Underground Nutrition Strategies &
Hacking The Fat Loss Code
WARNING / DISCLAIMER: You must get your physician’s approval before beginning this exercise program / following these nutrition guidelines.
This book is for reference and informational purposes only and is in no way intended as medical counseling or medical advice. The information
contained herein should not be used to treat, diagnose or prevent any disease or medical condition without the advice of a competent medical professional.
The activities, physical or otherwise, described herein for informational purposes, may be too strenuous or dangerous for some people and the reader should consult a physician before engaging in them. The author shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss, damage, or injury caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the information contained in this book.
These recommendations are not medical guidelines but are for educational purposes only. You must consult your physician prior to starting this
program or if you have any medical condition or injury that contraindicates physical activity.
This program is designed for healthy individuals 18 years and older only. The information in this report is not meant to supplement, nor replace, proper exercise training. All forms of exercise pose some inherent risks. The editors & publishers advise readers to take full responsibility for their safety and know their limits.
dietary programs in this book are not intended as a substitute for any exercise routine or treatment or dietary regimen that may have been prescribed by your physician.
Don’t lift heavy weights if you are alone, inexperienced, injured, or fatigued. Always ask for instruction and assistance when lifting. Don’t perform any exercise without proper instruction. See your physician before starting any exercise or nutrition program. If you are taking any
medications, you must talk to your physician before starting any exercise program, including The Underground Volume Training 90 Day Strength & Muscle Building Program.
If you experience any light-headedness, dizziness, or shortness of breath while exercising, stop the movement & consult a physician immediately. You must have a complete physical examination if you are sedentary, if you have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or diabetes, if you are overweight, or if you are over 30 years old. Please discuss all nutritional changes with your physician or a registered dietician. This publication is intended for informational use only. Zach Even - Esh Performance
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caused by the utilization of this information.
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This special report is a Cliff Notes Version on how to go about hacking nutrition to help you burn fat, increase lean muscle mass gains & increase energy WHILE keeping sane.
Many nutrition books or courses are complicated and overloaded with scientific explanations. I’ve been asked countless times for a simple, effective, easy to read description on how I go about nutrition for myself and those I train.
SO here it is, we cut out the BS and give you all you need via QnA, bullet point explanations, & a the most effective methods to implement into your own nutrition for FAST results.
This doesn’t mean you should stop learning or reading longer nutrition books, reports, etc. The key here is to empower you take immediate action rather than wait until “I’m gonna start eating better when I finish the book” bull shit excuses.
Let’s get after it...
QnA With Jason Ferruggia On
The Renegade Diet Plan
When did you start skipping breakfast and what, if any obstacles did you have to get comfortable with (both physical and mental challenges)?
I don’t think I’ve had breakfast in two years now. Or at least regularly. Sometimes if I’m gonna be traveling or something I do just because I’d get sick on the plane if I didn’t eat. Or if I know I will be without food for a very long time I just have breakfast.
At first, for a week or two, it was definitely a change and a challenge just because I always had it in my head that I would
woke up hungry and had to eat within 15 minutes. But I tried it and battled through the first week. By the second week I felt much better and had infinitely more energy, mental clarity and focus. These days if I eat breakfast I feel a lot worse and have nowhere near the same energy and focus.
2) Do you ever have days where you wake up and your body / stomach is just telling you to EAT? Do you have listen & breakfast EVER or do you do something to
suppress your appetite?
That does happen if I eat late or even if I go out (which doesn’t happen too much these days) late. In those situations I wake up and am not dying to eat something but I am definitely hungrier than normal a couple hours earlier.
On most days I don’t notice hunger creeping in until about 10:30 or 11am. But if I eat or stay up late I will start getting hungry an hour or so earlier. I don’t give in though. I will just have a cup of coffee to suppress it and wait till it’s time to eat. Hunger is not something to fear. I believe learning to deal with hunger is very important.
We live in a very satiated society and people have gotten very weak because of it.
Malcolm X said something once about how hunger is the most difficult desire for man to control and how learning to deal with it is very important for developing mental and physical discipline. I couldn’t agree more.
You don’t have to fear hunger like it’s going to cause your immediate death.
3) I know you have Sundays to change your eating a bit, what happens on Sundays?
During football season I start eating earlier; especially living here on the West Coast since the Giants games usually start at 10am. And we have more junk food on that day, pretty much all day.
But it’s all very healthy, organic junk food and usually home made. Normally I don’t eat carbs until night but on football Sundays it goes all day long.
During the rest of the year Sunday’s are pretty normal but if I want pancakes or French toast or something that’s the day we’ll do it, usually around noonish.
4) You train both adults and athletes at Renegade. Did you tweak the Renegade Diet for your athletes VS the adults?
Yeah, I have a lot of athletes on The Renegade Diet but there are definitely individual tweaks to be made depending on their schedules.
With high school kids sometimes it’s hard for them to get enough calories so I often end up recommending a big breakfast, but with no starchy carbs. This helps them stay
more alert and focused during school. Then the same thing for lunch; a huge protein, fat and vegetable meal.
After school they will usually have practice or start training. At that time we’d start the carbs with a during-the-workout
protein and carb drink and then again after.
When they get home they have the rest of the nigh to feast and carb load. Eating a low inflammatory diet is still critically important though, as it will allow them to recover faster.
And by eating three or four meals instead of six and keeping their carbs limited to later in the day they will lower
inflammation, improve digestion and feel and perform a lot better.
For athletes who train twice per day I recommend doing the first workout fasted with some BCAA’s before and then having a protein and carb meal afterwards, but not more than about 30 grams of carbs. Then, during the second workout or
practice they could have the during workout drink and load up again the rest of the night when they are all done.
How To Use Carbs
A lot of people mistakenly believe that you need carbs
immediately before training. That’s not necessarily the case. As long as the glycogen is in there from the previous day you’ll be fine in most cases, unless you are doing a triathlon.
Pre workout carbs tend to make people a bit more tired and can have a negative effect on CNS output. I’d wait til about 20-30 minutes into the workout to start carbs and save most of them for after.
The point of post workout carbs isn’t necessarily to replenish your glycogen stores from the work you just did but rather to refill them for the workout you’ll be doing tomorrow. We just have them during the post workout period because it’s harder to get fat at that time.
5) You mention some rules in The Renegade Diet
This is simple. Just take your temperature. If it’s below 98 degrees you have some problems. If it’s below 97 you have some more serious problems. And if it’s 96 or lower you’ve got major issues.
In a situation like that it means you have somehow ruined your metabolism from years of crash dieting or some other type of quick fix gimmick. Or you could just have been eating far too few calories for too long. When this happens your thyroid output slows down and your metabolism comes to a
screeching halt.
So the only possible solution here is to start eating more. People freak out sometimes when you tell them that they have to eat more to get leaner. Girls lose it. But it is the only
possible solution. There is no way around it physiologically. You need to boost your calories until your temperature gets up in the normal human range of 98.6 degrees. Once you get there you will need to keep it there for at least another 2-4 weeks before you can start dieting.
During the first few weeks you will get leaner. Then you may get fatter for a week or two but you HAVE to endure and stick it out if you want a permanent, long term solution.
Now, you could eat according to The Renegade Diet schedule of eating or you could eat six meals per day, every two hours. It really doesn’t matter as long as you bump up the calories significantly enough to see your temperature climb. The most important thing is that you get it up where it needs to be then keep it there for a few weeks before you start trying to lose fat. If your goal is muscle gain this should never be a problem.
For More Info On The Renegade Diet
Please Click HERE
How I Tweak The Renegade Diet
& Intermittent Fasting During
High Volume Training
Around 2003 or so I began following Ori Hofmekler’s Warrior Diet. Details can be found at http://zacheven-esh.com/WarriorDiet
I lost approx. 20 lbs in a very short period of time. I had gotten tired of eating like a bodybuilder, a slave to the clock,
shoveling protein down my throat every 3 hours got annoying. I was getting more and more separated from the world of looking strong but not being durable. I was enduring some high stress with work and also experienced a severe knee and shoulder injury that added to a shitty metabolism.
After approx. 6 months on The Warrior Diet I got tired of skipping breakfast AND lunch and went back to “normal
eating”. I got stronger again but lost my abs and was in a catch 22 situation.
Do I stay leaner, lighter and weaker or do I gain back the weight and remain strong.
As years and years passed I learned more and more about nutrition, intermittent fasting, how the body responds to training, why we get fat and how to eat for performance.
When Jason sent me his Renegade Diet Book I was psyched. It was a tweaking of The Warrior Diet and allowed you to eat lunch. I had been skipping breakfast here and there but NOT consistently. I read Jason’s book the same night I got it in barely over an hour.
I immediately implemented his protocols for the first 2 weeks and lost only a few pounds BUT I felt a million times better. My gut inflammation went down BIG time.
I didn’t realize how inflamed my gut was until I put on a pair of jeans and they were falling off of me. Compared to the Warrior Diet, I did NOT lose a ton of weight but I did feel greater
energy, felt cleaner, joint aches and pains went away and my body tightened up.
Around the same time I started The Renegade Diet I was also increasing my volume of training. I was prepping for The SEAL Fit Challenge and my training was BIG time focused on work capacity. I detail my experience of this Navy SEAL challenge
HERE.
I was running frequently and each workout was lasting 1 to 1.5 hrs, much longer than a typical 30 minute workout.
My appetite was going through the roof. I was hungry WAY beyond the norm and was concerned with breaking away from the rules of intermittent fasting.
I decided to listen to my body and focus on removing almost all carbs. If I wanted breakfast I would have it. If I didn’t want lunch I wouldn’t eat it.
It Came Down To A Few Simple Things For Me
If I wanted to train very early in the morning, like 7 am or so, which we did every weekend for our long beach workouts to prep for our challenge, I went in on an empty stomach. This sounds odd, BUT, if I had an over eating phase the night before I would be good to go and then chow down after the workout.
- 3 - 4 x week I would skip breakfast, have a small lunch and have a large over feeding time late in the evening.
- If I had breakfast it was high protein and high fat.
A typical breakfast would be:
- 4 - 6 whole eggs w/small amount cheddar cheese added - 3 - 5 pieces of bacon / pork roll
- Sometimes veggies were mixed in for an omelette
About Coffee: I stopped drinking instant coffee and began
drinking bullet proof coffee, explained in this article:
http://www.bulletproofexec.com/how-to-make-your-coffee-bulletproof-and-your-morning-too/
In my town I pick up the organic coffee beans and grind them myself. Friends of mine get their organic coffee beans from Trader Joe’s or farmers markets.
I mostly add organic butter but sometimes add coconut oil or BOTH. The organic butter can be blended in a small blender
or you can melt it on a frying pan and then add to your coffee.
Try to minimize the microwave as it lowers the natural state
of your food / liquid and when it’s likely already been tampered with before we even throw it into the microwave. By drinking this bullet proof coffee I know have 1 or 2 cups of a coffee a day and feel GREAT. The “other types” of coffee always had me wanting more and more and more coffee and they NEVER increased my energy.
Now, back to the high volume training and eating.
The more I trained, the hungrier I got. I was seriously f**ing hungry. I had spoken with “Chris The Kiwi” from Athletic Greens & we spoke about eating breakfast, the exact opposite of all intermittent fasting programs.
“Chris told me about a stressful time in his
life that caused him to experience his first
We discussed life and of course, the things that busy entrepreneurs like him & I typically experience:
- less than 8 hrs sleep - high stress
These TWO things contribute to high cortisol levels at the WRONG times which lead to decreased energy and increased fat, especially in the stomach for men.
To battle this, Chris said the first thing he did was increase
his calories with high quality proteins and fats to increase his metabolism. He also slept 8 hrs a night and focused on
removing stress from his life.
That conversation convinced me to be OK with eating a BIG breakfast.
Back in the day, My old school bodybuilder breakfast used to be this:
8 egg whites, 1 yolk bowl of oatmeal
large glass of orange juice
multi vitamin, vitamin c, vitamin e
Looking back at how I would feel around lunch time or so, I would get that energy crash and knowing what I know now, it was not enough protein, NO fat and the carbs caused the
High volume training is gonna require you to have high
protein and moderate to high amounts of fats. Fats can come from your meats, avocado, butter, coconut oil, whole eggs, almonds, etc.
Protein will come from fish and meats. Basic and simple.
During your high volume training, there are 2
ways to go about CONSISTENTLY keeping
high energy levels while also getting lean and
still packing on muscle.
Performance AND Appearance wrapped into
one, the best of both worlds.
Option 1: Follow The Renegade OR Warrior Diet Monday - Thursday or for 4 days in a row. On Friday - Weekend (3 days in a row) have the BIG breakfast with high protein and fats, a healthy lunch and a healthy dinner.
On the days that you do NOT IF (Intermittent Fast) you
obviously can NOT have an over feeding state the last 4 hours of the night. But, your appetite WILL be large with all the
training, so, in the evening, the best way to start off you meal is with a BIG freaking salad.
I have found that red potatoes, yams & sweet potatoes have worked best for my body if I do take carbs. When you follow the many nutrition plans out there it gets confusing, and what you need to learn is what YOUR body responds best to.
I found that if I go full blown Warrior or Renegade Diet 7 days a week, never cycling breakfast or no breakfast, I eventually go crazy. Perhaps socially you want breakfast with family / friends or perhaps you ARE hungry in the morning. With HVT (High Volume Training) you will need the added calories from proteins and fats.
Option 2: If you back track to our QnA, you’ll see that Jason DOES recommend breakfast for his high school / college athletes because they do NOT get enough quality calories in through the rest of their day.
Just because you’re out of high school doesn’t mean you can’t eat breakfast. When you train like a mad man you CAN feed the machine.
Your large breakfast MIGHT fill you up enough until late evening / dinner time. If you feel good and don’t want to eat lunch, there is NO rule that says you must eat lunch just
because you ate breakfast. A large salad afternoon would be a solid choice if you skip a typical lunch.
My evening schedule, 3 days of the week, have me running
The Underground Strength gym from 4 - 8 pm. This means I am on the road around 2 pm and don’t get home until 9 PM. On these days if I am hungry while at the gym, I ask the
Pizzeria next door to make me 3 chicken breasts with some oil and vinegar on them and I will scarf them down while at the gym. This is lean protein and NO carbs.
Many ask why I don’t just have a protein shake or a meal replacement shake.
Regardless of the protein shakes I would have, they always bloated the hell out of my stomach and gave me a ton of gas.
You need to pay attention to how your body feels after you eat / have a shake. If you feel like shit then you know that food is NOT for you.
Here Is A Typical Day Of Eating For Me, With
BOTH Options, Breakfast & NO Breakfast:
Option 1: Breakfast
Up at 6 AM:
Drink 2 glasses water 1 cup bullet proof coffee
7:30 AM Breakfast:
- Glass Water w/Athletic Greens
- 4 - 6 whole eggs, small amount of cheddar cheese - 4 pieces of bacon OR 2 - 3 pieces of pork roll
- OR, mix ALL together as an omelette
- Sometimes add onions & peppers to omelette - Eggs are fried with organic butter
12 - 1 PM
- 2nd cup of bullet proof coffee
Optional (IF Hungry):
2 - 3 grilled boneless, skinless chicken breasts in afternoon around 5 PM
Late Night Feast: 8 or 8:30 PM Start:
Over Feeding Stage (NOT the most optimal time to eat This late but I usually go to sleep between 11 PM & Midnight on these days when I return from the gym late at night).
My “Feast” time begins around 8 or 8:30 PM. I will consume a large dinner and an hour later have some more dinner left overs, focused on protein, fats and veggies.
OR... Days I Am NOT At The Gym:
Normal Time Feast: 6 PM Start (Family Dinner): If I am NOT
at the gym that night, I begin my feast time at dinner with my family around 6 PM, then have another Large dinner around 8 PM or so.
- Red Meat, Fish or 2 - 3 chicken breasts (Approx 12 Oz) - large salad
- mixed veggies
- ANY potato or yam. Sometimes brown rice or gluten free pasta or raviolis with organic tomato sauce.
Option 2: NO Breakfast / Intermittent Fasting
Up at 6 AM:
Drink 2 glasses water 1 cup bullet proof coffee
1 or 2 PM:
- Large Salad (Add nuts, seeds & / or Meat to salad if Post Workout Meal) - Water + Athletic Greens
6 PM: Dinner
- Approx. 12 oz meat or fish or BOTH
- 8 - 12 oz. carbs: sweet potatoes, yams, etc. Sometimes gluten free pasta
- Large salad
9 PM: Dinner Left Overs Or...
I will often times have a “breakfast type meal” AFTER eating my dinner on these Feasting nights, usually a 4 - 6 whole egg omelette with some cheddar cheese. At night I will NOT add bacon, pork roll, etc.
When To Consume Fruit?
I have found that too much fruit throughout the day hampered my ability to get lean. I used to consume bananas and other mixed fruits several times a day.
I began limiting fruit intake greatly and found NO negative effects to my health as you always hear people talking about needing 6 - 8 fruit
Now, if I consume fruit it will be maybe 1 or 2 pieces of fruit before or after a workout and sometimes as part of a “dessert” at night.
I’ve learned to keep things VERY simple.
If you are hungry, EAT. If not, DON’T EAT.
The overabundance of information on nutrition for strength athletes, bodybuilders, etc has often been the encouragement of constant eating every 3 hours as opposed to simply listening to your body an eating when hungry and when truly necessary.
When is it most necessary to eat? Post workout is a critical time and if you skip breakfast make sure you consume quality foods in the evening.
When you train hard and frequently with high volume as I did when
training for my Navy SEAL Challenge, you CAN eat a lot as long as it’s NOT shitty foods or too high in carbs.
I actually LOST weight and felt my metabolism went through the roof when I began eating in this manner. My training was so intense and frequent that it utilized the nutrients.
Many training programs recommend lifting 3 x week. Training only 3 x week with no other activity will NOT be the best way to stay lean. You will need to add activity on your non-lifting days.
If you are not hungry but KNOW that you need protein, such as after a workout, then find a way to eat. If you are not hungry and it’s not a scheduled eating time, then wait till you are hungry.
What Allows You To Eat A LOT
While Getting Leaner?
SIMPLE ANSWER: Intense, Regular workouts, on average of 5 x week.
If you train 3 x week and have 4 days of complete rest you WILL get strong and pack on muscle but adding 2 more active days will help improve recovery and muscle building.
If you are one of those “I’m too busy to train more than 3 days a week” kinda person, don’t expect to see dramatic results in fat loss / weight loss.
How To Push Your Metabolism To Fire On ALL
Cylinders For Greater Fat Loss
With 3 x week training sessions, you will NOT be operating on all
cylinders and your metabolism won’t be fired up around the clock. If you are following a 3 x week lifting program use your non-lifting days for running, sprinting, biking, swimming, playing sports, etc.
Regardless of your age, I like to see physical activity going on at least 5
x week. ALL 5 training sessions do NOT need to be high in volume, but of critical importance is to raise the standards of your own physical fitness as well as pushing yourself with higher expectations.
Nothing will send your training through the roof like signing up for a competition that requires you to show up in top shape. Compete on a regular basis.
The over abundance of “fitness experts” have scared everyone into believing that training can never go beyond 45 minutes per workout 3 x week. If you ONLY train 3 x week then you MUST stick to The Renegade Diet or The Warrior Diet exactly as outlined.
3 x weekly training of only 45 minutes per training session on average is NOT high volume, it’s simply an average training program, plain and simple. This kind of training MIGHT work if you have average goals but if you wanna make gains, exercise HAS to be challenging.
“If You’re Not Pushing The Envelope With
Training Then You Will Simply NOT Be Able
To Sit Down & Eat Like A Man.”
Take a common sense look at your training program. If you’re kicking ass and taking names with frequent training such as our Underground
Strength Workouts then you have earned the right to eat as your body needs.
What the body needs VS what the mind wants are two totally different things, understand this clearly.
If you’re on a basic 3 x week template and never pushing the limits then you will need to go with The Renegade Diet and on some days, even go full blown Warrior Diet.
A typical schedule for me is to skip breakfast anywhere from 4 - 6 days a week, light snacking or “grazing” through the day as Ori explains in The Warrior Diet and feasting at night.
Before we move on, let me lay down the hammer on this ONE thing. LOTS of these IF (Intermittent Fasting) programs market themselves by saying “eat whatever you want” and show pictures of junk food.
IF does NOT give you the green light to eat shit food. This is NOT just about appearance, it’s about your health. Eat strong, healthy foods. Your health is the # 1 priority and done correctly, IF will improve your health. You will experience more energy, greater fat loss, decreased gut
inflammation and very likely increased muscle gains IF coupled with a proper training regime.
Here are GREAT Insights on FEASTING from
Nate Miyaki, To Help You Easily
Understand How To Hack Your Body For
Greater Fat Loss.
SIMPLE INTERMITTENT FEASTING TIPS
NateMiyaki.com
WHAT TO DO - SUMMARY
1. Eat your biggest meal, and the majority of your calories and carbohydrates at night.
2. Hunt & Feast. Eat lighter while hunting during the day to avoid digestive stress and blood sugar swings/crashes
(whether for food in the wild, business deals in the boardroom, butt kicking training sessions in the gym, or a queen/king for your palace makes no difference), and eat the majority of your calories at night while relaxing or socializing in order to refuel, recover, and prepare for the next day’s battles.
B. WHY YOU SHOULD DO IT - IT GOES WITH OUR NATURAL EVOLUTIONARY INSTINCTS
We can use the Caveman/Evolution theme as a simple
educational tool, not just for food choices, but also for diet structure -- food distribution patterns. Human beings evolved on a fasting/feeding cycle. We spent the majority of our
existence actively tracking, hunting, and gathering our food during the day (often times completely fasted, or with little ingested food). We spent the evening relaxing and feasting on whatever we could catch.
Most cultures that don’t obsess over “dieting” eat their largest meal at night as well. It is our natural instinct. You should do the exact same thing if you want to make dropping fat as easy as possible.
FEASTING TAKES ADVANTAGE OF
PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS
Our brains work on a sacrifice/reward pattern, and this
structure takes advantage of that on a daily basis. Most people find it relatively easy to sacrifice, cut calories, eat lighter, make better food choices during the day, etc., as long as they know they can eat a larger meal at night, and get to end the day satiated and satisfied (at least in the kitchen, the bedroom is your own responsibility).
The reverse is not true. Most people who reward themselves
with food all day and then try to sacrifice by cutting calories at night end up cheating or bingeing on junk foods anyway.
Trying to cut calories at night goes completely against our evolutionary instincts, natural desires, business schedules, and social patterns. That's why it rarely works in the real world, off the glossy magazine pages.
Another human instinct is to overeat whenever possible, in
parties. This structure satisfies that natural urge to feast like a beast once a day, yet still remain in the calorie limits necessary for fat loss.
Most studies show that as long as you control for calories and
food choices, meal frequency and food distribution is irrelevant in regards to fat loss (if anything it points to
reducing meal frequency and eating more at night - exactly the OPPOSITE of what you hear in the fitness industry).
Since that's the case, you can build your diet around a
structure that gives you the best chance at succeeding. And most of us, instinctually and socially, want to eat big at night.
Go with, not against, your nature.
PHYSIOLOGY OF THE HUNT - MAXIMIZES FAT
BURNING & COGNITIVE FUNCTION
Ingestion of starchy carbohydrates during the day can spike blood sugar and insulin levels and blunt fatty acid mobilization for 6 hours or more. In non geek-speak, essentially you shut down the body’s ability to burn fat with frequent carb-based meals during the day.
By “saving” your starchy carbs for dinner and eating lighter,
caveman foods during the day, you control insulin and blood sugar levels, maximize fat burning hormones and cellular
factors (cAMP), and give yourself a decent stretch of time where you are optimally burning fat.
Fasting or lighter eating is associated with adrenalin, stress, hunger, and the fight or flight evolutionary response. It signals the body to produce energy for activity and improves mental alertness and cognitive function. Perfect for when you need to get stuff done like finish work for a deadline, or watch porn. Contrast that with large, carb-based meals during the day. Energy for digestion takes energy away from activity and productivity. Large meals can also result in rebound
hypoglycemia (lower blood sugar following food intake), which results in becoming sleepy, tired, lethargic, fatigued, unable to focus, "brain-fogged", dependent on stimulants to get by, etc.
PHYSIOLOGY OF THE FEAST - REFUELS
ENERGY RESERVES & BUILDS MUSCLE
Insulin sensitivity and nutrient partitioning to muscle cells improve:
(1) After a strength training session and ....
(2) After a period of fasting and/or lower carbohydrate intake.
carb eating), carbohydrates will be used to restock these energy reserves first, before spilling over into fat stores.
If you drive your car around all day and the gas tank is empty, you need to fill it up for the next day.
“A large, carb-based feast at night maximizes
energy storing, muscle building hormones
and cellular factors (cGMP, mTOR) at night.
It is highly anabolic.”
Carbs trigger serotonin release, which makes us feel good/ content (the reward), and induces sleep. In fact, many
athletes that train hard and try to cut carbs at night complain of insomnia. Now you know why.
Think of it as two distinct nutritional periods.
During the day hours you eat lighter so you remain in a fat burning, energy production mode (hunt mode).
During the evening hours you provide your body with the raw ingredients it needs to build/maintain muscle, store energy reserves, recover from the demands of the current day, and prepare your body for the tasks of the next day (feast mode).
I think food choices accounts for 90% of the fat loss and health enhancement ballgame, that's why I spent so much time on the topic.
Where meal frequency and food distribution becomes relevant is in terms of making a plan functional/sustainable in the real world. Diet "structure" can make your plan almost impossible to stick to, or relatively easy to follow year-round.
“There is not doubt in my mind that the most
practical, functional, sustainable, and enjoyable
diet plans, and thus most successful diet plans,
are the ones in which the majority of calories and
carbs are eaten at night.”
This goes against everything you’ve probably ever heard regarding an optimum fat loss protocol. But guess what? If everything you heard about in the Health & Fitness industry actually worked, there would be a lot more people walking around in shape.
Regarding this topic, I can tell you without a doubt that going AGAINST mainstream advice works well for losing fat and retaining lean muscle mass.
followed, and actually see it as more of a "lifestyle plan" than a quick-fix diet.
Personally, I have gotten into shape for fitness photo shoots and physique competitions following both the more traditional fitness nutrition approach (5-6 small meals, cut calories at night) and this hunt and feast structure.
The former was a very difficult/miserable plan to follow, and only worked as a short-term "in season" approach. The latter was exponentially easier to follow, and works as a functional lifestyle plan to be at or near photo shoot/competition/beach-ready shape year-round.
HOW TO DO IT -- PRACTICAL APPLICATION
1. Eat your main meal — with the majority of your calories and
energy nutrients – at dinner. After that, test, assess, and find what
works best for you in the real world.
2. Basic Fitness Spread Option. Eat 4-5 smaller caveman-style
meals/snacks throughout the day, and feast at dinner (big
caveman-style meal for sedentary, big Japanese village-caveman-style meal for
athletes).
3. Traditional 3-Meals a Day Option: Eat a protein-only
breakfast or a lighter style breakfast, a light
caveman-style lunch, and feast at dinner.
4. Intermittent Fast Option: Skip breakfast, eat a light
caveman-style lunch, and feast at dinner.
caveman-small servings of protein, caveman-small servings of whole food fats), and
eat 1 big, main meal at night.
__________________________
Grocery List
My wife does the majority of the food shopping. If it was up to me, I would eat as the most boring man in the world. Variety would be minimum unless I ate out. I am a creature of habit, so I understand this will NOT work for everyone.
Here is a list of foods to choose from, feel free to add your own, and as I do, focus on getting as much organic /
natural foods as possible.
Meats / Fish - Filet Mignon - Rib Eye - Bison - Tuna - Tilapia - Mahi - Scallops (sometimes) - Salmon
- Chicken (All Types: Boneless & Skinless as Well As Chicken Breasts, Thighs, etc)
Vegetables
- Consume Unlimited Greens
- spinach, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, red & green pepper, tomatoes, potatoes, yams, red potatoes, asparagus, garlic, mushrooms, avocado (Avocado upsets my stomach so please understand ALL foods react differently to YOUR body, so eat accordingly)
Fruits
- blueberries, strawberries, watermelon, pineapple, apples, oranges, raspberries, bananas, mango, etc
As you can see. I keep it very basic and clean. I stick with natural, organic, free range, etc.
For eggs I purchase cage free eggs and for bacon I usually get
regular stuff BUT if you can purchase from a butcher, do so. I have done this when up in the mountains at our lake house and the quality is 20 X better.
I hope this insight helped you understand how I approach
eating according to my training and energy out put. I’ve tested ALL these options and in the end, I’ve kept it simple and
applied the select few principles that work AND allow me to keep it simple and also allowing me to live a normal life that does NOT revolve around food.
The best way to get started is to begin with skipping
As you learn to adapt to this style of IF, you can push the envelope with The Warrior Diet where you fast from
approximately 18 hours of the day (including sleep).
The Warrior Diet gave me a very large weight loss and fat loss result in a very rapid time but it also got me much weaker. Just NOT enough calories when training with high volume,
especially endurance type events.
Before starting your IF take “Before Photos”. Give it an honest 30 day test and then take after photos. If we use your photos on our web sites you’ll get a FREE
Underground Strength T Shirt. Time to get after it!
Till the next time.... Live The Code,
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