Look at me, sending a Friday newsletter on a Friday. I’m like all efficient and shit. Is it a full moon? Or did I just skip last week entirely and now trying to save face? Who knows.
1. I get a kick out of supplement company CEOs who continually rail about big, bad corrupt #BigPharma.
Big Pharma is hardly beyond reproach but bro, come on. You’re in the supplement industry.
You use steroid-using bodybuilders in ads to push supplements they don’t even take.
You market stimulant sodas to school kids. Yeah, Billy really needed 300mg of caffeine and yohimbine before soccer practice.
You use before & after ads that are beyond doctored. Some are shot in reverse (guy wins contest, takes after pic, gets fat for 12 weeks, takes before pic). Or the piece de resistance, the classic Marla Duncan “before photo when 8 months pregnant.”
You use pixie dust amounts of effective ingredients and then hide behind the “proprietary blend” curtain.
Not everybody or every company of course. You might be one of the good ones.
Still, clean up your own yard first.
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2. Railing against “chemicals,” scarfing down Frankenstein burgers.
It’s constantly fascinating how those who rail against artificial sweeteners, “chemicals,” and those pesky hormones in food are often perfectly content eating Frankenstein science experiments like Beyond Meat burgers, veggie hot dogs, etc.
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3. John Meadows’s “secret” to getting ripped.
Someone on Instagram asked bodybuilding legend John Meadoews what his “secret” is to getting so ripped.
His answer was “painfully” simple: very low calories.
And while the “never go below 1,800 calories for men / 1,200 calories for women” brigade all clutched their pearls, the more experienced folks nodded heads in agreement.
Because depending on your metabolism (and what level of “lean” you aspire to) you may have to go VERY LOW in calories for a BRIEF period to break a fat loss plateau or reach a new level of condition.
Just remember:
– it won’t kill you or damage you
– it’s not intended to be a forever lifestyle
– it’s not supposed to be fun
– you will feel weak & tired
– you WILL learn more about yourself than if you just opted to “play it safe.”
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4. “My coworker only eats crap and she stays lean, fit, and healthy.”
– Maybe she only eats crap AT work?
– Maybe she only eats at work, PERIOD?
– Maybe the portions of said crap aren’t very large?
– Maybe she’s been lean her whole life?
– Maybe she has some less than healthy “habits” like bulimia, exercise addiction, or one of the 3 Cs (cocaine, cigarettes, and clenbuterol).
Also, lean, fit, and certainly healthy are not all the same.
You don’t really know anyone’s full story. Go for a walk at lunch and let her eat in peace.
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5. Everyone has a coping strategy.
The one “good” thing about being in my industry is you find out very quickly that EVERYONE has a coping strategy, a tactful way of saying addiction.
Rich, poor, educated, blue collar — everyone has something. Whether it’s caffeine, alcohol, opiates, cocaine, food, exercise, steroids, money, sex, intimacy, Facebook shares, Instagram likes, etc.
Everybody uses something.
And while some can be effectively moderated and align with a healthy life (and are also legal), they ALL get destructive if taken to the extreme.
I’m no addiction counsellor, but getting centered and figuring out the “why” behind the addiction seems to be common denominator for beating (or at least managing) them all.
You have one. Trust me. So figure out what it is and do the work or get help.
And never judge.
– Bryan