Highlights of the Podcast:
- The top three ways to put on fat
- Having pastry and coffee for breakfast will make you put on those pounds
- You should ideally have a high protein, high healthy fat breakfast
- Have one huge meal a day and sleep a lot
- Doing lots of long steady state cardio will make you gain weight
- High Cortisol + high Insulin = Low blood sugar
- Low blood sugar levels makes you crave for sugary foods
- The Insulin-Cortisol Seesaw
- Split up your training to lose weight effectively
- You’ll put on weight if you eat badly on weekends
- Do the opposite of what’s being said if you want to lose weight
Transcript:
Hello and welcome to another new episode of the TheDVCC.com podcast. I’m Mark Gray.
Stephen: And I’m Stephen.
Mark: So, good afternoon! Thanks for joining us on this. We are today going to do something slightly different, and hopefully you’ll find it interesting. We’re going to basically come up with our top ways that you can put on fat. So, just to clarify with you, just in case you don’t perhaps get the point of this. What we’re going to come out with are the ways that if you followed them, you would put on body fat and put on weight. Therefore, generally, you want to do the opposite to them. Alright? So don’t – we say these are the top ways. Don’t do these ways, but understand perhaps maybe you are doing them. And therefore, don’t realize that that’s perhaps why you’re putting on weight. Well, perhaps it’s a myth. And actually you think it’s something that you should do to lose weight, when in fact it actually has the opposite effect. So, yes, the title of this little podcast is going to be “The Top Three or Four…”
Stephen: Three or four. We’ve both come up with our own ways that we’ve seen very recently that people generally do to – actually, a lot of the time it’s to try and lose weight. But actually, it kind of has the opposite – well, opposite effect.
Mark: Exactly. So, we’re going to start it off with the first thing. Stephen, you’re up. We’ll play it like ping pong.
Stephen: Ping pong. So tennis. So I’ve got the ball. So my first thing that I’ve witnessed, and I witnessed this actually this morning. This is why it came straight to my head. It was I normally get a coffee. I like my coffee first thing in the morning. I tend to only have one, but I’d forgotten to take my coffee from home. I managed to lose my shaker thing, my Starbucks shaker thing. I have about six and I think they’re all gone. Well, I thought maybe Mark had taken it but…
Mark: So hopefully, you can maybe treat this like a little radio station. Whenever they say that they’ve lost something, they miss something or they like something, listeners tend to donate them or send them to them. So, yes, I’m really not enjoying life without my coffee mug transporter/holder/one thing keeper.
Stephen: So if anyone’s got them, feel free to drop those off. But yes, I’ve lost my Starbucks coffee warmer thing. So I went to BP for a coffee. I know it’s not organic, but I still wanted my coffee. It’s very unusual that I have to buy it from anywhere else other than home, anyway. And the number of people that were in there buying pastries mixed with cappuccino. They buy their cappuccino and their pastry. And my best – and that’s actually proven as one of the most effective ways of actually putting on fat – is combining processed carbohydrate and caffeine, and then also there’s dairy as well. So, you’re combining those three, three things together for breakfast. Now, that is a really, really quick way. Actually, caffeine has been proven to kind of accelerate storing those processed poor quality saturated fat into you storing as fat. It’s actually a really, really good way of storing fat, and the number of people that are actually buying these things really amaze me.
And that’s why it came straight to my mind when we were just discussing this topic. People that eat that for breakfast, they’re going to find that throughout the rest of the day, they really are struggling effectively to control their blood sugar. So, I know we’ve recommended quite a few different times the type of breakfast that’s optimal for fat loss. Optimal actually for functioning throughout the day, which is a high protein, high healthy fat breakfast. And the complete opposite of that is actually a high saturated fat, high processed carbohydrate and high caffeine breakfast all mixed into one.
Mark: So yes, if you get that. And to be fair, that’s what a lot of people have. They kind of have it on the run, don’t they? That’s why it is in all the service stations. Because it’s easy, quick and easy. It tastes nice, to be fair.
Stephen: It does taste good.
Mark: And looked good.
Stephen: Actually, it didn’t look good to me. I won’t lie. Because I was full. I had already eaten my breakfast. I had an omelet actually this morning. I had already eaten, so actually it didn’t look good. It would look good if I was hungry.
Mark: Yes, exactly. But also, the reason it tastes good and feels good for that moment is because of the serotonin that’s released when you eat it. Which is high sugary carbs, that’s what that does. Which actually is very important for helping you sleep. So really, you’re having that sort of food at the wrong end of the day because the first thing in the morning, you don’t want to be asleep. You’ve been asleep the whole time. So all the people, the effect that that sort of breakfast would have had on people – one, far more likely, you’re going to store that as fat. I mean, I think it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that that is not optimal nutrition for someone, a human to function. It’s certainly not optimal, unless you actually want to store fat. So I don’t know if we have any sumo wrestlers listening to this podcast.
Stephen: Yes. If you are a sumo wrestler, do comment below because I’d love to hear from you. Because I don’t know any sumo wrestlers. I know most sports, I have friends in most sports, but no sumo wrestlers.
Mark: No sumo wrestlers, right. But yes, if you were a sumo wrestler, that would be a good breakfast probably. You wouldn’t feel great about it.
Stephen: Now on that, sumo wrestlers don’t actually have breakfast. They eat – now there’s another way, isn’t it? That would have been another one. I’m just going to kill it now. Sumo wrestlers eat one meal a day.
Mark: Yes, one sometimes. Occasionally, two.
Stephen: A massive meal, and then sleep pretty much the rest of the day.
Mark: They sleep, yes. They spend a lot of time sleeping.
Stephen: And their meal is going to consist of loads of carbs and…
Mark: Sugary.
Stephen: Sugary foods. And they eat as much as they can in that one meal, and then don’t eat again. So that’s just a little side point. We can kind of call that 1.5 or 1.2. That if you want to put on weight and fat, have one meal a day. So anyway, getting back to the point about if you do want to put on weight, then having a pastry mixed with a cappuccino or any one of those sorts of drinks for breakfast is ideal.
Mark: Exactly. So let’s just clarify again, and I think I’m going to say this at the end of each point. Don’t do this if you want to lose weight and you want to lose body fat, which pretty much I’m 100% sure most people listening to this podcast want to do is lose weight. Just do the opposite of what we’re saying.
Stephen: Exactly. So Mark, what’s your point?
Mark: So, my point was, number two, it was to train a certain way. Basically, do lots of long steady state cardio work. Now, it’s kind of a bit of a tough one to say because you’re not going to put on loads and loads of weight doing that, like for most people. But then, you’re going to put on weight. You’re going to put on body fat. Your body fat around your stomach is going to increase and your muscle tone will not increase. If you’re not increasing muscle, you’re generally going to be increasing fat. So basically, you got to think of something. If it stays the same, if it doesn’t increase, nothing ever stays the same and it goes down. Right? So your muscle will be dropping and your body fat will therefore be increasing.
Stephen: In fact, I literally spoke to a lady just today. Someone who does an hour-and-a-half of exercise like six times a week, I think. I think almost every day, but an awful lot of exercise. But, as Mark was saying, not the right sort because she’s putting a lot of stress on her body, producing a lot of Cortisol, which we’ve talked about, which is the stress hormone which actually encourages you to store fat, particularly around your stomach.
We’re actually having a discussion with all the trainers in Milton Keynes and Bedford, all the different personal trainers. Everyone, we get together once a week to kind of learn and discuss things. And Cortisol and Insulin was actually one of those discussion hot topics this week where we were talking about what happens is when you produce too much Cortisol, your body doesn’t like it. So in this case, if you’re doing too much steady state cardiovascular type exercise, you’ll produce too much Cortisol.
Stephen: But also on that, doing things, like you say, cardiovascular exercise, but also, exercising for too long. That has the same effect. So if you’re exercising for more than an hour. After 42 minutes, basically. And that’s because you can’t keep the correct intensity up. So someone, let’s say, they’re working hard for an hour-and-a-half. That’s not very often true because you can’t work at the right level for an hour-and-a-half because if you are able to do that for an hour-and-a-half, you’re not working on the right level.
Mark: And just to clarify that point, Stephen, that when you say they’re not working intensely enough, a lot of people would be like, “Oh no, I am. I’m working as hard as I can.” Basically, what he means is that you’re not going to be – like for example, if you lifted a weight at the beginning of the session compared to if you lift a weight at the end of an hour-and-a-half, it’s not going to be the same weight. It will be less at the end. And therefore, that small amount of weight doesn’t elicit the right response. Okay? So in a…
Stephen: Hormonally. We can get complex, but hormonally, you won’t be able to elicit the right response. But anyway, getting back to what I was talking about, when you’re doing that sort of long steady state exercise or exercising too long, that Cortisol stress hormone is raised. The one that causes fat storage, particularly around your stomach. Now, your body doesn’t like having high Cortisol. So what it does is raise a hormone that drops that Cortisol, which is Insulin.
So then, what happens is the Insulin shuttles any sugar and stuff – we’ll call it sugar – around your blood. It shuttles it out of your bloodstream. Therefore, what happens is your blood sugar drops, which then means you get low blood sugar. And what happens when you have low blood sugar? You crave sugary foods. Something that you really – because your blood sugar drops that fast, you’re really looking for something sugary, and that tends to be processed sugary foods which aren’t great for fat loss. So when you then eat that sugary food and that food is not great for you, that in turn raises Cortisol, so you end up having this Insulin – and I know moving my hands is probably not the best for a podcast, but you have this Insulin-Cortisol seesaw which encourages fat storage around your stomach and you just store fat.
Mark: Exactly. Who would have thought that just doing long steady state cardio would lead to that answer.
Stephen: Or training too long.
Mark: Or training too long would lead to that answer.
Stephen: You’re much better working out hard for 45 minutes. Really working out hard for 45 minutes. That’s what gets you the result.
Mark: And that’s going to be settled by sessions for that as well for optimal amounts of time. And basically, like if you knew that you weren’t going to get as good results doing more time, you wouldn’t do longer. Longer is not always better, unless you really enjoy it. Therefore, you love doing it. That’s completely different. But for most people, doing shorter sessions is better.
Stephen: And actually, just to clarify that point further, so some people just love training and they have more time for some reason, whatever it is. I know there’s a lot of teachers at this time of year, they have more time in their hands and they want to exercise more. The best thing you can do is actually do two separate sessions in a day. So, for example, we have people that do transformation camp in the morning and then in the evening or personal training in the morning and then again in the evening, if for some reason they have more time. They tend not to do that for long periods of time, but if you did want to do more because you have…
Mark: It’s better to split it up.
Stephen: It’s better to split it up.
Mark: Exactly. Alright! So that was number two. So that’s your second way of putting on fat and putting on weight, if you wish. Basically, as we’ve said, do the opposite of it. Number three, Stephen. I’m going to knock it across to you. You’re looking blank at me. Get it up with your own shot.
Stephen: Number three. So the third best way to put on fat, and we discussed and I…
Mark: You’ve gone blank.
Stephen: I’ve gone blank. I can’t remember what it was.
Mark: Well, let’s while you’re – you see how I have to carry him on this thing? It’s kind of I am the brains as Stephen tries to hide, but we have to keep carrying on. Let’s go back to the second point of meal frequency, or 1.2 which is meal frequency, because this is something – and we’ve spoken about it in a previous podcast, the intimate on fasting podcast, where a lot of fitness guys are chucking us around because it kind of seems sexy, that eating less frequently is actually better. But we wholeheartedly go against that, and as we’ve suggested before, if you want to be a sumo wrestler and put on lots of weight, you want to have one meal and a massive meal. So, do the opposite. We do do not just for metabolism and things, but more sanity and adherence to our nutrition, is you want to never really be hungry because that is where you end up having to use your will power, and most people’s will power, as we torture, always breaks. I mean, I think the only person whose will power never broke was Jack Bauer in 24. That’s the only person whose will power never breaks. So don’t beat yourself in that situation and starve yourself for certain periods of time, thinking that you’re going to lose weight because you’re going to…
Stephen: The Gladiator.
Mark: I think his will broke there.
Stephen: No, his will didn’t break.
Mark: Spartacus. That’s another one. There you go. Which is interesting. If you want something relaxing to reduce your stress levels and Cortisol levels, watch Spartacus.
Stephen: I’m not sure that’s probably a popular recommendation. Possibly.
Mark: I don’t know. All you chaps out there, watch Spartacus. It’s a great series. And there are actually ladies who really enjoy it too. But that will reduce your stress levels. Anyway, Stephen, have you remembered?
Stephen: Yes. I just remembered. Stupid of me. This is why I would normally make a note, but I just thought I’d try and wing it today and see how that went. Obviously, a note for next time. The third best way, I think, to put on fat would be to think that you’re able to eat crazily from Friday through to Sunday and still lose fat. So basically, what I’m saying is think that any healthy food habits you have can be thrown out of the window because it’s the weekend and you can do that all weekend. So, a lot of people that I’ve spoken to in the past, what they can tend to get into the habit of actually doing is having a bad meal Friday, or what some might say a meal that they know is not particularly congruent with what they want to achieve. And then, allowing that to flow into Saturday and then Sunday so that they’re literally eating poorly over the whole weekend.
So they might miss Saturday’s breakfast because they’re still feeling a little bit ropey from Friday night, whether it was just the meal or the sugar that caused it or alcohol, and then lunch tends not to be good, and from then you’re all downhill. So, it’s not physically possible. Very, very, very few people are genetically gifted enough to be able to still lose body fat and eat bad food all weekend. And actually, you’d know you were that genetically gifted because you wouldn’t actually be having to lose weight in the first place anyway because you wouldn’t have put it on in the first place.
Mark: And it’s very rare too.
Stephen: And plus, it’s becoming more and more important to me to impress on people how important food is for health – disease prevention and being able to just live a healthy life. So I’ve seen all the stats on yes, as a society we live longer, but we live less healthily. And the number of people I know, every single person listening to this podcast will know someone that’s ill in some way, whether it be cancers and things like that. Now, food is a massive part of being able to, one – I’m not saying it’s possible to stop yourself getting these diseases. However, if you were to get them, you are able to deal with them and fight them a lot, lot better, the healthier you are. And two, they have been proven to minimize your risks of getting any of these diseases. I’ll have a standup fight with anyone that wants to say, “Oh, but you could get run over by a bus tomorrow.” When someone says that to me, and I’m 30, because they are saying, “Oh you eat healthily, you can’t be living life.”
I’m like, well, for one, it never comes from someone that’s happier than me. Number two, I make sure I look left and right when I walk out the door anyway. So I’m going to get run over by a bus. And the stats on that, you’re very unlikely to. And three, it tends to be as an excuse because if it’s from someone that’s really, really happy and satisfied and healthy, then I would take that advice. But I’ve had that occurring to me a couple of times very recently, and it does annoy me because one…
Mark: What do you feel like doing when they say that to you, Stephen?
Stephen: I don’t tend to argue because there’s no point. There’s no point in wasting my energy. But I thought I’d mention it here because the thing is, you live a long life, and I would much prefer to live that as healthily as possible.
Mark: Let me interject there because I bet you’ll find this interesting. If you’re eating a certain way or you’re exercising a certain way, people are always very easy to tell you, “Oh, why are you doing that? You could get run over by a bus” or “That’s stupid if you get run over by a bus.” But I’ve never once in my life watched someone and then told them you shouldn’t be doing that. It’s going to make you live less longer. I only ever give someone advice if they ask for it. Yet people that see you eating a certain way or doing a certain thing which is termed healthy, they are very easy and think that they can just chuck it out there. What are you doing that for and kind of question you or have a go at you without you actually ever asking for it.
Stephen: Well, actually, when any intellectual person would be able to say they’re actually treating their body with a lot more respect and are thinking a lot more about the future, and that’s the one thing I am kind of really wanting to try and become more aware of, is how important – like he said, you can get run over by a bus tomorrow, which obviously we know is just silly. I actually even looked up the stats on what the possibility of that is and it’s very low. But we are very fortunate to live longer and longer nowadays, but there’s a big difference between living that healthily and just living it.
Mark: Exactly.
Stephen: You’d be really, really naïve or you’d be kidding yourself if you don’t think how you eat and how you exercise, how you live your life now doesn’t have an impact on that.
Mark: No one’s saying you have to be a nun. That’s not what we’re saying and I hope that’s not what you’re getting from these podcasts, but it’s about 0knowing what to do. And so, that’s why we’ve done this podcast, is so you know if you’re having a bagel and cappuccino every morning from a BP service station and still thinking why am I not losing weight, then obviously, that’s going to help, knowing that that’s the best way to put on weight. But anyway, I kind of just got a little aggressive there.
Stephen: Excited.
Mark: Yes. So that was another way of putting on weight. So that is basically, just to clarify, do the opposites to what we have said. Don’t do those things if you want to lose weight because as we’ve just explained, they’ll all be the best way for you putting on weight. We go through this with all of our Milton Keynes boot camp and Bedford boot camp clients. So we always constantly have to try and educate. Like I’m just going back to that point of outside influences. We’ve done a few podcasting on this. Just this next week, note down how many people try to “negatize” you and that kind of thing.
Stephen: I don’t think that’s a word, but we’ve…
Mark: We’re creating that. We’re creating it. Check it out. It would be on Wikipedia soon. They negatize you in terms of what you’re doing without you asking them for their opinion because you’ll find that there’s a lot and you’ll notice it.
Stephen: As if you’re harming them in some ways.
Mark: Exactly. They’ll say they’re doing it for your own good, but actually, they’re self-imposing their own.
Stephen: Because they’re feeling…
Mark: They’re feeling annoyed that they can’t stick to anything, or they want to be healthier, but they don’t have the will power or the wherewithal to learn and do it themselves. So they’ll put it on you and try and make you feel bad. If someone’s giving me a hard time, it’s because they’re having a hard time.
Stephen: Very good point.
Mark: But that was a little slide point. Anyway, I think that’s enough of our ramblings for today, and I hope you gained a lot of what not to do. But like we say, don’t do what we’ve just said and do the opposite. I’d love to hear your comments. Do comment in the box below, even on Facebook, on the blog using the blog comments. Stephen, you want to say something?
Stephen: Oh, I just want to say thanks to Liza who have us a lovely little present for the DVCC trainers as well.
Mark: Oh yes.
Stephen: She’s doing awesomely. So I know she listens to this podcast so there’s a little shout out.
Mark: Thank you Liza. Thank you very much!
Stephen: Let’s speak soon.
So, this is Mark and Steve from TheDVCC.com. See you next week!
