Coauthored by Dr. Eric Serrano, MD, and Scott H. Mendelson
The Super Bowl is a great opportunity to change up your nutrition approach so that you can gain muscle, lose body fat, and capture greater performance. At least one day per week should be dedicated to making strategic changes with the percentages of protein, dietary fat, and carbohydrates, which we call macronutrient cycling. Dietary fat loading, for example, breaks metabolic staleness, increases fat-burning enzymes, and naturally optimizes anabolic hormone levels.
Feast Options
Below we provide two versions of a Super Bowl feast that can easily be prepared just in time for the game. There are many versions of macronutrient cycling protocols that we use to maximize client success. The two examples below are a great way to get you started.
Macronutrient Cycling Benefits
Consuming the same ratios of dietary fats, proteins, and carbohydrates on a daily basis is a surefire way to a progress plateau. The top priority of the body is efficiency-driven by survival instincts and not looking good on the beach or winning competition performance.
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Dr. Eric Serrano, MD, reviews thousands of patient nutrition journals annually and at least 30 research journals monthly to help him think critically when developing experiments. Years of trial and error led him to nutrition theories that he put into practice with great success, including dietary fat loading. Monitoring client success and feedback helps us refine protocols to be used on a larger scale.
Various Keto Definitions and Mistakes
A low carbohydrate approach with medium dietary fat, high protein, and very low carbohydrate intake is very common during the beginning of the year, as many people are aiming to lose body fat. Many would call this a ketogenic approach while the amounts and sources of dietary fat vary widely pending the person.
Keep in mind that actual tracking of these percentages is usually a wild guess estimate for most people instead of an accurate measuring of the facts. In most cases, those following various forms of keto plans keep the carbohydrates very low, as they are easy to track. One of the many mistakes that a “keto dieter” makes is consuming the same foods in similar proportions every day of the week.
Teach the Body to Utilize More Stored Fat As Fuel
Give the body a high amount of protein on a daily basis, and the system will learn to utilize protein as a primary fuel source, especially in the absence of carbohydrates. This is not an optimal scenario, as the body is using a greater percentage of protein for energy, which leaves fewer raw materials to build muscle. To break this cycle, we add dietary fat loading at least once per week to client plans.
Dietary Fat Loading Shift
Dietary fat loading can shift the body to utilizing a greater percentage of dietary fat, which then leaves more protein materials for building muscle. Similar pathways can help the body utilize more stored fat as fuel during the many days following while fat-burning enzymes are elevated from an influx of the right dietary fat sources on the fat loading day.
Tips for Preventing Body Fat Accumulation
Look closely at food labels. Avoid soybean and canola oils, which are found within most salad dressings, dips, and other side dishes marketed to the body composition conscious consumer. Soy is what farmers give to pigs to make them fatter faster, and canola oil screws up fat cell function.
Baking chicken wings, for example, is far better than frying items, as corn oil used with fried foods is horrible for billions of your fat cells. Cage-free baked chicken wings taste better than the fried option, according to client feedback.
Alpha Omega M3, when taken with large meals, helps drive nutrients into hungry muscles instead of spilling over into fat cells. The specific ratios of ingredients Dr. Serrano developed within the Alpha Omega M3 can optimize insulin sensitivity, which is a very important natural anabolic marker of success. The body is very smart and absorbs dietary fats in a specific order.
Keep Billions of Fat Cells Clean
Fat cells are very smart and will want to take in dietary fats in a specific order, which are abundant within the Alpha Omega M3 immediately, so billions of fat cells become highly satisfied. As a result, it can be much harder for cells to absorb garbage in the blood stream, even when food choices are far less than perfect, such as the pizza you eat by accident.
Feast Option 1: Maximize Rates of Body Fat Loss and Muscle Growth at the Same Time
Benefits: Teaches the body to burn more stored fat as fuel while making more protein and raw materials available for muscle growth. Keeps carb intake low and focuses on intake of dietary fiber from vegetables to help with digestion as well as nutrient utilization.
- Baked chicken wings coated with butter from grass-fed cows and seasoning
- Chopped grass-fed beef hot dogs
- Guacamole
- Any vegetable except peas
- Hummus
- Raw nuts without added oils
- Salsa
- Pickles
- Organic salami, ham, and other sliced meat choices
- 6 Alpha Omega M3
Cheese or No Cheese?
In our experience, dairy is not helpful for body fat loss, most likely due to several factors. Keep in mind that during thousands of food allergy blood tests, Dr. Serrano’s patients, in many cases, showed very poor reactions to dairy ingredients.
We are working on the subject of food allergies, irritations, and intolerances for another article.
Consuming foods that create a poor response make body fat loss, muscle growth, and high daily energy levels next to impossible due to the distraction of bodily resources.
Feast Option 2: Maximize Muscle Growth and Strength
You can use any of the options above within Option 2.
- Beef and pork sausages from organically raised sources
- Grass-fed burger patties without buns
- 7 layer dip with cheese and sour cream, if you respond well to dairy; if not, use the other layers
- Baked potato chips with no trans fats
- A wide variety of fresh fruits
- Chocolate dipping sauce with no high fructose corn syrup
- 6 Alpha Omega M3
It is ideal to weight train one to two hours before the dietary fat loading feast with the most challenging session of the week. The right weight training approach can create excellent metabolic and hormonal conditions to make the best use out of the large influx of food.
Why Organic?
Organically raised animals consume the diet nature intended, which creates an ideal balance of nutrients. Grass-fed cows, for example, eat — you guessed it — grass, and as a result, have an excellent ratio of dietary fats, which are superior to commercially raised animals. The absence of hormones, such as estrogen and antibiotics, is also very important, as you do not want that garbage in your food and then sitting in your fat cells.
Grass-fed beef hot dogs, burgers, and sausages are widely available in grocery stores at reasonable prices while steaks have a larger price difference than commercially raised options.
Please send questions to Scott@infinityfitness.com.
Header image courtesy of elchonock @ 123rf.com
Scott H. Mendelson, director of www.InfinityFitness.com, is a highly regarded performance nutrition and training specialist. In addition to designing customized programs for his celebrity, weekend warrior and executive clients, Scott works daily with professional athletes from the NFL, NHL, MLB, NBA and NCAA. Scott has built an excellent reputation providing effective supplements, cutting-edge information, and unmatched service to thousands of clients worldwide since 1999.
Scott@infinityfitness.com Special assistant to Dr. Eric Serrano MD, Scott helps with the design of training, nutrition and supplementation trials to confirm the effectiveness of protocols and expand his expertise.
Dr. Eric Serrano, MD, is the ace sought out by elite athletes and business professionals around the world for help with the most difficult of problems. Dr. Serrano spends a majority of his time promoting the success of his family practice patients in Pickerington; a suburb of Columbus Ohio. Amongst the thousands of patients are elite athletes from around the globe who will travel to the ends of the earth to consult with Dr. Serrano.
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