Welcome to 1-3-1 Fridays, my weekly newsletter, where I reveal evidence-based strategies to get lean, strong, and create optimal health.

You'll receive one personal health insight, three actionable tips, and one concrete action step. Let's dive in.

Here's what's new this week:

•  ​Episode 2: A Simple Roadmap to Get Lean​ (Podcast)

If you missed Tuesday's email, we just opened our biggest end-of-year special this week.

If you want free coaching until 2026 and lock in our 2025 rates before 2026 upgrades, this is our best special.

If interested, message me 'VFR' or ​apply directly here​ (applications received first will be reviewed first).

7 spots. Doors will close Dec. 6th.

Looking forward to a great 2026 ahead!

What's in store for today:

• The five flavors of seasonings and how to use them
• How to use fats during your muscle-building journey (and avoid unnecessary fat gain)
• My favorite kitchen equipment and why I use it every day.

Back in 2018, I was doing monthly meditation retreats.

I was at a point in my life where I really wanted to understand myself.

So, I began exploring Eastern psychological paths, especially Buddhism.

I would switch between Brooklyn, NY, for my Sunday morning silent sits and the Catskill Mountains for weekend sits at the Zen Mountain Monastery.

I'd also do 1/2 day sits and full-day (zazenkai) sits (full or half days of silent meditation).

It was an interesting time in my life.

I quietly thought about diving deeper into a monastic lifestyle, too.

I remember telling my colleague, while I was training at a local PT clinic, about my plans. She looked puzzled when I said I would spend the whole weekend in the mountains.

But it certainly helped me understand myself better.

It helped me meet my wife at the end of the year.

Plus, it was my starting point for becoming vegan that same year.

So 2018 holds a special spot in my heart.

It was a year of transformation and letting go.

I haven't done a 1/2-day sit or zazenkai (full day), let alone a meditation retreat, since 2020-2021.

Tomorrow morning (Saturday), I'll do my first half-day sit in years.

I appreciate the depth you gain from spending more time in silent meditation (zazen) or Qi Gong.

5-15 minutes daily is a good start. However, something interesting happens when you spend longer in silence, stillness, and slowness.

We start to see more clearly.

We start to see through our projections.

Self-understanding and self-awareness aren't popular topics because they require real work.

It isn't easy to face yourself, especially when being alone is uncomfortable.

But it's certainly possible with practice.

I used to struggle sitting for 30 seconds in silence.

If you put in the reps and sets, you'll be surprised at how far you can come.

2026 is my new 2018.

What about you?

Lesson: The faster you go, the harder it is to know who you are.

Here's Your 1-3-1 Friday:

1.) 5 flavors of seasonings

When it comes to cooking, I'm no pro.

In fact, if I'm being honest, I'm still an amateur.

Part of that has been my own responsibility.

Cooking and meal prepping never called to me.

Why would I need to?

I can just microwave a meal, add some ketchup and Mrs. Dash, and be perfectly fine as a former bachelor.

Or later, when I got married and my wife loved to create every recipe from scratch for us?

But in the past few years, this has evolved for me.

I've started to fall in love with recipe and meal creation.

I need to re-read that prior sentence a few times.

One new thing I've learned from a cooking course with my wife is the five flavors of seasoning.

Each of them has its place in your kitchen and meals.

When used correctly, they can enhance your dishes and make you feel more confident in your cooking.

Here's the five and what they unlock for your meals:

1. Salty: unlocks many aromas in foods and allows flavors to marry together.
2. Sweet: tends to relax us and helps release dopamine.
3. Sour: accentuates sweetness, which also widens the palate for flavour. It also creates more contrast.
4. Bitter: flavors can be good for digestion and overall health. This bitterness often comes from different vegetables.
5. Umami: immediately adds more depth, more saltiness without adding salt. Adds the final oomph some meals need.

So how does this help you get leaner and stronger with plants?

Indirectly.

The more you know about seasonings, flavors, and meals, the more inspired you’ll feel to create your own dishes.

The more meals you prepare yourself rather than order out, the better your choices will be. This can lead to improved health results.

While I still eat out a few times a year, it's now an option rather than my default.

The real treat?

Shopping, building, and cooking my own meal.

We hosted a vegan potluck for our local community last weekend, and I made a bean chili from scratch.

Before guests arrive; in the middle of recipe.

Everyone loved it.

It's the small things (like flavors) that can make a big difference.

2.) Does eating fats build muscle?

Should you eat more fat to build muscle?

Fats or lipids are the last macronutrient to discuss for muscle building.

Here's the hierarchy you can use for your macros:

1. Protein is necessary for muscle building
2. Carbs are essential for performance and muscle building
3. Fats are essential for hormonal balance and functioning

Fats usually account for 20-30% of our total calories. We don’t need high levels of fat for any specific reason.

Research shows that if you're building muscle, more carbs in a caloric surplus help.

This helps with muscle growth and performance. In contrast, a higher fat intake could lead to increased fat gain.

Muscles are about 80% water. Higher carb intake helps store water, with each gram of carbs holding 3 grams of water.

So, it’s clear that eating more carbs can support better lean muscle growth.

Fats are important for hormonal balance and function. But they take more effort to break down health-wise.

The liver works hard for us day and night. It produces bile to break down fats.

This can stress our bodies, especially when we train hard and eat more. It makes sense to reduce fat intake to a moderate level.

This helps avoid extra stress on the liver and other key organs.

But then there's context. Building muscle on a plant-based diet can make you feel full quickly, especially with whole foods.

Which means you may not be in a caloric surplus. This means it might be hard to build muscle consistently if you're not eating enough.

Adding a few extra healthy fats can enhance your muscle-building experience.

It can also help you get your omegas in (hint: avocados and nuts work nicely here).

So it's a helpful consideration for the vegan muscle-building process.

Fats, in general, should be lower than the other macros due to their impact on liver and organ health.

For building muscle, it might make sense to eat a bit more fat. Again, knowing yourself well is important here.

If you’re getting full too quickly and not eating enough, consider adding more healthy fats. It can help you hit your calories if you're struggling with undereating.

This will support your daily calorie surplus and enhance muscle growth.

So to wrap up:

• Fats matter because they aid with hormonal balance.
• Healthy fats help support proper organ function.
• Fats should be kept to a moderate intake for muscle building to avoid excessive fat gain, but also to help with caloric surplus as needed.

Use them wisely.

3.) My favorite kitchen tool

For years, I've used dozens of kitchen tools.

Many have come and gone.

Few have stayed.

While I was hard-pressed to choose which one was my #1 favorite, it ultimately came down to this:

• What would I be unable to live without?
• How consistently do I use it?

The answer became clear (even though it was a tough choice between 2 tools).

I chose my Vitamix (almost felt I was choosing a Pokémon there...)

My second choice would have been our Hurom Juicer, which has been a powerhouse for us in 2025.

Another story for another time.

Our Vitamix has been a kitchen essential for almost a decade. My wife Anna upgraded ours to an American model when she relocated from Europe.

Ready for the week. :)

Here's why I couldn't live with a smoothie blender:

• It's easy and fast to make meals
• I enjoy a daily smoothie for high nutrients from fruits and vegetables
• It takes minimal ingredients to create a delicious meal
• Meal prep is also relatively easy to use for this (think 3-4 days of smoothies)
• It's multi-purpose. We can also use it to blend nuts, seeds, dessert toppings, and vegan 'cheeses.'

Our Vitamix is my favorite tool.

After I write this, I’m having my lunch smoothie. I made it in our blender, froze it, and defrosted it for a quick meal. Easy and simple.

If I could live on only one tool, this would be it. Ironically, I've gone through extended periods where I had to live off this tool.

So it's 100% possible.

Our Hurom Juicer likely lands in 2nd place, while our Instant Pot probably sits in 3rd.

If you'd like me to write about my top 10 health purchases of all time, let me know, and I'd be happy to work on this next.

If you've got any favorite kitchen tools that have worked well for you, send them over.

Would love to hear what's working well for you, too.

1 Action Step

What's one thing you've been putting off in your health this year? Resolve to solve this before the end of the year.

Client of the Week

Meet Liza.

She’s a busy realtor, mother of 2, and wife.

Long days as a real estate agent keep her busy with open houses and tours.

Eventually, this led to her neglecting her health for extended periods.

It’s a reminder that our health isn’t a one-time decision… but rather a multitude of small choices we make over time.

She wasn’t happy with her body. Or how she looked.

She wanted to regain her confidence and energy.

So we got started.

Strategy: Nutrition was a big focus for us. Liza wanted to permanently drop body fat.

But she also wanted to do this the right way.

We set her calorie intake to a moderate deficit to achieve an average of 1 pound of body fat loss per week.

For 5 days, tracking her nutrition was a must. We also added her meal prep system.

Making easy meals for her family became a key part of her new journey.

We then created a standard for her home workouts.

Liza wasn’t keen on working out in a public gym where everyone in the community knew her and could distract her.

Plus, working out from home was more convenient.

Lifting hard and pushing her reps in each workout became a priority. This way, we could maximize every session.

Results started to pour in.

But to be fair, it wasn’t perfect.

We experienced a few hiccups with adjusting her macros, which temporarily disrupted her tracking for a few weeks.

Work got crazy, and family relationships became strained.

Liza travels frequently, too. Added to this were several family trips over the summer and a lot of on-the-go time.

She still persevered.

Wins: As of writing this, she’s down nearly 35 lbs, even after doing a metabolic reset to go into a further cut.

She’s dropped 5+ inches off her waist. She’s leaner, confident, and more energetic than she’s felt in years.

She’s a new person.

She’s learned how to set non-negotiable standards for her life.

And she’s never going back.

One Quote To Finish Your Week Strong

By the way, I appreciate the support for our new podcast.

I've gotten a ton of great feedback (and I'm always open to constructive feedback, too).

Episode 1 was a personal one.

Have a ​listen here.​ 

Enjoy your upcoming holidays!

As promised, get leaner on plants in under 5 minutes.

Till next week,

Whenever you're ready, there's 3 ways I can help you:

1. Connect with me on ​Facebook ​and ​Instagram ​and let's be friends.
2.  ​Join our free Facebook Group​. Get free trainings on how to get lean and strong with plants.
3. Want to drop body fat and build lean muscle in a fraction of the time with ease? ​Apply for Accelerator 1:1 coaching.​