(<== Experts Say If You Go Too Low You'll Lose An Eye!)
I just got back from the gym this morning and the “How Low Can You Go?” song by Ludacris was on…
… and it made me think of a interesting little story that happened to me this weekend.
And when I say story, I really mean “comment”.
You see, it’s wedding season and L and I are loaded down with wedding festivities for people we know. Oh, and by the way, it’s a joy to go to all of these things… maybe.
Anyway, back on the ranch, we were at one of her friend’s shower on Saturday when both the future bride and groom looked at me and said…
“Dude, have you been working out, you look a lot bigger…”
… which is FUNNY because I’m actually SMALLER than the last time they saw me.
The difference is that I’m down over 30 lbs with the same muscle size… so I get to shamelessly wear tighter fitting shirts 
Interesting? You betcha.
So that brings me to the next couple of points.
#1 Based on yesterday’s podcast on “What Causes Muscle Growth“, lots of people are emailing in asking about the precise number of calories it takes to build muscle AND it seems people want us to basically give everyone permission to eat as much as you want.
In light of that, a muscle building rule of thumb:
Eat however much you want, but keep an eye on your waist measurement. If your waist measurement is going UP, then you know those calories are spilling over and AREN’T being used to build muscle.
If you want to choke down 4000 calories per day… great. But if your waist starts going up, then you’re wasting your money on food and “shakes”. Bottom line.
(HA! Waist is ‘wasting’)
#2 If your waist IS going up… then you’re likely spending more money on food than you need to. If you’re trying to find some spare money for a vacation or something, it MIGHT be a good idea to look at your food spending and grocery bill. Plus, you DO want to look good when you go on vacation right?
(Hmmm, I wonder if you could reallocate enough money in a way that you lose weight and get a vacation basically for “free”… interesting thought)
#3 “How Low Can You Go?”
Answer: As LOW as you can handle.
Look, there are a lot of guys coming around the bend with new products and services that claim to be able to let you go LOWER than you ever thought possible. And, it seems that a lot of the “conventional” wisdom is being shuttled out the door with the quickness as new strategies for going low evolve.
Do they work?
Yeah, big time. Just make sure to keep lifting to keep your mind in line with your overall goal of a good physique (using AI and VI as your metrics) and you can go as LOW as you can handle. Of course, I like my way because it works with my lifestyle, but the real choice in all of this is simple, no matter if you’re trying to slash body fat with the quickness, or grow rock hard muscle…
… you can either CHOOSE to change your whole life to dedicate to this one goal…
… or you can CHOOSE to morph your plan to fit into your life.
Either way works, you just have to decide which way is best for you. For some, the all or nothing approach is the only thing that will work for them. Others, like myself, can bob and weave fluidly and get great results as well.
Which way will you choose?
Brad
p.s. Isn’t it about time you jumped in with us? Take the test drive of the Adonis Index Systems today. Only $4.95 to start and with our “No Results, No Pay” guarantee, you’ve got nothing to lose.
{ 6 comments }
Question. We hear all the time 1-2 lbs weight loss per week is healthy/ideal…any truth to the statement or just another reason for us to keep eating more?
Thanks
Not really the fact that it’s healthy or ideal but more along the lines of that’s about all you CAN lose (fat that is) in a week.
Quick math.
Say you burn 2500 cals a day (max) x 7 = 17500 cals burned a week max
If you didn’t eat anything and could STILL manage this output, that would equate to 5 lbs of fat loss IF all of the calories came from fat.
But they don’t. Some come from glycogen stores, etc. So likely the max is rougly 2-3 lbs of fat.
(with NO food and rigorous daily exercise)
Now add some food, compensatory effects of exercise, etc and you drop even further.
Remember, weight loss is different than fat loss and you can lose a LOT of weight in the beginning due to water and inflammation decreasing, but the lower your bodyfat gets, the slower the weight loss because now there is no huge water drops and all you really see on the scale is a decrease in fat.
My personal opinion on body fat?
I’ve never really seen anyone get LESS healthy from losing body fat, no matter how they did it.
(eating disorders aside)
Since I started following Brad’s Eat Stop Eat, I don’t even pay attention to “bulking” or “cutting” phases (although I didn’t before that either..). Now it’s just a weekly weigh in and measurement that determines where I go the following week. Like you said, if the waistline went up, then I cut back on food for the next week (usually with a fast or two). If it stayed the same, I do the same. If it went down, I might add more food. I like the weaving in and out approach like you mention.
Hey Brad, how about posting pics of your lean body? I’d like to see what kind of body you’ve built using ESE and the Adonis System.
This last post has a pic.
http://blog.adonislifestyle.com/proven-never-fails-step-by-step-method-for-blistering-fat-loss/
I’ve got one more inch to drop in the waist and then I’ll post some better ones.
hey brad i was just wondering that why is the scale not going down? i have at it for two week going sub 900 calories a day, out of the 14 days i had one carb up, and i seem to be able to tell a difference in the mirror ( or is it just in my mind?). so what would be the explenation in the scale not dropping?
ps. bmr=1900
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