LEG Fitness and Nutrition

Fat loss is nothing more than your body adapting to a caloric deficit. You're eating for a lower body weight, and as long as you're eating enough protein and doing resistance training, your body will lose excess fat to try and adapt to the lower calorie level.

However, guess what adaptation comes after fat loss when in a calorie deficit? intensive metabolic slow down to preserve fat stores for survival. So, why do you experience a slow down in fat loss when you've been dieting for months on end?

Our bodies need fat to survive, and our primal instincts will always trump survival over fat loss. Our bodies also don't know that this calorie restriction is temporary, all it's thinking is "I'm in a s**t storm right now, and if I don't change something we are going to die eventually."

So, if you've been eating in a calorie deficit for months on end and can't seem to lose anymore weight, you need to let your body know this s**t storm isn't permanent and everything is ok. How do we do that?

EAT. MORE.

Left: 193 lbs 9/26 || Right: 184.8 lbs 10/29: 8lbs in a month

Garrett started working with me about three months ago. He to compete in a Ju Jitzu tournament in about three months and the desired weight class was about 10 lbs below his current weight. No problem.

To start, we went through a metabolic strengthening phase to make sure his body was at a healthy non-stressed state and that any hormone imbalances created from past under eating were fixed. He was also coming off a chronic hamstring injury so giving him an extended fueling/mini-build phase would allow for him to get under some heavy weight and build some strength and stability before the tournament.

Then came the cut. In total honesty, I’ve gone through weight cuts and taken people through weight cuts before, but I’ve never had an absolute metric to hit, so I was a little nervous regarding that. But, I know what I’m doing and created a plan that I was confident in. I laid out the numbers, but this is all credit to Garrett, he was extremely dedicated to this process, hit his numbers to a T, and we communicated anywhere from twice a week to multiple times a day. We were dialed in. I’m just the nerd who gave him the road map to hit his goals.

The goal of this cut was to maintain the strength he built, keep good energy and recovery levels while ramping intensity in his Ju Jitzu practices, prevent any injury, and avoid any serious water weight drops.

End results, a full pound below weight on weigh-in day, no injuries, building energy levels for tournament day, and no intensive water alterations.

Over the course of the next year, we are going to slowly pull him out of the cut, make sure he is fully recovered from that stressor, put him through a lean building phase to focus on lower body strength, build his metabolism, and increasing his grappling skill levels, then take him through about a 12 week cut to have him primed for another tournament.

Interested in coaching to help you reach your health and fitness goals? There’s always room on the L.E.G. Team. Shoot me a DM and let’s get started 😈

‼️RAMEN ALERT‼️

Easily a top five favorite of mine since childhood. Whether it was crushing two packs if it everyday after school (cue chubby young Scott) or making it from scratch today, I F*****G LOVE RAMEN.

Such a simple dish requiring just 6 total spices/seasonings and however many proteins and veggies you want, and then it’s *good soup* time. Throw everything in a pot, let it simmer, and enjoy. Only tricky part is the egg, but I’m sure you all can get it right before the six epic fails it took me 😉.

Simple, easy, quality never sacrificed, and you’re on your way to becoming a

‼️There is no such thing as lean or bulky muscle, it is all the same tissue. Your diet is what determines if you’re lean or bulky‼️

This misconception is so prevalent, and it often deters people from pursuing the training they enjoy.

The comments “I want to tone up, but I’m afraid if I lift weights I’ll get bulky” or “I really want to try powerlifting and crossfit, but I don’t want to get too big and bulky.” Are two of the biggest fallacies in the health and fitness industry today.

Getting the “lean and tone aesthetic” is a result of lifting weights in a progressive overload. Cardio will not get you there.

Pair an appropriately progressive weight lifting regimen with the proper nutrition suited to your goals, and your dream physique is in the near future.

Fresh bread and avocado toast, my kind of Sunday.

Those who know me know I’m particularly stubborn about succumbing to main stream food and drink (cue absurd Starbucks rant) so I couldn’t just make basic avocado toast, I had to add some BWTC flair 😎 and that’s where the homemade sourdough steals the show.

I finally hopped on the bread making COVID trend and dialed in my sourdough loaf recipe. After a little love, and about 18 hours of proving 🤦‍♂️, you’ve got a great crush with a soft center and an entire apartment that smells like sweet vinegar bread.

Slice it up, toast it in some butter or avocado oil, drop some cottage cheese and tomato on there, layer the avocado on top, sprinkle with some flaky salt and you’ll never spend $20 at Sunday brunch for some soggy avocado bread again

Poke and potatoes. Great ways to dress up a plate and prepare for the week.

You guys know Sunday’s are my meal prep days, and these crispy air fryer potato’s are a weekly go to. All you need are a sack of potato’s, S&P, avocado oil, and fresh thyme and you’ve got delicious healthy carbs for meals.

I love poke, it’s so easy, delicious, a great way to dress up a plate/bowl, and it satisfies that sushi craving (miss you Mizu 😢).

As always, if you see something you like, drop a comment 👇 and I’ll drop the recipe 😉

Everyone knows what happens when you sprain your ankle: gets super inflamed, turns purple, and hurts really bad. Nobody would ever do this intentionally.

Nobody would intentionally cause inflammation and excess stress on their gut leading to a poor immune system, poor digestion and nutrient absorption, mood swings, hormonal imbalances, poor sleep, low energy, and an excess gain in fat, right? That would be silly.

Well, truth be told most of us do this exact thing to our gut and body on a weekly if not daily basis and you don’t even realize.

When you make the choice to consume a diet filled with processed, low quality foods this is exactly what you’re doing.

Think back to the sprained ankle or any other injury, your body starts to swell as a protective response to that injury/stress. Your body is meant to eat foods that were once alive and growing, not made or processed in a lab or factory. So when foods that you aren’t meant to consume enter your body, they are foreign and cause an inflammatory response in your gut, just like the swelled ankle. You are spraining your gut.

So, the next time you’re faced with the choice of fast food or the grass fed protein and organic vegetables, don’t intentionally sprain your gut and choose the high quality foods. Your body will thank you

It was a weekend of sweet and savory.

Some like cookies, some brownies, others prefer cake and pie. But I will always take a sweet breakfast over other indulgences. You guys know about my signature coconut raspberry chip pancakes, but this blackberry mint French toast makes you feel a type of way.

To balance out the morning, had to top it off with some flat iron steak, chimichurri, and grilled bok choy. The fresh herby vinegar flavor of the chimichurri balances perfectly with the salty savory steak, and you know we gotta get our greens in 🥬.

To top everything off, a fall twist on an old fashioned to get you in the seasonal spirit and keep you nice and warm 😉.

As always, if you see something you like comment 👇 and I’ll happily drop the recipe!

🍁Oh, you guys want FALL?!?!🍁

🍂Leaves are starting to change, morning jackets are needed, aka sweater weather is upon us and that means all the fall and cozy szn food. Yes, there is more to fall food than pumpkin spice everything like my beef and butternut squash bake, tri-tip chili, and apple butter pancakes 🤤.

🍎🍠🥞 If you want some cozy food goodness in your life, I got you just drop a comment and I’ll drop the recipe and tag me in your dishes! I appreciate a good food post just as much as you guys!

A STRESSED BODY ISN’T READY FOR FAT LOSS

As humans, we have two primary functions, one of which is survival.

To survive, we need adequate water, shelter, and food. When we don’t have one of these, we are now stressed to survive and heighten our senses in order to regain this missing piece.

So, if we have unintentionally been under eating for months/years and not supplying the food we need for survival, our body is in a constant state of stress and seeking survival at all cost aka holding onto fat stores to preserve basic psychological processes to survive.

When we under eat for months/years on end, our bodies are stressed and will not loose fat. Rather, we will live off of hormones effecting a number of things.

Sometimes you need eat more before you’re ready to eat less