This was reposted from our popular Newsletter: The Standard. Sign Up By Clicking Here Today

Hey Legacy Lifters,

Welcome to another edition of The Standard: The Disciplined Road To Building Stronger Kingdom Men.

It's not enough to wait until the time is right to start getting ready.

If you're waiting to get ready, it might be too late when your opportunity comes.

The standard is to stay ready: physically, mentally, and spiritually.

Below you'll see this covered across the physical - mental - spiritual pillars as BUILD - RENEW - TRANSFORM.

Neither one is enough on its own. Yet it's also impossible to have one without the other.

If you're ready to stretch yourself to a higher standard, stick around to answer that call alongside other growth minded men looking to get jacked and lead their family well.

All it takes is one decision to change the future for yourself and your family.

Read it. Pick one thing that resonates. And go take action on it ⬇️

💪 BUILD [Carbohydrate Counting]

How Many Carbs Should You Be Eating?

If you feel the only way to lose weight is by cutting your carbs, you might have been misled like I was for many years.

I followed a variation of low carb or keto for many years, and I always fell into the same pattern:

I would see an initial drop in weight, look and feel really good initially, only to slowly feel my results in my workouts and my body composition stall.

Then I would try reintroducing some carbs, only to find my body not handling them well as I saw more bloating and less results.

Therefore I continued to associate carbs as being the enemy to my fitness goals. 

However, the more I focused on the fundamentals that truly lead to fat loss, the more I realized that carbs weren't the enemy.

I'm actually consuming more carbs than I have in the past 15 years yet I'm leaner, stronger, and more fit than I've been...maybe ever (even counting my college football days).

This is great news if you’ve ever feared increasing your carb intake or if you've felt that cutting carbs was the only way to lose weight.

When it comes to losing fat or putting on muscle, there is no significant difference between high carb vs low carb when protein and fiber intakes are equated.

Looking Better = Eat The Right Amount of Calories + Eat The Right Amount of Protein + Eat The Right Amount of Fiber

If you're wondering what the 'right amounts' are, and fat loss is your goal, then start with this article to figure out how much of each macronutrient you should be eating.

Assuming you're hitting the right calories, protein, and fiber based on your goals - there are really only 2 main factors to determining how many carbs you should be eating:

1) Preference

Do you like to eat more or less carbs?

It sounds obvious, but this is one of the biggest factors to long-term dietary compliance (and therefore long-term results).

If eating low carb makes you feel miserable, and makes you more likely to binge out on the weekends, then consume enough carbs to keep you from falling off the wagon.

Maybe you actually have less cravings or hunger fluctuations when your carb intake is lower, therefore making it feel a lot easier to stick to the right amount of calories long-term.

It's important to take into account - calories still matter at the end of the day.

So if you want to eat higher carbs, that means you have less fats to enjoy.

If you want to eat less carbs, that means you have more fats to enjoy.

You can't just eat more carbs AND more fats while expecting more results.

But assuming that you're playing by the rules, then you can choose to breakdown your carbs and fats however you please.

2) Performance

What helps you perform the best?

This applies to both physical and mental performance.

Maybe increasing your carbs helps you go harder in the gym, therefore building more muscle and fitness over time.

Maybe you need to be mentally sharp for your job and a lower carb intake allows you more focus and less hunger throughout the day.

Find the right balance between what you prefer and what makes you perform the best.

Here's what to do if you're looking to test what actually works:

• Determine Total Calorie Needs
• Prioritize Protein
• Fill In Remaining Calories With Fats/Carbs
  • You would take your total calories, subtract the calories you need from protein, and then fill in the rest of those calories with fats/carbs based on your choosing.
  • I like to start clients with a balanced approach in our muscle building/fat loss protocols around 55% of those calories allocated towards carbs and 45% of those remaining calories towards fats
  • From there, increase or decrease carbs accordingly for a week at a time and see how you feel

TL/DR: Carbs certainly matter when it comes to body composition, but not as much as most people think. If your calories and protein are dialed in, then how many carbs you should be eating depends on your personal preference and how you perform with them (physically or mentally). If you're unsure of how many carbs help you to look and feel your best, start with a balanced approach and then test higher or lower carb amounts (without changing calories or protein).

🧠 RENEW [Actions = Priority]

Do Your Actions Match Your Priorities?

When you say things like 'I'm trying to...' or 'I want to...', without actions that back those words up, you are creating a gap.

You are creating a bigger gap between who you say that you want to be, and who you actually are.

You're never going to be 100% the person you are striving to be. There should always be some gap between who you are currently, and who you want to become in the future.

That's called growth. And it's a good thing.

But your goal should always be to close the gap, never to make the gap bigger.

But making the gap bigger is exactly what many people do when they say one thing but then do another thing.

You can say whatever you want when it comes to what you value, what you want, who you want to be, or the changes you're going to make.

But it's only by what you do that your priorities are revealed.

Here are 3 ways I've learned to develop an 'action first' mindset:

1) Simple = Speed

The more complicated I make things, the slower it is to take action.

Whether you're looking to start a new fitness routine, get into weight training, eat the appropriate quantities, or learn any new skill - the more you simplify the quicker you will take action (and the quicker you will see results)

I don't know why I gravitate towards complexity, or why I believe more complicated and detailed is better, but my best results have always come when I've simplified the process.

2) Do What You Say You Will Do

Don't let the simplicity of this statement cause you to breeze over this point.

Every time I do what I say I will do, I close the gap in who I want to become. Every time I say something and do the opposite, I create a bigger gap in who I want to become.

This should go without saying for words you speak to other people, but I've found this to be most important when it comes to the words I speak to myself.

I'm good at keeping words to other people, but the biggest challenge I face daily is with the words and thoughts happening internally.

I've found the quickest way to lose confidence is to tell myself that I'll do something and then fail to follow through.

If you want more confidence, more momentum in your life, and to become all that God has created you to be - don't break promises with yourself.

3) Change Your Goals (Or Change Your Words)

If you continue to find it difficult to follow through on what you say that you will, then something has to change.

There have been times in my life when I've set bigger goals than I've had the ability to follow through on.

I'm all for setting big goals or intentions, but there have been plenty of times in my life where I've had to actually create a smaller goal to allow my actions to match those goals.

Then there have been other times in my life where I've had to change my words.

If I wasn't sure if I'd be able to do something, I wouldn't speak promises or I wouldn't commit to things I wasn't sure that I could follow through on.

For me personally, this has usually rooted in people pleasing or trying to appear a certain way.

I would say yes when I knew I probably wouldn't, or couldn't, follow through, which was rooted in wanting to please someone.

Or I would say one thing to appear a certain way - usually related to being more successful or further along than I actually was - in hopes of gaining approval or validation (which is also rooted in people pleasing).

Moral of the story: Your words matter, but your actions reveal your actual priorities.

⚔️ TRANSFORM [Learning To Fight]

Are You Running Away From The Battles You Need To Be Facing?

Michael Hopf wrote:

"Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times."

This is a cycle that is repeated all throughout history.

In the Bible, there is a section in Judges chapter 3 that talks about how God intentionally left enemies in the land to test the Israelites.

There is a verse that says: It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before.

The result of good times is weak men.

Men that don't know how to fight.

Men that never experienced warfare.

Now there is a very practical and real side to warfare.

There is a sobering reality of how many men and women have lost their lives going to war for our country.

As I write this the day after Memorial Day, it's a reminder to me of the cost and sacrifice of war that I will most likely never have to face, because of the courage of others that have made that sacrifice for us.

However, there is another side of warfare that we are always facing as men.

2 Corinthians 10:4 says: For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.

Warfare is not just physical. It is all around you, all the time.

Being ignorant to this will make your life a lot harder than it needs to be. And it certainly will leave you more beat up, bruised, and broken than you need to be.

In reference to the above passage in Judges, God had the full ability to remove the enemies from the land.

He did it time and time again for previous generations.

But as times got good, the men got weak.

They lost their fight.

We all want good times without the struggle. But sometimes the only way to grow is through 'war' - whatever that war looks like for you in your life.

If you find yourself wanting to run from the fight, instead of facing it, here are 3 things I've learned as I've embraced hard times:

1) Don't Fear The Fight.

1 Corinthians 10:13 says: No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

When I'm in the middle of a battle, it's easy to feel overwhelmed and isolated.

When I've been open about the battles I'm facing, I've learned time and time again I'm not alone.

As I look back at even the hardest times of my life, I've seen God's faithfulness in every situation. 

God will test you - but he will also provide the way of escape. He will teach you to endure. And as you endure the harder times, the result will be a stronger man.

2) Helicopter Above

When you're getting your butt kicked, it's hard to see the lesson that God is teaching you.

If you've ever talked with a friend and thought to yourself "this is so obvious, why can't you see this" then you know what I'm talking about.

It can be so easy to see the answer or the lesson in other people's situations, yet for whatever reason we become paralyzed in our own situations.

Our mentors often use the phrase 'helicopter above' as it relates to tough situations we're facing.

Things always become clearer as I've learned to take the emotions out of situations, to zoom out and look at the entire picture, and to remove my own biases from a situation.

This will help you to see the lesson that God might be teaching you, even if it's uncomfortable.

3) The Fights You Avoid Now Will Get Passed Down

Because you're probably not facing physical battles that are actually trying to take your life, you have the choice to avoid them.

God doesn't force you to fight.

Avoiding the fight doesn't take it away, it only passes it onto the next generation.

Strong men do the hard work now to allow those that come after them to stand on their shoulders.

Obesity, unhealthy eating tendencies, alcohol/drug abuse, unhealthy marriages, passivity, poverty, uncontrolled anger, and hundreds of other things can be passed down.

If you're struggling with something, the chances are that you can probably look to previous generations and find some similar patterns.

Refusing to fight, for the sake of your own comfort, is selfish and setting up those after you to face the same battles.

It's not easy to fight. It's not comfortable to fight. It's going to cost you to fight.

But learning to fight will be the best decision you can make for yourself, for your family, and for those that come after you.

Be The Standard,

Dave

P.S. If you've enjoyed these new editions of The Standard - nothing would support the newsletter more than forwarding this email to a friend or sending them this link (if you received this email from a friend, click that same link to sign up for weekly emails like this)