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INSIDE
CONTENTS
04 WELCOME
08 THE 13 PRINCIPLES TO MAXIMIZING PHYSIQUE TRANSFORMATION
30 MEAL PLAN APPLICATION
40 MEAL PLAN CALCULATOR
41 MEAL PLAN TROUBLESHOOTING
45 NUTRITION FAQ
50 PREFERRED FOOD SUBSTITUTES
 WELCOME
TO THE G.E.T. NUTRITION
PROGRAM!
The quote to the right is completely
true: I would even say you’re body-
building with two arms tied behind
your back.
Nutrition is arguably the most import-
ant aspect of anything you will do in
regards to reaching your body com-
position goals. Nutrition determines
your mood, energy levels, ability to
fight disease, sleep quality, whether
you’re building muscle, losing fat or
just maintaining. It determines your
neurotransmitter pool balance in the
body which governs things such as
attention span, focus, motivation,
drive, speed of thought and ability to
translate thoughts into words. It is also
your nutrition that determines your
4 NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0
THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE
hormone levels such as testosterone,
estrogen, insulin among many others.
You see where I’m going with this?
Essentially, you are what you eat. “IF YOU DON’T
Everything you put in your mouth FOLLOW A GOOD
determines how fast, or how slowly
you’re going to accomplish your goals. NUTRITION PLAN,
Let me tell you something, there isn’t
an elite athlete, model, bodybuilder
YOU’RE BODYBUILD-
or advanced trainee alive that will tell ING WITH ONE ARM
you nutrition isn’t absolutely vital to
your success. TIED BEHIND YOUR
Having said all this, there is a right BACK”
way to go about things and a wrong SHAWN RAY, IFBB PRO BODYBUILDER
way. More often than not, asking ran-
AND PUBLISHED AUTHOR
dom dudes in the gym and
following muscle magazine articles
will have you on a wild goose chase.
These sources of information rarely,
and I mean RARELY offer solid advice.
This goes for personal trainers as well.
Personal trainers are personal trainers,
nowhere in that profession are you re-
quired to have a full understanding of
nutritional science. Very few trainers
have the right to be giving nutritional
advice.
Don’t get me wrong there are select
trainers out there who do have the
education behind them. Which is why
I suggest whenever you are asking
somebody for their advice or opinion,
also ask them what their qualifica-
tions are and how many people they
have transformed so you can deter-
mine how much weight to put in that
advice.
The G.E.T. system brings plenty of
research, science, nutrient timing and
real world experience to the table.
Too often do you see skinny guys
offering muscle building advice, or fat
people telling you the best way to lose
fat.
Look, would you get your teeth fixed
by a dentist whose teeth resembled a
row of piano keys?
Would you take martial arts lessons
from a guy who just watched a couple
of Jackie Chan movies?
NO! YOU WOULDN’T!
Which is why the marriage of both
science and real world application is
the best combination you can possibly
have for muscle building and fat loss
advice. I have personally put on over
60lbs of muscle naturally in my lifting
career and have helped thousands do
the same.
The way in which to make this work
is to not make it exclusive to the 18-
week G.E.T. system, but to teach you
NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0
ways to make this a lifestyle change,
and not just a system change.
The G.E.T. nutrition system is all about
top notch results while keeping things
realistic, sustainable, steering clear
of “extreme methods” and teaching
you the principles of nutrition that
you can take with you for a lifetime.
Extreme methods are short lived and
you always end up back where you
were shortly after.
Principles on the other hand are a
way of life; physique transformation
is a marathon not a sprint, and these
principles will guide you in the right
direction to earn your physique and
not make mistakes along the way.
The G.E.T. nutrition system is designed
to maximize performance and phy-
sique transformation in each phase
by tailoring nutrient timing and type to
support the demands of the specific
training philosophy of each phase.
Before getting into the intricacies of
each principle we must first discuss
what is necessary prior to focusing
on muscle building tactics, which is
getting lean first.
The first goal before anything else, as
you found out in the Quick Start Guide
is that you must be 12% body fat (if
you’re a male) or less prior to imple-
menting the bulking nutritional plans.
If you’re above 12% body fat, you
need to come down. If you’re at or
below 12% body fat, collect $200.00
and pass GO! You can jump straight to
the bulking systems.
For those of you men above 12%,
don’t be discouraged. In fact, you
should be excited because the results
that you will receive being a leaner
machine will be that much more
amplified.
THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE 5
 The main reason why we insist you be
at or below 12% body fat is because
being lean offers so many more
muscle-building advantages. It is very
clear in the research that lean individ-
uals have higher testosterone levels,
lower estrogen levels, and also metab-
olize carbohydrates more efficiently.
WHAT THIS ALL MEANS IS THAT WHEN
YOU ARE LEAN, YOU ARE MUCH MORE
ANABOLIC AND PRONE TO PUTTING
ON MUSCLE TISSUE AS OPPOSED TO
STORING FAT, PROVIDED YOU ARE
FOLLOWING THE CORRECT PRINCI-
PLES.
The problem with a higher body fat
percentage is that fat cells are hor-
monally active. Fat cells provide the
body with plenty of hormones and
enzymes (some good, some bad) that
contribute to homeostasis. But too
high of a body fat percentage leads
THE RED LINE INDICATES TESTOSTERONE LEVELS
6 NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0
THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE
to an increase in the activity of an
enzyme called aromatase. Aromatase
converts testosterone into estrogen.
Not something guys looking to build
muscle or have a six pack want
happening! Your ability to build muscle
mass has a very strong correlation
with how much testosterone you have
in your body.
Estrogen is a female hormone and
too much of it in the body can cause
gynecomastia, or man boobs. Anybody
looking to enhance their physique
should be looking to optimize natural
testosterone output and the best way
to do this is not with a supplement,
but to first be lean.
Let’s say you are over 12% body fat
and say to yourself “I’m just going
to supplement with a test booster to
get my testosterone up”. Not so fast,
aromatase will still be converting any
testosterone you increase into more
estrogen which leads to more prob-
lems in the male body.
Don’t get me wrong, we need some
estrogen, but not a lot of it. Testoster-
one is the alpha male hormone and
the hormone we want at much higher
levels than estrogen.
In addition to having higher testoster-
one levels, I also mentioned above that
lean individuals tend to metabolize
carbohydrates better. This is because
they are more insulin sensitive. Insulin
sensitivity can be looked at as the
ability to direct incoming nutrients to
the muscle cells as opposed to the fat
cells.
To make a long story short:
»» The hormone Insulin drives nu-
trients inside the muscle cells
when food is being consumed
»» When you become insulin
resistant, your muscle cells will
not open up and accept the
incoming nutrients, thus, they
go back into circulation and
either get burned for energy or
stored as fat
»» When you are insulin sensitive,
your muscles are sensitive to
the anabolic muscle-building
effects of incoming food and
nutrients and the body will be
more prone to driving those nu-
trients into the muscle cell for
growth as opposed to sending
them back into circulation

When you’re lean, you are much more

insulin sensitive. Additionally, when
you consider the benefits of being lean
such as higher testosterone, lower
estrogen and greater metabolization of
food into muscle growth; you can also
see that once you get lean, it is much
easier to stay lean.
Nutrition governs all things physique
transformation; our philosophy for
the G.E.T. nutrition system is building
muscle while staying lean and sys-
tematically increasing natural testos-
terone levels to their limit.
Want to know how?
Check out the nutrition principles
and meal plan design manuals to get
started!

Are you a female? Aim for 18% body

fat before you begin focusing on gain-
ing lean muscle.
 THE 13 PRINCIPLES
TO MAXIMIZING
PHYSIQUE
TRANSFORMATION
“FOOD AND NUTRI-
TION ARE WAY MORE
IMPORTANT TO GAIN-
ING MASS THAN
TRAINING. I MEAN,
principles—micro progression. add a little 2.5lbs plate on each side.
YOU CAN WORK OUT Most people look at this like, “I should
A huge factor that plays into the phi-
ALL DAY, BUT IF losophy of the G.E.T. system is micro
be moving more than 5 extra pounds
this week.”
YOU’RE NOT FEED- progression. Micro progression with
your food, exercises, weight, body Well, think about it like this: five extra
ING THE MUSCLE, fat percentage, you name it, micro pounds times 20 reps equals an extra
progression is key. 100lbs moved during that set. Im-
IT’S NOT GOING TO pressive right? Now multiply that by
When I talk micro progression, I am
GROW.” talking about the fact that taking
four total sets, you have just moved
an extra 400lbs more than you did the
VICTOR MARTINEZ, IFBB PRO BODYBUILDER as many steps as possible to get to previous week in one exercise. Not so
where you want to be is the key to little after all now is it? Micro progres-
sustainability and long term results. sion works this effectively in all facets
The 13 Principles were designed to In each and every principle I will be
give you top notch results, regardless of physique transformation.
offering an example of micro progres-
of where you’re coming from or where sion to drive this point home. Now that you have a basic under-
you’re at. When applied correctly, they standing of how micro progression
will help anyone and everyone get one To kick it off with an easy example can be implemented, let’s get started
step closer each and every day. of micro progression that is often with the 13 principles.
overlooked is adding weight to the bar.
This is precisely what we must dis- Let’s say for example you bench press
cuss before we dive right into the 13
8 NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0
THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE
135lbs x 20 reps for 4 sets. Now, you
#1: AVOID
STARVATION
MODE
I know this one may seem common
sense, but common sense is not so
common and we don’t want to take
any risks. Intermittent fasting and
other forms of fasting have been on a
huge rise in the fitness industry in the
past few years. Some reasons good,
some bad.
It does provide some health benefits,
but when it comes to building muscle,
it is not worth your time at all. If you’re
a guy who’s after serious physique
transformation, steer clear of this.
Being well fed more often means
you’re anabolic and building muscle. If
you’re in a state of starvation, you’re
catabolic and breaking down muscle
tissue. If building muscle is on your
checklist you have to spend more
time growing and less time shrinking.
Intermittent fasting has benefits but
must be closely measured and is not
well tolerated by most.
Especially in regards to physique
transformation and building muscle,
the benefits do not outweigh the
negatives. These statements go for fat
loss as well, we want to burn the fat
off, not starve the fat off. Use training
to create your deficit, not food.
The workouts in the G.E.T. training
system are tough and if you don’t
have the fuel in you, you are going
to feel like crap and suffer. If you’re
chronically underfueled, you’re going
to be burning up your own muscle
tissue for energy use and your body
will actually prioritize fat storage.
What this means is that if you’re under
fueled, regardless of how hard you
train, you’re actually going to end up
skinnier and fatter.
You have to feed the machine, you
can’t play with this. This rant is also
speaking to those of you who go to
work or go to school with no break-
fast. If you sleep 8hrs, went to bed at
10pm, skip breakfast and eat lunch
at noon, you haven’t eaten in 12hrs!
I can tell you right now you are not
optimizing your muscle building efforts
if you’re not eating for 12hrs straight
several times per week.
Get your head right and start eating
to put your body into optimal growth
mode. Excess calories from good food
sources equals quality muscle growth.
Plain and simple. Building muscle
is hard enough, don’t make it harder
with extended periods of starvation.
I understand this goes against what
many trendy “experts” are saying
these days but I disagree with them.
If these individuals say they can
build muscle with extended periods
of starvation then I say, “Great, you
could build even more muscle without
them.”
It’s just not optimal, the pros don’t out-
NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0
weigh the cons. Skipping meals is just
as bad as unscheduled cheat meals. If
I catch you skipping meals, I’m going
to refund your money!
Micro progression TIP: If you’re an
individual who has a hard time having
breakfast, lunch, or fitting all of your
meals in, that’s ok! It’s not your fault.
There are plenty of people out there
with the same issue. But as you can
see, it’s just not the best thing you can
do.
Micro progression applied to fixing
food gaps is to simply add something
small and easily digestible, such as
a protein shake. Most people don’t
eat breakfast, so I’ll use this example,
although it can be applied across the
board.
If you have an issue having breakfast
due to no appetite or you’re rushed for
time, have a protein shake. Sure it’s
not the best breakfast in the world, but
it’s much better than no breakfast. If
you haven’t had breakfast in months
or years, simply start having 1 shake
every 2 or 3 days with breakfast. If
you digest it no problem (which you
will), then start having it every day.
THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE 9
 Once you start having it every day,
you will find that your body will start
increasing its appetite in the morning
and actually start asking you for a
bigger breakfast. In which case, you
could slowly implement solid foods
into your breakfast regime. Slowly,
over time, bring yourself to the most
optimal scenario where your biggest
meal of the day is the first.

#2: ESTABLISH A on by the body because it believes people to quick results initially, but

HIGH INITIAL that there is no food around. When

you’re on a low calorie diet for an
they soon run into an insurmountable
plateau because they have nowhere
CALORIE POINT extended period of time, your body
believes that it is starving so it pur-
else to go.

posely shuts down thyroid and leptin If you tried to increase your training,
This is where many people have failed
function so you can store your incom- that won’t happen because you’re not
with their dieting. They have aspira-
ing calories as fat. It does this as a eating enough to sustain hard training.
tions of getting lean and initiate their
survival mechanism because it does Or if you try to decrease your calo-
calorie intake low. Here’s the problem
not know how long you are going to ries even further, you’re only going
with this, when you set out with a low
be doing this so it wants to put fat on to further suppress your fat-burning
calorie intake, where are you going
you so you can stay alive longer. furnaces and end up losing muscle
to go from there? Let’s say you start
instead.
out at a 1200 calorie per day intake.
In addition to thyroid and leptin
That’s already quite low so when you When you set out at too low of a
function decreasing, testosterone also
reach a plateau, what are you going to calorie intake, you can back yourself
steadily declines with the low calorie
do now? 1100? 1000? 900? Hell no. into a “calorie corner” because there
approach. As you can see, initiating
with a low calorie intake will lead is nowhere left to go.
You’re going to feel like absolute crap
and underperform during your work-
outs.
There are a ton of reasons why one
should initiate a cutting (aka leaning
down) phase with a higher calorie set
point.
First of all, when you set your calorie
intake too low, you run the risk of
losing muscle mass, that’s straightfor-
ward. But what many don’t realize is
that with sustained low calorie dieting,
important fat-burning powerhouses
like your thyroid and leptin hormones
slow down to a halt.
This is a survival mechanism brought

10 NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0

THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE
Instead of starting out at a 1200 calo-
rie intake, let’s start out at a 2200 cal-
orie intake and create our deficit with
training. Initiating with a higher calorie
intake ensures your thyroid, leptin
and testosterone levels are operating
efficiently, and additionally you will be
a much healthier person because you
will be getting so much more macro-,
micro- and phytonutrients from your
daily diet.
These nutrients help you lose fat. I
know it sounds a bit off to start your
leaning down phase with a higher
calorie set point than normal, but this
is what it is all about. We want you
being as healthy as possible, training
as hard as possible and not losing
any muscle during the process. These
workouts are not your standard 3x10
rep workouts. They are extremely
demanding and require you to be a
well fed athlete. This is all done with
a higher initial calorie set point and
micro progressing downwards as the
cutting phase goes on.
In the end, if you and your buddy
both set out on a cutting phase and
your buddy started at 1200 calories
and you started out at 2200 calories,
you’re the one who is going to feel
better, look better, lose less muscle
and be able to train much harder.
Don’t make this mistake and become
impatient and just lower your calorie
intake. Be smart, it’ll bring you an
eye-catching physique.
Micro progression TIP: Let’s say, for
example’s sake, that you started out
your lean down phase with a 2200
calorie per day intake. From here,
work your butt off in the gym and if
the fat isn’t coming off according to
the critical number you set (see the
notebook guide) then drop it down to
2100 calories per day, and try it again.
Rinse and repeat this 100 calorie per
day decrease after proper evaluation
of the current intake has been realized
(this should be close to 2 weeks). This
way you will not run into a plateau
and you give yourself PLENTY of room
to make changes to your intake as you
progress.
#3: ESTABLISH
YOUR MEAL
CADENCE
In other words, make the meal plans
fit your schedule. Working in nutrition
and helping people with their meal
plans for as long as I’ve been doing it,
one thing I can tell you is that if you
don’t prepare, you’re preparing to fail.
This holds true with meal planning
more than anything else.
The problem most guys have is
actually not the meal plan itself, it’s
the execution of the meal plan that
gets them. They don’t think ahead,
they don’t cook meals ahead, they
NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0
don’t grocery shop ahead and they
don’t establish the meal cadence that
is going to make the most sense for
their current lifestyle.
Look, at the end of the day, getting
your calories in is more important than
anything else. If you miss a scheduled
meal, don’t scrap it! Add it to another
meal later on or add an extra meal
somewhere in the mix. Ensure you
make up for the loss because your
digestive system is still going to take
all that in.
Having said that, when you have a set
optimal meal cadence, this is where
true rapid physique transformation
occurs. You can’t be making mistakes
all the time with this, or else you will
get the results of the average attempt,
not the exceptional attempt.
Have a look at how the meal plans are
laid out and measure it up alongside
your typical day and plug in when
you’re going to have what meal at
each time. This gives you a bulletproof
schedule for your eating and will get
you the results that you’re after.
THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE 11
 Ideally, for leaning down you are
looking for 4 meals per day plus 1
shake, and for gaining mass you’re
looking at 5 meals per day plus 1
shake. The shake should always come
post-workout and the rest of the day
should consist of solid foods. Like the
world famous strength coach Charles
Poliquin says “You need solid food to
be solid”. This is exactly right, nothing
outperforms solid food for putting on
solid muscle. No shake can replace
this.
You want to know why solid food and
meal cadence is so important?
I was recently in Las Vegas doing a
Muscle Camp with fellow 1-on-1 High
Level Coach Ryan Faehnle and I was
so caught up doing all this travelling,
lecturing, working out and sightseeing
that I completely dropped the ball on
my meal cadence and food choices.
HANGING OUT WITH JOHN Going from 3 meals a day to 4-6
MEADOWS IN VEGAS meals per day can be tough. Which is
For much of the trip, I was eating
protein bars and shakes and having
them at different times of the day than
normal. I felt like complete crap! Let What I recommend is going up 1 extra
me tell you something, protein bars
and shakes are not something to be
consumed during the day. Protein bars Week 1: 3 meals per day like your
12 NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0
THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE
should not be consumed at all, and
shakes should be kept exclusively to
post-workout.
Protein bars are not real food; and no
I don’t care which “healthy” protein
bar or you’re having. It is not real food
and will not provide your body with
any good nutrition. They’re synthetic
and meant to be used as an absolute
last resort, I learned this the hard way.
If you don’t believe me, why don’t you
try having shakes and bars all day and
tell me how you feel (and how you
smell)? You’ll be dropping gas bombs
left and right because these “healthy”
bars lack digestive enzymes result-
ing in undigested protein in your gut,
which can lead to an unhealthy good-
to-bad bacteria ratio in your gut.
Establish that meal cadence to your
schedule and make sure it’s solid
food. This principle can truly make
or break you, regardless of how hard
you’re training.
Micro progression TIP: Many peo-
ple only have three meals per day,
breakfast, lunch and dinner. This is
the standard approach that tradition
has driven into us. But as you read
above, after all the years of working
with clients and training myself I have
found that for leaning down 4 meals
+ 1 shake per day is optimal and that
for gaining mass 5 meals + 1 shake is
optimal.
why I don’t recommend jumping into
it immediately (unless you’re super
motivated, that is).
meal per 1-2 weeks. Here’s an exam-
ple layout:
normal routine
Week 2: 4 meals per day, trying it out
and seeing how you feel
Week 3: 4 meals per day, I feel great!
I’m going to see how 5 meals goes
Week 4: 5 meals per day
Slowly, micro progress your way up
and go based on how you feel. You
know more about your body than I do,
so progress at the rate you need to,
but optimally, you would be following
my recommendations sooner rather
than later.
#4: GET LEAN TO
GET BIG
This is of the utmost importance.
For decades bodybuilders had the
traditional “bulk up” phase where
they would eat tremendous amounts
of food while gaining both fat and
muscle, followed up by your standard
“lean down” phase.
In the past decade however, a ton of
research has come up that this is not
only unnecessary, it’s actually coun-
terproductive. The best way to achieve
maximum muscle mass during a
bulking phase is to remain lean.
Not too lean—guys 8% and under are
too lean and should come up a bit,
this is an indication you’re simply not
eating enough. But in the 8 – 12%
range of body fat is where optimal
lean muscle mass gains are had.
Here’s a rule: Even when you’re
bulking, you should always be able
to see your top 4 abs. When they
start disappearing and getting blurry,
you’re getting too fat. This means your
calorie intake is a little too high; your
body created new muscle mass but
the calorie intake was so high you also
stored a bunch of new fat—not good.
Getting lean to get big makes sense
for a ton of reasons including in-
creased insulin sensitivity and in-
creased testosterone production. I
went over these in detail in the Quick
Start Guide and the Welcome to Nu-
trition Guide but for those of you who
missed out, here’s a quick breakdown:
Research has shown clear observa-
tions that the leaner you are, the more
testosterone (alpha male hormone)
you’re producing and the less estro-
gen (female hormone) you have. This
primes the body into growth mode
by having one of the most anabolic
hormones in the body, testosterone, at
its peak levels for muscle growth and
strength gains.
The reverse is also true, the higher
your body fat percentage, the lower
of a fat cell) When you’re insulin sensitive, it is ex-
your testosterone is and the higher
your estrogen is. This leads to more pensive to park at The Fat Restaurant
2. The Muscle Restaurant (represen-
fat gain and less muscle gain, and to so all incoming nutrients are going
tation of a muscle cell)
drive it home, what guy wants more to be stored into the muscle cell for
estrogen!? Completely counterpro- Both places have equally great food energy and growth.
ductive to gaining lean, hard muscle and great service.
We want to be insulin sensitive so that
mass. amino acids, protein, carbohydrates,
But, The Muscle Restaurant charges
In addition to the testosterone to es- $10.00 per parking spot, and there are creatine and many other nutrients all
trogen ratios; the leaner you are, your also not very many spots in the lot. effectively make it into the muscle
ability to metabolize incoming nutri- cell and not in the fat cell. Being lean
Whereas The Fat Restaurant has plen- makes you insulin sensitive; being fat
ents into muscle mass is enhanced.
ty of parking spots available and they makes you insulin resistant and your
This is executed by the increase in
are all free. incoming calories will be more prone
insulin sensitivity that occurs when
someone is lean. to being stored as more fat.
This is where the difference between
insulin sensitivity and insulin resis- As you can see, being lean not only
Here’s a super simple analogy to drive
tance comes in. When you’re insulin allows you to build muscle at a faster
home the point of insulin sensitivity.
resistant, it is expensive to park at The rate, but it also reduces the risk of dis-
Let’s say there are two restaurants in Muscle Restaurant, so all incoming ease and makes it easier to stay lean
your town: nutrients are going to be stored in the because incoming nutrients are more
fat cell as fat. prone to going to the muscle cell.
1. The Fat Restaurant (representation

NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0

THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE 13
 In addition to the physiological rea-
sons it’s important to be lean, there
is a psychological component to it as
well.
First of all, you will look much bigger.
Anybody who is lean has deeper cuts
and rounder muscle bellies. Guys who
are lean simply look much bigger than
they really are because of the illusion
that being lean brings. Everybody has
known a guy who is super lean, and
looks much bigger then he actually
weighs.
Take for example fighters, there are a
ton of fighters in lighter weight classes
that look massive simply because they
are just so lean.
A second psychological component
that aids in your long term results
when you get lean first is the fact that
getting lean is harder than putting on
weight. Let’s face it, leaning down
is not as fun as massing up, period.
But it’s the additional discipline and
drive that it took to get you lean that is
going to take you places.
EXAMPLE OF FIGHTER GLEISON TIBAU
WHO FIGHTS IN THE 155LBS DIVISION
14 NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0
THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE
Getting lean requires more discipline
than getting big and this teaches you
great lessons to move forward with.
These habits that you build when
leaning down help with building mus-
cle as well because now you know
what it is like to be strict, to be smart
with your intake, and to train your butt
off.
The lessons that you learn when
leaning down allow you to be more
adherent when you’re bulking.
Micro progression TIP: Again, when
leaning down, micro progression is
key. Be slow to cut your calories and
in some cases, don’t even cut your
calories, simply changing the food
source will do.
For example, if you’re trying to lean
down and you’re eating white rice,
simply opt for a lower glycemic index
carbohydrate source such as sweet
potato or quinoa. Doing so will lower
the overall insulin response and de-
crease your susceptibility to fat gain.
Remember guys, as many steps as
possible.
#5: NEVER EAT
THE SAME
PROTEIN SOURCE
TWICE IN A DAY
Rotating protein sources is one of
the best things you can do to ensure
you’re gaining the most amount of
muscle you can while not developing
any food allergies or food intolerances.
Protein is made up from 22 different
amino acids, and it is the ratio of these
amino acids that determines the quali-
ty, and also what functions it can bring
to the table. By having a variety of pro-
tein sources throughout the day, you
can ensure all your amino acid pools
are going to be topped off evenly.
For example, the normal go-to for
most people is chicken breast. Ok
cool, no problem, that’s a high quality
source of protein. The problem with
only sticking with chicken breast is
that you are limiting yourself to one
specific amino acid profile. Whereas
steak has a different amino acid pro-
file than chicken, eggs have a different
amino acid profile than steak, wild
game meat offers some of the best
amino acid content available, I think
you’re getting the point.
The more variety you bring to your
protein sources, the more well-round-
ed your overall muscle-building amino
acid uptake is going to be. In this case,
you will be receiving the maximum
amount of benefits you can by con-
suming a variety of amino acid profiles
and not limiting yourself to one.
This goes for protein powders as well.
You don’t have to limit yourself to just
whey. This is something you should
always switch up as well. There are
tons of good protein powder sources
available such as egg, casein, pea,
brown rice, etc. Rotate all of these and
get the best from all angles.
I wanted to emphasize protein, but this
rotation policy goes for fats, carbo-
hydrates and even your fish oils. You
always want to be rotating everything,
rotation of foods allows you to take in
the most amount of nutrients because
each class of foods and each particu-
lar food always has their own particu-
lar benefit.
It doesn’t have to be difficult, it can
be something simple. Like for carbs, if
you like potatoes, rotate potato colors.
Go from white, to red, to yellow and
sweet potatoes. Small changes like
this can make a big impact, especially
in avoiding food intolerances.
One thing that happens when you eat
one food on a regular occasion is that
your body can become sensitive to
it, and begin to create an intolerance
to it. The overconsumption of certain
foods can lead to your body creating
stress hormones that often go under
the radar with most people and yet
hold them back with their muscle
building efforts.
For example, if you always eat chick-
en breast all the time, you could very
well develop an intolerance to it. In
this case, your body’s immune system
would see the chicken breast as an
invader and attack it upon digestion.
This creates a bad digestive envi-
ronment, very poor muscle building
potential and an increase in stress
hormones in the body which actually
promote muscle breakdown, opposed
to muscle building. NOT GOOD
NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0
Rotate your foods whenever possible
and once you become lean, you will be
able to better see which foods you are
intolerant to. You will retain more wa-
ter and bloat in your mid-section. This
often goes unnoticed in those with
higher body fat percentages simply
because they cannot see it. This leads
to continuous consumption of the
same food and little to no muscle gain.
Micro progression TIP: Don’t take
this principle and immediately sprint
to the grocery store to buy 20 differ-
ent meats, 20 different carbs and 20
different fats. Just hold on a second.
THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE 15
 Comfortable rotation with food, like
everything else, comes with time and
continuous application. Here are two
great rules to follow to begin your
rotation:
»» 1. When you eat out, always
choose a meat you would
never have at home: We have
the luxury of going out for
food each and every week and
when you go out to a restau-
rant there is often a variety
of choices; chicken, salmon,
steak, beef, lamb, pork, etc. You
name it, everything except wild
game is pretty much at most
restaurants.
»» 2. Another great rule to get you
started is to try one new meat
at home each week. So each
and every week you go to the
grocery store, try something
new. There are tons of choices
at the grocery store that should
keep you busy for a long time.
Enjoy!
#6: SAY NO!
16 NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0
THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE
Some things you just simply need to
say no to. In most cases, certain foods
that are deemed “bad” can be worked
into a regime and worked into your
calories and it won’t be an issue. Not
with these foods. Here’s your “Say No”
list for the G.E.T. nutrition system.
1. SOY:
Soy products have been looked at by
the health industry in the past as a
miracle food but the research says the
exact opposite. Soy has estrogenic
effects on the body, it contains phy-
toestrogens that can act like an estro-
gen inside the body. Not good when
one of the main aspects of the G.E.T.
system is to jack up testosterone.
Additionally, soy causes digestive
issues within the body due to it
containing trypsin inhibitors. These
compounds reduce the efficacy of
digestive enzymes and even through
heavy processing (cooking/shipping),
they still exist in your food and act as
“anti-nutrients” that take good nutri-
ents away from you.
2. PROTEIN BARS:
As discussed above with my unfortu-
nate Las Vegas diet, protein bars offer
the body no good. They aren’t real
food, no matter what the label tells
you. They are packed with sugars,
preservatives, corn syrup solids, fake
coloring, and to top it off, most protein
bars on the market contain a ton of
soy. Talk about a 1-2 punch against
muscle growth. You might as well just
consume a candy bar that actually
tastes good.
3. DIET SODA:
Most people understand that this is
not good for you, even if the calories
are at zero. The problem with diet
soda is they stimulate hunger and
cravings due to the added sweeten-
ers in the recipe. These sweeteners
stimulate hydrochloric acid produc-
tion in the stomach which stimulates
appetite, leading to over consumption
of foods and cravings you otherwise
wouldn’t have to deal with.
Water should always be your go-to
drink, diet sodas are a waste of time
and money.
4. ENERGY DRINKS:
These offer no help in the department
of muscle building and fat loss. They
contain too much sugar, preservatives,
artificial coloring and random stimu-
lants to boost up whatever they can.
This is unnecessary and won’t lead
you to better results in the gym.
If this is a thing for you that you just
have throughout the day, then there
are bigger problems at play then just
your energy drink. You should not need
caffeine or stimulants to motivate
you throughout the day. In addition to
the chemical storm that is an ener-
gy drink, stimulants ramp up stress
hormone production which acts to
break muscle tissue down and store
more fat. So unless your goal is to be
smaller and fatter, you should definite-
ly ditch the daily stroll to the variety
store.
5. “HEALTHY”
CEREALS:
Cereals are one of the things that
should be avoided at all costs. Cereals
are what is known as a “non-food”. A
non-food is a food that actually takes
more from you then it gives back.
Each and every food utilizes enzymes,
anti-oxidants, vitamins and minerals
in order to be digested and processed
throughout the body. Cereal gives
none of these nutrients back to the
body, it only takes them away and in
return gives you pure sugar and junk.
Yes this also goes for the organic
cereals, don’t believe the hype.
6. FAKE BUTTER:
Any imitation butter that is not organic
butter should be out of your fridge. If
you’ll check it out, I’ll guarantee you
it has hydrogenated oils in it. Hydro-
genated oils wreak havoc on the body
and are processed and recognized as
trans-fats through digestion.
Trans fats got banned from food for a
reason, they are terrible for you! Avoid
fake butters at all cost. But having
said that, you can enjoy organic butter
no problem. In fact, organic butter
offers a ton of vitamins, minerals and
healthy fatty acids for the body.
7. PEANUT BUTTER:
Peanut butter somehow gets passed
as a health food by some people,
which is wrong. What’s even worse,
these same people usually think pea-
nut butter is a protein source, which
is also terribly wrong. Peanut butter
is a fat source, first and foremost. For
every 8g of fat in peanut butter there
is usually only 2-3g protein depending
on what brand you go with. In addition
to this, peanut butter contains multi-
ple types of sugars (although labeled
differently so the average consumer
wouldn’t know), soy and hydrogenated
oils! Those are numbers 1, 6 and 7 on
the Say No list!
8. SAUCES:
Sauces are ok, sometimes. Sauces are
something where you should always
have a look at the label. Many of them
are packed full of sugar, preserva-
tives, artificial coloring among many
other things. For example, ketchup is
very high in both sugars and salts but
offers really nothing back in return.
When it comes to sauces, just be
aware. Lots of people overlook sauces
because it’s not the actual meal, when
in reality the sauces make up the ma-
jority of the calories on a sandwich. Be
mindful and be conservative, or make
your own.
9. WEIGHT GAINERS:
Supplemental weight gainers are no
good for you or your muscle building
goals. You need to eat solid food to
be solid. Anybody who is reading this
right now probably knows a guy who
has gone through a dozen weight
gainers and still hasn’t put on any
NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0
sustainable weight. 
You know why? Because it is not real
food. Your body does not digest it well
due to the high amount of several
kinds of sugars, soy, preservatives,
artificial coloring, corn syrup solids,
hydrogenated oils, etc. The list does
continue (unfortunately).
Remember, you are not going to gain
what you eat, you’re only going to gain
what you can absorb. In this case,
weight gainers are not only very hard
to absorb but they are also so full of
crap I wouldn’t know where to start. 
The best weight gainer you can pos-
sibly have is a meal. The second best
is a shake blended up and made from
real food.
10. JUNK FOOD:
This goes without saying. Junk food
such as sugars, sweets, desserts,
packaged food, cafeteria food, ma-
chine bought food, etc. All are consid-
ered non-foods. They take more from
you then they give back. Additionally,
sugar can act to decrease testoster-
one production in the long term. So if
you’re somebody who has little treats
throughout the day and/or week, keep
this in mind and say no.
11. DAIRY:
Now before people jump out of their
seat, some dairy is good, but a lot of
it is crap and a lot of what you hear
about it is crap. It’s a common myth
that “you have to get your calcium
from dairy”. The opposite is true, there
is plenty of calcium in raw nuts and
THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE 17
 vegetables. The problem I have with
dairy is the heavy processing. Almost
all milk goes through two procedures:
homogenizing and pasteurizing. Both
of which rob the cow’s milk of its
enzymes, good bacteria, vitamins and
minerals. What does it leave you with?
A white liquid, that’s about it.
So why do they do this then? So they
can process it, ship it across the
country and have it still be good to sit
on the shelf for another two weeks.
Killing all the nutrients increases shelf
life.
“But hold on a second! My milk says
it’s fortified with Vitamin D and Calci-
um?”
That’s right, the product after ho-
mogenizing and pasteurization is so
dead that they actually have to try and
reintroduce synthetic nutrients back
into it—but this is not the same. This
is like comparing the smell of real
flowers to fake flowers. One is real,
one is clearly not. Your stomach sees
it this way too. To top this all off, the
average 200ml glass of milk contains
13g of sugar. Milk is a carb as far as
I’m concerned, these sugars help it be
as creamy as it is.
18 NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0
THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE
I hope this Say No list has opened your
eyes up to some of the consequences
and downfalls of many common foods
and ingredients. These foods are not
stocks you want to invest in. What re-
turn do you get in regards to achieving
your ultimate physique transforma-
tion? None.
I understand there is a massive
movement around “flexible dieting”
these days, which states that, at
least, 80% of your diet should come
from whole foods and unprocessed
sources and should include all
your critical vitamins, minerals and
fiber intakes. The other 20% could
include the “Say No foods” above,
and you should be able to achieve
your goals.
At the end of the day the name of the
game is adherence. If you can’t stick
to a perfectly healthy diet 100% of the
time (most people can’t, including me)
then incorporate a little bit of flexibil-
ity— no more than 20% of your daily
intake.
However, realize that everyone’s body
is different, and if you notice negative
impacts to your health, digestion,
recovery or progress following a “flex-
ible dieting” approach, be prepared
to make changes and tighten up your
diet. The truth is, not everyone has
the digestive machinery or gut health
to eat have a diet that’s “flexible” even
20% of the time and you may fall into
this category.
When I’m preparing for a show or in a
serious bulk up phase, “I’m all in” and
don’t need a “flexible diet” because I
want to give my body the best, every
single meal. But during other times of
the year when I’m not as dedicated to
training or perhaps I’m focused on a
big business project then I will cer-
tainly take a more flexible approach to
my diet.
Ultimately, make your decisions based
on YOUR body’s feedback and prog-
ress.
Micro progression TIP: If one or
some of these foods are in your
life every single day and you aren’t
motivated enough to eliminate them
completely, that’s ok. Micro progress
your way slowly to a healthier, more
goal-conducive diet. The most com-
mon example for this is diet soda.
Many people have multiple diet sodas
per day.
Let’s say you have 3 diet sodas per
day. Upon reading this, you realize it is
no good. But you still absolutely love
diet soda and tend to get headaches
when you don’t drink it at all. Simply
eliminate 1 can per day. So you will
have 2 cans per day until you feel you
can go down to one. From here, have
one can per day for as long as you
want until you feel like you can go
down to zero.
Everything doesn’t have to happen
right this second, just be aware of all
the Say No foods and implement a mi-
cro progressive strategy to eventually
eliminate them.
Lastly, understand this Say No list
is based on getting you the fastest
and healthiest results. Can you get
results by including some of these
foods? Most likely, yes. But under-
stand it’s less than optimal.
FAT CELL ENDOCRINE LAYOUT
#7: INCLUDE
HEALTHY FATS
Fat in the past has been viewed as
the evil food ingredient when really
the opposite is true. In fact, protein
and fats have a daily amount that you
need to hit day in and day out in order
to sustain healthy human function.
Whereas carbohydrates actually have
no daily requirement.
You can live the rest of your life eating
proteins and fats and live a long
healthy life. Whereas if you only ate
carbohydrates every day you would
die. Carbohydrates simply don’t have
nearly as many metabolic functions as
protein and fats do.
To put it into perspective, imagine if I
were rich enough to own two islands
and people inhabited both of those
two islands. I gave one island as much
proteins and fats as they wanted, and
I gave the other island only carbohy-
NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0
drates. If I came back in 6 months, the
proteins and fats island would be alive
and thriving, whereas the carbohy-
drates island would actually be dead.
We need proteins and fats to support
important metabolic processes such
as detoxification, immune system
support, hormonal homeostasis, and
enzyme creation among many other
things.
We have discussed protein quite a
bit already (and most lifters already
understand how important protein is
to attaining a killer physique)—often
it’s the healthy fats that often get over
looked.
Fat cells are more and more being
looked at as an endocrine organ in
THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE 19
 their own right. In addition to storing
fat for energy and releasing it to the
muscle cell for energy metabolism, fat
cells also produce hormones them-
selves.
A quick list of the hormones released
from your fat cells would include
leptin, which is involved in appetite,
hormone levels, fat burning and mus-
cle loss, not to mention a dozen other
systems. Angiotensin ll, which helps
to regulate blood pressure and even
blood flow to the fat cell itself. Tumor
necrosis factor-alpha, which has
varied functions including fat burning,
immune functioning and cell death.
IGF-1 which is an anabolic hormone.
Fat cells also produce inflammato-
ry responses such as IL-6 which is
involved with immune function among
other things. Various prostaglandins,
nitric oxide, acylation stimulating
protein, resistin, adiponectin and many
others. But I think you’re getting the
point!
If you want a body primed for muscle
growth, it is vital that you have the
appropriate amount of fatty acids in
your diet, especially when it comes to
testosterone production. The research
tends to always weigh on the side of:
if you’re not getting at least a quarter
of your bodyweight in grams of fat per
day from your diet, your testosterone
levels will suffer.
For example, let’s say you’re a 200lbs
man. You would take 200 divided by 4,
which comes out to 50g dietary fat in-
take per day. This should come in the
form of a combination of saturated,
unsaturated and polyunsaturated fats.
Examples of all of these can be seen
on your preferred foods list in the meal
plan section. Typically, saturated fats
come from animal meats and dairy,
20 NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0
THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE
unsaturated fats come from oils like What do you get out of the deal?
extra virgin olive oil and coconut oil,
and polyunsaturated fats come from More total daily energy and more fat
things like fish oil supplementation. loss!
Bottom line, if you’re not getting your
fats in, your testosterone is going to
drop. Additionally, fats like fish oils
also have several other functions such
as improving your insulin sensitivity,
lubricating your joints so it’s your
muscles that hurt in the gym, not your
joints; supporting regular blood pres-
sure, improving neurotransmitter pools
to help with motivation, focus and WAKE UP TO SOME STEAK AND EGGS!
drive; and also bring down total body
inflammation which can improve the
function of every tissue in the body. Aside from the physiological reasons
it’s important to have your healthy
We have talked a bit now about how fats for muscle building and fat loss,
fats can impact your anabolic hor- people always report just simply
mone status, but did you know fats feeling better after replacing more
can also help you burn more fat? carbohydrates with fats. In general
society, most people are being fueled
That’s right.
exclusively by carbohydrates. But the
Research out of the University of transition to fats always has people
Alabama at Birmingham indicates that more mentally energized, in a better
with a high protein, high fat breakfast, overall mood, with more consistent
you can actually prime your body to energy and better sleep.
utilize fat as its primary fuel source for
the day as opposed to carbohydrates. Micro progression TIP: If you typical-
ly have carbohydrates with each and
The reverse is also true, if you have
more carbohydrates with breakfast every meal, the best place to start to
change your habits is with breakfast.
your body will be more prone to utiliz-
ing carbohydrates for its main energy As you can see from the above, fats
are extremely important for both burn-
source.
ing fat and building muscle.
What does this tell us? It tells us that
if you want to be lean, regardless of Begin by replacing your morning oat-
meal or cereal with some steak and
the scenario if you’re leaning down or
bulking up, that a high protein, high eggs. This is what I like to call a “high
quality problem”, I’m sure no one is
fat breakfast is key if you want to
succeed in achieving a kick-ass body going to argue with steak and eggs!
composition. Additionally, high protein,
high fat breakfasts accelerate the pro-
duction of certain neurotransmitters
that tell the brain to have motivation,
drive, attention span and focus.

#8: GET THE
MOST OUT OF THE
LEAST WITH YOUR
POST-WORKOUT
CARBS
Post-workout carbohydrates provide
solid benefits for muscle growth, but
the main thing is you don’t want to
overdo it. There are plenty of guys out
there getting fat on their post-workout
carbs in the offseason that just hav-
en’t opened their eyes to the situation
yet.
Post-workout carbohydrates, although
they offer several benefits, they really
only have two main objectives: to
blunt stress hormones which cause
muscle catabolism (muscle break-
down) and to replenish your glycogen
stores so you have energy for the day
plus some stored energy for your next
training session.
The main problem that lies here is
that guys with too high of a body fat
percentage take too many post-work-
out carbohydrates. Exercise all by
itself improves insulin sensitivity in the
muscle cells, where people go wrong
is they overestimate how many car-
bohydrates they actually burned in a
single session. When you have a look
at the research, it is incredibly hard to
deplete your glycogen stores—even
with a tough 10x10 squat workout,
you typically only see about a 3rd of
the glycogen in the trained muscle cell
become depleted.
This is where you want to get the most
out of the least with your post-workout
carbohydrates. You want to take in
enough carbs to blunt muscle catab-
olism and restore your glycogen, but
at the same time don’t overdo it and
make yourself fatter. The post-work-
out shake is to build lean muscle and
repair damaged tissues, nothing more.
If you’re trying to lose fat, you don’t
typically want to fully restore your
glycogen—it’s best if you don’t com-
pletely top off your glycogen stores
and force your body to use its own fat
for energy use. However, we still want
to blunt muscle catabolism.
NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0
Here are some great guidelines
to follow:
»» If you’re 20% body fat or over
you get no carbohydrates
post-workout. You have enough
meals and energy on your own
body that need to be taken
care of first.
»» If you’re in the 15-18% range,
the research has shown that
30g of post-workout carbo-
hydrates is strong enough to
blunt muscle catabolism, but
not enough to top off your
glycogen stores. This is your
sweet spot for continuing your
fat loss goals while still incor-
porating post-workout carbs.
»» If you’re in the 10-12% range,
50-75g carbohydrates can be
acceptable, although always
watch your body composition.
Remember 12% at the high-
est is our goal for the G.E.T.
system.
»» If you’re under 10% body fat,
a ton of manipulation can be
made as you’re very insulin
sensitive and are ready for full-
blown muscle growth shakes.
100g+ carbohydrates can and
should be incorporated into
your post-workout regime.
As with everything else, your
post-workout regime should be tai-
lored to your goals (muscle building/
fat loss) and your current body com-
position to optimize everything you
can to get you to where you want to
be.
Micro progression TIP: A great micro
progression tip for getting the most
out of the least with your post-workout
THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE 21
 carbohydrates is carbohydrate sourc-
ing.
For example, if you’re trying to lean
down and your post-workout shake
has 30g carbohydrate powder in it
and your weight is staying stagnant,
instead of lowering your post-workout
carbs, replace those liquid calories
with some sweet potato or rice. Food
digests at a slower rate and has a
lower glycemic index than liquid nutri-
tion which means it is less prone to be
stored as body fat.
#9: TIME YOUR
CARBOHYDRATES
CORRECTLY
The hormonal implications of your
food sources play a massive role in
how fast or how slow you are going
to achieve the physique you are after.
Carbohydrate timing is an important
concept to cover, especially in regards
to rapid physique transformation.
Hormones have such a profound
impact on your metabolism that
how a food affects your hormones is
far more important than how many
calories it has. For instance, if you’re
allowed 200g of carbs per day, getting
those grams from high-fructose corn
syrup is going to demolish your fat
burning potential and your health,
whereas getting them from sweet
potatoes and berries will help both.
Don’t get so focused on calories that
you lose sight of the importance of
nutrients and hormonal response. Yes,
overall calories will dictate whether or
not you gain weight or lose weight but
food sources will dictate whether that
weight is either fat or muscle.
The object of this principle is to drive
22 NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0
THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE
home the point that for either mus-
cle building or fat loss, you need to
minimize insulin release outside of the
recommended windows.
For those of you with a slightly high-
er body fat percentage (15% +) you
should stick to post-workout only.
This is the only area where you
should have high glycemic index
carbohydrate sources such as white
rice or supplemental carbohydrate
powder. Keeping these within the
2hr post-workout range is ideal, any
more than that and you’re asking for
trouble.
Lean individuals on the other hand
have more flexibility with this and can
spike insulin a few times each day,
but until you get your body complete-
ly figured out, it’s best to stick with
post-workout and the last meal of the
day.
Post-workout carbs serve to blunt
muscle catabolism and replenish gly-
cogen stores, you know this already.
But before bed is where a lot of people
go “What? I thought if you ate carbo-
hydrates before bed and you didn’t
burn them off they get stored as fat?”
Well, not exactly.
You’re daily total of calories suggests
whether you get fat or not, if you were
in excess, you’ll store fat, if not, then
you won’t. Carbohydrates at night
time is actually a good thing. You see,
carbohydrates are a precursor to a
neurotransmitter called serotonin,
and serotonin allows you to be able to
calm down and drastically improves
your quality of sleep.
Additionally, it is at night time when
people crave carbohydrates most;
such as chips, popcorn, sweets, etc.
Why don’t we just give you your
carbohydrates where you want them?
Just in a better form, such as rice, qui-
noa, sweet potato or something else.
Doing this will prevent you from eating
the junk you otherwise would reach
for and at the same time improve your
sleep quality.
Micro progression TIP: If you’re
over 20% body fat and eating serv-
ings of carbohydrates outside of the
post-workout window, that’s ok, but
also understand it is counterproduc-
tive to what we (and I’m sure you)
want to accomplish.
Very often this happens because you
are currently a student living at home,
or you’re in a marriage. Regardless of
either circumstance, you’re probably
having carbohydrates with dinner with
the family, am I right? Am I right??
If your dinner often contains a meat,
vegetable and a starch; simply opt
for a double serving of vegetables
instead of the starch or replace the
starch with an avocado or nuts. Many
people replace the pasta-like dish with
a starch-free stir fry. Tastes great and
gives you that same texture.
Or, if you’re out to dinner—where they
almost always give you a starch plus
vegetables with every entrée—simply
ask for a double serving of vegetables
in replacement of the starch. I do this
everywhere I go and it has never been
a problem, they shouldn’t charge you
any extra. But if they do, that’s ok too,
consider it your six-pack tax.
#10: THE
FORGOTTEN
MACRONUTRIENT
Fiber rarely makes it to the nutrition
discussion between lifters in the gym,
yet it is doing so much in the back-
ground.
One good rule for selecting carbohy-
drates for your diet if you’re looking
to try something new is keeping a 5:1
ratio in mind of total carbohydrates
to fiber. It’s cool to go less, but there
is no reason to go above unless it is
post-workout. That is really the only
area where it is optimal to go high
glycemic.
Dietary fiber has a number of health
promoting benefits. Fiber holds water
and provides bulk for stools, which
speeds up transit time of food and
helps to prevent constipation and
hemorrhoids. Fiber binds to glucose,
which means that it slows absorption
of glucose into the bloodstream, help-
ing to improve glycemic index of foods
which lowers overall insulin response,
and is actually thought to lower calorie
absorption from foods as well. Fiber
binds to bile acids, helping to lower
cholesterol levels. Fiber also binds
to toxins in the gut, thereby lowering
colon cancer risk and helping with
general detoxification processes.
The carbohydrate foods which lack
fiber will really leave you lacking ener-
gy, leading to a crash, you won’t train
too well and these fiberless foods also
make you starving because you’re hy-
poglycemic because your blood sugar
is low and there was no substance to
the food to expand the stomach and
tell the brain that you’re full. 
So for example if you pick up a piece
of bread and it says 20g carbs, 4g of
fiber, that’s perfect, that’s 4:1, you’re
in the range. But if you have another
piece of bread that’s 20g of carbs and
2g of fiber that’s 10:1, no deal.
In addition to all of the above, due to
the removal of toxins from the gut
walls you will improve your natural
gut bacteria, and it’s your gut bacteria
that really helps to metabolize and
eliminate estrogens from your body, all
the more helping your testosterone to
estrogen ratio. Fiber also, when taken
with a large quantity of protein, helps
the stomach breakdown and utilize
the proteins to a greater degree. What
does that mean? More amino acids
and growth for the muscle.
Fiber should be looked at as both a
health-improving nutrient but also a
fat loss and muscle building enhance-
ment nutrient.
Micro progression TIP: Getting in
our daily fiber is the tough part. The
average lifter should have at least 25g
of fiber coming in daily. But, to put this
NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0
into perspective, 1 cup of chopped
broccoli only yields 2g. So if we were
to get our daily fiber intake from broc-
coli we would need to take in 13 cups
of broccoli per day. You up for that?
Neither are we. Maybe for a week, but
not for life, it’s just not ideal.
On the flip side, 1 cup of navy beans
has 19g of fiber. Now we’re talking.
(This massive fiber load from beans is
also why they make you fart so much,
just thought I’d throw this in here.)
Here’s basically how it works, in the
simplest form of micro progression
that I can lay it out. If you eat beans
and vegetables, you’re good to go, no
supplementation needed.
But if you’re a guy who lacks vegeta-
ble intake and never has beans, then
supplemental fiber is a must for you.
Either in the form of ground flaxseed,
chia seed, or synthetic fiber sources
that are just pure fiber. These can go
anywhere from 5 – 15g of fiber per
tablespoon. 1 tablespoon of any of the
above with breakfast, and one with
dinner would cover your needs.
THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE 23
 #11: THE POWER is comprised of an average 3g of leu-
cine, or, 0.045 – 0.06g per kilogram
on average will yield 3g leucine

OF LEUCINE of bodyweight to be more specific,

adding more leucine will not be more
VS.

anabolic to muscle tissue, you have Wheat: For wheat it would require
Amino acids all play very important
already hit 100% potential. This nor- you eat an average 50g of protein
roles in the body that vary greatly from
mally represents a meal consisting of due to the lower content of leucine
which tissues they affect and what the
30 – 40g of high quality protein. which equates to about 18 slices of
end result might be. Amino acids work
bread.
with enzymes, hormones, transport-
Your best bet for ensuring the leucine
ers, vitamins/minerals, detoxification,
content of the meal is rich enough for Now not all examples are that drastic
energy substrates, immune system
maximal muscle growth is choosing but I hope you are getting my point,
function. They are necessary for struc-
animal sourced proteins or protein animal protein and protein powder
tural tissue components among many,
powder and ensuring you reach the sources are much more anabolic and
many other things.
30 – 40g marker. Examples include convenient to add to your daily regime
lean red meat, chicken, turkey, beef, while ensuring you are getting maxi-
But when it comes to building muscle,
eggs, egg whites, whey protein, casein mum muscle growth. In the preferred
you can definitely say that leucine
protein, wild game meat, etc. foods list we have ensured you will
is the king. Science has shown that
be picking from the highest quality
leucine stimulates muscle protein syn-
While plant sources come up with a protein sources out there to produce
thesis (i.e., growth). An estimated 3g
lower ratio of leucine to total protein the highest degree of growth.
of leucine in a meal offers the greatest
content, this isn’t a bad thing. It just
amount of protein synthesis while
means you would have to eat a lot It is very important to care about all of
going above and beyond that does not
more of it in order to reach the leucine this because this opens up the idea of
create a greater stimulus.
threshold. Some examples include: meal frequency. Should we eat 3x a
day? Once a day? 8x a day?
So this is what we call the “Leucine
Whey protein isolate: 30g of protein
Threshold”. Which means once a meal
from whey protein isolate (1 scoop) Where the research is leaning, when

24 NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0

THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE
the preservation of lean muscle tissue
is the main task, meal frequency isn’t
overly important. But when it comes
to building muscle tissue, the leucine
threshold throws a curve ball into the
game.
Let me give you an example. We know
now that 3g of leucine will provide
maximal muscle growth potential in
a meal and eating more will not yield
further benefit. So, you cannot skip
three, 30g protein meals throughout
the day and just have 90g of protein
at night and get the same response.
What you just did there was miss
out on three muscle protein growth
responses from leucine and traded
it off for only one. You can’t make up
for loss throughout the day. Having
said this, you’re not going to lose any
muscle mass had you simply forgotten
a couple meals, but you also aren’t
optimizing your growth potential.
To best optimize the growth potential
from your dietary regime, spacing
meals around 4hrs apart and consum-
ing a free form amino acid mixture
containing 3g of leucine seems to
be the best route to go for maximal
muscle protein synthesis.
We only suggest leucine mixtures
to be taken in between meals and
not more frequently due to the fact
that leucine has what is known as
a refractory response in the muscle
cell. Meaning, a meal can create high
concentrations of amino acids for 6+
hours, but the muscle protein syn-
thesis response cuts off around the
2 hour mark. These data extracted
from the research suggest a meal will
supply the body with amino acids for
a long time but only promote growth
for up to 2hrs. So your meal will
provide you with enough amino acids
to prevent any muscle tissue loss until
your next solid foods meal but with the
addition of the free form amino acid
supplement taken 2 hours after your PRINCIPLE #12:
meal you will be gaining 2 growth
responses instead of one. It should
QUALITY BEFORE
also be noted that a minimum of 2hrs
you should wait as taking it every
QUANTITY
hour does not create more responses.
Leucine levels have to first drop before
they can create a response again and
keeping them high does not equal
continued protein synthesis.
Micro progression TIP: It has to be
When we talk quality before quantity
we are talking about the choices of
food you make on a day to day basis.
The meal plan design is organized
around the most important factors to
total physique transformation which
are total energy intake and macronu-
trient spread.
Energy intake of course being total
calories and macronutrient spread be-
very clear that this of course is not the ing the ratios in which you choose to
only way to build and maintain new make up those calories with proteins,
muscle tissue. The biggest factors carbs and fats.
include proper training stimulus and
Where quality vs. quantity comes
being in a caloric surplus, beyond that,
into play is the foods you choose that
strategies like this will “facilitate” the
make up those macronutrients. Let’s
process, not force it. You cannot grow
compare two snacks with identical
unless you’re eating enough.
macronutrient profiles.
So, having said this. Your micro pro-
SNACK #1: 1.5 cups blueberries = 34g
gression TIP is to simply not stress out
carbohydrates
about this. Yes it will help but it will not
make or break you so you don’t have SNACK #2: 1 can of coke = 34g car-
to stress out, set your alarm on your bohydrates
watch and watch the clock until the
perfect time to take your amino acids.
Relax and when it comes habitual then
it will be habitual, but until then just do
your best. This is a routine that many
are unfamiliar with so it will take time.
NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0
THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE 25
 Looking at them side by side, who do you believe is the victor? Of course blueberries! Now we
aren’t saying never ever have any junk food (although that wouldn’t be a bad thing), we are sim-
ply saying quality over quantity translates not just with your physique, but also in other aspects of
life. You can see blueberries had a massive impact of brain health aside from the fact that it will
help your body composition goals.

VS

SNACK #1: SNACK #2:

Blueberries
»» Great source of fiber. Fiber alone is important
enough to be worthy of its own whole principle in
principle #10
»» Anti-inflammatory
»» Anti-oxidant rich
»» Brain food for a number of reasons including:
Improve neuron connection in the brain (speed at
which they communicate with one another) which
improves memory, improved processing for co-or-
dination and balance; enable new brain neuron
creation.
»» One of the highest ORAC values in existence
»» Can be eaten frozen or raw, health benefits remain
the same
»» Rich source of vitamins / minerals
Coke
»» Contains artificial preservatives and colors
»» 34g of simple sugars
»» Source of high fructose corn syrup which has been
shown to have a host of negative impacts on health
»» Creates no feelings of satiety and can actually raise
hunger and cravings
»» No real source of any vitamins, minerals or antioxi-
dants
»» No fiber
»» No health benefit whatsoever

26 NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0

THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE
PRINCIPLE #13:
HYDRATION
QUICK AND COMPLETE HYDRATION
GUIDE: Problems, tips, strategies
and myths.
I’ve gone into detail in the past in both
videos and posts on certain aspects
of hydration although I hope to make
this principle easier on the eyes and
make for a quick reference guide for
everybody.
People generally overlook hydration as
a minor point in physical performance.
Well I’m here to tell you it plays
massive roles in all aspects including
health, muscle building, fat loss and
energy levels in and out of the gym.
Think about it, muscle is around 70%
water, how much muscle do you think
the dehydrated man is going to build?
None!
Additionally, research has shown
even slight levels of dehydration can
not only affect performance but also
create rises in the stress hormone
cortisol. Cortisol runs antagonistic
with testosterone, meaning; if you’re
dehydrated, your testosterone levels
are suffering as well—regardless of
whatever diet and supplements you’re
on. Water is that important.
Defining the problem: Levels of
dehydration and their negative
implications
1. A 0.5% loss in body water: increase
cardiac output (more stress on the
heart)
2. A 1% loss in body water: Decreased
aerobic endurance
3. A 3% loss in body water: Reduced
muscular endurance  become a manic stress ball and weigh
4. A 4% loss in body water: Re-
duced muscle strength, reduced
motor skills and increased heat
cramps
5. A 5% loss in body water: Heat ex-
haustion, cramping, fatigue, reduced
mental capacity
6. A 6% loss in body water: Physical
exhaustion, heatstroke, coma.
7. A 10-20% loss in body water: Death
As you can see, the decreases in over-
all performance begin at such an early
stage of dehydration. So for those of
you who know you don’t drink enough
water day in and day out, a simple
increase in water intake could be next
push you need in the gym to better
yourself.
QUICK STRATEGIES + MICRO PRO-
GRESSION TIPS FOR HYDRATION
1. A weigh in pre and post workout.
Simply put, if you weigh less after your
workout, you didn’t drink enough. If
you weigh more, you drank too much.
For proper hydration, for 1kg loss in
body weight you need to replace with
1.5L of fluid. Having said this, don’t
NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0
yourself every workout, once you have
done it a few times you know your
rate of loss and can estimate from
there. 
2. Taurine + Electrolytes seems to help
drastically with cramping if you are
still cramping after proper rehydration
3. Your pee should be clear or slightly
yellow throughout the whole day. If
you’re peeing 5x throughout the day
and 2x after a workout, you’re doing
well. 
4. There are many water intake guide
out there, my personal favorite is Body
weight / 2 = daily intake in ounces.
Example: 200lbs / 2 = 100oz daily
water intake (this shouldn’t include
exercise as different people sweat at
different rates, this is simply a guide)
HYDRATION MYTHS
1. Water is the only re-hydration bev-
erage. This is complete nonsense. We
gather hydration from all fluids (aside
from alcohol) and also many foods. In
fact, milk has been shown in the re-
search to be more hydrating to muscle
cells post-exercise then water. 
THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE 27
 2. Coffee dehydrates you. Coffee does
have a mild diuretic effect but not one
that is strong enough to outdo its own
fluid you drink. Caffeinated drinks
will not dehydrate you. You gain more
water than you lose.
ents and lots of food every single day
to force your body into growth mode.
This simply cannot be done when
you’re taking 7-14 days off every 3-6
months doing a vegetable and shake
detox. You will spin your tires in the
mud with your muscle building efforts,

BONUS trust me. Especially if you’re not one

of these guys that just grows easily
PRINCIPLE: and has great genetics. If you don’t
have spectacular genetics, it’s proba-
JUICE DAILY bly not a good idea.

Cleansing daily brings about so many
benefits that it will make your life a
whole lot easier and there isn’t a more
delicious way to get the job done than
juicing.
Look, there are a ton of hardcore
cleanse and detoxification programs
out there, but so many of them are
unsustainable to continue to do every
3-6 months, they’re simply just too
hard for most of us with a busy sched-
ule, and frankly, many of them are flat
out scams.
Juicing daily allows you to clean up
your GI tract, clean up circulating
toxins and reboot your fat burning
ability. The problem with toxicity is
it can clog up your liver and other
organs which can drastically affect
your fat burning potential. Leading you
to diet longer and train harder to get
the same results you otherwise would
have achieved at a sooner date had
you been juicing.
For more information on this bonus
tip, check out the Get Juiced System.

Why not instead of going on a hard-

core cleanse, just do one thing every
single day to ensure you’re detoxifying
what needs to be detoxified and prim-
ing your body for optimal health? Do-
ing 1 simple thing every morning that
is delicious sounds a whole lot better
than going on a detox where you can
only have vegetables and shakes.
Which is why I always recommend
juicing to any of my elite clientele who
are serious about getting results. Re-
member what we talked about above
in principle #1, avoiding starvation
mode?
This is exactly what I’m getting at, you
have to have the right mindset and
when you have the right mindset you
are feeding your body anabolic nutri-

28 NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0

THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE
FAQ
I am already on a nutrition plan, should I switch over to
this one?
If you’re asking this question, yes. Here’s why.
Not only is our nutrition system and its principles based
on science and real world experience from having worked
with thousands of people, it is also specific to our G.E.T.
training system. Each trainer or nutrition specialist over
a career develops their own bias and ways that they feel
work best. That’s totally ok, but it works best with their
system, not all systems. One very important aspect to fol-
low is that when you are listening to the advice of a fitness
professional, it is best to follow their entire system in order
to reap the maximum results possible.
In this case, for optimal physique transformation you are
going to want to follow our training, nutrition and supple-
mentation system as they are all integrated to synergisti-
cally work as one unit for rapid physique transformation.
With all that said, if you’re extremely familiar with your
body and absolutely confident in your own nutrition sys-
tem, keeping doing your thing!
Is it ok if I eat the same protein source throughout the
day? I know you say not to but I don’t like anything
else and money is tight.
Here’s the thing, everything in physiology works on a con-
tinuum. Such as this:
Red being terrible, orange being bad, yellow representing
good and green representing optimal. To eat the same pro-
tein source day in and day out probably falls right smack in
the middle between bad and good. So you’re doing yourself
a favour, but you’re also far from optimal. Keep that in
mind, there are dozens of affordable, cheap proteins you
can choose from to get yourself further over to the right
side of the continuum.
Is nutrition really this important? I thought you just
needed to eat big to get big.
That’s right, but with that strategy you will also put on fat,
something you learned throughout the entire G.E.T. system
that is completely counterproductive to your long term
progress, and also even your short term results.

I disagree with or have a question about Principle X, Nutrition isn’t a belief, nutrition is a science. We didn’t
who can I talk to? create these systems like a government food guide. We
created these systems with experience and science to
Any concerns at all can be taken up in the online mem- maximize testosterone levels and lean muscle gains. If it
bership forum! Drop us a line and either myself, someone were as easy as “Eat big to get big” then everybody would
from Team Del Monte, or another member will help you out. be big. But that’s just not the case is it?

Do I have to micro progress? Or can I just jump a few

steps?

Micro progressing is the key to long term results. Jumping

several steps in one shot can only be done in select sce-
narios with a highly motivated individual whose lifestyle fits
the bill. In order to ensure you are receiving not just short
term, but long term progress and results, we recommend
micro progression because it allows you to get the most
out of the least with everything that you do.
Which always leaves so many other windows of opportuni-
ty to change. Whereas if you just jump straight to the most
hardcore aspect and then plateau, where are you to go
from there? You will back yourself into a corner that micro
progression would have never led you to.

NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0

THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE 29
 MEAL PLAN
APPLICATION:
A STEP BY STEP GUIDE
“ANY FOOL CAN KNOW, It’s time to put together your very own
customized G.E.T. meal plan! To this
THE POINT IS TO UNDERSTAND” day I have put an untold amount of
ALBERT EINSTEIN, THEORETICAL PHYSICIST AND PHILOSOPHER OF SCIENCE. years into research, trial and error,
different programs, different strate-
gies, accumulation of data and have
personally coached thousands of
clients. The following step by step
guide you are about to see is both a
representation of highly supported
scientific evidence in combination
with the experience of using what I
know works best for maximizing your
results.
Outlined are the six most important
steps to creating your own, custom-
ized meal plan for success and how
I developed the calculator below. I
wanted not to just give you a cal-
culator and have you punch in your

30 NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0

THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE
numbers and have it spit out what you
need to eat. I also wanted to offer you
the why on all the recommendations
that I am giving so you can take these
lessons with you as you move forward
with your journey.
This pyramid scheme represents the
importance of each aspect of nutrition
in regards to improving your body
composition and performance. As you
can see, the bulk of the success in any
nutrition plan, regardless of the goal,
is coming from total energy intake
and macronutrient spread. Which is
of course, how many calories you
are taking in and in what amount of
those calories are being made up from
protein, carbohydrates and fats.
For example, your calorie set point
may be 1500 calories but if you are
taking in 200g of protein per day and
your buddy is taking in 50g of protein
each day who do you think is going
to build more muscle even though
you are taking in the same amount
of calories? Of course the guy eating
200g of protein! Which is why they are
both extremely important and go hand
in hand with each other because one
is not important without the other in
terms of strategic eating.
The reasons why I am discussing this
before I even get to Step 1 is because
I want to first make a point about the
80/20 rule. 80% of your results are
coming from 20% of your application,
which means 80% of your entire suc-
cess with the whole G.E.T. program is
coming from how well (or how poorly)
you adhere to the calories and macro-
nutrient spreads we recommend. Keep
things simple, if you have these in
check, you’re going to be just fine.
NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0
Many guys make the mistake of as-
sessing the diet 20x before they even
start it. Just start it! You’re not going
to be getting anywhere by overcom-
plicating the components that don’t
amount to much of a result in the big
picture.
For example, the total amount of
protein you take in a day is light years
more important than at which time
you had that protein. You are a com-
plete hypocrite if you are adamant
about the fact that you must have
protein after your workout if you don’t
even know how much protein you eat
in a day. Likewise, if you’re taking a
fat burner to lose fat and yet you are
not controlling or have a clue how
many calories you are taking in per
day then you have got the cart before
the horse.
Don’t be that guy, don’t have the cart
before the horse. Here’s the diet, start
the diet now, assess and use the trou-
bleshooting guide from there.
THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE 31
 STEP #1:
CALORIES
At the ground floor of our pyramid we
have the most scientifically supported
means to body weight regulation,
total calorie intake. The science and
complexity behind this topic can go
extremely deep and requires a great
knowledge of many different fields.
Or, we can save all of the background
noise and simply state that:
Calories in vs. Calories out = Your
body weight.
Meaning, the amount of calories you
ingest in a day vs. the amount you
burn determines how much weight
you either hold on to, or lose during
the course of your controlled eating.
A CALORIE IS A CALORIE, ANYBODY
WHO TELLS YOU OTHERWISE HAS
NOT REVIEWED THE BODY OF
RESEARCH.
Some people will make the argument
and say, “Well a calorie is not a
calorie because 100g of sugar will
react differently in your body then
100g of whey protein”. Well thanks
genius, thank you for making the most
obvious statement in the history of
nutritional debate.
Calories are the most important fact to
body weight regulation (whether you
want to build muscle or lose fat) but
they are simply one of the tools you
use in order to guide your complete
meal plan. The macronutrients you
choose to eat in order to make up
your calorie allowance determines the
biochemical reality of the situation.
That’s where things change when it
comes to calorie intake, is how you
got to your calorie end point at the end
32 NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0
THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE
of the day.
How it works is very complex but can
be brought down to simple terms, 3
simple terms to be exact.
»» Hypo-caloric diet
»» Maintenance
»» Hyper-caloric diet
Maintenance is the amount of calories
you eat to simply maintain. Your body
weight will neither go up or down. This
represents the “hard gainer” category
usually. Where they believe they are
eating a ton of food, when they are
really not. If that scale isn’t going up
buddy, you’re eating at maintenance.
Which means the amount of food
you’re taking in is equally the amount
of energy you are burning off through
Basal Metabolic Rate (the amount of
calories your body uses on a daily
basis to sustain function) plus physical
energy expenditure.
The other two simply represent the
opposite of maintenance. Hypo-caloric
is a diet in which you are eating less
than maintenance and therefore
will lose weight. Hyper-caloric is a
diet in which you are eating over
maintenance and therefore you will
gain weight.
The science to intelligent meal plan
design is choosing the correct calorie
allotment while having a scientifically
supported macronutrient ratio to either
prevent loss of lean muscle mass
while in a hypo-caloric diet or prevent
excessive fat gain and promote
primarily muscle gain while in a
hyper-caloric diet.
To keep things simple, we will be
using a maintenance calculation
and incorporating a 250-500
calorie increase or decrease to your
maintenance depending on your
current status. Maintenance calorie
calculators are always a rough
estimate since so many individual
factors come into play for a calculation
like this. The following will serve as
your maintenance calculator:
Bodyweight x 14 = Estimated
Maintenance calories
EXAMPLE: 190lbs x 14 = 2660
calories per day to remain at
maintenance.
If you are currently on a mass phase
(you came into the system below
12% body fat) you will add 250
– 500 calories to this number. In
contrast, if you are currently in a body
recomposition phase, you will subtract
250-500 calories from this number.
The added or subtracted values will
be your number going into the next
section.
STEP #2:
MACRO-
NUTRIENTS
The majority of your calorie intake
regardless of who you are is coming
from protein (4 calories per gram),
carbohydrates (4 calories per gram)
and fat (9 calories per gram). (Unless
you’re an alcoholic and you never eat
food, then alcohol will be your main
source of calories; it comes in around
7 calories per gram.)
All kidding aside, the topic of daily
macronutrient spread has been
debated among the nutrition industry
for over a century, in fact, “A Letter of
Corpulence” was written in the 1800s
and served as the first known low-
carbohydrate approach to eating for
weight loss.
Debates and research have gone on
for years, experts taking their separate
stances.
When it comes to strength training
and meeting our needs, we’re
concerned with some very important
things that require strict adherence to
macronutrient layouts.
»» #1: Preventing the loss of
lean muscle mass while
losing fat. Nobody wants to
lose their hard earned muscle
in search of their 6-pack. You
can have both, you just need to
be smart about it.
»» #2: Preventing excessive
fat gain while trying to put
on muscle mass. As I have
outlined several times through-
out the G.E.T. manuals, being
lean is advantageous to muscle
growth. You don’t need to get
fat to build muscle, in fact,
it’s very counter-productive.
Besides, who wouldn’t want to
stay lean while putting on mus-
cle? Your girlfriend (or future
NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0
girlfriend) will like the latter
much more.
»» #3: Properly fueling our
body’s energy systems and
structural systems that we
use in the gym so we can
train as hard as possible
with the best possible recov-
ery rate. Our body needs the
correct fuel in order to function
at an optimal rate. You don’t
put regular gas in a Ferrari,
you use premium. Likewise, if
you want a high performance
body, you don’t use poor food
choices.
The macronutrients we choose de-
termine the quality of the above three
positive adaptations. Likewise, all
three of those can have the exact op-
posite and negative adaptation if you
choose a poor macronutrient spread
throughout the day. Here is how we
split up your macronutrients to en-
sure you get the absolute best results
throughout the system.
THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE 33
 MASS PHASE:
Those who came to the program less than 12% body fat:
Protein:
1g per pound of body weight per day
Carbohydrate:
2g per pound of body weight per day
Fat:
Makes up the difference of calories once your protein and carbohydrate are set to the end of your calorie set point:

EXAMPLE CALCULATION
FOR MASS PHASE:
190lbs maintenance = 2660 calories
Mass phase requirement = 2660 calories + 500 calories = 3160 calories
Protein: 190lbs x 1 = 190g protein per day which is 760 calories
Carbohydrates: 190lbs x 2 = 380g carbohydrate per day which is 1520 calories
Fat: 3160 calories – (calories from protein, 760) – (calories from carbs, 1520) = 880 calories. We know that fat has 9
calories per gram so 880 / 9 = 98g of fat

Macro Ratios are approximately:

Carbs: 50% Protein: 25% Fats: 25%

34 NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0

THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE
 BODY RECOMPOSITION PHASE:
Those who came to the program above 12% body fat:
Protein:
1.5g per pound of body weight per day
Carbohydrate:
0.5g per pound of body weight per day
Fat:
Makes up the difference of calories once your protein and carbohydrate are set to the end of your calorie set point

EXAMPLE CALCULATION
BODY RECOMPOSITION PHASE:
190lbs maintenance = 2660 calories
Lean down requirement = 2660 – 500 calories = 2160 calories
Protein: 190lbs x 1.5 = 285g protein per day which is 1140 calories
Carbohydrates: 190lbs x 1 = 190g carbohydrates per day which is 760 calories
Fat: 2160 calories – (calories from protein, 1140) – (calories from carbs, 760) = 260 calories. We know that fat has 9
calories per gram so 260 / 9 = 29g of fat
Macro Ratios are approximately:
Carbs: 35% Protein: 50% Fats: 15%

NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0

THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE 35
 STEP #3: FOOD
SOURCES
Food sourcing comes into play AFTER
you have established your calorie and
macronutrient intake. The food you
choose to make up those calculations
represent the foods you sourced and
therefore your food choices on a day
to day basis. This is an opportunity
for new progress to be made even if
you’re still eating the same calories
and macros, going from poor sources
to good sources can make a notable
difference.
As I discussed in principle 12 “Qual-
ity vs. Quantity”, it is not always just
the amount of protein, carbohydrates
and fat in a food source—many other
things make up what overall effect it
can have on your physique, mind and
long term health.
In step #3 here we can take important
concepts from both principle 11 and
principle 12. The protein source you
choose to eat is going to determine
the optimal rate of protein synthesis
you receive from the meal and the
composition of the food (makeup of
vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients)
greatly impacts many health factors
like immune system support, preven-
tion of disease among many other
things.
To be completely honest with you
guys, when I first got into the industry
I didn’t even know what organic food
was. When I first started there wasn’t
nearly as much research, articles,
courses or seminars available as
there are today. This can be both a
good thing and a bad thing. It’s good
because there is so much information
at our finger tips, but it is bad because
36 NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0
THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE
with so much available free informa-
tion you get a bunch of guys online
trying to re-invent the wheel claiming
new things every other day.
Look, we know what to do and with
these G.E.T. manuals one of my
biggest objectives was to weed out all
of the confusion. On this step par-
ticularly, you will get diehard groups
on both ends of opposition. The truth
is, of course you don’t have to eat
everything organic. If you don’t eat
everything organic it is not a death
sentence to your health and body
composition goals, you can still ac-
complish great things.
Provided you follow our guidelines
and choose foods from the Preferred
Foods List document you will be off
to the races in achieving your dream
physique.
STEP #4: MEAL
FREQUENCY
As we climb up and up the pyramid,
the importance of the concepts be-
come less and less impactful to over-
all performance and body composition
transformation. They’re still impactful
nonetheless, just less impactful.
Nutrition is just like training and any
professional trainer will tell you this:
if you don’t have the fundamentals
of your program design correctly
organized, the fancy stuff is going to
provide no further benefit. Likewise,
if you don’t have your calories and
macronutrients set, things like timing,
frequency and supplementation be-
come meaningless because you have
lost the big picture and they provide
no benefit unless the base has been
built. Just like a pyramid, if you knock
down that base the whole building
collapses. With nutrition, if your calo-
ries and macros aren’t set, your body
composition goals are a complete shot
in the dark.
Where meal frequency does come into
play has much less to do with leaning
down and more to do with maximizing
muscle protein synthesis, and there-
fore maximizing muscle growth.
If you’re gaining mass with the G.E.T.
system, I have always had the best
success both with myself and with my
clients eating 5 solid food meals and
1 shake per day. As Charles Poliquin
most famously puts it “You have to eat
solid food to be solid”.
How many of you guys know some-
body who drinks weight gainers and
buys one after another and yet fails
to gain weight? It happens all the
time! The absolute best way to put on
quality weight is with solid, quality,
real food. The shake I throw in there
to either support your post-workout
shake efforts or to be used as a last
resort when not training. Powders
generally lack enzymes and phyto-
nutrients and real food offers a ton of
these important compounds that may
not look like much in one sitting, but
over the course of the entire G.E.T.
system could equate to much more
muscle mass.
For optimal muscle mass gain using
the G.E.T. system and using your indi-
vidual calorie, macronutrient and food
sourcing eat 5 meals per day with 1
shake, separated about 3 hours apart
with the optional amino spike in be-
tween meals to maximize all possible
WANT DONE-FOR-YOU GOURMET STYLE MEAL PLANS?
ACTIVATE YOUR FREE 7 DAY TRIAL INSIDE THE LIVE LARGE INNER CIRCLE TO TRY THEM OUT!
areas of protein synthesis.
STEP #5: FOOD
When leaning down with the G.E.T.
system, overall frequency becomes COMBINING
less impactful on lean muscle reten-
Food combining strategies, al-
tion, which is why personal preference
though they can be viable, are often
plays the biggest role here. Mean-
completely taken out of context by
ing, when leaning down, the overall
self-proclaimed nutrition specialists
amount of protein you consume in a
and personal trainers. As the saying
24hrs period is much more impactful
goes, a little bit of knowledge can be a
on your retention of all your muscle
scary thing.
mass than when you actually eat
that protein. So (for getting lean) the The claim we often hear about the
amount of meals you eat per day is “dangers” of food combining is the
more or less up to your convenience. combination of carbohydrates and fats
in moderate to high amounts eaten
It’s best to base how many meals you
in the same meal. The logic here is,
want to eat when leaning down based
“well carbohydrates spike insulin and
on your lifestyle and satiety levels. If
fat is already a fat so your body won’t
you feel better eating 6 or 7 smaller
have to convert it so it can go directly
meals per day, then go for it. Or if you
to storage while insulin is high”. This
feel better eating 3 or 4 bigger meals
is a gross understatement of human
per day, that’s ok too. Just stick to
physiology and is not a big picture
your meal plan and make it happen!
overview of the process of fat storage.
NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0
THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE 37
 Without taking a ton of time to de- workout and a potentially increased unnecessary fat storage keeping your
scribe this step and this particular catabolic state (state of breakdown) carbohydrates in this window is best.
example, just understand that insulin for your muscle tissue during training. Other than that, no combining strategy
is NOT the only pathway to fat storage is worth the stress—more and more
and that your calories and macronu- Your pre-workout meal (1-3hrs before science is coming out debunking the
trient ratios will determine whether training), your pre-workout stimu- majority of bodybuilding myths of the
you gain weight or not, not in which lant (if you choose to use one), your past.
combination you ate them in. This is intra-workout shake, your post-work-
a degree of unnecessary stress and out shake and your first meal after Having said all that, carbohydrate tim-
leads to unhealthy views of being able your post-workout shake should all ing only becomes of the utmost impor-
to simply enjoy the food that you’re have very low levels of fat content and tance when going from good to great.
eating and not just looking for negativ- higher levels of protein and carbohy- If this strategy doesn’t fit your lifestyle
ity. Food should always be enjoyable drate. or if you’re a beginner it isn’t a big
and not a stressful event. deal, the big picture calories and mac-
Fat should be elevated very highly ros will take you a long way. I typically
Where food combining comes into play in the other meals in the day (such only incorporate this strategy with my
in a positive light is in the peri-work- as breakfast and before bed) but not elite clients who will do anything for
out nutrition area, which is pre, intra surrounding your workout. Simply for that last percentage of benefit. We
and post-workout. These are the times the reason that fat has the potential typically have around 70-80% of your
in where it is optimal for fat to be to slow down overall digestion and individual carbohydrate intake in this
absent from meal and shake structure. doesn’t provide any performance 6-hour window as you will see in the
Fat slows overall digestion which can benefit. Additionally, carbohydrates example meal plans.
lead to slower amino acid peaks and are best utilized and metabolized in
slower glycogen replenishment. This these areas so to optimize both your
means less overall energy during your energy for training and to minimize

38 NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0

THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE
STEP #6: RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

SUPPLEMENTS 1. Precision Nutrition Blog,: http://www.precisionnutrition.com/blog

Supplements are supplements be- 2. Lyle McDonald Nutrition Articles: http://www.bodyrecomposition.

cause they supplement your diet. As
you approach the last step in creating
your perfect meal plan for success, we
incorporate the supplemental strat-
egies found in the supplement guide
and situational scenario manuals.
Everything you need in order for suc-
cess in this department can be found
in those manuals as we created an
entire section strictly devoted to this
category. No supplementation will be
included in the meal plan design at all
as this is completely up to individuals
and their preferences.
com/articles/
3. Cracking the Metabolic Code, Book, James Lavalle
4. Precision Nutrition, The Essentials of Exercise and Sports Nutri-
tion, Textbook
5. T-NATION Nutrition Articles: http://www.t-nation.com/diet-fat-
loss
6. Vince DelMonte Nutrition Articles: http://www.vincedelmontefit-
ness.com/blog/category/nutrition/
7. Free daily tips + research review: https://www.facebook.com/
DanGarnerNutritionSpecialist

8. Ask the Coach, Book, Charles Poliquin

START TODAY!
9. Poliquin Group Nutrition Articles: http://www.poliquingroup.com/
The mistake many people make is ArticlesMultimedia/Articles.aspx?cat=Nutrition
overcomplicating the meal plan to the
point where they never actually start it
up (a condition known as paralysis by
analysis). Taking action is paramount
to your success no matter what your
goals in life are.
At the end of the day, these guidelines
offer a generic starting point. In no
way shape or form can I simply give
a blanket statement that will apply to
everybody who is reading the G.E.T.
system. Everybody (and every body) is
different and everybody responds dif-
ferently to both training and nutrition.
The steps offered here today are
simply the most effective guidelines
to start with and individualize your
meal plan as much as possible. From
here, only minimal tweaking will be
necessary, if any at all. See the meal
plan troubleshooting guide for further
assistance.

NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0

THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE 39
 MEAL PLAN
CALCULATOR
MASS PHASE
1. First determine maintenance calories, then add 500 calories to that amount.
Maintenance = Body weight x 14
2. Protein = 1g per pound of body weight
3. Carbohydrates = 2g per pound of body weight on training days. 1g per pound of body weight on non-training days
4. Fat = Make up the remainder of the calories on training and on non-training days

LEANING DOWN
1. First determine maintenance calories, then subtract 250-500 calories
Maintenance = Body weight x 14
2. Protein = 1.5g per pound of body weight
3. Carbohydrates = 1g per pound of body weight on training days. 0.5g per pound of body weight on non-training days
4. Fat = Make up the remainder of the calories on training and on non-training days

40 NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0

THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE
MEAL PLAN
APPLICATION:
TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDE
Before the most common questions
“PROBLEMS ARE are fielded for the troubleshooting
guide I have to make a couple things
NOT STOP SIGNS, certain first. This is the 3-Point Check-
list you have to run yourself through
THEY ARE GUIDELINES.” before you can reliably evaluate if your
ROBERT SCHULLER, AMERICAN TELEVANGELIST,
approach is working.
PASTOR, MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER, AND AUTHOR.
#1. Have you been on your current
meal plan at least 2 weeks?

The minimum time you should ded-

icate to following a meal plan sys-
tem should be 2 weeks. This is long
enough to give you an idea of how
your body is responding but short
enough so that if it is not optimal you

NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0

THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE 41
 won’t be missing out on any progress.
A huge problem is guys start a meal
plan and don’t see changes by the end
of the week and already feel like it
isn’t working for them.
For example, if you haven’t lost weight
in the first week that’s both fine and
normal. Additionally, if your goal is to
gain weight and you haven’t gained
weight in the first week that is also
fine and normal. Allow your body time
to adapt to the new style of eating
and actually give it enough time to
respond!
How many guys do you know that got
jacked in a couple weeks? None. How
long has it taken you to get to where
you are today? A long time and a lot
of hard work I bet. These meals plans
will offer a faster track to success but
it’s physiologically impossible to make
big changes in 2 weeks or less. Give it
time and adjust accordingly.
#2. Are you assessing from a satel-
lite lens or a zoom lens?
This aspect goes hand-in-hand with
#1. I like the metaphor satellite vs.
zoom lens because I want you to
be like a satellite, assessing the big
picture from a further distance as
opposed to being like a zoom lens
assessing every last detail.
SCREEN SHOT FROM MY DISCUSSION
OF THIS TOPIC ON YOUTUBE
42 NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0
THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE
Look, weight fluctuations can vary
anywhere from 3-8lbs in a single day,
so measuring your weight every day
(some people even weigh themselves
more than once a day) is a defeating
technique because it tells you abso-
lutely nothing about what is going on.
Weigh yourself once a week or once
every two weeks. Or if you insist on
weighing yourself every day, simply
take all 7 days and average them all
out at the end of the week for a more
accurate number. Assess your critical
number once a week and go with
these important aspects and throw out
all the other stuff.
When you’re looking at your results
from a zoom lens it can become
conflicting and confusing and hard to
know if you’re on the right track. But
from a satellite lens, you are giving
your body enough time to adapt and
you are giving your mind a proper
measurement to see if you are on the
right track or not. A simple bathroom
break can cause weight fluctuations
for crying out loud so don’t be that guy
who is worried if his weight is chang-
ing from day to day slightly, it means
nothing. Think big picture.
The satellite lens analogy works with
your training results as well. A meal
plan is probably not going to increase
all your lifts in the gym within the first
couple of weeks, these things take
time, effort and new nervous system
tissue to develop which is another can
of worms altogether. View both your
physique and training numbers from
the outside looking in with a realistic
time frame.
#3. Are you honestly following an
appropriate meal plan at least 90%
of the time?
If this isn’t in check, you have no
business being here. I’d apologize, but
it’s true. You can’t troubleshoot if you
don’t know what is truly going on and
it is impossible to gauge any param-
eters of nutritional success if you are
not consistent with your meal planning
efforts. You have to take responsibility
for what’s happening.
This also goes for guys who feel they
are eating healthy but not measuring
any of their intake. If you or I don’t
know how much you’re taking in, how
do we know what to do? Nobody will
be able to tell you that. The minimum
requirement for the troubleshoot guide
to have the potential to help you is for
you to have followed a meal plan at
least 90% accurate, for two weeks,
and you’re viewing your results from a
satellite lens.
TROUBLESHOOT-
ING FAQ
What if I’m not gaining weight?
If you’re not gaining weight, the
answer is pretty simple. Eat more. To
prevent excessive fat gain I recom-
mend slow increments in your eating
efforts beginning with 250-500 calorie
increases every 2 weeks.
A good rate of weight gain is any-
where from 0.5 – 2lbs per week
depending on your genetics so keep
things realistic when setting your
expectations. Once you have started
your diet and your main goal is to gain
weight and you haven’t put on any
weight in 2 weeks or even potentially
lost some weight, now would be a
good time to incorporate a 250-500
calorie per day increase in your intake.
You will not need additional protein
or carbohydrates to make up these
calories, 1g per pound of body weight
per day of protein intake is more than
enough to supply muscle building
efforts and the calculations used for
calories and giving it all in your gym
and take the time to calculate all
your carbohydrate intake is enough to
fuel you for your training sessions. The
your calorie intake.
new additional intake should come 2. Are sneaky calories getting in?
Sometimes people overlook how
from fats and be simply added to
already fat rich meals. Pick a healthy calorie dense alcohol, daily snacks
fat from the Preferred Foods List and at work/school or the condiments
increase as needed. they are using are. These sneaky
little intruders can make or break
What if I’m not losing weight? a fat loss effort depending on how
often you consume them. For exam-
If you’re not losing weight a few prob- ple, people often only think they are
lems may be at play but maybe only eating a chicken breast but if there
one of them applies to your situation. is a good amount of BBQ sauce on
The most common reasons for not there you could be taking in a large
losing weight are: serving of sugar with your chicken.
1. Are you adhering to an appro- 3. Are you slacking in the gym?
priate meal plan at least 90% of Sometimes when you’re in a calor-
the time? Researchers have found ic deficit it can be tough to give it
that it’s typical for people to under your absolute all in the gym. This is
report their food intake and over where it becomes mind over matter.
report their exercise anywhere from If you believe in your heart you are
20 – 50% in both categories. This giving 100% then this isn’t your
amount of measurement error is problem, but if you have energy in
drastic enough to completely blunt you when you leave the gym, per-
any weight loss effort. Ensure you haps a second look is in order.
are consuming the proper amount of
4. Can you increase energy output?
Before you pull out any calories
from your diet it’s best to initiate
a caloric deficit with increased
training frequency. This may be as
simple as adding 1 interval cardio
session to your week. As a general
rule of thumb you always want to in-
crease energy output with increased
training frequency before you even
consider dropping your calories. This
is another example of micro pro-
gression.
Once you’ve honestly assesed the
above four scenarios and you came
out clean, this is where an additional
deficit is in order. Create a 250-500
calorie per day deficit from where you
are currently at. This deficit should
NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0
THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE 43
 come from a 50/50 split of carbohy-
drate and fat calories.
This deficit will only take you so far;
assess your critical number and
weight each and every week and
base any decisions on those two main
factors. If progress stalls, assess the
top 4 scenarios again and then if you
pass, create another deficit. Continue
this process until you get to 12% body
fat then it is time to switch things up
and go on a mass phase.
What if I need meal plans?
If you need done-for-you meal plans,
make sure to pick up the Simple,
No-Nonsense Mass & Shred Meal
Plans. Keep in mind that these won’t
be gourmet meals, but rather easy-
to-prepare choices that are simple yet
still provide big results.
Now I know that some guys really
need more variety with their foods
and flavors and are willing to spend a
bit more time in the kitchen for meal
prep. That’s ok, I get it! It is pretty hard
to absolutely love what you’re eating
day in and day out in the bodybuilding
world.
44 NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0
THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE
Now you can have the body you want
and you can eat the recipes that make
it all worth your time. Take me for
example, one of the best things I have
ever done with my life is make an in-
vestment in a professional home chef.
I understand for most of you that is
not an option, but for those that it is,
good! Knock yourself out! But for the
majority of guys out there looking for
a cheaper alternative with recipes al-
ready ready for you, check out my Live
Large TV membership as I offer tons of
muscle building and fat burning food
recipes and smoothies that you can
interchange with these meal plans no
problem! Plus, you’ll learn how to cook
the recipes and prepare them in bulk
so you save time.
This is an extreme example as this
won’t apply to many of you but
preparing for one of my most recent
photo shoots I was eating fish up to
3 times a day. The old Vince wouldn’t
have been able to do that. Call me a
wimp, whatever I don’t care. For me,
fish just didn’t do it for me, I would
always opt for boring chicken or
something else. But with these new
recipes I could easily wolf down fish
3x per day and it won’t even phase
me (well maybe just a little). This is
brand new for me and is why I recom-
mend checking it out if any of the old
bodybuilding recipes are getting out of
style for you.
Sign up for Live Large TV and get my
Done-For-You Gourmet Meal Plans &
Cooking Lessons
Grab a copy of Flavilicious Cooking
– More than 100 Delicious & Aller-
gy-Friendly Recipes!
What if I miss a meal?
No big deal at all. Throw that meal
back in later on in the day at your own
convenience. Your total intake at the
end of the day is much more import-
ant than the time at which you ate
those meals. Even if this means jam-
ming two meals in within 2hrs of each
other, still do it. If this is not possible
for whatever reason, start fresh and
don’t let it happen again!
NUTRITION FAQ
Do I need BCAAs in between my
meals to stimulate muscle protein
synthesis further?
I have said this many times in the past
and I’m sure I will say it many times
more in the future. There is always a
difference between good and opti-
mal. Everything in physiology runs
on a continuum. You do not “need” to
have amino acids in between meals,
but will it have a positive effect? Yes.
Much of this is outlined in great detail
in Principle #11 in your nutritional
principles manual.
Science is showing many things
towards protein synthesis in that the
leucine concentrations in a given meal
offers the greatest effect on stimulat-
ing muscle protein synthesis. An esti-
mated 3g of leucine in a meal offers
the greatest amount of protein syn-
thesis while going above and beyond
that does not create a greater stim-
ulus. But it also does not create any
“waste” of protein, as often claimed.
Your body has hundreds of other uses
for protein beyond muscle growth that
are also very important to health and
optimal performance.
When you eat a meal, amino acid
concentrations can remain elevated
for 6+ hours. But, muscle protein syn-
thesis tends to cut out at the 2-3hrs
mark. This is where the strategy came
from, to maximize protein synthesis
levels several times throughout the
day, it is best to eat larger meals every
4hrs to keep the overall amino acid
concentrations high but supplement
with BCAAs in between meals to maxi-
mize all available times for growth.
What are your thoughts on IIFYM?
If It Fits Your Macros (IIFYM) is a
dietary philosophy that originated
out of the bodybuilding.com forums
after the experts repeatedly answered
questions to beginners with the same
answer. Most beginners would often
ask questions regarding certain types
of foods like:
Can I have white potatoes?
Can I have carrots?
Is it ok to have steak instead of chick-
en?
The honest answer to all of those
questions is, if it fits your macro
targets, go for it. There are very few
“evil” foods out there and it is a great
misconception that in order to change
your physique you have to limit your-
self to certain foods and meals. For
example, the famous chicken / brown
rice / broccoli meal that has been
eaten by the bodybuilding community
forever. This is not a mandatory meal
for the fit community.
Here is an video interview with Alan
Aragon who explains IIFYM and how
it all got started and he sheds some
valuable light on what it is and what
it’s not because it’s been a very con-
troversial topic.
And here’s a detailed article from
Alan regarding IIFYM, which is worth
the read.
IIFYM is a good concept because it
covers the two most important con-
cepts to eating towards your goals:
Energy intake and macronutrient
content. Those two aspects make up
a giant portion of how people change
their body composition, anybody who
tells you otherwise is either trying to
sell you something or doesn’t under-
stand science.
NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0
My personal opinion on it is that it
works because it covers the two major
concepts. Having said that, many
people tend to misuse the concept and
treat it as if it is ok to have ice cream
and soda everyday as long as it fits
their macros.
From a body composition standpoint,
it won’t matter, they will still look good
and get results. But when it comes
to going from good to great, and also
taking into consideration your overall
health and prevention of disease, and
workout quality, modifications to IIFYM
and sticking to healthy foods makes
the difference (a great example of this
is outlined in principle #12 in your
nutritional principles manual). Addi-
tionally, when IIFYM is used to simply
create more opportunities to eat crap,
one of the most important aspects of
the diet gets removed: fiber. For long
term health, you need adequate fiber
intake.
IIFYM in my opinion is most practical
when travelling or on vacation. In
those scenarios where it’s tough to
get healthier food or stick to a certain
schedule, sticking to your macros is
brilliant. Otherwise, sticking to a more
regimented schedule is optimal. At the
highest levels of the sport, you will
see far less people utilizing IIFYM than
stricter approaches. Does that mean
it’s right? Not necessarily but I believe
success always clues.
Do I get any cheat meals with this
meal plan?
Absolutely, 1 cheat meal is permitted
every 7 days. It can be whatever you
want, whenever you want. There are
only two rules. The first is that it has to
be eaten at a table, you cannot eat it
in front of the TV or computer. In these
scenarios people overeat above and
THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE 45
 beyond what their satiety would have
been had they been at a table. Eating
in front of a device keeps you distract-
ed and keeps your mind off of how
much you are actually consuming. The
second rule is that it is one meal, once
your butt leaves the chair the cheat
is over. It is not a cheat day or cheat
evening, it is a cheat meal. Remember
you have goals, goals become useless
without proper action and eating crap
is NOT proper action. With that said,
there are other cheat meal strategies
that I endorse if your goal is gaining
mass and you’ve having a hard time
getting in all of your calories from
healthy foods. Here are some other
cheat meal strategies:
1. Have 1 half-day cheat day per week
– for example, from 6am till 6pm on
Saturday
2. Have 2 half-day cheat days per
week – for example, from 12pm till
midnight on Thursday and Sunday
3. Have 1 cheat meal per day – for ex-
ample, replace any meal in your meal
plan with a cheat meal
These strategies are best used during
an off-season mass gain ASSUMING
the rest of your week is perfect. A few
years ago when I bulked from 214lbs
to 230lbs in the winter time, I utilized
strategies 2 and 3 to help me gain
weight but I gained more fat that I
desired so use these strategies with
caution.
I heard that I’m not supposed to
have carbs for breakfast?
This depends on your workout sched-
ule. If you work out in the morning and
your goal is to gain muscle mass, it is
best to include some healthy carbo-
hydrates with your breakfast. But if
your goal is fat loss, there is plenty of
research out there suggesting that a
high protein high fat breakfast is the
best route to take. So this is situation
dependant which makes it up to your
current scenario.
What’s the most important stuff I
need to get?
As outlined in the Quick Start Guide,
one of the most important aspects to
success in the nutritional department
is being prepared each and every
week. You don’t want to be caught
without any food when it is meal time.
This leads to eating out or missing a
meal, not necessarily the best com-
binations when your goals are to be
healthy and strong.
Adding to this, a food scale is a good
investment. Most can be picked up
for less than 20 dollars and last many
years. I personally bought mine for
$15 and it is going on its 7th year this
year. Food scales allow you to be as
accurate as possible and also teaches
you life skills for food measurement.
After a couple months of measuring
food, odds are you won’t even need
the scale anymore (but you should still
use one), you will be able to eye up
your meals. This comes in handy the
most when you’re eating out, you’ll
know exactly how to stay on track.
Last but not least, a knife and a fork!
You have to eat big to get big so get
ready. Nobody has ever gotten big
without a massive caloric surplus,
period.
Where do you stand on food com-
bining? Can I eat carbs and fat
together? Won’t that make me fat?
Yes you can eat these two together
and nothing bad is going to happen.
You’re not going to get fat, you won’t
explode, and it’s not going to make
you a bad person. All kidding aside,
it makes no difference whether you
have these together or not. What mat-
ters most, by a long shot is your over-
all calorie and macronutrient intake.
Focus on those, and you’ll be fine.
The only time something like this ever
becomes of use, maybe, is when you
are trying to go from good to great.
For example, from 10% body fat to 4%
body fat and then stepping on stage
for a bodybuilding or physique show.
Going from already low body fat to
super low body fat is the only scenario
where it may have some value. So
unless you’re doing that, you’re good
to go. Combine whatever you want to
combine, but ensure that you have a

46 NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0

THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE
protein source with every meal of the
day.
Shouldn’t I be afraid of spiking my
insulin?
This is what people normally use as
an argument for the food combining
debate. That if you eat carbohydrates
that spike insulin and eat a fat source
at the same time that your body’s in-
sulin levels are going to store that fat
into your fat cells. Weight regulation
is by far most supported by energy
intake and macronutrient ratios, not
food combination.
To put this into perspective: eating
calories at maintenance is when you
are eating enough calories to not gain
weight, or lose weight. When you’re
eating calories below maintenance,
you are not eating enough to main-
tain your current body weight so you
will lose weight. Do you think that no
matter how I combine my foods, that
if I am eating below maintenance I am
going to be storing fat? No way, not
going to happen. Doesn’t make any
sense.
The body can store fat with or without
insulin through ASP. ASP is a hormone
that resides inside the fat cell that is
a heavy regulator of fat storage and
does not require the presence of a
heavy amount of insulin or carbohy-
drates. In fact, fats alone can activate
ASP. Which throws all food combining
tactics out the window right off the
bat.
What do you think of carb back-
loading?
Carb backloading is a relatively
popular new strategy for meal plan
design created by John Kiefer. I have
gone through the book that he offers
titled “Carb Backloading 1.0” and feel
it should be mentioned as a potential
dietary strategy for those of you who
purchased this program but have a
real hard time with breakfast and feel
the carb backloading lifestyle compli-
ments your current regime.
To summarize it, breakfast is typically
skipped daily while overall calories
and specifically carbohydrates are
kept to a bare minimum throughout
the day and back loaded is large
quantities at night time with high
glycemic options such as white rice,
various fruits, breads and even des-
serts. Optimal training time comes in
between the hours of 4 – 6pm for this
specific type of plan, although many
different options are available as well
although potentially not as optimal.
I personally believe some pretty bold
statements are made regarding cell
sensitivity and meal timing in the book
and is slightly a little too generalized
and not specific to each individual.
Although, people are seeing results
with this so you can’t argue with that.
Having said this, I believe this type of
strategy needs to be only used with
advanced weight lifters who have had
their nutrition in check for a few years
because with this particular style of
eating I can see it becoming very easy
to put on a lot more fat then muscle
due to the high glycemic recommen-
dations at the end of the day.
This style of eating can easily lead to
overeating when not done correctly,
but when done correctly, can offer
some benefits. So there is a grey area
in there. Nevertheless, I did not want
to go over it in detail out of respect for
John and his work so if you feel you
would like to research further check
out the following links:
Free podcast: https://www.youtube.
NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0
com/watch?v=mLB_n2pYoUo
Free podcast: https://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=oDO0tbaJt4s
To learn more about Carb Backloading,
visit John’s site here.
What if I’m gaining too much fat?
Then you are in too large of a caloric
surplus, plain and simple. You are not
expending enough energy to deal with
the amount of energy you are taking
in.
The good thing is, getting fat doesn’t
happen overnight. Nobody ever went
to bed lean and woke up and said
“Holy crap I’m fat!” Thankfully it
doesn’t work like that. Gaining fat
happens gradually over time so if you
see yourself putting on too much fat
tissue, you need to cut back on your
calories a bit.
People often overestimate how many
calories are necessary for building
muscle mass so they go in a huge
caloric surplus and gain both muscle
and a bunch of fat in what we call a
“bulking” cycle. Which we have dis-
pelled in numerous different sections
throughout the G.E.T. system. Get-
ting fat is in no way an advantage to
putting on muscle, it’s actually a pretty
big handicap to putting on muscle.
We want you to be lean so if you see
yourself sliding above 12% body fat,
it’s time to creep down the calories. An
initial 250-500 per day calorie deficit
can normally solve the problem, but
start with 250. You want to be eating
the highest amount of calories possi-
ble while being able to remain under
12% body fat.
What if I’m not gaining any muscle?
THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE 47
 As you become a more advanced
lifter, gaining muscle is not a linear
process. It often comes in waves as
you expose new stresses to your body.
Think about yourself for a minute, was
there ever a certain program or diet,
or simply just even a time of year that
you remember where you didn’t even
change much yet you gained a lot
of strength and muscle mass? If we
gained muscle mass at a constant rate
everybody would be jacked, but we’re
not.
Building muscle mass comes in
short waves to the advanced crowd.
If you’re a beginner, make no mis-
take about it—building muscle and
strength comes easy, even without
diet. But if you’re intermediate or
48 NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0
THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE
advanced, progress comes and goes
so it is the ones who stick with it and
grind that get the “big picture” results
because they grinded for so long to
only gain X amount of muscle mass
during a short period of time.
Now the training and nutrition philos-
ophies we used to create this system
were designed to shock your body
(and trust me, you will feel the shock!)
and create new growth but you have
to understand if you’re at a plateau
that doesn’t mean it is not working.
It simply means you may need some
calorie adjustments or to work more
on your recovery or whatever it may
be. Just understand that no muscle
building program that has ever been
made creates linear results.
What rate of progress should I be
aiming for?
For fat loss, 1-3lbs lost per week or
0.5 – 1% loss of body fat percentage
per week. Nothing drastic because
the bigger the drops the greater risk
you run for losses in lean muscle
mass. You don’t want to lose your hard
earned muscle. If you aren’t reaching
your goals you need to reassess your
calorie intake and effort in the gym,
one of them is off. Contrary to muscle
gain, fat loss should be linear, you
should always be able to drop fat at a
linear rate.
Now for muscle gain progress, any-
where from 0.5 – 1.5lbs gained per
week should be your target. If that
scale isn’t going up, one of two things
is off. It’s either your calorie intake or
your effort in the gym. “Hard gainers”
don’t exist. Yes perhaps some people
require more calories than others, but
that’s exactly it, all they need is some
more calories. Eat more and you’ll
gain.
This is a question I get all the time:
“Vince I eat a lot and I’m still not gain-
ing weight, what should I do?”
“Well, eat more. If that scale is not
going up, you’re not eating enough,
period.”
What ratio of muscle to fat is nor-
mal?
Normal cannot be defined, it is too
hard to give estimates on future body
composition results for a variety of
reasons including genetics, adherence,
perceived gym intensity, current state
of health and also the fact that muscle
growth is not a linear process.
Having said that, a guideline that
runs congruent with this question is
ensuring that no matter what your rate
of growth is, that you don’t creep over
12% body fat. As long as that is in
check, you’re good to go. Don’t worry
about ratios.
Do I need to eat organic?
You don’t “need” to do anything. But
there is always a difference between
good and optimal. Anytime you can get
something more natural, or organic,
you’re doing yourself a favor. Organic
food is healthier and more anabolic
to muscle tissue. Non-organic is still
anabolic, but won’t provide the same
type of benefits organic food will.
Organic wins 10 times out of 10. If I
had to choose only one macronutri-
ent source to eat organic, it would be
meat and then produce second.
How do I make my meals taste
better?
Experimentation… or better yet,
cooking lessons, which you can find
inside The Live Large Inner Circle
where we include 40+ episodes with
a professional chef who teaches us
how to make our food absolutely
delicious and easy to cook! If you’re
not a member, the cooking lessons
alone will change your life. Click here
to learn more.
The best way to experiment is to buy a
cookbook or invest into The Live Large
Inner Circle. A cookbook teaches you
how to cook, what to use and when
you try different recipes, you will be
able to piece together what goes well
with what and what you can work into
your meal plan.
Finding healthy recipes and healthy
cookbooks is the problem. More often
than not, these “healthy” cookbooks
are simply just low calorie cookbooks,
which doesn’t mean anything! Who
cares if it’s low calorie? That doesn’t
mean anything towards the big picture
of health, lean muscle mass and fat
loss. That simply means it’s one single
low calorie recipe.
The taste of your food should never
be undesirable and this is a big issue
in the fitness community. One of the
biggest reasons for failed adherence
to a meal plan is because they want to
cheat, but if you’re eating good tasting
food, these feelings are far and few
between. Which is why I wanted to
tackle this in more ways than one.
My LiveLargeTV seasons have plen-
ty of recipes that will keep you on
track and eating delicious food. I
even brought in a professional chef to
ensure my subscribers got the best of
the best in terms of recipes for muscle
building and fat loss. The days of bor-
ing bodybuilding diets are gone and
should have been left in the 80s.
My wife Flavia attacked this issue
as well with her most recent project
Flavilicious Cooking. This is one of
the most comprehensive cookbooks
available on the net and it’ll take your
taste buds on a world tour!
Click here to read more about Flavili-
cious Cooking
What do you think of the ketogenic
diet?
There is a time and a place for ev-
NO NONSENSE MUSCLE BUILDING 2.0
erything and everything has its own
pros and cons. The ketogenic diet has
no real place in the G.E.T. system.
To attain proper ketosis requires a
massive decrease in the amount of
carbohydrates you take in (which are
necessary for optimal performance in
the weight room).
Carbohydrates are both the preferred
fuel source for the skeletal muscle
cells and your nervous system, two
components you are going to need
to be performing at your best in the
gym. Make no mistake about it, when
it comes to building muscle mass,
carbohydrates are optimal. When
it comes to burning fat and losing
weight, an “either or” approach can
be used. Meaning, you can either keep
carbs in or go low carb, it’s a pref-
erential thing. There is no “one size
fits all” formula but when it comes to
fueling highly intense workouts, you
NEED carbohydrates.
Additionally, your muscle cells store
carbohydrates in the form of glycogen
and it is used for future energy needs
during training. The muscles have a
certain capacity in which they can
hold this glycogen and just a simple
drop in muscle glycogen results in
a signalling cascade throughout the
system to down regulate muscle
growth. Which means, decreasing
carbohydrates, regardless of how hard
you’re training, has a negative impact
on muscle growth.
THE G.E.T. NUTRITION GUIDE 49
 FOOD
SUBSTITUTION LIST
PROTEINS CARBOHYDRATES DRINKS / OTHER

Grass fed lean red meats Mixed beans Vegetable concentrates (greens+,
Wild game meats Sweet potato wellness greens, vegegreens, perfor-
Bison Rice (white or brown depending on mance greens)
Wild caught salmon timing) Liquid amino acid drinks
Free run chicken Quinoa Green tea
Free run turkey Whole oats Organic coffee
Eggs (organic or Omega-3 preferred) Berries of all types Juicing recipes
Egg whites Oranges
Plain Greek yogurt
Cottage cheese HEALTHY FATS
Coconut milk yogurt
Protein supplements (whey, milk or Raw, unsalted, not roasted nuts
plant sources. But not soy.) (almonds, pistachios, walnuts, mac-
adamia nuts, pecans, brazil nuts,
VEGETABLES cashews, hazelnuts)
Seeds (Sunflower, pumpkin)
Spinach Avocados
Tomatoes Extra virgin olive oil
Cruciferous vegetables (Broccoli, cau- Coconut oil
liflower, kale, cabbage) Fish oil supplements
Asparagus Flax seeds (ground)
Green beans Olives
Peppers of all colors
Mushrooms

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