Body Composition

At this point in our series, I think it is important to clarify something. When we talk about weight loss, we are not talking about losing weight indiscriminately. Losing weight indiscriminately is what people do when they diet. Most people have a mistaken understanding of weight loss versus what they really want. Indiscriminate weight loss only results in a smaller version of your former self. You may look a little better in clothes, but you do not look better naked. 

To get the look and feel of what you really want, you need to improve your body composition. Body composition is where I started in 1979 when I started my company. To improve your body composition means to get leaner. To get leaner means to lose fat and simultaneously enhance your lean body mass. Your lean body mass is your muscles, your bones, your organs and the fluids of your body. 

On one side of the balance is losing fat. Step one of losing fat is to minimize the number one cause of fatness: carbohydrates. We talked last time about glycemic load, and the incredibly powerful stimulus certain kinds of foods have on triggering the release of the most powerful fat storing hormone in the human body: insulin. Elevated insulin not only stores body fat like crazy, but it also blocks the burning of any body fat. Elevated insulin is also the major cause of inflammation. And inflammation is the root cause of all degenerative diseases: heart disease, cancer, dementia – to name a few. 
    

We began to decline as a species with the agricultural revolution less than 5,000 years ago. And the last 50 to 75 years of processed foods have been an utter disaster of massive obesity and an epidemic of diabetes. Over 90% of the contents of a supermarket is not real food. It is highly processed toxic junk. It is no wonder the cancer rate is going ballistic. It is well documented that the number one cause of all forms of cancer is sugar in all its forms solid and liquid like alcohol. 

Minimize Carbs

The answer? Minimize carbs except for low glycemic load leafy greens with olive oil or avocado oil and sea salt. The rest of our diet would ideally be healthy fat and high-quality animal protein. This is how you get your triglycerides down to 29 like me. This is how you get a lean, strong, toned attractive body to be proud of. This is how you get a crystal-clear brain and a high energy body into your 80’s and 90’s.

On the other side of the balance from body fat is lean body mass. To build and/or enhance lean body mass, we need 2 things: lots of health fat (which we will talk about in depth in a future segment) and high-quality animal protein. Your lean body mass is your metabolism. The muscles, bones and organs of your body is the metabolically active tissue. It is your lean body mass that burns calories and burns fat. Your lean body mass is your energy. The bigger, stronger and more aerobically fit your heart is, the more energy you have. 

Your heart is a muscle. Your heart is muscle tissue. It is impossible to build muscle and bone with sugar (carbohydrates). You can only build muscle including heart muscle, and bone with protein. The highest quality protein is animal protein because only animal protein contains all 8 essential amino acids simultaneously. As we have discussed before, we did not begin to grow tall, strong and smart until we began to eat animal protein and fat 2 million years ago. We thrived for 2 million years eating animal protein and fat. For hundreds of thousands of years, we were over 6 feet tall, strong and walked 15 to 20 miles a day.

Protein

The quality of your body and your health is a function of the quantity and quality of the protein you eat. According to science, the highest quality protein is whey protein isolate. That is why I do 2 of my JDD shakes every single day and have since 1998. The second highest quality animal protein in the world is pasture raised whole eggs. Which is why I eat at least 6 whole pastured raised eggs every single day. Ribeye steaks are a fantastic combination of high-quality animal protein and super healthy animal fat. I use my air fryer almost every day. A typical dinner for me is a ribeye steak and a leafy green salad. 

What are the benefits of eating this way? You will get lean. You will look and feel great. You will have the best blood results you have ever had in your life. Your clothes will be falling off. Which is ok because you will have a body you will be proud to show off. And you will have tremendous energy. Three times a week I do a walk that includes climbing 1200 stairs non-stop. I am 78 years old.

Eliminate Toxic, Processed Food

The secret? Eliminate toxic, processed food. Eat more real, foods-as-grown food like grass-fed, grass-finished ribeye steaks and pasture raised whole eggs with big orange yolks. Start your day with a JDD shake. Kick-start your post-workout recovery with a JDD shake. What have you got to lose except for a few dress sizes. 

All the photos I have included are of personal clients who are in their mid to late 50’s. The choice is yours. You can do it.

Joe

Photo by Mike Von