Stopping the OCD madness…

Hello again,

The fitness world is notoriously detail oriented and therefore caters to the OCD side of many athletes. Unfortunately, this prevents a great many people from achieving their goals as they simply get lost in the small stuff.

This group of athletes tend to worry about the detail and ask questions such as:

  • Do acai berries burn fat?
  • Is there a bigger thermogenic loss from carbs vs Fat?
  • What if I do not eat exactly every 3 hours?
  • Should I do cross fit on my off days?
  • Does this new Men’s Health supplement really have steroid like effects?
  • Is water from Iceland better than water from Fiji?

The vast majority of people worry so much about the small stuff that they simply never get started with any plan, and therefore fail. In fact, even a poorly laid out plan beats having none at all.

Now with a great fanfare, I’ll give you the path to your dream body…

  • Firstly; work out what your goal is. For reasons of simplicity, let’s assume most people either want to cut or bulk, so;
  • Set the amount for your maintenance calories (aka BMR). A simple formula would be: lean body mass in lbs x 11.5. From that number, either subtract 500 calories if you are cutting, or add 500 if bulking.
  • Set your protein intake. This should be somewhere around 1-1.5 grams per lb of lean body mass, unless you are dieting at an extreme deficit.
  • Set your fat intake to 0.2 grams per lb of body weight for cutting and 0.5 grams for bulking.
  • Fill in with carbs for the remaining calories.
  • Make sure to squat lunge, push and pull at least twice a week.
  • Do not watch and/or listen to Dr. OZ. ever!

In other words, make a plan and stick to it, don’t get too caught up in the detail, otherwise you will not be able to see the wood for the trees!

That is it for the week, but before you start sending me congratulatory notes or hate mail, I wanted to share the following with you. My friend Zac is running the NYC marathon this weekend to raise money for mental illness and addiction. I would be thrilled if we could find a way to support him, watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vl5YhMWxtYk&feature=youtu.be and donate here: https://runwell.donorpages.com/TCSNYCMARATHON/ZacClark/

Maik

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