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.

What's in store for today:

• What is muscle, and why is it so important?
• Why stress kills fat loss results faster than you can say vegan protein powder.
• Simple sleep tips you can use to optimize your recovery and improve your fitness results.

On November 14th, we go live with our first episode of the Vegan Body Lab Podcast. I'm excited to share this new health resource with you.

If you want evidence-based, practical, and simple tips you can listen to on the go, with world-class interviews and conversations coming up, stay tuned.

It's been a long time in the making, and we're finally here.

Save the date for next Friday's first episode drop. :)

'You can't get fit in minimal time. '

This was how I used to think.

It's part of why I used to believe that I needed to workout 2 hours each workout 5 days a week.

Spending time with my nephew this summer took me back to my ambitious fitness days.

He's training 5-6 days a week, 2 hours per workout.

That's great. He loves training. He has the time. He can afford to burn his energy and time.

Being a career-driven husband and father changes the game somewhat.

I love training, but I also value other areas of my life. Family time and creative pursuits, like writing, are important to me. That’s why I don’t want to train for 2 hours, 5 days a week.

So yeah, I was the guy who made fun of short workouts.

Okay, I'll be even more honest: I scoffed at the idea of quick fitness.

But the past few years have taught me an important lesson: less is more when you're doing the right things.

The more you understand exercise science, the less likely you are to chase the latest fitness fad on your IG feed.

It's not easy. But it is simple.

4 days of workouts. 30 minutes each for lifting. 5-10 minutes of cardio post lifting.

35-40 minutes workout. 4 days a week.

That's my current setup. Most weeks, I'm hitting it like this.

Sometimes, I arrive at the gym around 2:30 PM-ish. Afterward, I go home to start homeschooling our son, Anthony.

When I run late, I cut the end of my workout short. Or I'll skip the cardio that day.

But most weeks I've been on point.

It's reduced my stress level immensely by keeping a time-efficient training schedule.

It also made me a better human (I think).

Instead of obsessing over trying to overachieve, I've focused on MED.

Minimum effective dosage.

What's the minimum amount I need to do to see the maximum results?

Like any good engineer, proactive laziness is actually a good thing.

Any good engineer will tell you that being lazy is often a sign that systems are running well.

So today's reminder is simple:

Create great systems. Focus on MED. And enjoy life.

Lesson: Fitness should enhance your life, not consume it.

Here's Your 1-3-1 Friday:

1.) What is muscle, and why is it important

You can't build something from nothing. Food is energy.

Energy is used to create new things in your body.

When you have extra energy coming in, you can use this to build new structures in your body.

A fun fact about muscle tissue is that it contains only around 600 kcal.

According to fat-loss researcher Lyle McDonald, here's what is inside muscle tissue:

Just because muscle tissue has about 600 k/cal doesn't mean we need to eat an extra 600 k/cal each month to build muscle.

Muscle tissue takes time to grow. It also needs a lot of energy to build the initial structures.

Some people believe they only need to eat a tiny bit more than their maintenance calories to build muscle.

Without getting too deep in the weeds, building muscle takes time and patience.

To build muscle, you'll need to consume slightly more calories than your maintenance level.

Combine this with weightlifting and a sufficient intake of vegan protein.

You’ll then crack the vegan code for muscle growth and strength.

We'll go more into lifting weights and protein later on.

For now, remember that a caloric surplus is the first lever you'll need to pull to consistently and sustainably build muscle.

Without this, building vegan muscle will be hard, especially post-newbie gains.

Why muscle is important?

• Increased strength
• Increased confidence
• Better aesthetics (improves the second one)
• Stronger skeletal health and body
• Higher quality of life
• Lower risk of injury during life/sports
• Slower ageing process

This is just a short checklist, but it can serve as a helpful reminder; we all have our own reasons for building muscle.

Choose your reason. Choose your training environment.

And put the principles of muscle building into practice.

Quick note: I'm creating a brand-new 10,000-word muscle-building article. It's going to be the ultimate vegan guide to building muscle.

You'll find everything you need to build muscle sustainably and permanently.

If you'd like a free copy, just hit reply and I'll let you know when it's published.

2.) Why stress will kill weight loss

Being in a caloric deficit puts extra stress on you.

This is due to dieting and being in a controlled starvation mode.

Lifting weights is the second stressor for your body. It temporarily breaks down muscle fibers during each workout.

Just these two stressors alone are enough to keep your body busy for a while.

Add career stress, family stress, relationship stress, and financial stress. '

Together, they create a recipe for fitness disaster.

Chronic stress can slow or stop fat loss, even if you're in a caloric deficit and training regularly.

I've seen this happen enough times, so it’s important not to ignore it.

Stress is just a form of energy. It's the simplest way you can view it.

The law of thermodynamics states that energy can't be made or destroyed. It can only be transferred.

So contrary to popular myth, you don't get rid of stress (or relieve it). You convert it.

Remember, you can't create or destroy energy (stress). You can only transfer it.

You'll want a stress-conversion practice. This helps you turn stress into relaxation in a healthy way.

The two best ways I've discovered:

• Deep breathing
• Qi Gong

Deep belly breathing is an easy way to reconnect with your breath and your Center.

The more we breathe into our stomachs rather than our chests, the easier it is to let go of stress.

It's a simple practice but not easy (since our addicted minds like to hold onto stress).

But 1 minute of deep breathing can be powerful.

I've used this with many clients, and not one has said that deep breathing made things worse.

With deep breathing, you’ll notice a stronger connection to your body. You’ll also become more aware of how you feel right now.

Many of us feel disconnected from our bodies and emotions.

It’s ironic: we often exercise and work out, yet still miss that connection.

This leads to the second practice of Qi Gong.

Find a qualified instructor near you to start learning.

Qi Gong is an ancient Chinese practice. It was created as a health and healing system for individuals.

This article won't explore Qi Gong in detail. Still, Qi Gong includes activities like shaking your body and pounding your feet on the ground.

These techniques effectively transform stress into relaxation.

I've written more about ​​Qi Gong here​​ if you'd like a quick read.

Again, stress is just energy.

It just needs to be converted to be released into relaxation.

3.) Sleep optimization checklist

Getting 7-9 hours of sleep is the ideal standard for optimal body composition. This has been studied for years.

In fact, they found that if you get less than 6 hours of sleep daily, your results can and will suffer.

Sleep is when you recover and rejuvenate.

It's also when your body repairs itself after each day. You need quality sleep every night to recover well after workouts and dieting.

The key to winning with sleep is simple: optimize your evening routine.

Here's what I suggest:

• Cut out all blue light from phones, laptops, and other electronics at least 1 hour before bed. Two hours is even better, but I’m being realistic.
• To create the perfect sleep environment, use blackout curtains, keep the room cool, and eliminate all noise. Avoid TVs and phones in the bedroom.
• Turn off Wi-Fi and 5G/4G on all devices before sleeping to reduce the EMF radiation they emit.
• Stop all eating/calorie consumption at least 2 hours before bedtime.
• Stop drinking at least 45 minutes before bed to avoid waking up to pee throughout the night.
• Read before bed and/or journal, if needed, to let go of thoughts from the day (the reading will make you sleepy, too).
• Perform 1 minute of deep belly breathing and/or Qi Gong a few minutes before bed. This will help you achieve an ideal, relaxed state for sleep.

It'll take time to implement each part of this sleep checklist.

But it can change your life if you do this consistently each night. It takes about 60 days to create a new habit.

Aim to focus on just 1-3 new habits at a time.

Be patient with your sleep and evening routines.

You're building a foundation for your life.

1 Action Step

Choose one minimum standard for your fitness and focus on it for the next 30 days.

Client of the Week

Ashley leads a busy life.

She runs a busy school system. She has two kids. She's also doing most of this work on her own.

Yet, Ashley wanted to take care of her body and health.

She valued fitness, but she wasn't prioritizing herself.

So she applied to work together, and we got started.

Strategy: We focused on several key areas for her. The first was her workouts.

With her busy schedule, Ashley needed an optimized workout. She runs her school district and cares for her kids.

Creating her non-negotiables here was important.

It was key to choose the right time for her to work out. Then, to design a strength program that fits her schedule, time, and goals.

We began with a 3-day routine focusing on the whole body. Then, we moved to a 4-day split, dividing upper and lower workouts evenly across the week.

Focusing on her nutrition was another priority.

Learning to track her meals but also raise her self-awareness went hand in hand.

Ashley knew her way around the kitchen, but her environment wasn't supporting her.

Identifying which foods improved her health and which to eliminate was one of her key success habits.

Finally, we layered in emotional and mental foundations.

Most of us ignore how we feel.

We focused on helping Ashley develop a daily habit. This habit let her acknowledge her feelings. It also encouraged her to face her true emotions.

This wasn't easy.

But she started to build momentum with this over the first few months.

Wins: She has lost 18 pounds, 22.5 inches (4 inches in the waist and 4.5 inches in the hips), and has gone from an 8/10 to a 4/6.

She also gained 5 pounds of muscle while significantly reducing her body fat percentage.

She became confident and strong in her body.

She's also released relationships that didn't serve her and raised her self-worth.

She was so inspired by our work together that she decided to become a personal trainer and help others as well.

Additionally, she has run marathons throughout the past year. She's now planning for her next big race at Hyrox.

She's committed to being her best self.

So can you.

One Quote To Finish Your Week Strong

Been a long time coming with the new podcast.

Interesting how limiting beliefs can show up unexpectedly.

And this weekend I'm organizing our home.

Strangely, I'm looking forward to this.

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.​