Tribex 500, Alpha Male, increasing metabolism, protein intake, diet information, vegetarian diet

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Q: Hey Mike,
I just ordered enough Tribex 500 for two full cycles. This should give me three month’s worth using the four weeks on/two weeks off cycle. I have been doing cardio for about two and a half months now and have dropped 10 pounds from 195 down to 185. I've also been limiting my carb intake for the same amount of time and plan to continue this indefinitely. At 6' tall, I know 185 is a reasonable weight for a larger build guy like myself, but I still have a little bit of a belly right at the belt line. I'm hoping that the Tribex and some heavy weight training will increase my metabolism enough to eat away the rest of the fat there. My main goal is to boost my strength and metabolism. I'm pretty happy with my muscle size, (I’m) just trying to break through the plateau I'm at with my belly. I'm not as concerned with the weight as much as I am concerned with burning off the excess fat and making my stomach more defined. I plan to continue my cardio routine of 45 minutes three to four days a week while I add the weight training. Is there a certain routine I should try to maximize my strength and metabolism gains? Thanks for any information you can give me.

Sincerely,
Paul B.

P.S. - I ordered the Tribex 500 based on your strong recommendation. I can't wait to see how it works out for me.

A: Paul,
Make weight training your priority and cut your cardio down to two days per week. If the cardio you do is of the low intensity variety, three days a week is okay if you want to spend the time. Cardio is just an inefficient way to burn calories. It won't add muscle, which is what drives our metabolisms. Three to five pounds of muscle will raise a man’s metabolism 6%-10% depending on genetics. That 6%-10% increase is 24/7 no matter what you're doing.

Adding muscle and changing your diet are the key factors in getting abs, with an emphasis on diet. Don’t, I repeat, don’t do your abs everyday or every other day. It’s a waste of time and effort. Performing abdominal exercises has nothing to do with getting washboard abs. Performing abdominal exercises once or twice a week is sufficient. And I’d like to point out that the abdominal muscles are phasic, meaning they’re predominantly fast twitch and respond best to lower reps in the range of six to 10. There are a lot of skinny fat people out there that continue to make cardio their priority, perform abs everyday and never improve. Don't be one of those people.

As far as Tribex goes, it’s a great product, but has been reformulated and is now called Alpha Male. I would recommend this product to anyone especially over the age of 30. Let me know how it works.

Q: Hey,
My name is Joey. I’m 20 years old and I need some advice on eating healthy to (get) in shape and to achieve muscle tone in my work outs.

I’m 5’11” and weigh 218 pounds. I need to know what the basic LIST of foods are that I can and can’t eat. Or even what time (I should eat) my last snack or meal of the day....

8:00 oatmeal and 2 boiled eggs w/o the yolk
10:00 grapefruit, or apple, or pear
12:00 whole grain turkey sandwich only lettuce and tomato no mayo or cheese
2:00 grapefruit or apple or pear
4:00 whole grain turkey sandwich only lettuce and tomato no mayo or cheese
6:00 grapefruit or apple or pear

This is my usual day of food. Do I need to add or delete any foods from my diet? I was wondering if you have a list of snacks to eat. Is peanut butter all right or should I stay away from it? I drink plenty of water all day. I really would like your help.

A: You need to increase your protein intake to at least 200gms per day. Not only is protein imperative to keep and, more importantly, add muscle, it repairs and maintains all the cells of the body too. Right now you're getting maybe 30gms/day. Is this enough to be a basically healthy average individual? Yes. But who said we want to be average? Look at the average person in our society. I want to be better than average. I want a higher quality of life physically than the average individual, especially going into middle age and beyond.

Protein also burns fat. It has been shown that individuals who increase their protein consumption burn more fat as fuel. Eat at least 30gms of protein with every meal. For instance, at 8:00 am eat an omelet made with two whole eggs, six egg whites, a little cheese, mushrooms, onions and whatever other veggies you like. If you're staying on the lean side, everything else you're consuming is good. Please see my list of banned foods and authorized foods for more information.


Q: Mike,
I've been reading some of your articles, and you say that to make gains people should eat a gram per pound of body weight. My question is, how exactly are you supposed to go about getting that much damn protein?

By that calculation, I need about 170 grams a day (I weigh 75kg, that’s about 170 pounds right?). My biggest daily portion of protein is probably from a protein bar: about 19g of protein. I eat healthily, but was frustrated when I found out that eggs only have a measly 6g of protein -- that's nothing! What am I supposed to do, eat 20 eggs a day?! I know of protein shakes, but I'm not into them and would like to avoid them if possible. I understand that plenty of other foods have lots of protein -- fish, meat, cheese, fruit -- but even then, 100g of meat apparently yields only 25 or so grams of protein.

Of course, i could eat lots and lots of food to yield the protein, but would also be consuming unholy amounts of carbs in the process - wouldn't that just make me fat?

Any feedback much appreciated.

Gareth


Q: Hey, I am e-mailing you to back up Barry's view. Ummm, look at this website and see that this view, "Vegetarian diets also help prevent heart disease," is backed up by this site, (which is written) by a physician. And I think that your testosterone levels are a lot less important than the fact that you could die from some heart disease. Just take a look at this website and tell me what you think. I am not trying to change your mind or anything, but I just want you to see that Barry is not an ignorant fool.... http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vegetarian_foods.html

Alfredo

A: Alfredo,
Thanks for the e-mail and for listing that website. I do not in any way think a vegetarian diet is unhealthy and have never said so. But, I will in fact say that there is no place for it, not even for somebody with a history of or a tendency toward heart disease. Heart health has nothing to do with the amount of fat or protein in your diet. The types of fat, sugar and high insulin levels have a much greater correlation. There are many examples of cultures around the world that have diets higher in fat and protein than ours and have much lower rates of heart disease.

We are made to eat flesh, period. Our ancestors ate two to three times the amount of protein the average person today eats. Paleolithic man consumed about the same amount of carbohydrates as we do, but not the same kinds. They ate raw edible grasses, vegetables, raw nuts and, when available, fruit. Their carbo intake yielded between 100 to 200 grams of fiber per day, which is 10 times the amount we eat today. Their diets also consisted of better fats, Omega-3's. This is mainly due to the fish and flax they consumed.

Without supplementation, it is virtually impossible for many vegetarians, especially vegan wackos, to get adequate amounts of quality protein, vitamins and minerals. And by the way, low levels of testosterone have been linked to higher risk arteriosclerosis, heart attack, brain attack and mental deterioration, and let's not forget low sex drive. And let’s not leave out prostate enlargement and cancer, which occur in a man’s life when testosterone levels are at their lowest.


Q: Thanks for the response,
I was wondering if you had a website I could show my girlfriend, because she doesn’t seem to believe me. I am telling her our sex drive will decrease, but maybe not because she has been a vegetarian for six years now and so have I, and our sex live has gotten better than before. I feel like I have more energy, but I was wondering if it was possible to get the same amount of protein without eating meat. I mean there are millions of ways of getting protein right? But which way is (the healthiest)?

A: Alfredo,
Your sex drive may not decrease as a result of being a vegetarian. Lower levels of testosterone are associated with lower sex drive most of the time but not in every case. And if you're feeling good, more power to you. Yes, you can get the same amount of protein without eating meat. Protein powders (NOT SOY) and dairy products are two great ways to get adequate quality protein. I am assuming both of you are young. Make no mistake, the longer you go without taking in optimal levels of quality protein, the more muscle you lose over time. We lose muscle as we age anyway, but those who do not pay attention to their diet lose more muscle faster. There are a lot of skinny/fat vegetarians.

Alfredo, also make sure you both are getting your Omega-3 fatty acids. Remember, fats and protein are essential to life and health. There is no such thing as an essential carbohydrate.


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