Tom Venuto is my role model, mentor, and good friend. I followed his program for years with great success. I owe a lot of who I am today to that incredible man.

His honesty, compassion, and integrity have definitely influenced who I am.

When you start a program the #1 thing is to follow through with it to the end and give it 100% effort.

I love to hear that you’re picking up the intensity.

I’m excited to be trying something different and to see how well it’s working out is totally awesome.

Keep up the great work and I appreciate every word that you wrote in both comments. Your opinion means an aweful lot to me.

I’ve been following Tom Venuto’s plan for the past month, and I’ve made excellent progress, already moved back a full notch on my favorite belt, and it’s getting a little loose there. Upping the intensity on my workouts, really mixing things up, has added a lot of new excitement to the whole fitness program. I was really getting stale before, and it was showing in my results.

I’ll keep reading your site, and will probably try your diet, at some point. Thanks again!

That’s frickin great that you enrolled in JAM’s performance Lifestyle course. He totally rocks!

I’m definitely living the performance lifestyle. It’s hard not to when you’re always talking with JAM.

JAM and I are definitely on the same page when it comes to lifestyle.

Nutrient Rich rocks as well. If you are following it, you will be just fine.

I like to mix things up and basically the main reason why my energy is so freakin high is because I’m consuming nothing but nutrient rich foods.

It really makes a difference when you cut out the crap and focus on the foods that will give you the most energy.

There really is no one single answer or perfect diet and even Jon Benson agrees that his program is not the one and only. You’ve got to find what works for you and I’m just sharing what is working for me.

I’m pumped to hear that you’re starting a blog i360 site. They work very well for me. Deb and J.P. are my mentors. They are outstanding.

Actually anyone out there that’s looking to journal their progress on any fitness or diet plan… putting together a blog is a great way to hold yourself accountable.

Check out the software that I use here:
http://www.i360blog.com

Keep up the great work Jared!

Loving your stuff man, and your honesty and candidness is quite refreshing, well done eh! But of course you are a Canuck (me too, well a Canuck Aussie to be exact, born on London, Ontario, went to high school in Perth Australia where my mum is from and now here in Texas) so I would expect nothing else! Hey great stuff re the ‘Setback’, I like the mind-set you approached it with; remember the ‘Setback is the set-up for the Come-Back!’

So hey Scott, I am enrolled in the Performance Lifestyle course with JAM and I see that he is interviewing you tonight, looking forward. My question is this….Are you incorporating the Performance Lifestyle yourself? Is the ‘Every Other Day Diet’ plan a better way for you that what JAM teaches with ‘Nutrient Rich’ or are you kind of incorporating all you are learning into a Performance Lifestyle or just how do you approach your lifestyle these days after deciding that another ‘Program’ is not for you (and I’m with ya there man!)?

Thanks Scott and keep up the great work!

To Our HEALTHY SUCCESS!

Jared Maidenberg

PS I am starting my Blog I360 VERY soon, is this cool or what!?

Thanks for your comments. The cold only lasted 24 hours. I attribute catching it to the fact that I was in very close contact with several sick people recently who were coughing in my face.

That combined with 3 nights of very little sleep put me over the edge.

I used to think the same thing about low carb diets. There is definitely a huge difference between traditional low carb diets and The Every Other Day Diet.

First of all, I’m on the Extreme Plan so there are fewer starchy carbs allowed than the Every Other Day Diet Lifestyle and Primer Plan.

Getting sick was definitely not a result of low carbs. The entire week prior to getting this cold I was consuming massive quantities of fruits and vegetables.

On the Extreme Plan, I cycle low carb days with a higher carb day. I’ve got to be honest… This has skyrocketed my energy beyond what any high carb day ever did for me.

Fruit and vegetables are carbs and I’m definitely eating extremely large amounts of vegetables on this plan.

I limit the starchy carbs such as my good friends, oatmeal and sweet potatoes to pre and post workout meals.

Bread products slow me down. It’s been absolutely obvious while on this program. There’s been 2 instances when I’ve consumed whole wheat bread and I instantly became bloated and my energy plummeted.

I’m hearing more and more instances of people on non-traditional low carb diets experiencing great amounts of energy. This has to be done correctly and it’s taught well in the Every Other Day Diet Plan.

I just came across a few studies that show the breakdown of animal protein can cause boosts in energy greater than what can be achieved with caffeine. I’ve got to look more into this.

Personally I rarely get sick. I have the oh so studious perfect attendance award all through grade school and highschool. I never missed a stinking day. How unfair is that

Ooooh, and one other thing…

The Every Other Day Diet is not ’strict’. That’s the cool thing about it. Not once have I actually felt like I am on a ‘diet’.

It really is a system, not a diet. The system teaches you how to tap into your energy sources effectively.

It’s the day after my cold and I feel like a million freakin bucks.

Yesterday I did eat plenty of fruit and vegetables and drank more than 3 liters of water, plus got plenty of rest.

All is great now. Had a tremendous high energy workout today too. Felt great to pump that one out.

The main thing is to do what works for you. When you’re sick I think the advice that you’ve given Dan is excellent. Eat that oatmeal and bread if your body agrees with it. And for sure consume those fruits and veggies.

I just am not so much in agreement that low carb diets zap your energy. Yes many of the traditional low carb books that you find in the book stores that expect you to go every day for the rest of your life without any carbs is ridiculous.

That’s why I’m so excited to find a plan that actually works.

Why I mention all this, is just as a preface to my considered opinion on low-carb diets, and dieting while you’re sick. Long story short, low-carb diets sap your body’s overall energy, and make you more susceptible to colds and flu. Once you’re sick, you are better off, imho, taking a day or two off from the strict diet you’re on, and indulging in enough complex-carbs to get your energy level back up, so you can get back on your workout-horse, and resist the siren-song of chocolate-covered almonds, and all the rest of the devil’s handiwork.

I recommend you eat copious amounts of plain oatmeal, with some fruit included. Whole wheat toast and high-fiber crackers, with preserves or peanut butter, make good healthy snacks. Get your protein, but don’t overdo, as you don’t want to push the calorie-counter into the red-zone.

In general, I can usually shake off the worst effects of colds in a couple of days, using this method. When I’ve tried to strictly hew to the low-carb line, it takes longer to recover, and I certainly don’t feel the energy to put my best into my workouts.

Just my two cents — I’m not a certified trainer or nutritionist, just a guy who’s been fighting the good health-fight for some time, and plans to keep going as long as I can still move.

I have noticed exactly the same thing when I am sick– that I crave carbs like crazy. I have observed the same effect in both of my children as well. Kids are much more honest when it comes to this diet stuff, aren’t they? (:

When ill, children naturally gravitate towards simple, easy to digest foods. One can imagine that this is a survival response– the cave man with the most fat on them will have better chances of living through an illness. You see this all the time in the treatment of elderly folks too. The extra calories help fuel the body as it mounts an immune system response (think about where the energy for a fever comes from).

In the book I recommend allowing for ‘intuitive eating’. I believe that your binge was a response to your body’s intuition that it needed something. Almonds have plenty of trace minerals and good fats which might actually help your situation.

So when you succumb to a bad meal or day of eating, take a moment to ask yourself ‘what is my body ACTUALLY asking for’? You might be surprised to hear millions of years of evolutionary/eternal wisdom answer back.

Thank you for the really great reminder Scott– to discard the guilt and simply move forward.

…and may both of you get well very soon! (:

~Jan

I am follwing your blok daily, and I only got one question for you. Are you allowed to eat protein-powders afer a workout?

I really look forward to seeing your next results

Regards

Thomas