Welcome to 1-3-1 Fridays, my weekly newsletter, where I reveal evidence-based strategies to get lean, strong, and create optimal health.
You'll receive:
- 1 reflection from me
- 3 ideas you can use
- 1 question for you
Let's dive in.
What's new this week:
I've added the past 2 editions to the 1-3-1 newsletter because I finally figured out what the problem was with my email provider (more details below).
So, in case you didn't receive the last 2 weeks of newsletters (or it went to spam; highly likely), I've attached them above if you'd like to read them at your leisure.
Apologies for email sending issues over the past few weeks.
Switching to a new domain, website, hosting, and rebranding has consumed the majority of my free time outside of coaching, writing, and family time.
So I'm glad I'm at the tail end of this multi-month project.
Feel free to share your feedback on any of the new upgrades you'll see over the next few weeks.
ONE REFLECTION FROM ME
As I shared above, the past few weeks have been a roller coaster ride with email sending.
After an emotionally intense 10 days with family (I shared more in last week's letter here), I’m thankful to wrap up the first two weeks of June.
Didn't expect to be in the boxing ring, but I've definitely gotten a few sucker punches this month.
But it is what it is.
I try to remind myself that what is done is done.
We can't change the past.
I can only change my relationship with the past.
Let bygones be bygones.
On the email side, you'll most likely notice that my future newsletters may show up in your 'promotions' folder.
This is because when you add a new domain to an email service provider, you have to build up your street 'cred' and reputation with Google.
Kinda like rebuilding your credit score, but for email service providers.
With that said, if you'd like to make sure your 1-3-1 letters don't get tossed into promotions (or worse, spam), you can avoid this with the quick guide here.
The main takeaway from the guide above is to do 2 things:
- Move email from 'promotions' to 'primary' inbox
- Create a simple filter to teach Gmail that letters aren't spam (unless you think they are, in which case the reader is always right).
So hopefully this closes out my email wave pool experience.
Completely unrelated to this conversation I almost drowned in a wave pool when my calf raise muscle cramped and the wave landed onto of me.
Couldn't swim back to the surface.
This was on a school field trip to Dorney Park in Pennsylvania, from which I was grounded, but I went on anyway.
The fond memories of childhood.
If you clicked on the new guide for this week in 'what's new this week', you probably noticed that we updated our website and domain, too.
Feel free to explore the new site (still working on finishing a few pages and fixing a few bugs) and check out what's new.
It's been a team effort building this out, but as always, we're open to your feedback if you'd like to see more specific content, tools, or resources shared.
The helpful reminder I try to keep in mind is that 'our business' isn't about us.
It's about you. What you need, want, and would find helpful for your health, fitness, and wellness experience.
Finally, I'll most likely run a one-off promotion to celebrate the rebranding from 'Vegan Fitness Redefined' to its next evolution, 'Zhanay Health'.
Keep an eye out for this over the next few weeks.
Glad to be here with you.
Lesson: When the tough gets going, the tough get going.
3 IDEAS FOR YOU
I.
You can certainly keep pushing forward with your diet, especially if you have more fat tissue to lose.
However, there are several benefits to taking a diet break at this stage.
- Downward regulation: As you diet more, your body slows processes like metabolism. Think of this as your body turning on the 'energy saver' mode to help keep things going. You are slowly starving yourself of energy (food) to use your fat stores.
- Physiological and psychological fatigue: The more you diet, the more tired you will feel. While the first few months of dieting aren't too rough, the deeper you get into your diet, the more fatigue you'll build up. Eventually, there will be a breaking point.
Diet breaks help interrupt the ongoing slowdown of key body processes.
They also reduce the fatigue that builds up the longer you stay on a diet.
All helpful things, especially if you have bigger weight loss goals.
This is why diet breaks are important.
II.
In the 2017 MATADOR study by Byrne et al., the findings were astonishing.
Two groups of obese men, ages 25 to 54, were studied over several months.
They followed two different dieting plans.
The continuous dieting group dieted throughout.
The intermittent dieting group (aka 'diet breaks' group) took diet breaks every 2 weeks.
This study aimed to find a new way to prevent weight rebound after dieting. Researchers tested this hypothesis by using the diet breaks technique.
The results were impressive.
After the study, the INT (intermittent) group with diet breaks lost 50% more body weight and body fat. They also had only half the drop in resting energy expenditure (REE).
After 6 months, the results were even more surprising. The continuous group had more body fat than the intermittent group.
The intermittent group kept 80-90% of their weight and fat loss.
They also had only 1/3 of the drop in resting energy expenditure compared to the continuous group.
Not too shabby for just taking a break from your diet.
Less is more when you're doing the right things.
III.
What gives with the weight gain?
Can't a guy enjoy his pineapple fried rice in peace?
While it's harder to gain body fat easily in 1 day or even 1 week, it is possible that you can gain several pounds of weight over a diet break or higher carb intake.
This is due to:
- Higher gut content. You're eating more, so there's more food inside you.
- Refilling muscle glycogen storage. The longer you're in a dieting phase, the more 'depleted' your muscles become. This leads to the 'flatter' look you'll see in dieters who've dieted for months on end without giving themselves a... diet break.
- Higher salt intake. This can impact water retention.
- Higher carbohydrate intake. Everyone blames carbs for everything. But carbs (especially whole foods) are our primary source of energy. However, for every 1 gram of carbs, we can restore 3-4 grams of water. So water weight is common during diet breaks.
So during a diet break (or higher carb intake), it's not uncommon to gain 3-7 pounds.
Mentally, this can trip you up if you're not prepared.
Knowing this before can be helpful, especially if you're doing this by yourself.
So, prepare for success, and things get 10x easier.
ONE QUESTION FOR YOU
What does deep health mean for you?
Client Spotlight
What's the cost of not feeling confident?
For Deborah, the cost was high.
She loved working out and was an athlete in her youth.
But now, as a busy lawyer in her mid-40s, she had lost her fitness.
She felt unhappy and unhealthy, so she applied for a spot, and we got to work.
Working with Deborah, we noticed several strengths immediately:
She was self-driven and able to take direction well.
She just had to let go of perfectionism. She also worked on tackling her all-or-nothing mindset.
In 16 weeks, Deborah faced challenges at work, traveled, and raised her two sons alone.
She also learned to carve out time for herself while being a career-focused mom.
Strategy: We kept it simple for her. She did 4 strength workouts each week. We used supersets to save time and left 1-2 reps in the tank. We also set up a moderate caloric deficit to shed fat sustainably.
We also added 1-2 minutes of deep breathing to help manage high stress levels at work and home.
Raising her steps and improving sleep became targets as we got deeper into her cut.
Wins: She dropped 15+ pounds. 4.5 inches from her waist. Doubled her strength on most lifts and tripled on her leg press and squats.
She became consistent with her workouts and meal tracking. She learned to make healthier choices rather than oversnacking or overeating when stressed.
She became a positive role model for her boys.
If Deborah can do it as a career-driven woman with minimal time, so can you.
1 QUOTE FROM OTHERS
I.
"There is no such thing as a problem without a solution, only problems for which we do not yet have enough information to know what the solution is. When you have enough information, it is easy to solve a problem."
- Jose Silva
Hosting our family from Poland this week.
Been a busy past few days.
Still love hosting.
And time for some smoothies.
As promised, your 1-3-1 Friday in less than 5 minutes.
Until next week,
P.S. An important puzzle about human behavior.
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