Does Eating Late Make You Fat, 3 Ways To Make Home Cooking Fun, and Stop Doing This One Exercise

Date: July 19th, 2024

Read on: veganfitnessredefined.com​

Read time: 5 minutes

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Today’s issue is brought to you by Vegan Fitness Redefined. We help vegans, veg-curious, and plant-based humans get lean, strong, and build healthy bodies.

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Do you ever wish you could go back in time?

I’ve thought about this a lot.

Things I’ve done I’ve regretted.

Things I’ve said I wish I hadn’t.

Moments I missed that I shouldn’t.

In some way we can go back in time.

We can forgive ourselves.

Let go of past guilt and shame.

I’m not sure why I’m more pensive today.

But the shortness of our human life keeps reminding me that every moment matters.

That today could be our last day.

And if I want today to matter, then I need to take full ownership of my day.

Who I’m being.

How I’m acting.

What I’m sharing.

The magnificence of human life is that we can be anything we choose to be.

Yes, it takes time to change.

Yes, it takes effort.

And yes, it doesn’t happen overnight.

But there’s always someone on this planet who will benefit from our growth.

So why not make the most out of our lives.

We only live once, right?

(even if we reincarnate, who knows if we’ll get this precious chance to be human again).

Who knows.

I’m rambling today.

But know that you matter.

Every day.

Lesson: Act as if today was your last day.

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Here's Your 1-3-1 Friday:

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#1.) Does Eating Late Make You Fat

Calories in, calories out.

That’s the way science has been taught.

But is that correct?

I used to believe that as long as you stayed within your caloric budget and hit your targets, the time of day didn’t matter when you ate.

I was wrong.

Current research shows that the time of day we eat, DOES have an impact on weight loss and more specifically body composition.

Which means if you want to drop body fat, build lean muscle, and stay lean and toned - the time of day you eat matters.

So what does the research tell us?

• Hunger levels increase the later you eat
• The signals for fullness and ‘satiety’ decrease the later day goes by
• There’s a higher risk for obesity and fat growth, the more consistently you eat late
• You can drop 60% more weight and body fat (while eating the same amount of calories) by using chronobiology strategy correctly (more on this below)
• The later you eat, the slower you burn calories that are consumed (aka food eaten later)

There’s a few gems above.

The one I’ll elaborate on is the chronobiology strategy.

It’s been a protocol I’ve been testing on myself the past few weeks.

The results have been superb.

By eating earlier in the day and having a strict cut off window, I’ve dropped an extra 3.5 lbs of body fat while eating the SAME amount of food.

Impressive.

This newsletter only lets me go so deep, so I’ve also decided to pull back the curtains next Thursday, July 26 at 9am PST/12pm EST to share all the details in a brand-new free training.

In this free live training, I’ll outline the step by step roadmap to drop stubborn pounds and inches without eating less calories.

You'll also learn how to:

✅ Create a healthy relationship with food without restrictive dieting

✅ Drop body fat effortlessly without getting caught in perfectionist mindset

✅ Create health freedom from dieting by learning how to customize your eating habits to build lean muscle or drop weight

✅ Feel confident with your nutrition and create your ideal health and fitness before the end of 2024 (it's possible using the right approach)

And much more.

If you want access to this exclusive free training (or a link to replay), click ‘GOING’ on this free event to get access.

#2.) 3 Ways To Make Home Cooking Fun

If you struggle with cooking at home, this letter is for you.

I used to be the same.

I disliked cooking.

Which is why my meal prep would get done in one hour or less each week.

(burnt rice and ketchup, anyone?)

Yet nutrition, like exercise, is a lifelong part of our life.

If you have a human body, you can’t get around it.

Fighting this truth of reality only makes things worse.

I agree, there are ways you can delegate or automate this process, if you truly don’t want to take ownership here.

But at some level, feeding ourselves is part of taking responsibility for our body and life.

No one else will care about your health like you do.

Which means it’s up to us to take ownership of our bodies.

And the results that we want to see.

Again - I truly disliked cooking.

But I’ve found the more I take ownership of my food choices and meals, the more joy I’ve discovered with my nutrition.

I’ve gone backwards in a way.

Back to being a small child full of wonder.

Learning about nutrients. Vitamins. Food combinations. The joy of it all.

It’s been a process.

And it’s still unraveling.

So here’s 3 ways you can make home cooking more fun:

1. Create a fun environment to cook: Add music. Dance. Cook with your kids. Or spouse/partner. Invite your cat and dog to the kitchen. Do whatever you can to add the element of fun back into your kitchen environment.
2. Try new recipes: Challenge yourself to get outside your comfort zone. Often, cooking isn’t fun or ‘boring’ because we do the same thing over and over again. Pretend you’re a small child again. Pretend you’ve never cooked before. Discover new cuisines and cultures. Experiment with new foods. Enroll in a cooking class or course (we’re doing this too).
3. Be okay with failure: Making mistakes is part of the learning process (and having fun). The more self-acceptance you can bring to your meal creation and recipes, the easier it will be to smile and enjoy the process of food preparation. Notice what areas of cooking bring you the most joy (and what areas you may want to delegate out - for me that’s cutting veggies, ugh). Rinse and repeat.

Having fun is not a one-time activity.

It’s a never-ending process.

Have fun cooking.

(and tag me in your meals too - I’d love to see!)

#3.) Stop Doing This One Exercise

If you’re doing this one exercise, this needs to stop today.

Crunches have been shown to contribute to back and neck pain (along with other issues).

While it can be helpful for hypertrophy (muscle growth) in your abs, it’s not the best exercise especially if you have existing back or spine pain.

A few other reasons to avoid crunches: ​

• Crunches can put pressure on your lower back by forcing your curved spine against the floor and working your hip flexors. Tight hip flexors can pull on your lower spine, which can lead to pain. Poorly performed crunches can also strain your neck.
• Some people jerk their neck forward instead of contracting their abs to bring their torso up, which can cause neck pain.
• Crunches only work the surface of your core and isolate a few muscles, like the rectus abdominis, instead of targeting your entire core. This can lead to poor posture and injuries, and doesn't build the core strength you need to support your body in different movements.
• Crunches can also contribute to diastasis recti, a separation of the outermost abdominal muscles, and can close off the front of your body, which goes against good posture

So what would be better core exercises to include then?

Consider using:

• Front planks
• Ab wheel rollouts
• Leg raises
• Dragon flags
• Hollow holds
• Bird dogs
• Deadbugs

Keep it simple.

Use the right exercises at the right dosages.

Keep rocking your v-gains.

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1 Action Step

Eat earlier in the day. Focus on ending your eating window at least 2 hours before your bedtime (while respecting the law of energy balance).

“The art of living... is neither careless drifting on the one hand nor fearful clinging to the past on the other. It consists in being sensitive to each moment, in regarding it as utterly new and unique, in having the mind open and wholly receptive.”

― Alan Watts

Excited to share ‘new’ chronobiology protocol with you next Thursday.

Here’s the link if you’d like to join live or get free replay. 🙂

- Gabriel

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