2824: Why Skipping Meals Is Hurting Your Metabolism

14:43Adam Schafer:going to put restrictions on your on your eating and you're like i don't care what you guys say it's better for me i need to have hard lines you'd be better off doing the evening later later you're better off eating in the during the day and then cutting it off which by the way would

14:57Sal Di Stefano:present a challenge for a lot of people because a lot of people have a hard time eating high protein for breakfast or they're on the run they're in the run or they're rushing yes but

15:05Adam Schafer:you're better off if you if you're gonna do this which i don't even think you need i don't think you should do this at all but if you're going to and you're hard set on it you're better off eating the high protein breakfast get that blood glucose control cutting it off at 6 p.m i mean you'll get

15:17Sal Di Stefano:better sleep that also just like okay i mean you you always go the the research and science of which i think i know our audience appreciates but just anecdotally with clients uh this is why And if you've listened to Mindful for a very long time, I was the big advocate. We used to break up. We used to debunk the myth about six small meals. And I used to advocate still for it and argue for it. Not because of the science and it's burning any more body fat and what we used to say as 20-year-old trainers, it's like stoking the fire. That's all bullshit. And I'm very aware of that. Yet I still advocated for clients doing that because what I found is that when clients were like regularly eating every two to three hours and they never allowed themselves to get really hungry, they just had better self-control.

16:03Sal Di Stefano:And I'm the same way too. Even if I'm not practicing intermittent fasting, if I just miss breakfast and I don't get my first meal until like 11 or noon and I'm kind of behind all day, well, my later evening, like 10 o 'clock at night, I'm like ravenous. I'm craving. Yeah, you're more likely to make bad decisions. And then I make bad decisions. Whereas if I'm like, I get up, I make sure I have my first meal early, and then I'm having another meal by 10, 11. Then I'm having another meal by 10. If I'm doing it every two to three hours, come dinner time, I have a very modest dinner. I feel satisfied.

16:31Sal Di Stefano:I can cut it off before bed. And I have found that with clients also. The clients that try and restrict these windows and stuff like that, maybe they have a little temporary success, but they're also the ones that are more likely to binge and make bad choices later in the evening.

16:45Adam Schafer:Yeah, you have to be careful with studies is when you look at a study. They're controlling. Right, and not only that, but you look at a study and then you see a result. It's important to get into the study and figure out what's causing the result. So like the benefits that they'll show with fasting are real, but they're not from the fasting. They're coming from the calorie restriction. Okay, so it's not the fasting. It's not that I'm not eating for eight hours. It's that my calories are really low. and for depending on the individual and how long you do this because you keep this long up long enough not great either but for for for a lot of people uh restricting calories for a little bit i mean you get a lot of uh health benefits reduced inflammation higher bdnf in the brain improved you know accelerated cell autophagy anti-cancer all those different things but it's not the fasting it's the caloric restriction so this is what's real important to look at so fasting Again, in my experience, unless I'm dealing with those three people that I listed earlier, like spiritual reasons, bigorexia, or gut health issues, the success rate with fasting for clients for fat loss or anything else is literally as bad as any other diet.

17:58Adam Schafer:It's got the same fail rate. in fact I would say it's a faster track towards disordered eating than the other than some of the other diets except for the extreme ones you're going to create some disordered eating eating

18:11Justin Andrews:by the way the people even with gut issues I mean I think even like the elimination diet where you start just extracting you know one item at a time so you can really evaluate you know what what your body doesn't agree with the most and but still the consistency of you know having routine I think the body just it performs so much better when you just give it that kind of like hard line routine as opposed to this intermittent uh you know throwing things at it what makes me like

18:38Adam Schafer:really annoyed with this is that oftentimes these articles are presented by scientists and so they have like all this authority uh but but none of them are none of them have coached and trained people for years yeah and and if they were just took a little extra time and compared it to just regular calorie restriction, they would see there's no real benefit to fasting aside from the fact that it restricts calories. And again, just for somebody listening, because there's people out there who are like, no, I need hard lines. Like, you don't understand. I need like structured eating. For me, that's the best way to get going because I don't think it's a great way to live forever.

19:16Adam Schafer:But maybe for you, it's a great way to get going. I'm figuring this out. You're far better off restricting the evening from a health perspective than you are in the morning. In the morning, it's actually the worst time.

19:27Sal Di Stefano:uh to respect this is why i advocate for the six small meal there's also a psychological part of that i think that we there's always that angle too like that's the biggest angle yeah when you you you prep these meals you have that you have a good choice ready for you it's like it's easier to make that choice then you're not prepared you don't have a you don't have a meal you're on the go you've also fasted now for 12 hours it's like man you want to talk about really having a white knuckle some situations like that and then heaven forbid you have one day that week you also had bad night's sleep yeah so now you got a bad night's sleep thrown in there also so like you just it's like it's inevitably it's going to break totally and then when it does it's just and i'll say this

20:08Adam Schafer:look if diet was x's and o's what's good and what's bad if it was that easy there would be no nobody would have any issues with their diet it would be simple but the the thing is diet is so much less of the do this, do that, here's the right diet, and so much more of the behaviors and psychology around it. I mean, that's just a fact. You guys, if it was as easy as like, let me just get the right way to eat, would anybody have a problem?

20:34Sal Di Stefano:No, all my family that love ChatGBT would all be in great shape. Yeah, I mean, that was the case, because you could put in all your metrics and say, give me all the answers and we'll do it.

20:44Adam Schafer:One more warning I'll say, and this is more common in women than men, far more common, just because our bodies are more sensitive. Fasting repeatedly, even if you're eating enough calories and stuff, does seem to have a stress response on people. And I've had female clients who just did this, and then over time, hormone issues, hair falling out, like just didn't feel good, started feeling burnt out because it can cause prolonged periods without eating, repeated over and over and over again, does cause a bit of a stress response. And you see this in blood markers. You'll see, you know, catecholamines rise, cortisol rise.

21:22Adam Schafer:And you just do that over time, especially if you combine it with exercise and a busy, you know, lifestyle. Probably not a good idea for most people. Speaking of which, speaking of studies that people don't just misconstrue, another study came out on GLP medicines and it's flying everywhere. And people are just so, it's a little bit frustrating. Yeah. Study came out that showed that there was a significant correlation between GLP usage and bone weakening. Okay. So now people are like, oh, my God. GLPs, they're bad for your bones. It's massive calorie restriction. No, man. People on GLP are just not eating enough.

22:02Adam Schafer:That's very predictable. Yeah. If you don't eat enough, you're going to lose muscle. Eventually, bone mass, tendon, and ligament strength will go down. Hair will go down. you'll notice uh saggy skin on your face all this you know osmpic face all the stuff they talk about it's uh it's just because people are doing it wrong they're they're hammering their appetite with glps and eating a thousand calories a day and that's what's going to happen yeah when you

22:28Sal Di Stefano:do that for a long time i'm watching i won't i won't name the family member that i have going through this right now but i'm watching kind of the the dark side or the the bad side of these glp ones i've seen a lot of good examples of like it's we've obviously had callers and and we took groups through. And so we've seen like the radical change that somebody has gone through and how awesome it's been and how powerful it can be for people with behaviors and to break those chains and all those things. I don't, I don't know where I stand. I think I argued pretty strongly on the podcast early on that I felt it would be a net positive for sure from it.

23:04Sal Di Stefano:I go back and forth, especially when I have situations that are really close to me, my own experience than having like a family member that I'm watching like just like drop like 60 70 pounds or whatever the thing that I'm I'm most fascinated with that I should know better I should know that even though I said when I went through it I took my trainer brain out of it there's still part of that that I can't eliminate right like for example because of who I am and how long I've done this for i have a healthy relationship with food so for example one of the things that i was so fascinated with the glp ones i thought it was like just no desire for junk food in fact i could feel my body craving nutrient dense foods because i needed it so bad like i felt so deprived it was just like all i wanted was chicken steak and rice or something that like felt like it was of value like things that were just garbage one didn't taste the same anywhere were bland and didn't didn't feed me or feel that watching somebody who's had a really bad relationship with food for a really long time it's wild to see that they still keep grabbing the fire cheetos and it's like way less then and then like on the toilet like just destroyed and then come back and then try ice cream and then and then like and because the scales and then and then not eat for a whole day because they took the shot right they took a shot the the first two days no appetite so almost eat no food then finally day three they can eat a little something when they finally do want something oh let me try some garbage and then it's like and then on the it's battling the all the side effects and it's like how is that not signaling to you don't do that like go eat and And yet still going back and doing that over and over and over.

25:00Sal Di Stefano:And I forget that I have a better, a healthy relationship with food. So it was really easy for me. Try one bad thing. Notice it doesn't feel good. It doesn't sit well. It's like, oh. And then I thought, wow, that's crazy how you just, you crave the nutrition.

25:13Justin Andrews:I feel different than a lot of eating disorders.

25:15Sal Di Stefano:Yes. But if you have people that are just, it's so insidious, they don't even realize. It's like, I'm watching it and coaching to it.

25:24Adam Schafer:And still. I'm beginning to think that maybe, because if you look at the medical system, doctors, well-intentioned, but not trained in coaching, almost no nutrition background, and they're prescribing GLPs to obese people. Yeah. and I think if you look at that and you look at it broadly and the negative effects of just eating too little including muscle loss hormone issues like all those different things we may end up with a net like negative or flat

25:58Justin Andrews:how is there no like standard in terms of like physicians when they're prescribing having specific you have to have program with this I'll tell you why

26:09Sal Di Stefano:I'll tell you why and this is like this is more of like what i'm like what it's unfolding to me doctor's happy you know why they're losing weight blood sugar's down losing weight like all these other metrics like all these other markers stupid are showing positive because this person's coming from obesity yeah and so they're not like they're not measuring bone density and worrying about it going down yeah and strength and asking about that they're like weight is down blood sugar levels are down cholesterol is down like fat is down like oh we're keep it up that's the equivalent of like a plastic

26:44Justin Andrews:surgeon you know like oh yeah i can help you get the weight off i can help you like there's no like

26:50Sal Di Stefano:like long-term health benefit you know it's gonna happen because they don't think that way well and

26:53Adam Schafer:also just the way the industry the whole medical industry is organized and the incentives what's gonna happen is instead of them because this is the hard way the hard way and doctors can't do They don't have time. The hard way is, okay, we're going to put you on this, but we're going to start with a low dose. We're going to make sure you hit protein. I'm going to make sure you strength train. We're going to coach you and follow you. They're not going to do that. They can't. So what it's going to look like is the pharma industry is going to come out with more drugs to stack on top of it to help fight the other stuff.

27:20Adam Schafer:Antibone loss, muscle building. The side effect. Yeah, like all that stuff is going to throw more stuff on top of it. Well, it makes it even tougher because I think, what is it?

27:29Sal Di Stefano:is it's Monjaro and Ozempic both are preloaded. Yeah. And so - There's no modifying the dose. Yeah, there's no modifying the dose. They just go up. That's like - Wow. That's what the dose they had my family member on. I was just like, holy shit.

27:44Justin Andrews:Just completely crushed the appetite.

27:45Sal Di Stefano:And you know why that was? It was because when they first put her on it, still was eating the bad food and some of that, not seeing fast enough weight loss. So it's like, ramp it up. Oh my God. So ramp it up. And then finally, it's like, crush the appetite. like doesn't want to eat for a day or two then finally eats a little bit when they do eat it's something that's not like it's like holy smokes and you're getting this feedback of you go eat the thing and then you're you're tore up on the toilet but who cares the weight's going down yeah like it just and but knows knows it's making them miserable and still gravitate so so i know that i said that i did my best to take my trainer brain out and experience that so i could try and relate to a client as much as possible but what i didn't realize until this recent

28:27Adam Schafer:conversation was you know you didn't allow yourself to be sick on the toilet yeah i didn't allow

28:32Sal Di Stefano:myself to be naive to what i was feeling and and i like i just went with how i felt and so in my head i'll go like yeah but how you feel and you're how you're connected to how you feel right right and i just i i misunderstood the level and the power of how important that is what we're gonna

28:47Adam Schafer:to see is we're going to see over the years, because it'll take a while, you're going to see an explosion of osteopenia, osteoporosis, injuries. You're going to see IQ drop. You're going to start to see IQ, because not enough nutrients, your brain starts to also suffer. It's not going to be good unless people really figure out how to do this the right way. Yeah, malnourished and brittle. It's frustrating. By the way, I got to say this too. This is my favorite part of the whole thing, only because there's a part of me that is very, gets annoyed with Hollywood. The whole, you know, what was the movement they were doing?

29:24Adam Schafer:Like body, body acceptance movement, body positivity through Hollywood, gone. All those overweight actors and musicians who were like promoting, you know, a healthy at any size and body, they're all skinny now. They're all skinny now. They all went on GLPs and lost hella weight. All those same people. Yeah, yeah. Just remind people that Hollywood, they don't give a crap about you. They're just going to say whatever they think they're supposed to say. Along these lines, by the way, this is good news. So RFK just took a bunch of, so there was a bunch of peptides. I have a list of them here. Oh, yeah.

29:59Adam Schafer:Where they were not available through compounding pharmacies because the FDA came down and said, you guys can't compound this anymore. So for people who don't know, you can get GLPs through your physician, brand name, far more expensive. Or you could go through like a company like that we work with. If you go to mphormones.com, you work with a doctor. You still work with a doctor, but they work with a compound pharmacy. So it's the equivalent of a generic drug versus brand name. So it's like ibuprofen versus Advil. Same medicine, a little more expensive to go brand name. Same thing. So compound pharmacies were able to make all these different peptides.

30:35Adam Schafer:FDA said no more. So they banned them for a while. RFK reversed that. So now you can get, again, original BPC-157, Thymus and Alpha, Thymus and Beta. You can get GHKCU. You can get up in Maryland, Epitalon, KPV. MOTC is back. C-Max and Selank are back. Kiss Peptin, DSIP, all back. Now through real compound pharmacies, through doctors. So if you go to mphormones.com, you can get all those peptides again, which were, you know, for a while, their FDA-regulated pharmacies, compounding pharmacies, weren't able to make them. Good. So it's official now. They're all back. Yeah, you can get them all now.

31:13Adam Schafer:That is critical. That is really cool. I was, you know, recently I've been reading this book and these studies on, like, anxiety and depression and how, like, community is so important and how that's probably the real reason why we're seeing challenges. It's not social media. It's not tech. It's replacing these other important things. so i was listening more and i heard something so uh it's it's obvious but when i heard it really was like whoa that's that's crazy we've confused uh like uh breadth of friendships to with depth of friendship so like i know a lot of people i have a lot of acquaintances a lot of people know my name i say hi to them uh and the data shows uh better than nothing It's better than being isolated, but it pales in comparison to having really deep friendship.

32:05Adam Schafer:It's not even on the same.

32:07Sal Di Stefano:And I think - Inherently, we all know that. Without naming names, the amount of people that we have met in the space that are Instagram famous or YouTube famous, and they're surrounded by millions of people following them and communicating with them - The loneliest people. Are some of the loneliest people we've ever met. so lonely a lot of them battle depression and take anti-anxiety medication and you know really struggle with this yet you see this outward personality online and they're always doing stuff with people and it's like it's all this great social life yeah you you think that they must have the most social life look at all the things they do and all the people around them and it's like and then yet when you actually get to know them in person in a conversation outside of the cameras and it's like they just they lack depth they lack connection they just they don't have any really they don't have any what they call a really close friend and it's like

33:05Adam Schafer:wow it's so wild well one of the reasons why this hit me so hard is because uh i wasn't like that but it was definitely uh i was definitely me like in the past i'd have friendships and i'd have family but i would only let them in so far like you can't i wouldn't let people in on my challenges on my struggles, on my real vulnerable. To the point when I got divorced, you guys know this, when I got divorced, it was 11, 12 years ago, my family was shocked. They had no idea. They're like, what? What do you mean? Not knowing that the last 10 years was really good. Right, right, because you didn't admit.

33:38Adam Schafer:I didn't let them in. Yeah. And so that's the depth. The depth is like, do people really know you? And do you really know them? And a few of those friendships is like, that's worth its weight in gold.

33:50Sal Di Stefano:What has the, because you've openly shared this with us and told us this before, what does that practice or training look like for you to work on that?

34:05Adam Schafer:What does that look like? Yeah, what does that look like?

34:07Sal Di Stefano:Because obviously becoming aware of it is step one. That's what I was going to say. That's number one. Yeah, step one is you become aware I'm this guy who does this. step two is how do I get out of that like are there moments where you're like this is something that I wouldn't share with my boys I need to do this and it's like it's uncomfortable you don't want like are you are you consciously exercising that it's still a challenge

34:36Adam Schafer:and I think it's probably a challenge for a lot of guys because you don't want to feel like a burden you know what I mean like I don't want to tell you know I got it I'm going to handle it that was like my MO yeah um uh you know finding faith uh made a huge difference on that huge difference on that um and so now it's much easier for me to like communicate challenges and issues and even do it publicly um which actually it's funny publicly it's easier for me than in private uh which is also a way of kind of you know putting up a wall type of deal right like i can tell about i can talk about it here but then in person i'm not gonna talk too much about it but uh it's way

35:12Sal Di Stefano:better now what do you think that is right what do you think that is right there oh i know what

35:16Adam Schafer:that is if if i feel like i'm helping someone else then i can do it oh interesting yeah because it's not a burden you see so i can do this still feeding that you'll reveal enough but then they're

35:27Sal Di Stefano:not going to keep digging well they also they can't they can't give any feedback that's what

35:30Adam Schafer:i mean they're not going to keep like prying yeah well it's not just that it's the feeling like a burden part like i could do it with clients if i like if somebody comes to me with like an eating disorder uh early on i found if i shared that i struggled it's also i feel like i'm helping them

35:44Sal Di Stefano:it's also self-serving the ego versus true vulnerability well true vulnerability is vulnerability would be putting yourself out there with you said an uncomfortable situation with your friends doing it to help others is the makes my ego feel better because i'm helping yeah i guess

35:57Adam Schafer:you could put it that way the other way to think about it is uh um real vulnerability means uh you get i you i i'm not helping you in any way shape or form so now i'm really vulnerable yeah Yeah. You know, it's just about whatever you're struggling with. I have no value except for the fact that I'm struggling with this. Yeah. Right. And now you got to rely on someone else. Yeah. You know what I mean?

36:17Justin Andrews:Well, especially like you said with men, because it's like, you know, you don't want to admit like all these things that are failing, you know, and that's a really hard thing to come forward with that without any other, you know, sort of context of how you're fixing it or how. That's right. That's right. Because that's always me. It's like, well, I'm working on this and I'm going to fix this shit. Totally. Yeah. i think a lot of guys not just like oh man i'm really getting you know i'm sucking at this yeah

36:42Adam Schafer:i think a lot of guys can relate to that by the way uh doing this it's i think it's important you have a wife and you're and you share with her but this is also a natural thing for a husband that you don't want to burden your like let's say you're the primary breadwinner i'll give a good example you're the you work and your wife stays at home and man you're struggling at work and you're like oh my god i might lose my job i i think it's honorable to not want to burden her with every one of those uh problems because now she's stressed out too right you want to try and

37:10Sal Di Stefano:make her feel secure well i also think that's one of the places where real value real valuable relationship with other men coming that's what i was saying where you need that's exactly you and i have a beer and you're like bro i think i might get fired that's right yeah that's right and you and i talk it out we work about it and like a hundred percent yeah yeah yeah you still

37:25Adam Schafer:rock when you get home yeah that's a thing a hundred percent yeah i was having that discussion with somebody and they're like oh yeah that's because you're right burdening your wife with every challenge at work and now she's at home with the kids and she's like like you want to protect her a little bit official yeah yeah yeah well no no i mean the flip would i think is true

37:43Sal Di Stefano:in her role like her burning you with all the things that she's doing at home while you're out doing the breadwinning and the money is also it's important for men and women to have uh yes like that's like that's again that's the relationship with she she has with her girlfriend that goes it's like oh my god the kids today they were this that it's like last thing you want to hear when you're almost about to get fired from your job in the middle of the day you're like oh my god my son your son just did this and broke the windows it's like that's not like i mean it goes both ways yeah you're right yeah yeah that's that's why there's got to be value there's value for both sexes having relationships with people i think the the next layer of complexity is like healthy good ones so it's like that's it's like first that sucks if you have toxic yeah because then then it's like because then that's the other layer to this is uh it's it's already important to have those but then you also want good and so i i was always this was an area that i didn't struggle in i've always had networks but what i've realized as i got older is uh how i've curated that circle yeah so i i i didn't have a problem i'm very open i'm very vulnerable i'll share i'll share that stuff i've that wasn't probably it has something to do with being raised by a mother and i had that more of that feminine energy so i'm okay with doing that but also having men that weren't going to pull me up and push me to be better versus more like oh man yeah that sucks so that's bullshit dude or f her you know like you know like that's not that's not helping you know what i'm saying that's not making me better or really go so being able to curate that circle that's why i mean i really do believe you're an average of the five people you spend the most time with and so you know it's a

39:23Adam Schafer:good example of that it'd be like if i was hanging out with a bunch of uh like uh meathead uh body dysmorphia bodybuilder guys that's my friends and then i go to them like guys i think i'm overdoing it with my workouts and i think i'm just i have a bad no bro go after it bro be disciplined no

39:41Sal Di Stefano:That's such a good point to bring up, Sal, because when we're young, especially in our teenage years and young adult years, you tend to gravitate to others who have the same insecurities and bullshit. And then you form these bonds that you have. And so this was me. I formed bonds and loyalty to a lot of other men that struggle with all the same insecurities and issues and bullshit. And so we're all stuck. They commiserate. Yeah. And you don't realize it. and then you justify it because it's like, oh, that's my boy. We got into at least five fights together and he's got my back. You know what I'm saying?

40:17Sal Di Stefano:He would die for me. That's why Good Will Hunting resonates so much with me. It's all loyalty when you're young. Yeah, it's all loyalty. It's like you've built this family unit, but it's based and rooted around these insecurities.

40:30Adam Schafer:You know what's a good bulwark against that? So I learned this from our church. We have groups that we go to. They're really good. The church I go to has got really good communities and stuff. And they said, and I think this is brilliant, you need to have other men in your life but you also need to have men that are in a same life stage similar life stage so you've got young kids you're whatever you want friends that are like that as well you also want older male friends who are retired they wisdom they they've raised the kids they're they've gone through all that and then you want men under you that you can mentor yeah uh and they said that that combination is the best yeah uh for being vulnerable oh yeah Offering help and stuff.

41:11Sal Di Stefano:I'd add to that too with like if you can do that and then find things that are different that you admire about each of them. Totally. Like I might have my friend who like just has lots of spiritual wisdom and he's older and he has this, I love that. And you can learn from that. Yeah, I can learn from that. Then I have somebody who's just fiscally super responsible and done really well for him financially. Then I have my founder friends. It's like having a diverse group and seeing characteristics characteristics that you admire about those other men totally because you can also have that too because there's i have i have really good close relationships where you know maybe that friend i there's certain aspects of him that it's like that's not something i want to get from him but they have other aspects that i admire that i go like well that i do admire that you try to steer

41:56Justin Andrews:the hangouts around the aspects like 100 that's how you really start curating that and i too i always gauge it based off of like you know is this filling me up or is this draining me down you know and like that's after i leave the hangout it's like okay well i have to evaluate that and what was that and so then you kind of start to create a better environment that brings out more

42:17Adam Schafer:of the positive i remember as a young dad because you know i have older kids so at one point i was kind of a young dad and i'd have buddies that were still single and they were the worst for any kind of advice or anything around that because they didn't understand they had all the quote-unquote freedom in the world or whatever but being friends with other younger dads was great because they're in the same thing they have the same priorities so now you guys are imagine you're coaching your

42:43Sal Di Stefano:your young you know teenage sons um that are getting into young being young men and young adults and this is their this is starting to click for them they understand this and they might not be there yet but they're they're starting to and they go well how do i do that dad like how do you coach them to curate that what does that look like because i know that's what when we talk about things like this i get dms all the time about that it's like okay i get that this is important but like and a lot of people think of it as like it's this breakup like you gotta okay i realize these are my toxic friends that we you know that we grew up in high school together and stuff like that and i need to evolve past that but they have they really struggle with it so what do i have to have a breakup conversation and then how do i get that it's a lot like our nutrition

43:26Justin Andrews:conversations where you're seeking out, you know, better nutritious foods. Like I'm seeking out better friends that, uh, can mentor me or have some, something to offer that's even better. And it's like, you just, it just naturally starts to gravitate more of your time. You're not completely disregarding, you know, that, that friend group, but maybe there's some value still there, but then that's where you look at that friend group. Like, well, how can I create and foster an environment where you know the best aspects of them you know i can enjoy with them

43:58Sal Di Stefano:but like i'm not just doing it as frequently as i was right i love that i love the idea of giving that analogy like how we coach people with nutrition instead of thinking about cutting out yeah add more to where it's just it becomes a small amount of your time and then that time is focused on maybe the connection that you have with and the other thing too with teenage boys

44:18Adam Schafer:is oftentimes the older mentor. It can be dad, but oftentimes it's a coach. Like really good coaches do a good job of mentoring younger men. It could also be a pastor. And then mentoring younger guys, which you could tell them specifically, hey, go get a kid that's two, three years younger than you, wants to play your sport or whatever, and coach them once a week. This is an unlock for guys, by the way. You take a young man who's struggling and you put them in charge of other younger men and they tend to rise up. I remember learning, I had a client years ago who got sent to one of those like, those camps.

44:55Adam Schafer:He was, he got caught smoking weed a bunch and his parents sent him off to one of those camps. And he was just, he was struggling. He had no direction. He was a good kid, but just no direction. And one of the things they did with him is they put him in charge of a group of six younger guys and he just rose to the occasion. Suddenly became this like great leader and just totally became a better person. Responsibility. Responsibility does it. I think there's also too,

45:17Sal Di Stefano:like there's a lot of value and like we're always trying to like measure our time and value of dollars or something like that. And like so many young men that I talk to are afraid to go add value to somebody else's life without getting some sort of financial exchange for it or something. So it's like, dude, if you see someone that you admire in business or something that they do - Ask them if you work for free. Yeah, exactly. You know how valuable that is? Like find a way to add value to their life with asking nothing in return because the value is getting close to that person. the value is being of value to that person because then that person will want you around and be okay with that being around like and that may means doing hours of stuff you know on a daily or weekly basis for free for this person but the wisdom and that you gain will pay itself tenfold in your life and being okay with that we're always so caught up in like well how much am I going to make if I go do all that stuff for him for free is he going to pay me or should I out it's like no

46:10Adam Schafer:like you know what you're getting in the room as if you're not getting any value yeah yeah that's insane yeah that's crazy all right i'm gonna uh go in a different direction i don't know if you saw this justin did you see the cia declassified uh documents that came out more listen this is bro people are posting the funniest memes and it's like a conspiracy theorist they're like celebrating or like kings because they're just right all the time right now they're all right Every single one is coming true. Declassified CIA files reveal that under President Lyndon B. Johnson, the military sprayed chemicals from planes, also known as stratospheric aerosol injections, to modify the weather.

46:50Justin Andrews:Aha. So. So chemtrails.

46:53Adam Schafer:Yeah, dude. I mean, that was funny and like, oh, you're an idiot. Yeah. Tinfoil hat loser. Oh, man. You know what's funny, too? Because my cousin, he gets all into this because my uncle was like this. and my uncle was really smart so he wasn't like wacky conspiracy stuff he'd like get into it my cousin was taking he lives up in uh roseville right and you know it's california gets super hot up there sunny and he was taking pictures and he's like check out the sky right now super clear and then you see planes going across and you see the contrail or whatever and then he was taking pictures of it and those contrails were spreading next thing you know the whole sky is hazy.

47:32Adam Schafer:And he's like, that's not a contrail, dude. He's like, that's a chemtrail.

47:35Justin Andrews:Why are they doing total crossing patterns so they blanket one entire area? What's the thing? Come on, dude. Dude, what's happening, dude?

47:45Sal Di Stefano:Yeah. Aren't there other files that are supposed to be coming out this year, too? Like more JFK stuff or another conspiracy? I can't handle it anymore. I need a break, dude. Stop releasing them. Let me just chill for a second.

47:56Justin Andrews:That's sort of the...

47:58Sal Di Stefano:They may as well just dump it all right now because the fact that all the Epstein stuff came out and we're just like, nobody's in jail. Nobody's like, it's just like, why not just throw it all out there now at this point?

48:08Justin Andrews:I'd heard there's like, so there was like something like 4.9 terabytes of whatever that they've released. Yeah. But there's like 100 terabytes still.

48:19Sal Di Stefano:Of just Epstein. Oh, just Epstein. Well, I told you guys that Epstein stat that I heard that if you were to stack the emails on paper, one email at a time on top of each other, it's taller than two Eiffel Towers. Oh, wow. I mean, just think about that person.

48:32Adam Schafer:By the way, did you see that all the emails, there is a period of time where there's no emails that are redacted?

48:40Sal Di Stefano:Yes, I know, the 9-11 time.

48:41Adam Schafer:Right around September 11th. That's convenient. Right before, during, and right after.

48:45Sal Di Stefano:Did you see, did I send, I'm pretty sure I sent Justin this stuff. I sent Justin all this stuff more. Why, dude, I like it too. I know, I'm sorry, I'll start sending it to you too. The interview of the guy, there was like suppressed interviews from the firefighters that were in the building that said they saw explosions go off well it's

49:04Justin Andrews:funny because like you know when all that happened it was you know i i was watching the news like so was i big time like and i was sitting there and you there was actually interviews that were like very controversial that they live and they never showed that's what i'm talking about these were these are these guys are like covered they just walked out and they're talking about many explosions going on they're talking about explosions and like how it was like very much like there's no way it would well after well after the plane yeah yes especially the other buildings that they would just collapse like uniformly like didn't they find there's no way

49:35Adam Schafer:is it thermite is that the name of the didn't they find a bunch of thermite and you know what that is no it's what melts steel it's a compound that burns so hot yeah that they use it for demolition to melt to melt steel yeah i know yeah oh man and at this point it's like if you get all

49:48Justin Andrews:this release there's just people out there that they just will resist it they don't want to hear it and they're still going to push back and be like oh this is all fake i i'm so like it's just baffling to me like what what like how do you decipher and determine what is true now that's

50:06Sal Di Stefano:just it for people like we've been gaslit so much that the common the common theme that i'm seeing in like my family and friends that don't go down the rabbit hole or like it's just like oh i don't even know what's true or who's that's right they're just just they're just like so they hear some crazy thing that's came out that proved a conspiracy theory true and they don't they're just like oh well it's probably ai that was a psychological tactic in the soviet union is they

50:31Adam Schafer:would constantly change information to the point where people were just like i don't know what to

50:35Sal Di Stefano:believe that's where we're at right now we're that's we're when i talk to somebody who doesn't follow any of it or isn't into it and you bring something up it's like yeah is that just another

50:43Adam Schafer:one of those things though that's not like they just dismiss it my favorite my favorite part of all the september 11th thing that i always am so fascinated by was one of the most surveyed places in the world with audio recording security is the pentagon this is remember this is like the central hub of intelligence and defense of the united states government uh-huh it's surrounded by cameras.

51:11Justin Andrews:There's no way you're going to sneak in like a random plane.

51:15Adam Schafer:They're just surrounded and we don't have a single video of the plane flying in and hitting the side. We don't have a single one. And they confiscated all the security cameras from like the 7-Elevens and stuff around there. We don't have a single... The only video they show, you can't tell what it is. It just boom, blows up. There's no more video. I'm like, you can't tell me there isn't a... There's a recording of how many birds flew by that building that day. I guarantee you. The whole place is surveyed like crazy. There's people out there that want more government. It's just mind-boggling to me.

51:47Sal Di Stefano:It's disgusting to think that one of the most horrific things that's ever happened in our history was done to ourselves. Maybe. Or we just don't know. I mean, that's so evil.

52:00Adam Schafer:Yeah.

52:00Sal Di Stefano:So evil and so bad to think that. But again, like I said, the people that are close in my family that are just like who knows who knows yeah it's just it's it's just it's like tune it out you like you tune it out and you're just like just i mean and i don't know if that was always the strategy like maybe that was the strategy from day one was just like eventually this is going to be so much it seems like that's the strategy right now yeah it does feel like that right it feels like any

52:25Justin Andrews:any skepticism that's going to go against like you know some push agenda or whatever it's like you know the only thing they have is to make you look crazy listen why are they releasing first we

52:36Adam Schafer:get epstein emails and they're just boom tons of them and it's crazy stuff simultaneously cia declassified documents are showing we were definitely trying mind control with psychedelics

52:47Justin Andrews:and drugs we were definitely even before mk ultra yes before what was that operation artichoke yeah so that was even before like i even knew about that's declassified yeah oh and oh yes we were

52:59Adam Schafer:bioengineering ticks to uh to spread disease oh and yes we are spraying chemo all your hunches were actually 100 % true. Oh, and yes, aliens are real. And it's like, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. I think that's the strategy right now is to make us go, I don't know what the hell to believe. Right, right. It's all so crazy.

53:15Justin Andrews:Can we talk about Bigfoot finally? I've been waiting for this.

53:18Sal Di Stefano:What did you say that when we were walking? There's hella sightings of Bigfoot right now. See, now, okay, this is what they do too, though, right? This is where it gets fun for me. I'm a Bigfoot fan. This is what they do right here. Then they throw some bullshit out there like that. You're just like, that isn't true. And then you're like...

53:32Adam Schafer:No, right now there's like a huge amount of reported... Doug, look it up, of Bigfoot sightings right now that are happening. That's exciting. That's exciting. By the way, you know one of the main theories? You know what's funny about Bigfoot? There's a big theory that Bigfoot is an interdimensional. Yeah. It can be.

53:50Justin Andrews:They're just, yeah, they're trying to figure out why he disappears, why he's so good at hide and seek. Yeah. Like this big animal that's supposedly, you know. Can't be super fast. Yeah, it can't be super fast. Like, you know, it's in and out. What do you get, Doug? What do you get over here? Yeah, so a lot have been reported early this year, most notably in Northeast Ohio, which I never thought would be the place you'd see Bigfoot. Yeah, dude. Yeah, where several residents and a sheriff reported a seven to eight foot tall, foul-smelling creature. And then there's been additional sightings in California from March.

54:27Justin Andrews:So, yeah, it seems to be a thing right now. Did you say where in California?

54:30Adam Schafer:It's always Northwest. Let me see if I can find more.

54:33Justin Andrews:details here.

54:36Adam Schafer:Bro, isn't it about where you're at?

54:37Justin Andrews:Do you know Runyon Canyon?

54:39Adam Schafer:Where? Runyon Canyon.

54:41Justin Andrews:We have a Bigfoot Museum. You know that, right? Like down the street. Oh, also San Bernardino County. There's a lot of sightings. But we got Wisconsin, Pennsylvania.

54:52Sal Di Stefano:All these iPhones, you'd think we would catch some footage, no? Well, they have some, but you know, it's so skeptical. I remember the last one I see, it was totally

55:02Adam Schafer:We even have Florida and Texas reporting. You know what's weird, by the way? Bigfoot and aliens have some interesting things in common. What? Yes. So aliens, when people have encounters with aliens, they report a foul smell. Yeah. Often a sulfuric or wet dog type smell, which is the same kind of smell that people refer to with Bigfoot. I did not know that. Yeah. Do you know what else has a bad smell, Adam? Oh, what? Demons. You know what else is interdimensional, Adam? Demons. Yeah. I don't know, bro. I don't know. Might all be demons. You ever see that meme with the affirmation aliens? Aliens.

55:41Sal Di Stefano:This is going to be one with Sal just like, demons. Hey, once I debunked his carbon dating, now everything's on the table now. Everything's on the table now.

55:52Adam Schafer:Oh, my gosh. I can't wait until we have. Reality's getting flipped upside down. Yeah, we got Stephen Meyer will be on at some point. We're supposed to be having a schedule to come on. He breaks down all the science of that stuff. I'm actually really excited. And I tell you what, bro, you were right, but you couldn't sell it. You just don't know the science, dude. This was how Adam sold it. This is how he sold it. Were you there? I don't know if it's there, but it's here. That is not how I sold it. You want the beaker? Did you see it? Did you see a dinosaur yourself?

56:19Sal Di Stefano:You're mixing it in the lab? I'm going to have to go back. I'm going to have to go back and listen to that. You got to sell it better, dude. Right? Hey, this is me as a trainer, too. I read the science. I understand it. Get me to regurgitate it perfectly. just listen that's what i tell my clients just trust me just listen to me just listen to what i have to say sorry yeah i know i'm sorry i didn't trust you yeah just you know that by now like i know i've read the books i saw it i heard the data but i could not regurgitate it for you like that's your skill dude that's that's you read something i'll sell it you tell me what to sell dude hey

56:49Adam Schafer:speaking of selling so uh you're we're this uh episode sponsored by vioree and i gotta i gotta say something dude i was going through my my closet by this point 80 of my closet is vioree right we've been how long we've been sponsored by them good eight years i think eight now probably more actually i got stuff probably since 2017 that's pretty cool i got stuff that's like seven or eight years old yeah from viory i've washed them hundreds of times look brand this is the

57:14Sal Di Stefano:it's the longest lasting where like my old stuff they just don't go they don't get old they last a long time i did you know i don't know if you guys seen i've been wearing the if you go back on some of the episodes i've been wearing that the the jacket i don't know what you call that i it's like the lightweight black one i have that's a viore jacket that's buttoned up yeah like a windbreaker yeah yeah it's like a kind of like a windbreaker material love they have a

57:39Justin Andrews:bunch of new stuff love yes oh their raincoat dude i don't know if you guys have seen that one but i wear that one all the time dude it's so lightweight and perfect and yeah i always forget about that

57:49Sal Di Stefano:and then it rains i'm like oh yeah i have i love that they're like branching out in more style stuff. It was very just kind of athleisure wear focus. They got into snow gear and stuff like that. They get into rain jackets like that. This kind of windbreaker vibe. The flannels. Are you able to cast up there, Doug?

58:08Adam Schafer:I want to see what it's called. What Adam has. Yeah, let me see if I can switch screens.

58:14Sal Di Stefano:I bought the last one in the store. We did a shoot for them just recently. Yeah, and every time they get me here.

58:20Adam Schafer:with hell of a sudden yeah it's how would you guys come up with this they get me they get me

58:24Sal Di Stefano:every time i'm in there because there's something new that just got to the party you're pulling it up right now doug yeah i'm trying to get it what's the name of it

58:31Justin Andrews:uh i don't know which one you're referring to exactly you have so many jackets and you haven't

58:37Sal Di Stefano:seen me wear it i probably got like a collar it's got a collar to it but button it buttons up it's lightweight the the wrist have like a like i can velcro tighter or loose like it's yeah let me see

58:50Justin Andrews:if I can get this to cast up here.

58:52Adam Schafer:Yeah, they've got really...

58:54Sal Di Stefano:What I will say this, and thank God they've been with us for as long as they have and stuck with us for this long. I'm terrible at remembering all the exact names of all the gear. I know what I like. I know what it is. I know what it is for myself when I see it. Ponto, Chino. Yeah, yeah. When I got a drop, when someone's like, what is it? I'm like, Sundays. They like Sundays. Sunday joggers. I know those. Yeah, yeah. Is that like 85? Well, that was my first favorite with the Sunday joggers. What's this one? That's the seaside sweats.

59:27Adam Schafer:Yeah, seaside sweats.

59:27Justin Andrews:That whole sweat line is amazing. Sweatshirts.

59:30Adam Schafer:You got any suggestions of what it might be called, Doug? I wish I could. You don't even have a guess, huh?

59:34Justin Andrews:I don't even have a guess because, again, I'm trying to get through all these different. That's all right.

59:40Adam Schafer:We'll put it in the show notes. Is it considered a shirt jacket? It's a jacket. We'll make sure the editors find it and put it in the.

59:46Justin Andrews:Yeah, yeah. I can't tell you. I mean, I see one. It's called the Coronado shirt jacket, which is a button-up jacket. Okay. With a collar?

59:54Adam Schafer:With a collar. That might be it. It might be it. Coronado shirt jacket, Adam.

59:58Sal Di Stefano:I mean, I'm looking really quick right now to see if I can find it in the short of time. This is men.

1:00:05Adam Schafer:We'll just go with that Coronado shirt jacket.

1:00:08Sal Di Stefano:And everyone's like, that doesn't look like the one Adam was wearing. It is a button.

1:00:12Justin Andrews:Let's keep talking about 9-11.

1:00:13Adam Schafer:No, no, dude. I'm always like, oh. we gotta be careful dude although hey conspiracy theory they're crushing right now they're like 10 and 0 or something like that i think they're stepping on that third rail while you guys are while doug's confused looking this up yes yes what do you think the next let's let's bet some bets

1:00:33Sal Di Stefano:v it's a v1 coach jacket okay v1 coach jacket v1 v1 coach jacket all right what is there what is

1:00:39Adam Schafer:the next conspiracy theory that will be proven right wow wow there's so many yeah i can't i can't what hasn't tell me what's on the table still that's what i'm trying that's literally where

1:00:50Justin Andrews:i'm at right now because i think they've all been proven right i think the um i think the power so oh i got one so so the pyramids you know the theory of it being an actual source of power yeah i think that one's gonna be all right the next i got one it's gonna be all the covet stuff

1:01:07Sal Di Stefano:has already been done well that's already yeah we all know that was bullshit it's gonna make

1:01:11Adam Schafer:people super angry everybody relax okay i'm about to say just calm down but they did they took a bunch of AI's. I'll read it to you guys and what they did. And they put in a bunch of data. They took Super Grok, ChatGBT, and Google Gemini. And they fed them a bunch of data and studies. And they all concluded that vaccines cause autism. Whoa. That's what the AI's did. I hope that doesn't come out true, you guys. If that does, that'll be terrible. That's such a hot topic, too. It is. That would be brutal. But if that comes out, by the way, who knows if they're right or whatever. But if it comes out and that's proven, oh, my God, that's going to be really bad.

1:01:56Sal Di Stefano:I wonder what data they were scouring. Is it just a correlation, though, would they put there? I have no idea. Yeah.

1:02:04Adam Schafer:I don't know how AI does it.

1:02:06Sal Di Stefano:Yeah, I would imagine what led to that, quote, unquote, conspiracy theory, if you want to call it that uh is that there there was a high enough correlation that people started connecting though saying that so there was already i mean i think the human mind had already figured out that there's there's core there seems to be a correlation there and so

1:02:25Justin Andrews:must have been a release of a lot of data because they do internal studies all the time with these

1:02:30Adam Schafer:um medications so analyzed a 82 page study is what they did and they they concluded this is what the AI devices concluded. There you go, Douglas. That's the one? Yes. That's nice, dude.

1:02:41Sal Di Stefano:I have mine, and mine's like a charcoal color. Yeah, it's sick, dude. Wow. It's really cool. I didn't know there was other colors. I want that blue one. I'm so getting other colors.

1:02:49Adam Schafer:Look at that, dude.

1:02:50Sal Di Stefano:You should be a model for them, bro. Stop it. You gotta have a face like that. I don't have that look, dude. I don't have a jawline like that. You ever seen, hey, show me a model that's got a fat face. Models don't have fat faces.

1:03:01Adam Schafer:You know what? You kind of, that's weird. That's true. You're like ultra handsome fat face, though.

1:03:05Justin Andrews:Yeah. How does that work? thank you good job dude yeah you gotta look you gotta look confused like where is he looking

1:03:10Sal Di Stefano:yeah yeah i don't i don't have the i don't have the jawline dude to be uh to be a model at all so or the luxurious hair justin has that oh yeah i'm not a model

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1:04:00Adam Schafer:Go to zbiotics.com That's Z-B-I-O-T-I-C-S dot com forward slash MindPump26 Use the code MindPump26 Get 15 % off Back to the show Our first caller is Lisa from Pennsylvania Hi Lisa

1:04:15Justin Andrews:Hi, good, how are you?

1:04:18Adam Schafer:Good, how can we help you?

1:04:21Justin Andrews:First off, I want to thank you guys I really enjoy your podcast And I've learned a lot

1:04:28Sal Di Stefano:Awesome Thank you What you got for us? Thank you.

1:04:32Justin Andrews:Okay, so I'll just jump right into my question. So my question is, how should I train during pregnancy and before getting pregnant? What should be the goal during this time and what can I expect? So for a little context, I eventually want to cut and reach a body fat goal of 20 to 22%. I'm currently 5 '1 and around 130 pounds with a body fat around 28%. I eat around 2300 to 2500 calories per day. I did a reverse diet at 25, I got up to 2 ,500 to get my period back and I've had a consistent period the past three months. So after having my first baby, I had a tough postpartum. I had an unexpected C-section and lost a lot of weight afterwards.

1:05:20Justin Andrews:I was around 118 pounds postpartum. I didn't have a period even after I stopped breastfeeding and finally realized I had hypothalamic amenorrhea. So I cut back on activity and I increased my calories. I eventually got it back one and a half years after giving birth. I've been at maintenance and while I really want to try to work towards my body fat goal, I know I shouldn't try to cut right now. My husband and I want to start trying for a second baby in the next couple months. Should my goal during this time be maintenance? Can I expect to make any gains during pregnancy?

1:05:59Adam Schafer:Yeah, good question. I see you wearing scrubs, by the way. Do you work in the medical field?

1:06:03Justin Andrews:Yeah.

1:06:03Adam Schafer:Awesome. What do you do if you don't like me asking?

1:06:06Justin Andrews:Yeah, I'm actually a dentist. Okay, cool.

1:06:08Adam Schafer:Very cool. And I wanted to ask that question because it seems like just based off of, you know, not getting your period and kind of what you experienced before that you probably veer more towards stress and do rather than rest. Is that accurate, would you say?

1:06:29Justin Andrews:Yeah.

1:06:30Adam Schafer:Okay. so so um for people listening um hypothalamual amenorrhea is a result of typically it's too much stress not enough eating and so your body just doesn't want to be fertile so what you did during that period is you probably did less work and ate more and then the period came back and now you're saying you got it back for the last three months yeah and also i have a history of an eating

1:06:56Justin Andrews:disorder. So I think even though my body fat percentage and like even my weight was probably like at a, like could be a healthy number. I think just given what my body's been through in the past too, maybe it's a little more protective. Yep.

1:07:12Adam Schafer:I would agree. That's a really, really good observation. Yeah. Yeah. Very good observation. So your body fat percentage is actually exactly where you want to be to get pregnant. So typically mid to high twenties is where you'll see the best fertility uh if you're trying to get pregnant right now there is no fitness goal yeah you're just you're just working out now if you get stronger that's a good sign yeah because that means you're eating enough so if you have to have a goal the goal i would have

1:07:39Justin Andrews:is to get stronger in the gym muscle preservation yeah so because getting stronger typically means

1:07:45Adam Schafer:i'm eating enough uh my stress is okay i'm getting good sleep uh so if you need a goal it's to get stronger and i would start i would start back up on the slow reverse diet right now

1:07:57Sal Di Stefano:yeah i keep them calories around 2500 for sure 2500 in a three day a week type of training program or like a maps 15 type of protocol either one of those two programs with uh eating 2500

1:08:09Adam Schafer:calories should keep you in that good place yeah i like maps 15 a lot especially with the the workload that you probably have um and the responsibilities that you hold plus your bait your first child is what, a year and a half old?

1:08:23Justin Andrews:Yeah, he'll be turning two soon.

1:08:25Adam Schafer:Okay, so you're still - You got your hands full. Yeah, you still got your hands full. So it takes a little while for that to slow down. So I would go MAPS-15. I would continue to reverse diet. And then when you're pregnant, the idea is for exercise is to maintain good pain-free mobility and health. And so MAPS 15 would remain to be the best program and walking. And you want to listen to your body. As you probably already know, first trimester sometimes really sucks. So if you can only do a little bit, then do that. If you can't do anything, then don't do that. And you're just listening to your body the whole time.

1:09:05Adam Schafer:Postpartum, once you get cleared, depending on the situation, now you're looking at MAPS starter. And that would be the ideal program postpartum. by the way what i'm telling you isn't just the best advice for fertility it's also the best advice for overall fitness and health yeah they're actually both the same because if we go opposite of what i'm saying uh not only will you reduce your your chances of getting pregnant you'll also prolong the amount of time it's going to take to quote unquote get back in shape and all that so it's actually the same thing and i'm only saying that to sell you by the way what i'm saying is true i'm not making it up but i'm only saying that to sell you on this because you probably have a tendency to go yeah but i want to i want to get that fitness at the same time yeah

1:09:52Justin Andrews:that's right yeah so what you're saying is i can i should keep increasing my calories right now are you at are you at 2500 right now yeah and i mean i think just give or take the the type of day it's um it's right around there but i can eat anywhere from like 2300 to 2500 and it seems like my weight is kind of stable yeah um you're probably in a good place right now are you uh

1:10:21Sal Di Stefano:what's your activity like throughout the day how many how often do you like how many steps have you ever tracked how many steps you're at i'm at like 10 000 about a day okay you're moving pretty good then yeah i'd want you hitting 2500 that'd be kind of consistently yeah consistently hitting 2 ,500. Okay. Yeah.

1:10:40Justin Andrews:So, um, should I try to bump up like my calories and I guess intentionally

1:10:46Sal Di Stefano:to get a bulk or I would let your body tell you, in other words, I would, the goal would be to hit 25, follow the training program and try and get strong. If you start to build muscle, you'll feel an appetite increase. And if your appetite increases, feed it whole foods and go ahead and let your calories come up. But you also might be at a pretty good number, 2 ,500, 5, 1. It's not bad. It's not bad. It's a good place to be. You've got your period. You're at a healthy body fat percentage. You're probably in a really good place to kind of hover. So I'd hover right around there. But if my appetite increases because I'm on a good strength training program, I'd let you go up 2 ,600, 2 ,800 calories if you feel it.

1:11:23Sal Di Stefano:But if you don't feel it, I don't need you to stuff yourself to get over that. But I wouldn't go below. Yeah, I wouldn't go lower.

1:11:28Adam Schafer:Yeah, I wouldn't go lower, especially because you just got back your period, which tells us that you're moving in the right direction.

1:11:33Sal Di Stefano:Yeah, we definitely don't want to try and restrict and cut from where you're at. You want to eat to where you're satisfied. I think you're at a healthy place at 2 ,500 calories. If your appetite increases, it's probably because you're starting to build muscle on the program. And then I would say go for it, bump your calories a little bit.

1:11:50Justin Andrews:Okay. During pregnancy, can they still get stronger during that time?

1:11:57Sal Di Stefano:I mean, you can, but that's not the goal, right? So in other words, if I'm training you through that process, we're following the same program as you were doing before you got pregnant. And a good goal for us is if we were able to maintain that strength through, that would be an awesome win. But I'm also listening to your body. If you came in and you saw me and you're like, oh, Adam, I just didn't get the greatest of sleep. I don't feel great. I'm going to back off intensity. But if you're feeling great, we're going to keep going along the way we're going. And I've had clients train literally up until the week they popped a baby out and maintain their strength that they did going into pregnancy.

1:12:30Sal Di Stefano:But here's what you should expect, though.

1:12:33Adam Schafer:You should expect the first and third trimester to not be as strong. Typically, first trimester, which may be experienced. Not all women do, but typically nausea. I'm not getting enough food because everything sounds gross. And so you're feeling kind of weaker. Second trimester, you know, they call it the honeymoon trimester. I'm feeling great. I'm strong. All good. third trimester especially towards the end i'm out of breath i don't have the energy so i so you know maintaining strength is a gift uh during pregnancy uh getting stronger is like a blessing

1:13:06Sal Di Stefano:just remember this you've if you've been listening to show long enough you've heard us say this uh to maintain the muscle you built takes very little so if you if you do a good job right now before pregnancy like as you're trying to get pregnant like building muscle and staying fit and staying healthy when you get pregnant the amount of training and volume you need to maintain that muscle is very minimal it's one like one seventh so imagine how much you can still scale back during pregnancy and still keep a healthy strong fit body um actually to go off of that

1:13:38Justin Andrews:is it okay if i ask one more question um so with this first with my first baby like after my surgery it felt I had to build from the ground up like I started I did pelvic floor therapy it was body weight so like in that time I've come a long way and I lost all that weight including a lot of muscle and strength I guess is there any if if I'm about to do that over again like I'm almost nervous to have to do that all over again is there anything any tips or like things I should keep in mind or what I can do differently I know looking back I'm like I definitely could have ate more because I mean that's how I lost my period but if there is anything else well I mean there's

1:14:25Sal Di Stefano:going into going into it or after it are we talking about like what you could be doing right now after after oh well after what you did with pelvic floor stuff is is going to be crucial again

1:14:35Adam Schafer:yeah and Lisa I'm going to say this like it's there's so the the information that's out there for postpartum fitness is some of the worst I've ever seen. What they tend to advertise is, you know, you get back into shape, you know, six months postpartum, nine months postpartum. Here's the reality, and you're probably experiencing this, even as someone who exercises, it takes like two years to feel like your old self. Like, that doesn't mean you weren't progressing the whole time, but like it takes a while before you're like, oh my God, I feel like my old self, and then boom, I'm pregnant again.

1:15:08Adam Schafer:is typically what happens. So you give yourself a little grace. It's a radical change on the body. Now going into giving birth at a healthy body weight, feeding yourself well, being strong, the odds that you can have vaginal delivery, especially after having a C-section goes up. It's better. It's much better. And then there's other stuff that you can look into, like really good doulas seem to increase the odds of vaginal delivery and stuff like that. But go into it well-fed, healthy. Don't try to get lean. Don't try to overdo it. You're just taking care of yourself. And then postpartum, you know, it sounds like what you did was okay, and it might take a while.

1:15:53Adam Schafer:You might happen faster. So a second pregnancy, a second birth might be way better. My wife had a radically different experience the second time around, much better. But the expectation is just what we tend to get from the fitness influencers so crazy wrong it takes a while okay so it sounds like it's just

1:16:12Justin Andrews:kind of unavoidable like it's just hard like you have to kind of work from the ground up and build

1:16:17Sal Di Stefano:back up yeah and here's what's gonna be difficult i don't know have you heard me talk about my experience with katrina when she when she got cleared you're gonna feel like you can do more and i was constantly telling her you don't need to like we're staying in map starter so she wanted she after like two weeks of map starter she's like i want more but let's get back to map and i'm like why you haven't done anything for six weeks you know plus like it's your body very little it will take to elicit change and so it's like doing pelvic floor exercises doing map starter is enough of a program and volume to progress your body over the next three months and so it was really difficult for her to to get that now i'm caught now after a while she put it together and was like okay she'd listen to me and but it was i know what it's like you'll feel good you'll start to feel good and you'll want to do more the proper way is probably what you did which is pelvic floor stuff then start to introduce exercise but when you're coming off a layoff of six eight weeks of no exercise at all and also giving birth you don't need to do very much for your body to start to adapt and change in the right direction and in fact doing too much will only set you back and

1:17:25Adam Schafer:you take longer to get to where yeah there's also too because c-sections are so common we tend to think of them as like a minor procedure that's a big it's a big surgery i mean they cut right through lots of different you know core stability core muscles so so if you have another c-section you're gonna have to add you add some time to that for sure which you've already experienced so just keep that in mind as well right it's the goal of like a body fat percentage like

1:17:52Justin Andrews:20 to 22 percent um is that realistic one day like yes or do i need to like just like redefine

1:18:01Adam Schafer:and like no no 22 redefine uh postpartum okay once things start to settle and you start to feel good and you're healthy and your baby's sleeping and then you can start chasing it but the the ideal healthy body fat percentage uh before during and after pregnancy is actually mid to high 20s it's not low 20s uh low 20s is like fitness i look good in bikini type of deal but when it comes to you need a little bit of that cushion uh it's also tends to be if you're fit and healthy i should say that's the context it tends to give you a better hormone profile um uh so that's you kind of want to stay there uh for a little bit and maybe not chase getting leaner until much later also keep

1:18:44Sal Di Stefano:this in mind too which we we always try to communicate is uh 25 to 27 percent looks different with more muscle too sometimes we get this arbitrary number of like oh i think that percentage is where i would look this way it's like i bet if i put 10 15 pounds of muscle on you right now same body fat percentage you would look leaner you would look different you would look more shapely you would have you you're so a lot of times we get hung up on like a body fat percentage and we're far healthier and better off trying to build more muscle on our body and then you can carry yourself at a higher body fat percentage and still have the look that you're trying to achieve at 2022.

1:19:23Sal Di Stefano:So don't get hung up on a percentage of a number per se. You're in a better place, eating more calories, trying to build muscle and when you come out of the baby, you do that slowly and focus more on that. Focus more on getting a healthy metabolism, building muscle, getting strong and taking your time and listening to your body and like you'll get there. And if you absolutely want to get to this, like if you were my client and you're like, I want to see what it looks like, okay, we can get down there. I'll show you. But I could also show you what you loving your body looks like at 25 to 28 % body fat too.

1:19:54Justin Andrews:Okay. Yeah, that makes sense. I think for a long period I was just, I wanted to look like I worked out because I've lifted for several years and I just felt like I didn't look like it. And so I think that was why I came up with that goal or that number. Just in my mind, I was like, that's when you look lean and fit. Totally.

1:20:16Adam Schafer:No, totally. I get it. Lisa, can I ask you a question? Sure. Would your friends and your husband say you look like you lift weights?

1:20:24Justin Andrews:I don't know. My husband will, but he's also, yeah. But he's my husband.

1:20:33Sal Di Stefano:Well, he also sees you naked, so he has the best vantage, to be honest.

1:20:38Adam Schafer:And he's the most important person. When he thinks of how you look is way more important than other people. And also, look, you said you have a history of challenge around this. You know you can't necessarily trust your subjective, how you view yourself physically. So this is a good time to ask your husband and ask your friends. And they're probably going to be honest with you. And you probably already get comments. I bet you already do get comments maybe at work or whatever. You might discredit them because you're like, no, I don't. You're just being nice type of deal. Just consider that as well.

1:21:13Sal Di Stefano:We're going to have Doug send MAPS 15 over to you. After you have this baby, you can reach back out to us. Let us know how you're doing.

1:21:21Adam Schafer:Do you have MAPS 15? What do you guys think about MAPS 15? No, I don't.

1:21:26Justin Andrews:With the pelvic floor emphasis.

1:21:27Adam Schafer:Oh, no, even better. Let's go MAPS 15 muscle mommy. thanks Justin that's the best one for you

1:21:34Justin Andrews:thank you guys so much thanks for taking my call

1:21:37Adam Schafer:you got it thank you thank you

1:21:41Justin Andrews:bye

1:21:41Sal Di Stefano:yeah good call Justin I forgot all about that yeah I know I just thought of that forgot that I fought for that pelvic floor exercise you remember that it is yeah I mean it's in the original

1:21:50Justin Andrews:but then yeah we definitely put that in the 15 version

1:21:53Adam Schafer:I really think it's important for people to understand like fit So fit, meaning you've got good fitness. So strong, stamina, like good fitness. You compare the typical woman at 20 % versus 26%, same fitness. The 26 % body fat person, a woman, is more resilient, probably more likely to have a better hormone profile. Better energy. Better energy, more fertile, more resilient, postpartum, post-injury, post-illness, post-certainment. you know yeah so it's just this is just this is just for real especially when it comes versus health especially when it comes to uh fertility um and and we get to hung up on like what this like fitness look that we see on social media and think that's what ultimate health looks like but in many cases it doesn't many cases it's we know this for men now men's fertility is is not nearly as fragile but you can look at athletic performance and men typically perform better athletically at 15 or 16 percent than they do at 10 percent you know i i'm going to keep

1:22:58Sal Di Stefano:beating the dr gabriel lions uh drum with the you know our problem is we're under muscled yeah and i and i even like this uh i feel so strongly about this right now because what i've personally just experienced too is like it's wild how uh how different our body can look with 10 or 15 pounds more muscle same body fat yeah same body fat yeah and so uh and and i think this is even more true for women because women have been marketed to for so long this kind of skinny small like yeah and if if i if she i bet you if i put kept her body fat percentage so we go up fat so i put on 10 pounds of muscle and probably some body fat and some body fat on her even more so more fat on her but I put 10 pounds of that more so more muscle I bet she would like the way she looks and and I think that more people need to understand that that even these the body fat percentage is better than the scale but even it can be deceiving on this this number that we get obsessed with that we think oh this is the best my body ever looked like was at this person by the way like uh if you

1:24:05Adam Schafer:ask men what looks best on women and vice versa healthy men and women I should say uh they tend to like a higher body fat percentage because we are geared to look at things like fertility and health yeah and so even women would say it's noticeable a guy that's got muscle around 15 looks better than 9 in real life and men listen men for the same thing a woman with muscle and shape and strength at 26 she looks damn good 20 most guys would probably go for the 26 so and this is just again this is not saying that you do it because the other person likes it more but rather this points to health more than it does anything our next caller is Taryn from Pennsylvania hi Taryn how you doing Taryn how can we help you so over the past six years I have been

1:24:50Justin Andrews:through a lot medically I had a radical hysterectomy in 2019 for a cervical pre-cancer found out that I was BRCA positive in 2024 and then in 2025 I had a full ovary removal thrusting me into surgical menopause at age 39, a double mastectomy and a reconstruction all in a 10 month time period. So I've been I finally been cleared to start being active again. But, you know, the mix of surgical menopause and a year of decreased movement has really kind of thrown me into a loop. So hormonal issues, dizziness, weight gain and really just being disconnected from who I was before. So my care team was great, but, you know, they're all very siloed in their specialties.

1:25:38Justin Andrews:So I've just been thrown around from doctor to doctor who, other than handing me an estrogen patch and telling me to get back to normal, haven't really helped me on a path to kind of this new phase of my life. So my question is really for any woman in my position, you know, thrust into surgical menopause in their late 30s, coming out of major surgeries. I'm a busy mom. I own a business. I'm on the road a lot. you know what should i really prioritize to rebuild my strength get my health back in order get my home hormones in track and then also how do i know who to trust in this space when it really

1:26:14Adam Schafer:just feels super noisy sometimes yeah well first off i'm sorry you've gone through all that and but i'm really really uh grateful that you had the courage to come on here uh share your story

1:26:24Sal Di Stefano:because there are women listening also have a very good attitude yeah who um probably don't

1:26:29Adam Schafer:have a lot of people that they can listen to. And so they're probably like, hey, tell me what we can do here. You're on hormone therapy now. You've been cleared for that. So is that going on?

1:26:42Justin Andrews:Yes. Yes. So I am on an estrogen patch, but that's it.

1:26:47Adam Schafer:Okay. Okay. So no progesterone, no other hormones. Okay.

1:26:51Justin Andrews:No, because I don't have a uterus anymore.

1:26:53Adam Schafer:Got it. Okay. So here's the deal. And on top of this, which is lots of stress and trauma on the body. You also said you've got kids, business, so there's a lot of things going on here. And so what we want to do with exercise is we want to be very gentle. The focus should be on strengthening because muscle is very protective. It also requires little stimulus to kind of elicit that change. So building strength takes a lot less damage and stress than if you're trying to like become a marathon runner. So it's just going to be more appropriate. Maps 15 would be the perfect. So we have a series of maps 15 programs.

1:27:33Adam Schafer:There's mass 15, the original mass 15 muscle mommy, symmetry perform. Like they're all that protocol for you would be perfect. On top of that, I would just look at steps to stay active. So if you're not already tracking steps, uh, you know, eight to 10 ,000 steps a day is a decent amount of activity that'll, that'll give you the most benefit or a majority of the benefit you'll get from being active and that's it that's really it and so you with that protocol what you should experience is strength gains improvements in mobility and just general improvements in overall fitness the mistake you can make taryn is if you push overdo it yeah and and you're going to be more sensitive to that than most people but i will say this uh women with children who also have a business are they're far more sensitive to the stresses of exercise than they realize anyway.

1:28:23Adam Schafer:Most women with kids, job, they're more sensitive to the stress of exercise than they realize anyway. So my recommendation to them typically sounds very similar to what I'm telling you. Just you're going to be even more sensitive to over applying stress. So when you go into the gym, practice the exercises. When you feel like you're stronger, add a little bit. And that approach is going to yield you great results long-term.

1:28:50Sal Di Stefano:If you'd be open to it, I'd actually love for you to work with one of our coaches too. I don't know if that's something that's feasible for you or that you could consider or not, but just because you have a unique situation and as you're going through, I'd love for you to have somebody who you could reach out to that you could trust and just be like, hey, this is what I'm feeling. This is what I noticed. And they could make modifications both in the gym and nutritionally for you as you go through that process and or refer you to someone who would be, we have just a great network as far as other doctors, professionals, things like that too.

1:29:23Sal Di Stefano:So I don't know if that's something that you're open to, but I think you'd be a great person to be able to help through something like this.

1:29:30Justin Andrews:Yeah, that would be awesome. Cause I, it can really feel like you're on an Island and there's not a whole lot out here for, you know, I think women who are in this at my age too.

1:29:38Adam Schafer:Yeah. Yeah. I mean, and just consider this when it comes to what kind of exercise and nutrition advice you should listen to. Obviously, of course, you have unique situations. So if your doctors say, hey, avoid this or that, then you want to listen to them. But beside that, the approach is going to be balancing the stress from the stimulus and the adaptation. So am I progressing performance-wise? This is a really good measure for you. Did I get stronger? Do I feel like I'm stronger? Do I feel more stable? If the answer is yes, you're moving in the right direction. don't add more because the tendency is going to be like hey i'm getting stronger i feel good like let me just throw more at my body um because there's a there's a line that when you cross over your body's gonna feel like it's shutting down just because of the the hormone yeah it may

1:30:25Justin Andrews:interrupt sleep it may kind of impede on other metrics so yeah to pay attention mainly if it's you feel stronger you feel like you're energizing uh from your workouts it's more that's medicine

1:30:36Sal Di Stefano:for you that's that's good this is why i think the having a coach that you can just kind of bounce this off of as you go through this process because it's going to be a kind of a week-to-week type of deal on how you're feeling some weeks we may feel great and the perfect amount of volume and training other weeks we may need to adjust certain things based off of your lifestyle sleep whatever else you got going on because it sounds like you're busy so um yeah i think you would do great with with one of the coaches like this is obviously a unique uh situation and i think i'd want i'd want to be talking to you as we go through this process because communication this is not like uh oh just go do these things see you later hope it works out you know and i also don't want you to feel that way either like i think sal's giving perfect advice on where to go but it's not

1:31:17Adam Schafer:it's not going to be individualized as we go yeah yeah i recognize there probably be some some pivots along the way too yeah certainly and i'm one who will go one to a hundred way too

1:31:28Sal Di Stefano:quickly so that's for sure yeah which is a good reason to have the coach too it's just well good The coach will be the breaks for you.

1:31:35Adam Schafer:Yeah, yeah.

1:31:35Sal Di Stefano:So we'll do that if you have time. I'll have someone call you and reach out to you and tell you exactly what that would look like, and then hopefully we see you a part of the family.

1:31:44Adam Schafer:And again, thank you for coming on and asking this question. Yeah, yeah. I know there's people listening right now that just would love to hear advice, and so this was very helpful.

1:31:52Sal Di Stefano:I can tell you're going to be successful. You have a great attitude in everything. Everything that you've gone through and been through, you seem very positive, and you want to do the right thing, so you're going to be great. It's going to be great helping you.

1:32:03Adam Schafer:awesome thank you so much guys you got it thank you are you guys familiar with the the the bricca genes no i was gonna ask her to explain it depending on the variation which she probably had the one that's the the one that will increase your odds the most if you have it your odds of getting a you know really aggressive breast cancer in your life is like 70 something percent and so when they test you for this gene they typically recommend removing yeah and and for the and for the reproductive system so cancers like ovarian cancer stuff like that so they'll typically be like yeah okay you've got the this gene this and so we're going to recommend double mastectomy basically preventative surgeries and we're going to remove your wow so all before you even actually get it so she already had it she already had it then they tested her and they're like oh it's you got this gene so the odds that you're going to get it again especially if you had it the first time are really hot i see so they go in and they just basically preventative uh you know drastic surgery

1:32:59Sal Di Stefano:One, she had a great attitude. It's remarkable. Awesome that she was able to have kids out first, that she's had kids. She's had her kids. I mean, my sister had to have a hysterectomy at a very young age, which is tough to do that. She did it even younger. Cassie had it even younger than that, so it's tough. But this is something where it's like we could sit here and give all the what we think is the best advice. No, you're right.

1:33:26Adam Schafer:I mean, through this process, it would be great to have someone there yeah because especially busy lifestyle all these

1:33:32Sal Di Stefano:things that she's going through very likely even with the the best prescription we can give right now in this 10 minutes uh she's gonna have a week where she's like hey i'm wondering how she feels yeah i feel this way or this is what's going on or even like and i'm glad she said it like i feel great can i do that i'm gonna do this or should i do that like and having a coach like no no no we'll just stick that's right yeah so that will help her out our next caller is vanessa from Georgia. Hi, Vanessa. How you doing, Vanessa? Hello.

1:33:57Justin Andrews:Hey, y 'all. How are you? Good. What's happening? Good. Well, I have a question about the belly and like how to unbloat it and all that kind of stuff. So I thought y 'all would be the first people I'd want to ask.

1:34:12Sal Di Stefano:All right. Yeah, let's go. Let's hear it.

1:34:14Justin Andrews:Okay. So a little backstory. I'll go ahead and just read the email that I sent. I'm a tall woman, 5 '11", and I put on muscle pretty easily, even at 47. But I also stay chunky looking, especially, uh, chucky looking, especially in my belly. It's always puffy no matter if I'm 137 pounds, which is me in Marine Corps bootcamp when I was 23, or I shot up to 200 pounds at one point when I was more sedentary. Currently I'm about 166, 667 and I'm lifting four to five days a week. By 2028, I'd like to compete in my first natural bodybuilding show in the bikini division. And I'm confident about everything else, but the belly just, I'm really concerned about that coming in lean enough.

1:35:11Justin Andrews:so um i eat low to super low carb and i definitely get my 150 grams of protein i sleep well so what would y 'all recommend for finally leaning out my mid and low belly area i'm i'm curious

1:35:31Sal Di Stefano:first do you have you have you body fat tested because i'm willing to bet that you're at a really good weight where you're if you build muscle pretty well like you say you're 5 11 uh you're built similar to what my ex was built like and that's about where she carried her weight 165 to 175 pretty much is where so where's your body fat percentage right now the only body fat uh

1:35:55Justin Andrews:measurement that i've had was one of those i i don't know if i can really trust them you hold it with your hands and you stand on the scale and supposedly it said i was at 24 okay okay yeah

1:36:09Sal Di Stefano:that's why i figured you'd be in a good good range i had a feeling you weren't and it specifically the stomach area it could be bloat from something we're eating too is it is it bloat or is it belly

1:36:21Justin Andrews:fat so that's why i've restricted my diet for the last couple years basically done like an elimination diet. I don't eat a whole lot of new foods. I'm staying away from any of the FODMAPs. So, um, you know, tomatoes and stuff like that. I do well with rice and potatoes, but even then, um, I'm having trouble eating enough. So that's why I've mostly cut out the carbs. So I'm just focused on like really nutrient dense foods like beef, lots of steak, lots of, you know, hamburger, things like that.

1:37:01Adam Schafer:So Vanessa, to be clear, it's not belly fat, it's bloat. Cause you know the difference, right? Do you know the difference between the two?

1:37:09Justin Andrews:So maybe I, maybe I don't, I mean, I got jiggly. So belly fat, you can grab and squeeze like this

1:37:16Adam Schafer:blow. It feels hard. It's kind of digestive. So my stomach's protruding. Yeah.

1:37:22Justin Andrews:so i would say that there's a little of both because i can still pinch

1:37:28Adam Schafer:so there's two so there's two directions here because if you're if you notice digestive issues like a lot of digestive issues with certain foods uh then the direction you want to go is with a functional medicine practitioner and identify what's really happening is it SIBO or SIFO uh tested you can get tested for parasites heal your gut like that's all digestive stuff if belly fat, if it's belly fat, there's two directions I typically look at with someone like you. One, you were in the Marines boot camp. You competed. You want to compete again. There's pretty high odds that you may be viewing yourself a bit distorted.

1:38:09Adam Schafer:And I don't see a picture of you, so I can't determine that. But based off of those right there, the odds that you see yourself in a distorted way where you pick yourself apart.

1:38:20Sal Di Stefano:I'm almost certain of that. She's 47. She's 5 '11". I know if she says she puts on muscle good, I'm pretty confident I can envision what you probably look like. You probably look really good. You probably look really good. Maybe not to yourself, but I'm pretty sure you look pretty good. 5 '11", 47, and 167, and probably around 22 % to 24 % body fat is a good look, especially on somebody who says they can build muscle what are your lifts like tell me about like uh squatting dead lifting uh like what do you what are your numbers what can you what can you i don't actually know what prs are because i don't ego lift yeah i did that before and it

1:39:03Justin Andrews:didn't work out so well i ended up getting hurt so yeah to avoid all of that kind of stuff um but But let's see. Just to give an idea, like I can deadlift like 190.

1:39:18Sal Di Stefano:Yeah, you're good. Yeah, that's what you work out with?

1:39:20Justin Andrews:Yeah.

1:39:21Adam Schafer:Yeah, you're good. Yeah, you're strong. Now, here's the other side of this, okay? Were you always an athlete? Did you always find that you were good at sports?

1:39:30Justin Andrews:No, I rode horses, so that's what I did.

1:39:33Adam Schafer:Well, that's a sport. So here's the thing, too. Some women have what's known as an athletic body type and body fat distribution. And so what this typically looks like is hips are a little more narrow, and there's a little bit more storage in the belly than what you would see traditionally where it looks like a pair. And so sometimes you'll run into this with female athletes where once they go above 25%, they'll have a little bit more belly fat than another woman who's at 25%, which actually lends itself well to athletes. So a female athlete that does really well is going to have more narrow hips, going to make them faster, a little more belly fat.

1:40:12Adam Schafer:It's why men store belly fat in the belly. Energy reserves. Yeah, so there's that as well. But I would guess I would go in the direction of what Adam said. I think you might be kind of picking yourself apart. If you do have actual digestive issues, though, you want to get to the root.

1:40:28Sal Di Stefano:And going into a bikini competition would not be an ideal situation in that either.

1:40:34Adam Schafer:If you find eating, you know, the FODMAP foods cause digestive issues and bloat, and you got to stay away from too many carbs because it hurts your stomach, that's a gut issue. That's a gut health issue.

1:40:47Justin Andrews:Have you found any foods that are like, you know, are inflammatory for you? So far, it's been like tomato sauce and jalapenos.

1:40:57Adam Schafer:Okay. That's not too out of the ordinary. I mean, those are, you know, you have your nightshades. but if you find digestive like what happens when you eat too many carbs do you just feel super

1:41:07Justin Andrews:distended and painful uh it depends if they're really clean like potatoes and just plain old white rice i don't have any problems in fact i blow through those very easily okay it's the

1:41:20Adam Schafer:preservatives i think bread is what it was okay yeah you're probably fine yeah you're probably fine um there's really no way to spot reduce so getting leaner overall unfortunately

1:41:30Sal Di Stefano:yeah what makes it happen where your calories at right where your calories at right now do you

1:41:35Justin Andrews:track uh i do yeah average is 1600 oh yeah too low too way too low way too low oh yeah yeah oh

1:41:42Adam Schafer:yeah yeah we need a reverse diet yeah you got a lot of muscle on you you're tall you're lifting weights four to five days a week you should be up to like 23 24 okay yeah so if you if you came to

1:41:51Sal Di Stefano:me to to hire if you hired me to be your coach for competing i wouldn't let you do compete a bikini until we were in the high 2000 calorie range, maintaining your weight. So you, that would be before we would, before I would let you get ready for a prep or pick a show, I would reverse diet you all the way up to a good, at least 28, 2900 calories, your height, muscle strength that you have on you. You should be, we need to get our calories up. We got to get our calories because you, you have nowhere to cut. If you're right now, we're at 100 calories. Yeah. You're not going to eat. I mean, I'm so glad I asked that question because there's no way I would want you to get ready for a bikini show from a 1 ,600-calorie maintenance.

1:42:33Sal Di Stefano:Yeah, no. That's all bad. There's nowhere to go. Yeah, yeah, yeah, all bad. You'll feel horrible. You'll feel horrible, and then you won't even get close to the physique that you're trying to attempt to get. You'll be disappointed on both ends. And so it's like the move right now - Reverse diet. Would be to reverse diet slowly and keep focusing on getting strong. And since that's what's exciting because you're already somebody who's strong and you put muscle on, don't shy away from that. It's easy to lose muscle. If you stop lifting weights, don't worry. It'll go away. So don't shy away from building muscle, letting the scale go up because we're building muscle, but focusing on getting those calories up to put us in a healthier place.

1:43:16And I'm willing to bet you're going to feel better.

1:43:19Sal Di Stefano:You'll look better. definitely from 1600 calories all the things yeah you'll feel way better i would bump you 200 right

1:43:25Adam Schafer:out the gates yeah right out the gates going to 1800 calories oh yeah oh yeah are you are you are

1:43:30Sal Di Stefano:you are you are you are you listening i don't know how regularly you listen to this show are you listening to my journey with corinne right now coaching her yeah yeah i listen to you guys a lot

1:43:39Justin Andrews:in fact thank you so much i work night so you guys get me through the night okay cool okay cool yeah

1:43:43Sal Di Stefano:this is what we're going through right now is i'm reverse dieting her and you know uh she's she's a tiny, tiny little petite thing. And we're, we're up to 2 ,700 calories. So I, and I want, I still going, so I want, I want to keep pushing her in that direction before I let her come back down in calories. So, um, yeah, I'd, I'd want you up much higher. So that same focus and you work, uh, you work not, so you, uh, on your feet a lot. What do you do?

1:44:08Justin Andrews:Yeah. Yeah. I stock shelves right now. So lots of movement, bending, moving constantly.

1:44:14Adam Schafer:Your calories are way too low.

1:44:16Justin Andrews:yeah yeah yeah yeah oh yeah i don't feel depleted though that's kind of where because i thought

1:44:22Adam Schafer:maybe that too no just wait till you start feeding yourself more and then you'll know then you'll be like oh yeah i was way i want you this feels way better i want you on a program like

1:44:30Sal Di Stefano:maps 15 and i want to reverse diet you this is a very similar kind of protocol as i got corinne on so i'd love to send maps 15 to you i take sal's advice at least 200 calories right out the gates right out the gates 200 more calories a day and then a good goal is to every every week or every other week bump 100 and keep going that way and only and just match 15 that's all you need okay not the more more training harder isn't better uh stay away from the scale if that messes with your head so like okay cool if you're cool with it then then that's fine but i expect that expect some of that as we as we do that uh but i think you're going to put muscle on and i think we're going to get a place where we get our calories up and you should be feeling strong and and good energy and then that'll give us some room to to manipulate calories where should i bring those 200 calories in from carbs yeah rice rice if you like i love rice yeah because i'm assuming your your protein

1:45:29Adam Schafer:is good your fat's okay are you okay with your fats what are you at with yeah i'm 120 grams of fat oh yeah yeah carbs yeah carbs i had 200 grams 200 200 grams of you know what i love too is

1:45:38Sal Di Stefano:especially since you said rice and potatoes is literally just use that as you're just keep, you know, a half a cup or a cup a day is what you're, you know, whatever that is. And then just the next week, add another half a cup. The next week of that, add another half cup and just keep doing that. You know?

1:45:53Justin Andrews:Okay.

1:45:54Sal Di Stefano:All right. Yeah. Awesome. All right, Vanessa. Thanks y 'all. All right. Keep us posted.

1:46:00Justin Andrews:Absolutely. Okay. God,

1:46:02Adam Schafer:I'm glad you asked that. 16 or calories is in five. If you're working out four or five days a week and you're active and you're not, she's 5 '11". She's built like my ex.

1:46:10Sal Di Stefano:Yeah, and there's no way... Bro, she's deadlifting almost 200 pounds. She works out with... That's not PR numbers. She works out with almost 200 pound deadlifting. She says she puts on muscle good. She's 5 '11". Dude, that's what my ex walked around at, 165 to 175 year-round as a fit personal trainer. And she's thicker in that area, but it's just that that's her body type. And then when you get... she'd hit stage at 150. Yeah. So she's not far off from like a stage weight, but she needs to build muscle, build her metabolism up before she comes back down that, that direction for sure.

1:46:45Adam Schafer:Look, if you like the show, come find us on Instagram. It's mind pump media. Thank you for listening to mind pump.

1:46:50Justin Andrews:If your goal is to build and shape your body, dramatically improve your health and energy and maximize your overall performance. Check out our discounted RGB super bundle at mind pump media.com. The RGB Super Bundle includes MAPS Anabolic, MAPS Performance, and MAPS Aesthetic. Nine months of phased expert exercise programming designed by Sal, Adam, and Justin to systematically transform the way your body looks, feels, and performs. With detailed workout blueprints and over 200 videos, the RGB Super Bundle is like having Sal, Adam, and Justin as your own personal trainers, but at a fraction of the price.

1:47:29Justin Andrews:The RGB Super Bundle has a full 30-day money-back guarantee, and you can get it now plus other valuable free resources at mindpumpmedia.com. If you enjoy this show, please share the love by leaving us a five-star rating and review on iTunes and by introducing Mind Pump to your friends and family. We thank you for your support, and until next time, this is Mind Pump. Listen up. I need your attention for a moment.

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