Good Morning Fitness Fam! Welcome to The Daily Dumbbell, the newsletter that's like a shot of espresso, but for your muscles! Pumped up yet? Let's dive in! 💪🚀

Eating for Performance & Nourishment

Today, like most days around here, we're going to challenge you to change the way you look at a problem - specifically, the problem of viewing food as the enemy when trying to get in shape. So often the goal becomes trying to eat as little as possible while still being able to function. But guess what? That's a terrible idea! Here at The Daily Dumbbell, we don't play that zero-sum game. We enjoy eating, and we want you to feel the same.

So, let's shift our perspective, shall we? Instead of viewing food as something dangerous to be avoided…

…let's start thinking about eating for performance and nourishment. It's time to make food your ally in your fitness journey. Here's how:

1. Focus on Nutrient-Dense Foods 🥦 Choose whole, unprocessed foods that are rich in vitamins, minerals, and other essential nutrients. Your body will thank you, and you'll feel more satisfied and energized.

2. Listen to Your Body 🧘‍♂️ Tuning in to your body's hunger and fullness cues is popular advice, but is it helpful? It sounds a lot like the “just eat less and move more” advice we all hate. Do listen to your body. But maybe don’t bow to its every whim.

3. Balance Your Macros 🍗🍚🥑 Don't eliminate entire food groups or go to extremes. You need carbs to fuel your body, healthy fats are imperative for performing your best, and protein is essential for recovery and muscle growth. Don’t be a weirdo about macros.

4. Enjoy Your Food! 🍽️ I can’t say this one enough! It's crucial to find joy in the foods you eat. Experiment with new recipes, try new ingredients, learn to f@cking cook! Food didn’t tell you your thighs look fat in that dress, that was your Aunt Peggy. So don’t take it out on pizza! Food is meant to be enjoyed, not feared.

By shifting our mindset and focusing on eating for performance and nourishment, we can transform our relationship with food and create a sustainable, enjoyable approach to fueling our bodies. It's not about deprivation; it's about giving your body what it needs to feel good and perform better.

Because as we all know, our body composition is a lagging indicator of our habits. If our performance goes up, our body is going to change accordingly. So make sure you give your body what it needs to continue improving.

Remember, fam - food is not the enemy. It's your partner in crime, your secret weapon, your delicious ticket to a healthier, happier you. So let's raise a fork to a new perspective and embrace food as our friend! 🍴🎉

I thought I’d be able to photoshop this to say “The Ice Cream Guys”. But we only got it halfway… with the ice cream cones… so you’ll have to use your imagination a bit. Anyway…

Throwback Thursday: Fitness Fails Edition

Welcome to Throwback Thursday, where we revisit classic... and not so classic... workouts and diets from the past and evaluate their effectiveness. In each issue of our newsletter, we'll dive into these trends and see if we can learn anything from that approach or if it belongs in the trash with your Jillian Michaels DVDs.

Growing up, I was the type of person who had to learn things the hard way. I made every mistake in the book when it came to health and fitness - from crash dieting to overtraining to completely ignoring my body's warning signs. But here's the thing: those mistakes taught me some valuable lessons that I can share with all of you. Today, in our Fitness Friday feature, we're talking about Fitness Fails and Lessons Learned - and I'm spilling all the tea.

So grab a protein shake and get ready to learn from my mistakes, so you can avoid them yourself.

Mistake #1: The Paleo Obsession 🍖 When I was strictly eating paleo, I felt amazing - but I was also skinny AF, and my performance in the gym tanked. The CrossFit community that convinced me to go paleo has now shifted to "paleo-ish," now that they know carbs are important. But seriously, you can't just throw "ish" after a restrictive term and call it good. You wouldn’t say you’re virgin-ish... to describe only getting it in on the weekends. Just be a normal person!

You don't need an "ish" word to describe slightly less restriction. Just prioritize nutrient-dense foods. For fitness' sake!

Lesson Learned: Balance is key 🔑 Don't get too caught up in any one diet. Prioritize nutrient-dense foods and find an eating plan that works for your body and goals without going to extremes.

Mistake #2: Men's Health Workouts 🏋️‍♂️ For the love of all things fitness, these kept me on the hamster wheel well into my 20s. I would change up my workout to match whatever the cover model said his workout was that month. So dumb. And worst of all, these MFers were definitely not doing these goofy ass workouts.

Lesson Learned: Progressive Overload. Progressive Overload. Progressive Overload. Consistency beats novelty 🔄 Find a proven workout plan and stick to it! Constantly changing routines won't give your body enough time to adapt and progress.

One Caveat: In the “Eat This Not That” section of the magazine they recommended a snack where you wrap cantaloupe with prosciutto. It’s hot fire 🔥. They also convinced me to stop wearing baggy clothes. So to be fair it wasn’t a complete loss.

Honestly I could go on and on about these, but we’ll save a few for next week.

It's important to remember that we all make mistakes in our fitness journeys, but we can learn from them and grow stronger. In fact, you have to at least make a few mistakes in order to get where you want to go. My Fitness Fuckups™ have taught me some priceless lessons that I'm excited to share with you so that you don't have to learn them the hard way. Let's keep pushing forward together and making progress, one rep at a time! Hooray for wrapping up with a cheesy CTA!

As always, reply to this email with some fitness fails of your own and any lessons learned along the way. We love to hear from you!

See you tomorrow for our feature on how to stay on top of your goals over the weekend!