Alan Aragon - Flexible Dieting

First published in 2022 by Victory Belt Publishing Inc.

Copyright 2022 Alan Aragon

No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission from the publisher.

ISBN-13: 978-1-628601-37-4

ISBN-13 (ebook): 978-1-628601-38-1

The author is not a licensed practitioner, physician, or medical professional and offers no medical diagnoses, treatments, suggestions, or counseling. The information presented herein has not been evaluated by the US Food and Drug Administration, and it is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Full medical clearance from a licensed physician should be obtained before beginning or modifying any diet, exercise, or lifestyle program, and physicians should be informed of all nutritional changes.

The author/owner claims no responsibility to any person or entity for any liability, loss, or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly as a result of the use, application, or interpretation of the information presented herein.

Cover and interior design by Elita San Juan

Illustrations by Allan Santos and Charisse Reyes

Produced in the United States of America

TC 0122

This book is dedicated to Jeana, Lex, and Maxmy lifes main source of pure joy.

There are many people to thank. Instead of attempting a comprehensive list and still inevitably missing some dearly beloved and important individuals, Ill make this less specific, but nonetheless from the heart. I want to first thank my family for all of your love, support, patience, and wisdom. All of my real friends, you know who you arethank you for always being there for me, especially when the chips were down. To all of my colleagues and co-authors, from the trenches to the ivory towerthank you for helping me sharpen my skills. To all of you who have followed my career since the olden days, you have a special place in my heart. To the Victory Belt Publishing team (and my dear friend Bret Contreras for introducing us)thank you for transforming my words and ideas into a book for the ages. To those who are new to my work, thank you for getting on the knowledge gainz train and trusting me to lead the way. Thank you all for providing the platform for me to have a career doing what Im most passionate about.

The first book I ever wrote was Girth Controlwhich I self-published in 2007. By that time, I had already been in the fitness field for 15 years (I started training clients in 1992). My goal was to present the state of the science of that time, as well as my field observations.

Here we are nearly 15 years after the publication of Girth Control. Ive accumulated a substantial amount of knowledge and experience since 2007, and Im ready to unleash it. Over the years, Ive had the honor of collaborating on various research publications that form the basis for much of the evidence-based practice guidelines for coaches, trainers, athletes, nutritionists/dietitians, and educators. Clinicians have also found utility in these publications. A special shout-out to Brad Schoenfeld is warranted here, as he has been instrumental in pulling me from the trenches into my periodic bouts in the ivory tower (the halls of academia).

Enlightenment in the area of diet and nutrition amounts to freedom from unnecessary effort, expense, health risk, and wasted time. In some cases, it can be lifesaving. But heres the colossal challenge: How do we reach the general public, who constantly walks through a minefield of diet-related misinformation? How can we teach them what we know? I suppose we can get in a pulpit and preach away, but how can we engage the public to learn? Its not as if they can just dive into the research literature and navigate their way through it. And even if they could, the in-the-trenches wisdom would still be missing. We evidence-based practitioners seem to know all the secrets, but our efforts to effectively communicate them to the lay public have largely failed.

A frequently asked question I get is, what comprehensible yet non-quacky book do I recommend for learning what to eat to reach fitness-related goals? This book is the answeror at least its my answer, backed by mountains of evidence from academia and the real world. Of course Id love for a book to go viral and change the world in a single swoop. The least Im hoping for is to initiate the butterfly effect and perhaps inspire a handful of brilliant people with greater reach and resources than I have to continue to make the world better with evidence-based information.

I have a ton of literary space to work with here, so why not cover the needs and goals of a wide range of populations? Were in the midst of a trend toward narrowing your niche in the health and fitness realm. This is fine for those who want to create catchy sound bites and memorable marketing hooks, but I have the opportunity to go full-textbook in terms of breadth and depth, and Im going to take it. Stark beginners (and those with very basic nutrition knowledge) will benefit from this book as much as high-level competitive athletes and experienced coaches. The needs and goals of the Regular Joe/Jane, all the way to folks who consider themselves elite on the track, field, ring, and court, are covered. This wide range of populations reflects the people Ive worked with throughout my career.

With that said, I do have a soft spot for the middle-aged soccer mom/dad. I also have an affinity for the corporate desk jockey trying to recapture the glory days of early adulthood, when the idea of going to the beach or the pool didnt bring immediate pangs of anxiety. But make no mistake, my aim is to make this book life-changing (or at least genuinely useful) for everyone from couch-potato noobs to professors to professional athletes.

I suppose its not common for authors to explicitly coach their audiences on how to read their books. In this case, I feel that youll get the most out of my book by beginning with the first chapter, which details the definition of flexible dieting. Its important to know the meaning behind the title of the book. There are plenty of misconceptions about flexible dieting, perhaps the most annoying one being that flexible dieting begins and ends with tracking macro (macronutrient) grams.

So, read first. Then read the subsequent chapters on the big picture of science and, if you can stomach it, demystifying scientific research. These are important foundational perspectives to carry with you as you tackle the remaining chapters. In fact, these perspectives are important to have as you consume nutrition- and fitness-related media in general.

Once youve read if youre brave), the next three chapters do a deep dive into how the major macronutrientsprotein, carbohydrate, and fataffect your body and its ability to function optimally during exercise. I then explore dietary supplements before finally getting into dietary programming. You are free to bounce around these chapters as you wish, but keep in mind that each one ends with an in a nutshell summary in case youre feeling lost.