Skinny Fat Appetite Manipulation​

Level 3: Skinny Fat Appetite Manipulation​
With Appetite Manipulation, we have a few things going on here.

1) Actual satiety levels of common foods.

2) Understanding what foods fill you up the most.

3) Then working with the best foods to fit into your meal plan to easily hit your daily calorie surplus.

What is Satiety?

This simply means how much a food is going to make you feel full.

Typically, what makes a food more filling than others is the fiber content, the water content, and the protein content.

So what does this mean for us?

We must choose wisely and choose certain foods at certain times.​
If you’re always finding yourself feeling extremely full, but still struggling to hit your calorie surplus…take some time to analyze the types of foods you are eating based on their satiety level.

Then, consider swapping out a food for a less satiating choice.

A great example is potatoes. So instead of eating a baked potato, you can cut the potato up, add some oil and make some delicious baked french fries. This will add more calories and also make it easier to eat.

I find it very interesting that the foods you eat can actually determine how much you eat later in the day.

For example, if you ate a more satiating food earlier in the day, this could blunt your appetite and cause you to eat less later in the day. Not good.

Choosing less filling foods earlier in the day will allow you to keep your appetite high for your larger meals.

What Should I Eat If I Am Skinny Fat?​
You know your calorie levels now. You know what macros to eat. Let’s take a look at some of the best foods to strive to eat.

Building a great body means nothing if it means facing health problems down the road (we’ll touch more on this in level 5).

Here’s how the above foods can be used to eat more calories in your day to day meals, truly hacking your skinny fat genes.

Also keep in mind, these are just suggestions in which I have found success with. Use the below methods as guidance.

Ideally, I want you to keep eating your favorite foods as much as you can. But, if you need to make adjustments, model the strategies below.

Optimal Meal Frequency​
Always keep in mind, meal frequency or the number of meals you eat each day, does not matter. Overall daily calories matter.

I eat 3 big meals each day along with 1 to 2 snacks to hit my daily calories. Find out what works best with you and your schedule.

Level 4: Workout Nutrition​

In this level, we are going to discuss Pre and Post workout nutrition.

Is it important? Could it make a difference?

Yes and no.

Most importantly, you must not forget that what matters most is overall daily calories. If you’re not eating enough, you’ll struggle to build muscle and strength. Meal timing and frequency is not relevant.

But, if there are ways to milk out more muscle growth. I’m all for them!

By doing a bunch of little, meager things right, they add up over time and make night and day differences.

And I do believe there are ways to get the most out of your training efforts with Pre and Post Workout Nutrition.

Pre Workout Nutrition​
Protein –​
Research has shown that having protein before training increases protein synthesis rates.

But we need to take this a step further because there are also studies that claim that pre workout protein makes no difference on protein synthesis rates.

So how do you know if you would actually benefit from pre workout protein?

Well, we do know that it takes the body several hours to absorb the nutrients from the food we eat (about 2 to 6 hours).

In this case, if you have a sizable meal (with at least 20g of protein) an hour or two before training.

You most likely will not benefit from pre workout protein.

On the other hand, let’s say you had a small meal before work, and ate lunch. Gym time may not be for another 4 to 5 hours. In this case research shows that you would benefit from pre workout whey protein to raise plasma amino acid levels.

I recommend 30g of protein 30 to 45 minutes before training.
Carbs –​
Ingesting carbs before a workout has been shown to increase performance.

Granted, eating carbs before a workout will not increase protein synthesis rates, but it is a fuel source your body can utilize quickly. Allowing you to push more heavy weight and reps. Which, in turn, will help build more muscle and get rid of skinny fat.

What kind of carbohydrates should you eat?

Low glycemic carbs are better suited for long endurance events and high glycemic carbs are best for short intense workouts (what we are doing).

I recommend 40 grams of carbs 30 to 45 minutes before training.
My favorite pre workout carbs sources are rice milk or dried cherries/cranberries or bananas. Other great alternatives are white rice, figs, and potatoes.

Lastly, dietary fats have shown no effect on training performance.
Post Workout Nutrition​
Similar to pre workout nutrition, the goal is to further stimulate protein synthesis rates. Our muscles were broken down in the gym and now we need to make sure to give them what they need to grow bigger and stronger.

But the idea that there is an “anabolic window” and that you need to eat at a certain time or you’ll miss out on gains is a bunch of B.S.

Although, a good rule of thumb for guidance is to get in your meal around 1 to 2 hours after training. Right after is fine too.

In my post workout meals, I like to make sure I’m getting at least:

30 to 40 grams of protein and 50 to 80 grams of carbs.

So is Pre & Post Nutrition even worth it?​
I believe it is! And again, don’t over complicate things if you can’t easily eat at your calorie surplus each day. That’s most important.

But I will leave you before diving into the next level with this:

There was a well conducted study that proved that pre and post nutrition did lead to more muscle gain.

The study involved two separate groups of bodybuilders. The first group at pre and post workout nutrition as described above. And the second group ate their normal meals but at least 5 hours outside of their workouts.

And as you could already guess, the latter example saw better results.

Just something to think about! Make sure you master the first 3 levels first. Keep things simple.