Dr. Clay Hyght's Free E-book

Diet and Nutrition
1

Just wanted to say that I am about halfway through the book and so far “Set Your Metabolism on Fire” is a great read. Dr Clay has done something novel in that he has written his nutrition guidelines into steps. Step 1 being the most basic “good advice” someone can get, and also the easiest to accomplish, And progressing through 6 total steps. Each step ups the ante for muscle building and fat loss. What is great is that if you just want to get into overall better shape but don’t want to eat like a bodybuilder, you could simply go to step 3. If you want up the ante you could go to step 5, if you want to look like a bodybuilder or fitness competetor, you go all the way to step 6 (of course following the other steps including step 6).

If anyone hasn’t taken advantage of this yet, I would recommend going to his website. Drclay.com and signing up for your free copy. What a great tool weather you are a couch potatoe looking to start something new, or an advanced trainee looking to nail down the last peice of your puzzle. For anyone who has been here on T-Nation for more than a couple years, all of this will be familiar to you. What I really like is how he lays it out, it really makes it simple to “digest”.

He also has some novel concepts, things I hadn’t really heard before. For instance, the calories in protein, are you technically burning the protein you eat and using it for energy? Most likley not, in fact maybe none of it is burned as energy. In labs they burn things with a bunson burner to get how many calories they give off, but if you aren’t using it for that purpose, what good is that information. Anyways, I’ll stop in here and make some more comments once I get through the whole book. So far I give it 5 stars.

V

2

Thanks for the reminder Vegita. I forgot he was releasing his e-book for free.

3

[quote]Vegita wrote:

He also has some novel concepts, things I hadn’t really heard before. For instance, the calories in protein, are you technically burning the protein you eat and using it for energy? Most likley not, in fact maybe none of it is burned as energy. In labs they burn things with a bunson burner to get how many calories they give off, but if you aren’t using it for that purpose, what good is that information.

V[/quote]

why would you want to burn protein for energy anyways?

4

The ebook is very basic in terms of the scientific documentation but the principles are solid. If you have no idea how to clean up your diet or know what types of foods/when you should be eating then check this out. I have a feeling the average Supplements and Nutrition forum contributor wouldn’t get much value from reading the e-book. Jamie Hale and Lyle McDonald’s writings are much more in-depth for the analytical minded.

5

[quote]jehovasfitness wrote:
Vegita wrote:

He also has some novel concepts, things I hadn’t really heard before. For instance, the calories in protein, are you technically burning the protein you eat and using it for energy? Most likley not, in fact maybe none of it is burned as energy. In labs they burn things with a bunson burner to get how many calories they give off, but if you aren’t using it for that purpose, what good is that information.

V

why would you want to burn protein for energy anyways?

[/quote]

You wouldn’t, which is why when you are going to be figuring out your caloric expenditure and how much you should get from your food, perhaps the “calories” in protein should be discounted. I guess when I think about it as it pertains to bulking. Say you are a 200 lb guy with a LBM of about 180.

You want to pack on some size, well if you go ahead and get your reccomended protein intake of 1.5 grams per lb of LBM thats 270 grams of protein, and 1620 calories. If you Burn say 3000 calories in a day, and you only get an additional 2000 calories of energy from carbohydrates and fats, you will be burning up 1000 grams of your protein that is supposed to go to repairing and muscle building.

V

6

[quote]phatkins187 wrote:
The ebook is very basic in terms of the scientific documentation but the principles are solid. If you have no idea how to clean up your diet or know what types of foods/when you should be eating then check this out. I have a feeling the average Supplements and Nutrition forum contributor wouldn’t get much value from reading the e-book. Jamie Hale and Lyle McDonald’s writings are much more in-depth for the analytical minded.[/quote]

I have a feeling a handful of people who are long time regulars here wouldn’t get something useful out of the book. I thought he did a real nice job on it and I think it is going to be useful for the majority of people who read it, even if it’s just a refresher or maybe helps to tie a few things together. To anyone who does not have a lot of exposure to good nutritional info, this e-book will be massively helpful.

V

7

[quote]Vegita wrote:
jehovasfitness wrote:
Vegita wrote:

He also has some novel concepts, things I hadn’t really heard before. For instance, the calories in protein, are you technically burning the protein you eat and using it for energy? Most likley not, in fact maybe none of it is burned as energy. In labs they burn things with a bunson burner to get how many calories they give off, but if you aren’t using it for that purpose, what good is that information.

V

why would you want to burn protein for energy anyways?

You wouldn’t, which is why when you are going to be figuring out your caloric expenditure and how much you should get from your food, perhaps the “calories” in protein should be discounted. I guess when I think about it as it pertains to bulking. Say you are a 200 lb guy with a LBM of about 180. You want to pack on some size, well if you go ahead and get your reccomended protein intake of 1.5 grams per lb of LBM thats 270 grams of protein, and 1620 calories. If you Burn say 3000 calories in a day, and you only get an additional 2000 calories of energy from carbohydrates and fats, you will be burning up 1000 grams of your protein that is supposed to go to repairing and muscle building.

V[/quote]

It can still be stored, that’s like saying if you store 50g of carbs, those 200 calories don’t count

8

[quote]Vegita wrote:
phatkins187 wrote:
The ebook is very basic in terms of the scientific documentation but the principles are solid. If you have no idea how to clean up your diet or know what types of foods/when you should be eating then check this out. I have a feeling the average Supplements and Nutrition forum contributor wouldn’t get much value from reading the e-book. Jamie Hale and Lyle McDonald’s writings are much more in-depth for the analytical minded.

I have a feeling a handful of people who are long time regulars here wouldn’t get something useful out of the book. I thought he did a real nice job on it and I think it is going to be useful for the majority of people who read it, even if it’s just a refresher or maybe helps to tie a few things together. To anyone who does not have a lot of exposure to good nutritional info, this e-book will be massively helpful.

V[/quote]

I find the book really benificial in terms of helping me explain to others the basics of dieting and exercise. Eventhough I know a little bit about it, I just can’t explain them well enough to other people, so this is where the book comes.

9

[quote]jehovasfitness wrote:
Vegita wrote:
jehovasfitness wrote:
Vegita wrote:

He also has some novel concepts, things I hadn’t really heard before. For instance, the calories in protein, are you technically burning the protein you eat and using it for energy? Most likley not, in fact maybe none of it is burned as energy. In labs they burn things with a bunson burner to get how many calories they give off, but if you aren’t using it for that purpose, what good is that information.

V

why would you want to burn protein for energy anyways?

You wouldn’t, which is why when you are going to be figuring out your caloric expenditure and how much you should get from your food, perhaps the “calories” in protein should be discounted. I guess when I think about it as it pertains to bulking. Say you are a 200 lb guy with a LBM of about 180. You want to pack on some size, well if you go ahead and get your reccomended protein intake of 1.5 grams per lb of LBM thats 270 grams of protein, and 1620 calories. If you Burn say 3000 calories in a day, and you only get an additional 2000 calories of energy from carbohydrates and fats, you will be burning up 1000 grams of your protein that is supposed to go to repairing and muscle building.

V

It can still be stored, that’s like saying if you store 50g of carbs, those 200 calories don’t count

[/quote]

Huh? How is protein stored? It’s either used to build things, which I guess is considered storing it, or it’s converted to energy, or it’s excreted. Carbs are stored in the muscles, but there is a limit as to how much can be stored, if the muscles are full and there is STILL extra carbs floating around the bloodstream, it’s going to be converted to fat and then stored. Generally this isn’t what people are looking to do. Protein can also be converted to fat but the process is very inefficient, so it probably doesn’t happen to any appreciable amount.

V

10

I’ll give Clay his props -lol. The book is very well put together. Sure, as one of the more experienced guys on here (and it pains me to admit that) I already knew or had implemented the concepts into my own training, but I still DLed the book to my desktop, and will be printing it out and putting it in a binder with my other reference books. It is definitely worth having.

The mere fact that the author is not only a damn smart guy, but an accomplished BBer gives him a hell of a lot more credibility than a lot of these idiots who put out training or dietary agendas.

S

11

[quote]Vegita wrote:

Huh? How is protein stored? It’s either used to build things, which I guess is considered storing it,

V[/quote]

sorry, that’s what I meant

12

[quote]Vegita wrote:
Huh? How is protein stored? It’s either used to build things, which I guess is considered storing it, or it’s converted to energy, or it’s excreted. Carbs are stored in the muscles, but there is a limit as to how much can be stored, if the muscles are full and there is STILL extra carbs floating around the bloodstream, it’s going to be converted to fat and then stored. Generally this isn’t what people are looking to do. Protein can also be converted to fat but the process is very inefficient, so it probably doesn’t happen to any appreciable amount.

V[/quote]

this really couldn’t be more wrong.

nearly all of the carbs you eat are either (a) stored as glycogen, or (b) burned for energy. carbs are almost NEVER stored as fat in humans.

13

[quote]JMoUCF87 wrote:
Vegita wrote:
Huh? How is protein stored? It’s either used to build things, which I guess is considered storing it, or it’s converted to energy, or it’s excreted. Carbs are stored in the muscles, but there is a limit as to how much can be stored, if the muscles are full and there is STILL extra carbs floating around the bloodstream, it’s going to be converted to fat and then stored. Generally this isn’t what people are looking to do. Protein can also be converted to fat but the process is very inefficient, so it probably doesn’t happen to any appreciable amount.

V

this really couldn’t be more wrong.

nearly all of the carbs you eat are either (a) stored as glycogen, or (b) burned for energy. carbs are almost NEVER stored as fat in humans.[/quote]

Are you being sarcastic? Because if you are, your doing a really good job at it…

14

[quote]skohcl wrote:
JMoUCF87 wrote:
Vegita wrote:
Huh? How is protein stored? It’s either used to build things, which I guess is considered storing it, or it’s converted to energy, or it’s excreted. Carbs are stored in the muscles, but there is a limit as to how much can be stored, if the muscles are full and there is STILL extra carbs floating around the bloodstream, it’s going to be converted to fat and then stored. Generally this isn’t what people are looking to do. Protein can also be converted to fat but the process is very inefficient, so it probably doesn’t happen to any appreciable amount.

V

this really couldn’t be more wrong.

nearly all of the carbs you eat are either (a) stored as glycogen, or (b) burned for energy.

carbs are almost NEVER stored as fat in humans.

Are you being sarcastic? Because if you are, your doing a really good job at it…[/quote]

I’m gonna pound some Pixie stix and skittles and get ripppppppedddd

15

The book has some solid principals, is any easy read, and a great resource for anyone interested in bodybuilding. It is in some ways more traditionally Bodybuilding in its approach, which is somewhat refreshing when over-exposed to those who base many of their theories on things more ‘radical’ than the staples of nutrition and training that are the foundation for physique competition as we know it.

I am confused in some ways, as I see different approaches in his book and in his articles. In his most recent nutrition article, How Bodybuilders should eat, the good Dr. brings in theories of temporal nutrition as a large basis for nutrient timing, and well as recognizing the importance of fats in the pursuit of lean muscularity.

In his book, however, many his sample meal plans do not include temporal nutrition. He has several wherein one consumes milk and fruit and cereal in the last meal of the day.
He does speak to lowering carbs latter in the day in step six, however he still includes the cereal, milk, fruit in the evenings. It is not until his most advanced macro-cycling guidelines that he introduces low carb evenings, something I would imagine to be fairly straight-forward in terms of his earlier meal plansWhile I have heard reasons for this among other nutrition experts and coaches, this seems contradictory for Clay.

Now, in terms of the fat, the Dr. does acknowledge, is a similar way to his article, that fats play an important role in one’s diet. However, while paying those dues, he does not list whole eggs on his CLEAN FOODS list, and instead only lists the egg whites. While this is not a big deal, and again I understand the logic behind this, I could not help but recall his question after describing the importance of fats and cholesterol:

“Still want to throw out those egg yolks?”

This, again, seems confusingly contradictory. He eventually does add in a yolk or two in his RFL plan, still omitting them from his clean list.

I see this mainly as a sign that with complex situations, as we find in Bodybuilding, the theory can also be more complex than the solid ‘rules’ we often cling to as truth.

It is a good book, and worth a read.

16

[quote]skohcl wrote:
JMoUCF87 wrote:
Vegita wrote:
Huh? How is protein stored? It’s either used to build things, which I guess is considered storing it, or it’s converted to energy, or it’s excreted. Carbs are stored in the muscles, but there is a limit as to how much can be stored, if the muscles are full and there is STILL extra carbs floating around the bloodstream, it’s going to be converted to fat and then stored. Generally this isn’t what people are looking to do. Protein can also be converted to fat but the process is very inefficient, so it probably doesn’t happen to any appreciable amount.

V

this really couldn’t be more wrong.

nearly all of the carbs you eat are either (a) stored as glycogen, or (b) burned for energy. carbs are almost NEVER stored as fat in humans.

Are you being sarcastic? Because if you are, your doing a really good job at it…[/quote]

No, I’m not being sarcastic. are you?

17

[quote]Anabolic.O.D. wrote:
skohcl wrote:
JMoUCF87 wrote:
Vegita wrote:
Huh? How is protein stored? It’s either used to build things, which I guess is considered storing it, or it’s converted to energy, or it’s excreted. Carbs are stored in the muscles, but there is a limit as to how much can be stored, if the muscles are full and there is STILL extra carbs floating around the bloodstream, it’s going to be converted to fat and then stored. Generally this isn’t what people are looking to do. Protein can also be converted to fat but the process is very inefficient, so it probably doesn’t happen to any appreciable amount.

V

this really couldn’t be more wrong.

nearly all of the carbs you eat are either (a) stored as glycogen, or (b) burned for energy.

carbs are almost NEVER stored as fat in humans.

Are you being sarcastic? Because if you are, your doing a really good job at it…

I’m gonna pound some Pixie stix and skittles and get ripppppppedddd

[/quote]

Sounds good to me. As long as it fits into your calories and macro goals, you can eat whatever you like.

18

[quote]midnightamnesia wrote:
The book has some solid principals, is any easy read, and a great resource for anyone interested in bodybuilding. It is in some ways more traditionally Bodybuilding in its approach, which is somewhat refreshing when over-exposed to those who base many of their theories on things more ‘radical’ than the staples of nutrition and training that are the foundation for physique competition as we know it.

I am confused in some ways, as I see different approaches in his book and in his articles. In his most recent nutrition article, How Bodybuilders should eat, the good Dr. brings in theories of temporal nutrition as a large basis for nutrient timing, and well as recognizing the importance of fats in the pursuit of lean muscularity.

In his book, however, many his sample meal plans do not include temporal nutrition. He has several wherein one consumes milk and fruit and cereal in the last meal of the day.
He does speak to lowering carbs latter in the day in step six, however he still includes the cereal, milk, fruit in the evenings. It is not until his most advanced macro-cycling guidelines that he introduces low carb evenings, something I would imagine to be fairly straight-forward in terms of his earlier meal plansWhile I have heard reasons for this among other nutrition experts and coaches, this seems contradictory for Clay.
[/quote]

Could it be that, shock of all shocks, eating carbs at night DOESN’T make you fat? (blasphamy!)

[quote]midnightamnesia wrote:
Now, in terms of the fat, the Dr. does acknowledge, is a similar way to his article, that fats play an important role in one’s diet. However, while paying those dues, he does not list whole eggs on his CLEAN FOODS list, and instead only lists the egg whites. While this is not a big deal, and again I understand the logic behind this, I could not help but recall his question after describing the importance of fats and cholesterol:

“Still want to throw out those egg yolks?”

This, again, seems confusingly contradictory. He eventually does add in a yolk or two in his RFL plan, still omitting them from his clean list.
[/quote]

The bottom line is this: yolks contain fat, fat is calorie dense, overeat ANY macronutrient (including fat) and the unused energy is stored as body fat.

yolks aren’t “clean” or “dirty”…they just are. how many you should eat will be determined on the composition of the rest of your diet, and whether they fit into you daily calorie/macronutrient goals (notice a pattern here?)

[quote]midnightamnesia wrote:
I see this mainly as a sign that with complex situations, as we find in Bodybuilding, the theory can also be more complex than the solid ‘rules’ we often cling to as truth.

It is a good book, and worth a read.[/quote]

No comment.

19

[quote]JMoUCF87 wrote:
skohcl wrote:
JMoUCF87 wrote:
Vegita wrote:
Huh? How is protein stored? It’s either used to build things, which I guess is considered storing it, or it’s converted to energy, or it’s excreted. Carbs are stored in the muscles, but there is a limit as to how much can be stored, if the muscles are full and there is STILL extra carbs floating around the bloodstream, it’s going to be converted to fat and then stored. Generally this isn’t what people are looking to do. Protein can also be converted to fat but the process is very inefficient, so it probably doesn’t happen to any appreciable amount.

V

this really couldn’t be more wrong.

nearly all of the carbs you eat are either (a) stored as glycogen, or (b) burned for energy. carbs are almost NEVER stored as fat in humans.

Are you being sarcastic? Because if you are, your doing a really good job at it…

No, I’m not being sarcastic. are you?[/quote]

Well if possible I wouldn’t mind if you would expand on your previous statement that ‘carbs are almost NEVER stored as fat in humans.’

20

[quote]skohcl wrote:
Well if possible I wouldn’t mind if you would expand on your previous statement that ‘carbs are almost NEVER stored as fat in humans.’[/quote]

Gladly. This is borrowed from a post by author/coach Jamie Hale (I suggest you check out his book “Knowledge and Nonsense”)

“Hellerstein (1999) has pointed out that the de novo lipogenesis is a path of last resort in regards to carbohydrate metabolism. Hellerstein says, â??The pathway for converting dietary carbohydrates into fat, or de novo lipogenesis, is present in humans whereas the capacity to convert fats into CHO does not exist. Eucaloric replacement of dietary fat by CHO does not induce hepatic DNL to any substantial degree. Similarly, addition of CHO to a mixed diet does not increase hepatic DNL to quantitatively important levels as long as CHO energy intake remains less than total energy expenditure. Only when CHO intake exceeds total energy expenditure does DNL in liver or adipose tissue contribute significantly to the whole-body energy economy. In conclusion, DNL is not the pathway of first resort for added dietary CHO in humans. Under most dietary conditions, the two major macronutrient energy sources (CHO and fat) are not interconvertible.”

This means that unless you:

(a) have already maxed out your glycogen stores AND,
(b) consume energy from carbohydrates in excess of you total daily energy expenditure (that’s in carbs ONLY, not counting fat and protein)

carbs are not stored directly as fat. when you eat a lot of carbs, your body just ramps up carbohydrate oxidation (burning) at the expense of fat oxidation. this means less bodyfat is burned for energy and more dietary fat is stored as bodyfat.

this is not the same as carbs being stored as bodyfat, which, as I’ve stated, rarely ever happens in the real world. (see above)