If you listen to the 3DMJ podcast, you’ve probably heard me or one of the other coaches talk about how the offseason and contest prep should resemble one another a bit more closely over the course of your career as you develop “bodybuilder life skills”. If this doesn’t make sense initially, I can understand that. An immediate reaction might be to cock your head, and raise your eyebrow as you think, “hold on, in the offseason you should be in a surplus, gaining weight, higher in body fat, using more volume, and doing less or no cardio…that’s very dissimilar to contest prep.” Correct, that’s all true…but we don’t mean the quantitative variables, we mean the habits and lifestyle you develop, and the underlying structure.
Feel the Need to “Cheat” and Splurge on the Holidays? What Does That Say About the Other Days of the Year?
Here is a recent post of mine followed by a comment that I received…
My post: [Read more…]
Diet Break 101
First of all, I am glad that the whole idea of taking a diet-break mid-prep, is no longer a novel idea. It’s much easier to propose the idea of tackling a contest prep diet with pit stops along the way. If you have ever prepped, you know how it is. [Read more…]
The Elephant in the Room: Emotional & Other “Non-Physiological” Reasons for Eating – Part 3
Welcome back to the final installment of our emotional eating series. In this last piece, we will cover the emotional eating cycle and the steps to break it.
To help with overall flow and coherence, this final segment is covered via video in place of the article format used in parts 1 and 2.
One final point I want to make before getting into today’s topic, is how to get the most out of it: [Read more…]
The Elephant in the Room: Emotional & Other “Non-Physiological” Reasons for Eating- Part 2
Welcome back to part 2 of our mini-series on emotional and other non-physiological eating behaviors. Now that we’ve identified some of the major reasons for eating, other than being physically hungry, how do we resolve them? Do we even need to resolve them?
I’ve grouped these emotional and other non-physiological reasons for eating into three main categories: 1) Normal behaviors (given modern culture, traditions, etc.), 2) Neutral but potentially destructive behaviors, and 3) Behaviors we need to address. [Read more…]
The Elephant in the Room: Emotional & Other “Non-Physiological” Reasons for Eating- Part 1
Imagine this…
You’re at the office, cranking diligently away on an intense project that was just assigned to you and your division. You look up, and glance over at one of your teammates, only to see him staring blankly at the wall, totally lost in trance.
You’d say to yourself, “How lazy! We have so much work to get done and here I am working my ass off, while he’s just sitting over-there twiddling his thumbs!” [Read more…]
“Good Question!” – Are Flexible Dieting and Accurate Food Tracking Mutually Exclusive?
Welcome to our “Good Question!” series, where we answer the best questions from the 3DMJ community in blog format. Today, I’ll be answering the question, “I went to a lecture on metabolism and food tracking, and learned everything is variable and full of errors. [Read more…]
“Thinning the Skin”: Fish Oil Supplementation By Steve Taylor R.D.
Before we go any further, I should probably clarify my little “Thinning the skin” joke. Unfortunately, fish oil does not thin our skin (although the omega-3 fatty acids present in fish may help to thin our blood by reducing platelet aggregation). [Read more…]
Whey vs. Casein: The Protein Powder Showdown
When you think of protein powder, what are the first two “types” that come to your mind? For many, it’s whey and casein protein. Why is that?
Understanding the Glycemic Index: Carbohydrate Digestion & Absorption By Steve Taylor, R.D.
The glycemic index is one of those things, which at least in name, many of us are familiar with. However, when it comes to the actual understanding of its workings, things can get a bit confusing. What is the glycemic index? What factors affect the digestion and absorption rate of carbohydrates? What are the practical applications? [Read more…]