Luckily, this is an area of expertise I have a lot of knowledge in. My day job requires a lot of travel, flying long distances (typically 4-8 hours) and roving around various meetings, often without access to what you might term “ideal food choices”. Typically the food taken isn’t at convenient, well timed intervals and the selection on offer is not exactly suitable for a body building enthusiast. In fact, I doubt you can remember the last time you saw airplane food that had enough protein in for a small child, let alone an adult male involved in lifting weights.

So this post is dedicated to all of you travelers out there who are trying to stay lean and make the right choices, often in non-ideal circumstances. It is also a useful reminder for us all to be flexible in our approach to diet. Too much flexibility often leads to obesity, but too rigid a dietary regimen for too long and you’ll fall off the wagon and end up doing something stupid. This will only set you back in your long term goals.

Let’s have a look at some of his questions and see how to make them useful for you:

What Should I Eat On The Flight?

With a 4 hour flight you’re going to be spending quite some time on the road. The chances are you’ll have to get to the airport about 2 hours in advance of your flight (sometimes you can get away with only one hour), and could be leaving the house an hour or so before that. After the four hours on the plane it’s likely you’ll have another hour at the other end clearing customs and collecting your baggage (less if it’s not an international flight), before you make your way to the hotel/final destination. That’s about 7 hours of travel time, when the options will be very limited.

Depending on when your flight is, you can select the appropriate strategy from below.

Morning Flights

Morning flights are probably the most common for business people – you get on the first flight out for the day and often come home on the redeye. They are also the easiest time to deal with for anyone seeking to lose weight – the simple answer is to use your intermittent fasting time to avoid food altogether on the plane. You can either choose to have something meaningful to eat when you arrive at the hotel, or if really hungry grab a bite in the arrival lounge. See below for the advice on eating out in a healthy manner.

For anyone not used to this – just ask the steward(ess) for a black coffee and a glass of water on the plane. There has literally been ZERO times (even flying first class) when the food option is too tempting to refuse. Normally plane food is the butt of many a joke – because most of the time it’s total crap. Avoid it like the plague, maybe even extending your fast over a longer duration to be sure you only eat something worthwhile.

Lunchtime Flights

Harder to deal with, as most people on this protocol will be breaking their fast around midday. If you’re flying at lunchtime your best option is either to break the fast early that day (and eat something substantial, high in protein and fibrous vegetables) before you leave the house. The next best option is to pick something healthy from the food vendors in the airport. This usually isn’t that hard – most places will have somewhere that you can get a grilled meat and vegetable option, just avoid too many rich sauces and skip the fries/carbs.

If you have time before you fly, why not get a workout in? That way you’ll create a calorie sink for some of the useless crap you eat in the airport and airplane to fall into. Pre-flight workouts are an even better option for:

Evening Flights

For an evening flight you are often best trying to get a workout in first. Whether this is possible or not depends on where your gym is, and what your schedule is like before you board your plane.

You should also seriously consider the time in which you’re going to fast. Can you eat an early dinner before heading to the airport, then just fast through until the following day? Whilst you have a good ghrelin entrainment pattern from fasting at the same time every day, most people who fast also find it is easier to go without food at any time of day. Be flexible, move your fasting time around and avoid the crap the airline is peddling.

Long Haul Flights

If your flight is longer than 5 or 6 hours you’re probably going to have to eat something (unless it’s the redeye). You are usually better off sourcing something from the departure lounge that’s healthier, and still skipping food on board. If this isn’t an option (sometimes you’re in a rush to board), just relax – we can’t be perfect 100% of the time. Choose the healthiest option on the menu and set your resolve to have a better day tomorrow.

What About Food Choices On Business Trips?

This is less easy – often you’re either working on a client site or travelling around for meetings. It isn’t always possible to plan your food ahead of time, and some times it’s a better option to eat breakfast on the days you’re working, especially if you know food at lunch time is going to be poor quality.

Aim for protein above and beyond any other nutrient – especially lean, grilled protein with fibrous vegetables. Even fast food joints can provide an option – like a chicken breast burger – toss out the bun and skip the fries and you have salad and a piece of chicken. If you are near a supermarket then load up on cold cuts – most have a deli counter where you can get cooked chicken breast, and then make your own salad to go with it.

In the evening times you may have to go out for a drink with clients, or take people out for dinner (stay tuned for an upcoming article on alcohol and fat loss). Again, most restaurants will have a high protein, grilled, baked (or shallow fried) meat option. Forsake the fries/potato/rice, and aim to keep the protein content high with fat and carbs low (especially if you’re drinking). Skip the heavy sauces. If you have to do this frequently, aim for drinks that are low in tag along carbohydrates (gin and slimline tonic, for example), and try to eat a protein rich meal before heading out (as it keeps you full and prevents over eating whilst you drink).

Try and Find A Gym!

If you stay in most hotels you’ll be sorely disappointed with their gym options. Full of machines without a barbell in sight. The chances of building muscle or even having a workout that doesn’t suck are slim to none. So what are you to do? You can always do a google search for a decent local training facility that permits guest entry (sometimes you can even pretend to be interested in joining and get a free pass). Or maybe your own chain gym has options local to your meetings. If you can find a gym then it can really help avoid weight gain whilst on a business trip, which is often the best that can be achieved anyway.

RELAX!

At the end of the day, travelling for work is going to make your life harder. But then again there are so many things that complicate fat loss, from genetics to personal willpower and beyond. Don’t try and control everything. Don’t obsess over your diet and think that one bad day will cause you to fail for good. Make plans and try to put them into action. And be prepared to be flexible on your diet, your fasting and your training whilst you are away. The most successful dieters long term are those who can take a break from a diet when they need to, yet get right back on it again the moment their circumstances improve.

Have you got any tips on how you stay fit and healthy whilst travelling for work? Share them with us in the comment section below!

Road Warrior Weight Management Tips is a post from: Lose Fat and Gain Muscle Through Intermittent Fasting

How Fast Can You Lose Fat Safely?

As I talked about in the article “Should I Bulk Or Should I Cut?” the big benefit to losing fat first is that you can do it more quickly than your body can add muscle mass. So if you’re fat to start off with, there’s a lot of rationale for losing fat first in order to make your appearance that much better, in the shortest possible time. Even a relatively small drop in body fat levels can have a dramatic improvement on appearance (especially in the belly area for men). But how fast can you safely lose fat?

The health media tells us that 1-2lbs per week is the maximum, but this is more driven by the fact that a larger fat loss requires a larger calorie deficit, and this means more exercise and/or less food. Neither of these are great, especially given how many people find sticking to a diet so damn difficult in the first place. 2lbs fat loss per week is a 7,000 calorie deficit, which is a lot of running or a meagre amount of dinner. Hobson’s Choice for most people. Aiming for a greater fat loss per week is going to require a more restrictive diet and/or more exercise. So this 2lb recommendation comes from the difficulty of designing a diet that allows you to lose more weight without being hungry or spending all day on a treadmill. Not because it’s dangerous to lose fat more quickly.

Safe Rates of Fat Loss

There’s nothing in the medical research literature indicating that fat loss has to be 1-2lbs per week to be safe. In fact, the only issues that can come up from losing fat quickly are driven from gallstone formation in obese patients that need rapid fat loss in order to prepare them for gastric bypass surgery, as well as the more rapid rates of fat loss these patients experience once the gastric band has been fitted. The rate of fat loss considered “safe” to avoid gallstone formation is actually 1.5kgs per week (which is just over 3lbs per week). Don’t forget – this is long term risk, and whilst gallstones begin to form after about 4 weeks, this research is only on clinically obese patients. Short term rapid fat loss can be safe, especially when you consume a moderate amount of fat in your diet (see below).

Why Should You Aim For a Quicker Rate of Fat Loss

Carrying excess body fat is a clear risk factor for a range of metabolic disorders, from diabetes to heart disease and strokes. Whilst no-one wants gallstones, we can still lose 3lbs of fat per week safely without this being a risk. The quicker you lose fat, the sooner you’ll drop out of the risk zone for these debilitating conditions and the better your health will be.

Your appearance will improve dramatically with rapid fat loss. Imagine a 250lb guy with 30% body fat. 75lbs of his body weight is pure fat. Dropping fat at 1lb  per week will mean it takes him a year to get to about 11% body fat (when he’ll see his abs). That’s a year of dieting. A year of watching calories and resisting temptation. And a year when he’s not consuming enough calories to build lean muscle mass. If he can fire up his fat loss efforts to 3lbs per week, that time frame drops to just over 4 months. Still a long time, but not bad to reverse years of over-eating and treating his body like shit.

Is Building Muscle Important Too?

Of course it is. If this hypothetical trainee is a newbie to lifting weights, he’ll probably gain muscle and lose fat at the same time for a while. But if his goal is to build muscle, he still ought to want to lose weight quickly to begin with. Because the sooner he gets down into the 10-15% body fat level, the easier he’ll find it to lose fat and gain muscle simultaneously. Again, I talk about this more in the article on bulking and cutting. Simply put, losing fat quickly to begin with is often the optimal choice if your goal is better body composition.

Recommendations

Obviously we should be mindful of the research – gall stones aren’t fun. But you want to get into the best shape possible in the shortest time possible. Why not aim to lose fat quickly, and why not take advantage of the fact you can safely lose 3lbs or so per week (nearly double the rate recommended in most mainstream fitness approaches) whilst maintaining lean body mass.

In my Lean Mass Gains Made Easy fat loss protocol I recommend a rapid fat loss approach for individuals that are over 15% body fat. This is based on a protein sparing modified fast during the rest days, and proper nutrition on workout days (to support muscular growth post workout). The benefit of this approach is that it allows you to run a really large calorie deficit on your rest days (thereby losing fat quickly from your fat stores), without being overly hungry and whilst maintaining lean muscle mass. You also get to eat carbs and fat post workout, so there’s no more than 2 days straight where you have to avoid certain food groups (as I said above, there’s some evidence showing that fat consumption is important to avoid gall stone formation anyway – so take your fish oil!).

Where next?

This is a prelude piece to an article I want to write on the rate of muscle gain. Most people dramatically over-estimate what’s possible (even with optimal training and diet) in terms of gaining muscle mass. I’ll cover that in the future (as it marries well with this topic), but for anyone thinking that muscle gain can happen like magic, I’ll point you to two articles I’ve already written on the subject:

How Does Muscle Grow?

The 7 Fundamental Questions For a One Pound Muscle Mass Gain

See how complex the processes are in your body that lead to muscle gain? In another article I’ll look at the rate of muscle gain as well as the maximum amount of muscle you can expect to build in a lifetime (drug free).

What’s been your experience with fat loss? Do you prefer the quick or slow approach? Tell me in the comments below:

What is a Safe Rate To Lose Fat? is a post from: Lose Fat and Gain Muscle Through Intermittent Fasting

4 Month's of Intermittent Fasting Delivers Results

Name: Jak
Age: 18
Occupation: Student

Why did you start using the program?

I started using the intermittent fasting protocol as a tool for cutting. Summer was approaching and I wanted to lose all the fat I accumulated when I did my initial Stronglifts bulk.

What were your goals?

My goal was to reach 10% body fat (according to bioelectrical impedance) or 6-pack status by the summer of 2011

Which protocol did you use? 

Intermittent fasting with feeding hours 1pm-9pm

Which date did you start using the protocols?

14/08/2011

Which date did you finish?

I am still using intermittent fasting and I probably will for the rest of my life.

What was your weight at the beginning?

75kg

What was your weight at the end?

 70kg

What was your body fat % at the beginning?

17%

What was your body fat % at the end?

12.5%

How did your strength change?

Squats definitely felt heavier with a calorie deficit, not necessarily because of IF though. Deadlift remained strong and I even set a new PR. Bench press was probably the lift that took the biggest toll for me.

Starting stats: squat, deadlift, bench?

Squat – 140kg 1×5, Deadlift – 150kg 1RM, Bench – 90kg 1×3

Finishing stats: squat, deadlift, bench?

Squat – 140kg 1RM, Deadlift – 160kg 1RM, Bench – 90kg 1RM

What was your honest opinion of the book? What did you like/dislike about it? Was it easy or difficult to follow?

 The book was a very enjoyable read and it covered a wide range of issues regarding IF and dieting. I liked how it contained relevant, practical information that was easily understandable and applicable to everyday as opposed to a textbook full of jargon and theories. What I also enjoyed was reading the multiple approaches available and how Neil gives examples of available alternatives. Everyone has different goals and lifestyles and there isn’t a 1 size fit all approach so it was great to see the many options available.

Did you make use of the calculator? How did it help with your goals? 

I loved Neil’s calculator, it was a very useful guideline which pointed me in the right direction in terms of the amount of macronutrients and calories I needed to consume to reach my goals. I personally don’t count calories however when doing IF and cutting, it is always useful to have a general idea of how much you should be consuming.

What advice would you give to anyone considering using this approach?

 Make sure to cycle you carbs and do low intensity cardio (walking) in the morning to take advantage of your insulin levels. It won’t interfere with recovery and will add to fat loss.

Are you pleased with your results? 

My results were satisfactory however I did want to lose a bit more fat. This was purely my own fault though since it was my first cut and I was experimenting in order to find out what worked for me and what didn’t. Intermittent fasting wasn’t only effective for fat loss, it fit my lifestyle perfectly. I always hated eating in the morning and I would usually force myself to eat breakfast just because it was the ‘right’ thing to do. However since discovering intermittent fasting, I am able to eat my first meal at lunch time (when I actually feel like I need to eat) with the added bonus of losing fat easier.

What would you do differently if you started again?

I neglected the importance of carb cycling during the first month which seriously hindered my initial progress. Looking back, I should’ve definitely carb cycled from the start.

What are your next goals and will you be using the protocols laid out to achieve them?

My next goals are to do Madcow 5×5 to try hit some new strength milestones and build some more muscle while staying lean. I will still be using intermittent fasting and will use the recomposition or lean bulk approach with a small surplus. I don’t want to accumulate too much fat this time like I did with my first bulk so I will need to watch my calorie surplus.

My Comments:

Jak has made great progress on this diet, even though he wasn’t counting calories or following the carb cycling approach to begin with. You can see from his photo that he’s made a huge change in his physique (especially on the usually stubborn belly fat area) and he’s clearly got a substantially better body composition at the end of the cut.

He’s also had a great result with his strength stats – maintaining strength on squats and bench (slight drop in reps, but intensity level remained high) and increasing his strength on the deadlift. This is quite common using this sort of approach, but on most diets people will lose a lot of strength when they have dropped 5kgs (>10lbs) in bodyweight. Jak has managed to drop 4.5% body fat, and only a small drop in lean mass whilst on the diet. His relative strength has definitely increased whilst making a pretty remarkable change in his appearance. Squats are almost always the hardest thing to maintain strength on whilst cutting, and Jak has managed to keep 2x bodyweight squats whilst losing fat.

What this shows is that you don’t even need to follow the approach to the letter to make substantial progress. Using the calculator sheets as a rough guide to his eating has definitely helped Jak, and it’s always worth keeping your macro and calorie consumption in check if you want to maximize your results. Using the Body Recomposition protocol will allow Jak to make the most of the insulin sensitivity he now has at 12.5% body fat, and hopefully he’ll continue to make substantial increases in strength now he’s having a slight calorie surplus post workout.

Take Action Yourself!

If you’re still struggling to make progress against your fat loss goals then you need to take action today! To find out more about this approach to fat loss and body recomposition click here. If you want to grab a copy of Lean Mass Gains Made Easy then click here and get started today!

Intermittent Fasting Success Story – Jak’s Transformation is a post from: Lose Fat and Gain Muscle Through Intermittent Fasting

Since this question is related to your initial body fat levels, and you should choose the approach based solely on that number. Click here to download the Body Fat calculator so you know which approach you should take.

Skinny Fat Trainees: Should You Bulk Or Cut?

The most obvious case is for those who are skinny. If you’ve not done any weight training before, or are still growing, bulking is the only option for you. If you aren’t training weights already and your body fat percentage is under 10%, start bulking immediately. Get in the gym, lift free weights, lift heavy, eat and sleep. Job done.

But this category is normally just kids who are starting out lifting weights. Guys in their 20′s and 30′s who are skinny are – most of the time – skinny-fat. You’ve probably seen this sort of guy on the beach before – rounded, sunken shoulders, no chest, but a pudgy little belly sticking out all the same.

The skinny fat trainee is likely to have never picked up a barbell before and could really benefit from adding muscle to his frame. But he’s also carrying a gut that needs to go away. The standard advice is to go for a bulk first, to pack on muscle. But actually, the skinny fat trainee can do both. Check out your body fat; you’ll probably find yourself in the 12-15% body fat range, which is ideal for building muscle on the frame. In this “magic window” you can do both – bulk up AND lose fat at the same time. Here’s how:

1. Start lifting barbells. Check this article here if you aren’t training with free weights already
2. Fix your diet. Work out your calorie maintenance requirements. Eat 20% more than this on the days you train, and 20% less on days you rest
3. Rinse and repeat

Intermediate/Experienced Trainees: Should You Bulk Or Cut?

So, you already lift weights. If you’re reading this section then realize I define lifting weights as squatting, deadlifting and pressing things over your head. If you only use the barbell for curls and benching, you need to check this article out and decide if you still count as intermediate or above (hint, unless you squat you’re a novice). If you don’t, rejoice! Being a novice at squatting and deadlifting means you can pack on a ton of muscle in no time.

So let’s assume you are actively lifting weights, and have reached at least a 1x bodyweight squat. Should you bulk or cut? Reach for the body fat calculator…

If You Are Under 10% Body Fat

Congratulations! You’ll have easily visible abs and probably look pretty damn good already. You want to bulk up and add on additional muscles, but make sure you’re not getting fat at the same time! You should check out the article “The 7 Fundamental Questions for a One Pound Muscle Mass Gain” and understand the exact number of calories your body needs to gain each additional pound of muscle. Aim to add 0.5-1lb of muscle PER WEEK by consuming enough additional calories POST WORKOUT to support that growth.

If you try and grow quicker than 1lb per week you’ll  be getting fat. Don’t bulk like crazy otherwise you will need to go on a cut afterwards.

If You Are 10-15% Body Fat

You’re in the “Goldilocks Zone” – where it’s just right for gaining muscle AND losing fat at the same time. In this body fat range your insulin sensitivity is “just right” and allows simultaneous bulking and cutting. You need to fix your diet – through calorie and macronutrient cycling – so that you’re losing fat on your rest days and gaining muscle post workout on the training days. It sounds complex, but really you should follow the simple advice:

• Fix your diet. Work out your calorie maintenance requirements. Eat 20% more than this on the days you train, and 20% less on days you rest

If You Are 15% Body Fat OR Higher

You need to get on a cutting program. Sure, you can still build muscle if you’re overweight already, but don’t you want to see the results of your hard work? You’ve been putting in the effort at the gym, but all people can see is your belly in the mirror. Sort out your diet and get down to the “Goldilocks Zone” as quickly as possible.

The mistake many people make is believing that your body will only do one OR the other. Bulk OR Cut. But it won’t. Set up the diet properly and you can gain a small amount of muscle whilst losing your body fat. Calorie and Macronutrient cycling is perfect for this – in conjunction with Intermittent Fasting – and allows you to chop back at your body fat levels whilst maintaining strength and gaining muscle. Here’s how:

• Fix your diet. Work out your calorie maintenance requirements
• Eat 30% deficit on your rest days, and AT MAINTENANCE on your training days
• Avoid carbohydrates on rest days
• Be sure to train with intensity – make sure at least some of the reps you’re doing are >85% of your maximum
• Keep protein consumption sky high (>1g per lb of bodyweight)

Conclusions

Most people go about bulking and cutting cycles without proper thought about the consequences. Usually there’s a big bulk in the Fall followed by a cut in the Winter or Spring. But this is just to tie in with the beach season so they have a 6 pack and can show off “them gunz”. Realize that gaining and losing weight requires a nuanced approach, a careful plan for what to eat and when to eat it, and some damn hard training in the gym.

Hopefully this post has given you something to think about – and you can know make a decision about whether to bulk or cut based on real world facts (body fat levels) rather than the time of the year.

Do you agree with this advice? If not, tell me how you go about it in the comment section below:

Should I Bulk Or Cut First? is a post from: Lose Fat and Gain Muscle Through Intermittent Fasting

Santa has been on a diet...

Yes, I know. Every fitness and diet related blogger writes one of these posts at this time of the year. So sorry if you’re bored and you’ve read it all before. This is my own personal take on how to minimize fat gain across the holidays, and hopefully avoid it altogether.

7 Ways to Gain Less Fat in the Holiday Season

1.) Create a “Calorie Sink” before you Tackle the Turkey Through Training

I’ve said it time and again here on LeanMassGains.com – one of the great benefits of resistance weight exercise, when done right, is that you can get away with eating more-or-less anything after a workout. Obviously if you take this to the extreme and try to munch through a 10lb turkey, four dozen roast potatoes and the entire buffet cart then this isn’t quite the case. But the point still stands – free weight, resistance training causes your muscle cells to be more insulin sensitive and creates an environment where calories are preferentially pushed toward growing muscles rather than love handles.

Those of you who train at home should have no issue getting up early on Thanksgiving or Christmas Day and doing a quick workout in the fasted state before you start the festivities. Even a few sets of heavy squats will help. Those of you who use a commercial gym may find it’s closed for the day – never mind. You can do pull ups on door frames, body weight squats and press ups easily enough. Whilst I’m not normally a fan of HIIT, you could try doing some Tabata Burpees before you start your feasting.

2.) Create a Calorie Sink before you Tackle the Turkey Through Fasting

This site does push Intermittent Fasting quite heavily, and it does have its uses over the holiday period. I would suggest anyone that’s new to the eating habit tries it out first on a day when there won’t be a ton of calories just lying around on the table first… because you’re likely to massively over-eat on your first post-fasting meal unless you’re used to it.

Those of you who follow the 16 hour fast, 8 hour feed approach I advocate on this site will be more than comfortable with the benefits of fasting. If you have a big evening meal to go for, why not try and push your fast to last that bit longer (up to 20 hours should still be fine). By missing out on a lunch time meal you create a little bit more of a deficit than would otherwise be the case.

Those of you who don’t already fast, give it a try in the run up to the holiday craziness. Then try and fast for 16-20 hours prior to your big celebratory meal. You’ll find that there’s a big calorie sink for the turkey to fall into, and you’ll make end up adding less pounds to your posterior at the same time.

3.) Make Better Choices at the Buffet

I know – it’s the holidays and you want to have fun. But there are ways to make that fun a little less costly on the waistline.

As you’ll know if you read the free course or the book, protein is the most satiating nutrient you can consume. That means it fills you up and stops you over-consuming the high calorie crap at the dessert buffet. Protein has an added advantage – with a higher thermic cost of digestion, you get less usable calories consumed if you eat high protein meals during your holiday festivities.

If you’re drinking alcohol at the parties then try to stick to high protein, low carb, low fat options (I know – it limits your choices but your gut will thank you). It should be easy enough to find higher protein choices at any venue (or even bring your own). Alcohol is the first fuel to be oxidized in your bloodstream, meaning any carb or fat rich foods you consume can go straight to the fat stores.

4.) Use those Toys You Just Bought the Kids!

Most people eat until they feel physically sick, then sit down in front of the TV and go to sleep. Don’t be one of them. On Christmas day make the most of the kids in your family – with all their new toys they’ll be desperate for someone to play with. Take them down to the park on that new shiny bicycle. If you live somewhere cold – buy them a sled and give them a push down the hill.

On Thanksgiving, why not head out and play some sports in the back yard? Even the most half-hearted exercise is more use than lying on the sofa like a beached whale.

5.) Learn to Say NO!

It’s not easy – and it does risk being the patronizing option. But saying no shouldn’t mean having no fun – it might be asking family to buy you less candy for Christmas. It might be refusing the second helping of dessert. Maybe you should turn down that last portion of pie. Tip number three – eating more protein – will definitely help here, because you’ll be more full and will struggle to eat the additional portions anyway. But it boils down to willpower – if you’ve been putting in the effort all year long to get into great shape, why would you throw it away on a single day’s worth of bingeing?

6.) Learn to Relax!

So this is going to fly right in the face of tip number five, but what the hey.

You can only do so much damage during the holidays. And you need to be flexible in your dieting to get long term adherence and long term results. So just RELAX!

This isn’t to say that you should head out every single night for another holiday drinks party. It’s not a free pass to devour the entire candy collection then go back for a double helping of dessert. The point is – relax, enjoy yourself, then get right back on your diet immediately afterwards. Have a planned diet break over the weekend, take the chance to eat a few more carbohydrates, top up the leptin levels and make yourself happy. Then make damn sure you get straight back to business as soon as the party is over.

7.) Consider a Rapid Fat Loss Diet Before or After the Holiday Season

We might be a little late to catch you guys in North America before Thanksgiving, but you can still put this to use between now and Christmas.

If you’re the sort of person that puts on 10lbs of fat at this time every year, you might need a more extreme method of keeping the waistline in check. Why not try a rapid fat loss approach – quickly dropping 10lbs of fat before you hit the party season. Before you run for the hills and think I’ve gone crazy – there’s actually good evidence to show that rapid fat loss (over the short term – less than 2 weeks) can give a dieter a psychological boost and help with dietary adherence over the long term. There’s also anecdotal evidence showing that if you go for a stricter dietary approach (and get success) you’ll be less likely to fuck up all that good work as soon as the Turkey comes to town.

And if you’ve packed on the pounds over the Christmas period then why not blast that off in the first two weeks of the New Year? Most people use the start of the year as an opportunity to make a resolution they fail to keep for longer than 2 weeks anyway – so pick an approach that gets you back on track and only takes 2 weeks in the first place!

Living Tribal has a free 2 week fat loss book that’s all online (with no signup required). It uses the protein sparing modified fast approach, so is quite a good option for body building/strength training enthusiasts that are looking to maintain as much muscle as possible whilst losing fat.

Happy Holidays!

Whichever of the approaches you choose, have a fantastic time over the holiday period and good luck with your goals.

Let me know your favorite tips for avoiding fat gain in the comment section below!

7 Ways to Gain Less Fat in the Holiday Season is a post from: Lose Fat and Gain Muscle Through Intermittent Fasting

If you want to lose fat then your primary area of concern should be your diet. Even the most lethargic couch potato can lose body fat if they sort out their diet. Up your protein intake, reduce reliance on refined or processed foods and make sure you have a good idea of the calorie content of your daily meals. Most of our daily calorie expenditure comes from the basal metabolic rate – which is the calories burned whilst at rest. Make sure you’re doing free weights exercise to maintain muscle mass whilst dieting and you’re set!

So what’s the point in this post then?

Well, this is all OK in theory, but in the real world the guys and girls reading this website are active people. You might have a day job that involves a lot of manual labour, or you might just be an active person with a lot of outside sporting interests. The rise and rise of the MMA in recent years has highlighted this to me – many of the people interested in strength training are doing so for a sporting purpose. And obviously sports are great, they’re fun, they’re a brilliant way to meet new friends and they can definitely help make you fitter and stronger.

And that’s where today’s post comes from. Lean Mass Gains Made Easy reader Jesse wrote in to ask how he can combine his love of Aussie Rules football training with the fat loss protocol I outline in the book. I dropped him an email back, but thought I’d post this up on the main site to share my thoughts on this with everyone.

Hi Neil,

Just had a quick question mate, diet is going well but i play aussie rules footy and have to start some cardio for training twice a week on my rest days, will be say and hour or boxing and cycling one day and half an hour of rowing the other, and was just wondering what u think i should do calorie wise for those days? Add fat? Carbs? Or keep it just meat and veg?

Thanks

So what’s the answer?

Jesse is running the fat loss protocol, meaning that on rest days he’s on limited calorie intake mainly from meat and vegetables. The point in this protocol is to minimise the amount of calories you consume whilst simultaneously providing enough protein to spare your muscles from the calorie deficit AND make sure you feel full throughout the day. But what if you need to do some cardio on your rest days? Should you eat more calories? And if so where should those calories come from?

The first thing to do is give the extra training a try without eating anything else. Do a few sessions without eating any more calories to find out what happens. Chances are you’ll be fine throwing in some additional cardio on the “rest” day and it may just help to accelerate the fat loss process even further. Make sure you read up my article on fasted cardio if you’re planning to do your cardio during the fasting window though.

If you can still keep making progress in your weight training (i.e. keep adding strength by adding extra weight on the barbell) then you know it’s fine. Strength increases indicate that you’re eating enough, so if you keep getting stronger then you don’t need any more calories in the diet. Carry on as you are.

If you start to stall on weight training progress then you need to add some more calories into your diet. My preference for doing this with cardio exercise is by drinking a sports drink prior to a cardio workout on your “rest” days. Standard drinks like Lucozade and the like will have around 150 calories per 17 fluid oz/500mls of drink (check before you glug your personal favourite down – Gatorade has far more calories). One bottle of this should be enough to fuel you through the cardio training (or at least to top you up a little bit) and if you take it around 30 minutes before you train the additional calories should be burned off during your training.

What if this doesn’t work?

Your weight training is still the bellwether for whether you’re eating enough or not. Continually increasing strength is the best method to ensure you’re not losing muscle mass whilst on a calorie deficit. So if you start to stall more often than usual you might need to increase your calorie consumption again or look for a way to reduce your exercise requirements. Post workout is always the best time to eat more calories, so I suggest you raise your calorie intake in the immediate post workout window. Add in calories in small amounts – 200 calories at a time – and make sure you are certain that it’s the diet which is causing your stalls rather than other issues (mental fear from heavy squats, poor form, lack of sleep etc).

Do NOT use the additional cardio as an excuse to go light in the gym. Do not listen to your body – hit the gym and the weights as hard as you can. If you stall, make sure all other elements are right before you add more calories to your diet. If your goal is fat loss then every morsel you consume is another step further from your ultimate body shape.

Be sure to keep a track of your body fat percentage, ensure that you’re still losing fat on the protocols and you’ll be fine. Over-training can cause you to retain body weight (sometimes just excess water, other times through a spontaneous reduction in non-exercise activity). But mostly, get out and enjoy your sports, improve your cardiovascular performance and keep on losing the fat!

Good luck!

P.S. If you guys have got any other questions please feel free to send them across by email, or post them up on the Facebook page here. Of course, you can put anything relevant to this particular topic in the comment section below.

What to Eat When you Absolutely HAVE to do Cardio is a post from: Lose Fat and Gain Muscle Through Intermittent Fasting

1.) There is only one true diet

Much like a religious fundamentalist recognizes only one true religion; a successful dieter recognizes only one true diet. This is especially true if they’ve had any success whatsoever in losing weight on the diet. It doesn’t actually matter what the diet is – just be sure that the successful dieter will have found a diet that works for them, and will stick to it like glue.

This is helpful to the individual – after all, if you find something that’s working then stick to it. But it can be remarkably unhelpful for everyone else. Because the dieter believes that their diet is the only way to lose weight, and will recommend it to friends and family irrespective of whether or not they would actually benefit from the approach.

Remember, we’re all individuals. Find the diet (or religion) that works for you and stick to it like glue. Success comes from dedication.

2.) They blindly follow their Messiah

It doesn’t matter whether it’s Dr Atkins, Pierre Dukan, Mark Sisson or anyone else in between. The successful dieter will blindly follow every single instruction issued by their “Messiah” to the letter.

Why is this important? Because too often people want to change a programme that works. You get a fat guy with no experience in training or diet thinking he should put a few “tweaks” into something proven to work with a lot of research behind it. Sure, there are spinoffs and tweaks that can be made (just like there’s dozens of different versions of Christianity) to suit individuals, but that shouldn’t be your starting point.

If you want to make wholesale changes to the diet you’re on, maybe it’s not the right diet for you in the first place. Find one you agree with, can stick to, and enjoy. Then follow that diet to the letter.

3.) You gotta have faith

The whole point in religion is to have faith in the absence of evidence. You can’t see God, so you need to have faith to believe. Just the same reason people have to have faith in their diet. Luckily a diet will manifest itself in lost inches around your waist, so you only need to keep the faith for a few weeks to check whether it’s working or not.

The blind faith that some people put into their diets is fantastic. Let’s face it, Atkins, Paleo, Dukan, The Zone… even Weight Watchers – the only reason these diets work is they restrict the total number of calories that a person eats. But the followers of these diets will tell you it’s something magic about their specific diet. And you know what? Who cares whether they’re right or wrong – that blind faith leads them to better overall dietary adherence.

Believe in your own diet and have faith you’ll succeed. Without either of those ingredients you will be doomed to fail.

4.) Lead me away from the path of temptation!

Much of religion is set up to lead us away from temptation – normally from the temptation to do something enjoyable (sinful). Successful diets have this within them too.

Take a look at the Paleo “caveman” diet, by way of example. By forcing people to eat natural, unprocessed foods you remove a huge portion of the calorie-dense fast food options that we’re saturated by today. Atkins chops out carbohydrates – so no snacking in the candy jar or gorging on biscuits. Low fat diets force people to give up ice cream, fast food and cake. By putting red lines around certain food groups, these diets are actively stopping you from acting upon your temptations.

The best long term diet for you is often the one that restricts your ability to over-consume food. If there’s a particular food group you crave more than any other, perhaps you’d do well having a break from it for a while. Or at least cutting back on your intake. Which leads me to…

5.) They work harder when their faith is tested

If you find a religious zealot and tell them God doesn’t exist, they work even harder to prove that He does. The more we refute someone’s faith, the more they entrench their views.

This is the same thing you see with successful dieters. They realise that the path to being thin is far from straight. They know there will be challenges and obstacles on the path to leanness. Occasionally they get tempted and break their diet (just like religious people sometimes fall from grace). But the successful dieters are those that realise temporary setbacks are nothing in the grand scheme of things. The successful dieter goes right back to their diet as soon as possible after a slip up.

What’s the take-away message from this? We all get tempted and we all make mistakes. It’s what we do afterwards that sets apart the winners from the losers.

6.) Their Dogma and Rituals keep fat at bay

The heavily religious have a series of dogma and rituals within their organisation that keeps people “within the fold”. Similarly, successful diets have a series of rituals that help keep you on track.

Whether it’s the instruction not to eat past 6pm, or the idea of a “cheat day” or even the nutrient cycling and intermittent fasting approach I use, these rituals make it easier for people to stick to their diet. And that is extremely important when looking for a long term dietary solution.

Do these rituals make the diet work? Of course not! No more than celebrating Christmas makes you a Christian. But these aspects of dieting are very important in letting people enjoy the diet they are on, and in stopping you from over-consuming calories in the first place.

7.) Even zealous atheists can be compared to successful dieters…

Atheists are there in the background, demanding that religious folk put up evidence to demonstrate the claims made in the Holy Scriptures. And some are just as zealous in this drive for evidence and reason as any religious zealot is about their chosen path.

Similarly, some people refute all the claims of the diets above and insist it’s only calories in vs. calories out that matters. They cry foul whenever a diet “guru” makes outlandish claims to the contrary and use science to bash other diets over the head.

As you can tell from reading around this site, I fall into this latter category of dieters. I won’t waste my time with anything unless it’s a way to reduce calorie consumption. And this approach works just as well for those of us who want to use it. As I point out in the article “Why Intermittent Fasting is NOT a Magic Bullet for Fat Loss” you can sometimes get too delusional, believing that the dietary protocol you’re using is somehow delivering benefits over and above those you’d get from normal calorie restriction. That said, provided that your choice of diet is a way to restrict your calorie intake and you enjoy it, does it really matter why the diet works?

TL; DR

The most successful diet is the one you can stick to for the longest. If that’s Intermittent Fasting, training with weights and following the calorie/nutrient cycling and timing I propose here, great. If it’s the Zone or Atkins or Dukan or Paleo – great. Find a diet that works for you – one that you can stick to. And remember to be flexible enough to keep going even if you fall off the wagon occasionally. After all, religious people don’t stop being religious just because they forgot to go to church one Sunday morning, so you shouldn’t quit your diet just because you occasionally break the rules.

Let me know what’s worked for you in the comments section below.

The 7 reasons Successful Dieters are like Religious Fundamentalists is a post from: Lose Fat and Gain Muscle Through Intermittent Fasting

High heels aren't good for cardio, fasted or not.

Regular readers of this site know I’m not a fan of cardio exercise for fat loss. It’s great for some things (improving your cardiovascular health, mainly) but endless cardio isn’t needed to get or stay lean. My protocols here all request that you don’t count the calories burned from cardio. So it won’t surprise you that I’m no fan of fasted cardio either.

That said plenty of guys and gals reading this site love their cardio. Some compete in team sports whilst others just enjoy going out for a run, or a cycle ride in the fresh air. And if they’re living the intermittent fasting lifestyle they often believe that it will have magical fat loss capabilities that will set them on the path to single digit body fat. It won’t.

This post will tell you why not, and will show you how to make cardio exercise work for you in your fat loss regime, and what you really should be doing in the fasted state. Read on…

Why do people think Fasted Cardio is a Magic Bullet?

First up, we need to look at why people want to do fasted cardio in the first place. It’s another classic case of the “more is better” mentality that humans have in abundance. We know that cardio burns fat. We know that after an overnight fast we’re burning a greater percentage of our calories from fat. So we put two and two together and come up with ten.

I have a question for you. If I offered you $50 today, or $10 each and every day for a week, which would you pick?

You’d be an idiot not to pick the $10 per day for a week, unless you desperately need money today, because you’d be getting a total of $70 rather than $50. But this “idiotic mistake” is exactly what people make when they think fasted cardio is a magic bullet. Because fat loss isn’t just about the now – the fat burned during exercise – it’s also about the rest of the day. And that’s what we’ll look at in this article.

Do you burn more fat through cardio if you do it whilst fasted?

Simple question. Complex answer.

For low intensity exercise (think walking the dog), with VO2max under 50% then yes, you do burn more fat during the exercise when doing this in the fasted state. The addition of anything (notably carbs) in the diet causes less fat oxidation (burning) during the exercise – specifically by stopping the fatty acids from entering your mitochondria where they will get burned off.

However, this effect is not seen in higher intensity efforts (65-75% of VO2max – think jogging, cycling, swimming etc), and specifically it is not seen in people who are already trained. That is, if you’re used to doing cardiovascular exercise on a regular basis, you will not see a reduction in fat oxidation during exercise as a result of eating before or during your workout.

So if you’re untrained, like one of the guys on “The Biggest Loser”, then maybe fasted cardio makes more sense. But if you’re already relatively fit, and already perform cardio exercise on a regular basis then consuming carbs pre workout and during the workout has been shown to have no affect whatsoever on fat burning during exercise for the first 2 hours of your training. You can find the references here and here.

So let’s sum this up: cardio (high intensity) does not burn more fat during exercise in trained individuals. Therefore we need another rationale for fasted cardio to be justifiable. Let’s take a deeper look.

Who performs best? Fasted athletes or fed athletes?

Best you eat your bananas

This one ought to be straightforward, and is one of the few instances where your gut feeling is right. It’s been shown that fed athletes are able to perform better when doing higher intensity cardio than fasted athletes. In fact, in a two hour cycling workout athletes either completed it fasted or took in regular carbohydrate drinks throughout the workout. The guys who sipped the carbohydrate heavy beverages throughout the workout performed better than those who trained fasted. Yet the overall amount of fat oxidation between the two groups was similar at the end of the exercise. Reference here.

Now add onto this the fact that carbohydrates consumed during the workout will spare your liver glycogen stores. This is important for us because we’re not just looking to burn fat – we also want to gain and maintain muscle mass. This study here shows that muscle glycogen depletion can lead to increased use of protein for fuel during cardiovascular exercise – up to 13 grams of protein burned per hour of exercise. Now, an overnight fast will have very limited impacts on your muscle glycogen stores at all (because overnight you principally burn fat for fuel and don’t move around much) and will have only marginally depleted the stores in your liver. But if you choose to perform high intensity cardio exercise in the fasted state you are asking for trouble. Depleting your muscle and liver glycogen stores will push you toward burning protein for fuel – when the goal here is to burn fat.

Given that the fed group could exercise at a greater intensity AND had similar total amounts of fat burned during their exercise bout we can safely say that fasted cardio is a waste of time. Moreover, for the protein-sparing reason I highlight above, we don’t want to run the risk of doing cardio in the fasted state if maintaining or gaining muscle mass is the primary goal.

But what about my $70? You’ve only looked at fuel burned during training. What happens for the rest of the day?

And herein lies the kicker. We’ve established that fasted cardio doesn’t burn more fat in trained individuals, and that it’s not optimal for those of us that are looking to maintain or gain muscle mass. But what happens during the rest of the day, post exercise? Does that give us a reason to perform cardio in the fasted state or not?

The problem here comes again from the fact that low intensity exercise burns more fat during the exercise. Or at least it burns a greater proportion of fat during the exercise. This fact means people often overlook the fact that total calories burned are more important than the proportion of calories that were burned from fat. We seem to believe that fat gets burned and won’t come back. Which is painfully untrue – you can burn what you like on the treadmill, if you eat twice as many calories in the kitchen you’ll still get fat.

When you compare people training at 50% of their VO2max and people training at 75% of the VO2max, you see after 3 hours that the higher intensity training led to greater fat oxidation at the 3 hour mark than lower intensity training (reference). When you feed these trainees pre-workout you see that the post exercise fat oxidation levels go up even further: in the 2 hour post exercise window fed (glucose plus milk) trainees had a 25-30% greater oxygen consumption (fat burning proxy) than those that trained in the fasted state (reference). But when you scale this up and look across a 24 hour period you see no difference in total energy expenditure or fat oxidation between low intensity cardio and high intensity cardio when an equal amount of calories was burned during the exercise bout (references here  and here).

By doing higher intensity exercise you are not increasing 24 hour fat burning in your body.

The same number of calories burned in low intensity exercise would have the same effect on fat loss. That’s not to say that higher intensity workouts are always bad – you’ll burn those calories more quickly, so you spend less time in the gym. They’re also better for cardiovascular health. But from the research available today the following statements are true:

• Fasted cardio work is inferior to fed cardio work for both fat loss and cardiovascular improvement
• Fasted cardio increases the risk of protein oxidation (muscle wastage), but does not improve fat oxidation during workouts in trained subjects
• Fed cardio enables greater total work output
• High intensity cardio is not better for 24 hour fat oxidation, when the same number of calories is burned during exercise (i.e. it’s total calories burned that matters, not how quickly you burned them)
• Given that total work output (total calories burned) is more important than intensity, we should seek to do high intensity work in the fed state and low intensity work in the fasted state

That last statement probably needs more elaboration. Given that performance in cardio is improved by feeding, you should choose to do your cardio workouts in the fed state. You’ll be able to work out harder and longer than you can when training fasted. The extra work you can put in whilst fed will ensure a greater total calorie burn, but the food you have consumed pre and during workout won’t affect the fat burning within your body. Put simply: do your cardio training when fed for the biggest total calorie burn.

Wrapping up

If you insist on doing cardio, do it in the fed state. Your workouts will be more productive and you don’t need to worry that you’re missing out on some sort of “magic fat burning window” by doing cardio in the fed state – because this window doesn’t exist.

If you insist on doing some training in the fasted state then make it low intensity, long duration cardio. This will be less likely to cause muscle loss, but will be principally burning fat.

Take me for a walk?

If you don’t currently do high or low intensity cardio, don’t worry. You can still lose body fat without endless exercise. If you feel the need to add either into your workout schedule then follow the advice given above.

Ultimately the best choice of cardio for you is the one you can stick to. So if you can get outside and take the dogs for awalk in the fasted state – do so. If you prefer to hit the road and go running or cycling, make sure you do it when you’re in the fed state. Do something you enjoy and that will become part of a long-term lifestyle change – ideally something that isn’t a chore for you.

Let me know your favourite cardio exercise in the comment section below:

Warning: Fasted Cardio will Cannibalize your Gains but WON’T Make You Thin is a post from: Lose Fat and Gain Muscle Through Intermittent Fasting

#1 Skate to Where the Puck is Going to Be

In 2007, Steve Jobs said, “There’s an old Wayne Gretzky quote that I love. ‘I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.’ And we’ve always tried to do that at Apple. Since the very, very beginning. And we always will.”

Focus on the future. Focus on where you want to be. Forget about your last workout, forget about the things that don’t matter in life. Look to where you want to be and strive towards that with everything you’ve got.

#2 Accentuate the Positive

Steve started life out on the wrong foot. He was given up for adoption at birth because his mother had wanted a daughter.

Tough break? Young Jobs didn’t think so: he was thankful for his loving adoptive parents — who happened to live in Palo Alto, California (which would eventually become Silicon Valley).

You might have had problems in the past. Maybe you’ve got crappy genetics, or you have difficulty with flexibility, or you’ve got some other reason why life is harder for you. Forget about it and accentuate the positive – you’ll make more progress that way.

#3 Learn from Others

In high school, Jobs attended lectures at a small computer technology company called Hewlett-Packard. Before turning 21, Steve had worked for both HP and Atari. He saw what these companies were doing and learned what he wanted to do differently with Apple.

You should spend as long as possible learning from those who have been successful. Check out the training section of the site for some inspirational coaches that can help you reach your goals.

#4 Start Early

Because Steve was still a sponge-brained teenager when he started working with computers, he learned quickly.

It also helps that he started Apple in his early 20’s: when he was still full of energy, fresh ideas, and not yet restrained by a family or career.

If you’re a young guy – you should be in the gym lifting free weights in compound movements. You have a hormonal advantage
over the older guys and will clearly benefit from having longer to train.

#5 Surround Yourself with Good People

Steve Jobs wasn’t a great computer engineer. Apple would have had no chance if Jobs was the only one building the computers.
That’s why he recruited Steve Wozniak.

Through the years, Jobs’ companies have blossomed thanks to the brilliant people he’s brought on board – like Apple CEO Tim Cook and Pixar CCO (Chief Creative Officer) John Lasseter.

Get yourself quality training partners who know what they’re talking about and can motivate you on to greatness. Or sign up at the various internet forums where you can discuss lifting weights with guys who know more than you. The Iron Game has a lot of experienced people who are really approachable and knowledgeable – make the most of them!

#6 Expect Greatness

People tend to rise to expectations. Set the bar high and then go to achieve these expectations.

#7 Obstacles are meant to be Overcome

Jobs and Wozniak ran out of money while developing the first Apple computer. Instead of giving in, Jobs sold his van and Wozniak sold his graphing calculator. When there’s a will, there’s a way.

You might have trouble breaking a squat plateau, or in finally nailing that bodyweight overhead press. It’s not the end result that matters – it’s the persistence and effort you put in on the way that count.

#8 Don’t Value Money

As CEO of Apple, Jobs earned $1 a year. Jobs wasn’t incentivized by his salary, but by his own unrelenting pursuit of excellence. (Then again, his expansive stock holdings may have been some incentive.)

You should spend your own money on quality training equipment, coaching and information products that help you achieve
your goals. Too many people horde cash and look for free information when the paid stuff is where the real gold is kept.

#9 Value People

Jobs hired passionate people and cultivated exceptional company cultures at both Apple and Pixar – and their work speaks for itself.

You should find people you trust – on message boards, in real life and in your gym. Value those that have achieved greatness
before you and copy their methods. Listen to those who know what they’re talking about and you will succeed.

#10 Take Risks

Jobs was willing to cannibalize his company’s products in the name of progress. Many CEOs would have been hesitant to develop
the iPhone, knowing full well that it would help to make the iPod obsolete – but Jobs did it anyway (and took a big bite out of the lucrative mobile market).

Don’t be afraid to take risks. Push your limits. Go for that heavy squat single. See if you can break your old PR’s as often as possible. If you don’t put yourself out there and make the effort then you’ll never succeed.

#11 Have a Higher Purpose

Buddha said, “We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.” Jobs has turned his vision into reality since he began practicing Buddhism in the 1970’s. You should also create a vision for where you want to be in the future. Pick a dream and follow it. Unhappy with your body now? Think about where you want to be and hold that thought for as long as you can.

#12 Find the Right Partner

There is no more important decision in your life than the person you decide to share it with. Choose wisely (as Steve did), and you have a partner who will help see you through daily challenges.

This is essential in weight training – a quality partner that will come to the gym with you through thick and thin. Someone who can push you on and inspire you when you don’t feel like leaving the house.

#13 Fail Forward

Everybody fails. It’s how you respond to those failures that makes all the difference. In 1984, Steve Jobs was fired from Apple.

At Stanford’s 2005 commencement address, he had this to say about it:

“I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.”

You shouldn’t be afraid of your failures. Sometimes diet takes a back seat and you get a bit fatter. Other times you can’t make your training because of work and family issues. It’s not the little setbacks that define you, it’s getting back up and getting back on with it that are your true legacy.

#14 Learn How to Take a Brick to the Head

More inspiring words from the Stanford speech:

“Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.”

Sometimes you get an injury. Sometimes you just can’t train for weeks on end and you think you’ll go back to being fat and weak. You won’t. Stand strong, keep the faith and learn how to take it on the chin. Learn to love progressive overload so you keep coming back for more.

#15 Remember You’ll be Dead Soon

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.”

Our time on this earth is short. Let’s make it count. If you really want the body of your dreams before you sit in your own coffin then go and make it happen. If you’re fat and unhealthy at the moment, realise that you’ll be dead even sooner if you don’t sort your life out. Make the time here count. Check out the fat loss and gain muscle articles on the site for more inspiration.

#16 Put a Dent in the Universe

Jobs once said, “We’re here to put a dent in the universe. Otherwise, why else even be here?”

Having a higher purpose doesn’t just help you find success. It redefines the meaning of the word. Go out and prove what you can do! Make a dent in your own personal Universe.

Ready to Redefine Success?

How has the life of Steve Jobs inspired you? Let us know in the comment section below.

16 things Steve Jobs can Teach you about Lifting Weights is a post from: Lose Fat and Gain Muscle Through Intermittent Fasting

That’s been the traditional cry of fatties the world over, wanting to blame their parents for a rotten hand in the genetic card game rather than accept their obesity is due to gluttony and sloth. It’s also been the cry of the terminally thin – those “ectomorphs” who seem to struggle to pack on muscle and weight regardless of how much they eat. But are they right?

Take a look at your genes

Research has shown that part of this issue could be due to your FTO gene. In a European study, people with 2 copies of this FTO gene were up to 3kgs (6.6lbs) heavier than people without this gene. Carrying the gene made you 70% more likely to be overweight than if you don’t have any copies at all. So it seems that those that are obese and those that are skinny have a common genetic enemy – the evil FTO gene.

In this article I’m going to take a look at the facts behind this statement and look at whether we really are prisoners of our genes. We’ll also take a look at what you can do to overcome your own genetic shortcomings and make weight loss or weight gain that little bit easier for you. Whilst the research behind this came from studying overweight people, the implications for why some struggle to gain weight are also huge. Read on…

What the F is FTO anyway?

Good question. Let’s look at the background to this first so we can better understand the research, and truly find out whether we’re doomed to the body shape our genes dictate.

FTO is a gene sat in a particular part of our DNA. Originally it was found in mice genes (scientists study mice a lot) and was on a similar part of the DNA strand to a gene for fused toes (don’t worry, even if you have 2 copies of it you’re not about to get some strange webbed feet issues later in life). Humans and mice share a reasonable amount of genetic similarities, so the name got taken along when studied in humans.

Human trials

Researchers initially started to look at those with Type II diabetes (one of the components of metabolic syndrome), so see if there were any genetic markers that predispose people to getting this affliction. They do this with large population samples (in this case about 3,000 people from the UK, of which about a third had Type II diabetes). By comparing genes that exist more frequently in
people with Type II diabetes vs. the general population, they started to point the finger at FTO. Further population studies of over 30,000 Europeans confirmed this – that the FTO gene in humans is strongly correlated with an increase in obesity.

BMI and all that

Now, before you start spitting your cornflakes and claiming that BMI is a load of horse doo-doo, hold on. The researchers also recognised the limitations of BMI as a measurement of obesity, and controlled for variables such as height, skin-fold body fat tests and waist circumference. So the people that had this FTO gene certainly were fatter than their non-FTO carrying counterparts. This has been backed up by countless studies since.

How much fatter?

Good question – as I mentioned in the introduction the people carrying 2 copies of this FTO gene were carrying an average of 3kgs (6.6lbs) more weight than those with no copies at all (we each carry 2 copies of every gene – one from Mum and one from Dad – sometimes they’re the same, sometimes they’re different). Carriers with only one copy of the gene were still marginally fatter – carrying on average 1.2kgs (2.6lbs) more weight than their FTO-free peers.

In mouse models, you can give a certain FTO mutation to mice and see a whopping 22% increase in body weight and body fat levels. But anyone studying mice and humans will note we’re a little different – and it appears that mice show an increase in spontaneous exercise activity when they do not have the gene, whereas humans show a decrease in food consumption when they do not have the gene. Two sides of the same coin.

Put another way – those people that are carrying 2 copies of the FTO gene are found to spontaneously eat between 125 and 280 calories per day MORE than those with no copies. (Reference)

So are some people predisposed to being fat and others thin?

It would certainly seem that genetics has an ability to control what we want to eat. One famous study into this was conducted in the Vermont Prison System during the 1960’s and 70’s by Dr. Ethan Sims. His study aim was simple – prisoners would get early release if they were able to gain 25% of their bodyweight. They were allowed to eat as much as they could in order to achieve this aim.

What’s funny is that these guys weren’t the first that Sims tried to make gain weight. He first started with a group of his University students, asked to eat 2-3x as much food as normal over a period of 3-5 months. Quite a few dropped out. Those who stayed the course were unable to achieve weight gains more than 12% – it seemed there was an upper limit their over-feeding could achieve. He needed more “motivated” subjects – so chose prisoners with the carrot of early release as a method to make them stick to the dietary protocol.

The prisoners took to the task with gusto. They gained weight at approximately double the rate of the students, reaching an average of 26% above their initial lean weight. Sims noted:

“This suggests that achieving a serious gain in weight cannot be undertaken as a secondary occupation”

The prisoners needed to spend all their focus gaining weight. They spontaneously reduced exercise activity and movement patterns. And they ate and ate and ate. Some of these guys were consuming 9-10,000 calories per day!

Here’s the kicker

Not everyone was as successful at gaining weight as one another. Some of the prisoners really struggled to reach the goal. Others never reached that goal at all – in spite of eating more calories than counterparts that had already hit their target. Quite a few of the men developed a “spontaneous aversion to breakfast” – they physically struggled to pie down enough calories to force their weight up.

Subsequent research has backed this up – some people are just physically incapable of consuming such large amounts of calories. Trying to do so causes them to vomit, and the general over-consumption of calories causes them to move around more
than they normally would.

So does this mean we’re all prisoners of our genetics?

Are we doomed to be whatever weight our genes dictate? Are skinny people unable to gain mass, forever being the weakling? Are fat people simple victims of genetic circumstance – not greedy or slothful, just predisposed to eat more of the available calories than others?

Not necessarily. Certainly some people will have it harder than others. And the simple “calories in vs. calories out” argument is confounded when people spontaneously overeat (and don’t remember doing so) or spontaneously move more than necessary (without noticing it). This is called the “set point” theory – and dictates that our bodies will keep us within a certain weight range which is optimal for our own individual genetics. That’s going to be the subject of a future article, but for now let’s look at what we can do to overhaul our genes.

Let’s start with the fatter guys

If you’re overweight then sure, you might have the FTO gene problem highlighted above. This is going to make life a little more tricky because you’ll have to overcome a natural desire to consume more food. But it isn’t impossible.

Food choices

One of the biggest issues here is the food choice available today. Our ancestors bequeathed these genes upon us, yet the rates of obesity in the developed world far exceed anything seen in the past. We can’t just blame genes alone for our outsized waistbands – otherwise we wouldn’t see the alarming rate of increase in obesity seen in the US in the past few decades. Historical data show we are eating more – this article shows in 1965 we were (in industrialised countries) eating around 2950 calories per person, per day. By the turn of the millennium this had increased to nearly 3,400 per person, per day. It equates to nearly a pound per person per week of weight gain. There’s little wonder why over 66% of Americans are overweight or obese.

So what? The problem is the type of food on offer and our relationship with it. Sure, if you have this gene then you are more likely to overeat. But what is it that you overeat? Studies have highlighted that FTO carries have a preference for high fat diets, are
more likely to under-report their food intake (a common problem – although it seems it’s involuntary rather than deliberate lying) and are less likely to participate in leisure time physical activity.

Fat happens to be a very satiating nutrient – for most people. As discussed in my article on macronutrients, it is wise to choose nutrients that fill you up and keep you feeling fuller for longer – fat does this. But it seems the FTO carriers are less affected by the satiation of fat, and should look for lower fat dietary options.

It also seems that the FTO group participate in less physical activity than average. This has the double-negative impact of meaning they burn less calories AND they eat more.

So what’s the solution?

Good question. Obviously exercise is going to help here – in mice the FTO gene is all about activity levels, but in humans it is not. So we can counter some of the excess calories you will eat by adding exercise into your daily routine. I’m not a fan of cardio normally, but in this case it may be warranted to help shed the pounds, especially for women.

Far better is to focus on free weight, resistance exercises (if you’re a man – chances are women won’t want to get muscular). This will help to remodel your body so that the excess calories you are naturally drawn to eat will go predominantly toward building muscle rather than fat. Check out the training section of the site for more information. By starting light and choosing a programme with progressive overload you will get hooked on lifting weights. This is important for a long term weight loss approach – adopt this as your new lifestyle and you will be able to keep the pounds of fat off.

What about diet?

Here at LeanMassGains.com we preach the practice of Intermittent Fasting. This is an approach where you purposefully avoid calorie consumption for a short period of time (above your normal overnight fast) on a periodic or regular basis. Fasting is certain to help people with the FTO gene, because you’re deliberately avoiding food for the period of time that you fast. If you follow the approach I advocate here of 16 hour fasts followed by 8 hour feeds each day then you will have less time in which to over-eat and you’ll have more insulin sensitivity to boot.

From a macro perspective you should try and eat more protein. Protein is the most filling and satiating nutrient you can consume. By choosing lean protein sources at every meal you will stay fuller for longer, meaning you’re even less likely to overeat. This article is getting a little too long, so check out the free course on this site for an in-depth version of the diet. It cycles the nutrients
across training and rest days to ensure you don’t get bored of what you eat, which is another really important aspect of long term dietary adherence.

What about the skinny guys?

Sorry, I haven’t forgotten you. Skinny guys who just can’t pack on the pounds are going to get the opposite advice. If you’re the sort of person who would struggle to gain enough weight to get out of prison, you’ll need to put more thought into what you’re eating and what exercise choices you make.

For a start, endless cardio is right out. Ditch any running, cycling, rowing or swimming you do. If you really want to bulk up you might consider dropping the team sports you participate in as well. The prisoners in the Sims study cut back on their exercise routine and so should you.

That said, there is a type of training that will suit your needs. It’s the same as the fatter guys are going to use above, and it’s something the Sims inmates weren’t able to leverage to help get them out of jail. It’s resistance weight training. Keep
your sessions short (Stronglifts or Starting Strength workouts take no more than 45 mins to start off with) and attack the weights with intensity. This won’t burn many calories during your workout, but it will provide the stimulus to grow that your muscles need. Once you get to sets of heavy deadlifts they will increase appetite like no other lift around. This training alone won’t make you big though – we need to sort out your diet for that.

How to eat big

If you’re a skinny guy then you just don’t eat enough. Studies also show thin people overestimate how much they eat (the boffins are still not sure if this is linked to FTO or not) just the same way fatter folk underestimate their food intake. We need to sort that out.

For starters you’ll need to eat more fat. Pack in fattier cuts of meat, go for full fat options in dairy, and don’t be afraid to put oil on your food. This doesn’t have to be unhealthy – fish oil is good for you, monounsaturated vegetable oil is good for you (like olive oil) and even some forms of fatty meat (grass-fed beef anyone?) have been shown to be beneficial. Remember the words of Sims from
his seminal study:

 “Achieving a serious gain in weight cannot be undertaken as a secondary occupation”

Eat like you would if it meant you could get out of jail early.

What else will help?

You should also ditch the normal recommendations from dieticians about not drinking calories. Load up on Starbucks (go for those hideous Frappucino things), drink whole milk (GOMAD diet is great), make sure you have full on Coke and Pepsi rather than those tame diet versions. Throw the healthy eating handbook out of the window.

Fast food is your friend – chow down on McDonald’s and KFC – you’ll note that it doesn’t really fill you up much and you’ll be hungry soon afterwards anyway. Remember that you don’t need to overeat by much to gain lean muscle mass (I assume you don’t want to get fat whilst adding muscle) – check out this post I wrote on how many calories you need for a one pound muscle mass gain – that should ensure you only put on muscles. Making a concerted effort to overeat on training days (especially post workout) will really help you pack on the pounds. Just be sure you don’t restrict your intake to compensate on rest days, or the work you put in will have gone to waste.

Should we be fasting too?

The jury is out here – if you struggle to gain weight whilst eating 24/7, then no. Fasting won’t help you consume more calories and the health benefits of fasting are probably not worth the increased effort it will take you to eat during your 8 hour feeding window. That doesn’t mean the nutritional advice available on this site isn’t suitable for you – it still is – but you just have longer throughout the day to try and get the calories down your neck. The macronutrient timing advice is just as valid for you as it is for anyone that’s overweight.

Bringing it all together

As I said above, part of that is changing your lifestyle. You should find an exercise programme that you enjoy, and will continuously come back to. Find something that makes you happy, whether it’s walking your dog or playing with your kids. Change your eating habits to reflect and recognise the fact that you’re special and need to be more careful with what you eat.

You should at least recognise that being fat and being thin are two sides of the same coin. Stop judging and blaming other people, and start trying to understand how to learn from your opposite FTO carrier about how their diet and exercise choices might help you. I’ll leave you with the words of Dr. William Bennett M.D., former Editor of the Harvard Medical School Health Letter:

“If we lived in a world that prized being fat instead of thin, Sims’ results might be attributed to the prisoners’ lack of character. One of his volunteers, for example, began at 132 pounds. He struggled resolutely for more than thirty weeks to gain weight, ate great amounts of food, and reduced his activity to less than half its former level, but was never able to push above 144 pounds. He simply didn’t have the “will power” to get fat.”

What do you think? Is it genetics, or is it lifestyle choices? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

What the F? Is your FTO gene stopping you from gaining or losing weight? is a post from: Lose Fat and Gain Muscle Through Intermittent Fasting