My New 7 Week Mission

All right!

I have a whole new 7 week plan that I've put together for myself. This is serious, repetitive (possibly to the point of boring), provides me with a massive amount of protein - and exactly "what I think" is going to take me to my next level.

Starting tomorrow, April 12th (which is my 38th birthday!) through May 31st, I'm starting on a 7 week mission.

I am going to eat exactly the same foods every day, heavy lift on M/W/F, cardio & sprints on T/Th and rest on Sat. & Sun.

I've entered all my foods into FitDay and have come up with the following results:

Protein: 232g
Fat: 179g
Carbs: 6g
Cals: 2500

Fat: 63%
Protein: 36%
Carbs: 1%

My daily foods are:

1. 6 cage free organic eggs scrambled in 2T of organic ghee

2. 12oz. free range chicken breast sauteed in 2T of organic virgin coconut oil

GYM

3. 12oz. grass fed ground beef or steak

4. 12oz. free range chicken breast sauteed in 2T of organic virgin coconut oil

This will NOT change, nor will I be posting daily menus.

My workouts will remain on the same schedule with my 5X5 lifting program and by the end of the 7 weeks this will add a total of 52.5 lbs. to every one of my lifts.

My cardio and sprints will be out in the woods alternating between mtn. biking and hiking - rain or shine!

I will still continue to post on my workouts, how my day went and other assorted things that come to mind - but this is it. This should, without a doubt, bring me to a whole new fitness level and mindset. I will not be weighing myself again until the end of this 7 week mission... The morning of June 1st.

It will not be easy, but I'm well prepared and pumped!

Claories Calories Calories!

Oh no... The calorie! It amazes me that some people freak out and count calories for everything single thing they eat throughout their day - let alone, some going to the extremes of putting themselves on a strict caloric deficit in their diet in an attempt to lose weight. Not only are they potentially doing irreparable damage to their metabolism, they are starving themselves!

This one of the big dietary myths out there - You HAVE to count calories to lose weight! - but the scientific truth is that the calorie is completely irrelevant in human nutrition. This is a biochemical FACT!

Here's why and here's the real deal on what a calorie is:

A calorie is the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water 1 degree celsius from 14.5 degrees to 15.5 degrees. It's a quantitative heat chemists tool which they use to determine how much heat is given off when you burn something.

I don't think anyone would adhere to the reasoning that when you eat a steak it travels down into your stomach and blows up!

However, that's exactly how a calorie is determined - you'll take a piece of meat or whatever food product - you'll put it in the calorimeter and you'll burn it - you'll turn it to carbon - a heat is released into the water which raises the temperature on the thermometer. So to determine a calorie - it's nothing more than a combustion process.

What does this have to do with human nutrition? Absolutely nothing.

So my point in explaining this is it is a huge dietary myth that you HAVE to count calories to lose weight. This is absolutely false. So STOP the nonsense with the calorie counting already!

However, if we are talking about a person who is a professional bodybuilder looking to get down to a low, single digit body fat % for a competition, the story and demands of a caloric deficit do change... this is neither sustainable or healthy for any extended period of time.

For the avg. Joe (or Mary) this is doing far more harm then good. Pay attention to the types of foods you're eating and your carbohydrate intake and forget the calorie even exists.

So... what did I eat today

Being Primal - I eat all meats, fowl and fish, eggs, animal fats, healthy oils (olive oil, macadamia nut oil, coconut oil), nuts (particularly macadamia and almonds) and select vegetables. I do not eat any dairy except for ghee (clarified organic butter). Although they get pricey, it is ideal to eat organic veggies and 100% grass fed meats for many reasons... One of the main and most important reasons, aside from the humane treatment and slaughter of these animals, is that the essential omega-3 to omega-6 ratios of grass fed animals is far superior to the traditional, grain fed meat from a mass production meat plant you'd typically find at your local market. This is yet another topic I will blog on in the future - man, I've got a lot of writing to do!

I will also explain why I say select vegetables another time in another post because it's a long story. However, the primal veggie list consists primarily of the low carb, seedless type, such as: any and all green leaf lettuces, kale, spinach, escarole, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, zucchini, squash, peppers... the list goes on. In fact, I'll post up a list shortly comprised of all the great foods on the Primal menu.

I eat according to how I feel - listening to your body is extremely important. If I'm hungry, I eat; if I'm not, I don't. It's that simple and I never eat past the point of satiety. Some days, I'll have two meals and other days I'll have five. Again, it all depends on what my body is asking for.

So with that being said, let me get to what I had to eat today - which was a typical day of eating for me.

Breakfast: 4 cage-free organic scrambled eggs cooked in clarified organic butter and topped with sauteed mushrooms and peppers.

Lunch: A big salad w/ lettuce, cucumber, sliced mushrooms, green and red peppers, two pieces of grilled chicken, olive oil and a bit of fresh squeezed lemon juice

Snack: A small handful of macadamia nuts

Dinner: Skirt steak (one of my favorite cuts - especially marinated!) and sauteed fresh asparagus.