Category: training

Fat Isn’t Evil: It’s Essential

Picking up from where we left off last week — we’ve already dismantled the myths around protein and carbohydrates, now it’s time to put the final macronutrient into proper context.

In Week 3, we covered nutrient timing and why eating with intention matters. In Week 4, we cleared the air around carbs, showing they’re a necessary tool for fueling performance, not something to fear.

This week, we’re doing the same with fat, one of the most demonized and misunderstood components of the human diet.

Why This Matters:

Most people trying to ‘eat healthy’ unknowingly sabotage their energy, focus, and results by fearing fat. Understanding the truth lets you make smarter, less stressful choices in and out of the gym.

The Problem: Fat Got Blamed for What Sugar (and Sedentary Living) Did

The war on fat started in the 1970s and 80s, pushing people toward fat-free everything, from cookies to frozen dinners. What happened next?
• Obesity skyrocketed.
• Type 2 diabetes surged.
• People got sicker, not healthier.

Why? Because removing fat didn’t remove the problem. It just made food more processed, more sugary, and less satisfying.

Question:

Ever skip the avocado on your salad because you thought it was ‘too fattening’, then ended up hungry an hour later? Now, youre beginning to pick up what I’m puttin’ down.

What Fat Actually Does in the Body

Fat isn’t the enemy. It’s a required nutrient for:
• Hormone production (testosterone, estrogen, cortisol)
• Brain health and cognition
• Joint lubrication and recovery
• Fat-soluble vitamin absorption (A, D, E, and K)
• Cellular structure (yes, your cells are literally built from it)

But here’s the key: fat is fuel for low-intensity output and recovery, not high-performance explosive training. That’s where carbs step in.

Quick Fat Facts:

• Unsaturated fats (olive oil, nuts, avocado, fatty fish) support heart and brain health.

• Saturated fats (animal fats, butter, coconut oil) are fine in moderation, especially from whole foods.

• Trans fats (partially hydrogenated oils) are in a different league; avoid them entirely. They wreak havoc on cholesterol and inflammation.

You need both fat and carbs, but at the right doses for the right goals.

Data Point:

Fat slows gastric emptying, helping you feel fuller for longer—a secret weapon against late-night snacking (British Journal of Nutrition, 2021).

Why “Healthy Fats” Doesn’t Mean “Unlimited Fats”

Yes, olive oil, avocado, nuts, and salmon are great, but overconsumption is still overconsumption.

Fat is energy-dense.
• 1 gram of fat = 9 calories
• That’s more than double protein or carbs (4 calories per gram)

So while you need it, you don’t need as much as you might think, especially if you’re already fueling with protein and carbs.

Most Common Fat Mistake:

Dousing salads, veggies, or “healthy” bowls with extra oil or nuts. Even good fats add up fast, so measure, don’t guess.

What This Looks Like in Practice

Swap:

Instead of fat-free salad dressing (loaded with sugar), use olive oil and vinegar for flavor, better absorption of nutrients, and longer-lasting energy.

Here’s how to build smart, balanced fat intake into your day:

• Add a thumb-sized portion of fat to your main meals (nuts, oil, nut butter, avocado)
• Don’t dump oil or butter onto every dish “for health;” it adds up fast
• Keep fats lighter pre-workout, so digestion doesn’t slow you down
• Post-workout, prioritize protein + carbs, not a heavy fat load
• Evening meals can include more fats to help slow digestion and promote satiety

You don’t need to avoid fat, you need to respect it.

Visual Analogy:

Think of fat as the steady-burning logs on a campfire versus using pine needles: the dry pine needles can get the fire going, but don’t last. The logs are for warmth that lasts all night.

Now that we’ve set the record straight, here’s how to use fat like an anti-hero: deliberately, strategically, and never just because the label says “healthy.”

Action Challenge

For the next 3 days:
• Track how much fat you’re eating (rough estimate is fine)
• Identify where it’s coming from (meals vs snacks vs sauces/oils)
• Adjust one meal per day to intentionally include a measured fat source (e.g., 1 tbsp olive oil, 1/4 avocado, or 10 almonds)

You’ll start to see how easily fat sneaks in and how powerful it can be when used deliberately.

Coach’s Corner

• Fat is a recovery nutrient, not a performance one.
• Don’t go to war with it, just don’t treat it like a free-for-all either.
• Balance is your ally. Fat has its place, use it like a tool, not a reward.

Suggested Reading

“Deep Nutrition” by Dr. Cate Shanahan
A sharp breakdown of how traditional diets used fats well, and how we can reclaim that without getting lost in the noise.

Real-World Headline:

In 2024, a major study published in JAMA found that replacing just 5% of calories from saturated to unsaturated fat was associated with a significant reduction in cardiovascular risk. (Source: JAMA, April 2024)

Science Insight:

Regular consumption of omega-3 fatty acids (found in fatty fish, chia, and flaxseed) is associated with improved heart health and reduced inflammation, according to the American Heart Association (2023).

Quick Fact:

Contrary to old myths, moderate whole-egg consumption does not increase heart disease risk for most people (Harvard School of Public Health, 2022).

Key Takeaway: Your hormones, brain, and cells are built from fats. Don’t fear them, but definitely manage them.

Key Anti-Hero Move: Use fat on your terms, not the food industry’s. Portion is power.

Empowerment Challenge:

What’s one fat source you’ll add back this week? Try it, track it, and notice the difference. Anti-heroes don’t just read, they act.

What’s Coming Next

You’ve now got a full picture of the big three macros, but how do you put them together? In Week 6, we’ll map out what a real-world performance meal looks like, and how to adjust it for your goals, whether that’s training, leaning out, or staying sharp at work.

Does Nutrient Timing Matter? Yes, But Not the Way You Think

Stop obsessing over windows. Start building systems.

If you train hard, care about body composition, and want real-world energy, you’ve probably heard people say:

“You have to eat protein within 30 minutes of lifting.”
“Don’t eat carbs after 8 PM.”
“Fasting boosts growth hormone, just train fasted.”
“Breakfast is optional if your willpower is high enough.”

None of this is completely wrong, but none of them is 100% valid or effective for all, so don’t waste any mental space on them and focus on what’s been proven to work over decades.

Let’s cut through the BS.

The Truth About Nutrient Timing

Nutrient timing can matter, but it’s not the magic some claim, and it’s not completely useless like others claim.

It doesn’t override your daily totals. But it does influence:

  • How well you train.
  • How fast you recover.
  • How consistent is your energy, mood, and hunger?

Here’s the simplified hierarchy:

  1. Daily intake = most important
  2. Meal timing = performance lever
  3. Meal composition = precision tool
  4. Supplement timing = tiny bonus

Myth: If you miss the post-workout window, your workout is wasted.
Fact: Muscle protein synthesis remains elevated for hours; what matters most is your overall daily intake and rhythm.

Science Sidebar: Why does timing matter? Protein synthesis is elevated for several hours after training, so spacing protein throughout the day maximizes muscle repair. Carbohydrates around workouts help refill glycogen and lower stress hormones like cortisol.

What You Need to Know

1. Protein Timing

Protein intake is about distribution, not hitting a “window.”

Aim for:

  • 25–40g of protein per meal
  • Every 3–5 hours
  • Starting within 1–2 hours of waking
  • Ending within 2 hours post-training

Even distribution improves muscle protein synthesis, recovery, and satiety. Research shows that even protein distribution (every 3–5 hours) is linked to greater muscle protein synthesis and recovery (Areta et al., 2013).

2. Carbohydrate Timing

Carbs are fuel, especially around training.

Pre-workout: 30–60g (1–2 hours prior)
Post-workout: 30–60g + protein (within 1–2 hours)

This replenishes glycogen, blunts cortisol, and enhances recovery.
It’s not “dirty.” It’s just useful.

3. Fat Timing

Fat slows digestion. That’s helpful during the day but not ideal around training.

Keep fat moderate pre-workout. Go higher-fat during lower-carb meals later in the day.

Fat: It’s less about timing, more about portion. Eating a high-fat meal before training can slow digestion and make some people feel sluggish. Experiment with your pre-workout meals to find what feels best.

Generally: moderate fat at main meals, lower fat pre/post-workout.

Example Timing Strategy (Strength Training Day)

When I started having a balanced meal within 90 minutes of training, my recovery and afternoon energy noticeably improved.

  • 8:00 AM: 3 eggs, oats, berries (protein + carbs + fat)
  • 12:00 PM: Chicken, veggies, avocado (protein + carbs + fat)
  • 3:00 PM: Pre-workout shake 1 scoop whey + 50g carbs from a fruit source
  • 5:00 PM: Train
  • 6:30 PM: Post-workout, beef and sweet potato + Kerry gold butter (protein + carbs + fat)
  • 730/8 PM: Greek yogurt + whey or casein and a handful of nuts

Total protein: ~180-200g
Balanced carbs, front-loaded around training
Fats used to stabilize energy later

Action Challenge:

Pick one meal to move closer to your training time and one post-workout meal to optimize.

Your goal:

  • Protein: 30g
  • Carbs: 30–50g
  • Minimal fat
  • Eaten within 1–2 hours of finishing your workout

Coach’s Corner:

  • Don’t try to “hack” your metabolism with clever meal timing.
  • Build rhythm that supports your output.
  • Use timing to reduce stress, not increase it.

Suggested Reading:

“Nutrient Timing: The Future of Sports Nutrition by Ivy & Portman
A classic foundation on how timing influences performance and recovery. A bit dated, but still useful.

Key Takeaway:

Nutrient timing isn’t magic; it’s just another way to support what matters most: consistency and recovery.

Timing isn’t a rulebook. It’s a framework. Daily totals matter most, but if you train hard, timing helps you show up stronger, recover faster, and stay more consistent.

Next Week: The Carbohydrate Question

Once your daily intake is dialed in and you start thinking about timing, the next question always comes up:

“Do carbs still matter? Or should I be avoiding them?”

That’s where we’re headed next. In Week 4, we’ll break down the truth about carbs. Not hype. Not fear. Just what they actually do, and how to use them to train, recover, and function better in daily life.

How Much Protein Do You Actually Need?

Forget hype. Here’s what science and results actually say.

Protein is the most misunderstood macronutrient in nutrition. It’s essential for more than just muscles or fitness; protein underpins your energy, brain function, and long-term health.
Most people fall into one of two groups:

  • Under-eaters, living off snacks, smoothies, and “light” meals.
  • Over-obsessors, hitting 300 grams a day and still thinking it’s not enough.

Both miss the point.

The goal isn’t to chase numbers; it’s to consistently eat enough to support muscle, recovery, cognition, and metabolic health.

Let’s walk through what actually matters and help you stop guessing.

The Real Job of Protein

Protein isn’t a magic fat burner. It’s not a cheat code. It’s a raw material, and your body needs it daily for:

  • Muscle repair and growth
  • Tendon and ligament recovery
  • Immune system function
  • Neurotransmitter production
  • Skin, hair, and tissue health

No fad diet, cleanse, or cutting phase changes that. Protein is required every day, not just “on training days.”

Think of protein as the bricks and mTOR as the foreman. Without enough bricks, the foreman can’t build or repair anything.

Trust “The Science“: Protein activates a pathway called mTOR, which acts as your body’s ‘growth command center.’ When you eat enough protein, mTOR signals your cells to repair, build muscle, and recover efficiently. Skimp on protein, and that signal never fires at full strength.

Multiple studies show that eating 25–40g of protein per meal maximizes muscle protein synthesis in adults (Morton et al., 2018). People who consistently meet their protein needs tend to retain more muscle as they age and recover faster from injuries.

Myth-busting:

Myth: “Too much protein will damage your kidneys.”

Reality: For healthy people, there’s no evidence that moderate-to-high protein intake harms kidney health. (See: National Kidney Foundation, 2017)

How Much Protein You Actually Need

Here’s what current science says, without the influencer fluff:

Sedentary0.6 – 0.8 g/lb
General Training0.8 – 1.0 g/lb
Strength / Hypertrophy1.0 – 1.2 g/lb
Cutting / Deficit1.2 – 1.4 g/lb

All ranges above are based on your target body weight, not your current weight, and definitely not your high school dream-physique weight. If you’re 180-200 pounds and lifting 3–5x/week, your target likely falls around 180–200g/day — not 300g+ and not 80g from “lean” meals and vibes. Now, depending on how much intensity you’re cranking up, you’ll have an additional need for carbohydrates, not protein.

Practical Ways to Hit Your Target

Protein isn’t just chicken breast and powder. Here’s what works for me and examples of how I actually hit my numbers every day without burning out:

Solid protein sources (per serving):

  • Chicken, turkey, smoked salmon, tuna, shrimp, beef, eggs
  • Greek yogurt, cottage cheese
  • Whey, casein, or egg white protein (smartly used, not overused)
  • Protein-forward meal replacements (e.g., a “complete” protein shake, a FairLife, RX bars, jerky only when needed/planned)

Underrated strategies:

  • Aim for 25–50g of protein per meal, instead of grazing on 10g snacks. A palm-sized portion of chicken, tofu, or fish is usually around 25g of protein—use your hand as a guide if you don’t want to count.
  • Don’t rely on just dinner to “catch up”
  • Use high-protein staples to plug into busy days (e.g. 8 oz chicken = ~50g, two scoops whey = 21-25g, ½ cup of yogurt + ½ cup of cottage cheese + 1 cup of fruit of your choice)

You don’t need a perfect plan. You need a repeatable system. A “protein-first” mindset simplifies the rest of your day.

Week Two Action Challenge:

Pick 3 protein staples that match your schedule and eat them for the next 3 days.

  • These should give you 30–40g per meal.
  • Rotate them between breakfast, lunch, dinner, or post-training
  • Make it frictionless, not fancy.

The goal: clarity, consistency, and a structure that supports your real life.

Protein isn’t just for athletes; it’s for everyone who wants to stay strong, energized, and resilient for life. Just like with your habits, it’s about building a system that makes the right choice automatic.

Coach’s Corner:

  • Protein is the most forgiving macro, but only if you get enough.
  • Hit your baseline. Track it once, then automate it.
  • Build around meals, not snacks.

Suggested Reading:

“The Protein Book” by Lyle McDonald
Dense, thorough, science-backed, and extremely useful for athletes or serious lifters.

Key Takeaway:

Protein isn’t about hitting a magic number; it’s about consistently meeting your needs so you can reach your life and training goals, whatever those are.

Once you get it right, energy balance improves, recovery speeds up, and hunger stabilizes.

Everything else becomes easier.

That’s all for this week. Let me know if this helps!

New Year’s Day: The Moment Between Who You Were and Who You’re Becoming

There’s a quiet, almost sacred moment in the days around the New Year, a pause between what’s behind you and what’s ahead.

A moment when the noise drops, the pace slows, and you can finally hear yourself think.

This is the place where growth actually happens. Not in the fireworks, not in resolutions shouted into the void, but in the stillness where you decide, honestly and without ego, who you want to be in the year ahead.

Before we talk about goals, habits, or protocols, take one breath and look back at the year you lived.

Not with judgment. With gratitude.

You made it through things you didn’t plan for and didn’t ask for.
You showed up on days when the last thing you wanted was responsibility.
You trained when you were tired, worked when you were stretched thin, and grew in ways you didn’t see happening in real time.

You earned wisdom this year, through effort, mistakes, repetition, and resilience.

Before stepping forward, be sure to honor what got you here.

What the Old Year Teaches Us (If We Let It)

Every year leaves you with lessons, most of which don’t announce themselves loudly:

  • You learned what drains you and what restores you.
  • You learned who adds to your life and who subtracts from it.
  • You learned which habits pull you closer to the person you want to be, and which ones drag you away.
  • You learned exactly how strong you can be when you don’t have a choice.

And if the year felt heavy? Good. Heaviness can teach, build, and help you reveal what’s real.

Gratitude doesn’t erase difficulty, but it can help you reframe it.

The Catalyst: Where Reflection Meets Action

Reflection is where wisdom is found. Action is where progress is made.

And New Year’s Day is the catalyst between the two, the moment you get to carry forward everything that served you and release everything that didn’t.

The turning of the calendar doesn’t magically transform you. It simply provides a precise date to keep measuring from.

It’s not a “new version” of yourself, just a more consistent one.

The New Year Activation Protocol

Your blueprint for the next 30, 60, and 90 days. These are the habits that actually move the needle.

These aren’t resolutions. They’re behaviors and behaviors build identity.

No more, “New year, new me!” Nonsense.

1. Choose Your Anchor Habit

Start with one non-negotiable daily action you can sustain even on your busiest days:

  • 20-minute walk
  • Protein at every meal
  • 10 minutes of mobility
  • 15 minutes of reading each night before bed
  • One short lift session – make it 10-20 minutes to help get the ball rolling if you have to

Your anchor habit becomes the spine of your discipline.

2. Clarity Over Motivation

Motivation is a spark, but sparks fade fast. Discipline and clarity are your compass.

Define your goals in behaviors, not wishes:

No: “I want to lose weight.”
Yes: “I’m hitting my protein target daily.”

No: “I want to get healthier.”
Yes: “I’m sleeping 7-8 hours per night (and make the necessary changes to make it happen)  and 15-20 minute walk daily. ”

Specific. Measurable. Repeatable.

3. Identity-Based Goals

Willpower is unreliable. Discipline is consistent.

Decide:

“I am someone who trains.”
“I am someone who eats with intention.”
“I am someone who gets up when life knocks me down.”

Then act in alignment, chasing persistence, not perfection.

4. Protein, Hydration, Sleep – the Unbreakable Trio

Forget New Year fads. These three change everything:

  • 30–40g protein per meal
  • 2–3L water per day
  • A sleep routine (sleep hygiene) that doesn’t involve doom scrolling – think reading…a book, that’s not on your phone!

These give you strength, recovery, mental clarity, emotional bandwidth, and energy.

5. The Rhythm → Not the Rush

Don’t sprint into January. Build a rhythm you can maintain into February, March, and beyond.

Your goal isn’t intensity, it’s consistency. Next thing you know it will be January of 2027.

Why This Year Will Be Different

Because this year, you’re not chasing perfection. You’re choosing persistence and consistency in your decision-making.

You’re not rewriting or “redefining” yourself, you’re simply refining yourself. You’re not waiting to feel ready. You’re starting *now* with small, steady, confident decisions.

This is the year you build momentum quietly, relentlessly, and intentionally.

And by the time you look up, you’ll be further along than you expected, not because you changed who you are, but because you committed to who you’re becoming.

Final Note – person to person

You don’t owe the world a reinvention this year. You owe yourself consistency.

Be thankful to yourself for showing up.
Be thankful to yourself for putting in the effort.
Be thankful to yourself for your strength, discipline, humor, humility, and humanity.

On the Lunar calendar, this is the Year of the Fire Horse. In Chinese tradition, the Fire Horse isn’t about luck or superstition; it’s about momentum. It’s about energy that moves forward on its own. Strong, independent, and restless in a good way. The kind of year that rewards people who are relentlessly moving forward and who enjoy the process.

So don’t rush. Just keep moving with a purpose. Do the work that matters to you. Build your momentum quietly and simply let it compound.

Keep fueling your fire and honoring your desires. May this New Year be steady and strong, full of the kind of momentum you earn, protect, and carry with you everywhere you go.

Happy New Year, my friend. Let’s make it count.

And remember: at midnight, open the back door to release the old year and whatever hardships came with it. Then open the front door to welcome the new year in, inviting luck, health, and fresh starts.

And be sure to wish your neighbors Athbhliain faoi mhaise duit!

Onward and Upward!

Rituals and Routines: How to Stay Consistent When Life Gets Loud

There’s a reason militaries train drills, martial artists bow before stepping on the mat, and serious lifters follow the same barbell warm-ups and setups every rep: ritual anchors action.

Every time I approach the snatch or clean and jerk, my warm-up is identical. But more importantly, before each lift, my mantra is the same: strong, smooth, execute. Strong off the floor. Smooth through the transition past the knees. Execute the finish as fully and explosively as possible. That’s not superstition, it’s neurological priming.

And it’s not because rituals are magical but because they’re neurological.

Your brain craves predictability. When you repeat a behavior in the same context, you create neural pathways that make the action automatic. Decision fatigue drops. Willpower becomes irrelevant. The ritual does the thinking for you.

Routines are what you do. Rituals are what you become. And what you become is what earns you success in everything you do.

As we move into the tail end of the year, that time when holidays, social demands, stressors, and schedules swirl into chaos, it’s tempting to believe our nutrition, training, or recovery practices must go on pause.

That belief isn’t just unnecessary, it’s counterproductive.

What keeps progress intact isn’t perfection; it’s persistent, ritualized behaviors that stabilize and center the day, no matter what’s going on around you.

Build the Day on Behavioral Anchors, Not Outcomes

When people ask me how to stay consistent in “real life,” they usually mean: how do I not fall off the wagon when life gets chaotic?

The answer is simple: build it from the inside out.

Here are four anchors that form the bedrock of consistency:

  1. Movement Before Screens:
    It doesn’t have to be a full workout. But 5–10 minutes of movement (walk, stretch, bodyweight flow) before checking the phone, laptop, or email changes the tone of your entire day. Why? Because you’ve claimed the first decision. You’ve told your nervous system: I control my attention, not my inbox. That psychological win compounds throughout the day.
  2. Hydration Habit:
    A full glass of water (ideally with a pinch of sea salt and lemon if you don’t get enough salt in your diet) within 10 minutes of waking kickstarts your digestion, cognitive function, and blood pressure regulation, before that first dose of coffee.
  3. Protein-Priority Breakfast:
    Especially when life gets hectic, humans skip meals or over-rely on convenience. Anchoring your day with 30–40g of protein early (eggs/egg whites, Greek yogurt, turkey sausage, et cetera) improves neurotransmitter production and blood sugar regulation for hours. This isn’t bro-science, it’s biochemistry. Protein provides the amino acids needed for dopamine and serotonin synthesis. Skip breakfast, and you’re running on cortisol and caffeine until lunch. That’s not energy. That’s borrowed time.
  4. The 3 pm Prep Pulse:
    Set an alarm. Use it as a check-in: have I eaten enough? Do I need to prep dinner? Can I cut back on caffeine now to improve my sleep later? It’s not a full pause, just a quiet calibration. Most people crash in the afternoon because they’re reacting—grabbing sugar, slamming coffee, pushing through. The 3 pm pulse is proactive. It’s a moment to course-correct before the evening gets away from you.

None of these is radical. That’s the point.

The fitness industry profits from extremes. Thirty-day challenges. Transformation programs. Biohacking protocols that require a PhD and a trust fund. More complexity means more products to sell, more content to consume, more reasons to feel like you’re not doing enough.

But rituals win because they’re repeatable. And what’s repeatable is sustainable. And what’s sustainable is what actually changes your life.

Field Notes: Coaching in the Chaos

A few years ago, a CrossFit athlete of mine was juggling a full-time job, coaching mornings, and training for her first comp. Time was tight. Energy was tighter. She came to me overwhelmed, trying to follow a six-day training split, meal prep on Sundays, and track macros down to the gram.

“I’m doing everything right, but I feel like I’m failing,” she said.

The problem wasn’t effort. It was sustainability. So we simplified everything down to three non-negotiables:

  • Never skip breakfast (30g protein minimum)
  • Get one quality training session per day as prescribed (not six mediocre ones)
  • Set the coffee pot timer at night as a small win (and a moment of morning Zen)

That’s it. No macro tracking. No six-day splits. Just three rituals she could execute even on her worst days.

It wasn’t flashy. It was ritualized. She podiumed in her first comp three months later. Not because the rituals were magic, but because they were repeatable.

Full transparency: we also got her front squat, deadlift, and strength endurance up during that time. But here’s the thing, the PRs didn’t come from complicated programming. They came from consistent execution. Higher protein intake and quality training sessions made both the podium and the PRs possible. The rituals created the conditions for everything else to work.

Chaos Is the Test, Not the Excuse

Everyone can follow a plan when life’s calm. But performance, in sport, work, or life, is forged when conditions are not ideal.

Chaos doesn’t care about your goals. It doesn’t wait for January or “when things settle down.” Chaos is constant. Which means your rituals must be too.

The path forward isn’t motivation. It’s not willpower. It’s intentional design backed by disciplined repetition.

As the holiday season ramps up, resist the all-or-nothing mindset. Build your day on anchors, not apps. Choose a few small rituals, do them well, and repeat them until they’re part of who you are, not something you have to remember to do.

Then repeat them until you can’t get them wrong.

Consistency doesn’t come from a spreadsheet or a thirty-day challenge. It comes from rituals that show up for you when everything else is falling apart.

The reward isn’t external. It’s internal. And that’s something worth protecting.

BCAAs Are Overrated — Here’s What to Do Instead

There was a time when tossing a neon scoop of BCAAs into your shaker cup felt like a secret code, like a sign that you were truly “dialed in.” Fast forward a few years, and the science is pretty blunt: if you’re already eating enough high-quality protein, those branched-chain amino acids aren’t doing much besides lightening your wallet.

Let’s break it down.

1. You’re Already Getting Plenty

BCAAs (leucine, isoleucine, valine) are just three of the nine essential amino acids your body needs to repair and build muscle. They’re naturally found in every solid protein source: meat, fish, eggs, dairy, and even plants. In fact, most whole protein sources already contain the 2-3 grams of leucine per meal needed to maximize muscle protein synthesis, making isolated BCAA supplements redundant.

If you eat real food and hit roughly 1.6–2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, you’re already covered. Studies keep confirming it: supplementing with BCAAs doesn’t outperform simply consuming complete protein. Here’s why: muscle protein synthesis requires all nine essential amino acids to activate mTOR signaling, the metabolic pathway that triggers muscle growth. BCAAs alone can’t complete the job. Without the full amino acid lineup, your body can’t finish the muscle-building process.

Unless your diet is severely lacking protein, that fancy powder isn’t rescuing anything.

2. Pop Culture Made It Cool — But Not Useful

Let’s be honest: a lot of this stuck around because of marketing and muscle culture. The fitness industry turned hydration into a brand identity with bright colors, bold claims, and goofy influencers sipping between sets like it’s rocket fuel.

It looks serious. It feels like doing something extra. But feeling busy isn’t the same as being productive. In truth, most BCAA use today is psychological, the ritual of “recovery in a cup” more than any measurable physiological edge.

Field note: I’ve worked with hundreds of lifters and athletes and not one of them ever turned a corner in strength, body comp, or recovery because they added BCAAs. But I’ve seen countless athletes break plateaus when they fixed their sleep schedule, added 20 grams of protein to breakfast, or simply trained with more consistency. The wins come from the boring fundamentals, not the colorful supplements.

3. The Paleo/Keto Twist

Here’s where a lot of people overcomplicate it.

If you’re following Paleo or keto and already eating quality animal protein, steak, tuna, salmon, eggs, you’re getting plenty of BCAAs naturally. The supplement is redundant.

But here’s the real issue: many low-carb folks turn to BCAAs because they’re afraid strategic carbs will derail their progress. They won’t. If you’re training hard two or three times a week, your muscles need readily available fuel. Natural carb sources like fruit, bananas, berries, oranges, apples, et cetera, around your training window will do more for performance and recovery than any BCAA powder.

That’s not breaking Paleo. That’s being smart. And it’s cheaper than another tub of supplements.

4. When Supplements Actually Make Sense

To be fair, there are scenarios where amino acid supplementation has merit but even then, BCAAs aren’t your best option.

If you’re training fasted (early morning workouts before you can eat), recovering from an injury where whole food intake is compromised, or genuinely struggling to meet your protein needs through diet alone, a full EAA supplement or quality whey protein makes far more sense than BCAAs.

Why? They deliver the complete amino acid profile your body needs to rebuild tissue and trigger muscle protein synthesis, not just the marketing-friendly three. You’re getting the full toolkit, not just a hammer.

Otherwise? Eat real food, train with purpose, sleep hard, repeat. Oh, and if you’re a vegan or vegetarian, you will need to use supplements to meet your BCAA and EAA needs, but that’s a story for another time.

The Takeaway

Most people sipping BCAAs are already getting what they need from their plate.

The supplement industry thrives on making simple things feel complicated. They profit when you believe that food alone isn’t enough—that you need their powders, their timing protocols, their proprietary blends to unlock results.

But the truth is simpler and cheaper: eat quality protein, train consistently, sleep well, and your body will handle the rest. The fundamentals work. They’ve always worked. And no neon powder changes that.

Save your money for real food, a good night’s sleep, or maybe a new pair of shoes for the trail. If you’re eating enough quality protein, you’re already doing what BCAAs promise — only better, and for less.

Meal Prep for Real Life: How to Cook Once, Eat All Week

Meal prep isn’t just for the ultra-disciplined or Insta-famous. Sure, you’ve seen those photos: Tupperware lined up like soldiers, meals color-coded, macros counted. But let’s be real, that’s not most people’s life.

What if you could meal prep without spending eight hours every Sunday or needing a second fridge? Real meal prep isn’t about perfection; it’s about persistence and readiness. It’s about building a system that fits your training, work, and flexibility needs. When you fuel your life with intention, everything else sharpens into place.

Step One: Choose Your “Prep Style”

There are three main approaches to meal prep, and the one that’s best for you depends on your schedule and personality:

  1. Batch Prep (Traditional): Make full meals ahead of time. Roast a tray of chicken thighs, cook up a pot of rice, and steam some broccoli. Stack them, label them, done. Good for those who like structure and predictability.
  2. Buffet Prep (Modular): Prep components instead of full meals. Think proteins (ground beef, eggs), starches (sweet potatoes, oats), and fats (olive oil, avocado). Mix and match daily based on cravings or training demands.
  3. Half-Prep (Hybrid): Prep only the time-consuming tasks, like chopping vegetables or marinating proteins, so cooking during the week is more efficient but still flexible.

Step Two: Focus on Your Macro Anchors

Every meal should hit three pillars:

  • Protein: This is your building block. Prep double what you think you need. Think grilled chicken, grass-fed, slow-cooked pork shoulder, hard-boiled eggs, and Greek yogurt.
  • Smart Carbs: These are your fuel tanks. Rotate between your favorite veggies, white rice, potatoes, and fruit. Make them in bulk and store flat in zip-top bags to save space.
  • Healthy Fats: Olive oil, nuts, avocado, seeds. Never forget flavor is fuel, too. Keep these on hand for fast drizzles or topping swaps.

Make meals that tick the macro boxes without requiring a calculator. Example?

  • Ground turkey (who doesn’t love leftovers?) + sautéed kale + roasted sweet potato + a sprinkle of feta and olive oil.
  • Scrambled eggs + pepper and onions + chopped spinach + avocado.

Easily repeatable, nourishing, and delicious.

Step Three: Make Friends with Your Freezer

Your freezer isn’t just for waffles and ice cream. It’s your long-term meal prep MVP. Here’s how to make it work for you:

  • Buy bulk frozen vegetables and fruits.
  • Freeze leftover portions of chili, stew, or curry in single-serve containers.
  • Portion “smoothie” bags with fruits, nut butters, and protein powder. Blend them up and freeze them ahead of time – easy-peasy.
  • Store cooked rice or roasted veggies flat in freezer bags for quick reheats.

Pro tip: Label and date everything. No mystery meals!

Step Four: Build In the “Rescue Meals”

Life happens. You’ll miss a prep day, forget your lunch, or get stuck in traffic. That’s when “rescue meals” save the day:

  • Package tuna or salmon + cucumber and tomato slices + olive oil
  • Grilled steak + half a sweet potato with a dash of cinnamon + two slices of crispy bacon.
  • Hard-boiled eggs + fruit of your choice + handful of almonds

Not fancy. But fast, macro-friendly, and better than skipping meals or panic-ordering pizza.

Step Five: Keep it Repeatable

The secret to success isn’t variety, it’s consistency. Most people thrive on 2-3 breakfast options, 3-4 go-to lunches, and 4-5 dinner templates. Boring? Maybe. But boring builds bodies. Save your culinary creativity for the weekends if that’s your thing.

Meal prep isn’t about being a hero. It’s about staying disciplined and staying in the fight.

The win is showing up to train with fuel already in the tank. The win is making your life easier, one container at a time. Prep is something to be proud of and it’s a version of self-respect you can see every day.

Pick your style and start prepping, your future self will thank you.

Recovery Is Training Too

Fuel isn’t just for training — it’s for thinking, building, and recovering.

Athletes already know this truth: you don’t get stronger in the gym, you get stronger in recovery. Stress plus rest equals growth. Skip the rest, and all you get is breakdown.

In cybersecurity, it’s easy to forget this lesson. After long nights, incident responses, or big migrations, teams often jump straight into the next job. But recovery isn’t a luxury, it’s the bridge between surviving and improving. Without it, you just accumulate fatigue disguised as progress.

The Cost of Skipping Recovery

Burnout: tired minds make risky calls.
Missed lessons: incidents get fixed, but are never studied.
Fragility: systems stay brittle when they’re never given a chance to adapt.

Building Real Recovery

  • Post-incident reviews. Treat them like an athlete breaking down game tape, where the real learning happens.
  • Plan real downtime. Make sure everyone gets real rest after major efforts. Feeling worn out doesn’t show you care more; it’s a sign you need to pause.
  • Iterative improvement. Apply what you learned before running the next drill. Reflection without action is just rest, not improvement.

Fuel and Recovery: The Overlooked Half

Physical recovery doesn’t stop at rest. It’s also about what you put in your body.
Meal prep isn’t about looking good; it’s about making sure you can keep going. Drinking enough water, eating real food, and keeping your energy steady (and your blood levels in check) all week isn’t about following a trend. It’s about having the strength to do your job well.

You can’t think clearly or respond quickly if your system’s running on fumes. Whether you’re training or troubleshooting, energy is uptime.

A rule I’ve used for years: “We eat well today for optimal performance tomorrow.” That mindset changes how you plan your day, not just for food, but for everything else as well. Every decision contributes to tomorrow’s success.

When you build those habits, you stop depending on motivation to show up. Discipline becomes your safety net.

The Mindset Connection

In martial arts, you learn to reset between rounds. In strength training, deload weeks are built in by design. Cybersecurity should be no different. We don’t just patch systems; we maintain the people running them.

Recovery isn’t the end of work, it’s part of the work.

It’s where resilience grows.

Progress Isn’t Linear, in Martial Arts or Cybersecurity

Progress isn’t linear. Martial artists learn this the hard way. One day you nail a three punch combo finished with a clavicle crushing elbow; the next, you stumble over the same movement combination you were hitting regularly just a couple days before. Some weeks, you level up quickly, while others days you’ll hit stumbling blocks. Always approach your wins and losses with the same humility.

Cybersecurity follows the same rhythm. Just as martial artists face setbacks, security professionals experience their own ups and downs. You patch systems, close vulnerabilities, and tighten configurations. Then a new zero-day vulnerability emerges, or an audit reveals previously unaddressed blind spots. It feels like sliding backward.

musashi

That slide isn’t a failure, it’s where progress truly forms.

The Myth of Linear Progress

We often imagine progress as, although slow, always moving upward. Reality is less predictable.

  1. Perfection Bias
    We assume improvement should always feel smooth. However, mastery, in both martial arts and cybersecurity, is a jagged path. The dips are where the depth develops.
  2. The Comparison Trap
    We see others’ highlight reels, the black belt breaking boards, or the company posting its “zero vulnerabilities” report, and mistake it for constant progress. Behind every clean result lies a mess of mistakes, patches, and failed tests.
  3. Forgetting That Setbacks Build Strength
    Regression often signals deeper adaptation in progress. In training, it’s when you refine mechanics. In security, it’s when you reinforce foundations.

Why Steps Back Matter

Plateaus and regressions aren’t detours; they’re checkpoints. They test persistence. Anyone can stay motivated when everything goes as planned; resilience forms when it doesn’t.

They reveal gaps in fundamentals. A failed pen test or misconfigured IAM or conditional access policy highlights what needs real attention. They build humility and precision. Overconfidence blinds; setbacks sharpen focus.

On the mats and in the SOC, mastery isn’t about avoiding mistakes, it’s about learning faster from them.

The Cybersecurity Parallel

You don’t know what you don’t know so every incident teaches you something you didn’t know you needed to learn. Every vulnerability scan reveals details you may have overlooked. It isn’t failure. It’s your system adapting, like a martial artist’s mind & body.

A martial artist doesn’t quit after a rough sparring session. They analyze what went wrong, refine their techniques, and return smarter & stronger. Security teams should do the same. A missed vulnerability isn’t a defeat; it’s a mirror. It can show you where your technique slipped & where to tighten your counter-offensive skills.

From the Mats to the Data Center

Both disciplines thrive on discipline, reflection, and repitition:

Training drills = Routine audits. Each repetition builds muscle memory for fighters and for security teams.

Pad work and shadow boxing = Playbooks and runbooks. Practicing in controlled settings builds confidence under pressure.

Sparring = Incident Response sims. You can’t simulate chaos perfectly, but you can train to be calm, and respond correctly, in chaos. That’s why you just keep training and doing reps over and over because each time your partner responds differently but you’re learning to respond with the correct technique every time.

Every repetition, every submission attempt, every punch, every kick, or incident response builds competence and confidence. Every CVE update, OWASP update or vulnerability scan creates visibility and awareness.

The Real Skill of a Black Belt: The Ability to Adapt and Overcome

In martial arts, the belt color doesn’t make you untouchable; it signifies you’ve learned and adapted more than others. In cybersecurity, it’s the same. The strongest organizations aren’t flawless; they’re mobile, agile and when necessary, hostile.

Adaptation beats perfection. Reflection beats reaction. Resilience beats your comfort zone. So the next time your scan lights up with new vulnerabilities or your red team exposes a blind spot, don’t get discouraged. It’s just another training session.

Final Thought

Progress, whether in close range combat or in your code, isn’t about avoiding setbacks. It’s about showing up again after them. The real win isn’t being unbreakable, it’s being unshakable.

Keep patching. Keep learning. Keep moving. Progress isn’t linear, but staying adaptive always drives you forward. Or, as it was once famously said, “Be water my friend.”

Persistence Beats Perfection

Chasing perfection can be tempting. It makes us believe that if we get everything exactly right, like following a flawless training plan or a perfect patch cycle, we’ll be safe from risks or mistakes. But perfection is fragile. One mistake or setback, and it falls apart. That’s when persistence matters most.

Persistence, on the other hand, is unbreakable and endures where perfection falters.

Anyone who’s trained in martial arts or strength sports knows some days you set PRs, some days you don’t. Some days you win; other days, you learn. The outcome of a single session doesn’t matter; what counts is that you keep showing up.

Cybersecurity runs on the same principle. Rather than expecting flawless results, it relies on the daily commitment, running scans, monitoring logs, and applying updates, which builds resilience over time.

Why Perfection Fails

  • Unrealistic expectations: Nobody patches everything at once. Expecting to do so leads to burnout.
  • Procrastination: Waiting until you can do it “perfectly” means it never gets done.
  • Fragility: Perfection breaks under stress; persistence adapts.

Why Persistence Wins

  • Consistency compounds. One small patch today, another tomorrow, adds up to systemic strength.
  • Resilience under pressure. When incidents occur, teams that have developed daily habits respond more quickly.
  • Adaptability. Persistence isn’t rigid; it bends, adjusts, and continues forward.

The Martial Arts Parallel

Martial artists don’t achieve mastery through perfection. They drill basics until instinctive, spar, fail, and adapt. Each session is about persistence; the discipline of returning to the mat, working on strikes, footwork, counter-wrestling, etc, etc.

Cybersecurity professionals must do the same. Drill, repeat, refine, and drill some more. That way, when the attacks come, your persistence in training wins the day.

Closing Thought:
Persistence, not perfection, is the key to success. Perfection is unattainable, persistence ensures progress, and tangible results.