At five months in, I’ve given a lot about what I’ve been doing since March. So what are my thoughts after these many months of bodybuilding and bro-science?
As much as it might be viewed as fringe in popular culture, bro-science works, but they are definitely taking it to an unsustainable and unnecessary extreme for most people (for example we are still cutting even though my BMI is 21, well within the normal range). It hasn’t always been easy to live this way, because it’s sometimes challenging to get 180 g of dietary protein in a day while limiting calories (it was easy at 2400 calories, but 2100 takes a little more thought), and this degree of precision calorie counting takes real thought and effort. Then again, it also isn’t especially difficult, although as a single man I have it easy. I can’t imagine doing this in the context of also feeding a family.
I have found that the dietary changes are by far the biggest and most pervasive change in my world. The dietary structure is something that I have to carry with me 24 hours a day, and can’t ever fully set aside. It influences numerous aspects of my life, my time at home, my meals at work, my downtime with friends, and my time on the road. The changes at the gym are significant, but only affect me for a limited number of hours a week, and don’t mostly affect other people. Therefore, when I look back on the past 5 months, it’s diet that earns the most attention, and it isn’t even close.
My cut so far has lasted 5 months and it truly hasn’t been hard, beyond working out the logistics. We have never run a big calorie deficit, and the meals are large, so I have rarely been hungry. In fact, I have often felt that I am eating past satiety to get to a calorie goal.
The dietary strategies Coach employed aren’t trendy or faddish. There is no intermittent fasting or keto diet. He just emphasizes working with good, solid dietary foundations, and this is something I see from most of the gymfluencers on my feed, even if some of them present the information in the worst manner possible. (Other points of view are definitely out there, but they mostly don’t seem to be coming from the protein bros.)
Basically, the bros have a lot figured out:
Diet is the foundation, and it all comes down to calories. As much as Coach emphasizes daily calorie goals, he also points out that it’s calories over time that matter the most. One day of overeating, such as a holiday, doesn’t break the bank – things only go wrong when this happens repeatedly. I have found some influencers who seem to emphasize weekly calorie counts for just this reason, but Brian is all about consistency.
Protein and fiber are both crucial because they help control satiety. The bros might be overdoing the protein for most people, but the goal numbers aren’t terribly out of the range suggested for athletes. Further, when running a deficit, higher intake may also help limit muscle loss. Finally, fiber has its own role, as I have found that a calorie deficit can be quite constipating.
Notwithstanding the stereotypes, protein bros aren’t just sitting around eating massive amounts of bland chicken and broccoli. Perhaps at one time they did this, but it just isn’t true anymore. They like the same things we all do and they want flavorful food, so they are finding creative and tasty ways to get their macros.
If you’re paying attention, however, you will find that the same high-protein foods show up repeatedly on the bro menu for a good reason: they are all protein-dense. Coach emphasizes these things as protein sources, but he also encourages a balanced diet including plenty of fruits and vegetables, which can be filling and mostly aren’t calorie-heavy. In all fairness, these are things we should probably all be doing, and things that I now do much better than I used to.
Another thing I have discovered is that when it comes to boosting protein, they aren’t all drinking a bunch of protein drinks or eating protein bars. Honestly, many of the bars don’t have that much protein for the given calorie load, and the powders and drinks are often unnecessary if you’re structuring your diet right. Both of these have a role when you need a protein or calorie boost for the day, and have I often employed them while traveling, but I haven’t found that they have much purpose on a daily basis. Finally, I would like to point out that a simple protein shake really isn’t very filling.
Although I’m easily meeting calorie and protein goals, there is one place I have often missed on my macros: fat intake (although this is getting better). I’m frequently more restrictive on dietary fat than the 30% the bros recommend, but as I see it my body mostly does a good job making fat from carbs. The exception here would be essential fatty acids, but I made sure to incorporate some of these foods into my meals and take a daily fish oil supplement.
Beyond food, Coach has consistently stressed the importance of being active on a daily basis, and set tangible goals for hydration and sleep. I now consistently get 10,000 steps a day, but moving your body only goes so far because you can’t outwork a bad diet. It’s just not possible to burn off enough calories to make up for ongoing dietary excess.
As far as the hydration goal: I’d like to point out that drinking a gallon of water a day is hard on a 50 year old man’s bladder.
One glaring thing I am compelled to address here is steroid use: the protein bros aren’t all popping pills or injecting themselves. While some are juicing shamelessly, there appears to be a bifurcation in the community on this, an its something that I have never experienced from Brian. In fact, he said again and again that there is no magic supplement, except for maybe creatine. But that one isn’t magic – it’s actually grounded in some reasonable data.
Where has all of this been the hardest? It has touched on my relationships with friends and affected my ability to have meals with them freely. At some point, I’ve learned to compensate for this by banking calories. A few days before a big meal, I cut my calories a little bit and hold them back for the big meal. The day of the meal, I push protein early to get near my goal well before dinner, and in the end, over those 4 days, I’ve probably been at or near my four-day goal for calories.
And my friends have been extraordinary. I can’t begin to express how much I appreciate their concern about me. They worried about my body dysmorphia, to which I have assured them that Coach is aware of it, wryly explaining that it’s fundamental to his business model. They also worry that I’m not eating foods I enjoy, but this also isn’t true. I love to cook, and have found and prepped new meals that I enjoy, with plenty of flavor to accompany the protein. For the largest part, I don’t use online “meal prep” recipes. Instead, I have sought out appealing recipes from cooking sites I respect and tweaked those meals to meet my macros. This is a fun and satisfying challenge for me.
I think my cut will be done soon, as I’m starting to finally see my abs peeking through. That means my calorie goal will increase, which will give me even more flexibility, although I’ll still want to be locked in and eating to a calorie goal.
I suspect I’ll be increasing carb intake a lot, and finding ways to get more food in at every meal.
I can’t wait to see what that’s going to be like.
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