{"id":14666,"date":"2025-07-12T00:58:51","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T17:58:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=14666"},"modified":"2025-07-12T00:58:51","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T17:58:51","slug":"why-do-you-eat-too-much-because-youve-been-fed-a-myth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=14666","title":{"rendered":"Why Do You Eat Too Much? Because You\u2019ve Been Fed A Myth"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Here\u2019s a simple question for both male and female competitors in the body sports: Why are you 40-plus pounds over your contest weight? Even if you blame your coach, you\u2019re the one who has to diet off all that chub.<\/p>\n<p>Wouldn\u2019t you rather diet off 10 or 15? It\u2019s absolutely ridiculous to me that in the 21st century people still believe you have to <a href=\"https:\/\/countrymuscle.net\/jelly-roll-shares-the-inspiring-details-behind-finishing-tampa-5k\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">rival Jelly Roll in the off-season<\/a> to build any muscle. I hate to burst your bubble, but past a certain point, more food does not equate to more muscle. If anything, it equates to more fat \u2014 which you\u2019ve totally proven by being 40-plus pounds over your contest weight.<\/p>\n<p>Why do you get so fat? Because you believe rumor No. 1: If you gain 50 pounds in the off-season, some of it is going to be muscle. Diet off the fat and keep the muscle. Yeah\u2026 no. The problem with that is the newly gained 50 pounds is comprised mostly of fat. Very little \u2014 maybe three to five pounds \u2014 is going to be muscle.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-caption \">\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:55.36519386835%;\" class=\"ratio-based-placeholder\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.muscleandfitness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Dorian-Yates-Incline-Chest-Press.jpg?quality=86&amp;strip=all\" srcset=\"\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" alt=\"Bodybuilder Dorian Yates doing a chest workout performing a Incline Chest Press Exercise\" width=\"1109\" height=\"614\" data-fallback-img=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.muscleandfitness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Dorian-Yates-Incline-Chest-Press.jpg?quality=86&amp;strip=all\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"credit\">Chris Lund\/Kevin Horton<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.muscleandfitness.com\/workouts\/how-dorian-yates-hit-philosophy-redefined-bodybuilding-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Six-time Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates<\/a>, known to be huge in the off-season, once told me during an interview that when I asked him how much weight he thought he could gain between the Olympia he just won and the next one, he replied, \u201cMaybe three to five pounds.\u201d Shawn Ray was 213 pounds for 13 Olympias in a row. How can you bust your ass all year, eat thousands of dollars\u2019 worth of food, gain a ton of weight, and only make minimal gains contest to contest? Because muscle is far more exercise-dependent than food-dependent. With enough stimulus, you can literally grow muscle with no food. You won\u2019t grow any muscle without stimulus.<\/p>\n<p>For decades, gym dogma preached that muscle wouldn\u2019t grow without mountains of protein \u2014 but the truth is simpler, and older than any supplement ad: mechanical stress is king. You break a muscle down under load, the body signals hypertrophy. Period. That signal happens whether you\u2019re feasting on steak or scraping by on stale rice cakes.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/11715023\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Studies (Hornberger 2004, Goldspink 2002, Bodine 2001) show<\/a> that progressive tension activates muscle growth pathways \u2014 mTOR, IGF-1 \u2014 before nutrition even enters the conversation. And in a fasted state, the body can tap autophagy (Mizushima 2007) to salvage aminos and rebuild from its own cellular junk. Muscle is built with stress first, resources second.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, without proper nutrition you\u2019ll never maximize that growth. But the survival mechanism is hardwired: You either adapt to the load or break. That\u2019s how you explain soldiers, laborers, and even prisoners getting jacked on minimal calories \u2014 stress forces adaptation.<\/p>\n<p>Hypertrophy isn\u2019t about spoon-feeding muscle. What you\u2019re doing \u2014 or have to do \u2014 is telling your body that if it doesn\u2019t get stronger, its survival is in peril. When faced with that kind of threat, your body adapts. That\u2019s why muscle grows. And that\u2019s only why muscle grows.<\/p>\n<p>Now that you understand why the body builds muscle, how you do it is based on stimulus, nutrition, and recovery. Stimulus and recovery should be self-explanatory; nutrition is the great nebulous factor because there\u2019s no shortage of gurus, coaches, and nutritionists (licensed or not) proclaiming one thing or another and selling a program or their service to prove it to you. What most \u2014 not all \u2014 have in common is that they regard protein as the core element of the program and base all their calculations on the amount of protein you ingest each day. This is precisely the point where science gets hatched by the bros.<\/p>\n<p>Anyone who\u2019s even remotely looked into the acquisition of added muscle mass has run into the declaration that you must consume 1 to 1.5 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight every day to grow. While that may or may not be a good starting point, the reality is that this is one of bodybuilding\u2019s biggest unchallenged myths. It\u2019s been repeated so many times, by so many people, for so many years, that nobody ever even stops to ask: Where the hell did that number come from?<\/p>\n<p>If you actually go looking for it \u2014 and I mean digging through real, peer-reviewed journals \u2014 you\u2019ll find nothing that backs it up. Zero. Nada. The clinical research on protein requirements for hypertrophy never set that number in stone. It was bro science handed down from the Venice Beach sandbox, stuck in magazine articles, and repeated by supplement companies until it sounded like gospel.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-caption \">\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:55.36519386835%;\" class=\"ratio-based-placeholder\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.muscleandfitness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Dave-Draper-Arnold-Zane-Hanging-Out.jpg?quality=86&amp;strip=all\" srcset=\"\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" alt=\"Dave Draper and Arnold Schwarzenegger hanging out with Frank Zane who is posing\" width=\"1109\" height=\"614\" data-fallback-img=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.muscleandfitness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Dave-Draper-Arnold-Zane-Hanging-Out.jpg?quality=86&amp;strip=all\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"credit\">Courtesy of Weider Health and Fitness \/ M+F Magazine<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Think about it. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.muscleandfitness.com\/flexonline\/training\/golden-age-bodybuilding-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">In the 1970s, Arnold and the boys<\/a> were practically making this stuff up as they went along. There was no PubMed, no sophisticated sports nutrition, no gurus. There were just guys getting huge on eggs, beef, and bologna sandwiches, and when asked how much protein they were eating, they threw out \u201ca gram per pound\u201d because it sounded about right. Maybe it was \u2014 for them, in that moment. But no one ever ran a controlled study on it.<\/p>\n<p>Fast forward a few decades, and the lab coats finally caught up. What do they say? Most research reviews today, including heavyweight names like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usada.org\/spirit-of-sport\/when-consume-protein-muscle-growth\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Morton and Phillips, peg the optimal protein intake<\/a> for maximizing hypertrophy at around 1.6 to 2.2 grams per kilogram of lean mass. Do the math, and that works out to about 0.7 to 1 gram per pound of lean tissue \u2014 not bodyweight.<\/p>\n<p>You read that right: lean mass, not total weight.<\/p>\n<p>And this is where I see the second problem. Nobody ever clarifies which weight they\u2019re talking about. Is it your off-season, bloated, water-logged, 40-pounds-above-contest weight? Or your lean body mass? Because if you\u2019re calculating protein off your total bodyweight when you\u2019re 25 pounds of beer-gut fatter than you should be, you\u2019re overshooting your needs by a mile.<\/p>\n<p>Protein is needed to build and maintain lean tissue, not your fat mass. Fat doesn\u2019t need protein. It needs a diet. And most bodybuilders, let\u2019s be honest, carry way too much fat in the off-season. That\u2019s how you get guys eating 400 grams of protein per day when they really only need 200. Even on a ton of gear, your actual protein needs are not that high. The excess isn\u2019t building more muscle \u2014 you\u2019re just making expensive urine.<\/p>\n<p>Now, don\u2019t get me wrong: more protein is usually harmless if you can digest it, and there are enhanced athletes who can process higher intake because of ramped-up protein turnover. But there is a limit. There\u2019s a point where more doesn\u2019t do jack.<\/p>\n<h3>The Stakes for Keeping the Myth Alive<\/h3>\n<p>So why do we keep hearing the same stale story about 1 to 1.5 grams per pound? Because it\u2019s easy. Because no one questions it. Because supplement companies have a vested interest in keeping you chugging more powder. And because somewhere in a Gold\u2019s Gym locker room, a 260-pound monster once said it worked for him. And that, my friend, is how a myth is born.<\/p>\n<p>If you ask me, I\u2019m going to tell you to calculate your protein intake off your lean mass. One gram per pound of lean mass is more than enough for most lifters \u2014 even the big ones. Want to get fancier? Cycle your protein down slightly in the off-season when you\u2019re fatter, and back up when you\u2019re getting peeled. That way you actually feed the tissue that matters, not the chub you plan on sweating off anyway. Either way, cut it back \u2014 you\u2019re eating too much!<\/p>\n<p>If you build your diet around a lower amount of protein, you\u2019ll end up with less food overall, and you\u2019ll probably stop overeating and carrying around so much needless body fat. You\u2019ll be starving all the time and cranky, but you\u2019ll be leaner, tighter, and just as strong \u2014 not to mention healthier, and you\u2019ll have an easier time of it, pre-contest. But you will be smaller\u2026 oh boy. Therein, my friends, lies the rub and the route to sabotage. Smaller? But I wanna be HUGE!!! And you probably don\u2019t want to lift heavy weights either.<\/p>\n<p>We should first take a look at sharing the perception of \u201chuge.\u201d To me, huge is over six feet, over 275, and ripped \u2014 that\u2019s huge. So is 5\u20199\u2019\u2019 and 195, peeled to the bone. Regardless of the poundage, it\u2019s the condition that counts. Because \u201chuge\u201d can also be either of those examples, but replace \u201cripped\u201d and \u201cpeeled\u201d with 30% body fat.<\/p>\n<h3>Remaining Big While Being \u2018Smaller\u2019<\/h3>\n<p>The biggest reality a competitive bodybuilder must face is that as they get leaner, they are concomitantly going to get smaller. Because bodybuilders are programmed to believe more is more, this is difficult to swallow; they believe they are losing muscle because they\u2019re not eating enough. Ughhhh\u2026 Here\u2019s the reality: I always use prime rib as an example. Next time you\u2019re food shopping, head over to the meat section and look for a nice big three- or four-bone prime rib roast. Look at its cross-section. See that giant glob of fat between the cap and the eye? Imagine peeling the roast apart and removing that giant glob of fat and rolling the roast back up. You\u2019ll notice it\u2019s smaller, right? BECAUSE YOU TOOK OUT THE FAT! Not because you lost muscle.<\/p>\n<p>Now, imagine if you could just diet off the subcutaneous fat and leave the intramuscular fat. Wouldn\u2019t that be nice? Sure would. So would finding the keys to a brand-spanking-new Porsche Turbo S in my Christmas stocking. Both are a fallacy. When the body stimulates lipolysis, the fat stores are converted to fatty acids and enter the bloodstream systemically. You can\u2019t differentiate between sub-Q and intramuscular \u2014 it either comes from all over or not at all. So, yes, if you lower your body fat percentage, you will get smaller. If you\u2019re either getting stronger or maintaining your strength, you\u2019re not losing muscle.<\/p>\n<p>And that right there is your best metric \u2014 strength. Maintaining or increasing strength directly correlates to muscle mass. You\u2019ll be surprised at how few calories you need to do that. Even on juice.<\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t believe me? Try it. What do you have to lose?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.muscleandfitness.com\/athletes-celebrities\/pro-tips\/why-do-you-eat-too-much-because-youve-been-fed-a-myth\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here\u2019s a simple question for both male and female competitors in the body sports: Why are you 40-plus pounds over your contest weight? Even if you blame your coach, you\u2019re the one who has to diet off all that chub. Wouldn\u2019t you rather diet off 10 or 15? It\u2019s absolutely ridiculous to me that in &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fitness"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14666\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}