What's going on guys?
Sean Nalewanyj, SeanNal.com.
RealScienceAthletics.com with another Q&A video here.
This is part two, where I'm answering some of your guys' fitness questions from over
on my Instagram.
If you're not yet following me on Instagram, it's @Sean_Nalewanyj.
Make sure to check that out, because I do post new content there every single day that
you'll get a lot of value from.
If you do have questions of your own, you can go ahead and post them there and I'll
do my best to help out.
So I've got 10 more questions here.
I'll timestamp them in the description box below, and let's get into it.
The first question is, do you think tracking macros is really necessary, or is it okay
to just focus on total calories instead?
I would say that for most people in most situations, tracking all three macros right down to the
exact figure probably won't be necessary.
You don't need to precisely track macros to build muscle and lose fat effectively.
It's usually not sustainable for most people over the long term, and trying to count and
balance everything out in terms of every single gram of protein, carbs, and fats that goes
into your mouth every single day, will likely just over complicate your diet and make your
day to day eating plan more stressful overall.
Now if you're competing, or you're just going through a temporary phase where you're really
trying to get a handle on your nutrition and learn the ropes with things, or if you're
someone who just thrives on organization and you don't find tracking macros to be stressful,
then that's fine.
I'd say that all in all, tracking overall calories is usually enough, and then just
making sure that you're hitting your daily protein minimum.
So that's going to be about 0.8 grams per pound of body weight, which is pretty easy
to do.
A good percentage of people will usually just get that amount in without even needing to
specifically try.
So total calories should be the main focus.
Calories absolutely do matter, so make no mistake about that.
You do need to be in a calorie deficit if you want to lose body fat.
If you're in a focus bulking phase, then you need to be in a calorie surplus as well.
Eventually after you've built up a foundation with your physique, and you have some decent
experience under your belt when it comes to caloric tracking, then you can start moving
onto a more intuitive style of eating, where you're just estimating things throughout the
day without specifically needing to track the numbers.
I think that intuitive eating should be the ultimate longterm goal for most people, but
you do have to put in the time and effort first in order to learn how to do that properly,
rather than just going straight into an intuitive style of eating right from the get go.
Next question.
Are low carb diets effective for losing fat?
I've talked to a lot of people who went the low carb route and saw great results, and
I'm thinking of trying it out myself.
The main reason why some people do have success when they switch over to a low carb approach
isn't because carbs are inherently fattening, but it's just the simple fact that when you
significantly reduce the intake of an entire macro-nutrient, your total calorie intake
is also going to go down as a result, because just like protein and fat, carbs contain calories.
So if you take a person who regularly eats calorie dense, refined high carb foods like
bagels, granola bars, muffins, sugary drinks, things like that, and then they go ahead and
cut those foods out and they start eating more protein and vegetables, it's pretty obvious
that they're going to start losing weight.
They're eating less total calories, and now that they're eating more protein, more total
food volume relative to their calories, they're going to be fuller and they're going to have
better appetite control.
Specific macro-nutrient breakdowns aside, creating a calorie deficit is still the ultimate
bottom line when it comes to fat loss.
If for some reason you prefer eating lower carbon, you feel mentally and physically fine
with that approach, then you can certainly go that route, but at the end of the day,
carbs are not detrimental to fat loss when total calories are equated.
Most people will probably do better on at least a moderate carb intake in terms of their
gym performance, their mood, and just not feeling overly restricted in general.
All right.
I've been cutting for four months, I've dropped 20 pounds.
I'm down to about 12% body fat, and I'm fairly lean all over, but I still have a thin layer
of fat on my lower abdomen that I can't seem to get rid of.
Is it just a matter of continuing to push the deficit, or is there anything else that
will help?
The simple answer is that, yeah, it really is just a matter of continuing to maintain
a calorie deficit.
If your body weight has plateaued for a good one to two weeks, and you aren't seeing any
visual improvements or any changes in your measurements, then it just comes down to decreasing
your calories slightly, or adding in some more activity, or doing a combination of both
to get that deficit going again.
There aren't any special secrets, and the reality is that it just gets harder to lose
fat the leaner you get.
Now that said, you should also keep in mind that even if you are really lean overall,
it's still pretty normal to have at least a little bit of fat still hanging around on
that lower stomach area.
Even the people you see on YouTube, or over on Instagram who appear to have this perfectly
flat rock-hard stomach all the time, usually still have some fat on their lower ab area.
You just don't see it because all the pictures are taken flexed or partially flexed, and
using the best angles and lighting and also usually from a standing position.
When you're sitting down, it's pretty normal to have that last little roll of fat that
bunches up and sits there.
Most people do have that unless they're extremely lean.
It's okay to want to be lean, but being perfectly lean everywhere all the time isn't realistic
for the vast majority of people.
If you're just an average lifter who wants to be in great shape, but you're not competing,
it might not even be worth it for you to drop your overall body fat levels further just
to get that last little bit of fat loss on that one tiny area of your body.
So that's something that you'll need to weigh out for yourself.
Next question.
Do you think multivitamins are a worthwhile supplement?
I always hear conflicting views on this.
I already eat pretty healthy, so I don't know if I should bother.
If you're eating a minimally processed whole food based diet, you're getting in your fruits
and veggies, then yeah, a typical full spectrum multivitamin isn't something that I'd recommend,
because you're already going to be covering a good percentage of your micronutrient needs
as is.
Going to high on certain micros can actually be detrimental to your health.
In the case of something like vitamin C or vitamin E, it could even be directly detrimental
to muscle growth.
So rather than just aimlessly supplementing with every single vitamin and mineral out
there, it's much better to just selectively focus in on the ones that most people don't
get optimal amounts of, which would be things like vitamin D and vitamin K, and the ones
that hard training lifters also tend to benefit from, especially if they sweat a lot, which
would be zinc and magnesium.
Those specific micros are important for testosterone production, mental functioning, mood, bone
health, and supplementing with them can be helpful as a way to round out your overall
diet and make sure that everything is fully on point.
Even with good nutrition, you might still end up falling short of the optimal amounts.
That was the approach that I took with the Real Science Athletics product Micro Core,
which was to only include the select few vitamins and minerals that you'll actually benefit
from.
Then to eliminate all the ones that you either don't need, or that are potentially harmful.
I genuinely think that this is a much better approach than 99% of what's out there in this
category.
You can click up here or down in the description box to check that out, or just visit RealScienceAthletics.com.
Micro Core combined with a good nutrient dense whole food diet, that's going to be your best
overall approach when it comes to a multivitamin supplement.
Okay, I've been out of the gym for over a year due to personal reasons.
I need to get back into it, but I have anxiety about going to the gym.
What's the best way to get over this?
Pretty straight forward answer, but ultimately the best way to get over it is to just go
to the gym.
You can really only think your way out of anxiety to a limited degree, and actually
sometimes thinking more about it will only make you more anxious.
So you really just have to go ahead and expose yourself to whatever it is that's making you
anxious, and gradually desensitize yourself to it.
Usually we build things up in our heads and turn them into a much bigger deal than they
actually are, but once you just go ahead and do it, most of the time it's nowhere near
as bad as you thought.
Keep in mind that most people in the gym really don't care what the other people around them
are doing, and everyone is really just in their own world and focusing on themselves
for the most part.
So there's really no need to be anxious about going to the gym.
This advice applies to most things in life.
You can't really force yourself to feel confident just by thinking about something.
Usually the confidence only comes after you've done the thing that you were nervous about
in the first place.
So most of the time you just have to plunge in and force yourself to do it, and over time
you'll gradually become less and less nervous.
What will happen is that the physical nervousness in your body won't change that much, but your
mental interpretation of the nervousness will.
So you'll still feel nervous on a physical level, but the nervousness won't phase you
and you'll just be able to go ahead and do the thing that you were setting out to do
even with that nervousness still there.
Next question I'm bulking and sometimes I have trouble hitting my surplus for the day.
Would it be okay to use a weight gain powder to help out with this?
For the most part, most typical commercial weight gain powders are really just whey protein
mixed with simple sugar, usually Maltodextrin.
So if your diet is otherwise fairly clean and on point, and you're just using a moderate
amount to help bump your calories up further, then that could be an option.
I think a much better option is to just go ahead and make your own shake at home using
whole food ingredients.
That way you can get the extra calories that you need, but also the added micronutrients
and fiber.
I used to do this back in the day when I was heavier and when I was eating much higher
calories.
My standard recipe was two scoops of protein powder, milk, banana, oats, peanut butter.
Then to raise the calories up higher, I'd add in some healthy oil like flaxseed oil
or olive oil, and sometimes yogurt or even ice cream.
Blend that all up, and you can easily get in 800 to 1200 calories plus if you really
need it, and it'll make hitting your overall calorie goal for the day a lot easier.
All right.
I'm very active, and I currently play basketball three to four times a week for an hour plus
have a physically demanding job.
Can I still make gains, or will it be too hard for me given how active I already am?
Yeah, you can definitely still build muscle effectively in that situation, but there are
a few steps that you'd want to follow here if you're someone who is highly active outside
of weight training.
So first off, you're obviously burning a lot of extra calories throughout the week, so
you're going to need to pay attention to your food intake to make sure that you are replacing
all of the calories that you're burning, and getting yourself into a net calorie surplus
on top of it.
So make sure to monitor the scale, because if it's going down or if it's staying the
same, then that means that you're not in a calorie surplus currently and that you need
to eat more.
About two pounds of overall weight gain per month, that would be a pretty standard rate
of weight gain for a beginner.
Secondly, I would say don't go overboard on weight training volume.
So all the activity that you're already doing is going to impact your recovery to some degree.
So you don't want to then go ahead and add in five or six days of weight training per
week on top of that, because most likely you'll have issues with recovery.
So I'd say to just go with a simple three day per week plan that's easily enough to
make great gains, and it will help to prevent the chances of over training.
Also, this probably goes without saying, but don't bother performing any additional gym
cardio on top of what you're doing now, because the sports you're playing and having a physical
job on top of it, that's already going to be enough to cover your weekly cardio needs.
Going and running on the treadmill in addition to that is probably just going to be counterproductive.
The bottom line is that if you eat enough total calories and protein, you keep your
weight training volume on the moderate side, you limit additional cardio.
Also make sure that your sleep is on point, that's important too, you can definitely still
make great gains even if you're pretty active outside of weight training.
It might not be 100% optimal, but it should be pretty close to it if you execute everything
properly.
Next question.
What do you think about intermittent fasting?
Are there any particular benefits or is it just hype?
Intermittent fasting is a perfectly acceptable way to structure your diet.
For some people, it can be a better approach in comparison to a standard evenly spaced
out meal frequency, but it's by no means some magical fat loss solution like some people
try to promote.
It also doesn't work by boosting your actual metabolic rate or creating some sort of special
environment in your body that causes you to directly burn more fat.
If you look at the research that compares intermittent fasting to continuous energy
restriction, there isn't any significant difference between the two if total calories are equated
for the day.
Losing fat is ultimately about maintaining a net calorie deficit.
For some people, if they restrict their eating window down to just eight hours a day or even
less than that, they just end up eating fewer calories overall, and they can maintain their
deficit more easily that way.
So IF is just one potential option experiment with, and it can improve dietary adherence
in some people.
So if you're in a situation where you're having a tough time controlling your appetite, or
you just prefer the simplicity of eating a couple of big meals per day rather than eating
a bunch of small meals all throughout the day, then intermittent fasting is definitely
something that you could experiment with to see how it works for you.
Next question.
I track my intake, and my calories are fairly low right now, only 1,800 per day.
I'm pretty sure I'm in a deficit, but I'm not dropping any weight on the scale.
What could be the problem here?
Well, the bottom line is that if you are on a "low calorie" diet but you aren't losing
any body weight, then that's basically a guarantee right there that your calories aren't actually
as low as you think they are.
You could be making measurement errors throughout the day.
There could be little snacks and liquids that are sneaking in without you realizing it.
Restaurant meals that are higher calorie than you think.
Weekend cheat days and cheat meals that you're not properly accounting for.
The bottom line is that most people on average, way under report their calorie intake and
they over-report their activity level.
I've seen this countless times throughout my coaching experience, and the research also
pretty clearly shows this as well.
So chances are that like a lot of people out there, you're just eating more than you realize,
and given that a standard calorie deficit for fat loss is only about 500 calories below
maintenance, it doesn't take much in terms of tracking errors to really cut that number
down significantly, or remove it altogether.
Also remember that this is about your average calorie intake for the week as a whole.
So if you go really high on calories on the weekend, for example, that can easily erase
the deficits that you created during the regular week.
So my suggestion for you is that you go through and do a careful and precise dietary audit,
by tracking every single bite of food and every liquid that you consume throughout every
single day, because that's going to allow you to see how much you're truly taking in
and it will allow you to make the proper adjustments from there.
All right.
Last question, bit of a more random one here, but thoughts on NoFap?
I guess that depends on exactly what you mean by NoFap.
Whether that means just not watching porn or not fapping at all, or just fapping less
often.
So let me answer each one of those individually.
When it comes to the question of porn, I would say that all in all, I'm pretty much of the
mindset at this point that for most people out there, there are always going to be exceptions.
For most guys in most situations I think that your life will be better overall if you don't
watch porn.
I think when used in excess, it is overstimulating.
I think it decreases your social motivation in real life, and even just your motivation
in general.
For some guys, it can even lead to legitimate sexual dysfunction.
I think as with most things in life, the devil is in the dosage.
So if you were to only watch it once in a while, like say once a week or every couple
of weeks, something like that, I'm sure it probably wouldn't be a big issue.
The problem is that because porn is so addictive for most people, it's a very hard thing to
just use in moderation.
So usually eliminating it completely is going to be the best overall approach.
As far as just fapping in general is concerned, I don't think the whole extreme NoFap thing
is really necessary, like going months on end without it.
If you want to do that as some sort of personal challenge or as like a mental reset, then
that could make sense, but it's not really practical or sustainable as an overall lifestyle
for most guys out there.
I don't think, but I do think that reducing your fapping frequency, let's call it, I do
think that that can be beneficial.
I don't think you should be doing it every single day or even every two days.
Like with porn, I think it just a general draining effect.
No pun intended.
That when you do it less, you will be more socially confident, you will feel more motivated,
and you'll just feel better in general I think.
I don't have a prescribed frequency that I'm going to recommend to you here, but I would
say that if you're doing it much more than once or twice a week, that you should perhaps
make an effort to cut back and see what kind of an effect it has on you, because I predict
that you'll probably find that the effect is a positive one overall.
There you have it guys, 10 more of your questions answered.
Thanks a lot for watching the video.
If you did find this Q&A helpful, and you appreciate this straight ahead no BS approach
to fitness, and you want to learn the exact step by step methods that I recommend using
in order for you to build muscle and lose fat as efficiently as possible, then it made
sure to take my physique quiz over at Quiz.SeanNal.com because that'll get you started on the proper
training, and the proper nutrition plan that you need based on your individual goals, body
type and experience level.
You can click up here for that, or use the link in the description box below.
When it comes to the supplementation side of things, you can also visit RealScienceAthletics.com
to check out my research-backed clinically dosed formulas that I personally created to
help improve the overall convenience, and the effectiveness of your muscle building
and fat loss plan.
Link for that is also in the description.
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Thanks for watching guys, and I'll see you in the next one.