Category Archives: Body Composition Change
7 Steps to a Flexible Diet: Miyaki on T-Nation
My latest T-Nation Article — a multimedia extravaganza about flexible dieting — was published last week.
What did we cover? The 7-step process I use to setting up flexible, year-round, lifestyle nutrition plans (as opposed to quick-fix diets) that can be adjusted based on activity levels, physique goals, feedback, progress, and shifts in physique focus:
1. Set Calories
2. Set Protein Intake
3. Set Baseline Fats
4. Account for Micronutrients
5. Distinguish Between Essential Nutrients and Energy Nutrients
6. Energy Nutrients for Fat Bastards
7. Energy Nutrients for Skinny Bitches.
Here’s the video component of it:
Here’s the intro section. As always on T-Nation, they let me be me. So the following article has been Rated-R by the Fitness Blogging Association of America.
7 STEPS TO A FLEXIBLE DIET
Spring is a time of dietary dilemma.
Defrosting from winter’s hibernation, the groundhog steps out to see if he can see his shadow.
What’s the physique equivalent? Can you look down and see your wiener beneath your bulk belly?
Should you continue with the winter’s “mass” plan – pack in the calories, pack on the mass, scare women and children, go for new PR’s, and get your rocks off from locker room high-fives?
Or should you hit a deficit, slash some flab, get skinny (I mean shredded), maybe improve your health profile, join a boy band, rock a Borat-like dong thong, and try to get laid?
There’s no right answer. You can borrow Harvey Two Face’s coin, flick that SOB into the air, and let chance be your guide for all I care.
To that end, here are 7 simple tools you can use to seamlessly take your plan in whatever direction your fickle heart desires, but first, a few words from our sponsor (okay, not really from our sponsor, but nevertheless a few important points before I get into the 7 steps).
Read the full article here: 7 STEPS TO A FLEXIBLE DIET: MIYAKI ON T-NATION
No Diet System is More Important Than Nutrition Basics
In this installment of the video Q & A series, we try to uncover some of the potential reasons why a dieter is suffering from low energy and increasing body fat.
WHAT WE COVERED
- The no bullsh*t truth. No diet structure — whether it be Intermittent Feast, intermittent fasting, traditional bodybuilding/fitness nutrition and the 6-Shooter Spread — is a “miracle cure” that allows you to overlook diet fundamentals. Don’t let anyone — including me — sell you that their system is more important than nutrition basics.
- Examples: Intermittent Feast will NOT allow you to lose fat if you’re in a calorie surplus. Intermittent Feast will NOT allow you to eat crap and be healthy. Intermittent Feast will NOT provide you miraculous energy if you are combining no-carb diets with anaerobic training, etc.
- 1. Get Your Diet Numbers Right. This is the most important step to achieve any body composition goal — targeted calories based on the physique goal, adequate protein to support lean muscle mass either way, the right distribution of carbs and fats based on activity levels, etc.
- 2. Optimize Food Choices. This takes care of the health aspects of a diet and can make it a lot easier to stay within your numbers (real, whole foods are way more satiating than refined foods).
- 3. Find a Sustainable Diet Structure. Meal frequency and food distribution is predominantly about making your diet plan practical, sustainable, and functional as a lifestyle plan. Use whatever works best. I believe in Da Feast!
- My continuing battles with my frickin’ Whiteboard.
Do Carbs at Night Inhibit Natural Growth Hormone Release?
First off, I just wanted to thank you for all of da love and support you’ve been giving me online. Really appreciate it. I want to return the favor by helping as many of you as I can, but I just can’t keep up with the amount of emails and questions I get while having some kind of a normal life. So I’m starting a weekly Q and A series on my YouTube channel to try to get more efficient at it. Here’s Da Intro and how to get your questions answered.
And we’re kicking this thing off with the most common question I’ve been getting. Doesn’t eating the majority of your carbohydrates at night inhibit natural growth hormone release and impair the body’s ability to burn fat?
What we covered:
- Yes its true, we get our biggest boost in natural growth hormone levels within the first 90 minutes of sleep.
- Yes its true, high insulin levels inhibit natural growth hormone release.
- The key to eating bit at night without inhibiting GH is to time it right.
- In a normal functioning body, insulin levels rise in response to a meal (even a big feast) and return back to baseline levels within 2-3 hours.
- Eat your big carb-loaded feast and allow enough lag-time for insulin levels to fall back to baseline levels before going to sleep.
- Don’t try to starve yourself for dinner and then eat a sugar-loaded snack right before bed to compensate.
Top Trainer Billy Polson’s Fat Loss Diet
In this interview, I talk with my friend and colleague Billy Polson. He talks about the specifics of the diet plan he’s been using to lose fat, build muscle, and improve energy all while keeping up with the demands of owning, operating, and training private clients at San Francisco’s top personal training facility, Diakadi Body.
3 Intermittent Feast Interviews
In most social situations, I’m kind of a shy wallflower. Just ask my wife how “smooth” I was when trying to ask her out on our first date. It seriously was kindergarten sh*t.
But as it turns out, if you get me talking about nutrition, you can’t shut me the hell up. I did 3 interviews last week. I didn’t have time to post them individually, so they are all going up now in this massive, amazing, content-rich, educational, comprehensive, post. Actually, its just a couple of dudes sitting around, hanging out, and talking about nutrition. But what could be better (now that I think of it = a couple of hot babes and me sitting around, hanging out, and NOT talking about nutrition)?
I. BRANDMEIER SHOW ON WGN RADIO IN CHICAGO
My segment was in the first hour (5 am California time dammit), from 37-54 minutes.
It was cool to get to do a radio interview, but the coolest thing was that my dad seemed really excited about it. He grew up in Chicago, and was telling me it was a big deal to get a spot on WGN. So pops, I know I’m this slightly weird dude with a slightly unconventional career, but I hope I’m making you proud.
Johnny B is a cool dude. We talked fitness myths, evolution nutrition theory, and why if you eat a pterodactyl for dinner, you won’t lose muscle if you skip breakfast the next day.
II. SEAN HYSON’S FITNESS DISTILLED
Professionally, Sean is the Group Training Director for Muscle & Fitness and Men’s Fitness magazines. Personally, he’s become a friend that shares my seemingly endless enthusiasm for Seinfeld quotes.
In this interview we talk about simple strategies for tracking calories/macros and why that’s important for higher-level physique goals (don’t worry, you won’t be carrying around a portable scale, protractor, or calculator), adjustments for bulking diets and performance athletes, and how poor food choices and ignoring the health impacts of your diet can lead to a non-functioning wiener.
SEAN HYSON’S NUTRITION Q AND A WITH NATE MIYAKI
III. GOLD MEDAL BODIES
My buddy Ryan is a cool dude, interesting character, and passionate as hell about fitness, and fitness education. So we get along real well, except for the fact that I’m jealous he lives in Japan. In this interview we talk about why I didn’t start getting results with clients UNTIL I focused on their nutrition plans, the basic principles of the Intermittent Feast protocol, his experience with the plan, and why my superior genetics are the only reason I am in shape year-round (that’s a joke, and he even posted this embarrassing picture of me as Da Baby Sumo for proof).
obviously Nate has superior genetics…
HOW TO DIET WITHOUT KILLING YOURSELF: AN INTERVIEW WITH NATE MIYAKI
