Outworking out your food?

It's sort of a world jumble right?

The reality is you CAN do it.

The energy balance equation goes as follows: Energy IN vs Energy OUT. If your INPUT (food consumption) is HIGH, then INCREASE your output (working out). For 99.1% of the population, this equation stands true (for more information, watch our Body Mass Equation video here).

Many diets will tell you that you need to cut out sugar, remove carbs, lower your alcohol intake and overall happiness so that your body looks a certain way.

That is not true at all.

When I was at the University of Connecticut, the basketball players (Ben Gordon specifically) ate like shit and were in incredible shape. I’m pretty sure his record still stands of 225lbs on the bench for over 30-reps!

Are we going to say that the Law of Thermodynamics doesn’t apply to athletes? Are we going to use the victim card and say they can do this because of genetics? No and NO.

It’s due to the fact that their energy OUTPUT is EXTREMELY HIGH. Let’s take a closer look at my recent 6-month San Diego journey. I live in a hotel 3-5 nights and I eat out 5-10 meals per week. To give you a quick calorie breakdown: 200lbs x 10 = 2,000 calories (if you’re a girl, use the multiplier of 9 for total calories and don’t go below 1,200 calories.) I work out fairly hard, but I still give myself a LOW multiplier of 1.375. 2,000 x 1.375 = 2,750 calories. If I were to eat 2,750 calories, I would maintain my weight of 200. During my workcations in San Diego, I implemented true HIIT sessions (more on that in another blog) which has raised my activity factor to 1.55 = 3,100.

Take a look at the progression here&

The reality is you can out workout your diet. What does this mean? It means, depending on what you eat you can workout enough, you will be creating a caloric deficit.

The problem lies in the activity factor/multiplier. People overestimate how hard they workout. The standard AF that can be found on calculators is: 1.375 = 1-3 days of working out, 1.55 = 3-4 days, 1.725 = 5-6 days, 1.9 = double days.

If I were to use these calculators, they would give me a multiplier of 1.9 due to working out twice a day = 3,800 calories. If I were to eat that amount, I would definitely gain weight.

Here’s what this means for you. If you want to outworkout your food, you need to be doing double days and an hour of NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis = walking / dancing naked.) Unlike me, you probably have a lot on your plate with a family, financial commitments, work, lack of sleep and a ton of stress, so this isn’t a realistic scenario.

What you, a normal person, needs to do is aim for 18/21 meals being protein, fruit, and veggies and stop eating like a fat kid at his birthday party. If you want to have your daily ice cream and cake, then you need to work out much harder. Instead, focus on protein and vegetables when ordering meals and stay away from french fries, ice cream, and cookies.

We are all adults and as adults, we are making the conscious choice to eat crappy foods that we know offer little nutritional value and will leave us feeling crappy ( here's looking at you Vons frosted cookies). That being said we can also make the conscious choice to eat these cookies then take our butts to the gym and reward our body with some protein and veggies after that lift.

Below is an easy to follow process of how to prioritize your success:

1- SLEEP 6.5-8 hours (over the course of 6-months, I slept less than 6 hours 3x)

2- Workout daily (I worked out 6x a week except for 3-days when I was too hungover, so I only worked out 5x)

3- FIGURE OUT YOUR STRESS. If you don’t manage your stress, you’ll binge and overeat.

4- NEAT – Walk / dance naked for an hour a day.

Once you begin to prioritize your health and yourself you will see the benefits in your body!