Manipulating Macros

Now we've already discussed the optimum macronutrient ratios for your success in getting the utltimate body. Let's say you follow it, and you're getting great results month after month, everyone notices how great you look, ESPECIALLY YOU, but now there's a problem....



You have finally hit a Plateau! You know, that thing Kurt Cobain was always singing about.




So as I've discussed the typical high carbohydrate approach (50-55% carbohydrates,
30% protein and 15-20% fat) works for most people, but a by lowering
your carbohydrates and upping your protein and fats you can easily break through that wall.



How much manipulation am I talking. How about cutting carbs from 55% to 40%, upping your protein from 30% to 40%, and increasing your 15% fat to 20% fat. Anybody with me here?



The greatest part is you're not going hungry because you're still eating the same amount of calories. All you're doing is manipulating the sources of food. And women often do well at this, being they're masters of manipulation.


But seriously though folks

By cutting down carbs and increasing your protein and fat you will undecidedly gain a metabolic and hormonal advantage over a high carb diet.

So as not to bore you I'll end it here and hope that you take these words and random photos to heart. 'Till next week.

You eat healthy!? Where's the results?

If you're eating the right foods, but the only thing you've lost is your enthusiasm then you're probably making one of two common mistakes.



MISTAKE 1: Eating too much of it.



Brown Rice and Sweet Potatoes are great for you but not if you're 15 servings of it.

But I've heard preposterous claims by guys such as Jeff Caveliere of Athlean X saying calorie counting is useless and eating the right foods is all that matters. He's not the only one I've heard make claims like this.


Maybe with his genetics that works. But I dare you to try it and see how it works.

More important than what you eat is the amount. If you're trying to lose weight, the number one rule is to be eating at a caloric deficit.

But before you get ahead of yourself I want you to know this. You have to already be eating at an average to above average amount of calories before you cut. Which brings us to...

MISTAKE 2: Not eating enough food



If you're already at an extreme deficit and then try to cut, you'll basically be starving and throw off you metabolism. Making it work against you.

Translation: your body will cling to fat harder than ever.

So that's why I always suggest to people looking to lose weight to exercise more over eat less.



Look at it this way. The more you exercise, the higher your metabolism. The higher your metabolism, the more you can eat. The more you eat, the higher your metabolism.

So if you're having trouble getting results, look into what you're doing and see which of the two mistakes you're making.

You think you are, but you're not

So I'm an avid follower of Chris Aceto and Tom Venuto, so I'll often be regurgitating their words through my own experience. Hey, they're smarter and have been doing it much longer than me so why in the hell would I try to change the game.

So anyway, let's keep it simple and talk about how to break a fat loss plateau.




You're not tracking, but you think you are

I have countless people say they're tracking and eating like I said to but they're really not. Know how I know? They're not getting results!



One mistake a lot of people make is guessing at what they ate. I know it can be tedioius and annoying, but so is making your bed, and paying taxes. But you do it. Well, most of you.



You have to be completely honest and track everything.

I'm not saying you have to track how many milliliters of water you drank or how how many ounces of cabbage you had.

But you better track how many slices of bread or cups of rice you had.

Dietitians were asked to guesstimate their daily caloric intake without the help of any tools. Guess what...they were 85% off.



You think you're better than dietitians?

I'm already in shape, yet I track every single day how many grams of carbs, protein, and fat I get.

You think you're better than me?



This is not a pure science, so you if you want results you better not mess around. Because nothing is guaranteed, which means you really have to work for it.

You want a specific body, make a specific goal, and eat a specific amount.



You want 100% results, give 100 % effort. Damn, I'm starting to sound like a high school football coach.



Don't track the calories after you've already eaten your days worth of food. Yes you're tracking, but the only purpose you're serving that way is confirming why you're not getting results.

Input the food ahead of time then you'll see if it fits you goals for the day. If you need more you add more, if you need less you add less.

 Let me explain it once more so I don't blow your minds.



Let's say I've input all my food for the day and it's 8 pm. I got one last meal left and need to fit in 50 grams of carbs, 50 grams of protein, and 20 grams of fat. Well then I'll make sure I eat food that fills that requirement. Maybe a Lean Double Turkey Burger on Wheat Buns?

See how that works. Didn't have to be that. Anything that fit those requirements.

You see how dumb a lot of these meat heads are walking around this planet. You all make fun of them. Watch countless videos parodying them. Comedians joking about them. SNL made ratings with their skits about them. Jersey Shore shoved them down your throats. A lot of dumb but in shape people out there.



So guess what, you don't have to be a member of MENSA to do this.

You only need to really want it.

I know and you know a lot of people with great bodies that don't count their calories. Guess what, that's not you. That's them. They got the genetics for it. You obviously don't or you wouldn't be reading this. That's okay, I don't either. But that fueled me to work for it and that's how I know so much. Since I know so much I can teach it and have made a good career off of it.


Think about this. If you're going to go through all the pain, effort, money, and time to do this. You may as well get the results.

You Should've Already Got Results

You should see results every week. If you don't, what you're doing is wrong.

How do you actually know if you're doing something wrong. You could try to judge yourself by a mirror, or how you fit in your clothes, or how many times you get hit on Saturday night. 

But believe it or not there's much better ways of doing this.

Weigh yourself.

Measure your body fat.

I don't care if you use an electronic or analog caliper. Whatever you do use the same measurement method and don't switch, because the measuring tool will then become the variable.

If you're using analog calipers make sure you're using the same person as the measurer.

Also make sure it's you getting measured every time. HAHAHAHA I'm hilarious.

But seriously though folks. You can get yourself one of them hi tech weight scales out of a department store that measures your weight, bf%, LBM, waterweight, etc. all in one. It's 2013! We're living in the future people. 

After you've done that another good idea would be to find your LBM (Lean Body Mass).

Subtract your body fat percentage from your weight and and you'll have that. If you actually need me to explain how that's done then you're not allowed to read my blogs for now on, let alone make eye contact with me.

This way when you lose or gain weight you'll know how much of it was muscle and how much was fat.

I got a guy down 2 lbs one week and he was a little disspointed. Until I pointed out to him that he gained 3 lbs of muscle at the same time, so he actually lost 5 lbs of fat!

That's what sucks about just measuring your weight.

Those girls that are happy about losing weight after being sick for a week and not eating really only lost water weight and muscle, but these are not the girls that measure their body fat and LBM so ignorance is bliss.

Also get your measurements around your waist, hips, arms, etc, and check that out from time to time as well but not as frequently.

That'll do for today. I'm going to start making my blogs shorter but more frequent. 

I'll tell you what to do if you're not getting the correct results in the next blog.

Until then, keep trying to be like me.