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'm having a blast recording YT videos, sharing my health experiment, and learning to speak to camera.
It's probably been one of the 'hardest' creative projects I've worked on, but it's liberating to share more about myself.
I'm learning to stop caring what others think.
And making it 'safe to fail'.
Feel free to follow along if you're into YouTube.
ONE REFLECTION FROM ME
Less is more... when you're doing the right things.
The longer I lift (15 years now), the more I realize how overcomplicated fitness is.
Fitness is simple. It's made to seem harder since that's more marketable.
But the main principles of fitness, building muscle and getting strong, are simple:
- Lift close to mechanical failure (1-2 reps left in the 'tank')
- Lift 3-4x a week to get enough frequency and volume
- Lift at moderate speeds (not too fast or slow)
- Lift using good form and focus on improving technique
- Sleep, rest, and recover from workouts to improve gains
- Eat a diet high in fruits, veg, plant-based carbs, and plant protein
Is there more? Sure.
There's always something else you can optimize.
But standardize the principles above before you try to optimize the next shiny fitness object.
98% of people who want to be healthy, lean, and strong for life and aren't happy with their results aren't following the principles above consistently.
Once you are, and you've been doing this consistently for 6+ months, you can start layering on more nuance.
But you don't need to - you'll still see great results for life if you only follow the principles above.
So less is more when you're doing the right things.
It's a hard lesson I've had to learn over and over again.
Master the fundamentals, and you'll master your fitness.
Do less, better.
Lesson: Most of fitness is just noise. Focus on the music instead.
3 IDEAS FOR YOU
I.
Getting lean is simple.
Most people overcomplicate the process. I did for years, too.
I wish I had a weight loss checklist that wasn’t full of b.s. tips or fad diets. I wanted something rooted in lived experience, verified results, and proven systems.
So I created the system myself.
Fat loss is simple: eat fewer calories than your maintenance calories. This tells your body to use its fat reserves for energy.
It’s like deciding to stop shopping and start relying on your pantry. You use the energy you already have instead of pouring more into an already-full pantry.
99% of fitness seems to be complicated.
While organ health and hormones are important (and valid), fat loss starts with what you eat.
Which is why I suggest eating low-fat, plant-based whole foods, eating bigger meals earlier, and optimizing liver health.
And of course, eat less if you want to drop body fat.
Less is more when you're doing the right things.
Keep fitness simple.
II.
Simplify weight loss using these 3 truths:
- We’ve normalized being overweight and obese to the point that when someone starts eating healthy and exercising, people think it’s restrictive and too hard. It’s not. Being unhealthy is always harder.
- Food is for fuel first, not pleasure. If your fuel gives you pleasure, that’s an extra bonus. But if you’re living to eat vs. eating to live, fat loss will be much, much harder.
- Eat for nutrients, not for pleasure. When you choose nutrient-dense food and prioritize your vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, fat loss gets even simpler. Most of what humans eat isn’t ideal for optimal health, longevity, or aging.
That's all for now.
Keep it simple.
III.
Fitness is more about understanding your psyche than retraining your body.
The body naturally wants to be healthy and lean.
Since the body came from nature, its default is a natural healthy state.
Unfortunately, the addicted mind, which is mostly archetypal, can drive the body into disease, illness, and obesity.
Learning ‘to stop and see’ and come back to your Center can be one of the most transformative health practices, especially for fat loss.
The Observing Self can break mental addictions better than any therapist.
Health always starts within.
Then, it goes outwards.
ONE QUESTION FOR YOU
What kind of person do you need to become to create your ideal health?
Client Spotlight
Tired of fitness promises?
Or trying to lose weight but can't keep it off?
Julie is a busy senior accountant.
She’s also a mother to her 11-year-old daughter and a wife.
Before we started working together, she struggled to prioritize herself and wanted to lose 10 pounds to boost her energy.
𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆: We focused first on systemizing her workouts and nutrition. Since she hadn’t been lifting weights consistently or tracking her meals, we started there.
-3 days of weight lifting (we later increased this to 4 days as she got stronger and leaner)
-5 days of tracking her meals with 80% accuracy while hitting at least ½ of her body weight in ounces for water intake each day
-Focused on her sleep and aimed to hit 7.5 hours of quality sleep per night since she had trouble sleeping before we worked together
-Increase her lean protein intake using strategic plant protein snacks
Here’s her experience:
“𝘖𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴, 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘴. 𝘖𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 10 𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺. 𝘏𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴.
𝘔𝘺 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥, 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 - 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘮𝘺 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐’𝘮 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘐𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬… 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘺𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘴, 𝘵𝘰𝘰?!
𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦’𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘚𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦.
𝘐 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘐'𝘮 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵. 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨.”
Health is your first wealth.
Without it, we don't have much.
1 QUOTE FROM OTHERS
I.
“Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become. No single instance will transform your beliefs, but as the votes build up, so does the evidence of your new identity.”
― James Clear
Haven't gone to Renaissance Fair for years.
Found one in Charlotte for next weekend.
Used to go to the one in Tuxedo, NY years ago.
Cool to see one down here, too.
As promised, your 1-3-1 Friday in less than 5 minutes.
Until next week,
P.S. Apple farm and corn maze are 2 of our favorite fall traditions. How about you?
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83 Alta Avenue, Yonkers, NY 10705
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