The Biggest Myths About Fat Loss - The Fitness Chef | Modern Wisdom Podcast 309

1. 0:00 – 15:00

   They tested a low…

   1. GTGraeme Tomlinson0:00

      They tested a low carb group and a low fat group. They equated calories and protein in each group, so they're eating the same amount of calories, same amount of protein, and then they just wanted to see which group resulted in more fat loss, and they couldn't find any difference.

   2. CWChris Williamson0:16

      (wind blowing) Graham Tomlinson, welcome to the show.

   3. GTGraeme Tomlinson0:20

      Thanks for having me. How are you doing?

   4. CWChris Williamson0:21

      I'm well, man. I went to Leeds and back today, and this is how downregulated the stimulus of my life has become. I've spent so much time in the same four walls that a journey to Leeds and back actually felt like an adventure. I spent three and a half hours in the car and, and literally felt like I'd gone on holiday.

   5. GTGraeme Tomlinson0:40

      Well, talking of holidays, it doesn't look like that's going to happen anytime, anytime soon. Um, yeah, it's been a funny, funny year, hasn't it, with lockdown? And to be honest, I don't know about you, but it hasn't actually affected me that much because, like yourself, I'm kind of working from home anyway. And the only thing that's changed for me is not being able to go abroad or get on a plane to go to London or something like that.

   6. CWChris Williamson1:05

      Yeah.

   7. GTGraeme Tomlinson1:05

      And obviously, obviously, not seeing family and friends is, um, not great. But yeah, in terms of work, everyday life, it's, it's not that much different.

   8. CWChris Williamson1:15

      No.

   9. GTGraeme Tomlinson1:15

      And at the start, it was actually quite nice. (laughs)

   10. CWChris Williamson1:18

       Dude-

   11. GTGraeme Tomlinson1:18

       But it's a bit much now.

   12. CWChris Williamson1:19

       ... I said, I said that every introvert, it's now their dream. You know, you don't have to go and do all of the social events that you never enjoyed, but I, I'm, u- perfectly fine working on my own, doing my solitary stuff, but after 12 months of being in exactly the same location, even I... Like, and if I'm starting to push it, then for the people that are listening who are really social and, and used to going out and spending tons of time with their friends and... It, it really is challenging. So yeah, man, I'm looking forward... Even if we can't go abroad, I'm just looking forward to, to Leeds, West Yorkshire, not somehow feeling like I should be grateful for it. I shouldn't be grateful for the fucking A1.

   13. GTGraeme Tomlinson1:58

       (laughs)

   14. CWChris Williamson1:58

       Do you know what I mean? Like this isn't, this isn't-

   15. GTGraeme Tomlinson2:00

       Yeah.

   16. CWChris Williamson2:00

       ... me taking a, taking a trip to somewhere exotic. But anyway, anyway, we-

   17. GTGraeme Tomlinson2:03

       (laughs)

   18. CWChris Williamson2:03

       ... are going to talk about fat loss today. You are The Fitness Chef on Instagram. You are red pilling people on how to really understand calories from foods, what they think is happening, what's actually happening, and the truth behind weight loss. What are the most common errors that you see people making when they're trying to lose weight?

   19. GTGraeme Tomlinson2:24

       Um, I think one of them is, is not understanding what you, you were just saying there. Understanding that, A, you need a, a calorie deficit, so consume less calories than you use each day, um, to lose fat. That is the principle. That is not a method. That is literally the only physiological way you can lose fat. So unfortunately, unfortunately, it's not sexy enough to be marketed, so it kind of misses a lot of people. So a lot of people start trying to lose fat without even understanding that basic element that's required. Um, and so once you start from there and you start going on an, uh, an extreme intervention like low carb or keto or whatever it is, and you don't understand about calorie balance, you're almost setting yourself up for failure. Um, another one would be, even if you do understand that you need the calorie deficit, is making it unsustainable. In other words, having it ultra restrictive and aggressive. So for myself, I know my maintenance calories would be around about 2,200, 2,400, um, for my activity level. And, you know, for the average female, it could be, I don't know, 1,700 to 1,900. But when they go on these calorie counting apps like MyFitnessPal, it asks them, "How much weight do you want to lose?" Gives them an option and it'll be like, "One pound a week, two pounds, three pounds." Of course you're going to select the biggest amount of weight loss. Why wouldn't you? I would do that. Um, but unfortunately, what that does is, is that formulates a calorie target of something like 1,000 to 1,200 calories, which yes, it's a calorie deficit, but it's quite extreme and unsustainable. Um, you'll be very hungry and it'll be difficult to adhere to it. And the most important thing about fat loss isn't the calorie deficit, it's actually adhering to the calorie deficit over a period of time. So those are probably the two main things, um, that I would say that are very basic for people to understand.

   20. CWChris Williamson4:19

       What's the maximum weight loss per week that you think people should comfortably aim for?

   21. GTGraeme Tomlinson4:24

       To be honest-

   22. CWChris Williamson4:24

       They're not, they're not a pro bodybuilder. They haven't got some MMA fight coming up.

   23. GTGraeme Tomlinson4:29

       Yeah, that's a, a very interesting question because you could easily a- answer that and say it doesn't matter because it's just a number on the scale. Now, people do like to measure their weight loss progress by weighing themselves every week. And over a period of weeks and months, if you lose body weight, you will definitely be losing body fat, right? But if I was to weigh myself today and then next Tuesday, I could have lost weight, but it might not be body fat. I could have gained weight. It might not be body fat. Um, so from that perspective, I would just say if you do want to measure a number, I would say one pound a week, the minimum. You know, the minimum, and that's the most achievable thing that you can do. If you do that every week for a year, that's a lot of weight. (laughs) But unfortunately, people don't tend to think with that mindset. They're thinking, "Holiday in two weeks, have to lose it all by then," or, "Getting married in two months. I've n- I've done nothing about it, and now I'm gonna, you know, do a juice cleanse or something like that." So something crazy.

   24. CWChris Williamson5:32

       Even one pound a week is 3,500 cals, right? Which is a 500 calorie per day deficit, which is still quite a significant deficit to be in.

   25. GTGraeme Tomlinson5:40

       (laughs) It's massive.

   26. CWChris Williamson5:40

       If you think that for a girl on an absolute top end, they would maybe get 2,000 calories, that's a quarter. You're talking about a quarter every single day, not including a refeed, not including a cheat day. And that's just to break one pound, half a kilo a week.

   27. GTGraeme Tomlinson5:57

       Yeah. And even if you had weeks where you didn't lose fat, you know, it, it can happen. Things come up, you know? Well, in a few months time, a few nights out, hopefully. Um, and so even if it was half a pound a week, that's still a lot of weight over a period of time.... and-- but we just don't think like that when we're starting out, a lot of people. Because the solutions that are in front of us are shiny and promise the outcome, you know, "You will look like this in a month or two weeks," that's what people are focusing on, um, unfortunately. And that's why they're kind of diving into these ultra-restrictive calorie deficits, um, which, to be honest, are fantastic for boxers (laughs) , um, you know, if they want to cut weight dramatically, um, but not for the average person who, you know ... and hopefully enjoys things like bread and donuts and lasagna, you know, things like that.

   28. CWChris Williamson6:49

       To the uninitiated that are listening, how is it that you can still get to eat bread and sugary foods and lasagna and still lose weight? Is there such a thing as a good food or a bad food?

   29. GTGraeme Tomlinson7:04

       So, there can't be such a thing as a good food or a bad food. Food is simply different, um, again, that could just be my opinion. But objectively looking at, say, a chocolate bar or an avocado, if the quantities of both were 200 calories, we can see that the avocado has micronutrients, a little bit of fiber in there, beneficial fats, but still 200 calories. That's the energy value, and that's the thing that's related to the body fat, at the end of the day. The chocolate bar will have 200 calories and probably minimal nutrients. Um, certainly no fiber. So yeah, I mean, y- you can, you can weigh it up. And I think ... I always try and get people to understand the two different facets, so energy, the calories in food, and also the n- nutritional value and the fiber value, things that are going to benefit your overall health and influence your, your next decision. You know, if something satiates you and fills you up, it's more likely that you're ... or sorry, less likely that you're going to eat, uh, more calories than you should. So, I think, you know, this good and bad thing, I think it's a little bit pedantic of me to say, "Nothing can ever be good or bad." I think it's more a case of, there can be a, a good or a bad overall diet, AKA one that supports you or doesn't support you. But as an individual choice, like one meal out of a week is one meal out of 21 meals. You know, if that was something that was double the calories than you normally have, it's not going to make much difference, as long as all the other meals are kind of still supporting you. So yeah, I ... it's one of my kind of pet hates is when I say people saying, "I've been good," or, "I've been bad." Because what it does is, when, when people eat something like a pizza or a chocolate bar, they feel guilty. Um, of course, if they were doing that every day, potentially, it's not very ... it's not gonna be optimal for them. But if they're doing it in moderation and they understand more about the food they're eating, it's a lot easier for them to make informed decisions about what they're eating.

   30. CWChris Williamson9:05

       So, getting on to some of the biggest myths of fat loss, there's been ... If, if this is the case, 'cause I remember when If It Fit Your Macros came out, -ish, came out, came out publicly, um-
2. 15:00 – 30:00

   Why do you think…

   1. GTGraeme Tomlinson15:00

      sort of study that's been done, because people talk about showing evidence, but actually, there's a lot of bad evidence out there (laughs) as well. Like, anybody could do a study and publish it. That's why you kind of want to look for systematic reviews or reviews or e- meta-analysis, because it's like all the studies done on any given question, such as do carbs make you fat. You're, you're more likely to get a more reliable answer if you look at that kind of data, as opposed to just one individual study that was done in 1993 which supports your bias. And there you go, that supports it. But I'm saying, "Well, hang on, yeah, but what about, what about this? You know, I, I see what you're saying there with that evidence, but can you not appreciate what I'm showing here?" "Nope." (laughs) Um, and then-

   2. CWChris Williamson15:46

      Why do you think it is, why do you think it is that people are so patriotic about the dietary team that they're on?

   3. GTGraeme Tomlinson15:54

      It's crazy. It's definitely getting worse, I think, um-

   4. CWChris Williamson15:57

      Is that right? 'Cause I, I don't-

   5. GTGraeme Tomlinson15:59

      ... I think-

   6. CWChris Williamson15:59

      ... I, I only see these discussions when I observe you or James Smith or Dhiren or any other of the vanguard of, like-

   7. GTGraeme Tomlinson16:11

      (laughs)

   8. CWChris Williamson16:11

      ... British argumentative blokes on the internet-

   9. GTGraeme Tomlinson16:17

      (laughs)

   10. CWChris Williamson16:17

       ... killing, killing the dreams of some marketer out there. Um-

   11. GTGraeme Tomlinson16:21

       (laughs) Yeah.

   12. CWChris Williamson16:21

       ... I, I only ever observe it happen, right? So I only get to see a tiny little sliver. But you reckon it's getting worse?

   13. GTGraeme Tomlinson16:28

       Yeah. I, I just think people's ability to even debate ... You know, I'd quite happily ... if somebody wrote a comment saying, "Yeah, but I don't agree with that, respectfully, because look at this and this and this," I would be more than happy to admit that I was wrong if I had kind of jumped the gun on something or not appreciated the other side of someone's argument. Um, in fact, I've maybe done that in the past. Um, but it just, um, it's more the argumentative kind of nature of people's comments. It's more like they're just angry and they want to project that instead of them actually wanting a discussion that's going to help either one of us. Um, so yeah, it's very difficult to communicate with people like that. But it is tribal. I think it possibly started with, with veganism, you know, because y- my sister's a vegan and, you know, she's nice person. (laughs) But you, (laughs) but you will get people out there who are just wanting to project, almost i- an authoritarian manner, how everybody should be doing things, and they just can't take it when someone else wants to do something different, because they're entitled to. Um-

   14. CWChris Williamson17:35

       Is that not the same way as it is with everything at the moment though? So think about-

   15. GTGraeme Tomlinson17:39

       Yeah. It's-

   16. CWChris Williamson17:40

       ... the patriotism that you see between people's political parties at the moment or towards a social cause or towards a particular type of injustice or whatever it is. I think, uh, this is a rabbit hole we don't need to go down, but the collapse of grand narratives, the lack of a religion to hang on to, the fact that you don't have any greater sense of purpose, it's a meritocracy, you are your job, you are your possessions, you are your follower count. People are looking for their new gods, and they appear to be finding them inside of a diet book at the moment.

   17. GTGraeme Tomlinson18:08

       Or a social media account or a plethora of s- a small kind of niche of social media accounts. That's a great point. You know, as, um, you know, our kind of age group, I certainly...... a lot of my mates aren't religious, and probably my parents aren't religious either. So it probably stretches to people who are kind of in their 50s or 60s as well. So yeah, it's, it could be that as human beings, we're always craving something to follow, something to believe in. That's why, like, I support Liverpool at football, stupidly sometimes. (laughs)

   18. CWChris Williamson18:39

       (laughs)

   19. GTGraeme Tomlinson18:39

       Um, (laughs) this season anyway. It's like, why did I pick them and why do I get so worked up when I watch them on TV? It's, you know, looking at it objectively, it's just a football match, you know. If they win or lose, it has no impact on my life at all. (laughs)

   20. CWChris Williamson18:53

       And yet it does, emotionally, massively.

   21. GTGraeme Tomlinson18:55

       Oh yeah, it does, yeah.

   22. CWChris Williamson18:55

       Yeah, yeah, exactly.

   23. GTGraeme Tomlinson18:56

       We're all guilty of it.

   24. CWChris Williamson18:56

       I had, um, I had a sociologist on the show a couple of months ago, a guy called Rob Henderson, who's a good buddy, and he told me that up until 2012, supporters of the Democratic Party in America loved their party more than they disliked the other one. And that was the same for Republicans as well. But after 2012, people that voted Democrat, voted Democrat because they hated the other party more than they liked their own. We're literally ... the, the compulsion that we have now is an in-group, out-group relationship, where all that we're bothered about is not being the out group, as opposed to actually being the in-group. And I think what you see here is we just want to feel like we're a part of a team, a part of a crowd. Like if you're some 39-year-old triathlete, club level triathlete, who is adamant that low carb is the way to go, and all of your waking hours are spent researching the different type of bike clip mechanism that you're going to use, and the new type of shoes, and you're waiting for race weekend to come around, that's your world. And if you are just as patriotic about that, it feels when someone says, "Yeah, b- mate, but it's only calories, bro. Like, low, low carb is for people with epilepsy and type two diabetes. It doesn't matter." That doesn't just feel like a critique of the food that you're putting in your mouth. It feels like an existential threat against your ego. Feels like someone's trying to destroy your identity.

   25. GTGraeme Tomlinson20:26

       It's an attack, isn't it? And before actually sitting back and thinking a- about, you know, assessing what information that they're seeing, it's an immediate impulse reaction, isn't it, to go and comment and say, "You're wrong." You know, and it's, um ... I think we all do it but s- to some degree, but I certainly notice it, uh, on social media with when it comes to nutrition. I've, I've had posts, you know, things like avocado toast versus Nutella toast, just displaying the simple facts. There you go. You do what you like. Um, you can have either. You know, displaying the facts about diet s- um, soft drinks, you know, that they don't cause cancer despite all these conspiracies, and they don't make you fat 'cause they've got zero calories. They don't raise insulin 'cause they've got zero calories. But people are just like, "Yeah, but it's poison, bro." (laughs) And it's just like, well, what can you say to that? Y- you know, if it was poison, people would be dying. Poison's in a dose.

   26. CWChris Williamson21:19

       Has there been ... Have there been any studies that have shown links with artificial sweeteners?

   27. GTGraeme Tomlinson21:25

       In, in rats, um, a- a- a while ago, but in human beings, there's, there's none. I mean, that's to my knowledge. Uh, you know, I think the most recent meta-analysis was done in 2015, um, and it had over half a million participants there, and it showed no carcinogenic properties within diet soft drinks. Specifically, it was aspartame. So there are other sweeteners, but aspartame is the one that gets labeled as ...

   28. CWChris Williamson21:51

       One of the most researched-

   29. GTGraeme Tomlinson21:54

       Yeah.

   30. CWChris Williamson21:54

       ... food supplements in the world, right?
3. 30:00 – 45:00

   (laughs) …

   1. GTGraeme Tomlinson30:00

      I don't know, 1000, 2,500, maybe 3000 calories a day, and female from like 1700 to 2200. So it's going to be roughly ballpark for most people. Um, yeah, I, to be honest, it's something that's still being researched quite a lot, but from the evidence that I've seen, it's definitely a better idea to-... aim for kind of 20 to, to 40 gram servings of protein rather than, for example, at the end of the day, realizing that you haven't eaten much protein and you try and whack in, like, 100 grams or something-

   2. CWChris Williamson30:34

      (laughs)

   3. GTGraeme Tomlinson30:34

      ... um, in one meal.

   4. CWChris Williamson30:36

      That's what I'm thinking about the, related to-

   5. GTGraeme Tomlinson30:38

      Yeah.

   6. CWChris Williamson30:38

      ... having an intermittent fasting window. That inevitably if you've got an upper bound of about 30 grams that you can absorb optimally within one sitting, how long is the reset window between that? Do you know?

   7. GTGraeme Tomlinson30:54

      Uh, no. I think it would be... No, that's something I'd probably have to have a look at actually. Um, whether it's relevant for somebody who's trying to lose weight, I'm not sure. But for somebody who's trying to build muscle, that's definitely something that they should kind of think about. Um, but I guess some of the research that I've seen, I don't know if you've seen some of Alan Aragon's stuff, he's sort of talking about every possibly three to four hours having more protein. Um, I think that's certainly in research showing to be be- beneficial for muscle gain. For fat loss, I'm not sure that it really matters-

   8. CWChris Williamson31:33

      Mm-hmm. That's interesting.

   9. GTGraeme Tomlinson31:34

      ... um, how regularly you have it. Um, just because for muscle gain, you are... I mean, intermittent fasting for muscle gain might not be the best idea because you are depleting yourself for a long period of time. And of course, yes, you can be losing fat during that time for, for as energy, but also muscle. You know, muscle's probably the first thing that's going to be burned before fat there. Um, so yeah. That's, it's interesting.

   10. CWChris Williamson32:00

       Yeah, it is. I was definitely thinking that. I remember seeing Dan Bilzerian talk about his approach to diet, and his approach to diet is to just have 25 grams of protein every two hours that he's awake. That's, that's all that he does. So he'll have a protein bar, then he'll have a shake, then he'll have a little food. I mean, w- when you're constantly surrounded-

   11. GTGraeme Tomlinson32:23

       Yeah.

   12. CWChris Williamson32:23

       ... by w- when you live in the Maldives or wherever it is, he can just get tapas presumably on, like he just clicks-

   13. GTGraeme Tomlinson32:31

       (laughs)

   14. CWChris Williamson32:31

       ... he clicks his fingers and some-

   15. GTGraeme Tomlinson32:32

       On tap, yeah.

   16. CWChris Williamson32:32

       ... some, some handsome Spanish waiter comes over with, with a pinion and, like, delivers him some, some nice sort of seafood paella or something like that. But yeah, and that, that really stuck with me because it made think, okay, if there's an upper bound on how much protein you can absorb, if we're focusing on muscle gain, upper bound on how much protein that you can absorb within a particular window, let's say that it's a couple of hours, and you need to be hitting maybe 160 to 180 to maybe even 200 grams of protein per day if you're a all right size guy who's been training for a little while with a bit of mass on and you're going for that two to sort of two and a half grams per kilo of body weight, you're, e- you have to eat more-

   17. GTGraeme Tomlinson33:12

       You have to, yeah.

   18. CWChris Williamson33:13

       ... consistently or else you're getting to the point where, right, here's 300 grams of chicken breasts that I'm just gonna have in one meal. And that's going to be, what, 75 grams-ish of protein, between 60 and 75 grams of protein you're gonna get out of 300 grams of chicken breast? But based-

   19. GTGraeme Tomlinson33:31

       Maybe more. Yeah, maybe more.

   20. CWChris Williamson33:32

       ... based on what we just said there-

   21. GTGraeme Tomlinson33:34

       Maybe more. And, and-

   22. CWChris Williamson33:34

       ... that's not even gonna be absorbed.

   23. GTGraeme Tomlinson33:35

       Yeah.

   24. CWChris Williamson33:35

       So, it does need to be little and often for those people perhaps.

   25. GTGraeme Tomlinson33:40

       Absolutely. And also, you, I guess for somebody who's training quite regularly, maybe training twice a day, h- having the fuel to fuel that workout makes sense. You can have protein before that in a balanced meal s- you know, within an hour to two hours afterwards to start recovery, and then later in the day maybe having an evening meal. So, that's things that are kind of r- meals that are required for the training to optimize the training anyway. So, I guess i- for a lot of people, it would already be in place. Um, but certainly for muscle gain, it's something that people probably... Yeah, it can probably get a bit much. It's like, "Oh my god, another meal." You know? (laughs) You, you, you know, you're probably full and it's eight o'clock at night, and you know, you're trying to, you're trying to get that surplus up there, you're trying to get the protein up there and you realize that you still have another 30 grams of protein to hit. You know, I guess you could have something like a protein shake. But yeah, it's, it's tough. It's a lot more intricate gaining muscle than it is losing fat.

   26. CWChris Williamson34:41

       You think so?

   27. GTGraeme Tomlinson34:41

       And I mean that physiologically. But psychologically, it's probably harder to lose fat for, for people who have ingrained beliefs, ingrained habits, and it's just about trying to shift that to change their behaviors over time. Whereas for muscle gain, it's more, yes, you do need to s- to appreciate how much protein you're eating, how many calories you're eating here, what's the progressive overload on your training and stimulus. All this kind of stuff. Um, so s- that can be psychological as well, but I think it's more kind of psychological for, for fat loss when it comes to that.

   28. CWChris Williamson35:12

       I'd agree. I think-

   29. GTGraeme Tomlinson35:13

       Yeah.

   30. CWChris Williamson35:15

       ... nobody stumbles onto consuming 200 grams of protein a day. Nobody, nobody in history has ever accidentally consumed 200 grams of protein. The only person that's ever done that is someone who's going out of their way to hit a protein target. In the same way as no one ever in history has accidentally been in a consistent calorie deficit for a long time. It's not you, you have to do it to achieve the thing that gets you the output that you want for fat loss-
4. 45:00 – 1:00:00

   What does the evidence…

   1. GTGraeme Tomlinson45:00

      go back to what you were doing before that was creating the problem. So what I always say to people is instead of having a calorie target per day, have it per week. So say it was 2000 calories, over seven days that would be 14,000. And that allows someone the flexibility to know that they can go out and go over by 700 calories and the next day it's fine. You know, just reduce the next few days by a hundred calories each or something like that, um, just to be more flexible. But yeah, in terms of low calorie diets, if somebody really enjoys eating 500 calories a day and they do that for a significant period of time, they will lose a lot of body fat and it will be quicker than if they just had a gradual, say, 20%, 15% calorie deficit, which is going to be slower, but in the long run, more likely to be successful. So there's two options there.

   2. CWChris Williamson45:54

      What does the evidence say about juicing and detox?

   3. GTGraeme Tomlinson45:58

      Well, to be honest, there's none. So it, well, there's not much out there. So the claim is that if you go on a juice cleanse or a detox, you are presumably detoxing your organs. I mean, a lot of the, the businesses that promote these things don't actually know what they're, what they're saying. It's just like a bunch of words saying, "You're gonna cleanse your organs, lose weight," just all the buzzwords really. But logic would tell you that unless you don't have organs like kidneys and lungs and liver and skin, unless you don't have those, y- you know, you will be detoxing naturally anyway. That's what they do. So there's no need, you cannot detox. And then things like, uh, we've seen crazy things like coffee enemas. Um, well, I haven't seen them, thank God, but I've heard of them. (laughs) Um, Jesus. Yeah, that would be... Uh, I'd just quit. I'd just move to a remote island, just spend the rest of my days looking at the, the waves, I think if I saw that. But yeah, you got all, all kind of these things, um, some of them promoted by medical practitioners as well, which is hard because they're supposed to be trustworthy sources of information and advice. Um, yeah, and you're saying there, like a juice diet, some people do that for fat loss because it's ultra-low calorie. Um, so if they did it, I mean, what's the most popular one? Lose seven pounds in seven days. So a lot of people do it for seven days, lose the weight, and then just go back to their old habits. So in a couple weeks' time, they're back to square one, you know, completely pointless. They've just shelled out 300 quid for a juicer, 200 quid on ingredients, felt like crap, shitting themselves (laughs) at work, you know, all this kind of stuff's just completely ridiculous. Um, yeah, but that's kind of where we are.

   4. CWChris Williamson47:50

      And then-

   5. GTGraeme Tomlinson47:50

      That's, that's the p- the power of marketing

   6. CWChris Williamson47:52

      Boom Bod is the desiccated power- powder version of a juice cleanse, right?

   7. GTGraeme Tomlinson47:58

      Yeah. The... So the, the Boom Bod bases its claim on glucomannan, however you pronounce that word, um, which is basically something that suppresses appetite, and there is some evidence to support that. But is that something that we really want to be promoting to essentially young women, maybe teenage, uh, women? Um, because a lot of the influencers that were... I mean, it's not happening so much now because fortunately so many of us have called it out. (laughs)

   8. CWChris Williamson48:27

      Dude, that was like...

   9. GTGraeme Tomlinson48:28

      Yeah.

   10. CWChris Williamson48:29

       You remember, you know the final scene-

   11. GTGraeme Tomlinson48:31

       A couple years ago.

   12. CWChris Williamson48:31

       You know the final scene in Avengers where the-

   13. GTGraeme Tomlinson48:37

       (laughs)

   14. CWChris Williamson48:37

       ... the entire... You got the Wakanda people, you got those big slugs floating through the air, Spider-Man's back, like Thor's just come, Iron Man's leading the way. Like that was what it was like. It was all hands on deck. The-... Lord of the- Lord of the Rings, that, the Battle of the Two Towers. It was precisely-

   15. GTGraeme Tomlinson48:55

       Yeah, epic. (laughs)

   16. CWChris Williamson48:55

       ... precisely, it was. Um, but God, what a s-

   17. GTGraeme Tomlinson48:58

       But you know what? I- I think-

   18. CWChris Williamson48:58

       ... what a sight to behold.

   19. GTGraeme Tomlinson49:00

       ... I think it was because the marketers are obviously just thinking about who's the target market, who's gonna fall for this.

   20. CWChris Williamson49:07

       Yeah.

   21. GTGraeme Tomlinson49:08

       And it, it'd be impressionable young people, you know. Remember when you were a teenager? I'm the same. I would've done anything. Um, and unfortunately, they're, they were targeting, you know, these kind of reality TV celebrities, you know, really strong followings, really popular, and there we go. Um, and that's what was happening. But I don't think they appreciated the evidence-based community within the industry and how it was just gonna immediately go for that. And not just evidence, just-

   22. CWChris Williamson49:35

       Eviscerate them.

   23. GTGraeme Tomlinson49:37

       Yeah, just peop- you know, people who just know when something's wrong-

   24. CWChris Williamson49:41

       Playing common fucking sense.

   25. GTGraeme Tomlinson49:42

       ... regardless.

   26. CWChris Williamson49:43

       Yeah.

   27. GTGraeme Tomlinson49:43

       Yeah, yeah, exactly. And, and to be honest, the influencers who were promoting it, part of me feels sorry for them because they probably just didn't appreciate that either, probably not educated in basic nutrition. And they're just seeing it as-

   28. CWChris Williamson49:56

       They were caught in the crossfire.

   29. GTGraeme Tomlinson49:57

       ... a means to get money. Yeah. So I kind of do sympathize with them a little bit, but at the same time, you need to kind of research what you're promoting at the same time, you know? There's not really m- many excuses.

   30. CWChris Williamson50:07

       I've said it on the show, man. We, we have a lot of sponsors on here, and I don't promote anything if I haven't used it. Athletic Greens reached out to me. I used the product for all of 2021 up until March before I agreed to do anything with them, 'cause I was like, "I wanna see what this product's like." It's not enough that Tim Ferriss thinks it's good. I wanna actually see if I rate it. And this is the one part that I, I think is one of the best externalities of there being almost like a call-out culture for bullshit now with regards to fitness-
5. 1:00:00 – 1:13:16

   (laughs) …

   1. GTGraeme Tomlinson1:00:00

      I would definitely say unless you're vegan or vegetarian, focusing on lean sources of protein is gonna kill two birds with one stone. It's gonna get your protein level up there and it's not gonna result in excessive calories. So something like a chicken breast, 100 grams of that, you're talking about 100 to 130 calories if it's not got the skin on compared to like a steak, which would be a lot more than that. Um, but obviously that's providing a high level of protein and protein as well. So lean sources of, of meat, plenty of fruits and vegetables. Um, you know, filling your plate with, with vegetables is, is a great way to kind of reduce the calorie content and increase the volume. Same with fruit as well. If you're somebody who's trying to lose fat and love snacking all the time, but you're snacking on things like millionaire shortbread, which is like 150 calories per centimeter. (laughs)

   2. CWChris Williamson1:00:53

      (laughs)

   3. GTGraeme Tomlinson1:00:53

      It's not quite that, but, but something like that.... you know? Yes, have that now and again, but having some high volume foods like fruit or low-fat Greek yogurt, maybe a scoop of whey protein in there, you know, those types of things are going to make you full hopefully, um, provide you with micronutrients for your overall health, but also get the volume up so that you're, you're, you're feeling full and you're m- less likely to eat for longer, which is going to support a calorie deficit. But I think all-

   4. CWChris Williamson1:01:22

      Have you tried, um, have you tried this ka- uh, Lindal's Kvarg stuff? It's a... It looks like a yogurt-

   5. GTGraeme Tomlinson1:01:30

      Y- yogurt.

   6. CWChris Williamson1:01:30

      ... but it's, it's technically a, um, cottage cheese, a flavor, a sweet flavored cottage cheese.

   7. GTGraeme Tomlinson1:01:37

      Ah.

   8. CWChris Williamson1:01:37

      Um, so you can get it-

   9. GTGraeme Tomlinson1:01:38

      Kind of like Quark?

   10. CWChris Williamson1:01:39

       Yeah, it's very similar to Quark. So some of them are cottage cheese and some of them are Quarks.

   11. GTGraeme Tomlinson1:01:42

       Oh, yeah, yeah.

   12. CWChris Williamson1:01:42

       Um, dude, they have completely revolutionized the yogurt game with this.

   13. GTGraeme Tomlinson1:01:48

       I'll have to try them.

   14. CWChris Williamson1:01:49

       Asda.

   15. GTGraeme Tomlinson1:01:49

       W- do you get them in all the supermarkets or Asda?

   16. CWChris Williamson1:01:50

       Yeah. The- they're everywhere, but Asda certainly has a big, a big group of them. So, Skyr have now brought out an increased protein, small version of a pot. And it's... The macros on the back of it, it's like Harry Potter's cupboard or something. Absolutely insane.

   17. GTGraeme Tomlinson1:02:07

       (laughs)

   18. CWChris Williamson1:02:07

       So it just tastes, it tastes like a thick, nice yogurt.

   19. GTGraeme Tomlinson1:02:10

       Yeah.

   20. CWChris Williamson1:02:10

       But is zero grams of fat, like 0.5 or one grams of carbs and 18 grams of protein. I'm like, "This is just a, this-"

   21. GTGraeme Tomlinson1:02:19

       So it's under 100 calories.

   22. CWChris Williamson1:02:20

       "This is just a protein supplement." It's mad.

   23. GTGraeme Tomlinson1:02:22

       Yeah.

   24. CWChris Williamson1:02:22

       So the ones that-

   25. GTGraeme Tomlinson1:02:23

       That tastes good, so it's like, you're going to eat that. And presumably it's, uh, you get it flavored as well maybe, or-

   26. CWChris Williamson1:02:28

       Oh, yeah. Dude, they've gone-

   27. GTGraeme Tomlinson1:02:30

       Yeah.

   28. CWChris Williamson1:02:30

       They've really gone quite sophisticated with it. There's like lemon cheesecake flavor, there's strawberry shortbread flavor. All with these macronutrient profiles.

   29. GTGraeme Tomlinson1:02:37

       I'm getting all that.

   30. CWChris Williamson1:02:37

       It's... Uh, I'm telling you, so if you are considering you're getting back into the gym, you're thinking, "Right, I need to, I need to get back on my diet." That's such a good hack. Um, charity popcorn, low calorie popcorn-

Episode duration: 1:13:17