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It’s like that, and it’s like this,
I went to the gym and we started to lift,
My chest muscles got hard you know what I was thinkin’,
Finished up my workout and got a protein shake to start drinkin’…
– Eazy-E (probably)
If you wish, you can grab the N.W.A. Newsletter Playlist on Spotify here, all of the songs that have been featured in the newsletter are on the playlist.
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.
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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?
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N.W.A. Nutrition Tip of The Week
A few weeks ago, the WHO came out with a new recommendation and classified aspartame as a Group 2B carcinogen.
Ever since then, social media has been rife with people saying “I told you so!” and vilifying the calorie-free sweetener.
But is aspartame something you should really worry about?
First things first, if you want to avoid aspartame, go for it.
With all else equal, it would be hard to argue it’s “healthier” for you to consume a diet drink than it is to drink water.
But is it something to actually fear as a cancer causing agent?
That part isn’t so clear…
Let’s just get this out of the way right now… The World Health Organization doesn’t exactly have a good track record recently.
We all remember the covid fiasco, and all of the blatantly incorrect information they told us which we were all assured were “facts” from 2020 – 2022.
But I digress… that’s a topic for a different newsletter, as this one focuses on nutrition and fitness.
Back to aspartame…
Aspartame was recently classified as a “Group 2B carcinogen”.
A “Group 2B carcinogen” means:
“There is limited evidence in humans and less than sufficient evidence in animals.”
That doesn’t exactly sound like something that’s super dangerous…
In fact, if you look at the list of Group 2B carcinogens, aloe vera and pickled vegetables are on the list.
So, if you’re eating pickles… or you’re using aloe vera for relief after a sunburn, you’re also putting yourself at risk – at the same level as you would be if you’re drinking a Diet Pepsi with aspartame as its sweetener.
The WHO also classifies red meat as a Class 2A carcinogen, which is more dangerous than aspartame.
I refuse to believe something humans have eaten literally for all of their existence is going to cause me to get cancer.
That one just doesn’t pass the sniff test…
(This is likely a simple cause of “correlation does not equal causation” – red meat is often associated with higher calorie intake, which is associated with obesity, which is associated with cancer…)
Let’s also keep this in mind…
The most dangerous classification by the WHO is a Group 1 carcinogen.
A Group 1 carcinogen means “there is sufficient evidence it causes cancer in humans”.
You know what substance is a Group 1 carcinogen?
Alcohol.
In fact, the WHO even goes on to say “there is no amount of alcohol that is safe for humans to ingest”.
Yikes…
My full, simplified thoughts on the aspartame fiasco is as followed:
- There’s a chance aspartame might not be healthy for you to consume, particularly in large quantities.
- A bit of aspartame probably isn’t a big deal, so it’s nothing to stress out about.
- If it makes you feel like crap, avoid it (which is how you should always view your diet in general)
- Alcohol is WAY worse for you than aspartame, so if you’re freaking out about a bit of aspartame, and you’re drinking alcohol regularly, you’re missing the forest for the trees.
- If you’re still nervous, just drink water.
Personally, I drink 1-2 diet drinks per day, and yes, they contain aspartame.
I’m going to trust that a little bit won’t hurt me, as I would need to drink hundreds of cans per day to get to a level that’s anywhere near toxicity.
I’m going to keep lifting hard, get my steps in, avoid booze, sleep 8+ hours per night, and trust that that’s enough to stay healthy and live a long, active life.
That’s good enough for me, and honestly, it should be good enough for you as well.
In our community, we have zero do not eat lists.
We never tell our clients what to eat.
We believe in 100% FOOD FREEDOM so you can live your life, and still make amazing fat loss progress.
Training and Mindset Tip Of The Week:
I recently went on my yearly “guy’s trip” to Breckinridge, Colorado.
Each summer, I reconnect with some buddies I’ve known my entire life, and we get out and active in the Colorado sun and the Rockies.
This year’s trip was the most epic trip we’ve taken so far…
We saw the top of Mt. Evans at an altitude of over 14,000 feet.
We went on a 5 mile hike in elevation with 1,000 additional feet of elevation on the hike (started at 9k feet, ended at 10k feet).
We took ATV’s to the top of a mountain at 13,000 feet.
We boated and fished the most beautiful alpine lake I’ve ever seen.
Here’s a cool picture of me at Silver Dollar Lake in Georgetown, Colorado – this was the most beautiful hike I’ve ever been on…
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This trip is one of the highlights of my year, each year.
This year’s trip was a bit melancholy for me, though, as usually my buddy Matt is on the trip with us.
Matt was my best friend; he passed away in January from health issues related to alcoholism.
His passing was one of my motivations for getting 100% clean and sober.
I was able to stick to my resolution the entire trip.
The other dudes who were there with me were having beers, shots, and everything else, and I was able to stick to either a non-alcoholic beer, or a club soda/lime.
No booze, no THC, nothing.
Pretty proud of that.
As I was doing the hikes, I was able to cruise through the crazy elevation gains with only small rests.
My legs were fresh and strong, and I felt great.
I woke up each morning feeling ready to crush the day, instead of hungover like the rest of the crew I was with (no judgement, of course, I’ve been there on other years I’ve gone on this trip).
After the trip, as I was sitting at the airport waiting for my flight home, I started thinking back on the experience, and I’m glad I did it sober.
Part of the reason I’m doing the sober thing is I want to separate the alcohol from life events.
We all associate alcohol with certain things.
Vacations.
Holidays.
Barbecues.
Sporting events.
Etc, etc. – it can be tough to even think of doing some of those things without a drink, and each time I get through one of those “drinking events” sober, this whole sobriety thing gets a little bit easier.
And I’m also glad I’m in good enough shape to do it at all.
We have some mutual friends who we’d LOVE to invite on the trip, but you have to have a baseline of fitness in order to keep up.
We’re “go-go-go” from 6 am until bedtime, and we’re very active the entire time.
It reminds me that vanity reasons are great and all, but fitness is truly about EXPERIENCES.
When you’re fit, you can experience more life.
You wake up feeling great instead of like crap.
You can live a better, more fulfilling life.
I hope that’s your main driving force towards fitness, honestly.
Abs and biceps are cool, but being able to do what I just did in your 60’s and 70’s is the ultimate flex.
If you’re looking to get into better shape and start living life to its fullest, consider joining our community.
We crush the weights, eat healthy, and reap the benefits.
You can join us for just $20 for your 1st month at this link.
One Favorite Social Media Post Of The Week:
In this day and age it’s almost impossible to get metabolically healthy and lose the gut if you aren’t prepared.
The number of obese people I’ve chatted with who dine out for lunch every single day is staggering.
If you don’t make your own breakfasts, pack your own lunches, and cook your own dinners, be prepared for a life of being overly fat.
1-2 meals out per week, MAXIMUM, is a good goal to aim for.
I hope you enjoyed this edition of the Anyman Fitness N.W.A. Newsletter.
I’ll be back next week.
Hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Best,
Coach J
Anyman Fitness
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My buddy Matt Stacey is the one who organizes our yearly Colorado trip… and this is his all time favorite Eazy-E song – it’s a “deep track” and a bit out of the ordinary, but hey, so is Matt LOL… (NSFW – lyrics)