Here's Your 1-3-1 Friday:

#1.) Top 8 Fitness Questions (Section A)

Why am I not dropping weight on the scale?

(*Key Point: provided you’ve been consistent with your strength workouts each week while tracking your nutrition in a calorie deficit)

I’ve seen this happen with countless clients, and it's usually the ‘whoosh effect' occurring.

The whoosh effect is when your body is emptying fat cells each week…

Yet, the body continues to retain water and even gain weight, giving the illusion that you're gaining weight even though you're in a calorie deficit and working out.

(provided you aren’t overeating and being sedentary while missing your workouts)

You can expect a rate of 1 lb of fat loss rate or so unless you're experiencing a whoosh effect.

Prediction?

If you continue to hit your nutrition targets and workout consistently with intensity, the scale should drop within 2 weeks or so.

Trust the process. 🌱

SIDE NOTE: Proper sleep hygiene and stress management are also important for sustainable fat loss (or even muscle gain).

So, a good rule of thumb is to make sure that you’re managing your stress levels well (not overwhelmed or getting burned out at work) and aim for at least 8-10 hours of quality sleep every night.

When should I increase weights during my strength workouts?

When it comes to the weights and reps, it is best to choose weights that are heavy enough for you to feel resistance but light enough for you to be able to do 8 reps for each set.

As you get stronger, you should notice that you can do 10 to 12 reps with that weight.

When you can do 12 reps with that particular weight, you can choose a heavier weight, start with 8 reps, and work up to 12 again.

The 8-12 rep range has been scientifically proven to be the optimal range for building muscle.

Aka if you want to build lean muscle and ‘tone’ up then using this rep range while training within 70-90% of your max intensity will get you there.

Keep things simple working out.

#2.) Section B (Fitness Questions)

What are the best foods to eat?

While there are dozens of nutritious foods that you can focus on, let’s focus on simplifying this into 5 different food categories with the main bulk of them coming from WHOLE FOODS:

Fruits: The most nutritious foods on the planet are fruits. They’re healing, restoring health, rejuvenating energy, and give us the maximum nutrition while being calorie efficient. The more fruits you eat, the more your health and fitness will improve.
1. E.g. Apples, bananas, oranges, papaya, wild blueberries
Vegetables: Vegetables follow behind fruits, supplying a steady stream of much-needed nutrition for health and fitness needs. They also tend to be filling and keep hunger at bay while being calorie-efficient.
1. E.g. Green leafy vegetables like spinach, kale, lettuce, carrots, green peas, etc.
Protein: Protein is next in importance, especially when retaining lean muscle definition and tone. While your deficit or surplus will determine how much fat you’ll lose or gain, your protein intake paired with strength training will determine how much lean muscle you retain or build. Aim to hit your minimum protein requirement to avoid losing precious muscle tissue.
1. E.g., Tempeh, tofu, seitan, soya beans, vegan mock protein, vegan protein powder
Carbohydrates: Carbs are the source of all our energy. Our livers and brains need glucose (carbs) to function well, and while carbs are demonized in the world of health, we need carbs to be lean, healthy and fit all year long. Fruits, vegetables are also carbs but due to the high nutrients I separated them into different categories.
1. Carbs are also anabolic, which means they’ll help build lean muscle while dropping fat. One caveat on carbs: they retain 3 g of water per 1 g of carb so you’ll notice that as you drop carbs during caloric deficits, water weight will tend to come off (don’t confuse this with actual fat loss).
2. E.g. Whole foods or single food ingredients like: potatoes, sweet potatoes, grains, legumes, millet, quinoa, etc
3. Legumes typically have a moderate amount of protein (excluding soybeans which are high in protein) and low in fat so this is a great option to add to your meals.
Healthy Fats: Fats are important for hormonal balance and proper health functioning.
1. However, fats fall last in priority due to the prevalence of high-fat foods which are detrimental to our health and fitness goals (and also since fats carry more calories per gram).
2. Healthy fats include: avocado, nuts, seeds and coconut
3. Keep in mind healthy fats are also important for Omega 3 foods but typically you’ll get this in most nuts, seeds, and healthy fat options.

What if I exceeded my calorie intake for the day? Should I cut back on calories on another day?

No need.

Just relax, take a deep breath and focus on hitting your current day’s target.

While it’s easy to feel anxious about gaining fat overnight or w/ one bad meal, let’s keep in mind the science behind fat gain:

1 pound of fat = 3,500 k/cal

To put on a pound of fat tissue each week, you’d need to eat an extra 3,500 k/cal.

So if your maintenance calories are 2,000 k/cal, then you’d need to eat an extra 3,500 k/cal in ONE DAY to gain 1 lb of fat tissue overnight.

Especially on weekends when you may relax from nutrition tracking or eat higher carbohydrate meals, the scale weight will increase by anywhere from 1-5 lbs in scale weight.

Don’t stress: This often involves gut content, water retention, and muscle glycogen storage, which can mask what’s happening beneath the surface.

Why is my first 2-3 weeks of data so up and down for weight and measurements?

Typically, the first 2 weeks of data are deceptive.

With all the new changes in nutrition tracking, water intake, and workouts, the scale often fluctuates drastically.

By the third week of weight tracking, measurements, and proper nutrition tracking with weight training, you can start seeing the real TRENDS in your fat-loss or muscle-building process.

This is where you gain insight into what’s happening.

Focus on your standards.

And let the results follow.

#3.) Section C (Fitness Questions)

How do I know if I am building lean muscle while I train?

One way to check this is by using body measurements, scale weight, or photos.

However the simplest way I’ve found to tell if you’re building muscle is if you’re also building strength in your workouts.

If you notice you’re getting stronger and lifting heavier weights over time, you can be confident that you’re also building muscle tissue.

This is because strength and muscle gains are closely interconnected.

When you get stronger - you’re most likely building muscle too.

What’s a refeed process, and how does that work?

These are extended periods when you come back to ‘maintenance calories’ to stabilize your weight and upregulate your hormones to avoid staying stuck at weight plateaus that can occur.

So, instead of being stuck, you raise our calories to MAINTENANCE for 2-4 weeks, depending on the individual and time needed to help restabilize your current body composition.

This can also allow you to enter another fat loss phase afterwards (if needed).

The model for fat loss and muscle-building phases would be like this:

4:1 (4 months dieting or building and 2-4 weeks back at maintenance or for muscle building as a ‘mini cut’).

You may temporarily 'gain weight' since you’re at maintenance calories, but you can be confident it’s not fat tissue but rather water weight, gut content, and muscle storage refilling.

Should I do cardio before or after workouts?

A simple warmup (5-10 minutes) is fine in the beginning for blood circulation and joint movement, but anything more than 20 minutes or so (especially more on the HIIT side) can create an interference effect from cardio activity.

This can diminish the signal from strength training (for toning up and staying lean).

If you want to get the most out of your strength workouts without sacrificing muscle tone or strength, separate formal cardio sessions from your strength workouts.

If this isn’t possible, place your cardio always AFTER lifting.

This will help preserve lean muscle tissue while still giving you the best of both worlds.

If you do cardio after lifting, I also suggest bringing a protein shake and a banana (or some fruit) to help rebuild post lifting before you tackle your cardio.

Muscle preservation should be the goal when working towards toning up and getting stronger.

1 Action Step

Focus on creating a winning streak with your workouts. How many weeks can you go without missing ONE workout?

(tag me in your workouts if you’d like too!)

Client of the Week

Brittany lives a busy life.

Working full time, a new mom, and busy professional, she travels constantly for work.

Yet, years of putting herself last left her frustrated.

Her body and health started to suffer.

So we got to work.

Strategy: Set a minimum standard of 8,000 steps per day. Lift weights 3 days a week (later up to 4 days). An initial deficit of negative ~500 k/cal per day (later we increased this when she hit a plateau).

We also dialed in how she worked with stress and her emotions.

Years of suppressing her emotions lead to a poor relationship when stressful situations came up.

So we faced this head on.

One of the things I enjoyed from working together was the high level of ownership Brittany brought to her health and fitness.

Early on we had a crucial conversation where Brittany was projecting responsibility onto others for her results.

Yet, speaking about this face to face was a turning point for her.

She realized that her results were on HER.

No one else.

This is how she won…

Wins: Down 20+ lbs. 5+ inches from her waist. Leaner and stronger than she’s ever been in years. Confident going to the pool in her bikini. And proud to be in her best health as she teaches her daughter about health and nutrition.

That’s what I call taking ownership.

If you're a busy vegan, plant-based human, or plant-curious and want to get in the best shape of your life while leading by example, apply here to get lean, strong, and healthy in 2024.

(2-week waiting list and capped at 5 new spots per month)

One Quote To Finish Your Week Strong

“You are the only problem you will ever have and you are the only solution. Change is inevitable, personal growth is always a personal decision.”

― Bob Proctor

If it’s meant to be…

It’s up to me.

Till next week,

- Gabriel

Whenever you're ready, there are three ways I can help you:

#1 Join our free high-performance fitness FB group to get access to dozens of live trainings recorded along with a tight-knit group of leaders who want to get healthy, lean, and strong.

#2 Are you a high achiever who wants to be lean, strong, and lead by example? Apply for private 1:1 coaching and get in the best shape of your life (2-week waiting list).

#3 Want to fuel your fitness curiosity and follow along with the latest findings, insights, and evidence-based practices? Let's be friends on Facebook and Instagram. :)

(feel free to DM me anytime - I love connecting with new friends worldwide).

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