Lifting Club Gets Shredded Part I

Lifting Club Gets Shredded,

Ladies and gentlemen, spring is here. With spring comes the long-missed sun, a distinct lack of clothes, and me sitting inside doing work. Although I have never witnessed such events, people tell of things like “going to the beach with friends” and crazy stuff like that. What are these friends they talk about?

After a long hibernation, there’s some evidence to suggest that spring and summer is ideal for losing fat and getting hawt abz and getting hawt abz is what I’m all about. This newsletter will be dedicated to understanding the process of losing fat. It will be long and boring and there will likely be a second part, which will be even more long and boring. Of course, there should be a ton of useful and practical information, so read up. I’ll start with a little anecdote and then I’ll dive into the super mundane.

A lot of guys are concerned that losing fat will make them look small and weak. In fact, the opposite is frequently true. If you have been lifting for awhile and gained muscle, but have some fat to lose, people will often think you’ve actually gained weight when you lose fat. Losing fat will “reveal” your muscle. Moral of the story: if you have muscle, losing fat can actually make you appear bigger and more muscular. Don’t be worried if the number on the scale is going down as long as your strength is going down as well (I’ll cover that later).

First, it’s important to understand one sad and depressing fact about our bodies: they obey the laws of thermodynamics. Weight loss (which is different from fat loss) is dependent on consuming fewer calories than you burn. The equation looks something like this: calories in – calories out = net gain/loss. If you’re going to focus on losing fat, that is your one focus. Unless you are new to lifting, you will not gain muscle while losing fat. To lose fat, you put yourself in a calorie deficit, which means your body doesn’t have much to “build” with. At best, an experienced lifter should focus on losing fat and maintaining muscle and strength during the calorie deficit. The obvious question then becomes “how do we create a calorie deficit and maintain muscle/strength?”

This is going to raise some eyebrows and get some rotten tomatoes thrown at me: “cardio” is not necessary, nor especially helpful for weight loss. Typical cardio has no magical fat-stripping properties. Why is this the case? Because your body likes to survive. If you burn calories, then your body is going to tell you to consume more calories. There is one type cardio which has been shown to be more conducive to weight loss and health, which is interval training, but I will discuss this later. By all means, be active and play sports because it is great for the body and brain. However, don’t be disillusioned into thinking fifteen minutes on the stairmaster is all you need to lose fat. As I’ll discuss, diet is the most important factor for weight loss.

One little rant: a lot of people say, “Look at endurance runners. They run a lot and they’re skinny, so running must make you lose weight.” Well, the same could be said for playing basketball players being tall. Playing basketball probably doesn’t make you tall. In both cases it’s likely that certain traits are desirable for success. In running, it’s a good power to weight ratio and in basketball it’s height.

I’ve discussed the caveman/paleo diet in great length and you will probably knife me if I discuss it again. Well, I’ll take my chances. As stated, the key to weight loss is creating a calorie deficit. Think about this logically: you’re going to want to eat foods that keep you full the longest and control your appetite. What foods are these? If you answered soda and muffins, leave. The correct answer is foods high in protein. Let’s learn about the awesomeness of protein:

- It keeps you full more than fats or carbs. Less hunger means less eating.
- It helps maintain muscle mass. Protein is crucial for muscle building, but also preserving muscle.
- Protein has a high thermic effect of eating. In English: if you eat 100 calories worth of protein, your body expends 30 calories to digest that. The TEF of fat and carbs are much lower.
It’s clear that protein is critical for fat loss, so how much should you eat? The general recommendation is 1g/lb. For example, I weigh about 160lbs, so I should eat 160g of protein a day. Savvy? And no, your kidneys will not explode and your bones will not evaporate. People misinterpreted some data and created a bunch of anti-protein dogma that still hasn’t gone away. Where to get your protein from? Meat, whole eggs (the yolk is good for you), fish, and various protein powders. In general, it’s best to chew your calories, but a protein shake after your training session will not hinder your weight loss. Would eating whole foods post-workout be better? Maybe, but I don’t think it’s critical.

***Dope study: http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2009/09/paleolithic-diet-clinical-trials-part.html It found that diabetics eating a caveman diet consumed fewer calories than people who ate a standard diet recommended to doctors for people with diabetes. In 3 months they lost an average of 13 pounds of body fat and improved a bunch of other health markers.***

What else should you eat? It’s pretty similar to what you should normally eat: plenty of fibrous vegetables (eat your damn broccoli), some nuts, and some fruit. Vegetables are great for controlling hunger. I don’t think there has ever been a person that got fat by overeating spinach or broccoli. Plus, they have lots of important vitamins/minerals and have a beneficial impact on gut health. I’ve discussed gut flora before with regards to probiotics, but vegetables can have similar effects. It’s also important to eat some fat with vegetables because it aids in absorption of the vitamins.

***Only use olive oil (and vinegar for taste) on salads. That means no Italian dressing or stuff that comes in a healthy looking container. If you look at the ingredients list, you’ll see vegetable/soybean oil at the top. Eating lots of vegetables, but slathering them in vegetable oils is like shooting yourself in the foot. Feel free to use a fair amount of olive oil.***

Nuts can be good in moderation. They have some fiber and protein (not high quality though), but there is some concern about the high amounts of omega-6’s. They can serve as a decent snack and some sunflower seeds on top of your salad are fine, but don’t gorge on them. A few servings a day (1-3) is good.

Fruit has gotten a bad rap lately and some of it is warranted. A lot of fruit these days are genetically modified to have more sugar and thus taste sweeter. As I’ll discuss, limiting sugar intake is important for weight loss and general health. That being said, fruit is not evil. Again, fruit in moderation is alright. In general, berries are the best kind of fruit. I put some frozen berries in my protein shakes/smoothies. For weight loss, a few pieces a day is acceptable.

What not to eat? The standard affair that everyone else is eating: breads, pasta, juices, milk, cereal, desserts, blah blah blah. Some people can be lean and eat lots of processed carbs and that’s due to reasons that are mostly outside their control. High intake of processed carbs can lead to a whole host of problems: high fasting blood glucose, type II diabetes, carbohydrate addiction, lack of energy, poor sleep, lack of bacteria in the gut, inflammation, etc. Grains also contain anti-nutrients, which can lead to vitamin deficiencies. The fact that cereal companies claim their product is good for you because it has 13 essential vitamins and minerals is laughable. I won’t spend much time talking about insulin, but the general rule of thumb is this: you want lower insulin levels and carbs raise insulin levels. This is not to say that carbs are evil. You can eat carbs and still lose weight, but it’s best to get them from good sources like sweet potatoes and berries after your workouts. You don’t need to go to the extreme of eating no carbs and I wouldn’t recommend if you are physically active.

As expected, I wrote way too much and maybe a few noble people have read the entire thing. At this point, I’ve covered I’ll write part 2 by next week, which will cover smaller topic relating to weight loss: supplementation, mindful eating, intermittent fasting, weight training, interval training, leptin refeeds, and tracking progress. Fun stuff. Now, I know you can’t wait to see part 2, but try to restrain yourselves.

With love,
Palmer