Crash Course

[Lost Dog]

ME's a bulking plan, and Don't Diet is a cutting diet, based on ME's P+C/P+F meals.

I think Dont' Diet is too much trouble, unless you really love carbs. You need to count cals, too. But, that's part of why you can have more carbs; you're counting your calories.

Lot's of people have oatmeal for breakfast. Does it fit with the plan? No, But, we as long as you're doing well, go for it.

If you're a Berardi "believer" you could fine tune it a bit by keeping your oatmeal (and any other high carb meals) low in fat. Have your fats, again, at your next meal.

[John M Berardi]

Originally Posted by gobbla

Like many of the others, I'm willing to accept 99.9% of what JB says as pretty darn close to fact. "If you try this then this will happen". Like most of the others I think their are many ways of going about building a house and one way may or may not be superior to another.

The reason I'm glad I passed is that I personally feel that I'm being marketed real hard at. This site especially has been a place that historically trainers and coaches would be at and offer free advice and "oh btw, I have a book\dvd\whatever if you're interested". It developed a sense of trust with that trainer and didn't make me feel like they believe me to be bitch who's purpose is to give them money. I don't want anyone sending me e-mails with "great\awesome\super dooper" information "just for you" that's a re-hash. It's a waste of my time and only annoys me.

It's especially ironic that I'm writing this when my copy of metabolic advantage is coming in the next couple of days (bought thru JP's bookstore). It's not that I didn't see what this was...I did...and I'm glad I didn't sign up for it.

Thanks for checking out TMA!

Once you get your book, make sure to visit http://www.metabolismadvantage.com to download the free bonus chapters.

[There were a couple of chapters that the publisher excluded from the book yet gave me permission to post separately (I guess a compromise is better than nothin'). So we're giving them away on our site.]

Enjoy!

JB

[John M Berardi]

Originally Posted by Cynic

Hmmm...I must have drawn an incorrect line between starchy carbs and oats. I know he says no starchy carbs except PWO and I've been blasted on the forums for eating 1/2 white and 1/2 brown rice during the day.



Things I'm missing:
Quinoa
Whole grain pasta (unless you count brown rice)
The beans (I don't like beans).
Green tea
Green Foods

I've never tried quinoa. I'd like to sample it. Everything else I can, just haven't, yet.

I do try to follow the 10 habits as close as possible and I love spinach, but it's hard getting as much protein as he prescribes because the good cuts are expensive!!! Tenderloin goes for $3.99/lb and up.

I can easily plunk down $50 for a single plastic bag of clean foods. Should I consider using protein suppliments for the diff?

Sorry if some of the forumites at PN blasted you for eating carbs during the day. There are still a few misunderstandings that persist regarding my carb recommendations - yes, even on my own member's only forum.

Here are some quick thoughts on carbs:

1) The research is 100%, crystal clear. Regardless of your body type, whether you're a diabetic, or whether you're lean and healthy - your ability to handle carbs - any carbs - is MUCH improved during and after exercise.

CLEAR MESSAGE: Your carb tolerance is best during and after exercise. Therefore, that's the best time to eat your carbs.

AUXILLARY MESSAGE: It may be best to eat the bulk of your carbs during and after exercise vs any other time during the day.

2) Depending on your body type, your carb tolerance is different and your strategy should be different. This is all covered in the Individualization Manual in Precision Nutrition.

Here's the synopsis.

A) CARB TOLERANT INDIVIDUALS: If you are the very carb tolerant type, you can get away with more high carb/starchy carb foods outside the workout window. This means you can get away with more carbs throughout the day. You should, of course, still get MORE carbs during/post workout. But you can still get away with carbs other times. Yet as your carbs come up, your fats would drop.

B) MODERATE CARB TOLERANCE: If you have moderate carb tolerance, you should likely minimize high carb/starchy carb foods outside the workout window - except, perhaps, after an overnight fast (breakfast). This means you'd try eating some higher carb/starchy carb foods in the AM as well as during/post exercise. The rest of the meals consist of veggie carbs (plus proteins and fats. This type of person would have a zone-type macro breakdown.

C) POOR CARB TOLERANCE: And if you're not very carb tolerant, your best bet is to avoid all high carb/starchy carb foods outside the workout window (yes, even during breakfast). This means only veggies outside the workout window (plus good proteins and fats). This type of person would be on a fairly low carb diet (30% or less).

Of course, all of this depends on your goals. The rules above are great for weight gain (assuming kcals are high enough), maintenance, and even moderate weight loss/shifting body comp. However, for radical fat loss, there's a different approach.

3) I'll be adding another manual to PN in the near future detailing how you can know your type and how you can plan your diet for your type. You see, for all PN customers, our forum contains add-on manuals that provide goal-specific and more fine-tuned recommendations for specific situations. This body-type specific manual is coming soon and will be added to our other PN add-ons.

Now, for those of you who think this is "too complicated" or whatever - I encourage you to open your mind. Both myself and world reknowned strength coach Charles Poliquin have come to similar conclusions independently that confirm the above. By applying this system above, we've been able to alter people's physiques quite amazingly.

Sure, good eating for a slightly above average physique can consist of just plain ol' clean eating (eliminating sugars, adding good fats, eating better proteins, more F&V). And that's a good start for most folks. However, for those with stubborn physiques - or for those who want their physiques to transcend the norm, this info above will point you in the right direction.

And I encourage you to start doing the things above early on. Good nutrition is a habit. So why not start the habit of eating right for your body type in the beginning.

[John M Berardi]

Originally Posted by Cynic

For about 4 out of 6 feeding, I eat veggies, anywhere from 1-2 cups instead of rice, but oatmeal w/ berry milk and flaxseed has become a morning ritual for me, and when I can I add 1 O-3 egg and about 3/4 cp of egg whites.

I've never heard of the ME or Don't Diet diet. I'm just cleaning up my habits, avoiding sugar and white flour as much as possible (not too hard to do), adding fiber and veggies, etc.

I've been avoiding using powdered protein for the protein because one of the habits is get your nutritional substance from solid whole matter food over suppliments.

I try to follow the 10 habits as close as possible but I admit I'm not spot on, perhaps a little out of the bull's eye.

If you're not one who tolerates carbs well, I know it absolutely sucks to have restrict high carb foods to only during/post-workout.

I know this because I too absolutely love oats with protein powder, mixed berries, and mixed nuts for breakfast. In fact, on a cheat day, I prefer that to almost anything else. However, now that I'm older, my carb tolerance has diminished (this happens often in a lot of folks). Also, I'm a bit more sedenary. And therefore I've had to do the carb shift too. And my physique thanks me for it.

The morning oatmeal thing seems to be the biggest reason people take shots at my recommendations. Some actually get quite pissed! I find that really odd. My response: hey, don't shoot the messenger! I'm just sharing some basic physiology here and trying to help folks improve their bodies.

[milkman21]

Nice posts JB. Thanks for taking the time to clarify some of these issues, as I think I too had taken some of your advice out of the context (regarding individualized levels of carb tolerance).

[ninja]

JB, are you going to be a regular contributor to the forum like you said you would way back when? There's a lot of people following your advice!

[John M Berardi]

Originally Posted by ninja

JB, are you going to be a regular contributor to the forum like you said you would way back when? There's a lot of people following your advice!

I'd love to help out when I can...and will pop over here from time to time.

However, I do have my own forum of over 5K customers to manage and obviously, that takes priority. (Plus the other stuff I do doesn't exactly leave me with lots of free time for posting).

If you'd like to be a part of the PN group, though, all you have to do is pick up a copy of PN and in addition to the complete PN kit, you are granted lifetime access to the forums, all the free PN add-ons, and some other cool things coming down the pipe.

Best,

JB

[BamaDave]

Originally Posted by Lost Dog

What's with all the haters? (am I too old to use that?)

I don't get it, either, and I probably am too old to use the word "hater," since I'm about to turn 40.

I like JB's stuff, because he guides people to eat from a nutrition/health I s perspective and not just a body composition/aesthetics point of view. Eat lots of veggies. Yeah, that advice sucks!

I think JB's line of thinking is similar to that found in Paleo Diet for Athletes, only his approach is more practical because he doesn't rule out so many modern foods.

I still eat AM oatmeal, though, especially before long and/or intense running! Not so much before weight training.

[John M Berardi]

Ok all, gotta roll - I should start putting together my presentation for the LA Strength Seminar in LA next weekend!

For those attending, see ya there! For those not, you're missin' out!

And for those interested in asking more questions, pop over to the member's only Precision Nutrition forums. Picking up a copy of PN will get you in (lifetime access), with full access to all the dialogues, advice, free manual add-ons, and other cool stuff that's coming down the pipe. Here's the link:

http://www.precisionnutrition.com/system.html

[BFG]

Im not kocking I just dont fare well when it comes to half of his nutritional choices

His stance on diet and training is symbiotic and his results for others speak for themselves.

Its just not the way I choose and not the only way thats all.

[BamaDave]

Originally Posted by BFG

Im not kocking I just dont fare well when it comes to half of his nutritional choices

It's not the nutritional choices... you didn't fare well because you head-butted the computer!

[laxcdn]

Originally Posted by John M Berardi

Ok all, gotta roll - I should start putting together my presentation for the LA Strength Seminar in LA next weekend!

For those attending, see ya there! For those not, you're missin' out!

And for those interested in asking more questions, pop over to the member's only Precision Nutrition forums. Picking up a copy of PN will get you in (lifetime access), with full access to all the dialogues, advice, free manual add-ons, and other cool stuff that's coming down the pipe. Here's the link:

http://www.precisionnutrition.com/system.html

You forgot the Biotest plug too.

[Frank.S]

complex carbs in the morning, simple carbs after workout, no carbs past 2pm, no carbs mixed with fats, no more then 20% of diet should come from carbs, veggies are good carbs, but maybe not carrots, fruits can be good, no high GI bannanas, am i carb tolerent, untolerent or right in the middle? eating fats could slow down absorption of the carbs...................

I know Berardi even brought this up, but is all this really neccesary for the goals 99% of us have on this website. what about my method:

Diet:
Carbs only breakfast and post workout

Non-diet:
Carbs throughout the day, but make sensible choices as much as possible.

[EdChap]

How can anyone get enough calories if they only eat 20% carbs? You'd have to eat masses and masses of fat and you'd probably end up with 2g/lb of bodyweight for protein.

3800-4000 calories with only 20% carbs is...silly, no?

[Dogmama]

That's me. I want to see the science behind the claims. The PN diet is basically sound, but a few of the tenets raised my eyebrows. I've been searching PubMed, etc. and finally (yesterday) found what I was looking for:

The premise I was investigating was carbs+fat in one feeding makes you fat (I won't say the insulin phrase,BFG, so relax). Years ago, we were told that you need to add fat to carbs to blunt the insulin response. I found that carbs + fat produce an increase in insulin for saturated fats only. The articles stated carbs & unsaturated fats do not increase the insulin response. These articles were about ten years old; I could not find anything newer.

Also, I extrapolate that the individual must have insulin response problems. It has been shown that people who are of normal weight and exercise consistently usually do not have these issues. That should encompass most of us on this board but certainly not the general population. (Ain't we great?)

That being said, the diet appears to be basically sound. It has been shown that a calorie is not a calorie - I ran across those articles constantly. Protein has been shown to preserve muscle mass in dieting and exercising individuals to a much greater extent than fats & carbs (duh! they give money for this research??).

[Lost Dog]

The issue isn't that C and F cause in insulin response. It's that C causes an insulin response. The premise is that you don't want F readily available in that condition.

F does blunt the insulin response, as does fiber or protein, but blunt is not the same as stop.

I think the effect is much more pronounced in fat people, who tend to be insulin resistant.

I'm not good at the pubmed searches. Seems that everything has my words in it.

[I. Kay]

Originally Posted by Frank.S

complex carbs in the morning, simple carbs after workout, no carbs past 2pm, no carbs mixed with fats, no more then 20% of diet should come from carbs, veggies are good carbs, but maybe not carrots, fruits can be good, no high GI bannanas, am i carb tolerent, untolerent or right in the middle? eating fats could slow down absorption of the carbs...................

I know Berardi even brought this up, but is all this really neccesary for the goals 99% of us have on this website. what about my method:

Diet:
Carbs only breakfast and post workout

Non-diet:
Carbs throughout the day, but make sensible choices as much as possible.

I look at it like this: he's giving us as much info as possible, with a program that is as close to ideal as he can figure out. Now, it's up to each of us to decide how important for our goals this "ideal" is... or if we believe we only need 90% of it, or 50%, or whatever. (example: "I'm trying to lose fat, and it's not working. I don't believe JB's stuff about x,y,z... but maybe I'll try avoiding carb/fat combos for a few weeks and see if anything happens.")

While it may not be "necessary" to all of us, it sure doesn't hurt to have the info available!