There is so much mis and dis information circulating thru the general public about”losing weight”. Even the basic concept of “weight loss” is a misnomer in and of itself.  The terminology is useless and a great cause of confusion.  Western Society in the 21st century is at a crossroads because most people through the aid of technology are basically sedentary.  In the same regard, people usually eat the simplest most available food stuffs ie what’s on grocery and convenience store shelves.  Most of them are highly refined, processed and laden with trans-fats. When you combine these two basic concepts, you can visualize the impending disaster facing the health care industry for the next 50 years.

The issue is not something concerning the Bodybuilding/Life Extending/and Fitness communities. What they are looking for is the quickest and most effective way to get lean/shredded. The general goal of this series of articles is to offer a an informed perspective using 20 years of empirical application which have yielded such results.

Bio-Chemistry and Thermodynamics

There is no “cookie-cutter” approach to altering ones body composition. Notice we didn’t say weight loss because what we are after is adiposity reduction/elimination.
The Human body’s weight can fluctuate in multiple ways rarely linearly with a persons individual response either positive or negative.  In the simplest of terms, the Human Body can alter its physical composition by reducing or increasing kcal intake. It doesn’t matter the types of energy used for such a purpose. Regardless of what the many and various diet guru’s say about the composition of the nutrients and macro-nutrient ratio %’s— The LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS prevails 99.9% of the time.

If you take in less kcals than you need for maintaining “BASAL METABOLIC RATE“(BMR), you will lose weight(Skeletal Mass(Muscle) and Adipose Tissue(Body fat). The inverse is also true.

Accepting this as a universal truism, how do we establish a *Normal Persons BMR*?

How does a Normal person differ from a person reading this site? (We need to establish guidelines here…we’ll address and augment this answer in a future installment covering the diverese population groups reading TMC and looking for help)

General Guidelines

Determining BMR is multi-factoral and often confusing because of our favorite term in the world of molecular biology and food and nutrition. “Biochemical Individuality“. No single person burns kcals the same.  Humanity is so different in this regard. (And if you knew how Reptilian shape shifters burned wow..:) Understanding the diversity of caloric burn, self experimentation and accurate record keeping is of paramount importance to understand how individuals **process nutrients**(more on this in a future article)

To illustrate “How to diet”, it’s easiest to create a fictitious 200 pound recreational bodybuilder as a mean.  First we need to determine body composition before we investigate anything else.  We must have a basic starting point. Goals are formed after a thorough assessment of a persons condition.  This is the crucial step because most people who fail on their diets(even performance athletes/bodybuilders)do so because they lack a starting point of accuracy. (Much More on this topic in future installments of this Series).

Anthropomorphic Measurements are Essential and the only governing scientific process for a productive diet.  Read that line 100x and memorize it.  If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.  We must figure out a person’s Body Fat Percentage(Adipose Tissue) and his Lean Body Weight(Skeletal Muscle and Bone Mass) taking into effect bone/hip structure(more on understanding this later) before we can formulate an intelligently designed diet.

Once you’ve gathered this data you can do some basic math.

200 pound Average Bodybuilder

We will assume is 15% body fat. This means he is somewhere in the range of 155-170 pounds of Skeletal Muscle Mass including bone weight.  Knowing these things you can begin to measure the factors that affect his BMR.

In TMC’s opinion these are the most important factors effecting BMR.

• Sleeping Patterns
• Mental Outlook
• Activity Levels in Day to Day living
• Consistency of Diet
• Genetics

It usually takes a competent exercise professional to understand and account for all of those factors. Once these are understood it’s safe to assume you can come up with a rough approximation of Daily Caloric Requirement to maintain BMR. Let’s say (hypothetical only) 15 kcals per pound of total bodyweight would mean he needs 3500 kcals per day to maintain his present condition. If 15 kcals per pound of bodyweight is the mean to maintain homeostasis(current body weight) we can now calculate the method of attaining the “crucial element” of any body fat reduction plan.

*Losing Body fat while avoiding/minimizing Muscle Loss*

How is this best achieved?(Initially and you can augment further depending on a persons condition-to be discussed further soon)

***15% Kcal reduction +***10% increase in Movement Patterns =’s Net 25% Energy Deficit.

There are many factors to discuss from here and rest assured they will be addressed in the articles to come.  Topics such as, the TYPES OF DIETS to employ, MAINTAINING AN ANABOLIC METABOLISM, CRUCIAL ERGOGENS ACCELERATING FAT LOSS, OPTIMAL DIET FOR WOMEN etc.

As always with everything TMC relates, formulating a strategy when dieting is only specific to the goals of the individual and his/her present state related to attaining such.

In our professional experience its safest to lose body fat gradually in order to not throw off the body’s equilibrium in maintaining its augmentation long term.

We hope you found some of this helpful and encourage you to respond by leaving a comment on the blog or on Facebook fan page.

Off to the LA Fit Expo!

MIHWCS

Lots of competitors walking around.  Model American Fitness Universe looks to be an amazing event for sure.

We are doing a photo shoot this afternoon and both of us “judging by the mirror images” are in the Best Shape of Our Lives.

Now if we can just hold that condition throughout the next 3 days?   It will be no small feat-for sure.

Here are a couple of quick snaps.

These are at the beginning of our carb load a couple of hours ago.

We’re attempting to peak tomorrow by 1PM(Anh) and 6PM(Jay).

We think we’re in good shape.

Stay tuned for much, much more!

MIHWCS

But somebody, somewhere, out there, is working even harder for the sheer love of competing.

Once you share that love, you wont need to understand why we do what we do!

Model America is 3 weeks away from tomorrow and TMC is coming.  Look out Golden Nugget.

MIHWCS

Friday Update

Date  Navel   Beltline    Bicep Chest
9/2/11       39.5       37.25      NA    NA
9/9/11       39.0       37.25      NA    NA
9/16/11     38.5       37.25       15     42
9/23/11     37.75     37.00      15     42
9/29/11     37.5       37.00      15     42
10/7/11     37.5       36.75       15     41.75
10/14/11   37.5       36.75       15     42.25

Not a lot of hard number improvement yet again this week, but a couple of positive developments.  Even though the belly measurement has stagnated a bit, the skinfold measurement there has dropped a couple of mm’s.  I’m also noticing a decrease in the subcutaneous fat in other places; ie cheekbones, neck, arms, chest, etc.  I know the belly fat is going to be the most stubborn, so I’m not discouraged.  The diet and workout plan has been kept stable at Jay’s suggestion until I meet again with my Docs on Tuesday, after which an updated plan of attack will surely follow.

Strength continues to improve, with a couple of interesting developments on that front; I’ve had to begin “strapping myself in” to several of the Hammer machines now as the weight I’m using is surpassing my body weight.  Also, as of last week, the weight has increased substantially enough that I’ve had to start using gloves again due to the pain in my palms that the heavier weight is causing.  (I’ve also ordered a pair of “Gripads”to replace the gloves, which are just a nuisance to put on.)

Some examples of the weight increases since 8/29/2011:

Incline Bench, up 20 lbs.
Pulldown, up 40 lbs.
Preacher curl, up 20 lbs.
Cable Presdown, up 20 lbs.
Decline Bench, up 50 lbs.
Row, up 20 lbs.
Dips, up 70 lbs. (!)

Last but not least, I broke down and jumped on the scale this morning (my wife has taken custody of it…but old habits die hard!).  198.  That’s a loss of about 4 1/2 lbs. since 8/29 while experiencing some major composition/measurement changes.  Oh, and I’ve still only missed 2 days of morning fasted cardio!

More to come next week…..stay tuned!

<TMC Commentary>

Keep on keepin on Steve.  Progress is never linear unfortunately.  It’s always an ebb and flow kind of storyline.

Once you’re “good to go” with your Dr’s recommendation, we’ll begin to tweak and adjust around it.

We continue to be excited for you and look forward to seeing you reach your ultimate goal!

MIHWCS

Our commentary below his report.

Day 32 Progress Report/Photos

With a full month under my belt, here is my Friday Update

Date Navel Beltline   Bicep Chest
9/2/11   39.5       37.25           NA    NA
9/9/11   39.0       37.25           NA    NA
9/16/11  38.5       37.25           15     42
9/23/11  37.75     37.00          15     42
9/29/11  37.5       37.00         15     42

Well folks, the numbers speak for themselves.  Considering I’ve likely only lost 2-3 lbs., I consider this great progress for my first 30 days.

Certainly solid lifestyle changes have taken hold and are becoming habit.  Took my first and only day off from morning cardio thus far about two days ago.  I’ve also been taking a skinfold measurement from the suggested Accu-Measure site of just right of my navel, and it has gone from about 30 mm down to 21 mm.  (I take three measurements and average them.)

All of this being said, I’d like to see more obvious results from my photos, but I believe I/you can see some progress.  I apologize for the poor quality pics; they are always taken in the morning, after cardio and certainly not “pumped”:

8/22/11

9/29/11

8/22/11

<TMC Commentary>

Wow.  Steve is definitely selling himself short.  There is very noticeable progress to the “trained physique watching eye”.

From side view (last photo above) it’s obvious he is losing trunk adipose and his skin/muscle mass appears to be tightening in all areas.

Clearly, there is no loss in mass/size but the “sagging/loose” areas are no more or barely visible.  We’re really proud of Steve as his family and friends.

TMC is now cooking up some changes to accelerate his progress and to fine tune his program.  Hopefully more on that next week.

For all who are following Steve’s posts and progress, send him a note thru his site here or leave a comment on the site.

Congrats Steve!  LET’S GO!

MIHWCS

Inches are falling from exactly where I want them to and nowhere else….I would call that great success!

1.75″ directly from the dreaded “belly fat”, and .25″ from right at the beltline (below the “muffin top”!) in 25 days.

I haven’t missed a day of morning, fasted cardio and combined with the HIT and high protein intake appears to be allowing me to maintain and possibly even add muscle (albeit only a tad) in the process.

Date      Navel      Beltline Bicep Chest
9/2/11       39.5       37.25           NA    NA
9/9/11       39.0       37.25           NA    NA
9/16/11     38.5       37.25            15     42
9/23/11     37.75     37.00           15     42

There’s no stopping me now!

And although I did throw out the scale, I don’t believe I am losing any noticeable amount of “weight”, which is great news!

<TMC Commentary>

This is absolutely stupendous brother Steve!  We are elated and you are clearly now “well on your way”.

In about two weeks, TMC adjustments are coming in FULL FORCE.

Be ready to get ABS BEFORE 48!

We encourage any of our readers to reach out to Steve contemplating anything similar.  He is a fountain of knowledge and one of the most motivated people we’ve ever worked with.

Lots more coming from us.

MIHWCS

TMC is on the road back to Las Vegas after our one day Kamikaze mission with the Muscle B’s to capture the Miss Fitness Long Beach competition.

Anh looked absolutely stunning finishing in 2nd place.  She clearly brought her best overall conditioning yet and Daddy couldnt be more proud.  It is a true testament to her hard work and sacrifice. 

We celebrated by chowing down at our favorite restaurant Basil Thai in Arcadia where our good friends, owners Nina and Poki served us an absolute feast.

We are anxious to see the photos from our shoot with Natalie Minh.  We believe we will be repping a TMC not seen before.

We will have more in upcoming posts but one last show for 2011. Muscle Mania World and Fitness Universe here in Vegas on Nov 19-20th.  We are going to concentrate on adding a bit of muscle and refining some specific areas over the next 5 weeks before dieting down the last 3 weeks before the show.  We are both anxious to eat more and less restrictively in our attempt to refine and improve lagging areas.  Hopefully the length of time we have been dieting will prime us to add a bit of muscle with a higher kcal intake.  We’ll see.

Mad props to “Hot Mama” as Alex has affectionately dubbed Anh for her 2nd place finish. 

Onward and upward.

MIHWCS!

Here they are in all their naked devilry.

Our comments below.

IMPATIENCE

Two and a half weeks under my belt, with mostly success and a little bit of normal frustration mixed in for good measure to report. First the good; diet is going well and consistent. I’ve been tracking my foods on FitDay and have maintained macros within Jay’s guidelines. Calories have averaged 2100 consistently and protein stays well above 200 g.

I’m amazingly proud to report that I haven’t missed a day of cardio, and have even bumped it up to 40 minutes for the last 2 days ( although I’m pretty sure 30 was getting the job done). HIT training has been very focused and strength has improved on every session thus far, although I expect to hit some plateaus along the way.

As far as frustration, I took a couple of quick pics today and when I compared them to my originals, I could see no improvement. The Tanita scale measurements have shown improvement, but not yet what I would have hoped for after making such dramatic cardio and diet changes. I really need to consider Jay’s advice and throw out the friggin’ scale, as my myotape shows a full one inch decrease measured right at the navel. And Rome wasn’t built in a day; as Jay reminded me, I can’t undo 30 years of damage in two weeks.

But I think a little frustration and impatience is normal……I guess I’m just jealous of those pics of Jay and Anh and I want to join in on the fun! I have to remember that they have spent years getting to where they are; whereas I’m really only starting to get the guidance I have needed to achieve my goal…….of Abs Before 50!

I’ve decided to share my private blog if anyone is interested: http://absbefore50.blogspot.com/

Detailed Supplement Schedule and Diet Tips

There is so much hype associated with supplementation that it is very difficult to cut through the crap and decide on a supplement regimen that is actually productive.  My research over the years has certainly hit on a few of the “tried and true” supplements that are no brainers and have tons of research behind them, such as a multi-vitamin, EFAs, Calcium, and Whey and Casein Protein.  But it certainly has helped having someone like Jay to guide me and help me with getting on a solid footing.  If you have followed TMC for any length of time, you can see that Jay and Anh have certainly gone to the limits of body composition manipulation and know what they are doing.  And if you’ve been privy to any of Jay’s background and past associations, you would be even more confident in following his advice.  So, I thought it would be only appropriate that I provide the details of the supplementation program that I am following with TMC’s guidance:

-ProComplex: a whey/casein blend of protein that I have been a fan of for a long time; 1 scoop in the morning shake, 2 scoops in the evening shake.

-MuscleMilk: a delicious MRP that TMC turned me on to but which most of you have heard of; 1 scoop in the morning shake.

-Udo’s Choice EFA Oil: great stuff; I fill the little cup that you measure kids medicine in, which is well over 2 teaspoons, and that goes in the morning shake.

-BoneUp Calcium: 2 caps, 3 times a day.

-1200 mg Fish Oil caps: 1 cap, 3 times a day generic brands are fine in my opinion.

-Fiber Gummies: 8-10 per day; 2 provide 5 grams of fiber, so we are talking 20-25 grams per day of extra fiber.

-Fat Burners:  here’s a touchy one, but they are great for appetite control and energy, whether or not they really do “burn fat”.  I use one Lipo6 Black concentrate in the morning pre-cardio, then 1 VPX Redline at around 11am, and one at around 2pm.

-Diet Red Bull:  ok, not exactly a supplement, and certainly not recommended by TMC, but I used the small, 8.4 oz. can of this with my morning fatburner to help me make the drastic lifestyle change of rising early for morning cardio every day.  This stuff got me through it with flying colors, and I’m hesitant to give it up.

-Post Workout Shake:  since I’m trying to avoid excessive carbs, I am using a little twist on Jay’s recommendation.  Just before I down one scoop of Pro Complex in ice water, I chew a 4 gram glucose tablet for a little carb shot.  This is taken only after my M/W/F HIT sessions.

That’s supplementation in a nutshell.  Some of this stuff isn’t cheap, but I am saving so much money on food by not eating out that I am coming out ahead.

Diet Tips

A couple of things that I do, your mileage may vary:

-Water:  I buy a couple of gallon jugs of drinking water every few weeks.  But since we have great tap water here in South Florida, I refill them.  My trick is to fill them about 2/3 full and freeze them, topping them off in the morning.  Ice cold water for me tastes better, and my have a mild thermogenic effect.  I like using the full gallon jug, as I try to finish it by 6pm to avoid sleep interruption from having to drain the tank in the middle of the night too often (hey, I’m 47!).  A nice side effect is that by knowing I have to finish that jug, I’ve really stayed away from coffee, tea, and diet soda….which used to be major parts of my daily routine.

-Carbs: I guess I am lucky; I LOVE sweet potatos.  I buy a couple of pounds of the biggest, freshest of those suckers that I can find, and cut them into 3-4 oz chunks.  Throw them into the microwave one or two at a time, add 4-6 oz. of lean meat, and a dollop of natural peanut butter for one of my primary meal selections (see the diet in an earlier post).  I never get tired of eating this.

-Nighttime Shake:  2 scoops of ProComplex and a tablespoon of peanut butter in water make up my last meal.  I make this around 8pm and stick it in the freezer.  By 9 or 10 pm, it is generally somewhere between a slushy and ice cream (chocolate for me!) and is a delicious way to end the day.  I generally save a little serving of it to keep in the fridge in case insomnia and hunger get me up at 1 or 2 am.

-Veggies:  easy one here; big bags of frozen green veggies; generally broccoli, green beans, and brussel sprouts are my weapons of choice.  I throw a cup or two in the microwave to add to my evening, dinner time meal.

Just a couple of things that have helped me out….thought I would share them!

THROWING AWAY MY TANITA BODYFAT SCALE

After speaking with TMC about this on a couple different occasions, I decided that I would make yet another DRASTIC lifestyle change.  Yes folks, I put away the “friggin’” scale.  Even knowing how innacurate the Tanita bodyfat measurements were, I still felt obligated to monitor them for signs of composition change.  Well, I’m done.

The funny thing is, I don’t even want to lose weight; I’d love to stay exactly where I am or even gain 10-20lbs, but with a drastically lower body fat level.  I’m actually starting to believe that with TMC’s guidance I should at least be able to remain at around 200 lbs, based on the fact that I’ve seen an inch fall off of my belly with a very small actual “weight” loss.  After all, over and above searching out my abs, this is a “recomposition” project, not a weightloss project.

I will continue to monitor my body composition using the Myotape tape measure, and may add a chest and bicep measurement to my Friday reports.  But the scale has gone into storage.  Maybe I’ll pull it out January 1st, 2012, just for fun….or maybe I’ll be so pleased with my results that there will be no need…..

Recent daily bodyweights:

8/29 201.8

8/30 200.2
8/31 201.4
9/1   201.0

9/6   200.0

Wow…week one is solidly under my belt, with 1.8 lbs of (hopefully) BF lost. I have a few interesting observations to share:

Morning Cardio

My morning cardio is already a daily habit I don’t see giving up for a long time.  For a confirmed “non-morning person”, you may wonder how that can happen and what proof I have that it will continue.  First off, as I’ve mentioned, my entire demeanor has changed in the morning.  Literally from the first day, I became a morning person, and all I’ve given up is a few minutes of lying in bed half awake anyway.  All the caffeine in the world couldn’t make this happen. The positive feeling from day one kept me going the first few days, and as I got my music and routine sorted out I began to look forward to my morning sessions.  Secondly, we just came through a three day Labor Day weekend and I didn’t miss a session.  I slept in a little on the weekend, knocked out my cardio, and then enjoyed a nice cool-down on my back patio by the pool with the weekend paper.  If that is not proof that a habit is forming, I don’t know what is.  I also love the fact that when I get home in the afternoon/early evening, I can totally relax and do other things like help my son with his homework….by the time I roll up the driveway, both my cardio and weight training has been done for the day!

In regards to the more theoretical aspects of morning cardio; I have to think that this is where Mentzer and McGuff, et al, have got it wrong.  Sure, running 10 miles a day has got to be catabolic and detrimental to muscle growth in the weight training arena, but 30 minutes of steady-state cardio at a brisk pace in my opinion is more likely to aid in muscle growth and recovery than to hinder it.  Getting the entire bodily system up and pumping blood has got to be a good thing; and by doing it fasted in the morning the main energy source is going to be body fat…not carbs/glycogen, and not your hard earned lean body mass.  How different can it be from the brisk hike that had to take place at the start of the day by our hunter-gatherer ancestors setting off to locate the day’s kill?

Alcohol Consumption

I have to tell you, a three day weekend such as Labor Day, would not have passed for me in the last 25 years without alcohol consumption.  And I didn’t miss it a bit.  I certainly didn’t miss the hangover or cranky lethargy that normally follows the next day.  And here is something else that hit me during the last week; I’ve always promised myself that I would have open and honest conversations about alcohol use and abuse with my son, as I know that demonizing it will do nothing but peak his interest, especially when peer pressure sets in during the years ahead.  So having a bottle around or a few beers in the fridge, or laughing about my alcohol breath when I put him to bed, were not big issues for me.

(Keep in mind, we are only talking about once or twice a month; I wasn’t a hard-core “drunk” !)  But now I realize that although I’m sure he hasn’t noticed that there is no longer any around the house, his memory of my use of it will also start to fade (he’s 9 now by the way.)  And what is he seeing instead?  Dad on the stair machine every morning in the garage.  We already have a routine of him waking and walking out about half way through my 30 minutes and having a morning chat.  He and his mom have always been morning people, and now I get to enjoy the mornings with them.

We both started our pre-photo Shoot with Natalie Minh diets on Monday of this week.

Jay was on the road eating pre-made protein pancakes out of plastic bags layered with Almond Butter in between client visits while battling the blazing 117′ temperatures of Phoenix.

Anh was at home raising the Muscle B’s and maintaining her conditioning with Hot Pilates and sessions on the stationary bike.

She kept up with her diet as well and is looking really good about 11 days out from the shoot.  Daddy continues to beam with joy at Mommy’s dedication even as all hell breaks loose around her with the Muscle B’s constant need of attention.

ANH’S DIET:

Meal 1: Egg Whites with a Couple of Yokes, Small Sweet Potato

Meal 2: Tilapia/Chicken with Small Sweet Potatoe and Nuts

Meal 3: Same

Meal 4: Post Workout Shake with Natural Oatbar(Training Days Only)

Meal 5: Lean Protein, Salad with Healthy Oil as dressing

Meal 6: Same if she doesn’t fall asleep

JAY’S DIET:

Meal 1: Protein Pancake with 2 Tablespoons of Almond Butter

Meal 2: Same

Meal 3: Same

Meal 4: Same

Meal 5: Post Workout Shake with Oatbar(Training Days Only)

Meal 6: Lean Protein, Asparagus or Broccoli

Our diets are very simple right now and small portions.  Lowered kcals and Higher Protein/EFA’s is the order of the day.  Both of us eat about 10-13kcals per pound and cycle up and down accordingly based on training and intuitive feel.  If we’re starving or glycogen depleted from an incredibly hard HIT workout, we’ll add a few more carbs by eating another Oat Bar or splitting an extra sweet potato.

Last night we found this new High EFA Flax Granola that is low in sugar that can be used for post workout carb re-feeds.  Or even a late night carb meal with some water and casein protein powder to spike up thyroid/BMR.  Just have to make sure you don’t eat too much.

Because we’ve been doing this so long now, we don’t really need to measure everything out but recommend it as a safe and scientific practice for any of our readers new to dieting or competing.

We’ll eat like this up until next Friday including this weekend.  We’ll have some flexibility to eat salads with protein if we’re out and about tomorrow and Sunday with the Muscle B’s or perhaps a Vegas Pool Party or two.

In fact, our goal is to take a lot of pictures from this last weekend of pool parties and then do a TMC Mega Summer Blog Pictorial with all of our best photos of the summer.  You won’t want to miss that.  Trust me.

Here are some video’s we’ve recently taken at Any Time Fitness in Summerlin on West Charleston.

There are lots of good demonstrations of intensity techniques including:

• Negative Emphasis Training with 10 Second Eccentrics
• Stopwatch Training(more on that in an upcoming post)
• Slow, deliberate controlled HIT Rep Sets

10′ Negative Emphasis Training DB Presses

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Os54aQaUjCQ

Stop Watch Training

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRIMkUSpRSw

Stop Watch Hammer Rows

www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9nPwDAVc0A

Nautilus Machine HIT Full Contraction Crunches

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PS1Z9CPDJG8

Wide Grip HIT Dead Hang Inverted Pullups

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hdj_egEvJo4

Super Strict HIT Shoulder Machine Presses

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAzlBuMJoHE

As always, we appreciate your patronage of our site.

Check back on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for some incredible photos from this past summer.

Have a wonderful Labor Day Weekend.

MIHWCS