So last weekend, my cousin Ryan (our co-founder) drove to Omaha for his 13-yr-old Murphy’s two soccer matches.
It’s about 7 hours from St. Louis – yes, he’ll be the first to tell you that youth sports is bats*** crazy these days, but he really enjoys it – so I asked him what he usually eats for fuel on road trips.
And I can say with 100% certainty, it’s not donuts.
Road trips are hard b/c we’re not moving at all, so all the calories we consume just kinda sit in our bellies waiting to be used.
Being a guy who struggled with his weight until his mid 30s, Ryan has become a student of the nutrition game. And one of the “hacks” he learned for being able to drive long distances is to eat NOTHING. In other words, fasting.
It may sound rough, but he and I rarely eat breakfast anyway, so while it takes discipline to build the habit, it’s become our normal.
Now, here’s the BS I hear most: most people poo-poo the benefits of fasting in favor of eating many small meals, severely restricting calories, eating only meat, and so on.
One of the all-time “gotcha” arguments against fasting is that we’ll lose muscle mass, when, in fact…
…the opposite is true.
We maintain muscle mass as we fast – and we burn off fat.
Here’s why:
There was once a caveman named…I don’t know…we’ll call him Jeff.
Like all cavemen named Jeff, he had huge muscles and was built like Hercules. But proper nutrition was always a struggle because the grocery store was thousands of years before his time.
Food wasn’t always available. And he would go days without food (fasting).
He had two options: 1) hunt, or 2) gather.
Both of which require muscle, stamina, and energy to carry heavy loads of meat, greens, and water.
Without muscle, Jeff would have died of starvation.
So, in the interest of self-preservation, his body adapted to protect his muscle between meals – because the human body is friggin’ amazing.
And that is why we still maintain muscle mass as we fast (within reason).
And that is why I love skipping breakfast to maintain my current weight or help me lose weight.
We know that calories in needs to be less than calories out if we want to lose fat, so what better way than to skip a 500-2,000 calorie meal?
Then, we throw gasoline on the fire…and add strength training to the equation to burn even more calories.
And THAT is the “magic” formula for how Ryan went from 206lbs to 175lbs…and has sustained 175 for the past 8-ish years (it’s been so long, it may be closer to 10 or 15 years).
Alright, time to go. It’s my turn to pick up donuts for the gym today:)
Your #1 Fan,
Jeff Pelizzaro
PS – The last call for our special pricing for the Golfer’s Fat Loss Blueprint is quickly approaching.
We’ll help you with your magical fat burning 2-punch: sustainable nutrition habits and strength training.
Join me and our Crew OR you can stay on the dieting roller coaster. Nobody can force you to take action – I’ll never even try.