The Nick Bare Podcast - 053: How to Build Muscle, Lose Fat & Maintain the Results

Episode Date: February 12, 2024

In today's episode, I am answering some of the most frequently asked questions on building muscle and losing fat. The health and fitness industry is flooded with "30-day challenges" that promise quick results. However, most of these methods are unsustainable in the long run. My aim with this episode is to provide you with techniques to develop new habits and thought processes that will compound, leading to long-term, sustainable results. Enjoy! Save 10% at BPN Supps: https://bit.ly/nickbare10audio Follow for more:  IG: https://www.instagram.com/nickbarefitness/ YT: https://www.youtube.com/@nickbarefitness Topics: 0:00 Intro 0:57 Welcome 1:39 The grind 5:11 You make progress in drops 12:03 Set the standard 14:19 Strength training and cardio 23:05 Anabolic state 26:14 Losing weight 34:31 Specialized training 41:47 Diet 48:28 Unhealthy relationships with food 52:30 Over eating 58:06 Fitness and diet challenges

In today's episode of the podcast, we're talking about how to build muscle, lose fat, and maintain the results for long periods of time. I love seeing you guys make progress in your fitness, nutrition, diet, health and performance journey. I love it. But what I love even more is when I see people make changes that are realistic, sustainable and flexible that last a lifetime as opposed to a 30-day challenge that is too aggressive, unsustainable, and unrealistic. And in this episode, I want to share the few concepts that work would also invite you

to experiment with the many methods that can work for you. So right now, I am rereading for the third time. Tim Grover's book titled Winning. I'm a huge fan of this book, and I highly recommend it. I'm listening to it on my morning runs, and it's getting me jacked up as I'm moving into a new phase, a new position with BPN, which I will share here in the next couple of weeks with you guys

that I'm extremely excited and proud of. But one of the quotes that I pulled from Tim Grover's book that I think is applicable to the message today. And I want you to think about in the background as I discuss some of these topics. And it's all about the grind. And if you've been following me for any amount of time, you know that I am not a huge fan of the word

or the term the grind or even the hustle because I believe that it puts hard work on this pedestal and hard work is glorified. where hard work is it is the foundation it is the thing that works it is a non-negotiable it is the standard

and Tim Grover explains it perfectly he says everyone talks about the grind well you can grind and grind and grind and what's left at the end dust grinding deforms it obliterates

excellence is about sculpting When you sculpt, you strategically remove parts you don't need, the elements that get in the way, it's the equivalent of not just working hard, but working smart. I love that. I love that because oftentimes when the grind is highlighted and glorified, it is this complicated and complex system of unnecessary that leads to, potentially not even more results, but less results, less progress. What we want to do is sculpt.

We want to refine. We want to simplify the process of what we are doing and trying to achieve for a desired outcome, whether that's your business, your life, your family relationships, in this case, building muscle, losing fat, and maintaining the result. You can grind and grind and grind at all of these systems and approaches to build muscle and train and diet. But if you grind too hard, you will turn things into dust, which is no progress at all. What we want is progress. We want to sculpt the mind, the body, the spirit. And that's what we're talking about today.

How to build muscle, lose fat, and maintain the results. I've been thinking about this concept and topic on my morning runs recently, but I also open it up to you guys who follow me on Instagram. And I just ask the question, like, what do you struggle with in terms of building muscle, maintaining your diet, your weight, reaching your body competition and fitness goals? There were a lot of great questions. There was a lot of amazing input. But one of the things I'm going to dive into deeper into this podcast that I saw come across

more than anything else was the topic of overeating. It seems like a lot of people have a problem with overeating, which we could attribute to eating disorders and unhealthy relationships with food that, again, we're going to dive into, but I just wanted to kind of let you know what's to come in this episode. Now, a quote or saying that I've been thinking a lot about recently, more so in terms of business and building a brand, but it is also applicable to fitness and weight loss and training, it's that you make progress in drops, but you lose it in buckets. We make progress in drops. those drops are training sessions. Those drops are healthy, smart food choices.

Those drops are days, which lead to weeks, which lead to months, which lead to years. The consistency of just stacking bricks, brick by brick by brick over an extended period of time. That's how we build the body we want. That's how we build the habits that we desire. that's how we build the fitness that we're training for in drops. It's not going to happen overnight, but we can lose it in buckets. We can derail and destroy all of our progress so much faster than it takes to build. And the way that I was thinking about this, and the reason I share that is because that's how important building healthy,

sustainable habits are and being consistent with those habits as opposed to these just very aggressive sprints of challenging yourself to train for a certain thing or eat a certain way. I want to look at this whole approach in terms of what is sustainable and realistic for you to reach your goals. Think of bodybuilding, for example. If you're not exposed to the bodybuilding community or you never experienced a bodybuilding prep or a show. I want to share this with you. I've seen this so many times before because when I first got into the fitness space, I was obsessed with bodybuilding and strength training. This was like the era of 2009 to 2014. For me, I would go to the Arnold Fitness Expos,

and I'd follow these bodybuilders online who were documenting their preps and the journey, and I was eating every two and a half to three hours of chicken, rice, and broccoli. I loved that lifestyle. I was attracted to that lifestyle. I have done some bodybuilding shows, and I've trained in a bodybuilding approach for a long time.

I still do in some capacity, but I would follow these bodybuilders who would prepare for this show, and they would diet for 12, 16, 20 weeks, and they go from being 13, 14% body fat at the peak of their bulk, down to 5% to 6% body fat before they stepped on stage. They were so disciplined in the process

to lose that body fat, to expose all the muscle that they spent building it over years. through the workouts and the cardio and the very restrictive diets. And their calories got so low, their energy got so low, but they looked so good on stage. That is the process of bodybuilding to compete at a level that is required to step on a stage in a little man thong and show off what you have built and sculpted.

and I've watched these athletes train and be so committed and disciplined to the process. And they get there by drops, meals, cardio sessions, strength training sessions, drop by drop, brick by brick. And then lose all this weight. And the show is over. And as soon as the show over, it's like the floodgates open and they go out. absolutely wild. They eat everything they've wanted to over the course of those 12, 16, 20 previous weeks and they destroy all the progress they made. I've seen bodybuilders gain 30 plus pounds in 72 hours. I am not lying. The week after some bodybuilders step on stage,

they gain all of the weight back that they lost during that prep. That is what happens when you make progress and drops and you lose it in literally buckets. You can destroy your process or progress that quickly, that easily. Now, I don't share that story to scare you or intimidate you. I'm not saying that's going to happen, but that's why it is so important to make a plan, sick to a plan that is realistic and sustainable. Because when you follow a plan, like one of those, it is required to step on stage for a bodybuilding competition, that is not sustainable.

You cannot train that way. You cannot eat that way for a long period of time. that's why it only lasts for weeks and a few short months. And if you take the aggressive, overly aggressive, unsustainable, unhealthy approach, that's oftentimes what's going to happen. You're not going to be able to maintain the results that you achieved through this sprint. So as we dive into this, let's take the long road. let's be patient.

Let's not rush the progress or the process. And let's think of this in terms of reshaping your lifestyle, the way that you approach training, the way that you approach food and your diet and nutrition, as opposed to getting from point A to point B. There will be periods in time, depending on what you're training for, where you go more aggressively as opposed to others.

But as we look at this holistically, we want to be able to make progress sustainably for a long period of time, years and years and decades and decades to come, so that we don't lose it in buckets. And the last thing I'm going to leave you with before we dive into some more specifics around building muscle, losing fat, and maintaining the result. is that I want you to think of this in terms of setting a standard.

Something that we've been saying at BPN a lot recently is set the standard, hold the standard. Don't commit to a diet. Don't commit to a training program. Commit to the discipline and consistency of the process. Your training program is probably going to change from now. to where you are 5, 10, 15, 20 years from now. The foods you eat and enjoy the way you approach your diet is probably also going to change from now until then.

So don't commit to the specifics, but commit to the discipline and the consistency of the process. You don't have to be perfect to make progress, but you can't make progress without being consistent. Consistency is something you get to choose to do. Genetics are not something you choose. You can blame genetics all day, all night, of why you don't run as fast as you run, why you're not as strong as the person next to you,

why your body doesn't look a certain way, why it's harder for you to build muscle and lose weight compared to your friends or co-workers, employees, or maybe even other family members. You can blame genetics all day, all day. But that's one thing you can't control. So what can you control? Focus on that. You can control your choice and decision to be consistent to the process,

to be a student, to learn, throw yourself in the, the masses of information that's out there. And test something, experiment with it, and then learn and adapt. But you make progress in drops and you lose it in buckets. All right.

Diving into the first thing I want to talk about, we're talking all about building muscle, building fitness. The first topic is all around strength training versus cardio, in this case, I'm going to be talking a lot about running because I like running.

That is my preferred method of cardiovascular conditioning. And if you're listening to this podcast, I'm sure many of you also enjoy running as your preferred method of cardio. Now, what to prioritize in terms of building muscle and losing fat? Now, it is really easy to overcomplicate the ideal methods of building muscle and losing fat. So I'm going to try to simplify everything that we're going to be discussing today. Keep it simple, stupid. This was an acronym that we used to say in the military, in the army, kiss. keep it simple stupid that is not meant to offend you and i've used this acronym a few times before

but for me it's like this this concert reminder that there's a lot of information out there and it can be very overwhelming and burdensome but what is the simplest approach the simple program that we can create and follow that is going to take us to the place that we want to be or the goals we want to reach. And just because it is simple does not mean that it is easy. The concept of building muscle and losing fat, in all reality, they are simple concepts, but there are many methods to get there. Simple concepts. Simple concepts. many methods and I won't say that

any of them are easy. They are oftentimes hard but they don't have to be complicated. So what does building muscle require? Building muscle requires

a stress or a stimulus and that is on the muscles. That is why we strength train. We have to incorporate some sort of level of strength training, resistance training to build muscle.

And we have to apply this stress on a regular and consistent basis and apply progressive overload. That is how we build muscle. That is the concept. We go into the gym, we select a movement, and we put some weight, on that exercise or that piece of equipment,

and then we perform that movement over and over again. Now, there are certain rep ranges that are more suitable for building muscle as opposed to muscular endurance. If your goal is muscular endurance, well, then you probably want moderate to lower weight and higher rep ranges. But if you want to build muscle, you want to build strength, you probably want lower rep ranges, high volume, heavier weights. So when you're operating in the extremely low rep ranges, say one to three, one to four,

even one to five, you're mainly targeting strength building. You have longer periods of rest in between. when the rep ranges are very high, say 15, 20 plus, you're targeting more so muscular endurance. And in between there is hypertrophy. Six reps to say 12 reps is optimal for hypertrophy or muscle building with moderate rest periods in between. But applying the stimulus of utilizing

the right rep ranges, with the right rest in between, and the right volume, you will put yourself in a position to build muscle. What we also want to make sure we're doing is applying progressive overload. Now, progressive overload is when we increase the amount of total volume over time. So if you go into the gym and you'll see a lot of people do this that don't make progress, and they get mad, why am I not building muscle? Why am I not sculpting my body? Why am I not seeing changes?

Well, usually it's because they are or you are not applying and practicing progressive overload. So if you walk into the gym and you throw 135 pounds on the bench press and you do three sets of 10 reps and you do that twice a week, when you first get started, you're going to see some progress. It's called newbie gains. Newby gains are the best. It's when you see this quick response to the stimulus or training

that you're applying to your body and you start seeing results pretty quickly. However, if you keep going to the gym week after week, month after month, year after year, and you put 135 pounds on the bench and you do three sets of 10 reps over and over again. At some point you will plateau.

And you won't keep making progress because you failed to practice progressive overload. Progressive overload is that when we keep adding volume onto that movement in our training program so we have continued results. So what does that look like? total volume to calculate total volume of a exercise, you're going to take the weight that you use times the reps times the sets.

That's total volume. What we want to see on a chart over time is that total volume increases. How can we increase total volume of not just one exercise but an entire workout and training program. There's three things that we can manipulate. We can manipulate the weight, which is intensity. We can manipulate the reps and the sets. So if we can't do more weight and we can't do more reps, let's do some more sets. That's how we increase volume. If we don't want to manipulate the weight at all, but we're getting stronger, let's do more reps. And maybe we keep the sets the same or maybe we increase sets too. But as you start getting stronger, you have to

choose to lift more weights. So maybe every couple weeks you add five, 10, 15 additional pounds onto that movement. You can choose whether or not you manipulate the reps or sets, but by just adjusting the weight alone, you are increasing total volume. That is how we implement progressive overload. We have to keep applying progressive overload to our training to keep making progress and seeing new results

because if you don't, you will maintain status quo. There is no magic equation that you can apply that's going to change that outcome. Progressive overload is that important. So in addition to strength training, having a strength training program and applying progressive overload to your training, those two concepts right now will help you build muscle.

But what else is needed? Diet and nutrition. We need a considerable amount of protein in our diet. I personally like to aim for one gram per pound of body weight and then calories. If we have enough protein, if we have enough calories in our diet, we will be in an anabolic state. Anabolic state is where you have a ample amount or surplus of calories and nutrition to fuel muscle building.

because when we go into the gym, what happens is through resistance training, we are creating these micro-tares in the muscle. We are breaking down the muscles as we're working out. We're not building the muscle while we're training. We're actually breaking it down. And we're breaking it down through this stress and stimulus of resistance training

because when we're done working out, that's when the muscle building starts happening. The rebuild. Our body goes to heal these micro tears in our muscles, and it uses the amino acids that are circulating in our blood from the protein we're consuming and having enough of calories, enough nutrition in our body

to heal and repair what has been broken down during the workout. So during the workout, we're not actually building muscle. we're breaking muscle down. It's in between these training sessions where we're actually rebuilding. So the concepts of building muscle are fairly simple. Strength training. Progressive overload. Protein, nutrition, diet, eating enough so you can maintain an anabolic environment

in our body. A lot of times when people hear anabolic, they think of anabolic steroids. I'm not talking about that. talking about an anabolic environment in our body because of a surplus of nutrition and protein that is able to be used to repair the muscle fibers that we are breaking down during a training session. That is how we build muscle. Concepts are simple. Methods are many. I actually heard Andy Galpin say that on his podcast with Andrew Heberman. He said, concepts are few. methods are many.

And if you think about it, it's that simple. There are a few concepts at work. There's a lot of ways to, as I say, skin the cat. You can approach strength training and working out and diet in so many ways. But when it comes down to it, resistance training in the right rep ranges, progressive overload with total intensity and volume, and enough nutrition to rebuild your muscle. Losing weight, losing body fat, the concepts are just as simple. But at the same time, there are also many methods.

So in order to lose weight, in order to lose body fat, I'm sure many of you know this. But if not, here's a reminder, you have to be in a chloric deficit. So if you weigh 200 pounds, like me, for example, I weigh 200 pounds right now. if I maintain a pretty consistent diet from day to day, week to week, there are some variations. If I go out to dinner, I'm probably eating more, certain days I'm eating less, depending on what I'm training and how I'm training. My energy needs shift a little bit, but I don't get too obsessive about it. but in order for me to maintain 200 pounds, my diet has to maintain consistency

in terms of my energy intake, how much I'm eating. If I'm eating too much, too frequently, I'm then in a surplus, I will gain weight. And if I'm eating too little, less than is required to maintain 200 pounds, I will lose weight. That is the concept.

You have where you're at right now. If you want to lose weight, you need to eat less, consume less calories, or expend more through working out than is required to maintain your current weight. And if you want to gain weight, if you want to balk, if you want to put on some size, some mass, which will bring some body fat to, you need to eat in a caloric surplus more than is required to maintain. your current weight. That concept is pretty simple. And it is science. We know

that works. If you're telling yourself right now, that doesn't work for me, or someone you know tells you that that doesn't work for everyone, that's a load of BS. That is the law of thermodynamics.

We know that's how the body works. That's how we maintain, lose, or gain weight. But there's a lot of methods in terms of how you eat, what you eat, when you eat, in order to get there. And to be honest, there's no right answer. There's no perfect answer. It is what works for you, what you enjoy, what is sustainable. Now, prioritizing strength training or cardio, where should you start? What should you do? To lose weight, I will add this.

To lose weight, all the training you do, all the workouts, the running, the strength training, fat loss, weight loss is a byproduct of that exercise in that diet. So I would always prioritize personally strength training and allow cardiovascular conditioning, in this case, running, support and complement your strength training. Because what I've seen is strength training has, and this next section, we're going to dive into specialization for training based off goals. but for the everyday person, if you're not training for something specific or very particular and specialized at the moment,

strength training has greater impact and benefit on body composition, on metabolic activity, on hormone regulation, the way you look, the way you feel, and just overall optimization, not for the here and now, but also the future. Because as you get older, your health span and lifespan is very dependent,

not only on V-O-2 max, but the amount of muscle mass that you have. So I'm a fan of always prioritizing strength training because I think it has the most positive impacts, not just on your health, but also the way that you look feel and perform for now and in the future. That's not to say that you should not practice or include cardio. Because if you know me, I love cardio. I love running in particular for the mental and physical benefits of it.

Cardiovascular conditioning also has great impact on the body in terms of improving V-O-2 max heart health, lung health, helping circulate and move blood throughout the body, which also can help your strength training sessions. So they both are very important to cooperate, and we should all be incorporating some sort of level of strength training and cardiovascular conditioning into our weekly programming. But if I had to prioritize one, it would be strength for all of those reasons,

and now it would allow cardio to complement. Now you're probably asking yourself, well, Nick, we see you run a lot, especially in certain seasons of your life. And I do. When I'm training for marathons or ultramarathons, I'm always running. Like right now, to give you an example,

I'm training for something, but I'm not training for I'm training for a race right now that I can't really talk about yet, but I will share soon. Super exciting stuff. When I'm in a marathon prep or an ultra prep

and I'm going for a certain time or place or PR, that training takes priority. And I allow my strength training to support and complement my running. But right now in the season of life, I'm truly in this balance of strength and running, the true hybrid lifestyle, where I'm strength training about five days a week,

and I'm running about 45 miles a week. Now, for a lot of people, that might seem like a lot of miles. But going back to progressive overload, which is not only applied to strength training, but also running, 45 miles a week for me now is not anything crazy. Three years. Three years, years ago, it would have been a lot. But because I've progressively overloaded total volume in terms of mileage and how frequently I am running and at the paces that I am running, being patient with that and seeing the results over a long period of time and practicing progressive overload now that is my norm and my baseline compared to where it was two, three, four years ago. That's what making progress looks like and feels like.

So I'm a big fan of cardiovascular conditioning, obviously, and running. And in certain periods of life, there's a heavier focus on one as opposed to the other. but it's really based off of specialization in training for specific goals. And that's what I'm going to talk about next. Now, this topic alone probably deserves its own podcast episode at some point. So I'm going to briefly talk about it to provide some context. Based off of your goals at this time, whether that goal is aesthetic based, being mainly body composition and what you look like.

An example of that is a bodybuilding show where you have to get extremely lean or maybe you just have a aesthetic goal for your wedding that is coming up or a summer vacation in Florida, for example, you want to lose some weight, you want to expose your abs a little more, nothing wrong with that.

Having aesthetic-based goals requires a certain plan and approach. if you have a performance-based goal that requires a different plan and approach and if you have a health-based goal that also requires a different plan and approach and this is where you have to really ask yourself what are my goals at this point in time

what am I training for what do I want to achieve and then making a plan based off of those goals. There is no perfect training program. There's no perfect diet. It is what works for you that you enjoy for your goals. And when I was training for this last marathon, you know, I was training for a sub-245 marathon for the California International Marathon in Sacramento. I ended up running two hours and 39 minutes. And I was able to do that because my training was so specialized. Working with Coach Jeff Cunningham,

you know, if you look at that training program that I did, going back to the whole simple versus easy analogy, Jeff's programs, when he sends them over every week, they are simple workouts. Now, I'm not saying they are easy workouts by any means. Some of those training sessions kick my ass, and I get it handed to me. But if you look at the structure of the week in certain workouts within those weeks, they are simple workouts.

But just because they are simple does not mean they are easy. And in order for me to run a sub 245 marathon, I had to put a lot of work in, and my training had to be very specialized around. running. So during that training block, the priority of focus was running, obviously. That's where most of my time was spent. And my strength training was significantly reduced, especially hypertrophy focused strength training, where I wasn't trying to get bigger during this training block. But I wanted to maintain strength and power. So a lot of the movements that I would,

was doing were structured around that outcome. Heavyer weight, lower rep ranges, not too much volume, but I wanted to maintain strength and power to support my running goals. And I saw a lot of questions and comments come over during that time during that training block saying, oh, Nick doesn't even strength train anymore. Like you're not hybrid any longer. You're just a runner now. And that's not necessarily the case.

because I had a very specialized goal at that period of time in that chapter and season of my life where I wanted to do a certain thing and that certain thing required specialization in training. Specialized goals require specialization in training. If you are trying to get stronger, for example, you're going to apply that same mindset to your training program. If strength is your primary focus, you're probably going to be working with multi-joint compound movements

like overhead presses, barbell back squats, bench press, dead lifts. You're going to be progressively overloading your volume, working with heavier weights, lower rep ranges.

And you might or might not incorporate running still, but I'm sure you're going to reduce some of that volume because it is not the primary focus, because you require specialization in training for specialized goals. Same thing goes for goals surrounding wanting to get bigger and putting on more size. We're going to approach that with certain exercises,

with certain volume requirements, lifting within certain rep ranges, maybe the six to 12, like I said previously, shorter rest periods, and you may or may not still be incorporating a lot of running. Nothing wrong with that as long as it doesn't start taking away from your primary goal of putting on more size, more mass, building more muscle. but this doesn't mean that you have to turn one switch on and turn the other switch off. So if your goal, going back to the marathon training example, if your goal is a marathon and to run a faster marathon, the fastest marathon you've ever run, you don't turn on the running

switch and turn off the strength training switch. It's not an on-off switch, but it might be a dimmer. switch where you can turn up the volume and intensity, just move that dimmer switch up on your running, and you're turning down the dimmer switch on your strength and hypertrophy or resistance training. It's not on and off switch, but there's these dimmer switches that we can adjust to add specialization in our training for these very specific goals. That's the way that I like to think about it. and I approach it. But you first have to identify what is your goal?

Do you want to build muscle? Do you want to lose weight? Do you want to run a faster marathon? Do you want to run your first ultra marathon? Do you want to step on a bodybuilding stage? Do you just want to be healthier? Do you just want to be more fit to show up for your family and your friends and have more energy? Well, then we're going to build a program and a diet around those goals to

to meet your needs and desired outcomes. Because there's no perfect plan for everyone. There's a perfect plan for you based off what you want to achieve in that given time period. Now we're talking about diet. I've already explained the difference between a chloric deficit and a chloric surplus. When it comes to a chloric deficit, that's going to facilitate weight loss. And when you're in a cloric surplus, that is going to facilitate weight gain. Now, your diet doesn't have to be perfect.

In order to build muscle, in order to lose fat, lose body weight, and to maintain those results, you don't have to have the perfect diet. I will tell you right now, my diet wouldn't be considered perfect, but it is very consistent. It is extremely consistent. 85, maybe 90% of my diet is whole natural food sources that are very consistent day to day. I have my meals locked in, my go-toes that I know I'm eating, that I know make me feel good, that works for me based off my schedule of what I can prep and what I enjoy, what I like to eat. But that doesn't mean that I don't like to go out with friends and family and enjoy myself.

Like two nights ago, for example, myself, my wife, Steph, baby Charlie, Charlie is a year and a half right now. We were craving some Mexican food. So I'm a big foodie myself, went online and started just like Googling the best Mexican food in Nashville. I came across this taco joint called uh

moss tacos, I believe it was. It looks like a hole in the bowl joint, but it had amazing food. There was a line outside. It was a vibe inside. And I got a few tacos. I got like a chicken taco,

pulled pork taco. Um, and then like a beef taco. I also got the alote, which is corn on the cup. that comes with like cohita cheese and some other spices and potentially sauces on there. It was delicious, a little, little spicy, little hot. Gave the Charlie to try and she like lost her mind because it was too spicy.

I felt really bad. We also had some sweet plantains. So it was plantains that were covered in like this, you know, powdered sugar sauce, for example. And then I had a margarita as well. And that meal was delicious. and I enjoyed it. Was it perfect? Did I hit my macros?

Did I eat in a surplus? I probably ate in a surplus. Did I hit my macros? I'm not really sure. Did I enjoy that meal? Yes. Did I enjoy that meal with my family? Absolutely.

That's part of living. One meal is not going to throw you off the trajectory of achieving your goal. Now, if you're dieting for something, something like a bodybuilding competition, it might, because that is such a specific goal that requires a very specialized diet. But for right now, for what I'm trying to achieve is a sustainable life that comes with sustainable training and a sustainable diet that I enjoy that allows me to show up as the best version myself. Mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually.

And I spiritually needed that margarita and those sweet plantains because they are delicious. Another example is last week, Steph was making lemon bars. And she was watching, it was a Sunday morning, we were watching Magnolia Kitchen. I believe it's called Magnolia Kitchen. It is Joanna Gaines cooking show that we love. we also love this cooking show called The Lost Kitchen, highly recommend. But we were watching Joanna Gaines cooking show there in Waco, Texas, and she was making lemon bars, and we're like, dang, those look so good.

So let's order the ingredients, let's make lemon bars, and let's have some lemon bars tonight. So that's what we did. They were filled with butter and powdered sugar, and they were by no means the healthiest thing. but we had fun making them together based off of this experience that we had watching the show and making them and then trying him with Charlie and it was fun. Is that one lemon bar going to derail me from my progress that I'm trying to achieve right now? No, it's not. But what happens when you eat the whole tray of lemon bars?

what happens when you have 10 tacos, two orders of the sweet plantains, and four margaritas. And you do that multiple times a week or multiple times a month for a long period of time. Well, then it's going to derail your progress. But I'm a firm believer in approaching diet in terms of not trying to be perfect, but make it sustainable. And you got to be smart. and you have to be disciplined. Discipline for so many people is the hardest thing. Because once you take a bite,

sometimes you want to eat the whole piece. And sometimes you go back for seconds, in thirds, in fourths. And then before you know it, it's all gone. And this is where I want to really lean into when it comes to diet. Because, again, there's no perfect diet, but I think most people

people can agree that they struggle the most with diet. It's not usually training. It's not the workouts. It's not showing up and putting in the work, but it's being disciplined with the foods that they are consuming on a regular basis that often derails them from achieving the fitness goals, achieving the body that they want to sculpt, and looking the way they want to look and feel the way they want to feel. And here's the thing. Eating disorders and unhealthy relationships with food are a real thing. And more people have them than you would think or want to believe. And I know the signs because if you know my story, when I was 14 years old, I had a severe eating disorder. severe. I was starving myself. I lost significant amount of weight. My organs started shutting down. I was

in and out of the hospital. I mean, I took it to the extremes. It was aggressive. It was dangerous and it was killing me. And even though I now have healthier relationships with food and I no longer have an eating disorder, there are still moments when it is re-triggered and it comes back. And I know how to identify when I'm feeling certain ways, address it, and then making a plan to combat some of those feelings. But I see it all the times with people. Everyone thinks that someone who has an eating disorder is like the picture, perfect example of someone that is anorexic where they have no body fat on them any longer.

bones are sticking out everywhere. They look emaciated and like they're about to die or that they are already a corpse. When people think of eating disorders, I think that's what comes to mind for most people. But in reality, those are the extreme cases. Normally when people have eating disorders, it's being afraid to eat certain foods. They're afraid of certain foods because what if they gain? pounds from this one cookie? Or what if those extra carbs they ate during that day or that extra fat they consumed,

whether it's from a pizza or an avocado, what if those extra calories are going to, I'm going to hold on to that for weeks and I'm going to have to work out more? Eating disorders and unhealthy relationships with food can be disguised in so many different ways. It can be afraid of certain foods. It can be excessive working out to extreme. to burn the calories, the extra calories they consumed during a dinner out with friends. Sometimes it's binge eating. A lot of times it's overeating.

It can be disguised in a lot of different ways. And because I'm someone who experienced the severe, aggressive end of it, I've been able to identify when people are going through certain things. Now, I've noticed in my life that there are a lot of people going through similar things being eating disorders. And if you're struggling with an eating disorder, I will say right now, you should reach out for professional help.

What I'm sharing this podcast right now is a really high level, personal experience, and just observation. But if you are struggling with an eating disorder and you aren't getting any better and no one understands what you're going through,

reach out to professional help, talk to a doctor, talk to a psychiatrist, get the help you need, because it can promise you when you build sustainable, healthy relationships with food again, which is not an easy journey. Again, simple, yes, just eat more, but not an easy journey by any means. When you get back to a healthy space, life is much more enjoyable. but what I want to focus on in terms of eating disorders, unhealthy relationships with food and diet,

when it comes to this podcast episode alone, is overeating because I think a lot of people, and I'm saying this based off of the responses in that Instagram Q&A that I opened up, a lot of people struggle with overeating. So here's my take on it, because I sometimes struggle with overeating too because I love food. And it's normally not for breakfast, lunch, or like my post-workout meal.

That's never when I have an issue overeating. But if I'm going to overeat, it's at dinner. Because that's when we're making food for the family, like it's family style. Or going out to dinner and we're ordering multiple apps. entrees and we're sharing family style or tapas and there's unlimited food. So I just keep picking and eating and eating. Next thing you know, you're finished with dinner and you're across from your friend. You're like, dude, I am so uncomfortably full.

Now, is that an issue? Not necessarily. But it can be. It can be. And it can definitely derail you from your progress. in terms of achieving the body composition or health and performance that you want and desire. So here's my approach that I like to take that works for me. Because when I make my first couple meals throughout the day,

they are often pre-planned and portioned out. I don't track my food any longer, but I still weigh things out. I use measuring cups. Like when I'm mixing up my eggs and my oats in the morning, I get a one cup measuring cup and I pour a cup of egg whites in there. Then I'll crack two eggs

and I'll get the half cup of oats out from the oat container. I'll dump that in there. So I'm measuring out portions. For lunch, I will weigh out portions even though I don't track. So I'll weigh out 250 to 300 grams of rice, eight ounces of meat, whether that's chicken or steak

or pork or, or fish or whatever I have prepped and ready. And then when it comes to dinner, that can sometimes be a free-for-all. Fill your plate, eat, done, go get seconds. Maybe you get two, two point five servings. You know, you don't want the full third, but you're going and grabbing some more carbs,

maybe a little bit more steak that was left over. And that's often when I personally, overeat or I see other people overeat. So how do you do this? Well, there's a few places to start, or at least where I would start. Portion control, you can just get out on a scale and weigh out your portions. Well, I want eight ounces of meat. I want 300 grams of the carb, not getting super precise, like what was cooked with the meat or what was cooked in the carb. But just controlling your portions with the scale and not obsessing over the calories that are in it or the macronutrients that make up that meal. But just getting used to portion control is something you can do.

Another thing that you can do is make your plate and your plate first is protein forward. Then you have your carb and your veggie, maybe a side of bread or something like that. Make your plate. Make your plate to a portion size that you think will really fulfill you. and you're not going to be hungry afterwards, but it's not too much. Go back to the table, take your time, eat slow, finish that plate, and then take some time. Engage in conversation with people who are at the table with you, get up, go for a walk, do some things for a period of time, then come back to the table and decide if you're really hungry. Because what happens a lot of times is you finish that first plate and you eat it fast. and your mind hasn't caught up to your stomach yet.

I've heard this fact once. I'm not sure if it's accurate. I haven't fact checked it, but I've heard that your mind takes 20 minutes to decide if you are full or not after your stomach is actually fulfilled and your body is full. So eat that first plate slow.

Take your time, chew your food, let it digest, engage in conversation, and then wait after you're done eating that first plate for some significant amount of time before you decide to go back for a second. Because when I do this, for example, finish that first plate, after the first plate, I'm like, I'm still hungry. But I sit there for a little bit, have conversation, get up, walk around, do a few things, sit back down. Then I realize, man, I'm full.

I didn't need that second plate that I thought I did. But sometimes you just need the time. But you have to be disciplined. All of this, like none of this matters if you're not disciplined and consistent with the approach you're taking. Nothing works. It all comes with a choice. Consistency, discipline, it is a choice. And here's the last thing I'm going to talk about in this episode.

and it's all around the problem with fitness and diet challenges from my perspective. Now, this is not to discourage you from joining or starting a fitness challenge or a diet challenge. But here's my observation is what I want to share. Take it or leave it. But just think about it for a second. And then beginning this episode, I talked all about how to maintain the results from the muscle you build,

the weight you lose, the body composition changes that you experience. The only way that you're going to see those results happen and stay for long periods of time is by following a sustainable, enjoyable, realistic approach and protocol.

If it's not sustainable, you don't enjoy it, it's way too aggressive. Those results will happen. Probably happen very quickly. And you can be really motivated. But then as soon as that level of aggressiveness turns off or slows down,

so do the results. I've seen so many people take the approach of super aggressive, decreasing calories significantly right away, increasing the amount of strength training they're doing significantly right away, tripling the amount of cardio they normally do right away. And they follow this plan for 30, 40, 50, 60 days. And they change their life. I mean, they look different. They feel different. They're getting compliments about how amazing they look compared to where they were two months ago.

But what happens is that person realizes that that plan, that program, that diet they were following is not sustainable. And as soon as they just let off the reins a little bit where the progress was made in drops, it is now lost in buckets because it's not an approach that you can do for extended periods of time. So be very cautious of buying into starting and following a super aggressive fitness or diet plan or challenge because as amazing as it's going to feel to achieve those results very quickly, you may end up exactly where you are before you started three, four, five, six months afterwards. Play the long game. I'm telling you, if you play the long game and you apply the simple concepts, the few simple concepts that work,

that are not easy by any means, and there's many different methods you can apply to it, that's where it becomes realistic. That's where it becomes sustainable. That's where it becomes enjoyable. And that's where it becomes a part of your life. It comes alongside you and takes you through this journey that you can follow for the rest of your life and still enjoy time with friends and family and going out to dinner and being in social. environments and taking time away from your strict and rigid diet and training programs and protocols and coming back on track and making consistent results time after time after time.

Keep it simple. Simple again does not mean easy and there are a few concepts that work with many methods. That's how to build muscle. That's how to lose fat. And that's how to maintain the results.