The Smarter Sculpted Physique: Training | Nutrition | Muscle Gain | Fat Loss

---------------------- ♦ Carbs and Insulin ♦ ---------------------- Scott celebrates his 100th SSP episode with a lecture on the relationship between insulin and carbs, and the success stories of two clients who’ve lost a combined 170 lbs, eating carbs-based diets and following his workouts. Byron and Mike: real world people with real world results • Client Byron chronicles how he has been able to lose 50 lbs. since January. Prior to hiring Scott, Byron (at 5’-11”) weighed 265 lbs. and had health problems, most notably clinically-diagnosed sleep apnea. He also tried the calorie-counting method before he sought Scott’s help. • Scott eliminated cardio from Byron’s workout, who gets plenty of “cardio” from his job installing cabinets, and reports now having more energy. His sleep has improved since he began with Scott, and plans to have a second sleep study done to confirm his improvement. • Byron continues to shed unwanted fat pounds. He will be back on a future episode as Scott believes Byron can be another JP, who maintains a year-round ripped physique after losing nearly 100 lbs. several years ago. • Mike, another of Scott’s clients with a pre-diabetic background, also reports health improvements. Mike shared that after his 120 lb. weight loss, his doctor has taken him off his cholesterol medication, and his A1C has dropped below pre-diabetic levels. About insulin and carbs: • Insulin is an anabolic hormone, more anabolic than testosterone. It is a storage hormone – a storage hormone with “bias.” • Insulin is not an “enemy hormone.” The body doesn't produce enemy hormones. • Both diet and exercise have major effects on insulin sensitivity, but low-carb diet advocates promote low-carb diets to fitness enthusiasts as if they were morbidly obese. • Research shows that: as the amount of dietary fat decreases, insulin performs better. Scott cites papers published in the Journal of Physiology, The Lancet, The American Journal of Medicine, and Diabetes. • Like other leading modern-day ailments such as heart disease and high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes is one of the consequences of poor diet and lifestyle. • Type 2 diabetes is almost always preventable, often treatable, and sometimes even reversible through diet and lifestyle changes alone. • Greater than 90% of Type 2 diabetics are fat. High fat stores down-regulate insulin receptors, hence, “You aren’t overweight because you have Type 2 diabetes; you have Type 2 diabetes because you’re overweight.” • Elevated blood sugar is a symptom from, not a cause of diabetes. Cutting carbs in attempts to reduce blood sugar is faulty logic. Scott’s client Mike lowered his A1C from 6.3 to 5.0 eating a high-carb diet, plus he lost weight. • Insulin resistance, not insulin itself, contributes to vascular disease. “The insulin resistance syndrome together with hyperinsulinemia is likely to induce atherosclerotic changes through reduced rather than excessive actions of insulin.” Suzuki, M., et al, Diabetes 45, Suppl. 3, 1996. • Research continues to support a whole-food, plant dominant diet as a way to stay healthy and reduce disease. **If you or someone you know struggles with food choices, check out the free resources at: https://www.scottabelfitness.com/foodissues -------------------------- Follow Coach Scott Abel -------------------------- Main Website https://scottabelfitness.com/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CoachScottAbel/ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/scottabelcoaching Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coachscottabel/ Twitter https://twitter.com/CoachScottAbel

----------------------------------------------- ♦ The Training Model and Program Design ♦ ----------------------------------------------- The Coach covers the basics of workout Program Design using principles taken from his book, The Abel Approach: Effort, Training Strategy, Workload Capacity, Recovery Capacity and Internal Hormonal and Biochemical Environment. ♦ True expertise is in short supply today. Popularity doesn’t equate to expertise ♦ • The Training Model is a tool used by professionals to illustrate where the building blocks for individual performance lie. • There’s an art and science to Program Design. A collection of exercises does not make a workout; and a collection of workouts doesn’t make an effective program. • Assessing the trainee and then designing a program for their needs is both art and science. If you aren’t assessing, you’re guessing. • Program Design writing begins with the theme or purpose, then moves on to the structure, then the context, then whether or not (or how) to use planned performance training* or periodization. Then from that point he can determine the strategy and tactics, and finally, the elements of the program that will be variable or constant. • Effort can be misapplied. An analogy for misapplied effort would be driving north when traveling from Canada to Florida, similar to using cardio as a warm-up for a weight-lifting workout. • Training Strategy needs to be related to goals. "Strategy" and "Tactics" are not the same thing. • Workload Capacity relates to how much work a trainee can benefit from, with no assessment of a client’s individual needs. • Law of Least Eligibility: the less fit person receives the most adoptive stimulus; the most fit person receives the least adoptive stimulus. • The SAID principle (Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands) says that a trainee adapts to their training. So, doing fitness "bootcamp" classes conditions trainees to do bootcamp classes. • Recovery Capacity is important, especially for the unconditioned trainee or the older trainee. Scott’s Hardgainer Solution (HGS) strongly considers recovery capacity and builds it into the program. • Internal Hormonal and Biochemical Environment determines how a trainee will respond to training. Conditions a client might have, such as diabetes or age, factor into Program Design. • A lack of knowledge of exercise physiology or the Training Model makes someone susceptible to falling for vogue exercise trends. • Scott’s Hardgainer Solution uses the five principles of Program Design to target a specific type of trainee: the person who trains hard but who is slow to see gains. Get the formatted printable workouts free at: http://hardgainersolution.com/free/ -------------------------------- Follow Coach Scott Abel Now -------------------------------- Main Website https://scottabelfitness.com/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CoachScottAbel/ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/scottabelcoaching Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coachscottabel Twitter https://twitter.com/CoachScottAbel

-------------------------------------- ♦ I've Gone Vegan, You Haven't, and This Is Why That's Fine ♦ -------------------------------------- The Coach presents reams of research supporting the health benefits of a plant-based diet and shares his own adoption of a completely plant-based eating strategy. ♦ Diet labels/memberships shouldn't define who people are. A diet is a lifestyle ♦ • Diets with labels are used to create tribalism with strict rules to follow. • Diet lifestyle shouldn’t be a religion; nor should it define a person. • Scott declares that he’s “Breaking Vegan,” meaning he’s eating a generally vegan diet, such as substituting black beans for chicken in one of his regular meals. • His goal is not being lean or getting leaner -time will tell if he indeed does get leaner-, but his goal with this recent switch is rather to be as healthy as possible. • He’s not necessarily suggesting his clients switch to his eating strategy. • Public health organizations' position papers support vegetarian diets as healthy, as well as vegan, adding that B12 supplementation is needed for vegan diets. • Plant-based diets help reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, certain forms of cancer, obesity, and diabetes, among other diseases. • Scott’s not ruling out eating eggs, meat or fish on cheat days. For right now, he’s content to stay with plant-based. • By coincidence, Scott’s mentee, fitness model Andy Sinclair, has also “gone vegan.” • Vegetarian diets are also economical. Andy shared that his grocery bill has gone down; he buys chick peas for $.88 CAD. [Reference] Melina, V. “Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: Vegetarian Diets.” J Acad Nutr Diet. 2016 Dec;116(12):1970-1980. doi: 10.1016/j.jand.2016.09.025. http://jandonline.org/article/S2212-2672(16)31192-3/fulltext **Think you or someone you know may be using a diet “label” to cover up a food or eating problem? Check out the free resources at: https://www.scottabelfitness.com/foodissues -------------------------------- Follow Coach Scott Abel Now -------------------------------- Main Website https://scottabelfitness.com/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CoachScottAbel/ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/scottabelcoaching Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coachscottabel Twitter https://twitter.com/CoachScottAbel

----------------------------------------------------- ♦ Bad News for Fitbit and Other Calorie Trackers ♦ ----------------------------------------------------- The Coach shares a widely publicized recent study on weight gain, genotype patterns and insulin response that supports things he's been preaching for years about calorie counting and nutrition. The research was published this year in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) by nutritionist experts, including renowned specialist Christopher Gardner. ♦ "Stop counting calories. Stop the nonsense!" ♦ • In the study, people who ate lots of vegetables and whole foods, rather than processed ones, lost weight without worrying about calories or portion size. • People who cut back on processed foods but instead ate healthy whole foods and didn’t count calories, lost weight. • Weight loss success in the study wasn’t linked to people’s genetics or insulin response to carbs. • The study suggests that diet quality, not quantity, is what helps people lose weight. • Low-fat brownies and low-carb chips are still brownies and chips. Calling them low-fat and low-carb is just “gaming the system.” • Fitbit calorie tracking and "If It Fits Your Macros" calculators; genotype (DNA) patterns, blood type and hair analysis diets, are misleading consumers by subjecting them to obey numbers and non-relevant traits. • Health authorities should shift away from focus on calories and instead emphasize avoidance of processed foods. • “It’s time for US and other national policies to stop focusing on calories and calorie counting.” – Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, Dean of Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. • The study didn’t set caloric limits. The subjects were encouraged to eat only as much as they needed to avoid feeling hungry; they consumed fewer calories without counting calories and were simply unaware they were eating less [due to eating whole instead of processed foods.] • “The unique thing is that we didn’t ever set a calories or macro unit number for them to follow.” - Christopher Gardner, PhD., Director of Nutrition Studies at the Stanford Prevention Research Center and a professor of medicine at Stanford University. • Gardner said that the people who lost the most weight reported that the study had “changed their relationship with food.” • Scott has long said, “[you] don’t have a problem with food and weight; you have a thinking and feeling problem about food and weight.” [Reference] Gardner, Christoper D., et al. "Effect of Low-Fat vs Low-Carbohydrate Diet on 12-Month Weight Loss in Overweight Adults and the Association With Genotype Pattern or Insulin Secretion." JAMA. 2018;319(7):667-679. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.0245 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2673150?redirect=true **Think you or someone you know has a thinking issue about food? Check out the free resources at: https://www.scottabelfitness.com/foodissues --------------------------------- Follow Coach Scott Abel Now! --------------------------------- Main Website https://scottabelfitness.com/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CoachScottAbel/ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/scottabelcoaching Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coachscottabel/ Twitter https://twitter.com/CoachScottAbel

So, what's up with all that sugar in fruit? The Coach provides some facts to counter the hype and nonsense that fruit can make you fat.

------------------------------------ ♦ Q&A – Ask Me Anything Session ♦ ------------------------------------ The Coach opens the floor and takes questions from the audience about a variety of topics on physique, fitness training, diet and metabolism. Don't be fooled by unimportant factors overstated by the industry! Well-funded research and common sense often debunk these industry misconceptions that create mass confusion. ♦ Fitness, Nutrition, Diet Strategies, Zen Mentality, and More ♦ • Scott opens with a rant about misinformation spread online about diet. • Sometimes a good coach doesn’t change what the client is doing, if what they’re doing can’t be substantively improved. • Scott reads two letters from listeners who answered his last week’s question: “what’s the attraction for women to compete.” On to the Q&A • Lower levels of consciousness are marked by need for stimulation, validation, and attention. • Higher levels of consciousness are marked by autonomy, mastery, and purpose. • Credible, long-term, academic research provides overwhelming evidence that a plant-based diet is healthiest. • Aerobic activity does have health benefits, just not cosmetic benefits. • All training is cardiovascular…not all training is aerobic. • Functional imbalance is contextual. For instance, a right-handed tennis player will be right side dominant. Imbalances aren’t the same as side-dominance. • Putting a child on a diet puts them on a path to a future eating disorder. • Heart rate monitors have no value while working out (Excludes those under medical supervision, as in cardiac rehab). • Scott discusses the research on long-term results of keto dieting and its unfavorable long-term health results. • Unlearning is the highest form of learning (attributed to Einstein). Being objective is difficult. • Slow-controlled reps as with tempo training misunderstands the concept of time under tension. Tempo training attempts to externally control an internal physiologic process (i.e. muscle overload). • Diets have to be sustainable to work. Having to do a diet twice proves the point. • Keto causes loss of lean mass. • What are the benefits of fruit? What aren’t the benefits of fruit. • Losing yourself in the gym is a form of meditation. Put away the cell phone and immediate distractors. • Complex routines are [probably] nonsense. Einstein said things should be as simple as possible. ----------------------- LINKS & RESOURCES ----------------------- Get a free starter pack of resources and exercises to deal with emotional eating issues right now: http://scottabelfitness.com/foodissues • Follow Coach Scott Abel Now: Main Website https://scottabelfitness.com/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CoachScottAbel/ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/scottabelcoaching

---------------------------------------------------- ♦ Important Letters to the Coach Re: Competing ♦ ---------------------------------------------------- The Coach shares a letter from a former female figure competitor who details her struggles with weight gain and metabolic damage after trying physique competition. This showoff event isn't for everyone; it requires some "genetic luck" to be able to sustain high levels of body abuse and often leads to serious metabolic problems. ♦ The story of a former competing woman ♦ Letter comes from a mother of three, who says she’s struggled with weight her entire life, and attended Weight Watchers religiously for 18 years. At 5’3”, started doing triathlons after her third child but couldn’t get weight to drop below 132 lbs. In addition to WW, spent two hours in gym daily. Even though she works out two hours a day and does cardio seven days a week, she continues to gain weight, even though she only eats 1400 calories a day. A friend who competed suggested she try her trainer and competing. Personal trainers and nutritionists suggested high protein, low-carb/no-carb diets, carb cycling, and fasted cardio, tactics which led to metabolic slowdown and more serious health consequences. At one point, she was near kidney and liver failure. A doctor broke the news that her body was reacting to starvation and the solution would take a long, long time. She never had issues losing weight until she started running then doing competitions. Scott opens the floor for discussion with his audience: What's the attraction for women to compete in figure and bodybuilding? ----------------------- LINKS & RESOURCES ----------------------- • Scott’s Featured e-Books: https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/metabolic-damage/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/understanding-metabolism/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/beyond-metabolism/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/anti-diet-approach/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/cycle-diet/ • Courses and Programs: The Cycle Diet Program http://thecycle.diet/ The Hardgainer Solution Program http://hardgainersolution.com/ Great Glutes Circuit Protocol https://scottabelfitness.com/greatglutes/ The Busy Woman’s Tighten and Tone At Home Program http://busywoman.fitness/ • Follow Coach Scott Abel: Main Website https://scottabelfitness.com/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CoachScottAbel/ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/scottabelcoaching

----------------------------------------------- • More Diet and Fitness Industry Nonsense • ----------------------------------------------- The food industry leverages diet fads to boost sales of ordinary products. This episode discusses how buzzwords and misconceptions are used to promote ordinary foods as extraordinary, and unhealthy “favorite” foods as healthy. • “Keto” is a physiologic state, and not a type of foodstuff. • • One of Scott’s clients sent him a photo of a bag of coffee branded as “keto”, which got him thinking. • “Ketosis is a state of illness.” - Dr. Michael Greger. Carb-deprivation can lead to ketosis. Certain foods can contribute to ketosis, but there are no “ketogenic” foods. Example: coffee works at burning fat by burning fatty acids and allowing for greater exertion during physical activity due to its hormonal and adrenal effects. Coffee itself doesn’t induce ketosis. • “Keto” is just Atkins rebranded. • Using industry logic, products like eggs, cabbage and water could also be branded as “ketogenic”. On to diet foods... • Diet brands frequently promote ‘the foods you love to eat’, including cookies, cake, and pasta dishes. • Scott cites Michael Pollan, who said that, when buying packaged foods, look for fewer than four ingredients with single syllables. Example: almonds, salt, etc. • Fitness industry "Diet foods" have long lists of ingredients with chemical names, many of which are fillers, binders and types of sugar. It’s inconsistent for diet foods to include ingredients that make people fat to begin with. • “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.” –Michael Pollan • Scott shares a YouTube video that argues plant-based diets promote health and that no-carb/low-carb diets harm people. The video points out promoters of no-carb/low-carb diets who are overweight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dj-Wmmt0FE (7:23 onwards) Scott is offering free content on food and eating issues. Follow this link for starter materials: http://scottabelfitness.com/foodissues ----------------------- LINKS & RESOURCES ----------------------- FREE content on food and eating issues: http://scottabelfitness.com/foodissues • Scott’s Featured e-Books: https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/hardgainer-solution/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/cycle-diet/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/understanding-metabolism/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/beyond-metabolism/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/metabolic-damage/ • Courses and Programs: The Cycle Diet Program http://thecycle.diet/ The Hardgainer Solution Program http://hardgainersolution.com/ Great Glutes Circuit Protocol https://scottabelfitness.com/greatglutes/ The Busy Woman’s Tighten and Tone At Home Program http://busywoman.fitness/ • Follow Coach Scott Abel: Main Website https://scottabelfitness.com/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CoachScottAbel/ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/scottabelcoaching

--------------------------------------------------------- ♦ Diet Mentality Insanity vs the Science of Metabolism ♦ --------------------------------------------------------- Most diets are marketed to sell products—books, supplements, meal plans—but are rarely based on how the body really works. Scott references a UCLA Newsroom interview with UCLA psychologists, Traci Mann and Janet Tomiyama, where they discuss their research "Dieting Does Not Work" into dieting and rebound weight gain. http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/Dieting-Does-Not-Work-UCLA-Researchers-7832. Find this episode's referenced books and programs below at the LINKS & RESOURCES section and make sure to check Scott's e-Book Library for more topics and courses: https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/ ♦ "If dieting doesn't work, then what does?" ♦ • Researchers analyzed 31 dieting studies, not specific diets. They found dieters typically lose 5 to 10 percent of their starting weight in the first six months, but at least one-to-two-thirds regain more weight than they lost within the next four to five years… the actual number may be even higher. • Almost all Before and After pictures show the dieter too soon in the “After” picture. Accurate Before and After photos shows the person Before and then years “After”, not Before and "During" pictures. • Diet studies are often biased. According to Mann: “Although the findings reported give a bleak picture of the effectiveness of diets, there are reasons why the actual effectiveness of diets is even worse.” • Dieting is actually a reliable predictor of future weight gain; the downsides of dieting far outweigh its risks. • Evidence shows that dieting and rebound weight gain are linked to cardiovascular disease and other illnesses. • Scott clears out the common question: "Isn’t the Cycle Diet just another diet?" No, the Cycle Diet is an eating strategy that supports a healthy metabolism, and adds joy back into eating. • Do you think that you may have food and eating issues (or know that you do)? Download free content here to get you on the path toward permanent weight loss: http://scottabelfitness.com/foodissues ----------------------- LINKS & RESOURCES ----------------------- UCLA Newsroom Report: http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/Dieting-Does-Not-Work-UCLA-Researchers-7832 Answer this questionnaire and get free Tips and Exercises: http://scottabelfitness.com/foodissues • Scott’s Featured e-Books: https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/metabolic-damage/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/anti-diet-approach/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/cycle-diet/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/beyond-metabolism/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/understanding-metabolism/ • Follow Coach Scott Abel: Main Website https://scottabelfitness.com/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CoachScottAbel/ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/scottabelcoaching • Courses and Programs: The Cycle Diet Program http://thecycle.diet/ The Hardgainer Solution Program http://hardgainersolution.com/ Great Glutes Circuit Protocol https://scottabelfitness.com/greatglutes/ The Busy Woman’s Tighten and Tone At Home Program http://busywoman.fitness/

---------------------------------------------------------- • JP’s Transformation: Cheat Days and Permanent Weight Loss • ---------------------------------------------------------- Scott and client JP talk about how he lost 100 lbs. permanently, what life is like now that he has a sculpted physique and enjoying the Cycle Diet. JP takes questions from the listening audience. You can get a FREE week’s worth of Hardgainer Solution Workouts at: hardgainersolution.com/free The Hardgainer Solution is the program JP used for much of his transformation. (The full course includes 80 workouts, information on reading your own biofeedback, meal plans, and more. (…and yes: JP signed up too!) • Achieving a Successful Physique Transformation • • JP—6’3”, 260 lbs.—began his weight loss and physique transformation in 2014 when he joined Scott as a client. He now weighs in the high 160s. • JP seldom weighs himself; he uses the mirror and how his clothes fit as feedback. He’s kept the weight off for years. • Transformation should never be about scale weight, but where you function best metabolically and health-wise. • Scott carefully navigated JP through the weight loss to avoid damaging his metabolism. Previously very-overweight people tend to regain their weight. • As a Fireman, JP prepared his “Cycle Diet” meals in advance and kept them at work, where his co-workers weren’t exactly healthy eaters. • He used the Cycle Diet to lose the weight and adopted it permanently as his eating strategy. He loves cheat days when he can “eat like a kid” but also enjoys the healthy whole foods and portion sizes of the regular non-cheat days. • Scott: “JP was very coachable”, willing to do what it took to lose and keep off the weight. JP credits his discipline and willingness to sacrifice as key to making his physique transformation possible. • Weight loss came first; pysique development followed. Scott assigned JP a resistance training routine that helped propel his physique transformation. • JP particularly likes Scott’s Hardgainer Solution (HGS). ----------------------- LINKS & RESOURCES ----------------------- Get a free week’s worth of Hardgainer workouts at: hardgainersolution.com/free • Scott’s Featured e-Books: https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/hardgainer-solution/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/cycle-diet/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/understanding-metabolism/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/beyond-metabolism/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/metabolic-damage/ • Follow Coach Scott Abel Main Website https://scottabelfitness.com/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CoachScottAbel/ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/scottabelcoaching • Courses and Programs The Cycle Diet Program http://thecycle.diet/ The Hardgainer Solution Program http://hardgainersolution.com/ Great Glutes Circuit Protocol https://scottabelfitness.com/greatglutes/ The Busy Woman’s Tighten and Tone At Home Program http://busywoman.fitness/

---------------------------------------------- ♦ Zen and New Year's Resolutions (Part 2) ♦ ---------------------------------------------- In this segment Scott offers advice on how to successfully achieve weight loss and fitness goals. Don't forget to check out the free bonus exercises from Scott's new course The Busy Woman's Tighten and Tone Program: http://busywoman.fitness/exercises ♦ "Don’t have resolutions; just be resolute" ♦ • Women struggle more with fitness-related issues than men do because of judgment, self-esteem or validation. • To try to prove one’s self worth is to lose it. Self esteem is lived not strived for. According to the Zen approach, wanting [self-esteem] produces suffering. • The fitness industry tries to make fitness complicated, and it’s not. The Law of Reverse Effect (explained in part 1) validates this fact. "The truth is simple; and simplicity is the truth". • Consumers “honeymoon” on vogue fitness trends, moving from program to program when success eludes them. • In ownership of behavior, "blame" never enters the picture. Remember this: Blame = “Be Lame.” • Success depends on habits. It takes a habit to change a habit. As Scott quotes: "If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” • It's Important to cognitively reframe. Ask yourself, “What would my better self think or do right now?” This begins the process of cognitive reframing. Choose to be your better self. • Turning work into play [makes goals more attainable]. To explain this positive Sawyer Effect, Scott uses the example of Arnold describing the pump as having an orgasm in the documentary “Pumping Iron”. • The achiever’s mind isn’t full of clutter. Giving oneself too many options leads to poor decision-making as a result of its contradictory nature. "A clutter-free mind leads to clutter-free actions and behavior." • Seeds of discouragement can never take root in a grateful heart. Gratefulness lays the groundwork for achievement. • Fear is a terrible motivator when you're afraid to not have a specific goal. The non-goal "goal" of Zen is not having an specific goal. You just make a decision to "do" something. • You don't "get" inspiration; you inject it into the process. • The Busy Woman’s Tighten and Tone at Home program (just released) is a great place to start making a physique transformation, and it's doable in real life situations. ----------------------- LINKS & RESOURCES ----------------------- Free Bonus Exercises: http://busywoman.fitness/exercises Scott's Fetaured e-Books: https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/busy-womans-train-at-home-program/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/mindset-of-achievement/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/zen-fitness-tao-health/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/anti-diet-approach/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/abel-approach/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/hardgainer-solution/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/understanding-metabolism/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/beyond-metabolism/ Follow Coach Scott Abel: Main Website https://scottabelfitness.com/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CoachScottAbel/ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/scottabelcoaching Courses and Programs: The Cycle Diet Program http://thecycle.diet/ The Hardgainer Solution Program http://hardgainersolution.com/ Great Glutes Circuit Protocol https://scottabelfitness.

------------------------------------------ Zen and New Year's Resolutions (Part 1) ------------------------------------------ This is a new year…or is it? Are New Year’s Resolutions consistent with a “Zen" mindset? Coach Scott Abel discusses why they’re not. Coach is getting ready for the official launch of his new course The Busy Woman's Tighten & Tone Program by presenting a glimpse of free bonus exercises: http://busywoman.fitness/exercises/ * Why Zen and New Year’s Resolutions would be a contradiction * • If you are beginning each year with pretty much the same weight loss goals or physique transformation goals and the same self-image issues, then your physical/workout process is likely not the issue. The issue is one of thinking strategy which, as Scott has stated on many occasions, are often “stinking tragedies”. • “What is gained and what is lost?" if after a time all thoughts go back to negative self-image issues, and the circle begins again. • Be conscious of your choices. Don't forget that habits are born from choices. Also, be responsible for your actions: own your behavior. Habits mature, and are strengthened in actions. • “Want” is at the root of all suffering. Your New Year’s resolutions are almost always reflective of “want - don’t want”, and so, If you’re always wanting, you will always be unhappy. • Try to catch yourself in “I want - don’t want” thinking. For example: Do you really long for the goal of being “not fat”, or rather to how you’ll feel if you aren’t? • The Law of Reversed Effect states that the harder the effort to succeed, the more likely is the inevitable failure. • Mental and emotional fitness are important to attain sustainable physical fitness. Only a passion for the process eliminates want-suffering feedback loops. Love of the process makes success more attainable. • The Sawyer Effect: Mindset that turns play into work and vice versa. Make goals a playful challenge and not an obligation. • Always Remember Scott's famous quote: Quality of Mindset determines Quality of Achievement. ---------------------- LINKS & RESOURCES ---------------------- Busy Woman Free Bonus Exercises http://busywoman.fitness/exercises/ Scott’s Featured e-Books: https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/busy-womans-train-at-home-program/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/mindset-of-achievement/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/zen-fitness-tao-health/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/anti-diet-approach/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/understanding-metabolism/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/beyond-metabolism/ Follow Coach Scott Abel: Main Website https://scottabelfitness.com/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CoachScottAbel/ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/scottabelcoaching Courses and Programs The Cycle Diet Program thecycle.diet The Hardgainer Solution Program http://hardgainersolution.com/ The Busy Woman's Tighten and Tone Program http://busywoman.fitness/

---------------------------------------------------------- ○ Ask Me Anything: An Open Discussion with the Coach ○ ---------------------------------------------------------- Scott takes questions from his audience about workout program design, food and eating issues, fat loss, and other fitness-related topics. ○ Highlights form the Discussion ○ • Workout journals: People tend to record the wrong things. Record quantitative biofeedback, not quantitative such as weights, reps and sets. Numbers of reps and sets won’t be meaningful six months from now. • Treat your workout journal like a diary. Record things like energy level, workout felt easy, workout felt hard, etc. • Workout journal including just reps and sets would be like a diary that includes facts only, such as got up at 6, brushed teeth, went to work, etc. • Supplements aren’t necessary if you’re eating healthy. This is well documented in the medical [and nutrition] research. • When training for physique, designing a program around what produces the best pump makes sense. • Don’t think about what you’re not supposed to think about. Telling yourself “Don’t think about zebras” only makes you think about zebras. Thinking about dealing with a food issue only makes you think about the food issue. • Focus on what not to think about only makes you think about it. • “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you always got.” • The scale doesn’t tell you what’s actually going on with your body. Scale weight loss could be from water weight loss, for instance. The mirror doesn’t lie. • Fitness lifestyle should be fun. Ask, “what is this lifestyle doing for my life, or what is it doing to my life?” Fitness should be a lifestyle, not a life. • Motivation is like an unseen muscle: it requires exercise [and discipline.] • Appetite suppressants are a bad idea. They interrupt your body’s biofeedback. • There’s no need to go to the gym twice a day. More is not always better. • The Hardgainer Solution is an excellent program for physique trainees who travel, as well as trainees over 50. • Caffeine pre-workout is a good idea and well documented in the literature. • Getting ripped isn’t a result of a workout program; it’s a result of diet strategy. But you have to feed metabolism. You can’t out-train a poor diet. • Accept challenge instead of fighting it. How you meet resistance determines outcome. ---------------------- LINKS & RESOURCES ---------------------- https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/abel-approach/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/hardgainer-solution/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/physique-after-50/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/beyond-metabolism/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/understanding-metabolism/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/metabolic-damage/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/cycle-diet/ Follow Coach Scott Abel: Main Website https://scottabelfitness.com/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CoachScottAbel/ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/scottabelcoaching The Cycle Diet Program http://thecycle.diet/ The Hardgainer Solution Program http://hardgainersolution.com/

---------------------------------------------------------- ♦ Metabolism in Relation to Biochemical and Hormonal Reality ♦ ---------------------------------------------------------- Scott explores blind spots in exercise and training, particularly the over-emphasis on calorie burning. Observations into strategies that actually work and “yield dividends”. ♦ Training and Diet Strategies: a Financial Analogy ♦ • When you think about exercise classes, what’s your first observation? Scott and his audience make general observations. • Why are exercise classes mostly attended by women? Appeal in being a part of a group? Fear of the weight room? Fear of “bulking up"? Something else? • Overall biochemical and hormonal health are a lot like a bank account. Calorie burning is like spending only, but a good diet and training strategy should be an investment in overall health. A wise approach strikes a balance. • Focus on boot camps or cardio won’t pay dividends. Cardio only pays dividends when performed short term and if returning from a long lay-off. • Similarly, metabolic training needs to be balanced with sound hypertrophy training. Training for mass stimulates an optimized metabolism, however, women often resist this because the activity isn’t continuous like most “calorie burning” exercises, and they fear it will develop bulky muscles. • Fitness classes over-emphasize burning calories. Calorie burning is not the same as burning off body fat. Metabolism must be fed, not starved. • Healthy whole foods and the right kind of workouts are investments. • Following the analogy, diet by deprivation is like a tax cut that could be expensive long-term if tax-related benefits are reduced later. • Success leaves clues. Physiques provide evidence of what type of approach actually works and yields dividends. • Observe and compare people who maintain enviable physiques year-round: those who do mostly cardio or fitness classes and others who do only resistance training. • Observe quality and physique improvement. Scott provides examples of women from his own gym who do no cardio and attend no boot camps and who look better than any in the fitness classes. • Being observant to what works and what doesn’t is vital to learning and improvement. ---------------------- LINKS & RESOURCES ---------------------- https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/beyond-metabolism/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/understanding-metabolism/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/metabolic-damage/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/cycle-diet/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/abel-approach/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/how-to-train-for-a-better-physique/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/physique-after-50/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/intro-to-metabolic-enhancement-training-met/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/met-workshop-workbook/ Follow Coach Scott Abel: Main Website https://scottabelfitness.com/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CoachScottAbel/ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/scottabelcoaching The Cycle Diet Program http://thecycle.diet/

---------------------------- ♦ Optimizing Metabolism ♦ ---------------------------- Scott presents some insights on the importance of whole foods to weight control, using a study originally published in 'Food and Nutrition Research', 2010, by Barr SB, Wright JC. “Postprandial energy expenditure in whole-food and processed-food meals: implications for daily energy expenditure.” ♦ Whole Foods Aid in Optimizing Metabolism ♦ • The study compares how fast the body burns whole foods and processed foods. • Researchers used cheese sandwiches, equivalent in every way except one was whole foods (WF), the other processed foods (PF). Both meals satisfied hunger. • A processed food meal has 50% less thermic effect than a whole food meal, meaning it burns much more slowly and is more likely to get stored as fat. Therefore, processed foods have a likelihood of making you fatter. • Conclusion: “Ingestion of the particular PF meal tested in this study decreases postprandial energy expenditure by nearly 50% compared with the isoenergetic WF meal." • Quality of food intake is more important than caloric equivalents. • The study does not support “If It Fits Your Macros”. You can still get fat even if the foods you eat “fit your macros”. • A calorie is not a calorie. Whole foods do dozens of things once inside our bodies that we can’t even begin to calculate and put into numbers. The body knows! • Food companies create hyper-palatable foods that make you want them. They aim for the “bliss point”, which triggers a desire for more of the food product. • Taste buds can be trained to enjoy whole foods over processed foods, which assists in weight loss efforts. • A healthy, whole, unprocessed, plant-based diet makes the most sense. • “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.” - Michael Pollan -------------------------- ♦ LINKS & RESOURCES ♦ -------------------------- The 'Food and Nutrition Research' study published in 2010 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2897733/ Scott's Featured Books: https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/beyond-metabolism/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/understanding-metabolism/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/metabolic-damage/ https://scottabelfitness.com/ebooks/cycle-diet/ Follow Coach Scott Abel: Main Website https://scottabelfitness.com/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CoachScottAbel/ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/scottabelcoaching The Cycle Diet Program http://thecycle.diet/