Background:

I was miserable, like most of the guys on this sub one day were. A lot of them still are. Meet my former self: skinny-fat, lanky figure, low energy, no social skills whatsoever. My daily diet consisted of frozen pizzas, energy drinks

and sweets. I was a gamer. A filthy loser, that spent his whole day playing League of Legends, and even prioritizing it over work or school.

Four years ago, I decided to pick

up lifting to try and change my life around. Results varied and were generally unimpressive, but it got the ball rolling. What did not change was the way I felt. I was eating tons of calories to get my weight up to a respectable amount and studied articles that kept reminding me about macronutrients and the surplus I should be in. To be fair – I did grow. A caloric surplus will literally always make you grow. People know they should keep their macronutrients in check, but what is often overlooked are micronutrients.

 

Low energy

Even when I was nicely on the way of developing a respectable physique, I still felt like shit. My sleep was alright, I consistently lifted four times a week and ate enough food. I started searching for the cause of my low energy. I had the symptoms of a low testosterone man, so I tried to increase my testosterone. I started taking vitamin D pills and zinc supplements. Although my state did improve, I still had low energy.

I started dissecting my life to find out what could be causing my problems. One thing that I took notice of was the amount of processed garbage I was eating. Sure, it helped me bulk, but it wasn’t that nutritious. This led to me researching the topic of micronutrients.

Why are micronutrients so important?

Micronutrients are the essential components that help all the systems of your body run at full capacity.  They ensure your brain, heart, kidneys, liver, lungs central nervous system, bone density, joints, and ligaments—pretty much everything—each

have the vital resources they need to operate at full capacity, especially when you are beating the hell out of them in your training. Without fully satisfying your micronutrient needs, your precious macronutrients will not be utilized effectively. You'll end up wasting your time, energy, and training, and leave both gains and health goals unrealized. That’s right – improper micros will fuck up your gains.

Diet is so much more than simply calories in versus calories out. That concept is effective for weight loss and weight gain, I 100% agree. But if you care about how your body functions, how you perform while training, how good your focus is and what your skin and hair looks like, you should look into micronutrients.

You can hit your

micros and still get your macros, but if you solely focus on macros, your

micros may fall short. By cutting your micros short, you are literally shortening your life expectancy and reducing potential gains. Don’t be foolish.

But how can I fix it?

I won’t be going into more theory, I will be giving you actionable steps you can take to improve your overall diet.

1.       Fresh is best.

The fresher the food is you eat, the more nutrient-dense it will be. Simply said: It will make you feel good. I know that a burger and some fries taste good, but fresh vegetables will make you feelgood. Don’t give in to the short dopamine rush of a fat, processed meal.

2.       Whole foods

A lot of food that you find in the grocery store gets treated with preservatives that are not only detrimental to the taste of the food, but also to the quality of the food. Try to buy real food instead of the preserved knockoff. Buy some real tuna instead of canned tuna.

 

3.       Time your meals

I try to eat my complex carbs about 90 minutes before I am going to hit the weights. This way, my body has enough energy to bust out as much volume as I can. Now, I know that we’re all just human and you may not always be able to cook a meal with complex carbs 90 minutes before lifting. That’s fine. In that case, get some fresh fruit and eat it approximately 15-30 minutes before training and you’re good to go.

 

4.       Cut out the soda

Water is the way to go guys. Dehydration is a performance killer. I drink a gallon of water a day, every day. Keep it natural and simple. Your ancestors did not drink mountain dew, neither should you. I make exceptions on the weekend, on Saturday I allow myself to have a couple of drinks with friends.

 

**TL;DR: Don’t just look at your macros, take note of your

micros as well. Your standard of living will improve.**