Nutritional Glory

Now that MFF is offering nutritional coaching services for its members, I figured it would be a great time for our in-house nutrition gurus to drop some knowledge bombs all over your face.  All.  Over.  Your face.

Ladies and gentleman, sit back with a protein shake as Kyle “The Beast” Langworthy and Staci “Miss Jackson” share some of the mistakes that may be standing in the way of your healthiest, hottest self!

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Yo!  Miss Jackson!  What are the three biggest mistakes you see when someone is looking to lose bodyfat?

1)  EATING FIVE TO SIX MEALS A DAY:

We so often hear on the internet and popular magazines that the key to fat loss is eating five to six small meals. They claim that this keeps our metabolism going throughout the day.  While some people might find this approach helpful, it is not the end all-be all, “golden ticket” to fat loss, and does not provide the advantage of burning more calories. When it comes to fat loss, it basically boils down to the big rock of calories in and calories out.  So if you would prefer to eat five to six small meals a day, feel free! (With the caveat that you stay within your allotted calories for the day.) But you may find more success eating a few larger meals.

2)      FAD DIETS THAT FOCUS SOLELY ON CUTTING OUT FAT OR CARBS:

Fat and carbs have gotten a bad rap over the years. Many magazines and diets have encouraged us to drastically reduce or remove one or the other completely from our meals and by doing so, we can eat as much of everything else as we damn well please. Severely reducing or completely removing either carbs or fat from our food intake does not give us a free pass because in the end it always comes down to calories. Calories always win over macronutrient (protein/fat/carbs) intake. Total caloric intake is the factor that plays the biggest role in fat loss.  Besides, if we cut out fats and carbs from our diet, we automatically reduce the diversity of the food we are eating.  This could result in a missing out on foods that provide important micronutrients our bodies need to stay healthy and function properly.

3)      NO FOOD AFTER 7:00 pm:

Claims have been made that if we want to lose weight, one should not eat any food, especially carbs, late at night and never right bed. This is simply not true! Again (by now this should be no surprise), it comes down to that basic principle of calories in versus calories out. I am sure you can see the pattern and true “key” to weight loss. If you stay within your allotted calories for the day, eat whenever the heck you feel like it! So that late night snack is fair game as long as it does not put you over your calories.  (Though of course for your long term health, you’re best off focusing on minimally-processed, whole food choices.)

Yo!  Beast!  What are the three biggest mistakes you see when someone is looking to add muscle to their physique?

1) GOTTA EAT MORE CALORIES AND HIT THOSE MACROS!

One of the biggest mistakes I’ve seen with trainees is their inability to find consistency between hitting their macronutrients and eating so many calories day in and day out (for both muscle gain AND fat loss). When looking for an answer on how to remedy this problem, it can be very tricky, as the answer is usually going to depend on the psychological, physiological, and social variations between each client and how each of these things affect his or her lifestyle. 

Unfortunately when dealing with a multitude of influences on mind and body, there is no easy prescription for eating more…except eating more. “But it’s hard as fuck to eat THAT MUCH FOOD!” Truuuuust me. I TOTALLY get it. I know firsthand how hard it is to eat 3-4,000 calories on many days of a said week. Not to mention the 2-300 grams of protein and upwards of 4-500g of Carbs that come with it!

BUT, it doesn’t have to be so painfully difficult. Yes, it’s going to take a certain level of commitment and hard work (in conjunction with one of the awesome strength training programs that I would be writing you), but it’s not anywhere close to impossible. There are strategies and tactics to make these seemingly unfeasible goals much more attainable. And that, my friends, is where nutrition coaching comes in!

2) NOT STAYING THE COURSE and THE 1ST YEAR MISTAKE:

Due to bodybuilding magazines and the inclusion of steroidal “assistance” for the past half of a decade, there is a false perception as to what the maximal genetic potential of muscle gain may be for any beginning strength trainee in his/her first year of training, and at what rate of speed that muscle may be attained.  This has very much influenced what I like to term the “1st year mistake.”

For anyone that intends to put on a significant amount of muscle in his or her lifetime, I invite you to throw away the notion that muscle gain happens quickly. I hate to break the bubble here, but point blank, it simply takes time; and it takes a lot of it. Like most things in life that are of significant value, building lean muscle is a cumulative process. You MUST stay the course to see the results you ultimately desire. Sometimes, that may take months depending on your goals. For others, such as myself, it has taken years and years of stuffing my face with chicken breast after chicken breast (and there are more years of chicken eating to come).

For beginners, it is important to realize that most of one’s appreciable gains in lean mass are going to come within the 1st year of strength training (up to 15-20lbs of lean muscle), so consistency with nutrition and diet is super KEY right from the very beginning!

3) WELCOME TO CARBOHOLICS AWESOMENESS:

Carbs and sugar are bad for physique-related goals, right? Won’t we just get fat if we eat carbs? My answer: The idea that carbs are bad for us is downright silly. Carbs can be very beneficial and of utmost importance in building a lean, muscly body if certain principles are followed. And while there are hormonal influences at work when eating any type of macronutrient, you most likely won’t get fat from eating too many carbs—-you’ll get fat from consistently eating too many calories.

The amount of carbs one can tolerate does change with each individual and his or her physiological make-up, but I have seen some clients gain awesome amounts of muscle with extreme carbohydrate intakes of up to 3-4x of their bodyweights! Remember, for physique-related goals, the total amount of calories and macronutrients reign supreme. After that, more specific protocols can be adhered to. Thus, the kinds of carbs that are being eaten and WHEN they’re being eaten in relation to one’s strength training program are important.

A majority of the most progressive minds in the industry would most likely agree that it is probably best to have a majority of one’s carbs during their post-workout window (up to 1-2 hours after training) and sometime later in the day (mostly before bed- WTF!? Before bed!? Yuuuup—-I said it and I can back that shit up with massive amounts of research). Also, one of the benefits of carbs is that they’re easy to take down! For some of the “hard-gainers” out there that struggle to eat a bajillion calories in one day, carbs are YOUR BEST FRIEND. In essence, carbs make it a little easier to hit your total calorie number for any given day, and you can use them advantageously to help fuel more muscle growth.

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There you have it kids! Whether you’re brand new to nutritional coaching, want help mastering the fine points of more advanced strategies, or just want someone to keep you accountable, the MFF team has your back. If you’re interested in signing up for some nutritional coaching love, hit us up at tellmemore@markfisherfitness.com to get signed up!

As Simple As Possible, But Not Any Simpler

“Everything should be made as simple as possible but not any simpler.” – Albert Einstein

At MFF, we utilize this dictum to guide us as we teach folks the most effective techniques to attain a life of optimal health and hotness. 

Many fitness professionals love training.  They fucking LOOOOVE training.  And that’s great!  If you don’t have a genuine passion for this field, it’s hard to read clinical textbooks.  Or spend a ton of money and give up your weekend to go to a seminar.  Or have epic conversations about the relative minutiae of the position of the scapulae in overhead press.  (See… you’re bored already, admit it.)

We do our best to steer our beloved Ninjas to focus on the “big rocks” that will lead to the most efficient results.  We recognize for most folks, training and nutrition are merely a means to an end.  By all means, I’m always happy to geek out about energy systems or debate the relative merits of low vs. high volume training for hypertrophy, but I’m pretty sure you probably don’t give a fuck. We want you to get in, get out, and go back to the bar to show off your hot new ass.

But while many fitness folks sometimes get a little too wrapped up in the details, it can be just as detrimental to make things overly simple. 

The reality is that the processes of the human body are often anything but simple.  One of the anxieties of modernity is a seemingly never-ending progression to ever-deepening levels of complexity in virtually all realms of the human experience.  It seems to me, on some level, most of us ache for a simpler time.  So it makes perfect sense that we long for a reductionistic approach to our fitness goals.

To my mind, there’s no realm more susceptible to this oversimplification than nutrition.  The science itself is complicated and full of mysteries we still don’t understand.  With an obesity epidemic and a host of nutrition-related diseases playing a leading role in human suffering in Western society, I understand the desire for a magic bullet. 

One look at the bewildering variety of mainstream books available on nutrition will leave most any lay reader confused.  Many of these books (and authors) claim to have found the source of mankind’s nutritional woes.  The only problem is they all conflict with each other.  Based on what you read, the problem could be meat, dairy, casein protein, gluten, carbs, sugar, too much fruit, “broccoli carbs”… you name it.  If there’s a food you can eat, there’s probably someone out there selling a book about why you should avoid it, complete with compelling logic and cherry-picked research to support their pet nutritional villain.

Now I want to be clear; I think the vast majority of these authors and nutritionists mean well.  It’s my belief that humans are generally decent, and most of these folks are passionately motivated by a genuine belief that they have figured it out and they need to let the world know.  Unfortunately, with all due respect, I don’t believe their analytical skills or mastery of the science are always totally spot on.  (Sorry Gary Taubes.)

I too would feel comforted if I could find one specific nutritional component that was the cause of our society’s ills.  But at this point in time, I’m uncomfortable with any single scapegoat.  Health (and life) is a multi-factorial affair.  Furthermore, each human is a unique physiological system, with its own genetic susceptibilities and predispositions.  I’m uncomfortable speaking in absolutes or making any blanket statements as to any particular foods that are “evil” or need to be avoided at all costs.

Now that’s not to say that I have no opinion.  I think most people are better off including animal protein in their diet.  While I understand and deeply respect the social and environmental rationale for forgoing it, I still think from a health and hotness perspective it’s a stickier path.  I also think the vast majority of people would do better to limit their carbohydrate consumption, particularly if they’re looking to lose weight in a simple way.  Carbs aren’t inherently the devil, but you don’t lose a whole lot by cutting out pasta.  Sugar isn’t necessarily going to be the end of the world, I also think most people get too much sugar and would benefit by eliminating or reducing added sugars in their diet.  And lastly, I think the more folks avoid processed, faux foods and chemical additions to their food choices, the better off they’ll be from a health perspective.

That said, I’m no zealot.  I don’t think occasional indulgences are going to be a problem, and being overly obsessive about “clean eating” (whatever the fuck that means, read THIS for epic Alan Aragon knowledge bombs) is probably going to cause more harm than having a cupcake once in a while. 

As always, I’m a strong supporter of humans following their guts and doing their own research.   And while I may not believe in “good” or “bad” choices in life, I do believe choices have consequences.  And yes, I’m not just talking about food here. 

Obligatory photo of fruits and veggies

So if you decide vegan is the way to go, that’s your prerogative, but you should be aware you may have to do some more work to avoid nutritional deficiencies.  If you decide carbs are in fact the devil, I bet you can still have a full and happy life (though I do hope you eat cake at least once in a while; life is short, you know?).  Let’s just be honest and admit we’re not nailing our health and hotness goals because when we go to McDonald’s we eat our Double Quarter Pounder without the bun.

I think of myself first and foremost as a consumer advocate and an educator.  I’m going to do my best to continue to relentlessly scour every bit of info I can find on health and hotness.  I can’t say I’ll never change my mind about the above if the evidence mounts and conclusively proves that (FILL IN “EVIL” FOOD OF THE DAY) is in fact the devil.  But it’s my perspective that one of the least useful paths to health and hotness success is to oversimplify the complexity of what human beings eat.  Food is more than just fuel.  It has cultural, social, psychological, and emotional contexts that very probably affect what happens in your body after you eat.

My “simple as possible but not any simpler” advice: eat as wide a variety of foods possible that are minimally processed and your grandparents would have recognized as food as children.  Avoid food-like substances and eat actual food.  If you’re looking to lose fat, maintain body weight, or gain muscle, eat the correct amount of healthful foods for your goals.  Listen to your body, as if you’re sensitive to how it’s reacting, it can lead you to your ideal food choices.  Don’t be afraid to have a slice of pizza once in a while. Keep your mind open, but don’t let your brain fall out of your head. 

Yep.  It’s scary out here.  Complexity can be daunting.  But at the end of the day, making sense of a messy world by leaning into the discomfort of the unknown is the only useful path on the journey to mastery.  Don’t worry.  We’ll do it together.  I’ll say funny shit to lighten the mood.   We can totally hold hands as we walk…