Most everyone can make AMAZING progress just by nailing the basics of energy balance (calories in VS calories out), focusing on drinking enough water, eating whole foods, getting enough sleep and focusing on the right macronutrient breakdown.

However, there is a time and a place for “getting into the weeds”.  Let’s talk today about optimal protein intake timing. 

We talk a lot at Digital Barbell about food being our fuel or energy source. Just like gasoline fuels our cars to run, food fuels our bodies to run and gives us the energy that we need for all of our actions and activities. We may need this energy to take our kids to school, get groceries, cook dinner and put everyone to bed and we may also need this energy to hit the gym for an hour in-between all of this work.  

To give you a bit better of an idea how the different energy systems work AND so that you’ll understand why we say what you eat matters… let’s dive in.  

Whether you’re trying to gain or lose weight, you’re going to have to eventually make adjustments to your food intake to keep making progress.  Your body will adapt over time to what it’s given, so to keep progress moving you’ll have to increase or decrease your food (macros) along the way.  

We are always after the “minimum effective dose” with our clients, and that is what we recommend to you.

Today we are discussing peanut butter powder and how it compares to regular peanut butter along with how to make it, how to use it… and why.

So sit back and enjoy the sweet sights and sounds of Jonathan making a serving of powdered peanut butter.

We love this quote by Mark Rippetoe, author of Starting Strength and who we’ve trained under to coach athletes the squat, press, deadlift and bench press.

"Strong People Are Harder to Kill, And More Useful In General” - M. Rippetoe

It’s true - life is just easier when you are strong.  

From carrying groceries to carrying children and everything in between, things are easier when you can move weight around with ease. 

In addition to that, strength training is the most effective way to burn fat and build muscle.  

Here’s why…

When you're talking about weight loss or weight gain you cannot ignore calories.  Calories in vs. calories out is what ultimately affects whether you gain or lose weight. BUT! That doesn't mean that all calories, or all food is the same.  Let's talk about "Macronutrients".  Macronutrients or "macros" are categories we put foods into to describe what they are made up of and the effect that they have on our bodies.  The 3 macros we are discussing today are Protein, Carbohydrate and Fat.

The way that we choose to break our calories up across these macros affects the way we look and how much muscle vs. fat we build, lose and maintain.   

Jumping into a training program takes a lot of guts.  A lot of people ponder over the pros and cons for a long time before finally jumping in.  Imagine making the decision to jump when you can only use one of your arms!  That is what Jake did and today is he stronger (with both arms) for it!!  When he started with us he was facing his second surgery to repair a defective prosthetic in his elbow that was replaced after a bad fall.

Not everyone is ready to go on a diet, even if they have weight to lose.   Say whaaaaat? You read that right. Just because you have 10, 20 or 30lbs that you would like to lose doesn’t mean that it’s the right time to do it.  Let me explain.

The first thing we do with a nutrition client after getting to know them and their goals is to find out what they have done in the past and what they are doing now that has gotten them to where they are.   The reason isn’t to judge them.  Quite the opposite.  It’s to learn how we can best help them reach their goals.  One important thing we need to understand is what is going on with our client’s metabolism.  

N.E.A.T.  = Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis

It’s pretty NEAT to think about but NEAT activities are the things that we do every day other than sleep, eat and exercise that burns calories.

Ready to have your mind blow:  If we use some of the alternative deserts we discussed earlier this week AND we increase our NEAT activities we could create a 500 calorie deficit a day.  If you do that all week you could lose a pound this week!