Getting Over Dieting Plateaus

Hello again,

After week one I was pretty happy about averaging around 157lbs without very much effort at all, but became busier with work, leaving less room for the gym. I still want to get a bit leaner for the summer and for our memorial weekend trip to NYC, so I buckled down and dropped quite a bit of carbs and fats during the week and hit a couple of new lows back to back. This allowed me to indulge a bit on the weekend and not worry about it all too much.

Cheat meal #1: Ribs, sweet potato, and a skinny margarita

A question that comes up a lot with my clients is how to live a normal life, enjoy going out on the weekend, and still reach weight loss or strength goals. Many of us want to be able to do both, without sacrificing one or the other. 

I'll be really honest. If I am getting ready for a competition, I do not drink. I usually don't even go out, mostly because I'd rather spend that time training without exhausting myself with activities. I don't go out to eat if I can help it, and I do not miss a single training session. In order to be competitive, there are certain things that I feel are necessary to do, and to give up. But that's only three months of your life, and in return you get the joy of getting on the platform, giving it your all, and knowing that you couldn't have done anything differently that would have positively affected your performance. The worst thing to happen on meet day is to wonder "what if" you could have done better. 

On the other hand, I think that having a well-balanced social life is incredibly important for mental health and well being. This includes social drinking, eating, and spending time with loved ones. And that's what your off-season is for. Unless you are really overweight, there is no reason not to have periods throughout the year where you are more relaxed in these aspects. I leave out those who are overweight because I believe that physical health is much greater priority than a social life, and a healthy body weight will improve your social life much more than drinking or eating with your friends every weekend. But I digress!

Morning after my cheat meal

after a low of 155.4 lbs the day before

There are quite a few "tricks" I would say that I use in order to allow consistent progress while maintaining balance. They're nothing necessarily new or exciting, just habits I've practiced in order to get really good at not completely falling off the wagon or freaking out when I'm invited to social events. 

1. Learn to fast without starving yourself. 

Leading up to a cheat meal, I'm usually so excited that I don't even want to eat my normal meals, mostly because I'm tired of chicken and vegetables and weighing all my meals by this point. I usually skip breakfast or have tiny protein filled snacks throughout the day. My favorites lately have been protein shakes, yogurt with berries, and nuts. I heard somewhere that your body doesn't absorb all the calories from nuts so I'm going to just pretend that's true and eat them every day haha.

What this does for me is ensure that I get protein throughout the day, but that my calories stay low enough that an uncounted, fatty or carb heavy meal doesn't completely blow my diet out of the water. Snacking rather than completely fasting also helps to not go on a complete binge when it's time to have your cheat meal. 

2. Order sensibly. 

Exercise caution during your cheat meal. After all, if your goal is progress, you have to realize that all of your cheat meals do count against you. The better choices you make now, the closer you will be to your goals later, and the less catching up you will have to do throughout the week to battle an uncounted meal or two. Make this meal about catching up with friends and having a good, relaxing time, rather than about stuffing your face with as much food as possible. 

Cheat meal #2: Burger with a side salad (swapped out the fries!)

For example, the meal pictured above came with fries on the side, but I swapped it out for a salad. You can also share a meal with a friend, or eat half and take the other half to-go. Just be mindful of your choices. 

3. Cut the crap.

During the weekdays, I have zero unnecessary calories. This really helps drop the total calories consumed throughout the week, which helps to drop more body fat. By centering my meals around getting in adequate protein, fruits, and vegetables, I make sure I stay regular, get in some nutrients, and keep my hard earned muscle. Some people don't like this approach, and would prefer daily "cheats" or "treats" and that's okay too, but at some point, if you're not making progress, you need to either cut those out, or increase your calorie expenditure by adding in more exercise. If you're one of those who claims you don't have time to exercise, you are obligated to go the "cut the crap" route.

I hope this helps some of you who may be struggling!

And for those of you interested in getting help with your nutrition or programming, click here.

Until next time,

Mel 

Diet Break Review

Hi everyone (ok, probably like one person),

After the close of the transformation challenge, I took a scheduled diet break. Before I get into the details, I just want to briefly go over what exactly it is I'm talking about.

A diet break, simply put, means purposely applying the breaks on eating at a deficit, bumping your calories back up to maintenance, and allowing your body and mind to get back to neutral.

I don't want to get into too much detail, but Lyle Mcdonald does a great job at summing it up in a way that's easily digestible here.

In the first two weeks, ate roughly 2000-2400 calories a day, but I also bumped up my exercise intensity to make up for a lot of it. I use a Microsoft Band to track calories burned, and according to its readings, I burned about twice as many calories as a training session in a deficit. I also kept up my cardio, but dropped it to only 150 calories a day, rather than the 250 I had been doing.

Naturally, with an increase of food volume, you are carrying more food weight in your gut, AND you are burning more calories through TEF. Not sure how these balance out without doing some ridiculous and unnecessary math, but basically, unless you are binging or not counting your calories at all, the fat weight you can gain in a few weeks' time is negligible.

My two week break became a three week break, as I had to visit family in LA for some personal reasons. If you know me, you already know what these are and I'd rather not get into it here. During that week, I did not do any training, and didn't count a single calorie. I spent that time with family, and in fairness was pretty distracted and to be frank, could not give a flying fart about my diet/training.

Now that I've been back for a week, I've been battling jet-lag, not training at all, but my weight between post-vaca until now has dropped 3 lbs, only 1 lb away from my all-time low during my 12 week cut. No training, no cardio. I'm willing to bet that again, most of this is reduced food volume/water weight, but it's still a good place to be when starting my dieting phase again.

I've been consistently weighing in around 157 point something, which allows me about 4-5 weeks of dieting before the Memorial Day celebrations start rolling around. My lower back is almost 100% better thanks to Dr. Kang's wizardry, so hopefully I'll be able to get under a barbell soon enough. For now, I'm going to continue following my current macros, and try to get my butt back into the gym.

Thank you for reading!

Until next time,
Mel

Bodybuilding Transformation Challenge Week 12 FINAL PICS!

Today I woke up at the lowest weight I've seen since about 2014, and since we are closing out the transformation challenge, I snapped a few progress pictures.

Morning weight: 156.8

There have been a lot of bumps in the road, but I figure in a span of three months life's going to happen. I really don't feel like I went out of my way to get super lean, I just dieted sensibly and made sure I got some training in, which you probably know by now if you've been following my blog. 

Three months of weigh-ins.

I made pretty solid progress the first month. Around month two it looks like I completely stalled, which is when I started implementing more steady state cardio after my training. Four sessions a week at 250 calories got things moving, but then I got prescribed some meds for my respiratory issues, and BOOM. I gained about 10 lbs in a week, not even kidding. I didn't log in all my weigh-ins that week because it was very discouraging, and I got super bloated. 

Holding a lot of water, roughly 163-165 lbs.

Right after I got off the meds (which did fuck all for my respiratory issues), I dropped all the weight and then some. I thought I had an extra week to diet since I was counting down by the date (April 10th), but realized the transformation ends (April 3rd) about a week ago, and I was super bummed because we celebrated Jake's birthday at the end of March, and I wanted an extra week to drop more weight from that weekend. Plus my "lady time" is coming next week and I always gain a few right before, and drop a bunch right after. Oh well, rules are rules. 

Straight from myfitnesspal log: ThisIsIt22

Looking back at my log, I'm very happy with what I see. I never broke my streak, and only missed about 6 days of logging my food. There are some days I may not have logged every single thing I ate, but for the most part, I know that I stayed between 1500 and 1800 calories a day, without too much deviation. I had one really silly day of eating, and I really have no excuse for that other than to say I'm surprised it didn't happen more often given my track record. Haha.

My starting photos vs. some good lighting from last night.

Altogether I lost a solid 12 lbs in 12 weeks, so I can't complain about that. I know I still have a long way to go, but now that I've re-learned how to diet properly and have had a little bit of success with it, I know that I can get to where I want to be, no matter how long it takes. 

My tentative plan is to take a diet break for the next two weeks. I'm going to loosely count and keep my calories closer to maintenance, at about 2,000, while increasing my training intensity. Hopefully my weight stabilizes here and I can start dieting again for summer. 

Until next time,

Mel

Bodybuilding Transformation Challenge Weeks 9-11

Whew! These last few weeks have been out of control.

Not going to lie, I'm basically updating this blog so it won't be incomplete at this point. I did pretty well and hit new lows in weeks 9 and 10, but then Jake's birthday rolled around and it was all downhill from there.

My doctor prescribed me some meds to combat these respiratory issues I've been having, and what resulted was a bunch of bloating and inconsistent eating that put a solid 5 lbs of probably a combination of water and fat for good measure.

I thought I had an extra week to dial things in, but time has completely escaped me and the close of the transformation challenge is this weekend. I'm nowhere near where I want to be, but I'll take the 10 lb loss if that's all that's going to have come out of this challenge.

I'm honestly over it; I have been for several weeks now, but I'm not going to throw in the towel. I'm going to finish out this week and bring in the best package I can given the circumstances. For the next few days I'm just going to drop my carbs and continue my workouts as usual, which is four training days followed by 250 cals of cardio, then carb up the day or two before picture time. Maybe even get a spray tan if I'm feeling spicy.

A maintenance break is going to be absolutely glorious.

Until next time,
Mel

Bodybuilding Transformation Challenge Week 5 of 12

After blogging last week, I thought to myself, "there really can't be much more I can say about this cut, it's just going to be business as usual." Well boy, was I wrong.

I feel like I'm learning something new about myself, and re-learning so many things about dieting that I had forgotten because I simply hadn't committed to one [seriously] for long enough in the last few years.

I decided to give myself a bigger push and drop my calories from around 1700 closer to 1500 in order to keep up with my 2 lbs loss a week. I nearly hit that number with a low weigh-in of 159.2, but what's even better is that I didn't gain any weight after my cheat meal on Friday night. I decided that I'd roll over my cheat meal into a re-feed on Saturday since I didn't go over-board with my cumulative fat intake on Friday.

Overall, what I discovered this week was that simply removing foods or giving myself less of a portion to eat wasn't going to cut it. Instead, I opted to swap out some foods and replace them with other, more filling versions. Instead of having a banana and/or an apple, I eat more berries. Instead of oats or rice, I have vegetables. Instead of whey protein, I eat egg whites or chicken. The goal here is to keep my volume of food the same, but to eat less calorically dense foods in order to curb hunger.

Bye-bye, flour tortillas!

I'm pretty confident that 1500 calories will provide a big enough deficit, to where I will lose weight consistently, for at least the next few weeks as we close out the second month of this challenge. Instead of cutting any more calories, I will just increase my cardio as needed.

For this week, my new mini-goals will be to continue lifting 4x a week, and to add a 10 minute session to the end of each workout that consists of HIIT. Since I'm not changing my macros this week, my menu will stay the same, which makes grocery shopping, as well as choosing my meals much more easy and straightforward.

Until next time!
Mel

Bodybuilding Transformation Challenge Week 4 of 12

We're one month in, which means it's time for some progress pictures!

Everyone looks better in some good lingerie.

I've lost about 8 lbs so far, which averages out to 2 lbs a week, with a low weigh-in of 160.9. If I can keep up this rate of weight loss over these next 8 weeks, I'd be ecstatic!

I'm really glad that I decided to do this cut the "healthy" way. At this point, I have absolutely no cravings for "bad" food, and I wouldn't be able to consume very much anyway. The hubby & I went out to dinner for our cheat meal last night, and we didn't even order any sodas because we know it makes us both really bloated and lethargic. Our cheats are more for spending time with each other, not cooking and measuring our food, but still being relatively mindful of what goes in our mouths. I've learned that cheat meals will always set me back unless I'm able to be reasonable with my approach. It's not about the food anymore, it's about the time I get to spend relaxing with my hubbs.

This next week is going to be business as usual, I'll continue to prep my meals for the week in advance. I'm going to drop my calories by a smidge, and increase my cardio a bit as well. We'll see if we can get into the 150's by the end of this week!

Until next time,
Mel

Bodybuilding Transformation Challenge Week 1 of 12

All right guys,

We're officially finishing up the first week of dieting for bodybuilding.com's transformation challenge. I convinced the hubby to diet with me, so we're in this together! I'm super excited to have a partner in this challenge.

This week started off with a long flight back to Upstate NY from Los Angeles, and then I jumped right into a new job here in town, so my schedule was completely knocked upside down. Not only did I severely under-eat, but I also had zero energy for the gym because of the major jet lag and exhaustion.

I *tried* to get in most of my protein, but my coach has me on 165g, which is way over what I'm used to getting. I think I hit roughly 140g on my best day, and a poverty 80-100g protein/sub 1k kcals most other days. I basically turned into a bitchy sloth-zombie. I realized that if I'm going to function at work and not completely K.O. right when I get home, I need to get in more calories and more food. I still don't think I've hit over 1,500 kcals in a single 24 hour period so far this week, and I paid for it by getting this nasty cold. It's like every time I diet the whole universe plots against me succeeding. Just kidding, I know I suck at it and I just need to work on eating the RIGHT amount, and stop being such an extreme dieter.

I didn't really weigh myself in the beginning of this cut because I didn't have access to a scale, but I gave myself a generous starting weight of 170 lbs. My lowest weigh-in this week was roughly 162 lbs which is where I've been holding steady for several months now. My lowest weight of 2015 after my cut was around 157 lbs.

My goal for this upcoming week is to get over this cold (as if I have much control over this one), meal prep a little better so I'm not starving at work, and get to the gym or do home workouts at least three times. Hopefully this helps me get back into the swing of things so I'm not just losing all my muscle during this cut.

Until next time!
Mel

It's Time to Commit to a Diet

All right guys, this post has been a long time coming.

We all feel it right around this time. The colder months roll around bringing with them holiday celebrations, and all we want to do is cuddle at home with our doggies and some netflix, munching on holiday snacks between parties. Wait, is that just me? If the statistics about holiday weight gain are true, then probably not.

If you're anything like me, you bond over food. It reminds you of home, or of when you went out with that one special person whether it's a spouse or an old friend, and it's something you just default to whenever you set up a night out with your buddies.

But being in this industry, I've spent way too long making excuses for why I'm not dropping body fat. One of the main reasons was that I was afraid to lose my strength. This was a big fear for me because less calories means less energy for lifts, which means less gains. I don't have that excuse anymore.

Earlier this year, I had an elective cosmetic surgery (fancy way of saying I got new boobies), and in doing that I knew that I'd have to take at least 8 weeks off so everything could heal before beginning training again. When I got back to training, I had lost about 50 lbs off my squat and deadlift, and about half of that off my bench press. This was to be expected, so I didn't really sweat it. I had already started dieting to get some of the post-surgery weight off, and I felt really good.

Week 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, & 7 of dieting post-surgery.

Flash forward to a few months later, and my right implant had calcified. It was very uncomfortable and looked terrible. I developed capsular contraction of the right breast and needed to get a capsulotomy. This second surgery would remove the calcification, and result in another 8 week layoff from lifting. This really bummed me out, because it was an unexpected, unwanted surgery that eventually resulted in another 50 lbs off my squat and deadlift, and another 20-25lbs off my bench press. This means I lost 250 lbs off my total, which was almost 30% of my total!

Now that I'm already weak, I really have no excuse for not just dieting down and getting to a reasonable leanness. I've already put on a pretty good amount of muscle, and I really am curious as to what I'd look like under all of this fluff.

My chubbiest in 2006 at 172lbs,
140-145lbs in 2013,
built some mass at 160-162lbs

Long story short, it's time to cut the shit and get lean. Who's with me?

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

- Mel

The Ironic Rigidity of Flexible Dieting

WHAT IS FLEXIBLE DIETING?

Flexible dieting tends to be a much easier, more sustainable, and overall more pleasant experience than typical dieting methods that have been popularized in the last decade or so.

For the average overweight person intending to drop some fat for the summer months, an event, or for general health, it can be a very helpful tool to balance out dieting with a hectic work schedule and family life. Without referring to the atrocious over-popularized acronym--IIFYM *shudder*, flexible dieting can be used for weight loss, maintenance, or gain, all while enjoying a variety of foods as long as one stays within their calorie goals, while also being mindful of their macronutrient and micronutrient goals. 

When using these dieting methods, however, to be as accurate as possible, one must weigh out all of their meals, down to the ingredients if at all possible, in order to truly know the amounts of each macronutrient that's being consumed. This ensures that dieters hit their nutritional needs, while "fitting in" some junk food (for lack of a better term), when a craving or desire hits, allowing them to enjoy all foods in moderation.

However, some dieters have simply gone too far into a obsessive state of counting macros. Many "IIFYM" advocates tend to develop neurotic behaviors (if it has calories, it MUST be counted!) which, although an accurate use of the macro system, is the complete opposite of what a flexible approach should feel like. Counting gum, black coffee, artificial sweeteners, diet sodas, and herbs, and other super low calorie foods is not only a waste of time, but is really mentally obsessive and unhealthy behavior. Considering most food labels are partially rounded anyway, depending on FDA guidelines as well as each brand's own arbitrary systems, labels are not one hundred percent accurate. Not only this, but no matter how obsessively one track's their intake, one cannot possible duplicate each day's caloric output exactly, but can only estimate total caloric burn.


WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT?

The best way to approach flexible dieting, if you're not in competition prep, is to allow your results to speak for themselves. Meaning that if you are getting closer to your goal week by week, allow yourself to loosen the reins a bit and allow for uncounted green vegetables, eyeballing a portion of almond milk, or a free meal here and there. Rigid loyalty to the method is nonsensical if you are accomplishing what you are setting out to do regardless. It's only when there is a period (i.e: as little as two, up to ten weeks for women) of no change in body weight, when you can either change your calorie allowance or tighten your counting methods.

Restrictive dieting (we've all been victims of this in the past), is typically NOT sustainable for the average person. We all have parties, events, social lives, and even work lives that don't allow us to be on a diet ALL the time. So what? Does this mean we have to give up? ABSOLUTELY NOT. This just means we have to account for those days! You CAN couple macro counting with free days.


A FEW APPROACHES

• If you have an event where you will want to enjoy yourself and generally will not want to diet through, you can account for a meal by limiting your earlier meals to just protein rich meals. A vegetable omelette for breakfast, a chicken salad for lunch, maybe greek yogurt or a protein bar for a snack, and then just enjoy your evening while still being mindful of your portions so you don't throw yourself too far off track. A good way to gauge portions is to have just one plate of food with a protein, a serving of vegetables, and a carb, as well as one drink and a dessert that you can share with a friend or your spouse. Resume your diet the next day. 
• If you have a weekend event, you can opt for a steeper deficit (if your goal is weight loss) for a couple of days before and after your weekend. If at all possible, try to be mindful of your meals during this time, and throw in an extra cardio session so you won't be thrown too far from your goals.  
• If you have an event, like a vacation, that will last a week or longer, do your best to time your diet so that your diet break coincides with your vacation. Typically a diet break will come after about 6-12 weeks of dieting depending on the leanness of the dieter. This way you can just take the entire week or two off from dieting and just live your life. Once your diet break is over, you can get right back into dieting with a clear conscience and get to your goals even faster. 

For personalized meet prep programming and nutrition, email melsmoves@gmail.com

The Metroflex Classic

The USPA meet this past weekend at The Metroflex Gym in Long Beach was a great event to compete in, as well as to spectate. The event was separated into two days, with a cap of 60 lifters each day to make the event go smoothly and more quickly than single-day events. This was the most fun I've ever  had at a meet, mostly due to being surrounded by friends and family who really showed their support. I'm very appreciative to everyone who came out!

 Strength Society at Metroflex

 Tina Daneshmand, top female raw lifter in 105lb class

Greg Khoudikian pulling 705lbs at 220lbs

CT Fletcher showing support at his home gym

Now let's get down to the numbers:

Squat

1st attempt: 242. Two white lights. One red for depth. Got my first attempt on the board so I'm happy!

2nd attempt: 265. Two red lights for depth. 

3rd attempt: 270. Two red lights. One for depth, the other for up/down movement.

It was a bit disappointing to miss both my second and third attempts, but I was happy that I didn't fail any of these squats. My squat training hadn't been going well over the last several weeks, so squatting 270 was a gym PR at this body weight. My previous meet PR was 259@165, and 165@148. This meet gave me a 77lb PR at 148lbs.

Bench Press

1st attempt: 115. Easy. Three white lights. We're in!

2nd attempt: 126. Two white lights! One red for up/down movement. This was a major grinder.

3rd attempt: 132. Three reds for up/down movement. Locked it out, though!

I've had a bone to pick with the bench press for quite a while now. I was so stoked to get all of these lifts in, even though I got redlighted on my last attempt. To be honest, that second attempt should definitely have been redlighted as well, since there definitely was up/down movement looking back at the video. But sometimes the judges make unfair calls that go both ways. It was such a grinder that I didn't even want to take my third attempt, but surprisingly, the third went up way smoother. This was an all time bench press PR of 11lbs at 148.

Deadlift

1st attempt: 319. Three white lights. Went up like buttah.

2nd attempt: 336. Three white lights! Form was way off, but I completed the lift.

3rd attempt: 348. Three reds. Failed lift. Sadface!

Looking bad at the footage, my deadlift form was way off, which is something I'll need to be working on in the upcoming months. 336lbs is an all-time meet PR for me, but I was really hoping to get that 348 which would have been a CA state deadlift-only record.

At the end of the meet, I got 5/9 successful lifts. I learned a lot, and got to see some really strong people push some incredible weight! I finished it out with a 705 total, which has been a long term goal of mine.

In the next several months that I take off from powerlifting, I will be working toward becoming a better lifter and smarter competitor before stepping on the platform again.

Until next time!

8 Dieting Must Haves

This past weekend was my first time attending the Natural Products Expo West which is one of the biggest natural food expos in the country. I've attended a few other expos, but this one has to be at the top of my list in terms of variety of booths, quality of booths, and overall experience.

During the two days I spent at this HUGE event, I discovered quite a few treats that I am excited to add into my diet. Some of them were foods that I've been wanting to try for a while that I hadn't been able to, and others were items I had never even heard of before that I am excited to have learned about. Some of these products are so awesome that I absolutely had to share them with you guys, so I decided to compile a few of my favorite dieting must haves that I'd wish someone had told me about sooner.

8. GoPicnic ready-to-eat meals

This meal package is a great idea for those of us who are occasionally too busy to pack our lunches. The nutrition profile is really good with plenty of protein and fiber, and it's loaded with snacks! There's no need to refrigerate this, so you can just throw it in your car for an emergency meal.

7. bai5 Antioxidant Infusions

I love this product because it has the rich, full bodied flavor of your favorite fruity beverage, but with only 5 calories per serving, so you don't need to worry about going over your calorie budget for the day while you're sipping on this. I tried a few of their flavors and all of them were delicious. Definitely a must have for when you are craving a sweet drink.

6. Ziggy Marley's Coco'Mon Cold-Pressed Coconut Oil

This is a genius twist on traditional good-for-you coconut oil. I've tried this with steaks, with chicken, and with my veggies and it tastes good all around. The curry flavor is not overpowering, but more of a background note. If you like to stick to the basics, they carry the original classic version of coconut oil, but if you're feeling adventurous, I'd recommend that you try one of these flavored oils out and see how you like them. Their other flavors include orange almond and lemon ginger.

5. Frank's RedHot - Wings

Hot sauce should be a part of every persons diet routine. It adds lots of flavor for very little-to-no calories. Frank's RedHot has been one of my favorites for years, and once I discovered their buffalo wings flavor, I was absolutely hooked. I mainly use this on chicken breast to make me feel like I'm digging into some greasy wings instead, but you can definitely get creative with this flavor and use it as the base for a sauce, since it's very sweet and thick. I've slathered this on a salad and eaten it that way, too. Spicy dressing for no calories? I don't see why not.

4. Arctic Zero

Now you can have an entire pint of ice-cream guilt free for only around 150 calories. And not only that, but each pint also includes 16 grams of protein and 8 grams of fiber. Score!! It's made from whey, so it is the perfect post-workout treat. This stuff is definitely satisfying! Be on the lookout for some of their newest flavors like sea salt caramel, coconut, and orange cream, perfect for a sherbet lover. 

3. P28 High Protein Bread

Finally, bread with decent macros. This bread is really tasty, and has a higher protein content due to containing whey in its formulation, much like if you were to add protein powder to your pancake batter. It's a bit higher in calories at 130 per (giant) slice, but definitely worth it if you're a carb-a-holic. This brand also has tons of other protein-infused products as well, including flavored peanut butter (yum!). Definitely worth checking out!

2. Quest Protein Bars

This has been a staple in my every day diet for the past several months now. They taste great, have over 20 grams of protein per bar, and nearly just as much fiber. Their new cookies & cream flavor has got to be my favorite, with cookie dough coming in a very close second. Nuke in the microwave for 12 seconds (it's science) for an ooey gooey irresistible treat.

1. ProYo Ice Cream

Last but not least, we have ProYo high protein frozen yogurt. This stuff is delicious, and it's perfect for you to grab out of the freezer, let it thaw for a few minutes, and slurp! Tastes great and has a really enjoyable texture. It's a perfect treat for a hot summer day. 

Definitely do yourself a favor and try some of these products out. Be sure comment below with your favorite diet go-to treats!

Until next time.

Countdown to Camp Pendleton!!

COUNTINGDOWNTO.COM

5 Ways to Avoid the Holiday Buldge

They say the average American gains about ten pounds through the course of the holidays leading up through the New Year. Here are five go-to tactics that will help you keep your waist-line in check.

5. Get an early start on your New Years' resolution --
Face it, we both know your resolution will be to lose the weight you put on after the holidays, so get your gym membership early this year, and save some money by cashing in on year-end gym deals. Get in there for 20 minutes three times a week for some HIIT cardio to offset the extra holiday calories.

4. Don't go for the second serving --
Two servings more likely than not means twice the calories, so do yourself a favor and just say no to the second go-around. The holidays is a time to enjoy yourself, so savor the first plate, then spend the rest of the evening socializing rather than grazing.

3. Organize your plate --
Remember portion control. Separate your plate into quarters to ensure that you aren't going overboard with starches, and are instead giving yourself room for plenty of protein and veggies. Have a few bites of pie instead of an entire slice.

Salmon, tabbouleh, multi-gran quinoa, and brown rice. Yummm.

2. Mind your liquid calories --
The holidays might make us reach for that extra glass of wine or egg nog, but be mindful that these calories add up quickly. Switch out your sodas for water, or have your wine in place of dessert instead of in addition to it. And remember, the less you eat, the easier it will be to get a buzz. Win-win!

1. Dance!
Dancing burns a lot of calories, and you have a good time doing it, so instead of sitting out on the fun, join in and move your body to burn those calories. You'd be surprised how quickly you'd get out of breath when you're having fun moving your body. The sillier, the better!

The Holidays are about having fun and being around those you love, so divert your attention to the things that truly matter this holiday season instead of focusing on your meals. Your mind and body will thank you for it.

10 Gym Characters

If you've been to the gym, it's likely that you've run into a few people who fit into these categories.

10. Cardio Bunny

This is the girl who's always on the treadmill, usually fast-walking

 on an incline with what looks like the thinnest layer of skin 

covering delicate bones. 

9. The Meathead

This guy walks around the gym with his chest puffed up, 

fists clenched, admiring his physique in the mirror. 

Often can be found flexing mid set. 

*bicep kiss*

8. Selfie Queen

Usually can be found in the group fitness room

 with an exercise ball and a gal pal giggling

 and taking photos for Instagram or Facebook. 

Don't forget the #fitness tag!

7. Wheel Spinner

Comes to the gym year after year, 

but looks the same as the day he signed up.

6. Goal Switcher

Nobody really knows why this guy is here.

5. One-Upper

You gained 10 lbs of muscle during your last bulking cycle? 

You could have done better, bro, 

he did the Insanity workout, put on 15 lbs of muscle

 while dropping 10 lbs of fat in one month!

Photo unrelated to gym character listed above. Hehe.

4. Fit Couple

They come in together, he does curls, 

she watches and half-heartedly 

mimics his movements. 

So cute.

3. The Sleezeball

Hits on every girl at the gym. 

2. Gym Gabber

Talks to everyone. 

Middle of a set? It's okay! 

The gym will always be here, but will he be here to entertain you? 

Only for the next half hour, so enjoy.

1. The Flake

That friend who always sets up gym dates, but never shows up.

And of course we can't forget The Geezer, The Fitness Guru, Ms. America, The Grunter, Quarter-Squatter, The Bro, Van Damme, and The Distraction.

I'd tell you not to be "that guy," but you probably already are. It's okay, you have a special place in my heart at the gym <3

Reverse Dieting Bullshit

About a month ago I wrote about my peeves regarding the use of the phrase "metabolic damage," which leads me into my peeves with the overuse of this new popular phrase, "reverse dieting."

Reverse dieting is the phrase coined to define the process of slowly increasing caloric consumption after a period of dieting so as not to rebound and gain a tremendous amount of weight in a short period of time (yo-yo) post-competition. Some gurus recommend an increase of roughly 20 Calories a week so that the body can adjust to the energy increase, and so the least amount of weight is gained in the process of going back to eating at maintenance. In a sense, it is considered a "solution" to metabolic damage. Bleghk.

There are so many issues with these concepts that I don't even know where to begin.

First off -- If you are consuming 1400 Calories the week before you step on stage, and your maintenance is 2000 Calories, and you were to follow this guru advice and add in 20 calories each week, it would take you 30 weeks or 7 and a half months to get back up to maintenance calories. This means that you would still be at a deficit for almost 8 months post-competition. I don't know if this seems realistic to any of you, but I know I sure as hell wouldn't want to be in a deficit for the course of an entire year: 3-4 months prep, 7-8 months post-comp, no thank you.

Second -- 20 calories is a whopping 5 grams of protein or carbs, or a little over 2 grams of fat. Even the most meticulous dieters often don't control their diets to that degree, especially post-competition.

OMG, five extra pieces of broccoli?! Yayyyy. 

Third -- Your training post-competition is so different from prep, that this minor caloric increase wouldn't make much of tangible difference. How can someone advise changes in nutrition based off of a training protocol that's not even being implemented post-comp?

Lastly -- Rebounding from a competition isn't even that big of a deal. Most of it is water weight and bloat, and easily comes off once the dieter is eating at maintenance again. Nobody stays competition lean unless they're following a competition diet. That's how it works. You can't stay lean on a diet that doesn't make you lean. You will look the way you eat and train.

In my opinion, all these fancy new bullshit terms are there to scare people into thinking they need more help than they really do. You're not going to die from binging a day or two after your competition (as far as I know, but I'm not a doctor so don't blame me if you suffer from a heart attack post-comp after binging on donuts and ice cream). Just enjoy yourself, take some time off, eat normally, then get right back into the swing of things once you feel mentally and physically ready. Don't go off and diet more after you just got finished dieting, that's just stupid. Our bodies and minds need a break!

A competitor doesn't build their body in a few days, and won't destroy it in a few days, either. As with all things, you need time and consistency to achieve your goals. Just stick with it and stop over-complicating things.

Dabbling in Powerlifting

This year has been pretty rocky in terms of programming for my personal nutrition and training. I’m still relatively new to the fitness industry with less than two years under my belt, but have such a strong passion for it that I want to experience all it has to offer as quickly as I can.

What ends up happening to people like me is that we enter a competition blind, thinking we can win with our hearts, and end up being blown out of the water by people who have the time and experience under their belts.

I was fully cognizant of this when I decided a few weeks ago to submit my late application for the USPA SoCal Open Powerlifting meet that was held this past weekend at Metroflex in Long Beach.

It was an extremely tough 10 days leading up to the meet.

My shaky programming had me coming out of a 20 pound weight gain, so I needed to diet down hard to make it into the 148 (67.5 kilo) weight class. I used carb, water, and sodium manipulation to shed those 10 pounds. Oh, and a sauna. That definitely helped too. I felt like absolute hell every minute I was in there, but as soon as I made weight, 10 lbs in 10 days didn’t seem to matter anymore.

The day of the meet, I was greeted by an influx of conflicting emotions. I wasn’t nervous, just incredibly unprepared for what the day would bring. Confusion, excitement, disappointment, exhaustion, and elation were just a few of the many sentiments I experienced in the 12 hours that I was at Metroflex.

The highlight of my day was meeting all of the incredible people there who share my passion. It was such a positive, supportive environment, and you cannot help but feel uplifted from being around so many great athletes who are so committed to their sport, and determined to be better every single day.

I’ve learned so much from my experience this past weekend, and I can’t wait to start training for my next meet. I definitely would advise anyone to go ahead and at the very least watch a meet and see how all of these amazing athletes interact with one another, and how supportive and positive everyone is. It’s truly infectious.

Congratulations to all of the amazing ladies and gentlemen who hit PRs and broke records. I admire everyone who made it out there on Saturday, and I am very thankful for Steve Denison and the USPA for hosting these events.

Until next time. 

Do What Works For You: An IIFYM Rebuttal

By now most of us have heard the cries of the “if it fits your macros” army, and although admittedly counting your macros by weighing your food and inputting it into a database or spreadsheet is a surefire way to be able to assess what you’re actually putting into your body, the message that IIFYM advocates are sending is the wrong one. The majority of us cannot manage to eat Pop-Tarts and Reese’s cups all day and still lose weight. The images of fitness models with chiseled abs gobbling away on chips, ice cream, and donuts are an inaccurate depiction of the IIFYM lifestyle. I’d argue that an individual who is counting their macros, weighing and measuring all their food, and taking time to incorporate treats into their meals on a deficit typically wouldn’t be eating more than a serving of any junk food on any given day. It’s not just the fact that a food is able to fit into your macros, but that if you sacrifice whole foods in exchange for processed foods, you will in turn be sacrificing the satiety that comes with whole foods. Anyone can tell you that 200 calories of fibrous veggies is going to leave you a lot more satisfied than a Pop-Tart or Reese’s Cup. Going to absurd lengths and showing off these catastrophic carb-heavy processed foods to a group of people who don’t understand the fundamentals of nutrition is just setting up the public for confusion and a greater misunderstanding of what it really means to track macronutrients.


That is not to say that IIFYM doesn’t work, it absolutely does, and when we’ve been dieting for weeks and are craving a sweet treat, it’s nice to know that having a Pop-Tart won’t make us crash and burn. But IIFYM is meant for those who are ready to take on the task of weighing, measuring, and logging food. And let’s face it, most people aren’t. So if your goal is to lose weight, and you’re losing weight by eating clean (whatever you decide that to mean), then by all means eat clean. If you love your carbs and pastries and notice that you can lose 5 lbs to fit in your favorite dress for an event if you cut them out, then go for it! If you’re doing the Paleolithic diet, and you’re seeing results, stick with it! If you’re doing the Zone, Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem, Weight Watchers, Atkin’s, or any of the other tens of thousands of programs out there and you’re seeing results, then why fix what’s not broken?


If you are serious about committing to getting lean, though, and are ready to take on the task of weighing and logging your food, IIFYM can be one of the most efficient tools you have ever used. Just know that it’s not all Pop-Tarts and Reese’s Cups.