4 Letters You Need To Understand
The guys I work with inside the builtXyou community have often been on/off “dieting” for years before joining.
They lose 10lbs, gain 15lbs back, then switch diet from paleo to keto to low card to high carb to intermittent fasting to some other thing every 4-6 or so weeks.
Gradually gaining 30-40lbs and losing the belief that they can transform their health, fitness, and physique long term in the process.
When these haphazard and random efforts inevitably stop working, I can see how it is easy to feel like your “metabolism is broken”.
No matter what you try, and there is no doubt here that you’re really trying, nothing works.
The truth is…
Your metabolism isn’t broken.
Metabolisms don’t shut down or break.
If they did, you wouldn’t be reading this.
You’d be worm food. Kaput. No more. Deadso.
It's important to understand this. Because all too often, guys hear a 30sec instagram reel from some over-caffeinated back lit numpty shouting about seed oils and artificial sweeteners who uses extreme language like “broken metabolism” and “hormone shock” or some other dross that sounds like a failed WWE wrestling character, and because it’s simple, absolute, and said with (unearned) confidence, many believe it.
Depending on how you’re feeling right now, that's luckily (or unluckily) not how this works.
4 Letters you need to know instead - TDEE
What’s actually going on is something called TDEE, which stands for Total Daily Energy Expenditure.
Your metabolism (technically your Basal Metabolic Rate or BMR) is the number of calories your body burns simply to keep you alive. That means breathing, blinking, thinking, and keeping organs operating.
Your TDEE however is your total daily energy output that includes your BMR as well as…
TEF - Thermic Effect of Food, which is the amount of calories it takes to digest your food.
IPA - Intentional Physical Exercise like a weight-training or running workout or whatever you do.
NEAT - Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis which is all the movements you do like walking to and from the bathroom, peeing, pooping, tapping your feet to your desk, typing emails, picking your nose, putting your socks on, carrying groceries, loading the kids hockey equipment into the car etc.
It all matters, but TDEE is where your biggest ROI exists when it comes to long term fat loss as highlighted in the graphic above.
Looking for ways to increase your TDEE and the component parts within it, is going to have the biggest impact on your ability to create the necessary meaningful and manageable calorie deficit needed to lose body fat long term, without taking on large amounts of fatigue as you would if you tried to workout or longer/harder.
Here however, is the kicker to TDEE and where the “broken metabolism” narrative often comes from.
When you’ve been chronically dieting for a long time (that's intentionally trying to lose body fat for 4+ months in most cases) TDEE tends to drop significantly.
Reasons for this include…
Since you're eating less your body is burning fewer calories through digestion (TEF).
You move less because your body is working to down regulate the amount of energy it is using throughout the day because it’s chronically fatigued.
As you lose that first 10lbs and your body refuses the amount of tissue it needs to sustain your baseline caloric burn also drops (BMR).
And if you’re not lifting weights in a way that is designed to help you build and sustain muscle, you’re losing precious muscle which reduces your BMR even more (as sustaining muscle is metabolically very demanding and requires more energy/calories to keep around than other tissue like fat).
So your metabolism isn’t broken but it very may have down regulated it’s productivity as a result of your chronic diet efforts.
The result is, you’re burning fewer calories than you think and so fat loss is starting to feel increasingly impossible.
This is only exacerbated if your environment and lifestyle has you desk-bound, over subscribed, skipping workouts, eating haphazard meals that are lower on essential protein than you need, and getting crap sleep with late night doom scrolling and email checking.
Though this is often the norm and you’re not alone - it doesn’t make it good. What is good is there is a solution for all of this.
Inside the builtXyou Transformation program, I build 100% custom tailored training, nutrition, and recovery protocols so that the guys I coach get long lasting results.
I meet them where they're at, and gradually we increase the challenge over the program to ensure they can abide by the principles of fat loss and muscle growth while navigating the demands of their life more efficiently and effectively too.
By following a custom strength training plan these guys build and sustain muscle so their BMR stays higher
By focusing on daily steps of 10k or more per day they increase their activity without taking on significant fatigue.By eating a protein rich diet they have the right nutrients to build and sustain muscle, they stay fuller for longer, and they increase their TEF.
By prioritizing sleep they mitigate increased hunger, limit fatigue, manage motivation, and power and recovery from training better.
By executing on these 4 key pillars day in and day out, THESE GUYS lose up to 40lbs of body fat and gain up to 5lbs of muscle in 16 weeks before transitioning into a structured and manageable maintenance phase where they learn how to sustain and build on their results long term.
By following a custom plan that is specifically designed for your goals, needs, and experiences, transforming your health, fitness, and physique won’t have to feel like an uphill battle.
TEST DRIVE THE PROGRAM FOR FREE FOR 3 WHOLE WEEKS!
There’s the great news for you! I’m offering a select few men the opportunity to test drive this exact program for 3 weeks completely for free.
By the end of the 3 wk Transformation Test Drive, you’ll have already…
Lost up to 5lbs of body fat.
Made gains in strength and performance in your training.
Know which foods to eat and how much to fuel your training and lose body fat.
Feel more energized and confident in your health, performance, and physique. ️
Have the support of a like minded group of high achieving guys who share your same struggles and successes.
Spots are limited and there is no obligation to join the full program. Apply below today.
