July-1-2022

Sub scribe to the NW A Newsletter Here

This is weight lifting business,

And this is for the homies that can’t lift with us,

This is for the bros who are injured and they can’t squat with us,

It’s so hard at Thanksgiving and Christmas, this can’t be right,

Cardio with out weights?

You know this can’t be life,

Please heal up soon, without you, this gym don’t feel right…

– Kanye West (probably)

Happy Friday, Coach J here from Anyman Fitness – and welcome to the latest edition of The N.W.A. Newsletter.

Each Friday’s N.W.A. Newsletter will have 3 parts:

A Nutritional Tip to help make your diet healthier and easier to stick to.

A Workout Tip to help make your training sessions more effective and fun.

An Attitude/Mindset tip to help you strengthen your greatest asset – your mental toughness.

I will also give you my single favorite piece of social media content from AF over the past week and link to it on either Instagram or Twitter.

Without any further ado… let’s get started, shall we?

N.W.A. Nutrition Tip Of The Week:

It’s no mystery that alcohol isn’t good for your health.

It’s a literal poison.

When you ingest alcohol, all of your metabolic processes stop immediately to start processing the alcohol out of your blood stream.

Not only are you ingesting a liquid that can kill you if you’re not careful, you’re adding calories to your diet without any benefit other than feeling a buzz.

No judgement here.

I drink alcohol on a regular basis in moderation.

But I always feel much better when I go a few weeks or months while abstaining.

It can be tough to do this during the summertime.

The summertime may actually be tougher than the holidays when it comes to abstaining from alcohol.

Particularly in the colder weather climates.

We suffer all winter long without being able to leave our homes.

When summertime comes, we want to get out there and relax, often with a drink in our hands.

Again, no judgement – I’m the same way.

It just doesn’t feel right to spend the afternoon in the warm sun without sipping on a cocktail or two.

What’s a lake trip or pool party if you can’t have a cold one on a hot, summer day?

If you’re like me, and you enjoy the taste of alcohol/beer, here’s a suggestion for you.

Try non-alcoholic beers from Athletic Brewing Company.

For a long time, the only options for non-alcoholic beer was Coors Cutters or O’Doul’s.

Those beers were average at best.

In reality, they didn’t taste much like beer.

More like water with just a bit of beer flavor.

But the industry has come a long way!

I’ve tried a few different flavors from Athletic Brewing Company, and they taste so similar to actual beers, I’m surprised they don’t have alcohol in them.

Their IPA’s are my favorite (here’s a link to check them out).

They have that bitter, hoopy “pop” to them which really feels and tastes like the real thing.

A normal, 12 ounce IPA clocks in at around 220-230 calories.

These non-alcoholic IPA’s from Athletic Brewing Company clocks in at 65 calories.

Plus, you’ll keep your wits about you, and you won’t have to worry about being dehydrated out in the warm sun.

I’m not an affiliate – I’m just a satisfied customer.

If you want to stay on track with your diet, but you still want to have the taste of a frosty brew on a warm, summer day, browse the selection, and give them a try.

You won’t be disappointed. 🙂

N.W.A. Training Tip Of The Week:

In 2022, we don’t move nearly as much as we should.

This should come as no surprise to you.

As we’ve moved from agriculture and industry to technology, we sit more and more.

Society has been created and designed for a life of ease.

Wall-E has practically come to life in the present day.

If you want to get lean and stay lean, you need to resist this reality.

Our metabolisms are made up of a few different components.

First, we have our “BMR” – our basal metabolic rate.

This is the number of calories we burn simply by existing.

This is how many calories we would burn throughout the day if we just laid in bed all day, without any movement.

Your BMR accounts for 60-70% of our daily energy expenditure.

Next, we have the “TEF” – the thermal effect of our food.

Food requires energy to burn, and our digestive system is hard at work after we eat a meal to ensure this happens.

Protein is the ‘hardest’ to digest and has a TEF of around 25% (meaning 25% of protein’s calories are used in the digestive processes).

Carbs have a TEF of around 10%.

And fat has a TEF of around 2-3%.

The TEF of our food accounts for around 10% of our daily energy expenditure.

(If you eat plenty of protein, you may be able to bump that number up to 15-20% as well.)

Then, we have our actual physical activity.

This is how many calories we burn through specific activities where you’re working out with the intention of being healthier.

This is our weight training workouts, our cardio, etc.

Our physical activity accounts for roughly 10% of our daily energy expenditure as well.

The first 3 items on this list are relatively standard.

There’s not a *ton* we can do to increase our metabolism through these means.

We can build muscle over time to increase our BMR’s, but the effects would be modest.

We can eat lots of protein to increase your TEF (an excellent idea).

Or we can workout out longer, harder, and more frequently.

But consistency is everything, and for many of us, dedicating hours per week to our training regimens just isn’t possible.

But there’s one, final piece to the puzzle that can REALLY move the needle for you.

The last component of your overall metabolic rate is your “NEAT” – your non-exercise activity thermogenesis.

This is how many calories you burn by “non-exercise activity”.

In essence, this is how much energy you burn off by going about your life.

By walking, running errands, working, or just going through your daily activity.

And here’s the kicker…

Your NEAT makes up around 15% of your daily energy expenditure if you have a desk job or you’re sedentary.

But if you’re an active person, your NEAT can take up to 50% of your daily energy expenditure.

Woah.

The phrase “game changer” is thrown around way too much these days, but this is a serious GAME CHANGER.

Let’s put this into proper context…

A sedentary person has a maintenance of 2,000 calories.

Their metabolic breakdown will work like this – this person burns:

1,200 calories via their BMR per day
200 calories via their TEF per day
200 calories via actual exercise per day
400 calories via NEAT per day

BUT if you’re active, it’s a different story.

The exact same person who’s active instead of sedentary will burn up to 50% of their calories via NEAT.

You know those 400 calories burned via NEAT from the sedentary person in the example above?

An active person will burn around 1,000 MORE calories per day than the sedentary person will.

This will help their overall daily energy expenditure increase from 2,000 calories per day to 3,000 calories per day.

That is an incredible advantage over time.

An extra 1,000 calories per day of a diet buffer is enough to tip the scales in your favor (no pun intended) and make keeping the weight off a million times easier.

If you’re already sticking to your diet and training hard, and you need a “boost”, look into increasing your NEAT as much as possible.

Try to move more.

Get a treadmill desk.

Take frequent walks.

Run errands.

Park far away from entrances.

Take the stairs instead of the elevator.

Clean your house, wash your car, and give the dog a bath.

Do whatever you need to do…

Just keep your body moving, and try not to sit down as much.

It can be a pain in the arse, sure, but it will also make all the difference for your overall health and lifestyle.

N.W.A. Attitude/Mindset Tip Of The Week:

“Our ancestors didn’t track their food – it’s not NORMAL, Coach J!”

I hear this a lot.

One of the requirements for our community is to track your food intake when you begin with us.

After you have enough experience with it, you can take the training wheels off, but at the start, it’s crucial to have nutritional awareness.

Our understanding of nutrition, portion sizes, calorie content, and macronutrient breakdowns is dismal in general.

The first step is realizing how much you’re eating and tracking guarantees this happens.

So, back to that “normal” quote.

I hear this from people who balk at our client requirements.

Or sometimes, I see other fitness/nutrition coaches say things like “You don’t have to track your food”, or “Eat instinctively”, or even “Just eat clean and you’ll be fine!”

All those statements are utter hogwash.

Sure, you’re right, our ancestors didn’t track their food.

You know what else isn’t “normal” when comparing ourselves to our ancestors?

Having to carve out time to do cardio
Going to the gym to lift weights
Fake, ultraviolet lighting
Desk jobs with computers
Fast food on every corner
Candy, chips, and bullshit at every gas station
156 office “birthday parties” per week
Vending machines in every break room
Food manufacturing plants
Food “scientists” and research and development teams for food products
2 working parent households
The internet, Netflix, WiFi, and Hulu
The list goes on and on…

So, sure, if you want to live like your ancestors, knock yourself out.

Sell your house and all of your worldly belongings.

Move out into the mountains and start living off the land.

Grow your own crops.

Hunt your own food.

Collect rainwater to drink.

And yes, you’re correct, you likely won’t have to count any calories if you’re willing to do all of that.

You’ll be struggling to survive, but hey, you’ll be lean!

I’m not sure about you, but I prefer to live in the real world.

I enjoy modern comforts and technology.

And as such, I need to be real with you.

Tracking your intake is one of the best things you could ever do for awareness and understanding the “why” behind weight loss.

You can argue all you want that tracking your food isn’t “normal”.

But if you think we currently live in a “normal” time period of existence, you’re sadly mistaken.

Sometimes, you gotta do what you gotta do…

One Favorite Social Media Post Of The Week:

People will spend $25 on a Chipotle burrito from Door Dash every day instead of learning how to cook.

You can make a much healthier, AND tastier meal for less money with a few, basic skills.

N.W.A. Nutrition Tip Of The Week:

N.W.A. Training Tip Of The Week:

N.W.A. Attitude/Mindset Tip Of The Week:

One Favorite Social Media Post Of The Week:

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