020: Winning the Game of Adversity and Getting Back To Baseline Athletic Performance

In today’s episode, I go full "Mike the Philosopher" mode. Blame the hypocaloric diet. In addition, I highlight the importance of eating your veggies, fruits, and the power of rice cakes. I also reflect on sneaking into the weight room as a little kid, and how I discovered my passion for bodybuilding. It's a fun and light episode filled with good lessons on winning the game of adversity and getting back to baseline athletic performance. I hope y’all enjoy it!

Challenge yourself to grow, define your purpose, and establish baseline athletic performance.

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Transcript

How’s it everyone, my name is Michael Cabuco, and welcome to another episode of the Love Notes for Life podcast, your creative space for amplifying greatness through gratitude.

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 It is April 30th 2023 and at the time of this recording, I’m locking down week 4 of my Q2 fat mass reduction protocol aka Shredfest 2023. (sound effect). Jokes aside, surprisingly this week wasn’t too shabby despite dropping my calories to 1684 with my protein set at 158 grams. The reduction in calories was a byproduct of the Built With Science nutrition calculator that I’ve been using as a guide to maintain a weight cut of 1 pound per week. Initially, I was shocked by the drop in calories and I immediately knew that to make it work, I’d have to make modifications to my nutrition intake. However, as I adjusted to my new meal plans, I started feeling much more stable. Also, as predicted, I was actually able to drop close to 2 pounds by the end of week 4 landing me at a weekly average of 154.5 pounds. It was a bit rapid, so I ran some dummy numbers for Monday to generate my week 5 caloric and macros requirements. On the bright side, starting Monday I’ll be increasing my caloric intake to around 1840. I’m not going to lie, even though week 4 was doable, my energy and focus level took a hit. It was pretty hard to function at work last week and I did my best to hide my zombie-like appearance. However, it was a great exercise in mental toughness and provided the correct amount of stress to keep my progress moving forward.

Eat your veggies and fruits and don’t forget your rice cakes! And of course your chicken breast. Yea, that pretty much summed up my week 4 meal plan. Now, hold on, it wasn’t that bad and it was actually a good lesson in satiety and being critical with one’s overall nutrition. I admit, prior to week 4, I was definitely pushing the “flex” in flexible dieting and was consuming more fun foods than necessary. Sure, I was still hitting my caloric requirements and macros, but what I realized recently was that I was neglecting my micronutrients.

It should've been obvious, you know, especially when it's an essential part of nutrition, but I was a bit dense. During college, I grew up on the bodybuilding forums and I was a bit brainwashed from the If It Fits Your Macros crowd. It wasn’t that the information was incorrect, but it could’ve been delivered more clearly. For example, when I came across the If It Fits Your Macros crowd, there was certain forum members that preached that you could literally eat whatever you want and get away with. They often showed off with their meal plan filled with excessive amounts of cookies, ice cream, and pizza. They were proud to prove a point that they could either cut or bulk on a dirty nutrition plan. And while the numbers aligned to their macro and caloric requirements, it really didn’t serve their micronutrients that we could easily obtain from just consuming a decent amount of fruits and veggies.

Here’s a little funny story. I used to argue with my parents that I didn't want to waste my calories on veggies and fruits because I wanted to leave room for more "fun foods." How foolish. It was so silly of me to think that I could rationalize replacing fruits and veggies with a generous serving of cheesy puffs or even my favorite blueberry muffins.

 So, while I could’ve tried to squeeze in a 500-calorie blueberry muffin within a 1684 caloric ceiling, I ain’t about that life. Trust me, I was tempted to attempt to do said plan and try to squeeze in a blueberry muffin, but I just didn’t want to risk the hunger pain. 

Seriously, if you’ve ever attempted a weight cut while still maintaining your macros, your main priority becomes staying full throughout the day. When you're in the trenches of a weight cut, the last thing you want to be messing with are palatable foods that do not make you full. But rather, you're seeking foods that are nutritionally dense and will help you push away your hunger signals.

Cuts aren't easy. Don’ make it harder than it needs to be me. I rather sacrifice now, get the job done, and party afterwards. Fun foods are for the after party.

So what does 1684 calories look like? My game plan revolved around 6 meals: 

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, 2 Snack Meals, and 1 Supplemental meal before training.

At 6:30AM, I would breakfast which would consist of 1 hard-boiled egg, assorted fruits, and 1 bagel with a light buttery spread. At 9AM, I would eat my first snack of the day which was a Quest Nutrition protein bar. Then I would try to push my lunch window between 11AM to 12PM. For lunch, I would eat mixed veggies, chicken breast, and 1 rice cake. Then, by 2PM, I would mix 1 scoop of protein powder with water for my afternoon protein shake. At 4:30PM, I would head to training for an hour and half. By 6PM, I would have my last snack of the day which would be a yogurt with mixed berries and protein oats. Finally, at 8PM I would eat dinner which consisted of mixed veggies, chicken breast, 1 rice cake, and some fruits.

In addition, it’s essential to factor in your fluids and supplements for the day. So, first thing in the morning, I take creatine, one a day multivitamin, vitamin D3, and fish oil. Also, I start my morning off with coffee and for that extra kick, I do consume one diet energy drink. I’m fairly adapted to caffeine at this point, so the caffeine I get from 1 cup of coffee and 1 can of energy drink is just enough. In the afternoon, I usually pair my last snack meal with a diet soda pop as a little treat. Now, here’s the important thing to remember. Drink water! I constantly hydrate myself throughout the day and it helps control my hunger signals. In addition, I started to improve water intake after a recommendation from Dr. Andy Galpin. During his podcast series with Andrew Huberman, he mentioned how water is vital for moving the nutrients around our body and improving our metabolic response. In addition, I heard the same case made Dr. Eric Helms over at 3DMJ and when you hear the same advice multiple times from different sources, it tends to evolve into a habit subconsciously.

So, if it’s all good with y’all, I’d love to use the Love Notes for Life podcast platform to share my lessons from the iron. I think after doing 20 episodes, I’ve finally figured out what I want the Love Notes for Life podcast to represent. To me, this podcast reflects the lessons I’ve learned from life and most of the lessons root itself from my interest in psychology, how we interact and observe one another, and my passion for the culture of maximizing human potential through fitness. So, for those of you still sticking around, get ready for more diary entries from my training journal.

So I've been thinking, pondering, reflecting lately on #thepath. I guess, this is a side-effect of being on a cut, but I realized that I left out a critical piece of my somewhat distant athletic history. I know, I kind of suggested that my life was this underdog story, where I used to be this kid with zero talent for sports and that, through the hardships of life, managed to emerge victoriously by conquering obesity. However, I actually participated in sports at an early age. After a short stint at flag football, my dad and I enrolled in Taekwondo, a Korean martial art known for kicking the bleep out of people.

Taekwondo was a great outlet. It balanced personal responsibility with the reliance of teamwork and camaraderie. It taught me discipline, learning through patience, and the value in breaking wooden boards in half. The trick was to either kick or punch the board dead center and it would immediately snap the board in half. If you were off target slightly, the board wouldn’t break and the force would kick back and hurt your foot or fist. So you really had to concentrate on performing the kick or punch without overthinking it. And when you heard that board snapped in half, that pop, it definitely made you feel like you had superpowers. 

Unfortunately, right before I had the opportunity to pursue my black belt, my family had to pack up and move because my dad had new military orders. However, Taekwondo would set me up for the next phase of athletic journey. The iron room of weightlifting.

So, my dad was an old school aspiring bodybuilder that grew up in the era of the classics. Think Gold’s or World’s gym and the legendary figures that defined the culture of bodybuilding. He introduced me to the legends of Pumping Iron: Frank Zane, Lou Ferrigno, Franco Columbo, and of course Arnold Schwarzenegger to name a few. And as a kid, I was a big Arnold fan because of the movies. I loved Terminator (2 will always be my favorite), Conan the Barbarian, and of course we can’t forget about Last Action Hero and my all-time favorite Christmas movie Jingle All the Way. But yes, as a little chubby kid, I could only dream of becoming my favorite action hero. So, I remember convincing my dad to bring me to the local gym at Misawa Airbase. I’m pretty sure there was an age restriction and I wasn’t supposed to be there, but I still remember my first time stepping into the weight room.

It was filled with equipment from the 90s, with paint chips and ripped fabric. All the weights were made of iron and some were stacked on this kind of sketchy barbell rack. It did not resemble the modern gym, but a place where deep thinkers could think, and lifters could push the issues of the world aside and focus on the iron. It was a fairly large complex with 80s classic rock blasting through the speakers. At every corner, you could witness these military dudes pushing massive weight like it was no big deal. To me, they all looked jacked, and I was convinced that they had the genetic gift that I did not possess. I knew no better, but regardless, I wanted to try, to give it a shot, that maybe I too could become Conan the Barbarian. So my dad showed me the ropes and became my first lifting coach.

Hitting the gym would eventually turn into a family outing. After school, my parents and I would head straight to the gym, and I would train with my dad. Week after week, I would get stronger from my beginner gains, and I started cutting weight. I managed to hit my mini athletic goals and I was able to silence my haters. I had a taste of the good life.

However, when you don’t have a clear purpose, it’s easy to fall off #thepath.

I experienced decent success in the beginning and thankfully, I would continue to train through the rest of high school and college. However, after I graduated from college and entered the professional workforce, I slowly got relaxed, ditched my programming, and got thrown off the path. I got frustrated and barely made any gains. I was forcing my body to cut, but I just couldn’t achieve my target body fat percentage. Yet, I didn’t factor in my lack of knowledge and education. I had a narrow scope of nutrition, recovery, and the underlying mechanism for hypertrophy. I was an inexperienced infant trying to crawl through the iron culture of bodybuilding.

So, I fell off the path and landed into the cutting loop.

All throughout high school and college, my primary intention was to cut fat mass. Sure, I was hoping to build my muscular frame up, but I was struggling to keep the weight down and I did it in the unhealthiest way possible. At the time, all I could think about was the brute force method: cut calories and try to outwork my nutrition. I didn’t have modern day Mikey giving me love notes that this was NOT the best way to cut fat mass. I was stubborn, I didn’t give my body a break, and eventually I just threw in the towel and gave up.  I was forcing the science to un-science itself.

As I exited college and entered the professional workforce, I subjected myself to unhealthy cycles of weight gain with minimal or zero resistance training followed by short burst of random diets to cut weight. Then, just like a silly goose, I would hit an obstacle during my weight cut, panic, change way too many variables, and then regain the weight like it never left my body. I fell into an unhealthy cycle of eating disorders and eventually I got to a point where I just accepted obesity. Rather than seeking help or the right knowledge, I just gave up.

It was so easy to give up until life forced me to wake up and redefine my purpose. I was done feeling sorry for myself. I was done barely breathing. I was ready to get my life back in order.

I found clarity and purpose. I wanted to get back to baseline athletic performance. I remembered my why.

Do better to be better for others. I’ve been saying that over and over again, but it means so much to me and it’s tough to be present for others when you’re barely holding onto life. I wanted to do better for others and especially for little Mikey, who many years ago found purpose through the iron and dreamed about becoming Conan the Barbarian. I just wanted to finish this goal that I started back in middle school, and I was just done wasting time. I wanted to express myself through bodybuilding and sculpt my body into a physique that I would be artistically proud of. Additionally, I wanted to free myself from the constraints of being overweight. I wanted to play, have fun, and pursue everything that an active lifestyle could offer. Lastly, I just want to reiterate that everything I do is for myself and others. Learning to love the human potential is enough reason to do better to be better for others. I want to be there for everyone that I care about and love.

Life feels so freaking good when you finally figure out your why.

Challenge yourself to grow, define your purpose, and establish baseline athletic performance.

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Thanks, y’all for tuning in to another episode of the Love Notes for Life podcast. I look forward to continuing this conversation of awareness and amplifying greatness through gratitude. If you’re enjoying the Love Notes for Life podcast, please subscribe and leave a 5-star rating on Spotify, Apple, and other major podcast platforms. The Love Note for Life lifestyle collection is now available at lovenotesforlife.com. Thanks for supporting the Love Notes movement and be sure to track the mindset by following me @mikecabuco on Instagram or Twitter.

Thanks, y’all for the support and always remember, “There is beauty in knowing that there is only one of you.” Take care.