I’m a .com

The Way I Chow

I have a huge appetite and I have to be very strict when it comes to food choices and portion control. I’ve been eating 4 - 5 meals a day for a few years now to cope with being constantly hungry.

Tom Venuto (the fat-loss guru) focuses on metabolism and it’s rate to tackle the problem. I haven’t read the actual e-book “Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle” but I’ve read tons of his articles and find them very motivational. While it’s arguable that the metabolic rate is the key, there is no doubt that he possesses a wealth of knowledge on nutrition and exercise as well as how to motivate people to exercise and keep a calorie deficit.

Similarly, reading Muscle Chow confirmed some of my practices and motivated me to stay away from fattening processed foods. I’ve been doing the ripped phase for a week now and can see a visible result. Although I’m not ripped yet the fat tissue on my body softened considerably and decreased.

Below are some of the highlights for me, things that I’m putting into practice:

• I like the 2-month-cycle idea with it’s 3 phases – relaxed, lean and ripped.

• The daily meal breakdown really helped me. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner stay as the pillar meals but are reduced to 2/3 in size and healthy protein snacks are added 3 hours after each pillar meal. I tailored it to fit my day by starting at 9:00 a.m. breakfast vs. 7 a.m. and skipping the midmorning snack.

• All meals are built around a protein source while including as much veggies as possible. If enjoying a complex carbs meal (pasta, bread, potatoes) do it immediately after a workout. Here is an example:

o 9:00 a.m.: Breakfast – oats and whey protein powder
o 12:00 p.m.: Lunch – meat or poultry and veggies
o 3:00 p.m.: Midafternoon Snack – small salad and tuna
o 5:00 p.m.: Preworkout Snack – eggs & a piece of fruit
o 7:30 p.m.: Postworkout Snack – whole grain flowerless sandwich
o 8:30 p.m.: Dinner – salad w fish or chicken
o 10:30 P.m.: Evening Snack – cottage cheese w fruit

• You can eat up to 6 eggs at a sitting but have to throw away at least 4 of the yolks.

o Yolks are not bad for you but have a lot of calories so if you are trying to stay lean keep a ratio 6/1 whites to yolks.
o Always keep hardboiled eggs as an available snack in your fridge.

• No beef or pork while trying to get ripped.

• A serving of meat, poultry, or fish is around 6 ounces (1 pond = 16 ounces); add a cup of veggies and you have a meal. I gage it by a cup of cubed meat too.

• I stopped using salt – cold turkey – I put the salt away in the unreachable cupboard above the stove vent. I’m also trying to buy low sodium or no sodium condiments. This is not believed to make you lose weight but helps you get read of some of the retained water.