Mind Pump: Raw Fitness Truth - 2427: The Proven Way to Lose Fat & Keep it Off Without Ever Restricting Your Diet

Episode Date: September 19, 2024

 The Proven Way to Lose Fat & Keep It Off Without Ever Restricting Your Diet Behavior psychology is the BIGGEST factor in your success. (1:06) Why you have to expend more energy than you take in to lose body fat. (5:54) The Proven Ways to Lose Fat & Keep It Off Without Ever Restricting Your Diet #1 - Avoid foods that make you overeat. (11:30) #2 - Don’t eat while distracted. (18:45) #3 - Don’t drink while you eat. (23:06) #4 - Eat high protein. (27:32) #5 - Eat high fiber. (30:56) #6 - Food order. (32:00) Can I really get good results without ever having to track? (33:25) I hate tracking, it makes feel obsessive and I get anxious. What do you suggest? (36:29) I want to lose weight but every time I eat less my cravings become overwhelming. Any tips? (39:06) What is the ideal macro ratio? (41:35) Related Links/Products Mentioned Visit Seed for an exclusive offer for Mind Pump listeners! **Promo code 25MINDPUMP at checkout for 25% off your first month’s supply of Seed’s DS-01® Daily Synbiotic** September Promotion: MAPS Starter | Starter Bundle 50% off! ** Code SEPTEMBER50 at checkout ** Mind Pump # 1527: The 3 Step Solution to the Obesity Epidemic Chewing Your Food: Is 32 Really the Magic Number? Mind Pump # 1207: Five Ways to Lose Weight Without Counting Calories Mind Pump # 1830: Five Steps to Determine Your ideal Caloric Intake Mind Pump Podcast – YouTube Mind Pump Free Resources People Mentioned Paul Chek (@paul.chek) Instagram  

If you want to pump your body and expand your mind, there's only one place to go. Mind pump with your hosts, Sal DeStefano, Adam Schaefer, and Justin Andrews. You just found the most downloaded fitness, health, and entertainment podcast. This is Mind Pump. Today's episode, we talk about the proven way to lose fat and keep it off forever without ever restricting your diet. It's going to be a fun episode. This episode is brought to you by our sponsor, Seed. This is the world's best probiotic. If you want the benefits of taking a probiotic, better digestion, less

inflammation, better sleep, better skin, go with Seed. Go to seed.com forward slash mind pump. Use the code two five mind pump. Get 25% off your first month's order of Seed's Daily Symbiotic. We also have a sale this month on some workout programs. MAPS Starter, our beginner strength training program is 50% off. Then we have a starter bundle. This includes MAPS Antibolic, MAPS Prime, and our intuitive nutrition guide that's also 50% off. If you're interested, go to MAPSFitnessProducts.com and then use the code September 50 for the discount. All right, here comes the show.

All right. In today's episode, we're going to talk about the proven way to lose fat and keep it off without ever feeling like you're restricting your diet. This is an important episode because, uh, the feeling of restriction or restricting by itself causes challenges for people just feeling like they're, uh, you know, I'm like white knuckling something. It's just that feeling you want to rebel. by itself causes challenges for people. Just feeling like they're, ugh, I'm like white-knuckling something. It's just that feeling you want to rebel.

Yes, and not only that, but it's a short-term, I mean, that's not a long-lasting feeling, or I should say, that's not a feeling you can stick with and succeed with. Yeah, it's not sustainable. At some point, you don't want to feel like you're restricting anymore, and I know you guys found the same thing.

As a trainer, I really figured this piece out later it was later that I understood this and this is where I placed most of my focus on when I would help my clients with their diet it was less about the X's and O's that's important but it was more about how do I get them to feel like they're not restricting themselves or cutting things or like they're they're having a white-knuckle this and that my success went through the roof yeah I mean I feel like this're not restricting themselves or cutting things or like they're having to white-knuckle this. And then my success went through the roof. Yeah, I mean, I feel like this just all goes back

to the point we're always making on the podcast about behavioral psychology being the biggest factor in somebody's success, right? Like, you know, obviously consistency, you'll hear that across the board from almost anybody that you know consistency is like the number one key but in order to be consistent the Behavioral psychology part becomes so paramount right understanding that I want to make these subtle Behavioral changes with my client that are so subtle

subtle behavioral changes with my client that are so subtle, they don't feel like it's this white knuckling or massive sacrifice or upending their life or so radically different. And I just want to slowly build those wins until they have momentum. They've built a lifestyle and structure around this new way of living that doesn't seem unrealistic to maintain. Well, it just paints a more positive landscape for you to embark on versus just this punishment that you have to endure. I have to, I ate all this food and oh my God,

you know, I'm so this, that, whatever. And I just look at myself in this negative light and I'm coming in to resolve these sort of negative things that I've been doing to myself and inflicting to myself. And it just becomes this, how long can I really just have this mentality of punishing myself? It's exhausting to where I could turn that and flip it

and make it, wow, this is so uplifting. It's exhausting. To where I could turn that and flip it and make it, wow, this is so uplifting, it's so energetic, it's doing all these amazing things for my health, I feel so vibrant. There's a whole nother way you can look at this and embark on. I think the hardest part as a trainer was always dealing with a client that was so adamant about you

just giving them the answer. Or just tell me what to do. Just tell me what to eat. Write out my meal plan, tell me what I need to do and I'll go do it. And you knowing that, man, this is not going to, I mean, it may help them temporarily. It may get them down that 15 pounds if they follow the diet perfectly and do the exercises like I tell them to. But I'm not implementing behavioral changes in their life and I'm not doing it in a way

that's probably sustainable. And even if they have the ability to white knuckle it through, I'm truly not helping with this. It took a long time for me, I don't know, to get the words for this or to learn how to communicate it right. We're talking about behavior change. So I'll give an example of the ultimate behavior change for someone who wants to, let's say, lose weight.

What would be the ultimate, like I could snap my fingers, behavior change in someone? Well, I think that's quite easy. Like, snap my fingers, you now love eating healthy. You want to eat healthy, you love it, you enjoy it. Like, that's an ultimate behavior change. Like who's going to ever struggle with nutrition and diet and body fat gain or whatever if they want to eat healthy? They really enjoy it. Nobody. So that's the ultimate behavior

change that we're looking for. Now there are steps you can take to get yourself closer to that point. Otherwise, your desires don't change. You're just following instructions or trying to do something, but ultimately your desire remains stronger to want to eat the way that you've always been eating versus this new way. Now, the reason why this is so challenging

is because in essence, if you're trying to lose body fat, you are restricting. you just are, right? In order for your body to lose or to want to tap into its own fat stores, you have to create an energy imbalance. So to put it plainly, and you know, I gotta say this every time I say, I talk about this, I have to always preface it because there's people

that like to point out calories in versus calories out, and okay, it's like, what I'm about to say is 100% true, however and okay, it's like what I'm about to say is 100% true. However, it's more complex than what I'm about to say. So it's more than just the following statement, but it is a fact that if you want, if your body for your body to tap into its own energy stores, that means you have to take in less calories and you're burning. Okay. So you have to, you have to expend more energy than you take in.

So if I'm taking in 100 units of energy and I'm expending 200 units of energy, my body has to make up the difference and find an extra 100 units. And the way it does this is by turning to itself, hopefully body fat. Now, how do we measure energy in food? Calories.

How do we measure energy expenditure? Caloriesories. How do we measure energy expenditure? Calories, that's why we use that term. But in order for you to lose any body fat, that absolutely has to happen. So in essence, you are restricting. So how the heck can we do this then? Lose body fat and keep it off without feeling like we're restricting.

See, that's the key. The key is you are gonna have to eat less than your body's burning, so you are in're restricting. See, that's the key. The key is you are gonna have to eat less than your body's burning, so you are, in essence, restricting, but it doesn't have to feel like you're restricting, and that's the key. That's the key to all of us. You know, it's funny, because I actually think the advice that we're gonna go over nutritionally

is very similar to the advice of applying exercise intensity and volume, too. I mean, it's the same kind of approach where it's like you wanna make these real subtle, good behavioral chains around exercise and working out, and it isn't this like throw the whole kitchen sink at once and it's not what's going to get the best results. And I think, and maybe you can communicate it

better than I can, Sal. Like I haven't, like how do you explain to somebody that them white-knuckling it, or them doing a tremendous amount of volume, or them, like, doing a hardcore restriction diet, or following something that's totally out of the normal for them, and in hopes that their body is going to adapt and change faster, because they're putting so much effort into radically changing it. But it, there's,

it's like a spectrum of like your results, right? Like obviously, uh, not doing anything gets you no results or negative results, uh, doing all the things right, get you the most results. But what is right and optimal isn't necessarily just more of all those things. You have to work within your body's capacity for adaptation and for recovery. So to use an extreme example, this is obviously extreme, but somebody says they wanna lose weight,

so they eat no food. At some point they're gonna die. So because it exceeds their body's ability to adapt. Okay, so that's an extreme example, but to use a less extreme example, you go from not exercising to going to the gym five days a week. Well now it's too much stress for your body to adapt to. Your body's just trying to maintain itself and it starts to do so by modifying hormones, by pairing muscle down, by storing body fat even more

effectively. It actually slows down your progress. It actually makes you move forward, slower, and in some cases you can move backwards. So there is a right dose here. But the big thing to consider, especially when it comes to nutrition, besides getting your essentials and not doing anything crazy, is can I get to a place where I'm eating in a way

where I'm at a good healthy body weight and it doesn't feel like I'm necessarily trying really hard all the time because you eat food every day and if you lost 50 pounds now, you would love to keep it off for the rest of your life. So if what you're doing now feels like you're trying really hard all the time,

are you gonna be able to do that forever? Probably not. In fact, the data shows this. 90% of people fail after a year of losing weight. They gain it back. So what we wanna do is we wanna employ strategies that allow this fat loss to happen in a way where it feels like you're not doing

as much as you did before. Or even better, like I'm not restricting. I don't feel like I'm restricting at all, in fact. And by the way, all the stuff we're gonna cover is backed up by data, and I'll tell you exactly what the calorie difference is with some of these. It feels a bit like, and I know we always kind of use the cars as like analogies, but like when you're tuning

and you're getting your compression ratios, you're getting all these things like fine-tuned to where like your engine just starts running and it gets this nice hum. So it's like it doesn't require a whole lot of extra effort to get everything moving and efficiently operating well. And so it's like building yourself up to that point metabolically takes a bit of work. But like once you get to that point where you have the right ratios, the right amounts, and then everything's kind of like simultaneously working to that point, like it's a lot less intensive.

Yeah, there's a right dose, and then there's two things also to consider with this. One is, can I do this in a way where it doesn't feel like restricting, because I'm much more likely to be able to be consistent doing it? And then number two, and of course it has to be effective, we're talking about fat loss here, and then number two, and of course it has to be effective, we're talking about fat loss here. And then number two, what can I also do to mitigate

or not accelerate muscle loss or cause muscle loss? Because when you cut your calories, your body does try to lower its energy expenditure by paring muscle down. So that's something else to consider as well because if you slow your metabolism down enough, you'll be in a situation where you'll eat very little and you're not losing any more body fat even though you're eating very little. Your body's not burning many

calories. So here's the first tip and this one for most people will represent anywhere between four to six hundred calories in some cases as much as seven or eight hundred calories. This one simple thing right here which is don't don't eat heavily processed foods or ultra processed foods or to put it more generally avoid foods that make you overeat but I can put pretty much all ultra processed foods in this category of foods that make you overeat because that's what they're designed to do. They're designed to make you overeat. They're designed to make you

want more. They're designed to ward off the satiety signal, the signal that tells you that you're full and they're really good at doing this. So these ultra-processed foods are foods that are boxes and wrappers. They've got 50 ingredients or whatever. When you eat these foods and the data on this is very interesting and very clear. If you eat heavily processed foods or ultra-processed foods, if it makes up a majority of your diet, and then you switch to a diet that's all whole natural foods, without even trying, eating as much, quote unquote, feeling like you're eating as much as you did before, meaning you eat until you're full,

your calories will drop probably around 500 to 600 calories, in some cases more. Just doing that alone. So now what you've done is you've cut your calories without restricting, because you're eating, you still feel like you're eating a lot of food. No, I know what the research says on that. I know that it's like five, 600 calories

is when they did all these test groups and so on, that personally, that number's far higher for me. I'm very aware it's way higher. Like, I've said at Nausium on the show that I have ice cream, sugar addictions, like that, and when I sit down and I would have some candy or have some ice cream, it doesn't turn into five or six hundred calories. It turns into a thousand to seventeen hundred more calories because I've never had that good

self-control around those foods and I had the always had the attitude and I'm sure I'm not alone on this of like, well, I already fucked it up. So may as well enjoy this whole thing while I'm here. Like, I'm not going to just have three bites of this and then put it away. It's like, I've opened Pandora's box. I'm going all in and then I'll worry about it later. And so even though that's what the research research says with controlled groups,

where we've kind of measured this with the same people on both sides. It's like there's going to be some people that are probably on the outlier side of me and more than likely if you're somebody who struggled with weight a lot, you're probably going to, you're probably more like me in that situation. Yes, because if you're already somebody that's like I need to lose like 50 pounds or so, you're probably more sensitive to how powerful these ultra processed foods are. And so, this is why you see, although obesity is growing, there's still some people that just don't seem to have problems with this. And it's not because they have these like crazy magical bodies, it's that they're not as affected by these foods for whatever reason. So you're right, Adam. In my experience as a trainer,

when I had really obese clients and I had them switch from ultra processed foods to whole natural foods, their calories would drop a lot. In fact, they would tell me, I would get messages from them and they'd say I'm stuffed. I can't eat anymore, I'm stuffed. In some cases, I would tell them to eat more

because they would lose too fast. They would lose weight too quickly. I'd. I would tell them to eat more because they would lose to the two too fast They would lose weight too quickly. That's any G to eat more food. I can't eat more food I'm stop you've ever what a paradigm shift that was you as a young trainer when you had somebody sitting across from you at your desk And they're 50 to 100 pounds overweight and you gave them that rule and you're like, here's the foods I want you to eat and they would come back and be like Adam. I be like, Adam, I can't eat everything you're telling me to eat. It's just too much food. I remember being like, what? This makes no sense.

Like this person. You're lying to me. Yeah, no, it really just did not make sense to me at that young of an age, like in realizing like, how is this possible? How is this person this overweight? And then when I tell them to go eat three or four square meals with chicken and steak and rice and sweet potato and stuff like that. It was like, can't do it Adam, it's too

much. It's such a, this one thing is so powerful that most people will see significant weight loss from doing this alone. If your diet is like most people, most Americans diet is 70% plus heavily processed foods and if you have a lot of weight it's probably more than that to lose. It's probably a greater percentage. If you just said, fine, I'm gonna just, I'm still gonna eat as much as I want, but I'm only gonna eat whole natural foods.

Foods like steak and chicken and eggs and cheese and rice and potato and fruits and vegetables. And I'm just gonna eat as much as I want. You're gonna see significant weight loss from doing that, but here's the part again, I wanna hammer this again, you will not feel like you're restricting yourself because you're gonna be eating so much. In fact-

There's natural limiters there. That's right, those limiters kick in naturally because you're overeating right now because your diet is so largely compromised of foods that are designed to make you overeat. Do you know that, so I have a theory why this is not more popular. Of course there's people like there's like Whole30

and there's definitely, we're not like the first people to present this message, right, by no means. This is established science. Yeah, right, it's been around for a long time. But it's not like super popular. In fact, you would think that this would be like the number one thing that all fitness people talk about, but it conflicts with selling a lot of.

You can't sell diet food. The powders and the pills. Yes. You're telling people not to eat ultra processed foods and then you're gonna sell them an ultra processed meal. And unfortunately, shakes and bars fall in that category. Now I'm not saying by me communicating that, I'm not shaming somebody for using,

if you're watching my whole thing right now I use all you shakes I'll use bars that's not the point I'm trying to make. I'm just saying that this is so powerful and this is so such a game changer of advice for somebody who's trying to lose weight that if everybody that was that was struggling with weight loss this was their only rule. No more stuff in a wrapper, just purely whole foods. Eat when you're hungry. If you're hungry, go eat.

But eat whole foods, and especially if you go, start with protein in that meal, and then have what you want afterwards, whole food. I don't care. You want a big, whole thing of rice, big, whole, like a bunch of potatoes, go for it. But eat the protein first, all whole foods. Eat whatever you want, as much as you want.

That piece of advice would work for like 95% of everybody who is overweight right now. This always, always worked for me, and it was my favorite one because again, people would come to me and they would be, I can't eat this much salad, I'm eating so much food, are you sure, I'm losing weight, this doesn't make sense. What is it about ultra processed foods

that makes them make you want to make your body gain body fat, is there some chemical in there? I was like, no, it's not that, it's just you just overeat. No, I don't, I'm eating more now. No, you're not, let me show you. And then we'll track and I'll show them. But it's great because you don't feel restricted, right? So now you're not walking around going,

I got a couple of calories, I can't eat. You're eating until you're full. You don't feel restricted and then you lose weight. That's the desired outcome of these engineered foods. Right. I mean it's to get you to buy more product. I mean at the end of the day if you look at it like that with that lens it's like you start kind of picking up on these really heightened flavors and textures and all this kind of stuff. And then if you remove that and you actually have like whole foods that whole experience is completely different. Totally. Alright next is another small change that data the study was will show will reduce your caloric intake by 10 to

15 percent by itself. Change nothing else just by the way if you're smart you'll stack all these ones that I'm gonna tell you that we're gonna talk about in today's episode but if you just did this one by itself, you will cut your calories by about 10 to 15%. And that is to simply not eat when you're distracted. So whatever you're gonna normally eat, go ahead and eat it, but don't eat it while you're on your phone. Don't eat it while watching TV.

Don't eat it while doing anything else but eating. Sit down and eat you and your food, no distraction. You'll eat 10% less calories just from that one. It's impressive what you can cram in when you're not paying attention. Totally. Yeah, if you're eating, watching TV, watching a movie, whatever it is, you just have something there

that you can constantly sort of grab at. I'm gonna add to this, by the way, we've talked about this tip before, and I love it because it's so simple, and again, I would do this with my clients as well, but think about this now, think about food, think about relationships with food. We all know that people don't just eat

because they're hungry, they also eat because they're stressed, because they're sad, because they're happy, and so food becomes a thing. Social, yeah. Yeah, whatever, it's not just because you're hungry, if it was just for hunger I think it'd be easier to fix, but we eat for a lot of different reasons. Now imagine the emotional states you go through

watching a movie while you're eating. Yeah, it actually kicks that up. Or social media going through the alarming, angry news. You're actually creating bad relationships with food. This is actually a hard tip to break, just being, especially today, especially with the way we have phones now. You notice you want to be distracted by it.

Productivity is so like the highest. It used to be a hard thing before smartphones. It was already a hard thing because it's a lot of people, I mean, I don't know when it was, was it the 70s? When did TV dinners become famous? Oh, that's when it became popular in the 60s. Okay, so the 60s, right? So I mean, that was the introduction of like,

hey, sit in front of your TV and eat food, you know what I'm saying? So it's already been a thing for a long time to try and break that habit. It became extremely difficult when your TV was in your pocket. Now it's like, it isn't just when you're home at dinner after work, it's now at lunch, at breakfast,

where at snack, everything is, you're looking at your phone. It's a really tough thing to break for a lot of people. People eat 10% to 15% more calories and they eat about 20% faster. It also changes the speed at which you eat. Now the question is why? Why do we eat more when we're distracted? Well when you're distracted, you're not as connected to your body's signals until they get so loud that you have to hear them. One of the signals we get from food when we're distracted. Well when you're distracted you're not as connected to your body's signals until they get so loud that you have to hear them. And one of the signals we get from food when we're eating is satiety.

So stop eating, you've had enough. But that signal is not loud enough to overcome this distraction, this thing on my phone or the tv, until it gets so loud that I don't want anymore. Now again, combine that with hyper palatable ultra processed foods, emotional changes by watching a show, a movie or on your phone It's a recipe for a disaster But again just to back just to go to the data not even going that far You'll cut your calories by 10% just by doing that alone. Have you ever seen one of those hot dog eating champion guys train? Yeah, and like what they do. It's like it's it's so much of a speed and a distraction Is that's all a huge part of their process

psychological all Psychological just like getting it in getting in and then dunking it in water to make sure as space But it's just like it's amazing what you can do to bypass those signals So that point is actually similar to the point I was gonna make that a lot of this has to do with Your you're starting to skip a major part of the digestive process, which is the chewing process. Yeah. You literally are inhaling the food. You're like,

you're chewing so minimally just to get it down and you're already thinking about the next bite and it reminds you, I'll never forget. I wish I remember the name of it. I think we looked it up one time on here. Uh, there was a, there was a diet book that was like 52 chews or so. I don't remember the name of it, but that was, it was a diet book that was all the chews or so. I don't remember the name of it, but that was, it was a diet book that was all the advice was every bite you had to chew like a number. A certain number of times.

Yeah, and I think it was somewhere like 50. And people lost weight. Yeah, and it's just literally because you now become hyper present, you're chewing, which is part of the digestive process, you're chewing all that, you're taking your time, like between every single bite. Let that signal get there. Yes. Let that signal get there, that takes us to the digestive process, you're chewing all that, you're taking your time between every single bite. Let that signal get there. Yes.

Let that signal get there. That takes us to the next one, which is don't drink fluids while you eat. Which kind of forces this point. 100% it does. Okay, so this is a personal one for me, because when I, you guys know this as trainers, when you train eight clients in a day,

you don't have time in between your clients to eat. You have their warmup. They can warm up for 10 minutes, stretch, foam roll, mobility. I'll be right back and then you go back and you eat your food. What I learned to do as a trainer was eat standing up and eat with water. It would literally be, put the food in my mouth, bite three times, wash it down with water. I just did this constantly. I think it played a role in some of my digestive issues later on when I stopped doing this to help my digestion I also noticed the side effect of getting full faster. Yeah, it slows you way down This was a hard one for me to break to it was definitely because of the speed factor

I'd be eating with my friends or family and I was Always like if I didn't learn to eat a few bites and then wash it down and like really cram it down, I would always be left at the dinner table by myself. That was like a thing and now I'm like owning it and I just will take my time and it's just so much better for my stomach and digestion and like everything else at night if I just take my time with it. But yeah, you eat less naturally. It's the 32 chew diet. So 32 times, which the water tip kind of forces this without you like having to like sit there and count.

If you are not drinking and like flushing the food down, which by the way, one of the things, we got this from Paul Cech, right? Isn't Paul Cech the one who we first got this from? Yeah, he was really made the point. Yeah, I think it was Paul Cech who, that was the first time I ever actually really tried to do this. I had actually never even thought about it.

Without any water? To be honest, I actually thought it was healthier to drink fluids with your food. I just assumed that that was like a healthier choice. And when he made the case for not having any fluids, I thought that's really interesting. And right away I noticed my behavior and realized, and then afterwards when I went back to enjoy, I was like, Oh my God, how many times do I take a bite of something? I'm not even like chewed it two times and I'm already washing it down with food. Like, Holy shit. So the no fluids forces the getting closer to 32.

Even if it's not 32, it's probably double what you normally do. By the way, just a little side note, if you drink flavored beverages, even if they're no calorie, even if it's zero calorie flavored beverage, a diet soda, when you're eating and drinking it and eating and drinking it back and forth, you're introducing novelty with every bite between the savory burger to the sweet soda. Not only does it speed up the rate of which you're eating because you're not chewing fully, not only does it do that,

which means you're not gonna get the hunger signal as quickly, you're also introducing flavor novelty every single bite by having savory sweet, savory sweet, which also bypasses signals of satiety. Like you combine those two things, now do that in front of a movie, and what you have is somebody eating a thousand more calories than normally would. This is why at the end of thoseiety, like you combine those two things, now do that in front of a movie, and what you have is somebody eating

a thousand more calories than normally would. This is why at the end of those meals, when you do that, you're like so uncomfortable. And then you realize, I was uncomfortable like 10 minutes ago and I kept going. It's because you literally, you're playing a trick on your brain. Such a good argument, Sal.

It's not one that I actually think I've heard you use when we've made the case about diet sodas and stuff like that not being an ideal choice, and then there's not one that I actually think I've heard you use when we've made the the case about diet sodas and stuff like that Not being an ideal choice and then there's people obviously that will fight tooth and nail for that I'm telling you arguing that there's nothing wrong with it Yeah, because they hang on the calorie thing they hang on this the studies and research with artificial sweeteners that it's weak It's not good enough and stuff like that But if that's not a good enough reason or if that that's not a good enough reason for you, that should be right there. If you're struggling with losing weight and you're utilizing a diet soda and stuff like that. I mean, that would be probably, if I was having a client, right,

for example, who loves that, like loves to enjoy it, and I can connect to that. I enjoy Diet Coke, so I get it. And I'm trying to get them to lose weight. That would be like the first step would be like, hey, I'm not going to tell you not to have your Diet Coke. You just can't have it while you eat. There you go, right? Like so there's a coaching tip right there It's like you have a client struggling with overeating and they also have a major addiction to diet Sodas and they they're not gonna get behind completely eliminating. Okay, I'm not gonna tell them they can't have it But just I want you to try something for me no more fluid So you're gonna have to have your Diet Coke after you eat them. On its own.

Yeah, and then see how much. Watch how many people don't even wanna do that. I know, I know. I think that would work incredibly well. Totally. All right, this next one is the most, dare I say magical one, because there are some unique aspects of this next step.

One of them being like the other ones, you'll eat less as a result of it. But the other one, you'll eat less as a result of it. But the other one, the magic part, in that doing this next step also seems to accelerate the fat loss process when calories are controlled and preserve or build muscle simultaneously. In other words, if there's two diets

that are identical in calories, the person who does what I'm about to say will lose more fat anyway. And that is to eat a high protein diet a high protein diet eating about One gram of protein per pound of target body weight So if you're trying to lose 50 pounds whatever weight you're trying to get to eat that in grams of proteins We're trying to get 150 pounds. That's the body weight that you want to get to I'm gonna need 150 grams of protein If you do that you get it from whole natural foods you prioritize it in your meals you eat it first you will eat less because protein kills your appetite it is the by far by the way when they do studies on macronutrients

that they compare proteins carbs and fats proteins by far produce the most satiety fat is second but it's a it's a distant second and then carbs are way down. So protein crushes cravings and appetite. But then the second part, the magic part is even if the calories remain the same, if you add two identical people, identical lives, both eating 2,000 calorie diets and that made them both lose weight but one of them ate a high protein version of that and and the other one ate a low protein version of that. The high protein version will still lose more body fat. Because protein has a thermic effect in the body,

it also has this muscle building effect, and then some other stuff we just don't understand, because we can't account for it necessarily yet. But the data on this is very clear, it's very consistent. A high protein diet crushes appetite and accelerates fat loss. So for sure, that's an important one. This is so powerful that if you or somebody

or a family member you know that has struggled with weight most of their life simply commits to eating whole foods and always anytime they sit down and eat, they eat the protein first. And by the way, you're not putting any restrictions. Eat as much as you want. You're hungry, go eat. I'm not gonna ever tell you not to eat.

Eat every time you're hungry. Just eat whole foods and just eat the protein first. That paired with two days a week of lifting weights, you will radically- That's the recipe. You will radically change that person's life. Nothing else. I'm not gonna tell you to go, and I'm not saying,

there's not all kinds of other pieces of advice that are helpful and that will make them healthier and it's good for cardiovascular endurance. I'm not even gonna go there. You have someone who you know who has struggled with weight their entire life. If all they do is commit to whole foods and eating the protein first

every single time they're hungry, paired with one to two days a week of full-body strength training you will radically change that person's life. That was my go-to recipe right there. Get people to do that right there and I pretty much solved most of the issue so long as we can stay consistent with it but it's it makes it easier to stay consistent again because you don't feel restricted. Yeah. You don't feel restricted because I'm rather than eating less. It's a psychological win. I'm trying to eat more, right, and I'm eating the protein.

And then that makes it all happen much faster as well. That's why I said it's as close to magic as you can get because even if your calories are the same, it just results in more fat loss. All right, the next one is to eat a high fiber diet. Now, we can get into discussions about the benefits of fiber, you have the people over there on the carnivore side who are like, there's no benefits,

and then people on the other side are like, there's decades of research that shows there's health benefits of fiber. You have the people over there on the carnivore side who are like, there's no benefits. And then people on the other side are like, there's, you know, decades of research that show there's health benefits of fiber. I'm not going to talk about health benefits. I think the data is pretty clear. There are health benefits to eating a diet that's high in fiber, but really I'm pointing to the fact that fiber produces satiety. Yeah. So remember I said protein was the most satiety producing macronutrient, then fat, and then carbs Even more than fat is fiber. So it's actually closer to protein than fat is in terms of Producing satiety So if you want to eat a diet that helps you with your cravings in your hunger make it a high protein

High fiber diet two most important things and also helps your digestion as well for sure Yeah, I mean, that would be the, again, I think if you just took the original advice that I just said, like, that's like the first goal, is hit that game changer. Then you add the, oh, okay, you're still hungry after the protein, go after a fiber food, it's like, that's it.

Totally, totally, which brings us to the last one, which is food order. This makes a difference. Now there's no magic things happening in the gut because you eat one thing first or whatever, but really this has to do with controlling satiety or promoting satiety, I should say, controlling hunger, promoting muscle gain, fat loss.

And that is when you make your plate, we just said this, right, avoid heavily processed foods, eat your protein first, so that's first. So I have my big protein portion. Then move to your well-cooked low-calorie veggies. Leafy greens, broccoli, asparagus. Eat that next and then move to the final part, which would be your carbohydrates or fruit or whatever. That order right there results in less calories consumed than reversing the order or any other order, even though the satiety will be the same. fruit or whatever, that order right there results in less calories consumed than reversing the order or any other order, even though the satiety will be the same.

In other words, you'll still feel satisfied. You just ended up eating less because of that food order. And I first learned about this years ago when fasting became popular and there was the warrior diet. And that was one of the tips that he gave. And I looked at it and I said, this is a weird tip. And I'm like, look, I'm like,, oh wait a minute, I've told my clients to do this because it just makes them eat less.

That's why you go protein, veggies, and then the rest. It's also, again, going back to the psychology of it, you're not telling your client they can't have this thing. You're just basically saying have this first, then enjoy that, and then what you know, because you've been doing this for such a long time, is oh wow, look it, now they avoid that food avoid that food. You know something I want to do different about that and I think this is something that I think we agreed we're gonna try and do

on single topics going forward which is to pull from our audience questions that are related to this topic so we can actually ask specific questions that have been asked in our community before and we'll pull from the forum and IG and some all kinds of places. We get questions everywhere. But when it like pertains to the conversation, I wanted to answer some specific questions. So I know Doug, you had, you had written some of them down. Can you read them off to us and then we'll go through.

Yeah. So one of the questions is, can I really get good results without ever having to track? Okay. So they're referring to tracking calories, grams of protein, grams of fat, grams of carbohydrates. In my career as a personal trainer, 95% of my clients didn't track. 95%. They did a lot of the stuff we just talked about. Now if I did have them track, it might be protein or it might be fiber or if there was some

health issue going on, we might have them track. Now the be protein, or it might be fiber, or if there was some health issue going on, we might have them track. Now the 5% that I did have track were people who got to a nice healthy body fat percentage and then wanted to take it to the next level. So like, I got a male client, he's at 25% body fat, through doing the things that we talked about earlier in this podcast, they got from 25% to let's say 17% or 16% body fat. Now they're kind of plateauing. All right, Sal, I want to get down say 17% or 16% body fat. Now they're kind of plateauing.

All right, Sal, I want to get down to 12% or 10% body fat. Okay, well now we need to track because it gets a little bit more granular. But the vast majority of my clients never had them track. So I can go both ways on this question. You mean, out of all of us, I think I've probably been the biggest advocate for tracking.

My way of explaining it is that I think there's tremendous value, it's like education, understanding, like I can't tell you how many clients that I've trained that didn't even know what a protein, a carb, or a fat was. And so asking them, are you getting enough protein in for the day, and them saying, yeah, I think so. Well, what is that, and let's figure that out.

Just because I think that if I could get them just to track protein, it goes back to what I said earlier that just them hitting their protein intake and targeting that solves so many of the other calorie counting, macro nutrient counting problems that I would at least like that. So I like to have my client track just to see for a week their baseline. It's good education for themselves anyway. That's how I feel.

It's to me, and the reason why I'm such a huge advocate of it is because even after 20 something years of me doing this and I'm about to go through this process again, in fact, this is the week that I start the tracking, is I'm almost always off or wrong. And so it just lets me peer into okay this is where I'm now. What's neat is I don't need to do it forever. It's just to give me a baseline see me where I'm at and if I wanted to just get in really like good shape, really

good shape, not crazy bodybuilder shape but good really good fitness shape the average person would say wow he's really fit. I don't need to way measure track. I just need to get an idea if I'm getting close to where I need to be protein wise, and it will really solve the rest. So that's kind of how I feel about tracking. Another question that came up was related to that. I hate tracking. It makes me feel obsessive, and I get anxious. What do you suggest?

OK, so now this is a different situation. This is important. I'm glad you had that as a follow up question, because there's always exceptions to this rule, right? So if I have a client who I think is, you know, orthorexic or they are obsessed with tracking, these are like competitors a lot of times that I would that I would coach and help. That's different because they have a they have a really unhealthy relationship with tracking and measuring and weighing food. And if I ever got a sense of that

when we first start working together, I actually don't want them to track. I've had clients that, I've had worked with those too, but I've had clients that were more like average people, and they just said, I just feel so obsessive. It feels so obsessive. I'm constantly counting and tracking. And we got great results by just modifying behaviors

and we would track protein sometimes is what we would do. And I would say just do that. Or I would say, okay, let's avoid this category of foods like ultra processed foods. Or are you eating while you're in front of your TV? Let's get rid of that. And it would work, it would typically work. But again, if I wanted to go further than overall health,

then tracking typically had to come into play. Because at that point, it became, if you work out and you just eat in a healthy way, and you're a man, you're gonna sit somewhere between 13 to 17% body fat. But you won't get down to 10, probably. And a lot of that has to do, this is why sometimes these questions are the hardest

without actually engaging with the person, right? Because it also depends on like how serious we are about our results and timelines and things like that. If a client is hiring me, I know we're gonna be together for a long time, they know that, hey, that this is gonna be a journey, I wanna learn, I wanna be healthy, like there's no pressure on me that I have to deliver results at a certain speed, then I can easily just be like, listen,

we'll just slowly modify behaviors over time, and I'll absolutely get you in better shape. But if a client's coming to me after three or four weeks, we've been training, and they're like, I don't understand. I don't look any better. I don't feel that. And they're complaining.

And then they're like, and I don't want to track. And it's like, OK, well, we don't have to. but if you want me to give you the answers to why we're not seeing the results I need the date or I need the data but if you just if you're If you trust in me and you know that this is gonna be a journey and there's nothing like then no We absolutely don't have to track but it again it has everything to do with the conversation that I'm having with the client on How I'm going to go about that another question. I want to lose weight, but again, it has everything to do with the conversation that I'm having with the client on how I'm going to go about that. Another question, I want to lose weight, but every time I eat less, my cravings become

overwhelming. Any tips? The best thing I've ever done with this is I would have them eat more protein. That was like my go-to. Anytime somebody, if they were eating 1,700 calories and that was what was putting them in a deficit and causing weight loss, and they're like, I'm craving, I have my craving,

I would cut from somewhere else and bump their protein. So their calories stay the same, but now they're eating more protein. And that works nine to 10 times in my experience. It really doesn't really, in fact, sometimes I would tell people this and they wouldn't want to do it because they'd be like, well yeah, it kills my cravings, but now I can't eat that.

Yeah, most cravings are carb related for the most part. Having that protein is so satiating, you sort of are able to suppress that intensity of that craving. So I love this question because it opens the door for me to say something that's kind of controversial, which is when I have a client that wants to lose body fat, I'm an example of this right now.

My body fat is higher than where I'd like it to be. My goal is to reduce that. That's what I'm gonna do. But guess what I did first? I increased meal frequency. I'm trying to eat more right now, which that is very controversial to say to someone who's like, because we talk all about calories in

versus calories out, but the truth is, what happens a lot of time is these people, they cut their calories so low and they're missing their nutrients that their body needs and that kicks up these crazy cravings. Versus, if I tell a client to go after, like your point about protein, go get this protein, I want you to go eat this.

Many times when I start a weight loss or a fat loss journey with a client, the response I get is is this is too much food Right and whether it truly is or not but getting them to eat whole foods and eat when they're I want a client when they're Trying to lose weight especially at the very beginning if you're hungry. I want you to eat I just want you to do what I've said eat whole foods target protein first But if you're hungry to me, that's your metabolism saying it needs more nutrients It needs more food, especially if it's paired with exercise and working out.

And now here's one other one, and this is sounds silly, but it would work 50% of time or I or should I say 50% of my clients noticed benefit, which would be when you have a craving drink a big glass of water. And this sounds silly. It really does. But about half hydrated is huge. Half of my clients will come back and be like, I thought that was dumb, but I did it, and it actually kind of worked. Well, that and also getting sleep, right? You don't get good sleep, you end up like increasing that craving signal as well. So you got to keep that in mind.

One more question. What is the ideal macro ratio? So you know, macro ratios was a big thing back in the day. Remember you had zone and then you had high carb and low carb and that stuff. Honestly, now this is gonna be different from person to person. So ideal macro ratio can actually vary depending on the individual. But generally speaking, if you're eating your target body weight in grams of protein and you're eating at least the amount of fat that you need to get your essential fatty acids, which tends to be around 60 to 70 grams,

sometimes a little less for some people, sometimes a little more. I don't like to ever take people below 50. of fat that you need to get your essential fatty acids, which tends to be around 60 to 70 grams, sometimes a little less for some people, sometimes a little more. I don't like to ever take people below 50, but whatever, 60, 70, getting your essential fats. I don't care if your carbs are high, your carbs are low, your fat is high. The rest of the makeup should be based off of how you feel,

so long as you get your essentials, because you need a certain amount of fat, otherwise you're not going to do well. So you have to explain that a little bit, right? So the only essential nutrients here is protein and fats. That's right, carbohydrates are non-essential. Are completely non-essential. So the ratio of carbs can be as low as 0%

to as high as 60, 70%, right? So that's irrelevant. So we don't even have to talk about carbs. All we need to talk about is protein. If you hit your grams in protein, that's first and foremost. Second, which is a high priority is, and you can literally Google search this, for a man this weight, how many grams of fat

should I eat to be healthy? For a woman at this weight, how many grams of fat should I eat? And then they'll give you like the essential amount that you need, and as long as you hit that target, then I would tell a client, divide up the rest however you want between carbs and fat. You can go high fat, low carb,

you can go higher carb, lower fat. I'd even tell them, hey, if you some days try this and assess how you feel. Go higher fat on some of these days and lower carb and assess how you feel. Then go higher carb and lower fat and see how you feel. And based off of that, that's where we'll kind of find it. That's kind of how later on.

I know that we have generic numbers that you've seen before. It's like 60, 20, 20, but it's like the individual variance is so wide that the main thing is that we hit our essential protein, we hit our essential fats, and then the rest of it, we really divide and play with the client and what feels best. Well, we're going beyond essential protein, right?

We're going high protein. Yeah, you're right. Essential protein's low. You're right. But high protein, essential fat, and the rest can be whatever you want based off of how you feel. And I've had clients that did really well with a higher carbon take and I've had clients with a lower carbon take and everything in between.

So really the rest of it is based on how you feel and what makes you feel the best. And that's the bottom line. Look, if you love our show, come find us on Instagram. Justin is at Mind Pump. Justin, I'm at Mind Pump to Stefano and Adam is at Mind Pump. Thank you for listening to Mind Pump. If your goal is to build and shape your body, dramatically improve your health and energy, and maximize your overall performance, check out our discounted RGB Super Bundle at mindpumpmedia.com.

The RGB Super Bundle includes maps anabolic, maps performance, and maps aesthetic. The RGB Super Bundle includes maps anabolic, maps performance, and maps aesthetic. Nine months of phased expert exercise programming designed by Sal, Adam, and Justin to systematically transform the way your body looks, feels, and performs. With detailed workout blueprints and over 200 videos, the RGB Super Bundle is like having Sal, Adam, and Justin as your own personal trainers, but at a fraction of the price. The RGB Super Bundle has a full 30-day money-back guarantee, and you can get it now plus other valuable free resources at mindpumpmedia.com. If you enjoy this show, please share the love by leaving us a 5-star rating and review on

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