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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.

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What's new this week:

• ​The real reason macro calculators fail (YouTube)

This August, we're running our next small private 30-day fitness challenge.

I'm calling it the 'Health Reset'.

30 days. $27. 10 spots. Application only.

If you want to drop 4-6 pounds or build your next 2-3 lbs of muscle in less than 30 days, even as a high-achieving parent, this is for you.

Less is more when you're doing the right things.

It's a great opportunity to reset your health without wasting time on fluff.

The early enrollment window is now officially open.

It comes with extra bonuses and a full health stack to give you the best ROI in minimal time. You can read the full details here.

Early bird enrollment will stay open until August 20th.

There's some cool extra bonuses if you apply and are accepted for the first 6 spots.

Here's the details again.

If you want to start fall in your best health while getting lean, strong, and regaining momentum, this is for you.

Look forward to seeing some of you in our next Health Reset Challenge!

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ONE REFLECTION FROM ME

Next week we'll be in Poland.

Every year we go to visit family for an extended period.

This year we have a family wedding we're attending.

I've been at a healthy body fat percentage (around 15-18%) over the past few years and similar bodyweight for the same time period. But recently, I've felt motivated the past 6 weeks to get leaner.

With my skin healing from psoriasis and finally seeing an end in sight for my healing journey, I've been eager to rebuild my fitness.

So dropping a couple of pounds to get a tad leaner for the wedding became my goal.

Except, the first few weeks I didn't drop any weight.

Curious, I started tracking my nutrition more diligently.

Even though I was guessing that my 12 bananas for our family breakfast smoothie were around 1000 grams... I was wrong.

It was 400 grams more.

I was doing this for every meal.

No wonder I wasn't dropping any body fat (or weight).

I was eating at maintenance calories.

Shaking off the rust on my portion tracking tools and skills made me remember this quote:

I was doing the same thing.

So, my solution was simple.

I flipped the quote on its head.

To get leaner, you need to eat less.

A deficit is a deficit is a deficit.

At the end of the day, dropping body fat comes down to this law of thermodynamics.

Energy cannot be created or destroyed. It can only be transferred.

So to drop body fat, you need to transfer the energy out of the fat cells to use as energy for your daily usage, and over time you'll get leaner.

Think of it as using your food storage in your pantry vs going out to get more food in the store.

Getting leaner means emptying your pantry instead of buying more food.

Empty the fat cells, use their energy, and get leaner.

At least, that's been a helpful analogy for me.

So I've dropped the few pounds I wanted.

I'm leaner. Still healing. And re-learned a few reminders about fat loss and dropping weight.

All set for the wedding.

Might write a full guide or letter on the fat-loss lessons I learned.

Let me know if that would be helpful, too.

Lesson: Numbers never lie... unless we distort them.

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3 IDEAS FOR YOU

I.

So how much muscle can you build?

It depends. We all have a certain threshold for muscle building. In fact, we may even have our own genetic ceiling for muscle building, too.

Men are estimated to gain 40-50 pounds of muscle. Women can add about 20-30 pounds.

There's not much research on this. It's difficult to study advanced lifters who have high muscle growth.

Brad Schoenfield, a top expert in muscle building, shared his views on human muscle potential:

I agree with this. We may never fully know our muscle-building potential.

Aging and muscle loss, especially after the age of 30, play a significant role. It's estimated we can lose 3-8% of our muscle tissue each decade, with this rate accelerating after 60.

So atrophy is a real thing. But so is entropy, which is another way of saying that things gradually fall apart or move towards chaos.

So, do we have a muscle-building potential? Maybe.

Will we ever find out what it is? Unlikely.

II.

To build muscle, several key processes work together.

The first is MPS, or muscle protein synthesis. The second is leucine. Lastly, using plants to maximize the benefits received from the first one (MPS).

So what is MPS?

Muscle building happens when muscle protein synthesis exceeds muscle protein breakdown. Obviously, you need a reason to trigger MPS, and the two main reasons are:

1. Resistance training (aka strength training)
2. EAA's (essential amino acids)

Without a consistent and legitimate reason to hit your muscles each week, why would your body want to change?

Hitting the weights gives your body a reason to build muscle.

Building muscle connects directly to resistance training. This makes it an important topic to discuss.

As for the second reason, EAA's are the building blocks of protein. Protein consists of amino acids. These building blocks help repair and rebuild our bodies after workouts and in daily life.

Mastering both is how you create sustainable muscle growth.

The basics always beat supplements.

III.

A simple way to create a fast deficit is to reduce your fat intake.

Carbs have, on average, 4 calories per 1 gram.

Protein is similar.

However, fats have an average of 9 calories per gram.

So it's more than twice the energy intake per gram of carb or protein.

In our fast-food culture, it's easy to eat too many calories if you don’t plan.

The solution here is simple: remove ultra-processed foods and focus on whole foods.

The better the quality of food, the more likely you'll be eating less fat.

We need healthy fats for hormones and organ health. But too much fat is what often leads to weight gain for many of us.

So, slicing back what doesn't need to be there can do wonders for your fat-loss progress.

Fat loss > weight loss.

The first aims to cut body fat, while the second drops fat and muscle tissue.

You don't just want to 'do weight loss diets'.

You want to drop body fat, stay lean, and retain muscle.

Stay lean for longer.

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ONE QUESTION FOR YOU

What's a new habit you'd like to try out before the summer ends?

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Client Spotlight

Early bird is open for our Health Reset Challenge.

Full details here.

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1 QUOTE FROM OTHERS

I.

“People often say that they have a very stressful job and that’s why they’re tense. But if they weren’t conscientious about doing a good job, if they weren’t trying to succeed, achieve, and excel, they wouldn’t generate tension. Often such people are highly competitive and determined to get ahead. Typically, they are more critical of themselves than others are of them.”
​― John E. Sarno

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Packing this weekend.

Cleaning home.

Chores galore.

Traveling is fun... after you're packed.

As promised, your 1-3-1 Friday in less than 5 minutes.

Until next week,

P.S. Worst travel mistakes ever.