My girlfriend has been away for the past ten days doing some consulting work down in Colombia, and while it was nice to have some free time to hang out with the boys, leave the toilet seat up, burp out loud, and chew food with my mouth open, I can’t wait to see her in a few short hours. So, since I’m going to have to leave to pick her up at the airport shortly, I’m just going to leave you with a few random thoughts today.
1. I got a message on Facebook the other day from an old friend, asking this:
What do you think about that new 17 day diet? Is it hogwash?
B to the U……….llshit. This is hands down, the epitome of what a fad-diet looks like. Just look at the cover and your answers are right there smacking you in the face.
– A doctor’s plan for rapid results.
– 17 days, is all you need. Giving people the illusion that that is all it takes – 17 days.
– All that’s missing are dancing elephants, fireworks, and midgets. Can’t forget the midgets.
Does it get results? Sure. Are they going to last? Not a chance.
The basic premise of the diet is to change your caloric load every 17 days (why not 16? Hell, why not 22?) to keep your metabolism “guessing.” In short, you’re expected to cycle your calories every few days or weeks, changing the combination of healthy fats, carbohydrates, and protein that you eat.
And therein, lies the problem. People don’t want to have to think when they eat. Sure, someone will be able to follow this plan in the short-term, and probably see some results. But lets be honest – who’s going to want to have to count calories, adjust macronutrients, and let food ALWAYS be on their mind for the indefinate future?
You need to change HABITS in order for results to stick. Following some “cleansing” diet that has you pissing out your ass by day eight, isn’t going to change anything. Except maybe your wardrobe.**
This isn’t a complete waste, however. From what I can tell, there are good things about the diet. I mean, he streses the notion of eating “clean” foods, and that it’s okay to indulge. But in the long-haul, this diet falls short of helping people make behavioral changes towards their eating habits, and more specifically, it’s un-realistic.
It’s like $8 and will take you 25 minutes to read, and will do a great job at introducing the concept of behavorial changes that MUST take place in order to see long-term results.
2. If I had to guess, I write anywhere from 25-30 (sometimes upwards of 40 depending on the time of year) programs per week. It stands to reason, then, that writing MY programs is the last thing I want to do. I don’t want to have to think.
Starting next week, both myself and Eric Cressey are going to be following Lean Hybrid Muscle by Mike Westerdal and Elliot Hulse. I was lucky enough to receive an advanced copy last week, and after looking through it, I can’t wait to get started! Eric already has a head start on me – hitting one of the workouts outs over the weekend – and based off of the feedback he’s given me, it’s going to be badass!
3. I don’t watch the show, but I watched this clip which was posted on Bret Contreras’ wall on Facebook, and I have to say, I haven’t teared up that much since Travis shot Old Yeller:
But, what’s up with Steven Tyler? Dude is taking the creepiness to a whole new level:
4. My new obession are sun-dried tomatoes. I can’t get enough of them lately. I’ve been rocking them in my omeletes lately and they’re delicious!
5. I’ve decided that I really, really, really want to hit a 600 lb deadlift this year. As it stands now, I’m going through a bit of a bulking phase (210 lbs and counting, thank you very much) and then I’m going to get my sexification on and diet down in the Spring. After that, it’s game on. The last time I tested, I hit 570 lbs and it went up fairly easily. I figure I can follow another deadlift specialization routine similar to what EC and I did about a year and half ago, take an ample deload, and I can hit 600 like a G6.
Or, I can just wait until Nia Shanks actually comes to Boston for our deadlift-off. Which ever comes first……
6. Okay, time to go train. Training at a commercial gym today. God help me.
** Naaaaaaaaaiiiiiled it.
