LIVE Q&A Session: 01/12/2023 - #AskTyrone

Hey guys, what's up and welcome to yet another weekly Q&A. This week we've had a few questions come in, 4 so far, uh, so I'll do my best to get those answered as quickly as possible. But as I always say to you guys, you know I like to go into detail, so we may be here a little while. Now of course today is the 1st of December. Now that in itself is not particularly significant, but obviously this time of year we tend to be very busy. And as a result, many of us tend to have this tendency to kind of throw our health and our focus on ourselves out the window a bit. It's like everything else becomes more important, everyone else becomes more important, and we just find it harder and harder to find time for ourselves. Now, the catch with this, of course, is we already find it hard to find time for ourselves, but now we have the added bonus of Christmas as an additional excuse things are going to be too busy, I've got too much going on, it's too hectic, I've got Christmas meals and family dos and this and that, so there's just no point. I'm going to be binging and eating crap all the time or drinking and so on, so there's no point looking after myself. Now, of course, being the health guy, I would argue otherwise and suggest that you do your best at least to kind of damage control or damage limitation in terms of taking care of yourself as much as you can so that you can indulge in Christmas and the festivities and the fun and all the treats, sweets, snacks, etc., but without sacrificing your health too much or at all. For many of us, if we, if we keep a good level as a general rule, as in terms of, for example, the 80/20 rule where 80% of the time you're taking care of yourself, 20% of the time you maybe let yourself go a bit, then most of us can actually continue to get results right throughout Christmas. But still also allow ourselves to indulge, have some fun, and kind of relax a bit and not be too strict or too overly focused on making sure that we're doing the health thing correctly. So that's all I'll leave you with today. I won't rant at you all and sort of try and scare you all into being good boys and good girls over Christmas. So as I say, we've got 4 questions today. Uh, some about food, some about exercise. Uh, one is also, uh, more of a lifestyle question, um, but it will actually come into a lot of our mindset type stuff. So we'll get started on those. Now, our first question is meal portion sizes and high protein foods. I think I know what I should be doing, but somehow still seem to, to get lost and make mistakes. Okay, cool. So portion sizes in reality will come down to, well, what is your specific goal? Now, the reason I say that is because if my goal is to build muscle, my portions and my portion ratios are going to be different to if I'm trying to burn fat. But as a general rule, if it's a case of, well, I've gotten out of shape, I'm tired, I'm lethargic, I'm, you know, my— I'm a bit stiff and achy, I'm trying to get fitter, I'm I wanna be leaner and I want to be healthier, then as a general rule, what I recommend you do is use your hand as your portion size guide. Now, for example, when it comes to proteins, we would have 2 palm-sized portions per main meal. So that's the size and the thickness of your palm becomes the protein portion size. Now, most of us men, we need higher levels of protein. We tend to eat, either not enough, or if we are getting enough in terms of total grams, the quality tends to be quite low because we're often indulging in too many things that we maybe shouldn't be eating. So what we want is obviously high-quality protein where possible. Now, when it comes to proteins, we're talking things like your meat, fish, eggs, dairy, nuts, seeds, legumes. They would all come under the protein sort of category. We can also include protein supplements and things like that. High quality where possible. But generally speaking, animal foods and so on are your best sources, your best go-to sources for high quality protein. And as I say, for each of your main meals— breakfast, lunch, dinner— we want that 2 palm-sized portions per main meal. Now, once we've got our protein established on the plate, then we're looking at, okay, well, what about my, my veg? How much veg do I need? Now, if we're looking to lose weight, we want anywhere between 2 and 3 Fist-sized portions of veg on the plate. For many of you, that might sound a lot. It's like, what the fuck? I don't eat anywhere near that. That's part of the problem. Unfortunately, you don't eat anywhere near that. So many of us need increased amounts of fiber. Not everybody. This will be dependent on each individual, but most of us just don't get enough. We don't get enough veg in general. So therefore we're lacking in certain vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients and so on. Things that would beneficially contribute to our health, but we tend to ignore them because, you know, salads and things tend to be boring. And then this time of year, it's now winter, so I don't fancy cold veg and blah blah blah. Then we've got all the excuses that we need. But 2 to 3 fist-sized portions per main meal. And then of course we want healthy fats as well. So healthy fats— oh sorry, just before I go on to that, I don't know if you guys saw that just pop up on the screen, this thumbs up. I guess it's because I held my hand like this. Yes, it is. Sorry, this took me by surprise just as much as it may have you. I've never seen that before in my life. Obviously, this thing is tracking my movements as well. Anyway, let me get back to what I was saying. Sorry, distracted myself with technology I wasn't aware was even in play. Anyway, so obviously we've got the proteins, 2 palm-sized portions. The veg, when I say veg, I'm talking above ground veg. So fibrous veg is 2 to 3 fist-sized portions. You wouldn't necessarily want 2 to 3 fist-sized portions of starchy carbohydrates or starchy veg such as potatoes and turnip, swede and all that type of thing and squash. So this is above ground fibrous veg, okay? Things like, I know cucumber's technically a fruit, but your cucumber, your lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and so on. So you want 2 to 3 fist-sized portions of that stuff. Then when it comes to your healthy fats, you will want 2 thumb-sized portions of fat or 2 tablespoons if that's easier, if you're using an oil. So 2 tablespoons or 2 thumb-sized portions of your healthy fats. Now with healthy fats, we're talking things like ideally organic, but if not, at least free range. Lard, dripping, tallow, goose fat, duck fat, coconut oil, ideally extra virgin cold-pressed coconut oil. Olive oil is another good one, but again, ideally cold-pressed extra virgin and so on. What else we got in terms of healthy fats? Butter is another good one, especially if you're using them to cook in and fry in and so on. You'll want the healthier, heavier fats because they will tolerate the heat. And then finally, we go on to starchy carbs if we're going to include them in the meal. Then if my goal is weight loss, we wouldn't want much more than maybe around 1 cupped handful. So not necessarily like a whole bulk, but 1 cupped handful of our, of our root vegetable or our starchy carbohydrate. You know, if we're having grains, rice or pasta and things, if you eat that, then you want to keep the portions of that smaller relative to your other vegetables and carbohydrates in the meal because this is the stuff that tends to influence and affect blood sugar the most, which over the, the long term contributes to the greatest amount of weight gain or fat gain. So that's what we're looking at. So that's how I would recommend you portion the meals now. So it's 2 palm-sized portions of protein, 2 to 3 fist-sized portions of veg, 2 thumb-sized portions of healthy fats, and then 1 cupped handful of your starchy carbohydrates. So pretty simple system. If you want this mapped out, you can just download my Metabolic Meal Method. If you just literally leave a comment, metabolic, type the word metabolic in the comments, I will reply to you with the link so you can just download that free of charge. I don't want an email from you, I don't want payment or anything, it's completely free. I'll just send you a link so you can go straight to the landing page and download that, and you can follow that along. Then of course, over the long run, as our goals become more specific, then we tweak those ratios slightly in order to, to steer our body in the right direction towards the specific outcomes that we want. But when it's just, right, I'm getting started, I need a good plan that's going to work and get me to where I want, that, that ratio, what I call the Metabolic Meal Method, will, will be adequate to get you to where you want to go and to start the rolling for you and start getting you some awesome results. Okay, so our next question is, uh, every time I take— no, sorry, every time I try to take care of myself, my partner starts acting funny and complaining that I spend too much time in the gym. Okay, uh, this is, uh, believe it or not, more common than you— than you may think. Um, lots of, lots of my clients over the years, um, and even just people I've spoken to in general will experience this phenomenon where when they start taking care of themselves, their partner tends to get a bit funny. And this happens both from the male side and from the female side. But sometimes it's where our partner begins to feel threatened. They're like, first off, there is a part of them that's like, shit, I know I should be doing the same, but but I'm just not in the right place to do it yet. I don't feel like I've got the energy, the time, the resources, or whatever. So I'm not ready to change. But the fact that my partner is now changing and essentially rising in the relationship, they're expanding and getting better, that makes me uncomfortable. Because one, that also potentially makes them more attractive to new potential mates and so on. So even though they may not be consciously recognizing what's happening, sometimes they begin to feel threatened, both in terms of, fuck, I'm getting left behind in the relationship, but also their partner becomes a more viable candidate for other people, for the attraction of others, and so on. So we have to, to kind of consider that and not just be like, for fuck's sake, you're just a nagging motherfucker, like, leave me alone, let me get on with it. So there is an element of that, like, yeah, sort your life out, I'm doing my thing. But at the same time, we have to understand that it's not necessarily deliberate. Often it's, it's subconscious driven and it's fear-driven. So they are scared that you're rising and scared that you're also becoming potentially more attractive to others, and they're now potentially going to have to fight, or they've got a greater chance of losing you, and so on. So what we often have to do is, first off, sit down, explain to them how and why you're doing this. Like, how is you getting yourself back in shape, taking care of yourself, becoming fitter, leaner, stronger, greater confidence, greater self-esteem, etc.? How is you rising as an individual and bettering yourself? How is that also going to benefit your partner and your family if you have kids and so on? It's like, how is you being better going to make everything better for them too? And you might go into explaining things like, Well, if I've got more confidence, I'll have more certainty in myself and I'll be able to go harder in my business. I'll have more confidence to do more. I won't feel like I'm being judged when I'm putting myself out there and I'll be able to carry myself better and the outside world will perceive me better. They won't think I'm a fat, lazy fuck or whatever. So there are lots of benefits we don't necessarily think of aside from obviously, or the more obvious ones such as, well, I've got less risk of being being obese, less risk of heart disease, less risk of cancer, less risk of diabetes and all those things which could also affect the family in the long run. So we just sometimes need to sit with our partner and help them to understand how it's also going to benefit them. We can also explain to them that they have absolutely nothing to worry about and that we're not planning to go anywhere. We're not getting in shape and, and improving ourselves so that we become more attractive to other people in the opposite sex and so on. It's simply a case of you're fed up with where you're at. You're no longer willing to tolerate this mediocrity within yourself. And you're, you're basically at a place where you're ready to step up as a leader and you need to learn to lead self first. So you're going to do that. You're going to take care of yourself, get yourself into where you need to be or to a place where you need to be so that you can lead your family more effectively and obviously allow and enable them to have a better experience as well. Of you, not just in general, but also of you. Because if you're unhappy and pissed off with yourself and all the rest of it, you can't show up as your best self in the relationship anyway. So if you're able to show up as a better version with more confidence, self-esteem, more authenticity, and all the rest of it, it's going to be much easier for you to be a more attractive partner for her too, or him. So yeah, this goes a lot deeper than just, oh, my partner's a nagging fuck. So we just need to consider that and just look at the nuances and how it's going to benefit them, help them understand that it's not just about you, it's about them too. And of course, there is the option to ask them to rise with you. Like, they don't have to. It's not your task to force them to rise, but you just let them know that you're there for them should they wish to do the same. Because often if a couple are willing to rise together, often you will rise higher because the two of you can obviously help and assist each other and grow together. And you, you face less risk of one of you outgrowing the other one because there is always that risk regardless of the fact that you're doing it for them as well and not just for you. There is a risk that if you continue to rise and expand who you are as a being and this other person stays small, you can potentially outgrow each other. So we do have to encourage them to rise with us, but we don't have to force them to do so. It's not up to us to make them do it. It's up to them to choose to do it and hopefully rise with us. So hopefully that's kind of given you some insight on that and some ways you can maybe tackle any issues that you might be having if your partner is trying to prevent you from from improving yourself, basically, and maybe getting a bit naggy, whingy, whiny if you're spending more time in the gym or more time working out and so on. Cool. So hopefully that one helps. Now, uh, where's our next one? Our next question is, how many times per week should I train? Uh, this, a bit like the first one, is it— well, it depends on the individual and what's your particular outcome. So like with portion sizes we spoke about earlier. Well, the portion sizes, etc., depends on the outcome I want. Well, training's kind of the same. But again, if we're just talking about this from a base level— I'm getting back into training, I, I need to, to, um, start getting some results, I want to lose some weight, I want to improve the way my body looks and feels and functions— then what we're looking to ideally have is a minimum of 3 sessions per week. Now, for some of us, we won't have sessions. Like, we might just generally increase our daily activity, and that helps to sort of move us towards our goals. But as it's a case of, well, how many times per week should I train? In terms of training, we want ideally at least 3. Now, you can get results on 2, but results on 2 is never going to be as good as results on 3. So we want at least 3. And so, for example, we would do Monday, Wednesday, Friday, we, we do a workout. Now, should you do more? If you can, yes. And if you're supporting your recovery, then yes, even better. You could do 3 to 5 workouts per week. Some people get away with 7 to 9 workouts and so on. But when we're just starting, we don't need that. When we're just starting, we want ideally that sort of sweet spot of somewhere between 3 and 5. 3 is good for most people to begin with, and then as you get a couple of months in, you might start to add a new one, and now that's 4. And then a couple of months again, we add a 5th, and so on. And that will just help us keep moving towards our goals more consistently. And starting with only 3 makes it achievable. It doesn't overwhelm us. Oh, fuck me, now I've got to train every single day and all the rest of it. Because one of the things that often puts us off actually getting started is this perception that we need to be in the gym for hours and hours every single day, or we need to be working out for hours and hours every day. And the truth is we don't. 3 45 to 60 minute workouts per week is enough to, to get awesome results. Now if, for example, you were using my 12 at 12 method, you could do 3 to 5 12 minute workouts a week and still get results. But for the average person, 3 workouts of 45 to 60 minutes will yield massive, massive, uh, awesome results. So do you need more? No, not really. Could you do more? Yes, if you wanted, but I would say stick with 3. Now the one thing I would say about those 3 workouts is ideally make them predominantly resistance-based if you're only doing the 3. So they're predominantly resistance-based workouts and they're whole body workouts. So when we first get started, we don't necessarily need split programs and split routines and all the rest of it where we're going upper body, lower body, core, and, and so on. It's literally just whole body workout, whole body workout, whole body workout. Now you might vary what they are. So for example, you might have 2 whole body workouts. Monday you go Workout A, then— sorry, then Wednesday you go Workout B, Friday Workout A. Then the following week it will flip and you go Monday B, Wednesday A, Friday B, and so on. And you just flip it around like that so that you're basically doing 2 of one in one week and one of the other, and then that flips over the following week. As you, as you progress. Then, as I say, you would only really need to increase that if you find that you've hit what we call a plateau. So I've been working out for a couple of months now and my results are starting to slow. You know, I'm doing everything I can with my food and my recovery is good and I'm working out 3 times a week. My results are starting to slow. Okay, well, maybe now it's time to either add in an additional meal. Sometimes we need that in order to progress our results further. Or it might be a case of, okay, well, I can actually add in an extra workout throughout the week. Maybe I put one on the Saturday or the Sunday, and now that enables me to kind of kickstart things again, gives my body a new stimulus to adapt to, and kickstarts my, my results and my, my positive progression towards the outcome that I want. So that's what I would recommend. 3 times per week is a good place to begin. And over time, 6 to 12 months, you might build that up to 5 times a week. Of anywhere between 45 and 60 minutes per session. Okay, flying through, flying through. What's our next question? Is squash a good alternative to water if I want something flavored instead? Okay, so that's a good question because even though, well, as you just saw, I was drinking water. Water is like like the, the perfect drink for us, if you know what I mean. Um, it's what we evolved on, essentially, you know, before modern, um, modern societies and industry, industry and all the rest of it. We, we predominantly just had water. As we were developmental man, we would have just had water, probably from freshwater lakes and streams and things like that. So water is number one. So that should be the ideal thing. Now we could argue, okay, well, squash is just the diluted fruit juice or whatever, it only has a tiny bit of squash and then the rest is water. So surely that's just as effective, right? And no, it's not, in simple terms. So the reason being is that yes, it's better than nothing, but no, it's not as good for hydration overall because essentially what we're getting is a, a weak or a thin soup. So there is an element of digestion going to be needed because we've now added a juice or something that's got sugar or it's got calories and so on in there depending where it's come from. So there is going to be an element of digestion required along with obviously the absorption of it for use as hydration and so on. So it will work, it will provide some hydration. And of course, if you can stomach it better, you know, you enjoy it more than water and, and that's a good way to ensure that you're hitting your daily fluid intake, then it's better than nothing. But nothing obviously beats water because when we drink water, there is no element of digestion of water needed. Instead, obviously we take it in and the body will absorb it as it needs it into the cells and so on, providing we've got good salinity levels and good magnesium levels and so on. But that's for another, another video, another day. So yes, I'm pointing over here because that's where my water is. Um, so yeah, squash is fine, uh, to use. Make sure it's a good quality one. Ideally, you don't want one that uses artificial sweeteners such as aspartame and Ace-K and all the rest of it. Um, they, they've been shown to be neurotoxins, endocrine disruptors, and so on. So we don't want to have this thing that's hydrating us but also causing a stressor to the body and toxicity and so on. Because obviously the more toxic we become, then ideally the more hydration we need in order to dilute the toxicity and so on. So I would just say if you're going to use squash, the best thing to do is actually get real fruit, squeeze some real fruit. So for example, orange, you might squeeze some juice from an orange and add that to your water just to give it some flavor. Some people just infuse their water. So rather than actually use a squash, You could get some fruits such as strawberries. Some people like lemon. You can use cucumber as another one, and you just add that to your bottle of water. So for example, if you had a bottle like this, a glass bottle or whatever, you just put your fruit in and give it a shake, and then it kind of gives the water a bit of flavor. So it's not just standard water, obviously, but that way you won't get too much of anything bad because there's no artificial sweeteners and so on in there. Now, of course, you don't want to put tons in because you're not trying to make it a fruit juice, but just to give it a subtle hint of flavor if you don't want straight water, that's fine. So yeah, squash is not going to kill you, but it's just not the ideal. So yeah, if you want to use it as an alternative, I would, you know, if you were working with me as my client, I would have no problem with that as long as you're getting good clean water as well or you're just keeping that to a minimum amount. In your fluids. But as I say, using real food such as cucumber, strawberries, raspberries, lemons, oranges, etc., to infuse your water for a lot of people is an adequate alternative to using store-bought squash and so on. So hope that helps. Right, I think— let me just double-check here on the feed, but I believe that is all of our questions answered. Give me one moment. Where is it? One comment. No. Okay, this looks good. Yes, it looks like we have already answered them all. There's no new ones come in since we've been on here. Brilliant. Okay, in that case, so as not to keep you guys here any longer and take up any more of your Friday, I'm gonna let you guys roll. Of course, as always, like I say, if you have any questions, if they crop up for you in the week, two choices. You can either drop them straight in the comments here, and as soon as I see them, I'll get them answered in our next live Q&A, our next Ask Tyrone session. Or what you can do, if you're a member of our private Facebook group, the Stronger Than Life Coaching Facebook group, then all you do is find the pinned post which is the, the official Ask Tyrone thread. Post your comments under that particular post, and again, I will get them answered as soon as we go live next Friday to make sure you guys obviously come along, find out the information you need, and then confidently and with certainty move forward taking action so that you can get the results you want in your body, your business, your balance, and your being. Now, any questions, let me know, and if not, have a great Friday, have a great weekend, and I look forward chatting with you guys next time. Take it easy, people. Chat soon.