What's your "diet"?

[rob_s]

Recent post on suggested reading made me curious how others eat. Not so much "I have this for breakfast, this for lunch" etc. but more in terms of what your theories on good nutrition are. I have run into a lot of people that are heavily into organic food, and alkali, and the blood type diet, etc. That's the kind of thing I'm talking about. This also isn't about the latest diet craze to lose weight. This is about a what kind of eating habits you find make you the healthiest and, more importantly, feel the best and get you through the day.

I find myself striving for as much of a Paleolithic diet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleolithic_diet) as possible. From the wikipedia page, "consists mainly of meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, roots, and nuts; and excludes grains, legumes, dairy products, salt, refined sugar, and processed oils." Which is pretty accurate for what I try to do, although I confess to having a major sweet tooth and get all ADD if I don't have some kind of refined sugar after a meal. I like DumDum lollipops for this a lot. I also can't live without my cheese, so that's the dairy I have.

I tend to follow the Zone diet in terms of ratios of proteins to carbs, as well as the portion sizes and the 5 meals a day thing.

Generally speaking I find that I've done better with "diets" when I allow myself a little cheating and don't beat myself up about it. So the DumDums and the cheese to me are ways to otherwise stay on track. If I try to follow any one thing too stringently I just wind up unable to maintain things. Frankly though I don't consider dairy products to really be much of a "cheat".

I find that when I stick to my "plan" and begin each day with a workout of some sort, I can get by easily on 6 hours of sleep a night and have no energy problems throughout the day and no need at all for caffeine or sugar beyond my DumDums.

I absolutely "cheat" for convenience too. I have at least two Whopper jrs a month before my regularly scheduled shooting events, and I will eat as many as 4 McDonalds breakfast sandwiches a month as well, although lately it's been more like 2.

[extsieg]

I have been on a 4 block zone life style for 8 months now. I get buy with just plain old carbs, protein and fat. As its a life style change I refuse to even look at a Fast Food joint no matter how hungry I may be. My energy levels stay consistent thru the day in part by not spiking my system with insulin bombs.

As its a life style for me now I don't look at it as a fad diet its just the way I eat. Give the body what it needs in exact portions and you will perform better in all aspects of daily life.

[BushmasterFanBoy]

I eat a pretty varied diet. Wherever I can, I stick mostly to unprocessed foods. Very rarely do I eat something that I didn't prepare. I don't watch for nutritional content very much, I'm mostly counting calories and keeping portions small.

I try to eat 3 meals a day, with no snacking in between. I'd like to transition to a 5-6 meal a day plan, but since portions are pretty small as it is, I don't know if I'd ever get full. :eek: I'm usually a sucker for sweets, but I keep it small, and try not to beat myself up over it.

I mostly try to get a good bit of protein with each meal, and cut out the starchy stuff. I don't drink anything with caffiene, anything carbonated, or anything that's artificially sweetened, so that pretty much means milk, fruit juice, and water. Right now my big crutch is the juice, so if I run out, its milk or water, which can really make a meal go bland.

Breakfast is typically an egg with some meat (a slice of ham or 2 strips of bacon, rarely), or two eggs if there's no meat. Lunch is usually lean meat, with cottage cheese or vegetables as a side. Dinner is mostly a re-hash of lunch, just with something different to wash it down with.

In the last year, I've changed my eating habits a lot. I used to eat whenever I got bored, for any reason at all. And I'd eat whatever tasted best, too. My "diet" consisted of whatever greasy, sugary, fried, sweet, microwavable thing was in reach, lol.

[drsal]

Simple diet..low carb, moderate protein intake, daily veges, lots of water...oh yeah the occasional dunkin donuts/ twinkies do find themselves included in the diet plan.
What can I say..:p

[WS6]

60% complex carbs, 25-30% protein, 10-15% fat

Carbs happen towards the beginning of the day with some protein, and the bulk of fat and protein happens during the latter half of the day.

.75-1gal water a day,

Complex carbs come from:
Brown rice, whole-wheat bread, vegetables, and things of that nature.


Protein comes from:
Eggs, fish, chicken breast, steak, legumes

Fat comes from:
Eggs, legumes, steak

This is just a quick and dirty of how I eat when I am behaving myself. So far (before shoulder injury, which is healing swiftly), it had maintained me at around 170-175#, 10-11% body-fat, and able to bench 100# more than my weight, jog 4-5 miles breathing through my nose only, and do 15-20 pull-ups.

Nothing glorious, but I consider it "functionally" fit.

*I have lost strength due to my shoulder injury on my bench. My back/legs have not lost much, nor have my arms. My weight has fluctuated less than 3# (went from 174-176 to being 178.6# according to my digital "take a guess" accurate scale, lol) from being out of the gym for roughly a month.

[photosniper]

Very little fried food and I try to eat a lot of fruit. Diet is important but I think the fluids we put into our bodies are sometimes more important than the food.
I drink spring/purified water, coffee and limited amounts of fruit juice (limited because of all the complex sugars). I'll go weeks without soda, ice-tea, beer and other drinks and when I do drink stuff like that, I do so sparingly.
I've noticed a big difference in my overall health since I cut out the soda and sweet drinks.

[rob_s]

I agree that cutting out soda is a great way to start, but it also gets used as an excuse for making up for it in other ways. Hence the 300 lb fatbodies you see loading up at McDonalds and then topping it off with a "diet soda". :rolleyes:

[Patrick Aherne]

I feel best and lose weight when I cut out simple carbs. Based on my Dr.'s recommendation because of my family history, I find the Atkins Diet works best for me. Not the "Induction" phase that everybody tries, but can't stay on, but a limited carb, or good carb diet. I just cut out all the pasta, bread and potatoes I LOVE. I still drink a diet soda or crystal light mix. Breyer's makes a Carb Smart ice cream bar that is only 5 carbs and atkins makes a peanut nougat candy when I really need a sweet fix. I like almonds and peanuts for snacking and I try to drink > 2 liters of water per day. There is no way I could give up caffeine, but I have tried to cut back. I was drinking 6-8 cups of coffee a day, until I started having stomach problems. Now, I'm down to one or two large coffees in the am and decaf tea in the afternoon.

[30 cal slut]

in September I kinda went off the deep end and went vegetarian, sort of.

i just stopped eating meat (all kinds) and fish. i still hunt and fish, though. :confused:

i'm still eating dairy and eggs for protein.

[Derek_Connor]

I've been recently experimenting with The Paleo approach as well. So far, so good.

Pretty much, if man 'made it', I am not eating it (except whey protein, fish oil caps, multi-vit). So this means avoidance of grains, sugar, starch, HFCS, artificial sweetners, etc.

Lots of meat, coconut, more meat, sour cream, cream (no milk), veggies with full fat dressings, and a sprinkle of fruit here and there, mostly berries.

My workouts lately have dramatically increased, just recently set PRs in the bench press and deadlift. Dont know if its due to the diet, normal progress, or being more connected mind <-> body, or a combo.

[JHC]

Paleo is about as good as it gets. I like to combine this with The Warrior Diet - adjusted for my 5:30AM workouts. Fitness and nutrition has been a hobby of mine as intense as my shooting habit for quite a few decades (I'm 52 at 5' 11" and 170 with under 10% bodyfat). I've done massive protein, massive calories, vegetarian yada yada yada. Paleo with a nod to The Warrior Diet is as good as it gets - unless perhaps if you are a under 30 competitive athlete.

[MarshallDodge]

I try to cut the sugars, white bread, processed, sat fats, etc. and include fresh vegetables, fruit, and nuts in my diet. Pretty close to the Zone.

I do like the occasional ice cream and my wife made my favorite pecan pie with homemade whipped cream for Thanksgiving. I have had a small slice with a little dollop of whipped cream every day since. Today was the last piece which is both good and bad. ;)

[CoryCop25]

I am VERY interested in this thread. As a cop with swinging hours and 4 kids, it is really hard to stick to any type of regiment. I recently stopped going to the gym because I needed to cut the extra $60 a month from the budget. When I stop going to the gym, i tend to gain weight instantly! I was 187 last summer and am 215 now. I recently cut sugar COMPLETELY out of my diet and find myself craving it. I have never been one to eat sweets and now I crave them. When I do watch what I eat, I generally eat cerial and yogert for breakfast and a salad for lunch and meat for dinner.

[Azul]

Collegiate budget allows for a much less diverse diet than i would like

Carbs for me come in the form of
Baked Potatoes(sweet if possible), oatmeal, wheat bread

Proteins are
Turkey,Chicken,Fish, red meat sparingly

Vegetables i can eat about 90% of whats out there but i try to get it raw whenever possible or cooked very simply(boiled)

Schedule makes things hard but i would otherwise have much more elaborately planned meals as far as lowering calories/maximizing nutrition

I probably know the Glycemic index by heart now and have been doing increasingly well in evading Fast Food joints

Sadly though Im heavy on the caffeine, either black coffee or sugar free energy drinks. Not a consistent addiction but when its crunch time i dont see much of a choice.

I have a cheating rule in which i let myself cheat 3 meals a week, max 1 per day. Helps keep me sane

[Derek_Connor]

Cory, if you find yourself craving sugar, try increasing your healthy fat intake (saturated/mono-saturated)

I've had great success w/this..

For those of you who are interested in the Paleo approach, I regularly read these blogs (no affiliation to the owners):

Dr. Jeff Harris at PaNu (http://www.paleonu.com/)

and

Mark Sisson @ Mark's Daily Apple (http://www.marksdailyapple.com/)


There is some things in there that really go against what we've been ingrained to follow, so if it shocks you at first...its normal.

[CoryCop25]

Cory, if you find yourself craving sugar, try increasing your healthy fat intake (saturated/mono-saturated)
Will do, thanks!

[WS6]

Will do, thanks!

Fat is what is responsible for that feeling of satiety you are craving.

[Azul]

Whats the quickest source of the healthy fat, nuts?

[rob_s]

I am VERY interested in this thread. As a cop with swinging hours and 4 kids, it is really hard to stick to any type of regiment. I recently stopped going to the gym because I needed to cut the extra $60 a month from the budget. When I stop going to the gym, i tend to gain weight instantly! I was 187 last summer and am 215 now. I recently cut sugar COMPLETELY out of my diet and find myself craving it. I have never been one to eat sweets and now I crave them. When I do watch what I eat, I generally eat cerial and yogert for breakfast and a salad for lunch and meat for dinner.
Look into the Zone Diet. while not perfect, it's an established eating plan and there are lots of books on the subject. The best one is a guide to readily available restaurant, even fast food, offerings that work with the Zone. It makes it much easier to follow the plan if there are options availalbe when you're out and about.

My personal opinion is that having a plan is as important as what plan you have. Lots of people will rave about one plan or another, without ever having tried anything else, and the truth is that the plan they chose only works because almost anything is better than the horrible fast/junk food diet they were on before. Even just going from a diet of all restaurant food to a diet of eating all home-prepared food is an improvement.

[Derek_Connor]

Whats the quickest source of the healthy fat, nuts?

Rule of thumb from recent books/lit I've read and that I've used, stick with the saturated and monosatured fats. Avoid poly's.

I use alot of coconut milk, heavy whipping cream, all the saturated/mono fat in the animal meat, bacon, chicken (including the skin), beef..

Nuts I'd avoid, they are a trigger food and easy to over do on. If do want nuts, I'd go for Macadamia nuts.

[extsieg]

I started out with this free quick start guide provided by the folks over at CrossFit HQ.

ZONE Meal Plans (http://journal.crossfit.com/2004/05/zone-meal-plans-crossfit-journ.tpl)

[Cascades236]

I try to eat Paleo with the addition of milk.

I have a lot of zone recipes I use but I'm a pretty lean guy as is and wasn't seeing a lot of strict zoning.
The important part for me is to eat clean. I work nights and the added energy is noticeable.

and what would my post be without a quick recipe?

5 block smoothie:
1 oz protein powder
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup grape juice
5 tsp almonds
1 cup mixed berries (I use 6-8 frozen strawberries from Costco)

[trojanman]

Im trying the paleo and really like it so far. There are some paleo forums out there as well to help you out. I like it some dont

[Derek_Connor]

whats your definition of "eating clean"?

[gfunx2000]

I've been eating paleo recently. I have been happy with the results so far. I found myself feeling full but not satisfied for a week or so, but I've adjusted to it now. I feel much better all around. I don't have the discipline or interest at this point in life to measure and weigh out food and I don't really see it happening, plus I like to eat more than the Zone allows - no calorie restriction for me.

[GLB]

I just started the Warrior diet a little over a week into it. My energy level went up right away which is the reason I started it. Its basicly one meal a day usally at night but you can snack on fruit and veg. during the day.

[Magsz]

Derek,

Why no milk?

Its loaded with casein protein.

[Derek_Connor]

Derek,

Why no milk?

Its loaded with casein protein.



good amount of casein, with a high amount of un-needed sugar for my needs.

While it has a low glycemic load all together, I'd rather just have water. With the avoidance of grains, and cereal in general, I do not see a need for milk, in my diet.

If I need milk, I have been sticking to small amounts of almond milk, and copious amounts of coconut milk.

[Magsz]

Roger that man. Makes sense.

Ive heard great things about almond milk, tastes pretty damned good too!

[rob_s]

for those doing the paleo thing, what are you doing for breakfast? I've been eating the hell out of eggs and bacon, but I'm getting bored of that and also have concerns about all the cholesterol.

On a side note...

I want to stress that I still eat food that I enjoy and that tastes good. I think that one of the problems a lot of folks encounter when trying to eat "well" is that they take all the enjoyment out of eating. If I ever thought I needed to do the whole "8 egg whites for breakfast, plain chicken breasts every other meal, and lots of vegetables" diet I'd slit my own fucking throat as frankly life wouldn't be worth living to me if I couldn't eat good food.

It's about making choices and eating healthy, but good tasting, food instead of pure crap. Have water or (certain) fruit juices instead of a soda, have an apple or a banana, or even some yogurt, instead of cereal, etc. For awhile I was eating a lot of granola and yogurt and it tasted just as good as cereal and milk to me but has a lot more redeeming qualities to it (and it's more filling to boot).

You have to find that balance between good tasting and good for you, and make good choices.

[Magsz]

Rob,

As a former 300 pounder one of the things that makes "dieting" or accomplishing a successful lifestyle change possible is the ability to regard food as fuel.

I own a Mazda RX8 and have to run the damned thing on premium. I apply this "high grade" principle to eating. Natural foods, very little crap made by man and tons of lean protein, low GI carbs and healthy fats from nuts and whatever protein im taking in.

For me its a simple choice, i choose the performance benefits of being leaner and in better cardiovascular and muscular shape over being heavy. The better fuel i put into my body the better performance i achieve.

You're right though, variety is the spice of life but variety doesnt mean you have to fall off the wagon or "cheat" constantly.

Also, part of making the transition to a new lifestyle a successful one involves NOT being overly obsessive. When we met i was at my second heaviest having just come out of a very long relationship where i got lazy. Its pretty easy to let go sometimes. Four years ago, prior to entering my relationship i was 300 pounds and lost about 155 via diet and exercise. I was ruthless in my diet and incredibly obsessive. Look what happened, i ended up ballooning to 250ish over the course of the next four years because i let go.

Now, ive taken the lessons that ive learned and decided to focus on eating as well as i possibly can when i can but i will not fret over the random cheeseburger that you mentioned earlier. :)

If you really want to stay within the constraints of your diet find out what kind of Macronutrient values you're dealing with and change your meals around to maintain the same numbers. Its possible, it just takes a little effort.

[Derek_Connor]

Good Shit Magsz, as usual.

Rob - there is ALOT of bullshit conventional wisdom about consuming cholesterol and its relationship to actual SERUM cholesterol levels.

Long story short, eating alot of cholesterol, doesn't mean your cholesterol levels will rise. I can send you some articles that have studies this specifically.

Under the same premise, eating fat will not make you fat. Our bodies are alot more complicated than just bean counters. Our overall hormones play a massive role in how our bodies use the overall daily macronutrients.

So in short, dont throw away your egg yolks.

Eat that bacon, ham, etc. I usually have some left over dinner from the night before if all else fails.

Embrace things that taste good, aka fatty foods..

of course, all in my honest opinion. It has worked for me..(22lbs and counting in 4 months, while increasing LBM and dropping overall BF %)

When I do eat breakfest, its usually eggs/bacon. But honestly, I have such a satisfying dinner the night before, Im not that hungry in the morning.

So what I usually do is have some brown liquid goodness (coffee, not liquor) with ALOT of full fat whipping cream...

[rob_s]

Even without the cholesterol issue, I still need some variety. The cholesterol is the least of my concerns.

My metabolism is too high to miss breakfast, no matter how much dinner I eat. I wake up starving every morning, and a bigger/later dinner just makes it worse. Skipping out on the first meal just isn't an option for me, although I confess I have a cup o' joe first thing while I'm making everything else.

[Magsz]

Perhaps increasing the fat content of your dinner meal might help you feel a little fuller in the morning.

When i say fat content i dont mean go fry a shoe and down the fucker.

I mean, maybe adding a little more olive oil to your diet, or having a handful of almonds as a snack after dinner.

Im not really one that believes in the "OMG YOU CANT EAT AT NIGHT OR ELSE YOU WILL GET FAT" shtick. Your body burns calories regardless of whether or not you're awake or sleeping. In fact, i load up on casein protein via cottage cheese or a glass of milk before going to sleep since this will help repair muscle during the most important phase of muscle building, ie sleep. :)

Im hardly an expert on any of this since im still a lardass (205, havent measured my body fat but when the ex and i split up in July i was at 28% and 250 lbs, im probably down to 15-20% right now) but there's a TON of good info out there. Unfortunately, you have to sift through a shit ton of "broscience" in order to get to the good stuff.

Anyone have any opinions on my suggestions i just proposed?

[Derek_Connor]

Even without the cholesterol issue, I still need some variety. The cholesterol is the least of my concerns.

My metabolism is too high to miss breakfast, no matter how much dinner I eat. I wake up starving every morning, and a bigger/later dinner just makes it worse. Skipping out on the first meal just isn't an option for me, although I confess I have a cup o' joe first thing while I'm making everything else.



Understood...

I resort to real big omlettes with left over bacon, steak, veggies, lots of cheese if the night before was light.

Im in a hurry, I'll take half a can of coconut milk, 2 scoops of chocolate mint whey protein from ON, and some water. Mint chocolate, coconut shake. Pure awesome.

Do you need to have 'breakfest food' in the morning? Or will anything do?

My wife cannot eat left overs or anything that doesnt follow the traditional american cereal, fruit, muffin type categories.

[Magsz]

Understood...

I resort to real big omlettes with left over bacon, steak, veggies, lots of cheese if the night before was light.

Im in a hurry, I'll take half a can of coconut milk, 2 scoops of chocolate mint whey protein from ON, and some water. Mint chocolate, coconut shake. Pure awesome.

Do you need to have 'breakfest food' in the morning? Or will anything do?

My wife cannot eat left overs or anything that doesnt follow the traditional american cereal, fruit, muffin type categories.

Rofl...thats kind of funny Derek. Me, personally, i would eat fucking roadkill if it was in the fridge and didnt smell putrid and had good protein/fat content. :)

[Derek_Connor]

Rofl...thats kind of funny Derek. Me, personally, i would eat fucking roadkill if it was in the fridge and didnt smell putrid and had good protein/fat content. :)

Agreed.


I remember pan frying a buffalo burger a couple of weekends ago @ 7am because thats the only thing I had in the fridge at the moment..

She looked at me with awe.

[rob_s]

I'll eat just about anything within reason as first meal, but I do prefer "breakfast" type foods. 30+ years of eating that way. For example, I can't eat chicken in the morning.

Ideally I have bacon & eggs, or some variation thereof, at 0500, then a "shake" of some sort around 0900-1000, then "lunch" like tuna or cold cuts and carrots or an apple or banana around 1200-1300, and then whatever supper the family is having at night. I'm not interested in changing that dynamic or schedule as I still believe that skipping breakfast is fucked up and what I'm doing on my best days works for me. Just looking for some variety in that first meal.

[Derek_Connor]

When I have time I'll make pancakes from coconut meal or almond meal, and throw some real butter on them.

I'd go to amazon/barnes and noble and try to find cook books that specifically advocate coconut/almond recipes.

These will have a good 'paleo' type menus that you can refer to.

I'd even go ahead and pick up an Atkins book and take a look at his/their recipes as well. That will help keep your breakfast meal interesting...

[variablebinary]

Mostly meat, fish, veggies and fruit. Lots of water. Rice and whole grain bread. Cereal, or a bagel for breakfast.

The bulk of my daily diet consists of chicken and pork. Beef consumption is limited.

I cut back on protein shakes and things of the like because I started getting protein in my urine, which is not a good thing. For anyone loading up on protein and supplements, go see a urologist at least a couple a times a year and be sure your kidneys are in good shape.

No carbonated drinks. No alcohol. Very little fast food; say, once a month max. No cakes or cookies, and I don't have much of a sweet tooth.

At 5'11" my weight stays in the 175-180 range.

[Magsz]

Anyone on the "warrior" diet?

Seems really interesting as its pretty much the opposite of what every major nutritionist and modern dietitian is suggesting.

[extsieg]

Anyone on the "warrior" diet?

Seems really interesting as its pretty much the opposite of what every major nutritionist and modern dietitian is suggesting.


Thats because they are full of shit and don't have a clue. Ill eat what the guy who use to chase down Dinosaurs and kill them compared to the fat bodies of todays average male any day. Wii fit eh, LMFAO

[Magsz]

Thats because they are full of shit and don't have a clue. Ill eat what the guy who use to chase down Dinosaurs and kill them compared to the fat bodies of todays average male any day. Wii fit eh, LMFAO

Im just curious about the science behind the whole experience. Seems a little weird that the major selling points of the diet are contradictory to everything else thats "popular" in the dieting circles.

1. Anti small meal/4-6 meals a day.
2. Pro fasting
3. Zero emphasis on meal timing, encourages the user to gorge/binge eat.
4. Calorie counting and macronutrient consumption seems less important.

Its certainly interesting but im afraid to try it for fear of throwing my current lifestyle change out of whack.

I gained the amount of weight i gained mostly because it seemed as though i was on some variation of the warrior diet. No breakfast, small lunch and then a huge dinner. Sure, i was leading a sedentary lifestyle at the time but even with weight training, a conscious effort to eat well and a bit of dedication towards ensuring im eating enough protein, carbs and fat i still find it hard to shed unwanted weight.

Anyone else have any opinions backed by personal experience in regards to the diet?

[yallknowho]

Whats the quickest source of the healthy fat, nuts?

Raw almonds are good, but easy to eat a lot of.

[yallknowho]

Im just curious about the science behind the whole experience. Seems a little weird that the major selling points of the diet are contradictory to everything else thats "popular" in the dieting circles.

1. Anti small meal/4-6 meals a day.
2. Pro fasting
3. Zero emphasis on meal timing, encourages the user to gorge/binge eat.
4. Calorie counting and macronutrient consumption seems less important.

Its certainly interesting but im afraid to try it for fear of throwing my current lifestyle change out of whack.

I gained the amount of weight i gained mostly because it seemed as though i was on some variation of the warrior diet. No breakfast, small lunch and then a huge dinner. Sure, i was leading a sedentary lifestyle at the time but even with weight training, a conscious effort to eat well and a bit of dedication towards ensuring im eating enough protein, carbs and fat i still find it hard to shed unwanted weight.

Anyone else have any opinions backed by personal experience in regards to the diet?

I did that for a little while. drank a lot of juiced vegetables and raw almonds during the day with a big meal for dinner. I didn't do it for too long, I like to have some real food in me during the day. juicing and eating raw almonds is still a good practice though.

[GLB]

Anyone on the "warrior" diet?

Seems really interesting as its pretty much the opposite of what every major nutritionist and modern dietitian is suggesting.

I just started this diet about 3 weeks ago. So far I really like it and my energy level went up alot which is why I went on this diet.

[mskdgunman]

About three months ago, I started a traditional diet/workout program consisting of several small meals with a mix of protein and carbs coupled with weight training and cardio 6 days a week. So far, I've lost 30 pounds and dropped about 10% BMI. I'm far from an expert but I really think that while the "regular" diets may work for most people, nothing works the same for everybody. So far, the one I'm on works for me but that may change in the future.

[Powertrip]

I'm starting a combination of "Stop, Eat, Stop" with semi-paleolithic diet. This completes first week of nutrition mods, no visible results and I don't use overall weight as a fitness metric.

[JHC]

Anyone on the "warrior" diet?

Seems really interesting as its pretty much the opposite of what every major nutritionist and modern dietitian is suggesting.

Yes, for some years now. With the allowed mods to account for the early AM workouts which the author's original version didn't really provide for.

On it, I can't maintain quite as much muscle mass as when lifting and pigging out but I've got a medium frame that has never really wanted to carry a lot of muscle anyway. But now at age 52, at 5'11 and 165-170 I'm very lean and yet can manage 10 chins with a 50lb dumbell. I think this approach makes a lot of sense per the origintor's arguments.