This entry is really just a pointer to a review of the warrior diet's science claims i did at Begin to Dig, a place where i talk about training. Some folks have asked me why i bothered with this critique, so i thought i'd touch on that here as a "before the blog post" post about a blog.
Because many folks whose training i respect say they practice the warrior diet, i wanted to check it out. It's thumbs down on processed foods and more up on whole foods. It is not unique in this approach. Many folks refer to the emphasis on getting rid of junk food, reducing processed foods of all kinds, and upping whole foods from veggies to legumes "eating clean." Clarence Bass has an entire series of books dedicated to this approach to eating.
So what is unique in this diet since eating clean is taken care of? and why did that end up being so annoying i had to write a big fat review?
The packaging is pretty special.
Technorati Tags: clarence bass, culture, diet, science
The diet in brief is to eat a wee bit during the day, and then have a big meal at night. It prescribes what kinds of things are ok to eat during the day, and the order of things to eat at night. It frames its rationale for this approach in two key things: the mystery of history on the one hand, and so called science on the other.
The mystery of history is to invoke the myth of the warrior, and to say this is how men on the move ate, how our fighting ancestors ate on the prowl, whether we're talking Roman Legions or Paleolithic hunters. Grr.
That the author's support for such claims is pretty thin on the ground historically and archaeologically is as nothing compared to what is presented as the science of how our bodies process food.
And so, i've looked at most of the key claims in the diet, shoved them up against physiology texts, and checked in with various researchers, nutritionists and trainers. The result of this discussion is at Begin to Dig, called "Review of the "Science" claims of the Warrior Diet"
I'll say again here as i do there that my intent is not to stop people from being on the Warrior Diet - many folks claim to have had life-transforming success with this approach, and that they resonate with the Warrior ethos - at least as it's painted in that book. And that's grand.
What i guess ultimately disturbs me is that folks are not being taken to this New Place with all the facts. The analogy i've used recently is that of someone with a screwed up motorbike - running on one cylinder. They encounter a mechanic who speaks to them of the Way of the Rider and the true path to keeping their bike running Pure.
Turns out that ya, the bike runs way better after the mechanic finishes with it, but it's only running on three cylinders. Buried in all the verbiage about cam shafts and high viscosity fuel is that it's just wrong info. The reasons the mechanic is giving for why the bike is running better is just wrong, and it's missing a whole lot of information that would help people maybe find out how to replace the gasket on that fourth cylinder to get even more power out of the engine, and run even better.
The response, i've been surprised to find, has been you know, mc, fuck off. This thing used to run like shit. and now it runs great. and i'm so happy because i barely have to think about taking care of it now, it's running so much better. So keep your theories about how the bike could run better to yourself, and oh ya, don't try to tell me that the Mechanic is wrong. No way. I have the results that say otherwise. My results say i'm getting three times the fuel response as before, it's not dying nearly as often, and i'm well pleased with that. And i tell all my biker buddies to go to the Mechanic too.
So, initially when i saw this response, i didn't get it. See, for me, i thought, well, i would want to know if someone is selling me the goods or is selling me a story, a con, a fake, snake oil - and if i found that they were doing the latter, i'd likely question any other claim such an author made. Not so here.
Fact is, the author's adherents trust him a heck of a lot more than they do me waving the flag of science - especially around nutrition. Books like Taube's Good Calorie Bad Calorie or Pallan's In defense of Food give a good historical kicking to the politicization of science in nutrition, and a casual read would make it easy for folks to say those scientists don't know everything; scientists get lots wrong - especially in nutrition. Fats used to be bad; now they're good. So much for science.
Consider the source. It's not "science" - it's usually the media or some federal agency selectively representing a single study or a sterilized position to the People. Science becomes the straw dog of these authors. In this case it's two journalists reviewing the history of various facets of what Pallan references as "nutritionism" - it's very interesting, and great reads, but also some unnecessary straw dogging of science to make points. And a lot of readers whose only view of Science is through such books are well satisfied to use it to dis science anywhere else. If it can't explain how a bee flies (myth), then i ain't gonna trust it to tell me how to eat.
Interestingly, folks who get p.o'd at my review for suggesting that the science claims in the WD don't stand up, and who criticize "science" in general, don't seem to get that it's their author that started it by asserting his position as founded on "science." Others just brush that part of the discussion of all together. Who cares about the accuracy or not of the theory; it's the results that count.
But what results? whose? Are they three cylinder results and three cylinder better than one satisfaction?
It's amazing to me that we can be so defensive and protective of our norms, to our current comfort zone, that we are reluctant to see, perhaps things could be better -we mayn't be able to imagine what that would be like, but what if it could be? What does that mean?
Many people say that satisfaction is a great thing to achieve - i'm satisfied, they may say, with my progress, with myself, with my health, with my practices.
Why? How? What is the basis of that complacency? What is the cost?
What i've seen here, besides a whole lot about the digestive system and the human energy system from doing this science review, is that new ideas can be experienced as threatening, dangerous; if they don't fit current paradigms, it becomes easy to dismiss them. This really isn't new. What question it raises for me that is new is why. Why the reluctance to consider another position? especially if satisfied with where one is? Wouldn't that make it that much easier to look at other ideas?
Dunno. i just dunno about that one, but i would conclude by saying that the discourse of the warrior diet is highly reminiscent of tales of don juan. And that's all the signifier i need on that one.
and so,
oh you tee, to paraphrase good buddy will williams.
This entry is the second part of a review of Precision Nutrition v2 by John Berardi. I did the first review after having followed the approach for several months; its five months on from that initial review, so i can say with increasing confidence: Precision Nutrition works for the long haul - and it gets easier and simpler to practice as you go. And critically that means not just achieving the results you want; it means maintaining them. So this review is more about what makes PNv2 work for the long haul.
An overview of what Precision Nutrition is, and links to great associated resources, are in part 1 of the review, called "enter the super shake"
First off, Precision Nutrition is not a Diet, it's an approach to nutrition. What's the difference between a diet and nutrition? One works. for the long haul. That would be the latter one: focusing on nutrition rather than a diet.
Diets are traditionally reputed to be fast fixes for weight gain, but they also have pretty lousy longevity effects: as soon as people go "off" the diet, the weight comes back. It's understandable: for a limited period of time, we may be willing to live in a state of denial (and it usually seems like denial of something on a diet), but that's it, and as soon as the denied substance, or sloth or both come back into the equation, so does the loss of any gains. Diets are about diets, not about sustained practice.
So if diets suck at sustained results, what works?
According to John Berardi, it's all down to habits. Habits work.
Steven R. Covey of the famous 7 Habits of Highly Effective People calls habits an internalized principle, bringing together knowledge, skill and attitide: what to do, how to do it and why to do it.
While not explicit (that i could find) in Berardi's writing, his version of habits seems to agree with Covey's. To achieve our goals related to health, fitness, body composition, Berardi argues, we have to adapt our habits, our way of thinking about food, our food practice. We have to learn first about what to do eating wise, then how to do it and why to do it. If we bring together this knowledge, skill set and attitudes around truly eating right, then we're not dieting - not doing a short term restrictive eating regimen for short term gains. Instead, we've developed a healthy and enduring food practice that works rain or shine, and, in particular, can be tuned to support a variety of goals - whether those goals are weight loss or muscle mass gain or maintenance.
In the last review i looked at the features of the Precision Nutrition program - all the stuff one gets from recipes to access to the best nutrition forum of experts in cyberspace. In this review, i'm going to focus mainly on how the individualuzation guide - that tuning of PN - helps to ensure that Precision Nutrition works over the long haul for one's own particular make up and goals.
Technorati Tags: diet, fitness, health, nutrition
First things first (to cadge another Covey title)
We all have things we want to achieve if we're thinking about diet: lose fat; gain muscle; have the muscle we do have show, etc. Some of us just want to improve our health. For all these things, as Berardi's PN site points out, nutrition, more so than working out or anything else has the most profound effect for shaping our selves.
If we're willing to give that postulate a go, Berardi lays out ten habits for nutrition to follow (download here), His heuristic for this approach is simple: make sure you can follow these habits for 90% compliance for at least 5 consecutive weeks. Then, see how it goes, and if and as needed adjust the variables within this following habits space. More of that in a moment, first a quick review of Berardi's PN Habits:
1. Eat every 2-3 hours.
2. Eat complete lean protein each time you eat
3. Eat vegetables every time you eat
4. Eat carbs only when you deserve to (eg this is bread, pasta starchy carbs after a work out)
5. Learn to love healthy fats (eg. fish oil capsules, and omega 3's like ground flax seed)
6. Ditch calorie containing drinks (including fruit juice)
7. Focus on whole foods
8. Have 10% foods
9. Develop food preparation strategies
10. Balance daily food choices with healthy variety
You'll notice there's no mention of calories here, but macronutrients (carbs, proteins and fats) are mentioned, at least on global terms, and that's important. The big deal here is about a concept called nutrient timing: ensuring that your body gets the nutrients it needs when it needs them, and can make best use of them. That's why rule 4 about eating (starchy) carbs only after say an intense workout is a biggie.
Calculating 90% adherence to the habits is easy & direct: did you eat every 2-3 hours? Yes. great. did each of those "feedings" include both protein and veg? No? How many didn't? 2 ok, not compliant on two? Were starchy carbs only had after working out? No? Ok, so that's clearly not a 90% compliant day.
Habits in Motion
To see the rationale for compliance being so important, let's plug that last habit test on starchy carbs into those three attributes of a habit in motion. There's method to what seem like food pyramid madness here: grains, potatoes, breads are fast carb burners and very high in amount of carb/volume of food. a whole lot of grams of carbs in one of these foods as opposed to same volume of spinach. So, the optimal time to take in that amount of fast burning mondo carb is after a work out when we've depleted what those carbs can turn into: muscle glycogen - sugar for energy in our muscles. If our muscles aren't depleted, there's no need for those glycogen inputs from the carbs, so that fuel that would have gone into our muscles goes, well, you know where: it goes to fat, the opposite of what most of us want (for more on what's going on with carbs and muscles, see this article "Frontline Fat Loss" by Dave Barr).
So that's one habit of bringing what to do (don't eat startchy carbs) with when to do it (except after workouts) with why to do it (which is when our muscles and bodies can make use of this kind of fuel). That's a good habit. If we choose not to follow it, the consequences are pretty direct: lessened fat loss; possible fat gain.
The rest of the habits have the same kind of logic behind them, but they are foreign to most of us initially. Eat every 2-3 hours? Have veggies AND protein at every "feeding"? c'mon! ah but there are ways.
So where does this get us? Well, over the period of getting to "90% compliance" we'll likely be losing weight or gaining mass (muscle) or whatever it is we want. Worst case scenario, if already pretty "fit" it may mean staying at a similar weight while improving other measures of body composition, like increasing lean mass (good) and reducing fat (also good).
Aside on Body Composition: Weight and Weigh Scales Suck
And this is one of the eye openers with PN: simple weight measures can be misleading. This means that the scales can be a lousy way to monitor progress: muscle weighs more than fat. So we can be losing body fat while gaining muscle - the scales may not seem to change and that can be as frustrating as it is a misrepresentation of what's going on in our bodies . So PN includes a measurement guide, recommends taking skin fold measures using calipers, girth measures (height, tape measurements) as well as weight measures. And for those thinking about shelling out for a digital scale that "measures" body fat, too, stick with the cheaper calipers. These scales are notoriously variable, and for the individualization program, consistent measurements over time are mission critical.
Individualization: Getting You to Where You Want to Go and Being Able to Stay There
The reason for requiring 90% compliance for 5 weeks is as simple as it is scientific: in following these habits for five weeks straight (a) there is a solid baseline of eating right, providing a clear starting point for any refinement(b) these good practices are now pretty much "habits" - wired into the system. This base line becomes important for individual tuning.
While some folks stand up and cheer right away with PN, seeing terrific and immediate results, some people on the Precision Nutrition Forum early on express frustration at having been true and compliant to the habits, yet not seeing the gains or losses they want (i've been in this space). Things seem to be at best static, or moving very slowly.
It's at this stage that individualization comes in.
The individualization guide in PNv2 looks at numerous ways for people to tune the habits/practices to support their goals. These include looking at body types (aka somatotypes) and the relation of these to macronutrients (breaking calories into protein, carbohydrates and fats). For instance the typical skinny guy who can eat anything and not gain weight, for reasons we won't go into here - for that see Berardi's Scrawny to Brawny - will likely need a higher ratio of carbohydrates than the person who just looks at a desert and feels they've gained weight. The individualization guide provides strategies for helping a person figure out where they likely are, and how to (a) balance their macronutrients appropriately and (b) get the right amount of calories (finally, there's that word: calories!).
Ironically, a typical reason for people not to lose weight, or indeed gain weight can be severe under-eating. Many women, for instance, may freak out at being told to eat 2000+ calories a day; we're used to a diet mentality of 1200 a day. For a 140 pound female, that's less than 10 calories per pound. Considering even a mainly sedentary woman at this weight burns around 2000 calories a day just from daily efforts and metabolism, to say nothing of any working out, that person is eating at starvation levels (usually considered to be at approx. 50% of caloric requirements a day). The body at starvation mode slows down the metabolism; slows down fuel burning, and will actually often take fuel from muscle tissue before taking it from fat in those conditions. The number of reports from people, especially those working out, saying as soon as they upped their calories they started to lose weight is a common response.
Now, the idea of precision nutrition is NOT to get hung up on calories, but sometimes looking at caloric amounts relative to portion sizes of macronutrients can help someone new to nutrition get used to what these ratios mean for them, so that eventually, the calorie counting can be chucked in favour of knowing what the right food ratios in feedings look like for them.
Other strategies in individualization include both carb and calorie cycling to keep the body well away from getting settled into one mode of metabolic stagnation - keeping it on its toes.
PN strategies also reflect an awareness of different practices. While it encourages 5+ hours a week of exercise as a goal minimum state of activity, where those hours include a mix of resistance, cardio and high intensity interval work (in keeping with research on exercise requirements research for health and healthy body weight), it provides strategies that suit people at different levels of practice and interest.
Testing Testing. Is this thing Working?
Almost more important than the strategies available for individualization is the methodology for assessing the effectiveness of any of these strategies. Again, the approach is simple as well as scientific: change ONE thing only; hold it constant for two weeks at least, and re-assess. Is it working? do it for another two weeks. If not, assess what's happening and tweak again - change one other thing, one variable at a time.
The rationale for this simple, scientific, proven approach is that if you change multiple things at once, how do you know if any of them are the things making a difference? This is also why the baseline of 90% compliance is important. If you know you're eating according to the habits, then you can with confidence change one thing at a time. For instance, you may increase portion size (increase calories) overall for two weeks, or you may increase amount of protein only and hold everything else steady. One variable change at a time, assuming no other noise like illness or sudden decrease or increase in workouts, etc, means that change in results can pretty much be guaranteed to be attributed to that effect. It may take a few tweaks to dial in what makes sense, and PN provides tools to help for instance figure out caloric and macronutrient requirements dependent on activities (lots of workouts, but otherwise not active for example) and goals (weight loss, muscle gain, maintenance).
This is exciting: this method means that figuring out what works for you is not either the deprivation of a diet or the frustration of thinking that you already "eat clean" so why aren't you lean, or muscular or whatever. Here's a concrete, yet elegant (read simple but beautiful, sorta like e=mc2) way to understand clearly what approach works for you, with the insight into both why and how it works.
Now, someone reading this potential need for tweaking may be put off, thinking "but i want something to work right away! All this tweaking at two weeks a pop after getting to 5 weeks of compliance - that's taking possibly months away from that weight goal."
Two possible replies to this argument. First, as Berardi in his videos that accompany PN puts it, if you want to lose weight fast, and that's your only concern, he can make it happen with lots of drugs and diet enforcement. But then what? The immediate fix is only effective for the duration of that diet. Second, once you're tweaked, you're tweaked. It may take a little bit of time for you to get what works for you, but once it's dialed in, it's dialed in: you know what works for you AND you have the knowledge on how to adapt this if your practice changes - like you start to work out more - or your goals change - you want to add muscle now, rather than lose weight. If you could spend a couple months cleaning up your diet and getting techniques that last AND improve your health AND not only achieve your goals but ensure your results last for months/years, then that ramp up phase is worth it, no? And hey, that ramp up phase is still progressing you towards your goal, too.
You're Not Alone
Despite how great the individualization guide it can be challenging to determine which strategy to pick first - which one is most likely to benefit your particular circumstances/goals/composition. That's where the PN forum comes in. A PN purchase gives you full access to the forum, its online resources and especially its experts like Carter Schoffer (Director of Sports Nutrition and Performance at precision nutrition) and Ryan D. Andrews (Dietitian/Exercise Physiologist/Director of Research as well as being a vegan), to name only two of the PN team members, are worth their weight in gold. There are also folks like Kris Aiken, Coach Mike and Krista Schaus who are pro trainers who are regulars on the forum and part of the team. This is to say nothing of all the people who keep Members Logs on the site and have likely either gone through what you're going through or are right there with you, empathisizing, replying and pointing folks to related resources to help get up on the Why of any of the habits.
Just to add a personal note, this has certainly been my experience: with following the habits with 90% compliance, my progress to my goals was steady but seemingly very sloooow. I lamented this on the forum and got some super pointers of techniques to try to tweak the approach; i went back to the tools on the site and the individualization guide; i came back with a suite of questions, and got a sustained set of answers from Carter Schoffer in particular that helped me dial in within a month the nutrition refinements i needed for my particular practice. I'm very pleased with the results; more than that, i'm very pleased with having been able to maintain and improve them.
Tweak Your Fitness Program, too: As another aside: the support available on the PN forum is not just about nutrition alone; there's a strong focus on tweaking one's workouts, too. Beyond the PN team, there are numerous coaches and fitness professionals who are regulars on the forum. Three in particular have offered me free and terrific feedback on my programs. This is a shout out of thanks for these community members: Roland Ficher (CDN), Alex Gold (UK) and Mike T. Nelson (USA), whom i've had the pleasure to interview for IAMGeekFit. From basic program to custom tuning, you're so covered with PN.
Taking It Home
One of the main tenants of PN is that this is a strategy for the long term. As such spending the time up front to figure out how to tune good nutrition practices for you for that long haul is a far healthier approach than short term "fast" but also short and potentially unhealthy fixes like diets can be.
Maybe you're looking at those PN habits and thinking "wow, no way i can get compliant on those habits; too daunting." That's ok, too. Cold Turkey isn't for everyone: one at a time is a better start than walking away. What do you have to lose by not trying? This is about a practice for a lifetime. So, to paraphrase a line from Babylon 5, how old will you be a year from now if you don't try to get real with good nutrition?
For those reading this who are excited about how this approach may work for you, that's excellent. It will. The basics are super sound; the habits work, and best of all, the individualization approaches ensures that those habits work for you no matter your health, nutrition and fitness goals.
All the best,
mc
Link to Precision Nutrition v2
Previously, i've reviewed P90X and my experience with it: this is what i thought was a high intensity 12 week set of work outs attached to the mantra "bring it." My entire opinion of P90X has now been shredded based on my experience with Art of Strength's second kettlbell workout video, AOS: Newport [UK: LondonKettlebells.com for ordering | Northamerica, here direct to AOS]. P90X is a gentle romp compared to this.
This is a 55 minute post modern workout (it has three endings: that's pretty pomo). If you *think* you're strong and want to check in with yourself, this is an excellent workout for a very fast very efficient reality check. If you *think* you're interested in this kind of test, or would even like to use this as a regular workout, read on.
Technorati Tags: kettlebell
Brett Jones, in a great article on the Deadlift, refers to Steve Justa and one of his ultra simple deadlift plans. That plan is in Justa's fantastic book Rock, Iron, Steel: The Book of Strength [UK: Londonkettlebells.com it about £5 less than Amazon / North America, Amazon works]. In chapter one, "Lifting for Strength and Endurance" Justa writes about every once in awhile doing something very challenging that taxed both strength and endurance to see where you are with yourself. For Justa, that's included walking a few miles with a 200lb weighted vest. For me right now, it's Art of Strength's Newport DVD.
The 55 min multiple set kettlbell workout is designed as a "regular" workout. If you do not alrady have a regular kettlebell workout regimen - or are coming off some other high intensity workout routine like P90X and are wondering where to go next - there are enough ways to pace yourself through this DVD that it would be an awesome tool as such. I have a workout routine right now that i'm pretty happy with. Therefore, Newport has become a monthly Justa-fy myself, where i have to get the moxy up to push to keep up with Anthony Diluglio, the workout leader.
Again, i don't wish to give the impression that this is not a great regular workout on it's own: my review of it is how it fits in with an established routine in order to take stock of where i am, and where i want to be.
Solo Diluglio
Unlike other DVDs of this sort, there's no back up participants following along: it's just Mr. Diluglio in front of the Big Anchor down in Newport with his Punch Gym truck parked in the shot. Actually that's one of the subtle pluses of this vid: it's clear that a kettlebell is pretty much something you can use anywhere: if you have enough room to swing a small cat, you can swing a kettlebell - and push up on a kettlebell, and kick while holding a kettlebell, and sots press with a kettlebell - you get the idea. If you've seen Anthony Diluglio's Minute of Strength videos explaining various moves, this is the same guy: much less talking about a move here; much more doing those moves (does he even break a sweat? at least you can hear him breathing).
The Moves.
As for those moves, the DVD assumes that you've mastered kettlebell basics like the Swing, Turkish Get Up, Snatch, Clean and Press, and feel comfortable with the occasional kick, squat, cossack stretch and sots press (try alternating a kick with a bell in the rack followed by a sots press, changing sides for three minutes - after 40 mins of intense work).
If you are not yet up on these moves, you're recommended to get hip with the form via Enter the Kettlebell book/ebook/DVD (review here) [note, AOS makes a super workbook to go along with Enter the Kettlebell's beginner and intermediate workouts].
Big Balls? Definitely Not
The instruction makes clear that this workout is designed to be done with two particular kettlebells, gender specific: 8kg for women; 16kg for men (if you're super strong 12/20 are the other gender ok'd ranges).They're not kidding. I'm comfortable doing a lot of snatches with a 16, and doing cleans with a 20kg. The first time through this video with the 8kg, i had to change my weaker side in the sots press (round 6) for a ten pounder. The very first move of round 1 of holding up that 8kg while doing a cossack stretch - without resting my elbows on my thighs - was enough to make me wonder if i could get through the rest of the routine. Fortunately, things actually seemed more tractable after that - at least till that dam sots press. Conquering that particular move is a measurable accomplishment (at least to me).
The Sets
The sets or rounds themselves are alternating two moves within a three minute slot, and/or alternating sides. If you do all three endings, that's 10 sets of 20 moves, circuit style, plus an 11th set bonus 5 min. snatch test. It's this full body attack that ensures you feel fully flushed by the end of the endeavor.
The amazing thing is, just watching through the video, i thought oh ya, no probs, i can do all these moves; there's lots of full minute breaks. Should be *easy*. I actually said this to myself: "easy." Ha! it is to laugh. P90X is *easy* compared to this (and i'm in much better shape now than i was at the end of P90X). This is a *serious* workout.
That said, again, it would be wrong to give the impression that i've fallen on the ground gasping for breath after doing the Newport workout. On the contrary: it's exhilarating. This positive ending, is, i think, largely because of the pacing and the full minute recovery. These workouts are thought out. And of course, if that one minute recovery isn't enough on some days, well, press pause for a little longer. Likewise, if snatching at the same pace as Diluglio is more of a killer than your life currently requires, well go slower.
Big Special Effects for Training
Because the sets are SO intense, one of the best assets of the video presentation is the big red bar timer on the left of the screen present for each three minute set, with the bar marked at 30 sec. intervals. As time passes, the red in the bar drops down. This bar is not unique to the AoS video, but it is a great feature to have. This, along with Anthony's vocal reminders of X many seconds left in a particular move, makes it easy to know exactly where one is in the set - and how far away that next full minute recovery is. The video also has three soundtrack options (two different original music tracks and one with no background music track). AoS also promotes those musicians on its web site. Nice touch, guys.
While Diluglio doesn't recommend it or not, one can wear a heart rate monitor (just turn the watch face away from where the bell will land in a snatch): this is another way to monitor progress from one session to the next.
After the Party's Over
At the start of this review, i suggested that for me, the AOS Newport vid is a monthly challenge; a way to take stock of where my current strengths and weaknesses are - as well as a way just to say wow, i did that. There are a bunch of ways to keep tabs and think about tuning a regular workout relative to this monthly test. This is how i've done it:
1. keep track of how many sets are at the same pace as Diluglio
2. keep track of where any extra pauses are put in (or not)
3. able to keep going with the kettlebell you start with?
4. there are three possible endings/bonus rounds: how many were completed?
5. record numbers from the five minute snatch test
6. check/record heart rate at end of workout or at end of each set.
What i've found is that depending how i'm feeling in a different place, i can see if i want/need to take up my VO2 max training, or work on particular muscle groups. That sots press really let me know that my left shoulder could use some attention - just doing the sots press on it's own as part of my usual routine had not shown that up; that combination did. Likewise feeling winded at one point made me wonder about beefing up my swing/snatch work during the week.
Wrap UP
AOS's Newport DVD is a non-trivial workout: it certainly gets my heart going, tests my strength and, depending on how frequently i've done it, my mental fortitude. If you're looking for an intense regular cardio/endurance workout that can be done in a small space with little gear, AOS Newport is bang on; if you're thinking you'd like to Justa-fy yourself once in awhile as part of a monthly (or so) check in with an other regimine, AOS Newport will definitely take you there.
(This is Part 1 of so far a 2 part in-depth review of Precision Nutrition).
There are SO MANY diet plans out there. SO MANY ways to think about food, many of them seemingly contradictory: one diet pushes meat and fat; another lots of greens and no bread. Some say eat little during the day and over eat at night; others, eat all the time. But, as nutrition and human performance researcher Dr. John Berardi puts it, if you're looking in the mirror and you're not happy with what you see, the most frequent limiting factor is nutrition. You need to get it right. So if you're reading this entry, it may just be because (a) you understand that and (b) you're still looking for a nutrition solution that works.
One approach i've been exploring over the past several months is Berardi's Precision Nutrition system. It takes the focus off the diet, the what to eat, per se, and focuses instead on the head space around everything to do with eating. It takes an holistic view around the how why and when of eating and focuses on developing the right habits to support effective practice. The premise is simple, and in the style of "the seven habits of highly effective people" unless we develop the right habits to support success, we're setting ourselves up for disappointment.
John Berardi's Precision Nutrition system is based around 10 fundamental habits. Get the habits right, and the argument goes, you're set for life (you can download those habits, along with sample recipes, for free - part 2 of this review goes into further detail about those habits, too). To help get these habits in place, the PN system covers strategies for food prep, for grocery shopping, for setting up your kitchen, for planning menus, for ultra super fast nutritious meals for folks on the go, for measuring your progress (and it ain't just using a scale), and of course, for choosing the right foods.
This is not a miracle "lose 20 pounds in three days" program. This is real stuff, based on real science and especially real and effective strategies for continued, progressive, measurable success. It's the whole enchilada as it were. In the following, i'll take a look at the program, the stuff you get, including Super Shake recipes (more on this miraculous beverage anon), and how it works.
And works and works.
Technorati Tags: diet, health, john berardi, precision nutrition
The Precision Nutrition System consists of 10 main components.
An introductory & Success Guide
The Diet Guide
The Quick Start Guide
The Super Shake Guide
5 Minute Meals
The Individualization Guide
The Measurement Guide
Audio Series
No Nonsense Nutrition Video Series
Gourmet Nutrition Cook Book
The online PN resource.
Each of these components is described in detail on the PN main page (just scroll down to "what is it and what do i get") but there are a few things i'd like to emphasize that i think have particular value: the online resources and yes, the Super Shake - ok and a few other bits.
Online Resources
I've said it before: effective companies provide support for their product beyond the sale of The Thing. In other reviews i've noted that the workout bootcamp DVD series P90X has online forum support; Dragon Door, publisher of all Pavel Tsatsouline's kettlebell and strength books & dvds supports one of the most supports an active strength, condition, kettlebelling AND nutrition forums. This is SMART. PN also has a forum and online resources, but it takes a slightly different approach: anyone can join the forum a view discussions with free sign up, but only owners of its products get full access to its forums and related online resources.
One of the best resources on this forum are the human resources. There are at least half a dozen professionals covering a range of nutrition/human performance areas who are part of the PN team and who actually reply to forum posts. More than once. A lot of discussions with these experts go on on the forums. Having access to previous ones, and participating in current ones all by itself is worth the price of admission. How much would it cost to dial up a top nutrition/performance expert and ask a question about your specific nutrition plan? The answer probably covers the cost of the entire PN program. I admit it: it was wanting to get answers to my questions about diet, supplements and workouts that pushed me off the fence to order PN v2. I received my login the day i purchased the system online, so was able to ask that question (and oh about 30 more) as soon as i plunked down the cash.
And that's another amazing asset about the forum. Many of the participants are themselves health professionals with certifications like the well respected National Strength and Conditioning CSCS. So when forum participants chime in, they're coming from a knowledgeable place - and if these kinds of Pros are here, that says something about the product.
Almost as an aside to these human resources are copious online resources: audio, video, ebook, online software etc. For instance in the section on training there are e-books that cover workouts for people starting out; workouts specifically for women, workouts for people over 40, workouts for people without any equipment, workouts for people who like to go to the gym. These have been produced again by well regarded pros.
I say pro alot, but one of the strong attractors for me in the PN system is that it's backed up by research, and not just "here's a study by a supplement company that says their product is great" - there's a synthesis of research going on and based on a critical look at the studies, a careful giving of opinion. I *like* going to a site where an answer to a question about eating carbs post work out is backed up by "these three articles from PubMed" - it means i can go check out the argument myself if i want.
That's great to be able to get intrigued about macronutrients you say, but what about just bloody losing weight?
Enter the Super Shake
Probably the thing that sold PN to me the most was looking at an acquaintance's copy and coming across The Super Shake. Let me back up a little. One of the ten habits is to eat every 2-3 hours, and to make sure there's some veg and protein "with each feeding" - yes "feeding" as opposed to meal.
Let's set aside the rationale for eating at least 6 meals a day (though who could argue with eating eating eating?), assume for a moment that this is a Very Good Idea, and just think about the practicalities of eating a full on protein (like meat) and veg (like spinach) meal at work. uh huh. Berardi recognizes the challenge of eating a Real Meal especially at work. His response is the magnificent Super Shake.
As he puts it, these things are likely more nutritious than some of your regular meals.
The super shake means that an implicit 11the Habit is this: get a blender; love a blender. As an aside, i'd add if you don't have blender love now, take a look at the Will It Blend series on the Blendtec Total Blender and be amazed at how fun a blender can be). Anyway, how PN makes supershakes means that you really do get a meal replacement that is as nutritious or better than a typical meal. These shakes are fast, can be made with fresh or frozen ingredients, and, best of all can be flung together in advance to cart off to work. They can be made the night before or morning of, shelped up to the office and popped in the fridge. There you have it. Dam they're good.
I don't want to give away the ingredients list but they're super fine. In fact there's an ongoing thread on the PN forum to upload variations on the supershakes. One included chocolate and coffee beans. wha!!! that's sinfully good, and really good for you. How can this be?
Supershakes mean that when you're hungry between meals, you get to eat. Da. You get to eat something that's both nutritious, tasty and filling.
For those times when you just can't pack a shake (like getting onto an airplane, dam it) there are alternatives in the gourmet nutrition cookbook (vol 1 is included in PN; vol 2 is new and may be ordered separately), such as the Anytime protein bars - i think these should be renamed "eat these and never feel hungry again" You know that stuff in Lord of the Rings that the elves give the Fellowship so they don't get hungry - lamas bread (??) - well that's what these things are like. I slice 'em up into a third the size the recommend and man, they are tasty potent beasties.
Does it Blend?
You may be wondering alright alright, but does this approach work? Have you lost weight? or gained weight? or done whatever you wanted to do with your weight?
Well, yes, else i'd nay be writing about this with such enthusiasm. But i'm only a couple months in: Berardi's body transformation contests which he holds for PN members, last 16 weeks, not 12. There are about 5 weeks given to just get the hang of the habits for the first time. Berardi says that until you can follow the habits with at least 90% compliance for five weeks, you don't have the basis for really assessing whether or not the program is working for you. The great thing is, scientifically, it's easy to chart whether you have complied and to what percentage: there's a chart: either you complied, or you didn't or you "cheated." That makes life unambiguously clear.
Once you have that 5 week get in the habit space down, you can begin to think about individualizing the plan to super tweak the approach to you. The individualization guide again gives you a sure fire process to assess where you're at, think about what you need to do, and to make assessments of effect over 2 week intervals. See what i mean about this is no lose 20 pounds in three days thing? This is a for real life-based approach to your nutrition and your goals around weight.
(The follow up review i've done focuses on the Individualization part of the program. If you want to skip reading more about that for now, bottom line, it works for tuning PN to suit your goals perfectly).
The great thing is you do not have to freak out about counting calories or getting overly intrigued about food labels: stick to the habits and things kinda take care of themselves. But you just might find yourself getting to a point where you want to get a little more interested in macronutrient ratios in foods (% of carbs, fats and protein) - if you do, there's guidance there too in the individualization guide to support that.
Measuring Up
And as you're charting you progress, you may ask yourself, how do you chart your progress? The answer in PN is Beyond the Bathroom Scale - that the Scale is just one measure. There are a LOT of ways to assess your progress, and when one (like the scale) seems stuck, you may be actually making progress on others. Consider the all important waist and butt measures. Suppose you seem stuck at a particular poundage, but from your great new fitness plan (like oh i dunno, maybe swinging kettlebells) you're seeing your butt size go down. or your waist. or both. That's a Good Thing: you're building lean muscle (heavier than fat) and also getting rid of fat. Well done! The scale might not be going down but bet your pants are fitting better. An other measure that is detailed pretty intensely is skin fold measures. Yes, pinch an inch is one way where you and a partner can bond on taking each others skin fold measures. From seven sites on your body. Here's a quick test: can you pinch any skin from the back of your calf when you're standing up? I was surprised by the results on that one. In any case, the point is, there's more than one way to skin a cat, and if you want to have the MOST information to go on to determine your progress - where it's happening especially if the scale seems stuck (it happens) you've got it here.
The Other Good Stuff
I haven't talked about the guides on how to set up your kitchen, go shopping, set aside time for food prep of a sunday and get it done for the week, and all the recipes (beyond the Super Shake). That's because mainly i have a pretty good handle right now on shopping, meal prep (i love to chop), packing a lunch and throwing things into a pan: i follow the Super Food guide in PN: follow the habits, use the foods in the Super Food list, and thar ya go. And ain't it grand that the program accommodates people who like recipe books, and people who like ingredients lists!
Want to Try It Out?
If you like the sound of the plan, but aren't quite ready to pony up, aren't quite sure about the sound of potentially lifestyle changing habits, there are a few ways you can get a closer view of the program. There's the free sample from the Gourmet Nutrition recipe book There's also a 7 chapter, 45 page e-book called "Precision Nutrition Strategies for Success" that is like a condensed version of the PN system. With this you can get a really good feel for the whole program.
Berardi also has a free 8 day email based thinking about your nutrition crash course called "Body Transformation with Precision Nutrition". Give it a shot: it's free, the ideas come to you once a day for a little over a week, and that's it. At the very least, you get a preview of the 10 habits, and some ideas for checking out how to support an effective, habit-based, approach to personal nutrition. The first 3 days are just online questionnaires to help you get a sense of where you're at with nutrition understanding right now, focusing on understanding what leads to failure, or more importantly, success, no matter what approach plan or system you take to nutrition. (Aside: if you're a skinny person who actually wants to bulk up, Beradi also has a free 5 day crash course called Scrawny to Brawny that goes through stuff from supplements to exercises to get some beef on the bod in a muscular rather than flab kinda way).
So? Why a Preliminary Review?
I admit it: i'm someone who's into health and i like knowing why something works. I also sometimes like not to have to think about stuff and just "follow the plan." Precision Nutrition lets me be shallow and deep about nutrition as much as i want, and i've been doing that alot for 3 months. Most particularly, i like how there's also insight on how to balance my workouts with my nutrition: that the system is sensitive to that - and that the pros involved in PN are health professionals. For a geek like me, this kind of program is exciting: i can look under the hood. And there's so much available online, for constant updates, refining plans and so on. You can go as deep as you want. or not. It's working. Hence i want to come back to this months down the line when i'm tapping a little more deeply into the Beyond PN land.
For my family who for the most part couldn't care less about the nitty gritty and just want to lose weight and already pretty much "eat healthy" (vegetables of various colors show up on the plate, that sort of thing), PN also fits the bill. The habits make it easy, as said, to see if one is on task. The challenge to follow those habits "clean" for five weeks is the biggest challenge of the whole thing. (Initially, not having oatmeal for breakie unless i was working out first was the biggest challenge). And with things like super shakes, anything is possible. If only one could still take liquids on planes, even travel could be improved.
Now to go make some Lama bread bars. When i've been using the system for another three months, i'll come back with a follow up review, but for now two thumbs up!
Link to Precision Nutrition v2
Update March 21, 2008:
Follow up review posted, This Time It's Personal: Follow Up Review of John Berardi's Precision Nutrition version 2 - Habits and Individualization.
As you can likely tell from the title, i've found PN to work not only to achieve goals but to maintain them. The review focuses specifically on the methodology of Habits (as opposed to diet) and how the PN Individualization Guide works to tune those habits for individual perfection both for the immediate goal achievement and ongoing maintenance - to say nothing of adapting for new goals/challenges.
What would it take to see the New Labour cabinet split? When neither going to war, adding tuition fees, introducing id cards, or holding suspects without charge for up to three months has done nothing to cause New Labour to contemplate just how truly Tory they are? Smoking. Or more particularly a bad on smoking in public places. That's done it. And it's done it in exactly a Tory-esque way: interference, impact on enterprise, can't work. Nanny state, etc etc -
Never mind the fact that apparently 91% of, say, Northern Ireland, supports a total ban, and that Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are bringing in or have brought in total bans, or that great swaths of North America have done likewise, with consequent benefits to health and enjoyment. Nope. Doesn't matter. There are principles at stake here - or something.
Or maybe it's just politics - Blair doesn't care that ex health minister John Reid and health minister Patricia Hewitt are going at it publicly about full ban / half ban.
Or maybe, pardon the pun, it's a carefully orchestrated smoke screen to keep public gaze away from the new parts of the "terrorism legislation" (why is it called terrorism legislation rather than anti-terrorism legislation): while the media watches the cabinet bun fight, the home secretary and prime minister can make id cards and prolonged detention without charge a below the fold story.
Meanwhile, the Lords reconsider whether or not evidence produced from torture - as long as the uk was not involved - can be used as evidence in a uk court. Musn't use wiretaps. no no. But third party torture reports? Please feel free to smoke while you read.
If you like Sushi and are in Toronto, the best deal and best sushi in town has to be at Sushi Time.
They have two locations: one up around bloor and spadina, and one on the trendy queen street west.
They have great lunch specials and great combos. My favorites are the sashimi combos, which come in baseball, hockey and basketball sizes. Combos come with miso soup and green salad. All this for around 10$ Canadian for the baseball size.
The staff is also excellent, and seem to float between both locations.
Sushi Time
394 Bloor W, 416-323-2288
339 Queen W, 416-977-2222
My preference is for the location up on Bloor.