Woke up quick at about noon,
Just thought that I had to go and lift weights soon,
I gotta get jacked before the day begins,
Before my Momma starts bitchin’ about my friends.
– 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 week with the N.W.A. Newsletter, I give you the best Nutrition, Weightlifting, and/or Attitude advice for you to start to use in your life today.
Tens of thousands of people have used this exact newsletter to gain muscle, lose fat, and become a better version of themselves…
Without any further ado, let’s get started..
N.W.A. Tip Of The Week
The #1 thing that has stalled out more dieters than any other reason is the infamous “Cheat Meal”.
We’ve all seen internet stories of The Rock and his legendary Cheat Meals.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking they are necessary for long term fat loss progress.
While they may be useful for some people, most would be better off avoiding them.
The idea of a Cheat Meal seems reasonable.
When you die, your ghrelin, leptin, and your metabolic rate are all depressed.
The theory goes, a Cheat Meal restores all of these hormonal functions to peak performance, which will help boost fat loss moving forward.
It also gives you a nice psychological break from dieting.
A good thought in theory – but once you put it into practice you realize why there are issues with Cheat Meals.
Take Joe for example; Joe is on a fat loss diet.
He has a modest deficit of 400 calories per day.
After 6 days pass, he has amassed an overall, weekly deficit of 2400 calories (nicely done, Joe!).
It’s Saturday night.
He’s ready to let loose a little bit.
So, he takes the family to his favorite Mexican joint to indulge a bit.
Joe has already eaten 1,000 calories for the day between breakfast and lunch.
After his family is seated, the waitress puts a basket of tortilla chips in front of him.
Joe orders some queso and guac for the chips as well.
(Calories in the chips, queso, and guac – 1,500)
Joe orders his absolute favorite treat – a jumbo margarita.
On the rocks, with salt (frozen margaritas are a scam).
Yolo, right, Joe?!
(Calories in marg – 600)
For his main entree, Joe orders up his favorite – a steak burrito.
It’s loaded up with sour cream, queso, guac, with Mexican rice, refried beans, and corn cake on the side.
(Calories in main dish – 1,200)
Momentarily stuffed, Joe heads home.
In a few hours, he has a bit more room.
He grabs a couple of IPA’s and a bowl of mixed nuts to drink/eat while he watches Netflix.
(Calories in beer/nuts – 600)
Total those calories up, and Joe is at 4,900 calories for the day.
His maintenance is 2,400 calories per day.
Joe is 2,500 calories over his maintenance calories.
His 2,800 calorie deficit for the week has been (almost) completely eliminated.
All from just one Cheat Meal.
Keep in mind Joe is a guy who has a decently high calorie maintenance, too.
If Joe were a woman?
Instead of a 2,500 calorie maintenance he might have a 1,700-1,800 calorie maintenance.
In that case, there would be even less wiggle room for your night of hedonism.
You can clearly see how easy it is for a Cheat Meal to totally derail your diet for the entire week.
One night can completely undo all the hard work you’ve put in over the last week.
Here are a few rules for Cheat Meals you should follow:
Cheat meals are for people who have dieted for weeks on end and have been perfect the entire time.
They are not a Saturday night reward for people who have had a “good week”.
Cheat Meals were meant to give contest bodybuilders a break every couple of months to keep themselves sane.
I doubt that’s the situation you’re in.
Cheat meals should be controlled events.
Estimate your maintenance calories and eat at maintenance for the day.
That way, the total calorie count won’t get too crazy.
However, planned hedonism is a good thing for long term compliance; but space your true “YOLO” nights out a bit more.
Studies show having a true hedonistic night where you just say “eff it, I’m eating whatever I want” can help your mental state and overall dietary compliance.
Just space those nights out a bit more.
Have one every couple of months.
Just be sure it doesn’t turn into a binge or an eating disorder situation.
I must admit I’ve fallen into this trap before.
Perhaps you have as well.
Once I realized how much it hurt my progress to have a weekly Cheat Meal, I gave up on them.
Instead, I tell myself, “Dude your entire life has been a Cheat Meal, suck it up, you’re trying to lose fat.”
A little tough love and better dietary adherence is always more effective than a Cheat Meal anyways.
I’ve been coaching men and women in 1:1, personalized protocols since 2013.
Here’s an example from Tres – he lost 30 pounds in my program and now has a 6 pack at the age of 49:
To learn more about this unique, “All In” experience, tap here and fill out this quick form – it will go directly to my email inbox.
Looking forward to speaking with you.
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I made $0.00 for 5 months of work when I started AF.
Coaching for free.
Content for free.
Setting up the site, LLC, social accounts.
First year I made $2500 total.
For 25+ hours of work per week, for 8 months.
Gotta get through it to get to the good stuff.
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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