Hey, it’s Sam Ridgeway with Live Like a Viking and I’ve been told on a number of occasions, “Sam, I can’t follow the bodybuilding diet that you’ve paid so handsomely to acquire, by an IFBB Professional Bodybuilder, a man that has successfully done this for years, has worked with thousands of clients and could get shredded in his sleep (do you sense the sarcasm?). I hear, “If I ate 3,700 calories a day, I’d be the size of a house.” And you’re probably right. But only because you’re not a 300 pound man. This diet was created for me. I’ve said that a thousand times. But, if we do a little math, we can work this thing out so it fits your needs… Now math was never my strong suit so we’re going to be rounding up and down… Like a lot. Let’s do this…
First things first, the type of food is the same whether you weigh 150 pounds or 300. So when you’re told to eat eggs for breakfast along with some strawberries and whey protein, those are the food items you need to be eating. It’s the quantity that’s in question, not the food selection. The food selection was chosen for a reason… it promotes protein synthesis while minimizing the storage of fat. So let’s get smart about this. Again, the diet was specifically created for me… a 300 pound man. Therefore, if you’re a 200 pound man, you weigh Two Thirds of what I weigh. So let’s give you Two Thirds of the amount of food I’m eating. Instead of making 9 eggs, you make 6. Instead of 5 yolks, you keep 3. Instead of 2 cups of strawberries, you eat one and a half… we simply adjust quantity according to body mass.
We do this for a couple of weeks to get your metabolism stoked and then we switch it up. There’s definitely science behind this.
Today is day 5 of the docuseries. I feel like a beast at the gym, I wasn’t hungry between meals on day one, but I’m ready to eat when it’s meal time now. If I wake up in the middle of the night, I don’t feel like there’s a rock in the bottom of my stomach like I would think I’d feel from eating this much food. It’s like the food gets utilized quickly… like my metabolism is in overdrive. Will I gain weight by eating 3,700 calories a day? Probably. Isn’t that counter productive? Not if the plan is to get my metabolism going so as I start restricting calories, I lose weight faster.
And yes, you have to work out. You can’t sit on the couch eating bon-bons and watching Oprah and expect to lose weight. You have to follow a weight lifting plan and you have to be doing your 40 minutes of cardio, 4 times a week. Lifting weights is easy. Walking on a treadmill is easy. The diet is the hard part. It’s the diet that keeps all of us from having six pack abs. Diet is 90% of the battle. And I don’t believe all of us suck at following directions… because contrary to what your wife would say, we’re pretty good at that when we want to be. The hardest part of this is knowing what to eat. The second hurdle is knowing how much to eat. And we have a professional bodybuilder telling us these things. Let’s listen to him. If it doesn’t work, what have you lost? A few weeks of trying something new?
Do what you want, but I’m going to stay the course and ride this thing out. I know it’s going to get harder as we go along, but I’m ready. I want to get in great shape one last time. And if I can get a chest tattoo at 51, I feel like I can do anything.
Comments, questions, suggestions… put them below. You’re never too old to Live Like a Viking.
Till next time, Peace Out.
