[John M Berardi]

It Really Is Simple
by Dr John Berardi

All day long, all across the web, folks are posting questions about why they're not losing weight, why they're not gaining weight, why their body comp isn't changing. They're frustrated, confused, and feeling helpless. However, I believe that for the majority of them, if they just made things simple, progress would follow.

So what do I mean by making things simple? Well, we know that weight loss happens only when the body is in a negative energy balance. And we know that weight gain happens only when the body is in a positive energy balance.

From this knowledge, 2 things can be derived:

1) If you aren't losing...
You're not in a negative energy balance

2) If you aren't gaining...
You're not in a positive energy balance

Of course, it does get a bit more complex than this but again, most get lost in the complexity. So let's keep it simple for now.

Weight Loss
Assuming you're eating PN style, training at least 5 hours per week, and still not losing, the explanation is simple. You're not losing because, for whatever reason, you're not in a negative energy balance.

So you must create one. How can you do that? Well, there are 3 viable ways:

1) Eat less
2) Exercise more
3) Eat less and exercise more

In the end, it's pretty simple, no? Typically I recommend the following strategy (again, assuming you're following PN style eating and training at least 5 hours per week yet have stagnated):

1) Increase exercise volume to 7 hours per week

2) If stagnation occurs again, decrease calories

3) If stagnation occurs again, increase exercise to 9 hours per week

4) If stagnation occurs again, decrease calories

Your upper limit of exercise volume may be 10-12 hours per week so make sure to cap it there while manipulating calories the rest of the way.

Weight Gain
We just covered weight loss - but what about weight gain? Assuming you're eating PN style, training at least 5 hours per week, and still aren't gaining, the reason i simple. You're not gaining because, for whatever reason, you're not in a positive energy balance.

So you must create one. How can you do that? Well, there are 3 ways:

1) Eat more
2) Exercise less
3) Eat more and exercise less

(Note: when trying to gain weight, it's important, however, to maintain your exercise volume at about 4-5 hours per week as you still need a strong stimulus for muscle growth.)

So, again, I recommend the following strategy (again, assuming you're following PN style eating and training at least 5 hours per week yet have stagnated):

1) Increase calorie intake

2) If stagnation occurs, decrease non-weight training calorie expenditure and make sure your weight training is stimulating growth

3) If stagnation occurs again, increase caloires again and continue to manipulate them as you don't want your exercise volume to fall too much.

In the end, if followed properly, these steps outlined above produce success in 99.9% of all of the individuals I've worked with in my career. Only those with serious medical issues don't respond. So make sure that during the course of the PN Body Transformation Challenge, you remember these simple lessons. Having learned them there's absolutely no excuse for not getting closer to your goals.

[Ryan D Andrews]

Can I get a Amen!

[tictac]

Amen brother i hear you

[Embassy]

This appears, at least subjectively, to be working for me in my lack of progress on my first two weeks. I raised road mileage, weight workout volume, and dialed back the calories a tick.. and I have decent subjective progress. Measurement day is Sunday, so we'll see what the results are when we do the numbers.

[CoachPiuze]

Amen too! Kind of KISS principle , thanks doc!

[krinsh]

Yes; it is certainly working - exercising more - I took stock of my exercise routine and kicked it up a severe amount; people who hadn't seen me for a few weeks were commenting on the positive changes. It's interesting - I'm not losing weight; but definitely changing my body composition for the better - at least if I'm getting these caliper thingies right....

[Krista Schaus]

I have printed this off for a friend of mine who really needs this info. Good timing, thanks,.

K

[ryany]

I have a very frail young lady who wants to put on some muscle again. To take the simple strategy and tweak it some more, should she be more focussed on increasing calorie intake through protein, carbs, fats or does it not really matter.

Thanks
PS I am a newbie to the site, all the way from downunder. So G'day to you all and thanks for the awesome posts.

[Krista Schaus]

She needs to do the following:

EAT
TRAIN
EAT
REST
GROW...

That's the simple approach.

Now her best breakdown of C/F/P will be determined over time as you gauge her results, but to start just hard training and consistently good eating (protein emphasized but no skimping on quality carbs) will be what is needed.

K

[mqgeek]

What is included in exercise volume?