Operation Beach Body a.k.a New Year New Me

Disclaimer

I am not a medical professional and this is written for entertainment purposes only. But if you are reading this for entertainment then perhaps you should consider getting another hobby.

I have not included citations because it will take too long and I doubt anyone will ever read it down to the bottom anyway. The source of this information has come from a mix including Dr. Andrew Huberman of the Huberman Lab podcast, Dr. Rhonda Patrick, Tim Ferriss, and some of the old ripped guys who loiter around the gym (to name just a few). I have added my layer of my interpretation onto other peoples opinion and of publicly available clinical studies. I also have used some confirmation bias loaded Google searches to fill in any knowledge gaps.

Operation Beach Body: 2023

It’s mid-January 2023 and those new year resolutions are still sitting on the metaphorical kitchen table getting pushed to the side every time you need to react to something that is happening in your life. You said it last year and if you haven’t said it to yourself already, repeat after me:

“2023 will be my year”.

It won’t be though.

TL; DR

• Eat Better
• Move More
• Sleep Well

Nothing you didn’t know already. So, here are some calculations:

Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) — the amount of calories needed to maintain your basic functions of breathing, walking, talking and thinking.

To offer a very basic explanation: If this was money, this figure is the direct debits that pay for your bills or if we frame it for a fat loss journey another way to think of it is this is what you get for free. Exceed that highlighted figure consistently and you’ll hold fat, go below that and you won’t.

Age: 43

Height: 175cm

Weight: 103kg

Calories: 1910 kCals

Plug in your stats here: link

What do kCals look like?

I don’t want to dive into the subject of calories too much but having a grasp of it will help us understand the difference between a good choice and a bad choice but by far the biggest takeaway here is understanding the impact of portion size.

An example of someone thinking they are making the right choices but actually doing themselves a disservice can be seen here:

Option 1:

Breakfast: Three eggs

Lunch: Steak (200g) and baked potato

Dinner: Two chicken breasts, white rice, asparagus

Total: 1492 calories (20% under RMR)

Option 2:

Breakfast: Oats and a banana

Lunch: Heura (200g), avocado, chickpeas, black beans

Dinner: Salmon (200g), wild rice and broccoli

Total 2359 calories (20% over RMR)

Increasing expenditure

“But I do lots of exercise and exercise burns calories right”. You’re not wrong. But you’re not Michael Phelps so you need a different approach than trying to outwork a poor diet.

Acting as an accountant to balance the books for calories consumed versus calories “burned” is very effective but applying the methodology is dated and an oversimplification. It’s also the recipe for developing an eating disorder and poor planning will leave you irritable, brain foggy, weak and destined to revert back to old habits with a dark cloud of failure hovering over you.

Think of it as filling up your car with gasoline. If you don’t fill it up enough then your basic functions will suffer. If you continue filling up and ignoring those clink noises from the spout then you will need some jerry cans. That jerry can in terms of our body is fat being stored.

Another issue is because within this “budget” you will also need to maintain your body’s muscles by ensuring you get enough protein in without going over your RMR + calories burned through exercise.

103 kg x 1.6 protein per kg of body weight = 165g protein per day.

Eating

Food is one of life’s greatest pleasures — it is one of the few activities that can ignite all five of the senses. The sight of a well dressed salad piled high, the feeling of being comfortably full, the smell of onions and garlic hitting hot oil, the sound of an apple being crunched and of course the diversity of taste. It is a way of bringing people together to share stories and express love. But you are not a Roman Emperor celebrating the conquering of foreign lands by feasting until the next full moon. Just like any over-indulger of the good stuff be it sex, drugs or rock and roll will tell you that too much pleasure too often quickly becomes your poison.

Good food isn’t a place to find daily comfort or solace. It is a beautiful and special thing that should be thought of like a Sunday morning church suit — saved for special occasions and appreciated. The rest of the time it should be considered as fuel. If you think otherwise, then I have some lemon scented gasoline for sale.

Everybody wants to have a six-pack and a healthy heart but nobody wants to eat boring fucking food.

Increasing Insulin Sensitivity

As scientists continue to work at codifying the programs and processes of causalities within the human body there are some well established sequences we know to a high degree of certainty.

One of these metabolic processes is that the pancreas releases insulin when sugar enters the body and its job is to clean it up.

Now, give me some creative licence here but consider this relationship similar to a guest arriving at the reception desk of a small motel. He dings the bell and the receptionist runs out from the back happy to meet the arriving guests’ needs.

“Welcome to the Holiday Inn Mr Sugar” the receptionist Mr Ian Sulin replies.

If Mr Sugar is a demanding guest and dings that bell at reception constantly with new requests then a few things are going to happen: Mr Ian Sulin at reception isn’t going to be as enthusiastic to get off his chair to cater to these needs and he’ll end up saving some of these tasks for later.

Ding that bell too often and insulin will convert that extra work into fatty acids and store it for later. Keep it up for a long time and the receptionist will lose all motivation and need to hire an assistant. This situation is called Type 2 Diabetes where you’ll be forced to inject extra insulin into your body.

To clarify, we are not just talking about white processed sugar. We’re talking about most food and the measure of aggravation the receptionist receives has been assigned a number and logged as the glycemic index.

The higher the number is, the more aggravating the guest is for the receptionist. What we want is a highly attentive and ready receptionist and this is called insulin sensitivity.

The table includes general figures. If you want to get serious and find your personal numbers and reaction to food then order a blood glucose monitor and test yourself 2 hours after eating a particular food to get your number.

Method:

I realise this document is getting a bit wordy so instead of trying to weave the idea into an elaborate narrative i’ll give just straight direction:

Two things. Choose low numbers as often as you can and have your last meal before 19h and your first meal after 11h. That gives the receptionist 16 hours to compose himself. Then make sure your first meal is low on the glycemic index so make it 3 boiled eggs.

It will take some time, but rewiring your body’s insulin sensitivity not only makes your body more effective but eventually changes the way you look at and crave different foods. There’s also ways that we can optimise even further by spiking our insulin at the right time.

Hack:

Semaglutide (Ozempic or Wegovy). This works by simulating a hormone that regulates blood sugar levels and my understanding is that it gets to work before the insulin — in our story almost like a very proactive bell boy. It also slows down the journey food makes from the stomach to the small intestine and makes users feel fuller for longer. Expect a 10–15kg loss over a year. Long term side effects unknown, speak to a doctor.

Upping Testosterone

Oh to be young. As a male teenager charging through puberty you might have seen your testosterone levels reach as high as 1,200 ng/dL before it settled down into a range of 410–575 ng/dL throughout your 20’s. Once you cross over that 30 bridge though there isn’t much good news. You’ll lose about 1% per year on average, so mix in some poor life choices and by the time you’re 40 years old you might be around the level of a field mouse.

Most doctors agree that anywhere between 300–1000 ng/dL is a good range, the problem is 40% of men over the age of 45 aren’t in it.

“Expect a decline in bone density and a decline in boner frequency”.

But why is it important?

We won’t get into the weeds too much but having low testosterone you can expect both a physical and mental impact. From a decline in bone density to a decline in boner frequency, reduced joie de vivre and less desire to go out and take on new challenges.

But sticking to the relationship between testosterone and body composition and trying to keep it as black and white as possible:

More testosterone = more muscle mass produced

More muscle mass = less room to store fat

More muscle = higher RMR

Lower testosterone = more likely to hold on to fat (especially around the belly)

More fat = lower insulin sensitivity

More fat = less testosterone produced

In short — you’re not 25 years old anymore and the phrase “do what you have always done and you get what you always got” isn’t applicable here — you’ll have to make some big changes even just to maintain. So we really want to make sure that testosterone level is in range.

Ask your doctor to check testosterone levels or find an online testing service.

Some options:

Anabolic Steroids — if you want to strip away fat and build muscle it is no secret that steroids work. What is also well known is the harsh and permanent side effects. Beach body for a summer and crying sessions in the winter when your hormones shut down? Maybe not the balance we’re looking for.

Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT) — if you are well out of range then a trip to the doctor might be in order. In the States you’ll have no issues getting a prescription but in the EU or UK you’ll likely have to go private. It will solve your low testosterone induced problems but note that once you’re on it, you’re on it forever. You may also have to supplement with hCG to keep sperm production healthy and your balls looking decent. Your iron levels may creep up as well but you can solve this by giving blood away every few months.

Lift heavy things — making your body do big heavy squats and deadlifts sends signals to your body to start producing more testosterone. You’ll also grow more muscle. Higher density muscle means less storage room for fat. More muscle mass also means an increase in your Resting Metabolic Rate because muscle has a job and needs to be serviced. Fat just sits there taking up space.

Hard sprints — when was the last time you ran as fast as you fucking can? In the same way you need to command your body to go and lift heavy things, sprinting signals to your body to release more testosterone. I don’t know the full ins and outs of this but for the input of time required it seems like pretty good value. A sprint takes 10 seconds. The only problem is that it’s a little socially awkward to be doing while everyone’s peacefully jogging and dog walking on the promenade or to run frantically down residential streets. If you can get over that then 10–20 second sprints. Rest to fully catch your breath then do it again x8 times.

Win more — there is an interesting study that measured the testosterone levels of participants playing a game of chance. They noticed that the winners, through no skill of their own, displayed significantly higher testosterone than the losers. Instead of leaving it to chance though we can create our own games that we can win and also create a positive feedback loop. Write a list of things and do the things then tick them off, find ways to compete against your fellow man or start a brand new hobby starting at the bottom and working your way through the hierarchy.

Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1478633/

Cortisol

Ask any idiot at a dinner party what cortisol is and they’ll proudly act the expert and tell you “the stress hormone, it’s for flight or fight from when we were cavemen fighting tigers”. They’re not wrong but they just read the headline. The common misconception is that we want less of it so we can feel less stressed and more calm — hence the reason why supplements like Ashwaganda sell.

Cortisol plays an important role within our bodies so the last thing we want to do is blunt that instrument. The issue is that one of the mechanisms cortisol uses to be effective is by raising our blood glucose level, which as we know from the story of the receptionist, is not something we want happening very often.

Our brain knows how effective cortisol is as a tool when we need to increase our odds of escaping from or fighting off a tiger. The problem is it uses the same tool for everything. A high powered car might be the best choice for a bank robber’s getaway but our brain is using the same car to pull out a milk tooth.

When you look at life through a lens of negativity every instance that doesn’t go our way will be interpreted by our brain as an incoming attack and mistaking a life’s hurdles for a tiger. Our defences go up in preparation — cortisol is released to keep us focussed and zoned in to help us find that solution.

brain sees tiger = cortisol = raised blood glucose and ready to scramble

negative thoughts = cortisol = raised blood glucose = dinging reception = fat stored

Being more chill bro might work but being passive isn’t going to stop the world coming at you.

The problem is we never get to summon cortisol in isolation. It is always at a time when we are under a perceived threat. So, in the same way soldiers do situational training in high stress environments to build up resilience and be better prepared in a real firefight, we need our body to learn how to deal with cortisol in a classroom setting, and not just learn in the field after it’s triggered by a stressful situation.

We want our bodies to be able to summon cortisol but more importantly practise flushing it before those side effects can linger. A controlled and safe environment will give our body the practice it needs and the easiest way to do this is through voluntary physical stress:

Heat exposure. Sauna (18–20 mins 160F / 70c 4x per week)

Cold exposure. Cold showers and ice baths. Minimum once per week.

Increasing Resting Metabolic Rate

While on the subject of cold exposure another thing to note is that our biggest organ is our skin. Get it cold and you’ll burn calories as it works to bring you back up to temperature by activating brown fat first and then a little bit more if you end up shivering. It’s the reason why swimming is so effective and hopefully explains Michael Phelps’ need for his training camp to in close proximity to a Waffle House.

Puzzles and games — our brain uses about 20% of our energy (300–500 calories per day). Play some poker, do a puzzle maybe it’ll use more.

Clenbuterol (pills) — well used in the bodybuilding and athletic community and studies show it can increase your RMR up to 20% and fat oxidation by about 40%. A little bit illegal depending where you are in the world.

Green Tea (pills) — contains flavanol called epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) that promotes fat oxidation. Dose at around 325mg of EGCG three times per day before each meal. Try and get caffeine free version.

Changing the source of energy

If Elon got your car to switch from gasoline to electricity then you can get your body to switch from glucose to ketones.

Keto — your body is used to taking in food and converting it to glucose to use as its energy source. Remove the glucose by removing carbohydrates and your body needs to look for alternatives. Your liver will get to work and release ketones focussing on your fat stores. Changing your energy source from glucose to fat stores is called being in ketosis. To get into this state you’ll have to keep your intake of carbohydrates to under 50g per day and stay there. You can order strips from Amazon and test your urine to see if you are in ketosis or not. The trade off is bad breath, fatigue, and in the long term maybe liver disease so a period of more than six months isn’t recommended (you’d give up before then anyway). That said, a few days a month of eggs, avocado and nuts isn’t difficult.

LISS — low intensity steady state is the smarter but frumpier cousin of the sweat inducing HIIT workout. Walk for 5 hours on an empty stomach and your body will opt to use fat stores as its preferred energy source. Dress it up as a hike, start a whatsapp group, make some friends.

So, what’s the goal? What’s the plan…

If the World Health Organization is anything to go by then a BMI of 24 is normal, 25–29 is considered overweight and anything over 30 is considered obese then let’s call 24 the goal in terms of numbers. We won’t be building goals around weights on a scale.

Luckily we have more than one way to come at this and we’re going to use all of them:

1. Have three or four meals on rotation

Every meal is a choice and every choice is an opportunity to test ourselves against the commitments we have declared. And the destiny of a commitment is to be challenged.

So, with challenges coming, preparation is needed. Your most effective defence: plan your meals by the week in advance and load up tupperware.

2. Eat at the same time every day

• 11am breakfast
• 14h lunch
• 19h dinner

3. Recruit help from your hormones

• Lift heavy things 3x times per week in the morning — squats, deadlifts, bench press.
• Prescribe yourself a cold shower once per week
• Get to a sauna if you can

4. Consider pharmaceuticals carefully

• Whether that’s TRT, clenbuterol or anything else.

5. Switch up the energy source

• LISS once per week on an empty stomach
• Keto 4 days per month

6. What gets measured gets improved

On this link you will find a Google Sheets document. It includes what an optimal week looks like. You should be aiming to get as close to this as possible every week. It also includes a list of common foods including their portion size, calories and glycemic index number. Included on this sheet are some proposed meals with their stats attached. Make a copy of the document for yourself and make up meals for yourself, you can add nutritional information for new foods you want to try that aren’t on the list and edit the GI number if you test for it.

→ Link here

7. Don’t drink calories

8. Things to buy:

Digital scales (non-negotiable)

Tupperware (non-negotiable)

Blood Glucose monitor

9. Other things that might help:

• Green Tea Extract
• Pre biotic psyllium husk (5–10g per day)
• 4x brazil nuts every other day to ensure enough selenium for proper thyroid function
• ZMA (1000mg Magnesium before bed)
• L-Glutamine
• Creatine
• Protein Shakes

I toyed with the idea of catering this to a vegetarian but in the end opted against it. If you love vegetables so much then you should marry a carrot.

Guaranteed Success

This is maths and is guaranteed to get you to exactly where you need to be. It is a tried and tested map with a well trodden path that takes you to an end destination. The problem with destinations is that we just want to get there quickly.

Picture a sailor boarding a ship in the 1400’s venturing out to unknown territory on a journey with an unknown duration. If he focuses on the end destination and the life changing riches coming his way it will keep him on board. If he spends his hours thinking about being cold, wet, home sick, seasick and tired then how long until he jumps off the ship?

Two big differences here though. There is no end destination. You are on this ship for life so you can’t just drag yourself through it reluctantly. The other point is you are fleeing your old ways and going to a new home so there’s no need to get home sick.

You have to focus on the progress, not the destination. This is why I cannot stress enough the practice of planning the week ahead using the spreadsheet (link here again) and also keeping a record. When you look back on a week that is highlighted green and completed you will have momentum on your side and momentum is the cousin of cumulative interest — the most powerful force in the world.

Final Thoughts

Do you need to stick to this plan 100%? Absolutely not.

Should you feel bad if you stray from it? Depends.

Life, events, birthdays and celebrations will get in the way. Just be sure to take note of the details and plan accordingly and make sure the reason you have sold yourself is valid. You’ll have cravings to eat familiar foods and curiosity to try new things. Craving a Detroit style pizza with chicken wings, cheesy dip and a coca cola? Plan it. Write it down on a list and plan it for next week sometime DO NOT give into the first impulse or give into sloth.

You might notice a slight discomfort in your stomach — something you previously interpreted as “it’s time to eat”. This is just an alarm clock you forgot to turn off. So, you do what you would do if it was on your phone. You switch it off and get back on with your day. In truth, what is happening is your body is adjusting to be more efficient so that when food does drop into your belly it’s automatically allocated, sifted and sorted to be exactly where it needs to be.

The first few meals will be easy, maybe even the first few days and weeks. You’ll be excited to get this journey started and will be full of motivation. But at some point you will have a small voice appear asking questions like “is it worth it” or “what’s the point in all this if I can’t enjoy my days”. This is a crafty and intelligent gremlin that has been monitoring you your whole life and knows your every weakness. He is an expert saboteur and will sell you incredible excuses dressed as logic and will start to sow seeds of doubt. Buy none of his nonsense. You must meet this enemy with nothing but aggression. His voice will soon lose strength and will give up long before you do.