confused me. 

“How could that be true?” I thought. “All of the most obvious protein sources seem to come from animal flesh. Are you really suggesting that broccoli can be a substantial protein source?”

Being on the other side now, I realize that they were trying to promote their lifestyle in a practical, winsome light, but...

The reality is that it does require a greater degree of intentionality to accumulate 120-170g of protein per day on a plant-based diet.

Sure, beans have protein, but compared to egg whites? Let's be real. You'd have to smash a lot of beans and poop your pants twice to get enough protein from those beans as you would an effortless 300mL pour of egg whites.

But, in my opinion, this is nothing to worry about.

I hope to touch on this in more depth in a separate article, but I’ve actually been challenging how much protein the body really needs to build an impressive amount of muscle mass. In fact, I’ve even dabbled with intakes as low as 80g per day, which is less than half of what I used to consume as an omnivore.

But enough on that for now. Let’s get back to the utility of smoothies for building muscle on a vegan diet.

Assuming you want to follow current evidence-based recommendations for protein consumption in the context of optimal physique outcomes, I would encourage anyone who is looking to gain muscle mass on a 100% plant-based diet to utilize the convenience of protein protein powders as one of the few protein sources that rival the macronutrient ratios of animal proteins.

To wrap this one up, protein smoothies make the #1 slot for a few reasons:

1. They’re quick and easy to prepare and consume.

2. You can pack them with greens, nuts, and seeds that might be less convenient to eat elsewhere throughout your day.

3. They taste delicious when supplemented creatively with bananas, mangos, papayas, dates, and nut butters.

4. They are a good opportunity to consume plant-based EAAs or BCAAs, which are more scarce in the plant kingdom

   1. Although I’m personally skeptical of the importance of leucine in the context of stimulating muscle-protein synthesis to a meaningfully greater extent than the other amino acids, you might be less suspicious than I am. As a bit of an insurance policy, it might be a good idea to buy a protein powder that contains EAAs or BCAAs. As a vegan, I’ve now purchased and used products from Vivo Life and 1st Phorm. I have no affiliation to either.

2. Plant Protein Pasta Explosions

This is another extremely common meal for me because nearly everyone on the planet loves pasta.

In fact, if you come from a traditional perspective on how to diet for building muscle, you’ll know that pasta is rarely to never a part of the conversation.

Why? Because it’s “too high in carbohydrates.” After all, bodybuilding and the pursuit of a god or goddess-like physique is all about protein, right?

I’m not so convinced.

Even though the protein hit from these pastas does come with plenty of carbohydrates, I still find that it's not that difficult to keep my calories in check - especially while bulking.

For example, if you find a plant protein pasta from chickpeas or lentils or even black beans, you can easily get 20-40g of protein per meal. Just be sure to keep your sauces lower in calories and to minimize oil use if you're looking to lose fat.

As a bit of a bonus, I like to sprinkle around 10g of nutritional yeast on top of my pasta bowls for that cheese-like effect while supplementing with vegan meatballs for an extra 16g of protein from soy.

Once you add all of that up, you can easily get 40g or more of protein in a completely vegan mountain of pasta.

Pretty sick, right?

3. Toddler-Sized Burritos

I have become the king of Panchero's.

You can literally get some of the most delicious plant foods out there for the modest price of $9 and some change.

Just in case Panchero's isn't a chain you have in your area, I'm basically talking about anything in the Chipotle or Qdoba category as well. 

And what's particularly cool about burritos is that there usually isn't one obvious protein source. This is one of those things that really perplexed me when I was a meat-eater. I just didn't understand the concept that all of the foods within the dish could work together to provide the accumulated protein dose I needed to stimulate muscle growth.

I thought I needed chicken or beef or tuna or eggs or something to get more jacked! But I couldn't be happier that I was wrong. 

In this case, the combination of the tortilla, the beans, the rice, and the tofu add up to around 46g of protein.

My specific order?

• Tortilla, rice, black beans, pinto beans, grilled veggies, tofusada with an extra scoop, lettuce, corn salsa, and pico

  • Depressing Update: I recently found out that Panchero’s tortillas are not 100% plant-based, which means I’ve shifted to being a bowl man. But Chipotle’s tortillas are 100% plant-based, which means they’re getting more of my business these days.

I also like mentioning Panchero's because it gives some people hope that you can eat on the fly on a plant-based diet. Although the options are skimpy, this is a super solid one. 

In fact, I actually documented the importance of burritos in my vegan bulking diet by naming every single burrito I ate during my first dedicated, vegan bulking phase.

I also named them hurricane-style, which I thought was pretty cheeky. If you want to check that out, you can sink your teeth in here.

4. Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwiches 

Believe it or not, the combination of some high-protein wheat bread or Ezekiel bread with nut butter and a banana can get you 20g of protein fairly easily. 

It has also not been uncommon for me to eat 2 plain peanut butter and banana bagels post-workout for a wily 932 calories from 27P, 166C, and 19F.

And if you read that and thought, “What in the flying fork?!”…

Calm down and remember that these are tips for plant-based bulking, which automatically assume a caloric surplus.

You also have to consider the context.

• I’m a 190-pound male that trains fairly intensely 5-6 days per week. Because of that, my maintenance intake at 190 is currently 3,500 calories, which makes a modest surplus around 3,800 calories for me.

In short, I need to eat ultra high-carbohydrate meals like this to get the results I want.

Do you? Maybe not.

I’m just giving you an insider look at my diet.

Always make the decision that makes the most sense for you and your goals.

5. Quinoa, Broccoli, and Tempeh Bowls

I really wish more people knew about tempeh!

If you’re not aware, tempeh is made from fermented soybeans.

I can't encourage you enough to try it for yourself if you’ve never dabbled. It's literally as easy as cubing up the block on a cutting board and tossing the cubes into a stir fry with some soy sauce.

For me personally, tempeh bowls really have become the "chicken, broccoli, and rice" equivalent for me from my omnivorous days.

But now, it's tempeh, broccoli, and quinoa.

I choose quinoa because it's actually a fantastic supplementary source of protein. Believe it or not, there are 45g of protein in the bowl you see above. 

All you need to make this dish a success is:

• Quinoa

• Broccoli

• Tempeh

• Garlic powder, onion power, black pepper, iodized salt or pink salt

• Optional

  • Korean Gochujang sauce

  • Tahini

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And there you have it, my friends!

These are the most common meals I’m using right now to build muscle on a 100% plant-based diet. For those who love to know exact macros, a fairly normal day for me might look like 150P, 620C, and 85F (although I routinely utilize the freedom to tweak my carbs and fats depending on training volume and fluctuating day-to-day preferences). This winds up being around 3,700-3,800 calories.

I hope you found this helpful.

If you feel like this blog brought you any value at all, consider sending it to a friend or family member! You never know who in your life might be plant curious, and you could be the catalyst for a major change in the way they view the plant, their diet, and their fitness.

Cheers, everyone!

-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

"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

Is Instagram Ruining Fitness for Everyone?

When I was planning out my content schedule the other day, I stumbled onto a super spicy topic that I've never written on before - Instagram influencers and all the ways I think they are kind of "ruining fitness" for a lot of people. 

So let’s get into it.

The Good and Bad of Instagram Influencers in the Fitness Space

Now obviously most things in life can be good or bad depending on how you choose to use them or "be them" in this case, so I'm not trying to make the point that all Instagram fitness influencers are "evil" or even full of bad intentions. 

You can absolutely be a good fitness influencer or a bad fitness influencer just like you can be a good plumber or a bad plumber. 

And by "good" and "bad" I probably mean something like primarily seeking after the common good of others more than your own selfish ambitions.

But here's why I personally think a lot of Instagram influencers are really screwing people up.

Reason 1 - Instagram Mostly Feeds You Content from the “Genetic Elite”

As much as I hate to admit this, what you're seeing on your feed really is the "genetic elite," as we like to say. 

But, to be totally honest, I really don’t like that term because I feel like it far too often gets used as an excuse for people to forfeit the integrity of their long-term body composition goals before they’ve ever given themselves a proper chance.

Let me explain.

I think too many people see phenomenal physiques on Instagram or other avenues of social media and think, “They were probably just born like that. It’s genetics, and I will never look like that.”

And while it’s absolutely true that some people are born with favorable anatomical structures, insertion points, and genetics overall for building muscle, that doesn’t negate the parallel reality that some degree of meaningful body recomposition can be achieved by all of us.

In other words, everyone can become a leaner and more muscular version of themselves to varying degrees, and I hate the thought of people settling for less than their personal best just because their own physique potential might not be as impressive on a cultural level than those of the statue-esque models they’ve grown accustomed to seeing on Instagram.

But the reality is that some people really do just “look hot" according to the cultural standards of the 2020’s with very minimal effort. 

You heard that right, some dudes can get pretty muscular without much work just like some chicks can have a thick bum and a tiny waist for seemingly no reason.

Genetics are very real and seemingly unapologetic. 

To spell it out for you even more clearly, I’m saying that some people are always going to look “better than you” no matter how hard you try.

Let’s think about it context of a race analogy:

• It’s kind of like being among a group of people who are all trying to run a “body composition race” of one lap around the track. 

  • If you’ve got average genetics, you get to line up at the traditional starting line, which means the distance to your destination is an even 400m. Seems fair, right? 

  • But, having elite genetics means you get a massive head-start on your competition in the sense that some people are literally lining up at the 100m, 200m, and even 300m mark to run the same exact race as you! All of a sudden, things don’t seem very fair anymore, do they? 

  • Not only that, but imagine being genetically disadvantaged, which means you’d be starting 100m behind the starting line - or worse!

  • Who is going to win the race?

And that’s exactly what I mean when we say “good genetics.” 

So imagine now you take that same group of genetically elite individuals and give them a great training program, evidence-based nutrition, and a team of photographers that know how to rig up the lighting just right. 

What happens? You get the perfect storm of aesthetics and social media allure.

Of course Instagram is going to put those physiques on your feed!

They are shocking and awe-inspiring and they can keep you scrolling for hours while you compare yourself (usually negatively) to their seemingly perfect features.

Call me crazy, but I personally don't think that's probably good for most people's mental health and overall self-esteem, which is the first reason I think Instagram’s over-promotion of the genetic elite is contributing to negative associations with fitness and body image for many people.

Reason 2 - Some People Will Do Just About Anything for a Double-Tap and a Potential Modeling Career

You have to keep in mind that a lot of opportunity is floating around on Instagram, which means that some people will do literally almost anything to snap the perfect photo that might land them a magazine cover or a partnership with Gymshark or Alphalete or an even a higher level modeling agency. 

But how far are some people willing to take it?

To answer that question, I decided to make a list of three specific things I would personally do if I decided to sell my soul for maximum Instagram approval:

• I would probably take drugs.

  • Whoa, drugs?! You heard that right! But before you freak out because you know me personally, just know that I will never take special sports supplements (which is basically a gentler way of saying steroids) because I personally value my long-term health more than any immediate benefit being more jacked could offer me.

  • But the point I am trying to make here is that we are seeing physiques on Instagram (both male and female) that you might naively think are achievable naturally or - in other words - without "special supplementation."

  • And just to be clear, I'm not talking about whey protein, creatine monohydrate, and your mom's favorite multivitamin. We're talking testosterone and exogenous hormones that allow you to build muscle literally all day long while staying lean, which is basically an influencer's dream come true. Sound appealing yet? 

• I would stage fake photographs to make you think I live a certain lifestyle that I really don't.

  • Specifically, I would take a ton of photos of me "eating meals" that I never actually ate.

  • Have you ever seen a picture of a super fit dude or dudette eating the cheat meal of your dreams? Or maybe even looking shredded on the beach or at the club with a few drinks in hand and a huge smile on their face? Of course you have. And although that may be possible for a handful of people, it's just not realistic for most people.

  • Creating the illusion that you can eat whatever you want and look "super duper sexy" 24/7/365 is high misleading for most “normal” people.

    • And let's be honest with ourselves. Do you really think influencers aren't above ordering an enormous array of food just to let their friends eat it once the photo has been snapped?

    • When your income is on the line, creating a false lifestyle narrative on social media is a no-brainer.

• I would starve myself all summer long for a summer of sick photos.

  • For people who don't use drugs, being super lean for an extended period of time is extremely difficult and frankly unhealthy.

  • "But wait! I'll get more modeling gigs if I stay super shredded even at the expense of my health?" Sold, right?

    • If I were an Instagram influencer and wanted the best approval outcomes, I would probably stay on 1,800-2,000 calories for 3-6 months straight, which is a pathetic amount of food for a guy my size. We'd be snapping photos every day with spray tans, perfect lighting, and perfect pumps and skin oil! 

Do you see my point? The stakes are high on Instagram, which means the commitment to photograph perfection (even at the expense of the integrity of its presentation) is ultimate.

Reason 3 - You Never Know Which Pictures Were Taken When

Similar to my third point in the paragraph above, it's worth noting that some influencers will take hundreds of photos on the same day in 18 different bathing suits to post all year round. 

This is even easier for women to pull off than men because their hair and facial hair consistency isn't a concern. Most women rock a relatively similar look all year round.

Also, do you think some influencers aren't above getting shredded for summer and then throwing on a Santa hat or staging a photo in front of a turkey mid-July so they can post those months later and appear super fit and lean even on Thanksgiving and Christmas?

That’s kind of like being a parent of a teenager and assuming they’ve been playing Monopoly with their significant other in the basement for the last few hours. Don’t be naive, folks.

As casual as the photos you are seeing on social media may appear, these are professionals.

This is their job, and their paychecks are often on the line based on the success of their photos.

If that were my sole concern in life, I would likely be doing the same exact thing.

In fact, I could see Santa hats in July becoming a real fashion statement for me.

Reason 4 - Photoshop and Other Body Altering Apps Are a Deceptive Mistress

People are literally changing the proportions of their bodies, which means our brains are being conditioned to define a new reality - a warped one.

Yes, men will make their chests and arms bigger while shrinking their waists on Photoshop and other apps.

And women will do the same with their bums and their breasts and their thick thighs and their tiny waists.

Would I do it if all I cared about in life were becoming the next fitness phenom at all costs? As weird as it sounds, I just might.

"Where do we go from here then?"

Since I never want to be the guy who just complains about this or that without providing his own thoughts about a solution or at least a practical step forward, I've got two practical takeaways for you depending on the type of person you are:

Takeaway 1 - Follow People Who Seem to Be Honest

I would say for 9/10 people, it's probably best to follow people that have a reputation for being honest about their genetics, the food they actually eat, and the training they actually perform. 

• Look for people who don't look absolutely bananas all year round. You should see them in seasons of very lean, seasons of “normal,” and even seasons of slightly fluffy.

• Look for women who are brave enough to post unflattering photos of their stomachs or the cellulite on their legs. 

• Look for men who will post pictures of themselves without a skin-splitting arm pump in hotel room lighting or fresh out of the shower.

• And beyond even that, try to follow people that talk and produce content across multiple forums like YouTube or a podcast.

  • I'm always skeptical of people who only have Instagram accounts because it's just too easy to fake stuff when you've only got one audience to dupe.

  • Plus, when you talk publicly and you talk often, people can get a sense of your values and what type of person you are on a deeper level. Some great examples of this are Steve Hall from Revive Stronger, Eric Helms of 3DMJ, Christian Guzman from Alphalete, and honestly even any local person in your area that is documenting their own modest fitness journey. To me, those are the most valuable accounts because the transparency and honesty they offer is unmatched when compared to major accounts. 

Takeaway 2: Keep the Freaky Folks Around for Motivation and Nothing Else

If you're like me, you shoot for the stars against all odds. 

So I literally follow people that I know for a fact are using resources I will never have access to because I like the challenge and the motivation. 

"This guy looks like this and he's on drugs? And he's a full-time fitness model so he has all the time in the world to dedicate to his physique? Plus, he has perfectly crafted, macro-friendly meals delivered to his house each morning because he's sponsored?" 

Some people would be paralyzed by jealousy and feelings of inadequacy and inferiority, but I personally love the challenge!

I sincerely want to eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner because that’s what drives me to new levels of success and ambition. 

At the same time, do I fully realize I may never be able to match the physiques of people like that? Of course. But I’m a dreamer.

That being said, most people are not like me. 

For many, negative body image association is lurking viciously around every corner, so I always like to give the following disclaimer. 

This type of approach only works if:

• You have a really strong perspective on body image and your own self-worth.

  • If you can't handle it, be honest with yourself and don't hurt yourself by following unhelpful accounts.

• You can use the motivation of other physiques while keeping the joy of the entire endeavor in the pursuit - not the end product.

  • For example, I see physiques of guys on Instagram every day that far exceed my current status. But as I just mentioned, for me it's just extra motivation! I don't compare myself negatively or think less of myself because of them. I see them as an entity of what might be possible if I apply myself to the fullest (whether that is true or not).

  • To be fully transparent, my favorite physiques on Instagram right now are Mike Thurston, Luis Young, and Steve Cook. And guess what? I will probably never look anything close to these dudes - and that's fine! The joy for me is in the pursuit - not any non-negotiable outcome that I might be tempted to attach to my self-worth.

• You have pretty thick skin and a competitive spirit.

  • This is pretty similar to my second bullet point, but I don't want to leave out the crowd of people who can take a strong right hook on the jaw 10 times in a row and stand up 11.

  • If you want to be the best and pursue your own genetic potential when it comes to your physique (just like I do), then this approach can be awesome. For example, if some guy out there is working harder than me, I want to know about it, you know?

  • So if that's you, I think using these somewhat unrealistic but still highly motivational fitness accounts on Instagram can - in some very specific sense - be helpful to you in a dreamer's vacuum.

Summary

• Instagram is totally fine to use as long as you can be mature about what you're looking at and know that reality often isn't what's being depicted. Instagram is largely fantasy.

• You're looking at pictures of people who do this professionally and will play any card to win another opportunity that may benefit them vocationally.

• Lots of people use drugs and lie about it because it's sexier and better for engagement.

• Photo editing apps are very much a thing.

• A healthier approach long-term for most people is probably to follow people you trust that don't have a million followers. Look for the people who are wildly honest even to the point that you think internally, "Wow, I'm surprised they would put that on social media. That's brave."

Also, just to be clear, I think every influencer I’ve photo-featured in this article does a great job of “keeping it real” while also inspiring their audiences. I just wanted to make that clear to anyone who might have been wondering if I was using them as a “bad” example.

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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

Are Being Healthy and "Looking Hot" the Same Thing?

In my opinion, three of the most abused terms in the fitness space these days are the following:

1. “health” or “healthy”

2. “fitness” or “fit”

3. looking “good” or looking “hot”

That being said, I’m pretty sure I know why these words get confused so much and it comes down to social behaviors.

What do I mean by that?

I mean some people are too afraid to admit that they really just want to look “hot” so they say things on January 1 like, “I just really want to get healthy this year.”

Don’t get me wrong - I love a good and honest goal of improving your health, but is that really what you want?

Or do you just want to feel a little more confident when you catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror each morning?

What about that “fitness” word though?

What’s up with fitness? What does that even mean?

Just a few days a go, I was chatting with my good friend Justin Miller about how confused most people are when it comes to training for fitness versus training for aesthetics.

And we decided the core of the issue is essentially that people don’t realize that fitness and aesthetics don’t always go hand in hand.

In other words, you can have great physical fitness abilities without looking like an Instagram fitness model.

And on the other side of that very same coin, you can look like an Instagram without being able to do 20 burpees in a minute with clean technique.

Really, it’s the classic difference between a bodybuilder or a bikini competitor and a CrossFitter.

So without beating the point to death, these are the three main things I want you to know as we consider the bigger theme of this write-up, which is to tease out the differences between being healthy and “looking hot” as our current culture seems to have defined it:

Health, Fitnesss, and Aesthetics

1. The way we use the word health should speak primarily to non-fitness markers. Having some level of physical fitness is certainly an element of optimal overall health, but that doesn’t mean you need to be a CrossFitter to be considered healthy in a general sense.

2. Fitness isn’t actually a term that speaks to body composition at all. Fitness speaks to work capacity, which means that being fit is an indication that you can “do a lot.” You have a large capacity for physical achievement, but what does that even mean? Admittedly, the waters are murky. Are we talking about running a marathon? Are we swimming? Are we lifting heavy weights? Or are we trekking through the jungle with a 60-pound backpack? Fitness is gray, but what I want you to know most is that being fit doesn’t mean you look like an Instagram god or goddess.

3. If you want to train for statue-like aesthetics, there’s a really specific way of training to achieve that. Burpees don’t make you look like a statue. Ab circuits in your living room don’t make you look like a statue. Air squats don’t make you look like a statue. And although all of those movements might make you a fitter person, they aren’t (in and of themselves) going to make you jacked and lean like you think of when you pass by a fitness tabloid while you’re checking out at Walmart.

Alright, so having gotten all of that out of the way, let’s chip away at the bigger idea.

"Are being healthy and “looking hot” the same thing?"

No way! And I think people need to hear that and be reminded of the differences. 

You can absolutely be healthy as a horse with a very unimpressive physique just like you can be shredded to the bone and hormonally suppressed.

Health and aesthetics are not the same thing.

That being said, I think there is definitely a sweet spot (and we'll get to that), but let me chat through what I think the biggest differences are.

What It Means to Be Healthy

All "healthy" really means in my opinion is that your doctor is giving you the thumbs up each year at your physical.

Your blood markers are good, you don't have any major vitamin deficiencies, your blood pressure is within an appropriate range, you're not significantly overweight, you're not smoking or drinking to excess, your lipid panels look good, etc.

In addition to that, there are also some general exercise parameters you might be meeting like 30 or so minutes of moderate exercise several times a week. That probably means getting your heart rate slightly elevated through jogging or some kind of recreational sport like pick-up basketball, soccer, or even pickleball.

But not much of that has anything to do with having an impressive physique or a body shape you're proud of.

You wouldn’t pick a healthy person out of a busy crowd in the name of looking amazing, but you just might notice if Mike Thurston happened to be walking down the street.

I think you get the point. Health and hotness aren’t always linked.

So, what does it mean to “look hot?” 

What It Means to “Look Hot” According to American Pop Culture in the 2020’s

If you're a dude, you're probably pretty jacked.

The softer, So-Cal, "Brody Jenner-esque" bodies of the early 2000's used to be the standard for "fit boys," but the game has changed now.

Nowadays, the "fit look" for men is to be carrying quite a bit of muscle mass. Big chest, big arms, sweeping quads, and a plump enough backside to rival the ladies.

Think Chris Hemsworth from Thor or Chris Evans from Captain America. These dudes have size!

If you're a woman, it's no longer about just being thin, which was the thing for a long time.

Nowadays, it's all about the booty. And when I say all about the booty, I mean it. We've traded thin for thiccck with 3-4 C's depending on which Instagram accounts you follow. 

“Fit chicks” are apparently the new breed of "hot girls," so we've seemingly ditched the Paris Hilton look for the girl who squats and hip thrusts 3x per week but still looks feminine enough to slay a classy yet fitted dress at a wedding. 

For better or worse, this is my perception of the way the tides have turned in what America and most of Western culture thinks is sexy on a larger scale.

I'm not celebrating it or demonizing it nor am I saying it's "good" or "bad" for people to be categorized like this and exposed to these cultural expectations.

I’m also not saying I agree on a moral level with how we tend to view people and their bodies.

I'm just setting the scene and speaking to a current social reality.

Also, if you read that and thought, “That is not at all what I personally find attractive,” then cheers!

I’m speaking to the greater theme of what I see in fitness pop culture everyday, and you are totally entitled to your own thoughts of attractiveness and sex appeal.

I am by no means saying that this is how you (or anyone) should think of the human body.

"So what does this have to do with the correlation between health and aesthetics?"

Honestly, this is kind of a cool time in culture to try to get the best of both worlds - both feeling culturally “relevant” while eating and training in a way that is probably optimally healthy at the same time (or at least a step in the right direction).

Let me explain.

I think you can be really healthy and look really good at the same time by doing a few simple things consistently.

How to Tick the Boxes for Health before you tackle aesthetics

Unless you’re hardcore into physique sport, I think most of us would agree that prioritizing our overall health and wellness should come before our physique endeavors.

If that’s you, I came up with these five points to help you make sure you’re putting your health first:

1. Make sure you're eating a balanced diet of plenty of vegetables, fruits, lean proteins, whole grains, healthy fats, etc. You probably already know this. Diet is a huge part of health. Get your diet in check first according to the recommendations of a trusted registered dietician.

2. Drink plenty of water. If you need a number, half your body weight in pounds and drink that in ounces. I aim for 100 ounces per day.

3. Sleep like a champion. I like no less than 7 hours per night, but 9 is my preference.

4. Walk plenty. For people looking to lose fat, I really think 10,000 steps per day is an amazing place to start.

5. Be carrying a healthy amount of body fat. Wait, what? You read that right. One thing a lot of people don't realize is that some Instagram models (both men and women) are actually hormonally suppressed given their extremely low levels of body fat. That's not healthy. So make sure if you want to hit the sweet spot of health and aesthetics that you're not too lean to the point that you're putting your health at risk. For men, that 8-15% body fat range is probably golden. For women, I’ve heard people smarter than I am recommend adding 7-10% to the low and high end of those recommendations as a general rule.

Now, what's cool is that none of those suggestions regarding health have to interfere with an aesthetics goal. 

How to sculpt your body aesthetically once your health checklists have been met

If you’re consistently nailing the aforementioned points, there’s a good chance you’re in good health standing, so now it’s time to get into the aesthetics piece:

• Get your calories in check with your goal within the parameters mentioned above.

  • If you're looking to lose fat, get into a caloric deficit. If you're looking to build muscle, either eat at maintenance or get into a caloric surplus. 

• Eat around 1g of protein per pound of body weight within the parameters mentioned above. I wrote an article on this to help you out. 

• Consider training with a higher-carb, lower-fat approach if you want to maximize aesthetics.

  • I know plenty of people have success doing ketogenic diets, but I'm personally biased toward high-carb, low-fat approaches for a handful of evidence-based and anecdotal reasons. Plus, bananas are carbs and everyone loves bananas.

• Train with weights 3-5x per week in a primarily hypertrophic fashion.

  • I am consistently blown away by the things people do in the gym when I know for a fact that all they want to do is look better naked and feel more confident in their own skin. Notice that I didn't say do cardio to burn fat. I said lift weights to get strong and build muscle. 

    • Prioritize the muscle groups that you know will help you achieve the aesthetics you want. 

      • For men, this likely means growing your chest and shoulders since most women find broad shoulders attractive and indicative of protector-like qualities. If that's you, you probably want to train your chest 2-3x per week with some specific side delt work 2-3x per week. If you're like me, you want big glutes and legs, so you'll train them 3x per week (which I do).

      • For women, this probably means big glutes and quads with a flattering midsection. Given that having a slimmer midsection is all about fat loss, I would recommend training your glutes and legs 3-4x per week with great muscle-building movements like squats varieties, lunge varieties, deadlift varieties, thrust varieties, etc. 

• Be sure as heck you are progressively overloading these movements over time.

  • That's way too much nuance to toss into this write-up, but make no mistake that progressive overload under proper technique is extremely important for growth.

Some Parting Words about Fitness Pop Culture

Here’s a hot take for you.

I'm actually a big fan of this change in "the new hot look" for one huge reason that has nothing to do with vanity or sex appeal.

Are you ready for it?

Having big, strong glutes and legs is a very healthy and functional body shape.

I know plenty of conservative people who think the butt craze is pure vanity (and it certainly can be), but at the very least it's somewhat cool that we're now encouraging people to lift and eat rather than smoke and starve.

To segue that, having a non-butt is not an overtly healthy or functional body shape. 

In fact, I call it the inverted butt. Everyone knows an older guy in their life whose jeans somehow seem to bubble inward instead of outward like a traditional butt would generally behave. I hate to say it, but that’s not good.

Having weak glutes and hamstrings can lead to all kinds of problems like posture issues, low back pain, and increased injury risk just from being a weak sack of potatoes.

Plus, the implications of being thin (or even skinny fat) with little to no muscle mass are that your calories are inevitably going to be very low.

And frankly, that's just no way to live a fun life. Food is so good! 

So when you think about it, that means 20 years ago people were being forced to make a choice: "Do I prioritize my health and fitness or do I try to look the part of what society tells me is attractive by keeping my calories super low to look as thin as possible?" 

In my opinion, that's a pretty slimy question to have to navigate in the first place, but the silver lining is that our current culture is now celebrating both at the same time (health and a strong body composition) - and that is pretty cool. 

What’s the takeaway then?

Be jacked and be celebrated for it!

Eat and put on some strength or muscle mass depending on your goal. And fuel your body with the foods that create strong bodies instead of obese bodies.

There has never been a better time.

Summary

• Health and aesthetics are not exclusively the same, but they can overlap in a way that allows you to get “the best” of both worlds. 

• You can be fit and not look like a social media Adonis. You can also look like a fitness icon without be very fit at all.

• For a rare moment in human history, pop culture is celebrating big, strong glutes (and jacked people in general). So, take advantage of this and get to lifting! 

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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

6 Signs You're Ready to Hire an Online Body Recomposition Coach

How do you know if you’re truly ready for an online relationship with a body recomposition coach?

That’s a wonderful question. Let’s talk about it!

Sign #1: You’re finally ready to invest financially. 

Oh, this is awkward. We’re talking about money on point number one? Absolutely, and I’ll tell you why.

It’s one thing to say, “Shoot. I’m just not sure I can responsibly spend that money on a body recomposition coach right now,” because that’s a reality of life.

I used to walk by the freshest cuts of Wild Atlantic Salmon at the grocery store and think, “Man, I’d really like to buy those cuts, but I’m not sure we can responsibly afford that right now,” for that very same reason. I just simply couldn’t justify paying for it at the moment, and that was completely understandable.

So, what’s the difference?

Well, I don’t have a strained relationship with the fact that I’m not eating the best cuts of salmon on a weekly basis. If I were walking around on a daily basis cursing my non-salmon dinners of ramen noodles and peanut butter sandwiches while harboring an excessive amount of negative energy toward the lack of salmon in my life, that might be a different story.

What’s my point? If I had wanted the salmon badly enough, I’d have found a way to afford it even if it meant making sacrifices in other areas of my spending.

In short, your spent dollars tend to reflect the nearest and dearest values of your heart, so if you’re not willing to spend a few hundred dollars a month getting fitter instead of fatter, it’s probably a good indication that you’re not ready for an online coaching relationship yet.

Sign #2: Frankly, you’re a little bit pissed off.

You’ve been overweight for years, and you’ve decided that enough is enough.

You’re tired of being that person and being discouraged by the image you see in the mirror.

I even had a client once tell me that they were going on vacation in six months and they were determined not to be the “fat friend” in photos. I will never forget that conversation because it created a renew sense of empathy in me. I couldn’t imagine the shame this person was feeling toward the shape of their body.

Are you sick and tired of being the “fat friend?”

If so, this might be the perfect time to make a powerful investment in yourself.

Now, I’m not saying you have to be angry in order to commit to a successful body recomposition goal, but I am suggesting that you should be experiencing some degree of motivational and emotional restlessness to help you kickstart your endeavor.

If this is you, there’s a very good chance that you’ll be willing to make the lifestyle adjustments necessary to achieve your goal, and a coach might be the perfect fit for you at this time.

Sign #3: Getting a personal coach has been a long time coming and you know it.

You’re probably ready for an online body recomposition coach if you’ve been spinning your wheels aimlessly for years dabbling in all kinds of diets and “training programs.” 

You lost 10 pounds on keto, but then you gained 15 back over Christmas. You lost 15 pounds as a vegan and then gained 20 back once you ate a pizza. Now you’re doing intermittent fasting in tandem with Whole 30, but you’re starving like Tom Hanks on a life raft in the middle of the South Pacific.

When will it stop?

To be fair, there’s nothing technically wrong with this. No one is saying you can’t continue experimenting with new dietary patterns and training styles.

But it might be worth admitting that at this point you have no idea what you’re doing when it comes to dieting and training for an improved body composition.

So ask yourself this, “Is anything really going to change if I keep leaving myself in charge of this process? Do I really have the knowledge to do this on my own?”

If the answer is no, you’ve been blessed with an exciting moment of honesty and clarity.

When you’re able to face that reality openly, there’s a good chance you're in an appropriately humble position to hire a fitness and nutrition coach for the next six months to a year.

Sign #4: You’ve stopped asking questions like, “Am I going to have to run?”

Why is this important?

Because if you are still asking questions like this, it exposes the reality that you’re still keen on keeping things as cozy and non-invasive as possible. That sort of mentality generally doesn’t inspire optimal results.

The key to being successful in this process is to approach all things with an open mind and a willingness to learn.

No, you don’t have to run, but why are you not willing to run? 

The mindset of someone who is truly ready for an online coaching relationship is one that communicates this: “I am ready to trust my coach to guide me toward my body recomposition goal, and I know for a fact that this will mean remodeling old habits, welcoming new habits, and adapting to any adversity that may present itself along the way.”

You should be asking what you get to do to get the results you’ve always wanted - not immediately hoping to shirk as many unpleasant forms of exercise as possible from day one.

If that’s you, you’re probably ready for an online coaching relationship.

Sign #5: You’re excited about the challenge.

If you’re dreading the idea of becoming the leanest version of yourself you’ve ever been, what are we even doing here?

Save yourself the cash! I mean that sincerely. Life is short and there’s no sense in forcing yourself to be something you don’t want to be.

Your legacy is yours for the forging, and no one is asking you to trade in your muffin top keg for a six-pack if you're happy and healthy just the way you are.

But if you are excited about the idea of seeing your body transform in new and motivating ways, you’re probably in a wonderful position to consider hiring a body recomposition coach.

Sign #6: You want to change your body shape for yourself and no one else.

Yikes, this one cuts to the core! But, how true is it?

If you’re considering hiring a body recomposition coach because you want to look hot for Justin Bobby at the pool this summer, you’re essentially looking to hop in a dune buggy at 100mph headed for the edge of a cliff.

Devastation awaits.

Why?

Because I’ve found that the only meaningful and lasting results in body recomposition are the ones that are pursued and accomplished in a spirit of self-respect and love. 

Cliché? Probably. But I’ve found that some of the most cliché things in life turn out to be true.

So, if you want to get lean or jacked, do it for yourself - not to impress a person or earn a meaningless badge of cultural approval.

If you’re in this for yourself - or even selflessly for others in the sense that you know your current body weight is putting you at risk of early mortality - then hiring a coach might legitimately be one of the best decisions you have ever made. 

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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.

Although I no longer run my own body recomposition business, I have joined forces with The Vegan Gym, where you can apply to work with me directly.

Until next time,

-Andrew

9 Sneaky Ways to Get More Protein Into Your Diet

Let’s talk about how to get more protein into your diet.

If you’re reading this article, it probably means you’re in one of three positions:

1. You’re either skeptical about how high the evidence-based protein recommendations are for athletes/trainees who want to maximize their muscle growth response, or…

2. You’re already bought into the idea of eating a higher-protein diet, but you’re not sure how to practically eat that much protein on a daily basis, or...

3. You’re the parent of a young athlete and you’re trying to figure out how to cook and prepare food at home to support their goals.

In any case, this blog is for you.

But I have one quick disclaimer before we get started:

ONE QUICK DISCLAIMER

These tips and tricks only apply if you know that you are currently eating less protein than you could be eating for optimal muscle retention and/or growth. 

I just want to be clear that there’s no meaningful benefit to eating excess protein if you’re already eating plenty in the first place. That makes sense, right?

But, how do you know if you’re already eating enough protein? 

How to Know If Your Protein Intake Is Adequate

To start, you’ll need to track your food for a few days.

I recommend tracking your intake for 3-5 “normal eating days” using an app like MyFitnessPal or Cronometer and a food scale for ensured accuracy.

Once you have a few days of data collection, you’ll need to reference this article I wrote on how to determine an appropriate protein target.

But just as a brief summary, I think eating between 0.7-1.0g of protein per pound of lean body mass (LBM) is sufficient for nearly all of the muscle growth most people are hoping to obtain.

Then, when you know for sure that you’re under-eating protein relative to your goal, you can start digging into these tips like a grizzly bear in a picnic basket.

Now let’s get into a few tips and tricks on how to get more protein into your diet.

A SECOND QUICK DISCLAIMER

I originally published this article as a meat-eater, but I no longer eat meat or any other animal products (including fish, dairy, or eggs).

Because of that, this article has been heavily updated to reflect my own personal preference toward eating a plant-predominant diet.

9 TIPS FOR EATING MORE PROTEIN

Tip #1: Stop Being Bashful about Protein Shakes.

If you’re looking to get more protein into your diet as simply as possible, consider adding a plant-based protein shake to your daily routine. 

Or, consider doing a shake with a double scoop of protein or making your plain shake into a smoothie with berries and your favorite nut butter.

Why the double scoop though?

Well, not to get too geeky on you, but when it comes to building muscle, the muscle protein synthetic response appears to be optimally activated in doses of 20-40g of protein (with diminishing returns between 40-60g per dose).

You could, however, easily achieve this by using a higher-protein plant milk like soy milk to bolster the protein content of your smoothie.

Either way, consuming 40-50g of protein from your shake would be giving you an excellent hit of muscle protein synthesis to support the hard training you’re executing in the gym.

The key here is to stop associated protein shakes with “being a bro.”

Drinking protein shakes doesn’t make you a “bro” any more than wearing a pair of basketball shoes makes you LeBron James. 

So, if you’ve been avoiding protein shakes due to your ego, I would highly encourage you to drop the stigma and press into the bigger picture of achieving your body recomposition goal. 

What I Do Personally: I generally drink one plant-based protein smoothie a day for my first meal that contains one scoop of pea/rice protein blend, 300mL of high-protein soy milk, hemp hearts, and powdered peanut butter for a hit of 40-50g of protein.

For more details on my morning smoothie, click here,

Tip #2: Double Your Lean Protein Portions.

There’s no need to overcomplicate this one.

Instead of eating one chicken breast for dinner, you could eat two.

But as plant man myself, I’d love to see more people choosing plant proteins like tofu and tempeh over poultry.

Rather than eating one portion of seitan for dinner, you could serve yourself two.

Or, as crazy as this may seem, you could even make yourself two servings of chickpea pasta instead of one (if your caloric goals allow for this).

And, really this applies to any kind of lean protein you might be eating.

Just remember that it’s very important that your calories still be kept nice and tidy if you’re focusing on a body recomposition goal - especially if your goal is to lose body fat. 

For example, if your goal is to lose body fat, but you’re eating 600 calories worth of chickpea pasta each night because you took my advice to double your protein serving, that might actually be the wrong choice contextually because it’s knocking you out of the caloric deficit you need to lose fat.

In other words, make sure you account for calories above all else. It’s an easy mistake to make, which is why I wrote an entire article on it.

Tip #3: Sprouted Bread

Wait, bread has protein? Yes, it does!

In fact, sprouted bread in particular is a complete protein source, which means it has a fuller amino acid profile than some other plant-based products (which is a common critique of plant-based diets for muscle growth).

Practically speaking, if you start making your lunch sandwiches with a sprouted grain like Ezekiel bread, you’ll be able to sneak an extra 10-20g of protein into your meal. And although 10g may not seem like much all by itself, it can certainly add up across the entire day. 

You could also supplement a morning breakfast of oatmeal and berries with a slice or two of toasted Ezekiel bread for a protein-heavy start to your day.

What I Do Personally: I like to buy the Ezekiel bread you find in the refrigerated or even frozen sections at the store. People don’t think to look for bread there, but those products need to be kept cold since they’re typically made without the preservatives that allow for a longer shelf life.

Tip #4: Bagels

While we’re on the topic of how grains can get you more jacked, let’s touch on bagels.

Bagels are hands-down my favorite post-workout carbohydrate source. For whatever reason, there’s just nothing quite like a freshly toasted wheat bagel from Aldi with a plant-based protein shake after grueling training session.

Fortunately for me, the bagels I eat contribute 9g of protein per bagel. That’s a hefty bump, especially if your goal is to gain muscle while eating in a moderate caloric surplus.

To be fair, bagels are fairly calorie dense with around 260 calories per bagel, but if you’re a big person training to be even bigger - spending 520 calories and 108g of carbohydrates post-workout (with an added bonus of 18g of protein) might be a great idea.

The downside of bagels is that they aren’t particularly fat loss friendly for those eating calorically restricted diets, so I will admit that these will mostly often suit bigger people a bit better than smaller people.

Again, just make sure that the way you approach your protein intake is calorie-controlled for your greater goal.

What I Do Personally: One of my classic post-workout meals is almost exactly what I mentioned above: a whole wheat bagel, 20-40g of nut butter, 20-40g of raspberry jelly, and a plant-based protein shake for roughly 631 calories comprised of 43g of protein, 79g of carbs, and 19g of fat to jumpstart the recovery and growth process. 

Tip #5: Hemp Hearts

You may have never heard of hemp hearts, but they have been an absolute game changer for my oatmeal and salad game.

Plus, a full serving of hemp hearts packs 10g of plant-based protein and 13g of healthy Omega-6 fats. 

Just be careful not to get carried away with your calories from hemp hearts if you’re dieting for fat loss.

You don’t need to be scared of them, but it’s definitely worth noting that a full serving packs 170 calories, which can be more than 10% of your daily caloric intake if you’re a smaller person looking to consume less than 1,700 calories per day.

What I Do Personally: I spike my oatmeal with hemp hearts for a small protein bump and the added bonus of knowing I’m consuming my fats from healthy plant-based sources. If you want my go-to bowl of oatmeal, check out the graphic on the right. Just keep in mind that I would, in this case, supplement this particular bowl with a pea/rice protein shake to get within that optimal amount of 20-40g of protein per meal.

Beyond that, I used to drink a fully plant-based shake each morning with 30g of protein without the use of a plant-based protein powder when I was dabbling in veganism. So, if you’re vegan, hemp hearts might be a phenomenal way to increase your protein without the use of animal products.

Tip #6: You Could Use Egg Whites.

Although I no longer personally recommend the consumption of egg whites due to the disclaimer I gave at the beginning of this article, I do think it’s most transparent to mention that I consumed them heavily in the form of French toast from 2019-2020.

Why? Well, they’re essentially pure protein - and they are a complete protein, which means their addition to your diet will absolutely support your muscle building goals.

Just one serving of egg whites packs 5g of protein and only 25 calories.

If you’re new to tracking macronutrients, just know that that’s a really good bang for your caloric buck in terms of protein return.

Back in the day, I would typically eat them in servings of 300mL at a time.

What I Do Personally: I don’t eat them anymore due to ethical reasons, but they are a very common protein source for many physique enthusiasts.

Tip #7: Broaden Your Horizons with Seitan.

I know it sounds like the devil, but it’s really not unless you have a gluten sensitivity.

What is it?

Seitan is just wheat gluten prepared in a way that makes good sense of its “wheat meat” nickname. For a deeper dive, I felt as though this article was helpful in learning more about this ancient yet seemingly unknown plant-based protein source.

Fortunately, store-bought seitan seems to be increasing in popularity as plant-based diets gain more traction in the consumer space, which means you don’t need to stress about making your own.

Just go buy some at the store!

What I Do Personally: I like the chorizo variety of the Upton brand because it’s goes brilliantly in homemade Mexican dishes. When I’m in a hurry, I will literally just throw together a bed or rice, black beans, 1-2 servings of chorizo seitan, a dabble of nutritional yeast, and a spoonful of salsa for an extremely simple yet physique-friendly meal.

Tip #8: Chili

Chilis are nutritional powerhouses when it comes to dieting for body recomposition.

And although I’m well aware that the majority of my readers won’t be “as plant-based” as I am, I personally add a bag of Gardein’s be’f crumbles made from a textured soy protein for an extra 18g of protein for 120 calories per serving.

That being said, I know there are plenty of people out there who are scared of soy, and I empathize with you. And although soy is still heavily-debated, I found this resource featuring Simon Hill and Dr. Matthew Nagra extremely helpful in clearing up my own personal confusion.

But back to chili.

As an added bonus, throwing tons of beans in your chili is an amazing way to get a meal packed with fiber and extra plant-based protein.

It’s also a cheeky way to get a ton of herbs and spices you might be missing out in other areas of your diet.

Lastly, chilis are amazing for meal prep because it’s an all-in-one meal that you can toss into a single Pyrex dish for a simple heat-up.

What I Do Personally: When the weather isn’t too hot, my wife and I make a large batch of chili in the crockpot and eat high-protein dinners for a full week.

If you’re curious for the recipe, send me an email at ivry.fitness@gmail.com and I’d be happy to hook you up. 

P.S. Mix in 16g of nutritional yeast per serving of chili for an extra 8g of protein and enough B12 to last you a trip to Mars and back.

Tip #9: High-Protein Soy Milk

In my opinion, this stuff is almost too good to be true. Why did I make this number nine?

Silk’s version of this product packs an outstanding 20g of protein per 240mL, which is basically a protein shake all by itself given the known protein quality of soy.

How do you use it?

• Throw it in smoothies.

• Drizzle it into your oats.

• Use it as the milk for your cereals.

• Or even mix it into red pasta sauces as a thickening agent.

What I Do Personally: I drink about two cups of soy milk a day. Most often, I’ll have one in the morning as the base of my plant-based protein smoothie, and then I’ll sometimes drink a cup on the side of a peanut butter and jelly bagel post-workout.

Bonus Tip: The “Pre-Dinner Shake and Dine” Maneuver

What if you’re that person who is already annoyed at the idea of having to design every single meal around a protein source?

Well, I come to you with this final tip as a peace offering for a bit of added “normalcy,”

If you’re going out to dinner with friends and you don’t want to order the rubbery grilled chicken salad or settle for the hummus plate appetizer, just drink a low-calorie protein shake at home right before you leave and enjoy literally any meal on the menu assuming it fits the caloric needs you’ve established for your goal.

This is actually pretty genius for a few reasons:

1. Most importantly, you get to order the pasta you really want even though it’s basically a carbohydrate and fat explosion. Life is worth living (in my opinion), so if you want the pasta, why not pull a fast one to make that happen?

2. Secondly, you don’t have to look “uncool” socially. Although it doesn’t bother me personally, some people don’t like having to order the “high-protein option” in front of their friends because it just feels “uncool.” And trust me, I get it. You want to be jacked and lean and be able to order the pizza when you’re out with friends. It’s sexier and more mysterious that way. I’m tracking 100%, and this is an easy way to do it.

3. And lastly, the protein from the shake you consumed before you left the house might even curb some of your hunger and leave you more satiated before you even make your order. What does that mean? It means you might wind up eating even less at dinner and keeping your fat loss goals a bit more intact due to the added liquid volume and satiating properties of the high-protein drink. 

So, don’t be afraid to keep that trick up your sleeve the next time it’s time to have a meal out with the squad. 

And that’s that, friends! I had a blast writing this article, so if you enjoyed it, do me a favor and send it to a friend who might benefit from learning a few new tips and tricks about increasing your protein intake across the day.

Until next time,

-Andrew

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

Why "Doing Fitness" Is Easier When You're Rich (and How I Would Personally Go About It)

Over the last few months I’ve come to a semi-unfortunate realization.

Getting into incredible shape really is much easier if you’ve got a lot of money to throw at the cause.

But, before all of our non-millionaire Joes and Janes throw in their physique towels due to their “average” bank accounts, I want to be clear that you can, of course, get into phenomenal shape at pretty much any level of socioeconomic status - it just might take more planning, strategy, and effort if your finances are tight at the moment.

Why though?

Why is it easier to get lean if you’re rich and willing to spend your money on your goal?

I’m glad you asked.

Reason 1: You can buy the most convenient, high-quality, and macronutrient appropriate foods available without stress.

As someone who specializes in fat loss, believe me when I tell you that your overall caloric intake is the number one thing you should be prioritizing when it comes to losing body fat.

It’s the biggest thing people fail to understand when it comes to a successful body recomposition effort.

Because of that, one huge obstacle for a lot people is simply being able to purchase, prepare, and consume nutrient-dense, high-protein meals multiple times per day that fit into their prescribed caloric targets on a sustainable basis.

And, guess what?

I totally get it. It can be a bit of a chore to execute a grocery haul each Sunday with enough foresight to ensure you’re going to be able to hit your protein and caloric targets everyday for the coming week.

On top of that, it’s no secret that eating higher-quality, healthier foods can be more expensive than eating their ultra-processed or fast food equivalents, which creates a troublesome combination of inconvenience and financial stress.

Well, “being rich” eliminates the inconvenience and stress of eating the right foods for three reasons:

1. You either have more money in the food budget in the month to buy and prepare high-quality foods yourself (if you’re a good cook and enjoy making your own food), or…

2. You use a high-quality, physique friendly meal delivery service like Trifecta, or…

3. You hire your own personal chef that prepares meals tailored specifically to your goals and you never have to think about it.

So, if you’re wondering how I personally would do the food portion of my physique pursuits if I had a money tree in my backyard, this is exactly what it would look like:

I would have a plant-based meal service on speed dial.

Seriously, if I were rich, I’d be eating a minimum of 21 pre-packaged meals per week centered around lean proteins, nutrient-dense carbohydrates, healthy fats, and plenty of well-seasoned vegetables.

If you’re serious about your body recomposition goals and you have the money in the bank to support it, using a macro-friendly meal delivery service is an absolute no-brainer in my opinion.

My quick note to rich folks who are unhappy in their own skin?

Open up your refrigerator, throw out the junk foods, and restock it with your first round of delivered meals to kickstart the fat loss process.

Reason 2: You could literally hire your own highly-personalized physique coach to be your best friend 24/7.

If you’re rolling in the dough, it’s no problem at all if you have no idea where to start when it comes to getting jacked and lean because you can pay for someone to show you the way.

But, if you’re not able to afford a coach, you’re left to figure it out for yourself, Sherlock.

I say this because one of the reasons I personally spun my wheels for years when it came to my physique was due to the fact that I just couldn’t afford to put any money toward a coach.

As a result, I was left to the internet - a place mostly known for its fitness mythology and hyper-scammy marketing deception - and the tabloid-esque claims got the best of me for the majority of my twenties.

You don’t have to be that person when you’re loaded.

As I like to say, the ambiguity of exactly what you should be doing is offloaded completely when you have a personal coach.

And, you have the freedom to execute your diet and training plan without thought-fatigue, which is monumentally important when it comes to long-term adherence.

The reality is that we all only have so much energy to give, which means the task of researching how to create an intelligent diet and training program, then actually creating an evidence-based diet and training program, and then executing that diet and training program sustainably while making the appropriate adjustments along the way due to your body’s response can become overwhelming in approximately five nanoseconds.

With a coach, you just do what you’re told and learn along the way.

Could it be any easier?

If that sounds appealing, apply for coaching with us.

Reason 3: You can afford the best gyms (and maybe even your own home gym).

For some people, the cost of membership to a well-equipped gym can be a financial obstacle (or even out of the question completely).

Fortunately, you can still get a great workout at-home even if you’re limited to your own bodyweight and a few creative objects around the house, so there’s no real excuse per se.

But, having access to the best gym in town does give you the ability to overload your muscles through all planes of motion via traditional and newer-age machine movements.

There’s no question about that.

And, since quality training is the catalyst for muscle growth, that makes having access to great equipment a pretty big deal when it comes to pursuing a goal of getting leaner and more muscular.

Some people might even be able to afford their own home gym set-up, which adds another level of convenience to the mix.

When you think about it, going to the gym presents its own unique set of friction points that could potentially pose as a detriment to your physique goal.

The Downsides of Not Having Your Own Home Gym

• Firstly, you have to drive to the gym.

  • Obviously, that’s not a huge deal, but it does take time, effort, and planning that could be spent in other valuable ways if you’re a driven and successful person.

• You have to share the equipment with other gym goers.

  • If you’re forced to go to the gym at peak hours, this really can be a detriment to your workout both physically and mentally.

    • If you’ve been progressing week to week on the hack squat, but you walk in and see two or three people waiting to use the hack squat machine, that’s a problem. If you really care about overload, you’d be best to wait for the machine, but what if you only have 45 minutes to workout? In this case, you’d be better to substitute another exercise for the sake of maximizing your work output. In other words, it just wouldn’t make sense to waste 20 precious minutes of your time slot being legalistic about your workout. But, it’s still a bummer and certainly not ideal.

    • And, what about the mental aspect? Fighting for equipment is stressful and discouraging, which can absolutely ruin the vibe of a workout you were looking forward to all day.

As you can imagine, having a home gym eliminates all of these issues because your equipment is onsite and exclusive to your private use and pace.

As a bonus, you can even customize the littler things like which genre of music is playing in the background and the temperature in your lifting space.

All in all, having plenty of money in the bank allows you to optimize your exercise experience in ways other people can’t enjoy.

Reason 4: You can afford regular physical luxuries like deep tissue massage therapy.

I know for a fact that if I had the money, I would probably get 2-4 deep tissue massages per month.

The fact of the matter is this…

When you’re training toward a body recomposition goal, you’re going to develop some muscle tightness, aches, and pains along the way if you’re training as intensely as you should be.

And, if you can afford to have someone release the tension a few times a month (maybe even in the luxury of your own home), you’re going to have a slight edge over any regular Joe that has to “play through the pain” and be a bit more disciplined with his own stretching and foam rolling routine.

“Healing up” through massage from time to time is probably going to keep your body performing at its best while preventing acute and chronic injury - another luxury not everyone is blessed enough to enjoy.

As a side note, if you live in Columbia, Missouri and are looking for a top notch deep tissue massage experience, I highly recommend visiting Liz at Iron Muscle Massage. The woman has hands of fire and brimstone and I promise you will not be disappointed.

And, no, she is not paying us to say that, she is just that good.

A Quick Recap

1. Being wealthy allows you to buy the foods you need to support your goal without inconvenience or unnecessary stress.

2. Being wealthy allows you to hire your own fitness and physique coach.

3. Being wealthy allows you to workout in the best gyms with the best equipment - some of which may even be a part of your private at-home gym set-up.

4. Being wealthy allows you to take care of your body long-term through massage and other therapeutic services.

How Exactly I Would Do Fitness If I Were Wealthy

Nothing would make me happier than for someone to read this final piece of the blog and awkwardly whisper to themselves, “I could actually do exactly what he’s saying. What have I been waiting for? I literally have no excuse.”

And, that’s kind of the point I’m trying to make here.

The more disposable income you have, the fewer excuses you have when it comes to your body recomposition goals - it’s just that simple.

But anyway, this is how I would do it personally:

1. I’d hop on a plant-based meal delivery service and buy my first week of meals and make it a regular habit.

2. I wouldn’t hire a coach right now because I’m really enjoying the experimental freedom I have with both my nutrition and my training, but at some point I would hire someone just to learn from their years of experience and success.

   • But, if I were loaded and needed quick help getting lean and jacked, I’d hire a full-time trainer to support me in my goals 24/7. This could be anywhere from $200-1,000 per month or more depending on your needs and preference of online versus in-person.

3. I’d make sure I have access to my favorite gym in town.

4. I’d buy a few sweet pieces of equipment for my home set-up immediately: a treadmill, leg press, hack squat, Pit Shark, machine bench press, assisted pull-up machine, and a rack of dumbbells up to 100 just to start. Don’t get me wrong though, that would be a pretty penny.

5. I’d get a 90-minute deep tissue massage once a week from Liz.

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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

How to Leverage Walking to Your Fat Loss Advantage

When it comes to walking and its relationship to fat loss, we’re all looking for a quick and easy answer to one particular million dollar question:

Exactly how much should I be walking to lose fat and get lean?

To be honest with you, I’ve found that one of the biggest problems with trying to put out information regarding body recomposition in general is that individuality almost always gets lost in favor of one conservative (yet heavily nuanced) take-home point for the masses.

Walking is no different, but let me do my best.

What’s the magic amount of walking we need to get summer shredded?

As much as I hate to tell you this, there is no specific amount of walking we could prescribe to any given person if the goal is to leverage walking as a tool for fat loss.

Sorry, folks. I know that would be much easier than wading through another duly nuanced write-up about the inner-workings of body recomposition, but that's just not how it works for one simple reason: Every single person embodies a uniquely different combination of lifestyle factors that affects their body’s immediate “walking requirement” for fat loss.

In my experience, those lifestyle factors include your caloric intake, your daily activity levels, whether or not you resistance train (and how much if you do), and the current state of your metabolism, but what all of this really comes down to is getting yourself into a caloric deficit.

And because of that, there is no “one size fits all” recommendation unless you want to be a moron and recommend we all do two hours on the treadmill everyday (and even that might not “work” if you’re not monitoring your caloric consumption).

Let’s take a few examples.

I’m personally losing fat on 13K steps a day at the moment, but I have a client losing on 10K and another on 8K. So, what gives?

Again, when it comes to walking, the amount you need for fat loss is simply “whatever it takes” given the remaining context of your life.

Therefore, what it takes for me might not be what it takes for you or anyone else for that matter.

So, if you’re not losing body fat living the lifestyle you’re currently living, the answer to how much you need to be walking is just “more.”

But, how much more?

Practically speaking, I would recommend walking sustainably more.

In other words, don’t get overeager and say, “Alright, I’m going to walk 20K steps a day until the fat is gone.” It’s unlikely you’d be able to stick to that for more than a day or two. In fact, you’d probably get to 16K the first day and then fall off the wagon all to have gained nothing but discouragement and frustration when you could have made a more conservation and long-term move in the first place.

Instead, it’s probably a better idea to increase your daily step count average by 1,000 steps per day as a starting point.

How i coach my clients toward walking more

This is how I usually guide my clients in their first weeks with me.

• For the first two weeks, I will tell them to live life normally and track steps accordingly.

  • This is helpful because it gives us a baseline. Just as an example, let’s say they track their steps without altering their behavior for 14 days to reveal that they average around 5,389 steps per day.

• As simple as this sounds, I’ll most often just prescribe a new weekly average of 6,000+ with the caveat that I don’t want them exceeding that on purpose.

  • You might be wondering why, and I would be happy to explain.

    • One huge problem that I see time and time again in the body recomposition space is that people will fail to get more out of less. If I had to give it a name, I might call it the “Go Hard or Go Home Fallacy.”

    • It’s the idea that you must be doing as much as humanly possible in order to get the desired results. And, as the name suggests, it’s a fallacy.

    • In other words, I would rather see my clients sustainably walk more and more in a progressive fashion until it’s no longer suitable for their lifestyle rather than jump straight to something unnecessarily aggressive.

    • This way we’re able to accumulate weeks and weeks of increased walking habits, which inevitably leads to fat loss when paired strategically with the right amount of calorie consumption and other lifestyle factors.

    • An ideal progression might look like this:

      • Week 1: 6,000 steps on average

      • Week 2: 7,000 steps on average

      • Week 3: 8,000 steps on average

      • Week 4, 9,000 steps on average

      • Week 5: 10,000 steps on average

      • Week 6: Just live life normally as a deload.

How to Walk Sustainably More

If you’re up for tracking your steps with a Fitbit or even your iPhone like I do, this is super easy.

Using that ideal progression I mentioned above, consider the following:

Assuming you keep all other lifestyle factors steady from the prior week (most importantly your caloric intake), you’ll know if that each daily step average is sufficient for fat loss if you see a slight dip in your morning weigh-ins.

But the trick here is consistency and control of data collection.

So, let me be clear when I say this: You cannot look to a step goal to be your fat loss saving grace if you are being willy nilly with your caloric intake.

This is why I cannot recommend tracking both your caloric intake and your daily step count consistently if you are serious about achieving predictable fat loss results.

But, if you’re not up for tracking your steps, you’ll probably have to create structure in a different way. For example, you could say, “I’ll walk for 20 extra minutes each day over my lunch break.”

Now, that sounds like a lovely behavior for the broader category of overall physical well-being, but the problem with this way of going about things is that you’re still a bit subject to “seeing what happens” because you still don’t really have any hard data on your current energy balance (calories in versus calories out).

Plus, we’re talking about getting leaner here - not just being a bit more active because your doctor said so.

Those are two very different things.

If you walk for 20 extra minutes a day over lunch but you’re otherwise lazier throughout the day, then you haven’t netted any extra calories out to ignite the fat loss you’re after.

Or, on an ever more realistic level, if you walk for 20 extra minutes but you went to a social gathering and had some pizza, two glasses of wine, and split an ice cream brownie with your friend, you’ve probably way overcompensated for the few extra calories you burned over lunch with the calories you consumed while socializing.

Does that make sense?

At the end of the day, leveraging walking for fat loss outcomes is all about math.

In Summary

So, let me wrap this all up as concisely as I can.

1. Before you even think about implementing walking as a fat loss strategy, make sure to get your calories and protein in check first. You can absolutely start walking more for general health, but there’s no guarantee of fat loss until all of the variables are accounted for.

2. We didn’t touch on this much in the article, but resistance training is what gives most people that hard, lean look a lot of us are longing for deep down. But you don’t have to train with weights to lose body fat, it just tends to improve your body composition outcomes when matched with a proper diet plan.

3. Once your calories, protein, and training are in order, pick a daily step goal and stick to it using a Fitbit or even just an iPhone you can carry in your pocket all day. Remember, consistency is key.

4. Monitor your bodyweight a few times a week if possible and take note of any downward trends. If you’re losing scale weight, chances are you’re losing body fat due to your self-imposed caloric deficit. If not, you’ll either need to lower your calories or increase your steps.

5. If you choose to increase your steps, do so in a sustainable manner. Think 1,000 step increases in daily averages across a week of time.

And that’s the gist of 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

11 Things You're Getting the "Most Wrong" about Fat Loss

1: You’re dismissing the importance of overall calories in search of a quick-fix diet with a sexy name.

As obvious as it becomes once you’re following the right crowd of experts in the fitness industry, the simplicity of getting into a caloric deficit for fat loss really feels like a tabloid’s best-kept secret.

But to be fair, the marketing for these diets like keto and carnivore and even the IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros) movement is so good that most well-intentioned people fall prey to the quick-fix claims of “shedding 16 pounds of body fat in one week by switching to the (fill in the blank) diet!”

That’s just not how it works.

But, I promised myself I’d keep this blog short and sweet: Your fat loss results depend almost solely on your ability to eat a little bit less than you currently need while supplementing that lowered food intake with strategic training and exercise to expedite the process.

Let me encourage you to quit diet-hopping and become a student of energy - a student of calories and how those calories (both consumed and burned) dictate whether or not you lose the body fat you want to.

2: You don’t realize how important eating an adequate amount of protein is for maintaining muscle mass while losing fat.

This one speaks for itself, and there’s no use beating a dead horse because that’s a terrible expression in the first place.

Looking back on my own dieting history, I bet there were seasons of life when I was eating less than 50g of protein per day while trying to “get huge” because I thought training was all that mattered.

And although your training is certainly the most important aspect of improving your body composition, your nutrition is extremely important as well - particularly when it comes to protein.

Nowadays, I eat about 150g of plant protein per day, and that makes a big difference for someone trying to optimize their body composition.

Some of my favorite sources are soy milk, Ezekiel bread, chickpea pasta, tofu, tempeh, seitan, plant-based protein powders, and hemp seeds.

If you need guidance on figuring out your own protein needs, click here.

3: You think that carbs “make you fat.”

Carbs don’t make you fat. Too many calories relative to your current metabolic needs make you “fat.”

Eating too many carbs can certainly make you “fat,” but carbs are not an evil fat-gaining entity all by themselves.

You could “get fat” eating nut butters or guzzling beer just as easily.

4: You think that lemon juice “makes you skinny.”

Lemon juice doesn't make you skinny, but if you trade your typical breakfast sandwich and choco-mocha-frappa-latte with 27 pumps of honey and a tower of whipped cream from Starbucks for a glass of tap water with lemon juice (all else being equal), you just might lose some body fat.

Why?

Well, you’d be consuming way fewer calories in that scenario.

Again, your ability to stay in a caloric deficit matters most when it comes to losing body fat, which means your attention to your overall caloric intake is paramount.

Yes, I said paramount.

Lemon juice may have some unique health benefits, but the only “fat-burning power” it has in its superhero repertoire is the fact that it’s essentially zero-calorie.

5: You think that intermittent fasting was invented by magical fat loss leprechauns.

I definitely like intermittent fasting as a fat loss strategy, but I’ve personally not seen any super compelling evidence that something on a Disney level of magical is happening when you skip breakfast.

Does it help a lot of people get into a caloric deficit? Totally.

Have tons of people had fat loss success incorporating intermittent fasting? Absolutely.

Have I personally had success with it in the past? Yes!

Is there even some emerging research on the potential benefits of extended longevity? Apparently!

But it isn’t magical in the sense that it’s automatic.

You can absolutely out-eat your restricted eating window by smashing pizza and beer.

Intermittent fasting worked for me because it more easily allowed me to eat within an overall caloric deficit.

6: You’re unaware that walking can get you shredded.

Setting a step goal is probably the second most powerful bit of methodology you could apply to a fat loss goal.

And yes, I would rank walking above actually lifting heavy weights in the gym. Do I have your attention now?

Better yet, walking can be done doing everyday life tasks like parking farther away from your destination on purpose, taking the stairs, or even setting an alarm on your phone to get up and walk every two hours or so.

Sometimes my wife and I even walk the stairs a few times before bed just to hit our step goal for the day because we know that walking is a powerful tool for fat loss.

If you want further data on that, I encourage you to read the blog I put out revealing my exact numbers for Summer Shredding 2020.

Walking - and no, I don’t mean on a treadmill - was a huge part of the reason I was so easily able to lose my first 10 pounds.

And for an even deeper dive on the powerful benefits of walking, check out this article I wrote called How to Leverage Walking to Your Fat Loss Advantage.

7: You’re convinced you have to lift weights to lose fat.

You don’t.

Obviously, I lift weights and do CrossFit because I enjoy that kind of exercise and have physique goals centered around building muscle, but I realize that’s not for everyone. And it doesn’t have to be!

You don’t even have to go to the gym period to lose body fat.

Don’t overhype lifting weights for fat loss if you don’t like lifting weights.

Keep in mind, however, that you do have to lift weights if you want to build muscle, and it will certainly boost your metabolism over time as you continue to put on lean tissue.

Walking alone won’t be able to accomplish that aspect of the mission for you, but it can be implemented powerfully for fat loss.

8: You think that high-intensity exercise and “lots of cardio” are non-negotiables for getting diced.

They aren’t.

Before I started doing CrossFit, I hated both of those things, but I still lost 31 pounds of fat while obtaining the best physique of my life.

Pretty cool, right? You don’t have to do cardio or HIIT (high-intensity interval training) to get leaner.

Now, does doing a bit of cardio-based exercise for the sake of promoting a healthy heart do a person good? Of course!

To be honest with you, I think just about the healthiest life you can live is one that mixes a predominantly plant-based diet with CrossFit training systems, but this article is about fat loss.

And we’re not talking about general health here. If you’re thinking to yourself right now, “Aren’t being healthy and looking good pretty much the same thing"?” let me point you to another article I wrote called Are Being Healthy and “Looking Hot” the Same Thing?

Here we’re just talking about what it takes to lose body fat, and doing formal cardio just doesn’t have to make the list if you don’t want it to.

9: You’re convinced you can target reduce your belly fat or underarm flab if you do crunches and tricep pushdowns.

Friends, this idea that you can target fat loss from any specific area of your body is not true, and it’s probably one of the most misleading and widely-believed fitness myths out there.

If you want to make your arms a little less flabby, you’re going to have to do the same thing as someone who wants to get a six-pack or a less jiggly bum: Get into a caloric deficit either by reducing your food intake or increasing your energy expenditure.

As depressing as this may be, everyone has a different genetic predisposition to hold and distribute body fat in different areas and different amounts.

This is why being “genetically blessed” is very much a term in the fitness space.

Some people simply hold their body fat in more visually appealing ways.

For example, my body fat likes to hang out on my love handles. Do you think I would choose for it to be that way if I could pick? Probably not.

But it is what it is, and I just have to be patient with the process and know that the squishiness on my sides is going to be one of the last places for the chub to fall off. I can’t change my genetics (as far as I know) and neither can you.

The good news, however, is that getting lean is the great equalizer, so if you’re bummed out about your flabby arms - just keep losing body fat!

Eventually, you will be lean, and if you’ve been training with weights and eating an adequate amount of protein while eating an otherwise healthful diet, chances are you’ll be sporting a strong, aesthetically-pleasing frame underneath it all once the hard work is done.

10: You think fat loss happens a lot faster than it really does.

I was very guilty of thinking this for a long time.

In college, I literally thought I could get lean in probably two weeks, but the reality is that a true fat loss phase should probably last anywhere between 8-16 weeks when you lose at expert-recommended rates of 0.5-2 pounds per week.

Think about that. Using those numbers, it could take you up to 20 weeks to lose 10 pounds when done properly and sustainably.

Are you willing to be that patient?

Long story short, it takes commitment, consistency, and patience to get leaner, and this is why so many people give up on their fat loss goals.

They just don’t give their bodies enough time to change.

11: You’re not aware that your metabolism is adaptable.

This one is complex, but it’s important for you to know that your metabolism can be up-regulated or down-regulated depending on a host of factors including your muscle mass, caloric intake, exercise habits, sleep/recovery, and stress levels.

So, try not to be the person that wields their “terrible metabolism” as an uneducated excuse for an unhealthy lifestyle unless you’ve been diagnosed by a medical professional with a legitimate medical condition.

Summary

So, there you have it! These are my top eleven picks for the most common ways we’ve been wrong about fat loss.

Have you been caught being wrong about any of these things?

If so, don’t sweat it. I was wrong about literally all of these things at one point or another in our early twenties. In fact, it’s a huge reason we launched IVRY in the first place.

We wanted to help honest people achieve exciting body recomposition goals without all of the fitness mythology and fat loss lore we fell prey to for years.

So, just learn and move on like we did.

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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

3 Nerdy Ways to Calculate Your Protein Intake

As a general rule of thumb, the easiest and most common way to go about calculating your protein needs is simply to play by the "1g per Pound of Bodyweight Rule” - assuming you’re within striking distance of being somewhat lean.

But, also I know that there are plenty of analytically-minded people out there that might enjoy a slightly more mathematic approach, so I’ve thrown together three additional ways you could go about calculating your protein needs on a more granular level - the one common theme here being that these methods give greater consideration to this idea of your lean body mass (LBM) rather than your overall bodyweight.

What is lean body mass?

Although most people think of their LBM as just “how shredded you are underneath it all,” your lean body mass is actually the sum composition of all of your non-fat bodily structures including your muscles, bones, organs, tissues, and even water.

How do you measure lean body mass?

Well, if you want the most accurate number possible, you’d probably have to get what’s called a DEXA scan, which stands for dual energy x-ray absorptiometry.

But, don’t drown yourself in the alphabet soup.

All you need to know is that it’s a fancy machine that some high-level athletes and fitness influencers utilize from time to time to measure their body fat percentage and lean body mass.

But, this isn’t typically what “regular” people do (although you totally could).

Practically speaking, the best way to figure out your lean body mass is to crunch a few numbers based on your estimated body fat percentage, but we’ll explore that idea in more detail a bit later.

Now that we’ve defined a few terms, let’s get into the methodology of how you might calculate your protein based on your estimations of LBM.

The “Goal Weight Method”

The first method you could use to calculate your protein intake based on your LBM is to think about your LBM loosely as your goal weight if your goal is to lose body fat.

In other words, how much would you weigh if you were beach lean with visible abs?

To use myself as an example, I’m currently 185 pounds, but I know that getting beach lean would require me to be weighing in around 175 pounds.

That means my goal weight in this case would be 175 pounds, which takes the place of this LBM number in that it represents a very lean (but obviously not completely fat-free version of myself).

It’s “close enough” for our purposes - if you will.

In my case, it also helps to know that my driver’s license when I was a skinny 16 year-old soccer player listed me at a weight of 172 pounds, so I know that 175 is probably a decent number to aim for as a fat loss goal.

So, by this “calculation,” striving for a maximum of 175g of protein per day would be a pretty good idea based on what the whole of evidence-based research seems to indicate at the moment, which is that eating between 0.7-1.0g of protein per pound of LBM per day is a great way to optimize a lean physique.

One Important Stipulation

Note, however, that this method doesn’t apply if you are a leaner individual who is trying to gain weight. Why?

Because in this instance, your goal weight and your lean body mass would no longer be similar numbers.

In fact, they drift farther and farther apart as you gain both lean tissue and body fat in a gaining phase.

So, if you are already lean and your aim is to bulk up, it makes more sense to use your current bodyweight in pounds as your target protein intake (in grams per day).

And although some hypertrophy experts might encourage leaner individuals who are trying to mass to bump their protein intake to 1.2g of protein per pound of LBM, I personally think this is unnecessary.

The “True Lean Mass Method”

The second method actually requires you to do a bit of math using your estimated body fat percentage to identify your true lean body mass.

This method, however, can easily be overwhelming, so use it with caution.

Truthfully, I only recommend using it if you are the type of person that actually enjoys crunching numbers (which I personally do).

If that’s not you, you might consider skipping it altogether and sticking with The Goal Weight Method for the sake of simplicity. 

Here’s how this one works: Being 185 pounds right now, my best estimate of my current body fat percentage is probably around 15%.

This is based on pictures and opinions of trusted friends, but I openly admit this is a bit of a fool’s errand.

Let me explain.

WHY EYEBALLING YOUR BODY FAT PERCENTAGE IS DIFFICULT

Body fat percentages are extremely difficult to eyeball because everyone holds their body fat in different ways.

Some people can appear leaner than they are while others can appear heavier than they are simply based on where how your fat is distributed across your body.

For example, some guys can sport a raging six-pack all the way up to 15% body fat while some guys have blurry tummies around 12%.

Similarly, some women can appear leaner or “look hotter” because they store their fat in the breasts and their bums instead of on their stomachs.

For a little visual help, I think the graphic you see here from Legion Athletics is the best graphic on the internet for this sort of thing.

Nonetheless, this method does a good-enough job of providing a ballpark estimate that you can adjust in practice as you see fit.

In practice, if my estimated body fat percentage is 18% right now, that means 82% of my body composition should (in theory) be lean body mass. Then we just do a little math to figure out what my lean body mass since we now have a decent guess of what my fat mass is.

185 pounds x 0.85 (as a percentage of estimated lean body mass) =

157.25 pounds of lean body mass

Right away, you can see that this number is quite a bit different from the number we got from The Goal Weight Method, and this is for good reason.

The first one is a real-life anticipation of what I might weigh if I lost all the body fat I want to lose, while the True Lean Mass Method is a prediction of what I’d weigh if I had no body fat at all (which is impossible).

So, by the True Lean Mass Method, I would be eating around 158g of protein at 185 pounds and an estimated body fat percentage of 15%.

Getting Cheeky with Your Manipulation of the True Lean Mass Formula

Interestingly enough, you could easily adjust that formula to reflect what you might weigh at any given “aesthetically pleasing” body fat percentage you might desire.

For example, in the physique space, people tend to consider that 6-8% body fat range (for men) to be the “golden zone” of looking pretty darn lean.

And for women, you can generally bump those numbers by 7-10 percentage points as a general rule.

Given that we’ve already got an equation in place that allows for the manipulation of body fat percentage, it’s easy to make a calculation that lands us specifically in that golden zone for looking like a movie star on the beach.

I call this the 8% Method.

The “8% Method”

If I wanted to set my sights specifically on being 8% body fat by the end of my fat loss phase, I would do the following:

185 pounds x (0.85 + 0.08) = 172 pounds of lean body mass

If you’re wondering how that equation works, let me break it down for you quickly.

The 0.85 figure represents my predicted LBM based on my estimation of being around 15% body fat.

100% - 15% = 85%, which is the LBM figure here.

Eighty-five percent reflected in decimal form is 0.85.

Now, to add back that 8%, we simply adjust the decimal from 0.85 up to 0.93 by adding the 0.08, which leaves us with the configuration you see above.

And that’s that! You get an estimation of being 172 pounds at 8% body fat.

You could, of course, do this calculation based on any desired body fat percentage. Here, 8% just functions as a common example of what would leave most men looking pretty diced.

And, if you wanted to bring all of this information back around to protein intake, our calculations from the 8% Method would have me eating around 172g of protein per day at 185 pounds.

Let’s wrap it up.

We’ve now got three numbers here to compare.

1. The “Goal Weight Method” – 175 pounds of lean body mass

2. The “True Lean Mass Method” – 157 pounds of lean body mass

3. The “8% Method” – 172 pounds of lean body mass

Which one do we pick then?

For the sake of keeping things simple, I would just aim to consume between 157-175g of protein per day since it reflects the range of all three of these calculations.

In fact, this is exactly what I do.

One Last Disclaimer

Remember, however, that all of this protein talk still assumes a proper training program for hypertrophy – we’re just not discussing the training piece of the physique puzzle at this time because our focus is on daily protein intake.

Apart from brilliant genetics, you can’t only eat protein and “get jacked” without working out to initiate the growth. If you can, congratulations! You are a genetic anomaly.

Curious about the training portion of how all this works?

Skip on over to this article about seven simple rules of thumb when it comes to training for maximal muscle growth.

“HOW DO I EAT THIS MUCH PROTEIN?”

Ah, yes! The next logical question as we think about the big picture of building muscle…

Fortunately, I’ve got you covered with a list of 9 Sneaky Ways to Get More Protein Into Your Diet.

So check that out and get to eating!

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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