True refinement seeks simplicity. – Bruce Lee
This information overload era we live in can be tricky for strength athletes, coaches, and even writers.
In trying to distinguish ourselves from the nonsense and scams that dominate the fitness industry and get good information out to good people, one's content can start to err on the side of being overly scientific, flashy, or complicated.
You've all seen it. Writing becomes less about actual ideas and more about trying to sound smart, discredit others, stand out, impress clients or colleagues, and battle for coach/diet supremacy – basically, self-flagellation supersetted with furious dick swinging.
And it moves too far from what it's supposed to be – a way to give people practical tools that they can apply to get real results in the real world.
A successful NFL defensive coordinator once said that most players forget the majority of what you say. Thus, one of the keys to being an effective coach, and getting people to absorb and apply the techniques you're trying to teach, is to get them to think in bullet points.
I think this is one of the most profound statements I've ever heard, and a highly effective coaching strategy. And based on some of the emails I get, I need to implement it more often.
So for this article, let's dispense with the nonsense. Lets take the ornaments off the tree, and get down to the fat loss roots. Bullet point sounds too formal for my tastes, so let's call them bullets.
I've loaded up my guns, and am randomly firing off some rounds about fat loss, and life in general. Hopefully, a few hit their target. Let the bodies, or more appropriately body fat, hit the floor
Dropping fat is more about what you don't eat than about what you do.
Why? It's virtually impossible to stay in the calorie deficit necessary for sustainable fat loss while eating a highly refined food diet.
Until this is recognized, all the complicated calorie counting, macro-distribution patterns, and macro-cycling formulas in the world will only be mildly effective for long-term functionality and sustainability.
It takes incredible discipline to stay in a targeted calorie deficit with poor food choices, but it's not all that hard to do it when eating real, whole, natural, unprocessed foods. I'd rather take the easiest path to shredded success, but in all fairness, I'm a lazy bastard.
It's like trying to stay faithful to someone like Adriana Lima versus a chick that maybe isn't so hot. They both require a baseline level of discipline – because it's our natural biological desire to spread our seed and indulge in life's pleasures – but one commitment requires way more work than the other.
If 90% of the foods available aren't that good for us, then what the hell are we supposed to eat?
Here are the numbers:
Essential Fats (as byproduct of your animal protein sources, along with Flameout® if you don't eat a lot fish) = Take in 0.25g/lb or 15-20% of calories.
The remaining calories can be distributed among added carbohydrates, or added fats, or both, depending on the circumstance.
Still confused? What, are you stupid? Nah, just kidding. Think of it like the gas tank in your car. If your car sits in the garage every day, you don't need gas. If you only cruise short distances around your hood to gawk at the high school girls, you only need a moderate amount of gas. If you commute long distances to work every day, you may need a lot of gas, and have to fill it up regularly. And if all you do is ride a bike, you probably look more like Pee Wee Herman than a T-man.
Besides, many need to stop reading about what to do and start applying what they already know (after they get done reading my article, of course).
This is our natural, evolutionary tendency. We were hunters and gatherers, working all day with little-to-no food (fat burning, energy production mode), and then finishing the day relaxing and eating a big meal of whatever we caught (muscle building, energy replenishment mode). Yes I have read the Warrior Diet, and yes I do give credit where credit is due.
Psychologically, this takes advantage of the sacrifice/reward patterns in the brain. Most people can sacrifice, cut calories, and eat lighter during the day if they know they can eat a complete dinner at night and go to bed satiated.
Not only that, big meals during the day often lead to rebound hypoglycemia, sleepiness, and lack of productivity. Trying to cut calories at night leads to late night cravings, cheating/binges, or carb depleted, serotonin inhibited-based insomnia.
So flip the script. Stay active and alert during the day, eat a complete satiating meal at night that you look forward to, and sleep soundly.
Maybe you consider the above bro-science. I consider it something that works. Which brings me to a bigger topic – whether you follow bro-science (meathead approved), ho-science (from guys who can quote study after study but have never actually stepped foot inside a gym), or real science, they're all still just hypotheses that need to be tested in the real world.
In the end none of it really matters; the only thing that matters is what works for you, personally, given your unique situation. Use science and systems to give yourself an informed starting point, but don't dogmatically cling to anything, regardless of the source.
Does anyone else think our industry has gotten out of control? Whatever happened to a man stating his opinions and being done with it? Online strength training and nutrition forums have gone from a place where like-minded enthusiasts could compare ideas and disagree respectfully over minor points, to virtual schoolyards run by overgrown teenaged girls who name call, bully, and cat fight over dogma like it was Team Edward versus Team Jacob.
I've got a few more shots in this pistol I'm packing.
The above bullets are just my thoughts. You can follow none, one, some, or all of them as you see fit. It's really no sweat off my 'sac either way. I'm too lazy to be a guru, and arguing with someone set in his/her ways is wasted effort.
But on a more positive note, I'll be happy if my advice helps you somehow, and I mean that, so shoot me a Spill or a message or a tweet. I get quite a few, so I know I'm helping some people. That's all that matters to me.
My guns are empty my friends. Now I can go back to being the laid-back, beach dude that I am. Peace.
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