Transcription
If your belly fat won't budge, there's a good chance that it's not the carbohydrates, and it has nothing to do with calories and almost nothing to do with exercise and cardio.
A major study found when researchers quietly lowered one nutrient from people's food, people automatically ate 12% more food. Not because they lacked willpower and discipline, but because their brain thought they were starving. They had more cravings, more hunger, and more belly fat. And millions of people are accidentally triggering this same response every single day.
Today, I'm exposing the three biggest protein mistakes that switch your body from fat burning to fat storage. And the number one mistake that people are making at their very first meal of the day. Let me introduce you to the real enemy in this video. It is not your age, it's not your metabolism, it's not your genetics, and it's not your willpower. It's something that I call your protein emergency system.
Okay, here's how this works. Imagine your brain as a thermostat, but this thermostat is not set for temperature. It's set for protein. You see, until your body hits its protein requirements for the day, the thermostat stays on. And when the thermostat stays on, five key things happen to you. Number one, hunger goes up. Number two, your cravings go up with it. Then your muscle breaks down, fat burning comes to a screeching halt, and your energy drops through the floor.
Now, here's the part that's going to mess with your head. Researchers call this the protein leverage effect, and there's a human study on this that I want you to hear. Scientists took a group of people and they did something sneaky. They secretly lowered the protein content in their food. Now, they didn't tell these participants they were doing this. You see, the food looked the same and it also tasted the same. The only thing that changed was that the protein content got watered down from about 15% protein to 10% of its total calories. You know what happened next? These people started eating 12% more total food and they did it without being told to do so. You see their body quietly forced them to eat more food. It was searching, it was hunting, it was looking for the protein they never got. This is called the protein leverage effect and it's happening to millions of people who think they just don't have any self-control. Look, you don't have a willpower problem. You have a protein signaling problem and this changes everything for you.
So, let me ask you something and I want you to be honest here with your answers. Do you crave snacks constantly even after a full meal? Do you get hungry 2 hours after eating a meal? Do you feel weak or shaky in the afternoon? Do you lose muscle easily and gain fat easily as well? Do you wake up in the middle of the night feeling hungry? If you said yes to even two of those, your protein emergency system has been switched on and it's fighting on every diet that you're trying. The good news is that we're about to switch it off. We're going to do this by fixing three big mistakes and I'm going to count them down starting with number three because the first one is the biggest one. So, let's get right into this.
Mistake number three, skipping protein early. Let me paint the picture. You wake up, you slam your cup of coffee, maybe you have a piece of toast, banana, some whole grain cereal or oatmeal or maybe you're being good and have nothing at all. Here's the problem. You just told your emergency protein system that scarcity is real because your body has been fasting all night. It's waking up looking for these essential amino acids. These are the building blocks of protein and when it doesn't get it, the thermostat kicks on and stays on all day long. Now, think about what most people eat in the morning. It's mostly all carbohydrates. Toast, cereal, muffin, bagels, maybe some fruit. That is a sugar delivery system with almost no protein. So, your blood sugar spikes, then your insulin spikes, and insulin is the only hormone in your body that signals store fat. When insulin is high, your fat cells are locked in. You physically cannot burn stored fat like belly fat when insulin is high. And that low protein keeps the hunger alarm screaming all day long. So, by 10:00 in the morning, you're hunting for a snack, and you blame yourself. But hey, the fix is pretty simple. You want to front load your first meal with protein. Get 30 to 40 g, ideally within the first hour after waking up, or at least with that first meal of the day. This includes high-quality protein sources like eggs with the yolk, maybe leftover steak, or a high-quality protein shake, even something like Greek yogurt or cottage cheese. When you hit that protein target early, you walk in the front door of your day, and you shut off the alarm before it starts ringing. So, your cravings flatten, your energy holds, and your fat-burning window stays open.
But here's the thing, what happens at night might be even worse. Let me show you. That's going to be mistake number two, the wrong overnight strategy. Look, there's a specific window that you have within a 24-hour period that is the highest priority for fat burning. It's the most important window for burning fat. And I have to show you that this window is not when you're working out at the gym. It's not when you are fasting. It's not when you're taking your fat-burning supplements and doing your biohacks. This window is actually during sleep. Most people think when they're asleep, the body shuts down. Oh, but it's the opposite. Your body is working very hard overnight. Sleep is when your body does its heaviest work. It's detoxifying. It's also pulsing growth hormone, which is using fat cells for fuel, and it's also detoxifying your liver, which is a major fat-burning organ. And within the first two to three hours after you fall asleep, this is the most important window for fat burning. It's called deep delta sleep. This is when you get the giant pulse of these fat-burning hormones, including growth hormone. This is the same hormone that people pay thousands of dollars every month for its benefits, but your body gives it to you for free as long as you're getting this deep delta sleep. See, every night when you get that growth hormone pulse, it tells your body to release stored fat for fuel. It also tells your body to protect your muscle. But here's the catch. For that growth hormone to pulse and to get all these benefits, you need amino acids floating around in your bloodstream during sleep. If those amino acids are not there, then your body will do something that you do not want. It starts breaking down muscle to find them, or it activates cortisol to raise blood glucose, which makes you wake up at 2:00 a.m. or 3:00 a.m. feeling wired and tired. So then you wake up a little softer, a little weaker, maybe puffy.
Now, I'm not telling you to front-load on protein and food right before bed. I actually teach the opposite. The overall goal is to stop the late-night snacking, but there is one specific exemption here. And the human research on this is wild. There's a type of slow-digesting protein called casein. It's found naturally in dairy products. When you eat it before bed, it forms a gel inside your stomach, and it releases amino acids slowly into the bloodstream over the next 6 to 8 hours, which is almost the exact time that you're asleep. When researchers gave individuals 40 g of casein about 30 minutes before bed, and then measured what happened overnight, the casein group had 22% higher overnight protein muscle synthesis than the people who got nothing. Yes, night from from mode to repair mode. Same sleep, but this one simple change. It completely changed how they felt in the morning. Now, the cleanest whole food version of this is a little bit of cottage cheese. It's naturally high in casein. It doesn't have to be that much. Two to maybe 6 oz of cottage cheese. Or you can use a protein blend with casein if cottage cheese is not your thing. But when you do this consistently, you stop throwing away 8 hours of fat burning every single night.
Now, mistake two here is not even the biggest one. The biggest mistake is something almost everybody gets wrong. So, stay with me here. But I need you to just pause for a second because I want to break a belief that you probably have had for most of your life. You've been taught that calories drive hunger. That if you're hungry, you just need more food, any food. That's wrong. Calories don't drive hunger. Protein drives hunger. Remember that study that I referenced earlier? When they watered down the protein, people ate 12% more food without even realizing it. You see, the calories did not control them. The protein did. Once you understand that, the next mistake here is going to hit differently because it's the one keeping most of you stuck.
Mistake number one, not hitting the protein threshold. Like most people are not even close to getting enough protein every day. And the reason this matters is the single most important study in this video. You see, researchers took a group of people. They bumped their protein up to around 30% of their total daily calories. And here's the key. They did not tell them to eat less. They did not even restrict a single other thing. No portion control, no calorie counting. They just added more protein. And you know what happened? These people automatically started eating less than 441 calories per day on their own without even trying. That's because their body simply turned off that alarm because the protein target was finally met. In over 12 weeks, they lost almost 12 lbs and most of it was body fat from one simple change. Just hitting the protein threshold. This is the power of switching off that protein emergency system.
So, how much protein do you actually need? What is that threshold? Well, the old government number is around .36 g per pound of body weight. But, that number was never designed to help you burn fat. It was just that decades ago to keep people from getting sick. The real sweet spot for fat loss and holding on to muscle is about 1 g of protein per pound of your ideal body weight. So, if you currently weigh 215 lbs, but your ideal body weight is 150 lbs, then most days you want to hit that threshold by consuming 150 g of protein. For most of you, that's like double to triple of what you're having now when it comes to protein. And here's the catch that trips everyone up. A piece of chicken that weighs about 100 g on a scale does not give you 100 g of protein. It gives you about 30. So, you have to be intentional, which leads to a very real problem. When I tell people to increase their protein and tell them, "Hey, you need to be getting 120, 140, maybe 170 g of protein." They panic. They picture themselves eating chicken breast every 2-3 hours, cooking six meals a day, stuffing themselves with eggs and steak until they're sick of food. And that's where their plan falls short. They just feel like they can't get enough of the protein. Look, I get it. Life gets in the way. We're busy. Work happens. Travel happens. Kids happen. And convenience always wins here. So, let me show you this shortcut I personally use to hit my threshold and what I share with my thousands of students. And by the way, my students have reported a total weight loss of over 1 million pounds. And that's because they do this one trick I'm going to show you here. The easiest way to consistently hit your protein requirements is with a high-quality protein shake. Now, it's always best to eat protein from whole foods, and I I want you to prioritize that. But, let's face it. If you have trouble hitting your protein requirements, if you're on the go, this is a very valuable option. And I'm personally very picky with my protein powders. That's because most protein powders are loaded with junk ingredients and fillers that completely defeat the purpose. They use things like artificial sweeteners and seed oils and cheap fillers and gums. So, for me, I recommend to my students and what I personally use is Equip Foods protein powder. It's called their Prime Protein. The reason why? It only has four ingredients. Yeah, that's it. Grass-fed and grass-finished beef protein isolate, cocoa, a touch of a natural sweetener, and some sea salt in it. No seed oils, no artificial ingredients, no artificial sweeteners, no gums and fillers, and no soy, and no whey. Which means a lot of people who struggle with dairy intolerance can actually do well with something like this. And honestly, this one that I have here, the cookies and cream one, is one of my favorite flavors from them. It's not a science experiment, it's not chalky, it doesn't taste like cardboard. It actually tastes pretty good, and it takes about 30 seconds to make it. And here's the real reason I use a high-quality protein shake. Remember that study that I referenced earlier? The one where people automatically ate fewer than a 441 calories a day when they finally hit their protein threshold? That's the goal. Because once your body gets enough protein, the cravings come down, that food noise gets quieter, and that constant hunt for snacks goes away. And that's where fat loss gets easier. Not because you are forcing it, but because your biology is finally working with you versus against you. And here is what I love. This option right here comes to around $2 per serving. That's $2 to get over 20 g of high-quality protein into your day. That's less than what most people spend on a cup of toxic coffee. Yet, it solves most of the problems that we discussed in this very video. And right now, Equip Foods is giving my audience, you, an exclusive 20% off. So, if you're serious about controlling cravings, building muscle, protecting your metabolism, and making fat loss finally feel easier, then click the first link right below this video, or grab your phone, and grab the camera application, and scan the QR code on the screen to take advantage of this exclusive offer. The discount code is automatically applied when you go to that link. And you simply go there, and then choose your favorite flavor. You'll see this page right here, their Prime Protein. They have almost 10,000 five-star reviews, and they have different flavors you can see here, chocolate, mocha, vanilla. Choose whatever flavor calls to you. I'm actually going to add my one of my favorites as well, the peanut butter. Add it to the cart. You can subscribe and save an additional discount. I'm going to do add to cart for try once. Coupon code is automatically applied when you do that. And before you check out, I also recommend adding their collagen. If you scroll down here, they have their grass-fed collagen. I love their vanilla. I'm going to add that to my cart. The code is also automatically applied, by the way. And the reason why I add that is because the Prime Protein helps with building muscle, but the collagen helps to support the structure that holds everything together. Your joints, your tendons, your ligaments, your connective tissue. And after 40, like I am, those are often the first things that start breaking down. So, people experience stiffness, achy knees, and slower recovery. It's that feeling that your body is not bouncing back the way that it used to. So, protein can change how you look, collagen can change how you feel. Together, it makes an incredible combination. So, if you want this exclusive deal, just click the first link down below or scan the QR code on the screen. And adding a scoop of this literally takes seconds.
And one more thing real quick, I want to be crystal clear about this again. Food is always my first choice for protein. Eat the beef, eat the chicken, eat the cottage cheese, the yogurt, the eggs with the yolk. But if sometimes you can't hit that protein requirement or if you're in a rush, a high-quality protein shake is a valuable option for you. Look, I hope you get that. Protein is not the end goal, but the protein is protecting your muscle. And your muscle is the engine that burns your belly fat. At around age 30, you naturally start losing 3 to 8% of muscle every single decade. It's called sarcopenia. And less muscle mass means a slower metabolism. A slower metabolism means more fat storage. And more fat storage means a bigger belly. So, get your protein, build your muscle, support your metabolism, and burn that belly fat.
And by the way, how would you like to hop on a Zoom call with me to ask me your questions? And how would you like a master class on how your metabolism actually works, which gives you a breakdown of the best fat burning foods that I want you to shop for at the grocery store, these fake healthy foods that are actually holding you back, and how to practice something called keto flexing? Well, that brings me to this live event that I'm personally hosting. It's my first and probably only live event of the entire year taking place on July 13th at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time. It's a 2-hour live stream. First hour, I teach you about keto flexing, fasting, and how to customize it for men versus women, women with a menstrual cycle, and women who are postmenopausal, and so much more. The second hour is a live Q&A with me. And you also get a ton of free bonuses as well when you attend this live event. And all you need to do to get your seat is to pre-order my brand new book or clicking the second link in the description box below or scanning the QR code on the screen. Simply by pre-ordering the book on paperback, on Kindle, Audible, or Spotify, it automatically grants you access to this live event and the special Q&A with me. So, I hope to see you there. I hope to meet you and I hope to answer your questions. And if this lesson has been valuable to you, please share it with somebody you know, somebody who's struggling with belly fat, somebody who has no idea how much protein they should have, and somebody who you believe this message can make a big difference for. In this channel, we pump out five brand new episodes about topics like fat loss, longevity, anti-aging, and I want you to subscribe if you haven't subscribed yet. And thank you so much for watching. Thank you so much for being a part of this video. I'll see you on the next one. And I just published a video on something I've been doing to my morning cup of coffee. I've been adding a scoop, 5 g of a certain nutrient, and it's really enhanced the benefits of the coffee, my muscle and recovery from workouts, how I feel in terms of mental clarity, and so much more. So, if you're looking to really upgrade the way you feel on top of what you learned today, you're going to want to watch this video. Here's a clip from that recent video, then click the video coming up on the screen in just a few seconds, and I'll see you in that next lesson. Let me say something that might surprise you. If you're waking up tired no matter how many hours of sleep you get, if you're struggling [music] to lose belly fat, if you're losing strength or feeling mentally slower than you used to, that's not aging. That's a crisis happening within your cells. In other words, it's a cellular energy issue. Within all of your