The Oatmeal Series – Carrot Cake

Breakfast, whether you regard it as the most important meal of the day, the most boring meal of the day or just a meal. You will end up having something, and I think a lot of people end up finding they go to the same things over and over again. One for me is oats, so to keep things interesting I like to pimp them up.

So I have for you the Oatmeal series, for which the main ingredient will be our beloved oats. If you love oats, you will love this series, if you hate them, you will probably find this series will help you discover a way to eat them that you enjoy. Don’t get me wrong, you definitely don’t have to eat oats, but they are cheap and versatile.

What You’ll Need:

70g Oats, 2 Cups of water, 1/2 Cup of grated carrot, half a banana chopped, tsp vanilla essence, tsp cinnamon, sweetener, 100g Greek Yoghurt, 10g Walnuts.

How To Do It:

1. Add the oats, water and salt to the pan and cook on a high heat, once simmering add the chopped banana and carrot, keep stirring and reduce the heat, mashing the banana against the sides is a good way to incorporate it quickly.
2. Once thickened reduce the heat further and cool till your favoured consistency, then add the vanilla, sweetener and cinnamon.
3. During the cooking process you can prepare your icing, for this add the Greek Yoghurt and Vanilla essence to a bowl and mix up, I prepared it the night before. Simply put your Oaty Carrot Cake into a bowl and dollop on the icing.
4. Sprinkle over the Walnuts and there you have it Carrot Cake with Icing.

What You’re Getting From It:

• 22g Protein, 65g Carbohydrates, 13g Fat (12g Fibre) – 467Kcal
• Banana- great source of potassium.
• Carrot- full of Beta Carotine along with many vitamins and minerals.
• Walnuts- full of Omega 3s keeping you healthy (still take your fish oils!).
• Cinnamon- this has always been a winner for me, great replacement for sugar and calorie free.
• Greek Yoghurt- higher in protein and lower in carbohydrates than other yoghurts and 100% natural, I use Fage 0% that you can get from any typical supermarket.

I love changing up my oats, so do my clients. Because we allow our diets to be flexible, we can swap and change foods all the time, we can eat anything we want and get great results. This is whether they are powerlifters, natural bodybuilders, mens physique competitors or just guys and gals who want to drop fat. Our diets are inclusive, and the only restrictions in place are ones that have to be to get results, calories.

Ted Hill – ‘in 4 months I got into the best shape of my life and was the strongest I’ve ever been’

Ted, what were your goals when signing up with me?

Gain lean muscle mass and become significantly stronger, especially on the squat, bench and deadlift. Also help in rehabilitating my rowing back injury, preventing me squatting and deadlifting.

What reservations if any did you have before we started working together?

I was slightly concerned about how flexible my life at university would be, especially with regards to eating meals prepared by my housemates, and going on nights out whilst drinking.

How was I able to help you with your reservations?

The IIFYM approach was clearly broken down to me be Steve and by understanding the method of dieting I felt confident enough to undertake the new lifestyle. Even when I got it wrong in the early stages Steve went about informing me and explaining how to improve next time – Like how to go about incorporating alcohol into my diet.

In point form, can you list your achievements training with me thus far?

• Gained lean muscle mass
• Increased strength
• Fully recovered from previous injuries
• Prepped successfully for a cat walk
• In 4 months my total on the big three went up 142.5kg or a 49% increase.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Steve has genuinely transformed my approach to gym and dieting. I have never seen such continual progress in the gym! Having accountability and someone who knows how to set up correct training and macro split is essential.

I have thoroughly enjoyed coaching Ted, it hasn’t always been easy with his lagging injuries and competitive rowing and living the student lifestyle, all competing with not only his training but also nutrition. Ted has done tremendously well in balancing everything in his life, and the progress he has made is outstanding. I look forward to working with Ted again in the future, he has a great future ahead of him.

Interested in online coaching? You can check out what I have to offer here.

The Fundamentals Make The Athlete

Back to basics

We all know those people who want to know the latest best exercise, or the new amazing supplement on the market. They are so focussed on the latest and greatest but have not taken the time to develop what matters most, and that is a strong foundation.

What makes up a strong base?

We all know that the best things in life are based of a few simple core principles. Apple products are great because they are so easy to use, this is the strong base they develop from. Costa produce some fantastic coffee variations and these all stem from top quality coffee beans. To be the best or to develop and grow you need a strong foundation to do it from. For the athlete this means perfect (or near to) technique on the main compound lifts, that’s squats, deadlifts and pressing varieties. It also requires a strong nutritional base, that’s your protein, carbs and fats, getting what you require by the end of the day, consistently. Developing these two aspects in the early stages of an athletes career pays massive dividends later on.

Stop looking for ‘training secrets’ & ‘magical supplements’
I know when I first started training I was far too concerned with the wrong things. Thinking if I took this shake and did this bicep tri-set routine I’d be cut and jacked in no time. I missed the bigger picture, and that was getting key basic principles correct. Any supplement or new training protocol is only ever going to be like the sprinkles on a cake. If you have a poor quality sponge, no matter how good those darn sprinkles are every bite will taste terrible. Just like no matter how good a supposed supplement or training method is meant to be, if you have poor technique on the main compounds or do not hit the your personal macro requirements by the end of the day, you will not see the results you desire. I know this first hand.

A coach can really help you get these aspects nailed, and keep you from straying too far from what matters. Not only do they keep you accountable for your nutrition, but if they are any good they know no matter how advanced you are as an athlete you can’t go wrong with a good squat, deadlift or pressing pattern. Making sure you are continually getting the basics right, each and every day.

Focus on the Process to get the Goal

Are you goal or process orientated? 

You may be wondering, what in heck is he on about? Process orientated…goal orientated…what are these concepts? So I guess it would be best to clarify what I mean by each:

Goal Orientated– you focus on the end product, this might be a certain body weight, an amount to be lifted or even a promotion. This is your key driver, it gets you out of bed each day.

Process Orientated– instead of looking at the end product you hope for, you focus on what needs to be done to get there. If you want to hit a certain bodyweight, you make sure to eat and exercise each day in a way that would take you there. If you want a promotion by the end of the year, each day you nail your work and go the extra mile. You look at what needs to be done to get you to your goal, this is your focus each day.

As you can see there is one KEY DIFFERENCE; one focusses on the END PRODUCT and the other on what NEEDS TO BE DONE TO GET THERE.

So what’s wrong about looking at the end goal all the time? I mean it’s good to set goals and have them drive us throughout life? Well yes, setting goals is brilliant, and they need to be there to give us purpose and direction. However, the problem with thinking about the end product all the time is that you want it now. Or if something goes a bit skew whiff one day you get very frustrated.

Take Bob, he wants to get to 165lbs for a natural bodybuilding competition. Now Bob has given himself 20 weeks to get there, which should be plenty of time as he is only weighing in at 185lbs. So Bob knows that if on average he loses a pound per week he will hit his goal. Bob isn’t an idiot and knows that at first he can expect weight to come off faster and it will gradually slow.

Each day Bob wakes up and weighs himself, always with the focus on the end weight. So he is setting himself up for disappointment every single day, because he is not yet at his goal weight. Imagine a situation where he is 10 weeks out, and his weight stalls, he loses nothing for a week, or even gains a pound. Bob being Bob is thinking that he will not hit his goal weight at this rate, he gets very anxious and decides to add cardio and drop his calorie intake.

Bob then loses a lot of weight the next week, and once the 20 weeks are up he is actually 5lbs lighter than his goal.

Now take Fred, he is going for the same show, so he also needs to get down to 165lbs. Like Bob, he is a smart guy, he knows how to get there. However, unlike Bob, Fred focusses on these processes, he looks at what macros and exercise needs to be done each day, and is satisfied each day as he gets this done. Fred’s weight also stalls one week, however, being process orientated Fred knows he has done everything right and cannot do anything more. So he sticks to his guns, and when the 20 weeks finish, he manages to also reach his goal, but is 5lbs heavier than Bob.

So whats the difference? Both Bob and Fred were able to get to their goal, but Bob actually overshot and lost more weight than he needed and aimed for. In this situation it meant that he actually lost lean muscle mass by making drastic changes to his diet and exercise. He therefore placed lower than Fred, who being process focussed, didn’t lose his head, and therefore kept a higher amount of lean mass.

This is just one example of how being too focussed on the end product can worsen the outcome. Life is not linear, we get peaks and troughs of good luck and bad luck. However, if you focus on what you are doing to get to your goal, rather than goal in question, you will be in a better place to consistently do what needs to be done. You won’t get disheartened along the way, and do something non-productive.

Be process orientated, not goal orientated, you’ll be surprised how much more you enjoy the each day and probably hit your goal sooner!

Having a coach really helps keep you focussed on the processes, they give you your training and nutrition, all you need to do is do it. Therefore, it directs your focus on the process, they can keep the goal in mind. Like the sound of that? Check out my success stories and if you think my coaching might suit you check out my services.

#REVIVESTRONGER

Your Daily Coffee Is Killing You!

Coffee is a Killer

Truth or Fiction?

OK so I very much doubt your coffee is killing you, but some people are this extreme is their views. They seem to think that coffee is the devil because it contains caffeine, which is a drug and should be avoided. Now I love coffee, consume it daily and also get caffeine from other sources from energy drinks to chocolate. I am going to look at what science says to make my opinion on whether caffeine is good or bad, because I know my coffee isn’t killing people, that we can be sure of. I will note that a toxic dose of caffeine is between 20-40mg/kg bodyweight, so I at 75kg would need to consume 1500-3000mg of caffeine, which would be 10-20 average coffees.

What is Caffeine?

Taken straight from Examine.com ‘Caffeine is a stimulatory anti-sleep compound extracted from coffee beans’. It is most commonly consumed in the form of tea and coffee, and is the worlds most popular drug. It has been heavily researched and is deemed safe, but like anything else this is assuming moderation.

Coffee in general has between 40-180mg per 150ml and tea 24ml-50mg per 150ml. Once consumed it can have an immediate effect, however peak values in the blood take 15-120 minutes and most commonly seen is 30 – 45 minutes. The impact of caffeine can last quite a while, as its half-life can be up to 4.5 hours but has been seen to be as low as 2.5 hours.

What are the Benefits?

Funny enough even the idea of caffeine intake can improve our mood, which suggests it has a potential placebo effect. I know personally if I smell a fresh coffee I automatically feel more awake, if only they could produce a decaf coffee that tastes like the real deal.

It has been shown that caffeine can help to reduce the risk of Parkinson’s, and can help in therapy against it. Furthermore, caffeine has shown to increase metabolic rate and fat loss, however be warned habitual intake can make us desensitised to this.

Caffeine is widely known as an ergogenic aid, which means it has sports performance benefits. It appears muscle cells have an increased power output, also it has been seen to improve endurance performance by decreasing fatigue.

One study looked at caffeine and it’s impact on the number of calories we burn and fat mobilisation. It saw that a daily intake of say 6 strong cups of coffee led to an extra 100kcal expenditure. Wahey, that’s pretty nice right?! Well not only that but caffeine has also been shown to increase fat mobilisation and oxidation.

What are the Downsides?

So apparently coffee should be avoided because of the insulin response it creates, and insulin is the fat storing devil right? Well no, it may have been seen to impair glucose tolerance in the short term, but in the long term, which is what matters, it has actually been found to lower people’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Suggesting coffee does not raise insulin for long periods of time or make us insulin insensitive.

You may have heard that we can get addicted to caffeine, currently however there is insufficient evidence to suggest you can get addicted to caffeine, yet this may change as it does interact with our reward systems such as acute dopamine release, but this gets blunted with chronic use.

Not really a downside, but more something that I personally get frustrated by is getting caffeine tolerant. To date the mechanism by which we become tolerant to caffeine is unknown, but with chronic use we do begin to lose some of the effects of caffeine. It does seem possible to actually consume caffeine routinely without developing a tolerance, only anecdotally but going for 3-5 days should be enough time so not to become tolerant.

Conclusions

So as you can see coffee and principally caffeine has been investigated thoroughly, but some things are still a little inconclusive, but that’s to be expected as science is tentative and ever evolving.

In the short term we see some benefits to sports performance and mood, but also decreased glucose tolerance and a slight rise in blood pressure. Yet long term studies show that overall coffee is beneficial, decreasing the risk of diabetes, parkinsons and increasing calorie burn and fat mobilisation. If we take this together we can see that overall coffee is only going to help in fat loss, our results, and health, because of the short term benefits and the fact over time the negatives are not seen.

However, like everything coffee and caffeine should be consumed in moderation, as we can become reliant on it and potentially addicted. I would also note that the benefits of coffee in particular are only apparent if the person isn’t adding a load of sugar, cream or even god forbid butter to their coffee. So continue to drink coffee, but don’t have too much if you still want to experience a kick!

‘Honey Monster Puffs’ The New Health Food?

‘Honey Monster Puffs’

The new ‘health’ food?

So Sugar Puffs are re-branding themselves to Honey Monster Puffs because sales have been driven down by the sugar scare that is currently rife. Not only that but they are changing the recipe of our beloved sugar puffs to contain 20% more honey and less added sugar.

So they will now contain 8.6g sugar per 30g serving, from the original 9.3g. Big whoop. Critics rightly pointed out that once broken down by the body, honey will do the same thing as the added sugar would have. Furthermore, there are worse offenders out there such as Coco Pops and Frosties which contain 11g of sugar per portion. Thus, we can clearly see the change is a marketing ploy, removing sugar from their brand name and assigning a ‘health halo’ by adding that the product contains honey, which is seen as natural and therefore good for you. This frustrates the hell out of me, and highlights how ignorant the consumer is and why education is still the only way to help people make wiser choices.

Education , Education, Education

People need to understand that when it comes to their diet what makes it healthy vs. unhealthy are not individual food choices, but the overall macronutrient and micronutrient contents of their entire diet. However, because the majority of the population do not understand this, they get mis-guided by companies, the news and word of mouth.

Governing Bodies are clueless
Companies are now required to put nutritional traffic lights on their products, assigning different colours to a choice of dietary aspects of the food. Typically calories, sugar, fat, saturated fat and salt.

I have a two big problems with this. One the colours are referring to a guideline daily amount, this is a generic and completely unindividualised figure. Just think, a athlete needs a load more calories and therefore fat than an office worker who is sedentary.

Second, they are focussing on some of the wrong things. I am fine with the calories and overall fat being put there, but sugar, saturated fat and salt? The governing bodies are focussing on the wrong things, they would be better off providing a macronutrient breakdown of the product i.e. fat, protein and carbohydrates.

Sugar at the end of the day is the final form of any carb, and we are not really helping by pin pointing just sugar. Why saturated fat is on there I really don’t know, as no one is sure how much we should really be getting, what we do know is we need a balance of each type of fat and that saturated fat is essential for healthy hormone function. Finally salt, this has been highlighted and vilified by the nutrition press recently, and in my view wrongly. It’s been known for over 20 years that people with high blood pressure who don’t want to lower their salt intake can consume more potassium-containing foods. It is the balance between the two minerals that matters. So if they do have salt on their, surely the potassium content should also be provided?

Confused Consumers

I feel bad for calling the general population ignorant, because I don’t think it is largely their fault. As shown above the government are focussing on the wrong things, and do not provide adequate education. So consumers only have the news, media and branding to base their choices off. And there is the problem, the news often tout complete bull, governing bodies focus on the wrong things and companies are concerned about their bottom line, not our health.

People need to educate themselves, but they need to use legit resources and question everything. This is good daily practice that can be used throughout life. Be open minded but skeptical, base your opinion on facts and if something sounds fishy, question it.

MyFitnessPal is screwing you over

How could it be screwing you over?

I love myfitnesspal, if you have me as a friend on it you know I have a streak of over 600 days (to add me snhall1990). That literally means I have logged into and tracked foods for 600+ days. That consistency with my macronutrient intake is what has gotten me results, along with following a solid exercise regime. However, there are ways in which using myfitnesspal could be your downfall, and I want to touch on these today.

1) Using their calorie calculators

Myfitnesspal has it’s own inbuilt calorie calculator, which is great, it gives you an idea of how many calories you need to maintain your weight. Key in that sentence is idea, these calculators are just estimates, you cannot guarantee these to be right, and I have seen them really mess people around, being out by 100s of calories. Say it was out by 200 calories a day, you were eating this much to sustain your weight, a 200kcal surplus each day is 1400 calories by the end of the week. After a month that’s an extra 5600kcal for the month, which is 67200kcals extra for the year, which could lead to over 15lbs of unwanted fat gain.

I am certainly not against calorie calculators, but they must be used with caution. If you do use them, then make sure to keep an eye on your scale weight, and how you are looking, then adjust from there.

2) Applying a macronutrient Ratio to your diet
I HATE ratios, people asking whether a 40/40/20 split is superior to a 60/20/20 split etc. The problem is that these are extremely unspecific and not individualised. Everyone has a given amount of protein that they can successfully utilise, a general rule of thumb is 1g per lb. Next up is fat, it’s great, full of nutrients and makes food taste awesome, but again past our EFAs and getting a good mix of them all there is an upper limit of how much we want. Carbohydrates have the biggest individual variability, because they are our bodies ideal energy source, and therefore the amount we need is dictated by our personal energy expenditure.

Lets take a 40/40/20 split of carbs, protein and fat and apply that to two people weighing 180lbs, one who needs 2000 calories and another who needs 3000 calories. The 2000 calorie individual will consume 200g of protein and carbohydrates with 44g for fat. The other would get 300g of protein and carbs with 67g for fat. Now you can see both are getting too much protein, and for the person consuming 3000 calories it is getting really excessive. Blanket ratios are not specific at all, and are by all means useless and a waste of time. Every macronutrient serves it’s own purpose and each person requires different amounts of each.

3) Silly sugar recommendations
If you have a decent intake of fruit you will notice that you go over your sugar recommendations every single day. There is nothing wrong with sugar, especially that which is naturally occurring in foods, such as in fruit. I hate to think that people reduce their fruit intake because they feel they need to get below a recommendation made by myfitnesspal. If anything they could have an added sugar recommendation, but even then I think it’s best ignored.

4) Incorrect food entries
This is really frustrating, because on myfitnesspal anyone can enter the data for foods. So you could end up with the wrong numbers through human error. Furthermore, sometimes when you scan an item the numbers fed back are off. If you are not careful this could really mess with your totals by the end of the day. I have had it where someone didn’t bother entering the protein on items, and then over-consuming on protein to hit my totals. Doing this rarely is fine, but if it is done with any consistency it could really throw you and if you are in contest prep it could be really important to be as accurate as possible.

These are just some of the things to be aware of when using myfitnesspal. Nothing is perfect and myfitnesspal is actually a really really great thing. So don’t delete the app and ruin your streak, but be aware of the above, because it could be ruining your progress.

Not sure where to start with your macronutrients? Need someone to take away the guess work to allow you to start using myfitnesspal and eating a diet you love and getting results you want? Be sure to check out my online coaching services, you can see a few of my clients who have had terrific results here.

Why diet plans SUCK

Meal 1 – 50g Oats, 300ml Skimmed Milk…

I hate diet plans, they are restrictive, boring, ineffective and problematic long term. Yet people love them, I get emails from people asking for ‘Diet Plans’ that outline specific times and foods to eat. I understand, it makes life simple and easy, you just look at what’s on the menu and eat it up and get the results you wanted…well simple and easy might be right but results? Maybe initially but in the long term a ‘Diet Plan’ is planning for failure. Here’s why…So your nutrition coach gives you your diet plan, it lists out Meals 1 through 6, giving you the exact foods, weights and timings to eat everyday. Brilliant, you go out to the supermarket, pick up all your grub and you’re set on your path to the body you want. Right? I mean all you have to do is follow this plan, day by day, week by week, eating specific foods, at specific times and you will be onto a winner. Chicken, Oats, Broccoli every single day, at 1pm…

Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with any of the foods named above, heck they’re great and could be incorporated into your diet. But everyday, the same foods? Don’t you think you might get bored? Might a social event pop up that requires you to eat something off the menu? Maybe your busy at work at a time you’re meant to eat? Now we are starting to see the beginning of just a few of the problems with meal plans.

The Western World doesn’t actually have a problem losing weight, yes there is an obesity epidemic but we are actually great at shedding that weight. The problem we have is keeping it off, as studies show more often than not, people put the pounds back on, and more. So why can’t we keep that weight off? Well it’s because our diets do not allow for sustainability. We get bored, a social event comes up, and we give that diet up and go back to our usual habits. The typical yoyo dieter you know the ones.

That’s why diet plans SUCK, they are not sustainable. Further to that they are actually unhealthy. They encourage binge eating, being unsocial, putting certain foods on a pedestal and encourage a limited diet that can lead to micronutrient deficiencies. You also gain no knowledge or education about foods, what they contain and the impact they have on your body. All you know is that the ones on the menu get you results, at least in the short term.

So what’s the solution? We need a diet that is sustainable we know that much, and to be sustainable it needs to allow for social occasions, cravings and a varied food choice. That sounds like a kinda, flexible diet, one that gives you control over your food, so eating becomes a lifestyle, not a chore. But, how do we keep this churning out results? Surely I am not saying we can eat out, and any foods we want and still lose fat? Ah and that is where the education comes in, you need to be aware of the macronutrients the foods you are consuming are giving you, how many of those each food provides and how much you need as an individual. Man, that sounds like a lot of work? Well with a little graft at the start, tracking your macro nutrition on a mobile app such as myfitnesspal and eventually it’ll become a habit, one you can sustain for long enough to see results.

By tracking your macronutrition intake for a period of time, you get an understanding about what foods contain and how much you need. This can then allow you in future to flex, and so you can eat out, you can eye ball foods instead of weighing them every time. You have the power over food, you know you how much you can eat.

I have written two articles on this topic, that I think are really great for getting started with a sustainable, liveable and enjoyable diet. Part 1 can be accessed HERE and Part 2 (practical application) HERE. Further to that, I provide online coaching and have got tremendous results with my clients using this flexible dieting approach, their results can be found HERE.

Lyle Mcdonald: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com

Powerbuilding

Powerlifting meets Bodybuilding, my new venture

So my natural bodybuilding contest season is over, my two shows are done and I can proudly say I got shredded and placed in both shows. Goal achieved, and I can be happy that it was a job well done. I didn’t enter because I thought I’d win, or had anything to prove, I decided to compete to experience a journey like no other, and use the lessons it provided to better enable me to coach my clients. However, I do not now want to compete for a good 3 years or so, because muscle building is slow and contest prep is very hard. Apart from building my business, spending time with family and friends and enjoying life you might wonder what my training goals are. I am firmly in love with bodybuilding, however I love lifting heavy things, and think powerlifting is pretty damn cool, so why not combine the two?

Defining Powerbuilding 
Powerbuilding can be defined as a set of principles applied to one’s training with the aim of producing muscle growth, through increasing strength in movements tested in powerlifting.

That means the bench press, back squat and deadlift, and is something I actually have been doing for years, but never really focussed heavily upon. It is all about focussing on getting strong in these movements, and that produces growth. Using the lessons learnt from the best powerlifters and bodybuilders, to get our desired result; a strong and muscular body.

Principles of Powerbuilding
As said it is about using the best techniques and approaches from bodybuilding and powerlifting and combing them to get a desired result. I will now go into these.

Progressive Overload– without this you will not improve in any desired aspect. It is the backbone of any successful strength or muscle building programme. Essentially, if you are not pushing more total volume, you are not going to get bigger or stronger. By volume I mean your weight x your reps, so you either need to be adding more to pounds to the bar or doing more reps.

Periodisation– simply put this is the method of varying training modules including but not limited to total volume, intensity and frequency. There are almost infinite ways to periodise a programme, but current evidence is showing that an undulating method is superior to linear. This means you do not have long focussed blocks focussing on either strength, hypertrophy or power. But you focus on all three in a much shorter time period, allowing you to progress on all of them.

Frequency- in this case we are talking about how often muscle groups are trained. It is becoming widely known that as natural athletes our protein synthesis post workout is up-regulated for 48 hours post workout. Therefore, it makes sense to train each muscle group every 48 hours or so, rather than once a week like the old school bodybuilders. So with Powerbuilding you will train muscle groups a minimum of twice per week, that means using either upper/lower, push/pull/lower or full body type splits. Higher frequency of exposure to good training stimuli means more potential opportunities for growth!

Calorie Surplus– we wanna grow muscles right? we want to get stronger don’t we? that requires energy. If we are not in a calorie surplus we are either less than our bodies need to sustain itself or just enough. How then are we meant to build more muscle? Simple enough, we can’t. So key to a successful Powerbuilding method is consuming enough food, but not too much, remember we still care about aesthetics, we’re bodybuilders too. Plus we know muscle takes a long time to come by. Therefore, look to gain around 0.5-3lbs a month, depending on your training age, less the longer you have been training.

So now you know what my training aims are this ‘offseason’ to get big and strong :D. Hopefully entering my first powerlifting competition next year in the under 82.5kg weight category. Not set myself a overall total kg’s lifted target yet, but I will be. Anyone want to join me in powerbuilding? bodybuilding or powerlifting? Be sure to check out my online coaching, in which I provide weekly guidance on nutrition and training, bespoke and personalised.

Porn Obsessed

Food Porn duhhh…

The following was written 1 week out from the UKDFBA in 2014…

Sorry if you expected something a little more perverse than this, but I have to confess I am addicted to food porn. Or better I am obsessed with food in general, if you asked me what I was thinking about or doing it would be food, hence this newsletter being on the subject!

So why am I so food focussed right now? Well you might have guessed it, it’s because I am dieting. As you transition to lower and lower calories every item of food you put in your mouth gets a higher value put onto it. Not only do you need to be more concerned about it’s quality, you get concerned about how it tastes, how fulfilling it is, because you know if you make a bad choice you will feel it later. Just have a look at my instagram if you don’t believe me.

Pretty #foodgasmic wouldn’t you say? In a recent paper by Eric Helms, Alan Aragon and Peter Fitschen they look into the psychological impacts of long term dieting, specifically for contest prep. Did you know it’s been found almost half male drug free competitive bodybuilders binge post competition. One third reported anxiety, short tempers or anger when preparing for competition and more than 80% suffered with a preoccupation with food. People who know me might be thinking…that explains a lot..haha well hopefully not. Although I have survived one post competition binge I definitely have a preoccupation with food. The physical effects of semi-starvation is much like the signs and symptoms seen with eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. As you can see, my food porn obsession isn’t so out of the ordinary.

This is why I wanted to make this post, because I am aware of the dangers of getting extremely lean. And being aware is part of the solution of straying from the potential consequences. As open and frequent communication about these topics can really help. Further to this, I have a coach, he is amazing and there for me when I am concerned. Personally, I recommend everyone looking to get into contest level shape get a coach, particularly if it is your first contest. This is why I also think it is essential that your coach has competed themselves, because it is impossible to relate if they haven’t. The mental and psychological side to contest prep is what separates it from just fat loss, and trust me when I say it is a major part that can make or break a successful prep.

I am now 1 week out from the UK Drug Free Bodybuilding Association (UKDFBA). So hopefully my obsession will start dying down and I can get back to a having a healthy relationship with food. I certainly intend to enjoy a ‘free meal’ post contest, but I am not going to binge. My fantastic girlfriend has actually booked us in for a meal at Duck and Waffle in London, its got some posh nosh and I intend to enjoy the hell out of it.Thanks to everyone for the continued support throughout my contest prep. It has been an experience I will remember forever and it has made me grow stronger as a person. If anyone is interested in competing and have questions, please contact me as I would be happy to help, and together we can Revive Stronger.