"you aren't in a calorie deficit" is the new Paleo. It's a very simplistic answer to what is sometimes a complex problem.

The problem gets worse when "science friendly" sites and blogs never address the real problem with being in a calorie deficit too often. So 90% of their content sounds like "you aren't in a calorie deficit" and the other 10% sounds like "pizza is totally fine".

If you have been on every diet for the last 20-30 years and you can't figure out why your body is so stubborn this podcast will help you.

I will walk you through my mindset, I think even if you are a long time Eat To Performer you will find a few nuggets you like.

Because my last Fat Loss cycle was 2 years ago, the current (and best version) of Eat To Perform was new to me. This was my experience.

If you follow any Health and Wellness advice on YouTube you have likely seen some reference to Stephanie Buttermore's "All in" Diet. Stephanie is a former bikini/physique competitor that got a lot of followers with her EPIC cheat meal videos from the past. As a cancer researcher in real life as she moved more towards health and wellness her ALL IN diet is the first thing I have seen come along that looked THE MOST like Eat To Perform. The biggest difference being the need to gain weight to recover (she openly talks about gaining 30-35 pounds from her bikini competition days). 

So in this episode Dr. Susan and I walk you through the stage Stephanie is in, why she is recommending what she is and give some perspective on what we will be the evolution of her concept. One thing I hope comes through is that we are fans of this type of information and I routinely share Stephanie's videos.

We covered a wide range of topics starting with why noobs fail and why 15 minutes a day for the first 7 days is a game changer. We went in depth on PCOS, what we see and why we think that happens. We also walk through how your training should change as you go through each phase.

To start the podcast I walk listeners through every detail of how I lost 100 pounds and then I walk everyone through the years after. Susan provides the science of why it worked and why it's a better approach than other methods.

Inflammation is STILL the current boogeyman which makes no sense because there is a very big difference between inflammation and CHRONIC inflammation. Susan walks you through how to tell the difference.

Susan starts out the podcast talking about the fires affecting the Pacific Northwest and then we get down to business. We start off with why I think pregnancy often sends women down a dieting rabbit hole and why and then we give real data to make the point. Whether you are about to be pregnant or it was a while ago check this one out.

Towards the end of the podcast Susan and I start talking about women and strength and I begin to personalize it to me and my situation. Susan confronts me about that and from that point on we get into a great conversation about change and the discussions related to change. Too often these kinds of discussions either don't happen or are polarizing. One thing I didn't say in the podcast but I texted Susan later was this "Thanks for pointing that out, real change shouldn't be about how it affects the people outside of the issue at hand. That only distracts from the issue at hand."

One of the reasons why I think this interaction is important is because you have to surround yourself by people that are willing to speak up and challenge you and your opinions. 

We have done a of podcasts on the importance of sleep and why you need to make it a priority in your life. This is the "highlights" version.

Susan has worked with a few adventure racers and if you haven't watched the show yet one of the aspects they didn't spend a lot of time on was nutrition. That said the part they did it was very clear the role that carbs played. 

Other topics covered:

Why adventure racers need more muscle and fat on their bodies for the race.

The mental part you NEED to complete a race like that.

Towards the end we talk about how quickly the new mom recovered from her pregnancy to participate in the race.

This was supposed to be part of our short series on the Thermic Effect of Food but once we got into the episode we realized there was a lot to talk about. Everything we said led us down another rabbit hole. If you want to understand your metabolism, why and how it works take the time to listen to this.