TopFatLossTrainer Q&A:  Are Organic Foods a MUST In Your Fat Loss Diet?  By Brad Campbell

What’s up party people?  I just got some really good questions about maximizing your diet plans, so allow me to knock ‘em out like a Mike Tyson opponent in the late 80′s (by the way, that’s the first time I’ve ever felt old in my life… next thing you know, I’ll be referring to the days when I walked uphill in 4 feet of snow both ways to and from school… jeez, just call me gramps).  On with the questions…

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Dear Brad,

Again, I would like to thank you for all of your insight that you have given throughout your website.  I have started trying out the cheat/fast day concept a couple of weeks now and I love it!  I am going to try out one of your Inner Circle workout plans starting tomorrow and I’m really looking forward to giving it a try.  I have a few questions that I’d like your opinion on in several topics.

Before coming across TFLT, I was reading several programs which included The Diet Solution Program and The Truth About Abs.  In both of these books, they highly stress eating organic foods and staying away from certain foods.

Since I’m currently in college, it is practically impossible to eat only the foods they are stressing to eat, but I feel that organic is the way to go, at least in the future.  What is your opinion on the whole organic topic, especially for someone with a college student budget?  Have you ever looked into these fat loss diet programs?

Another question I’ve come across pertains to the cheat/ fast day strategy.  Would it be ok to change your cheat days to where they do not fall on the same day of the week after week.  I usually try for Saturdays as my cheat days, and Sundays for fasting.

I was wondering what I should do if I got invited to go do something Friday and made that my cheat day instead for that week.   Just changing it by one day, would that make a major difference?

I really appreciate everything you’ve done, and I am really looking more into pharmacy now for not as much the actual pharmacy career, but as a foundation of knowledge to help me learn more about how the human body works.

Thanks for taking your time with all of my questions.

Your Friend,

Trey Hernandez

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Those are both excellent questions, Trey.  I’ll take the easy one first– yes, it’s totally cool if you want to switch your cheat day from week to week.  In fact, it’s recommended.

Basically, I want you to use the cheat day not only to bump leptin levels and boost metabolic rate, but also as a ‘get outta jail free card’ that allows you to enjoy social activities without ruining your extreme fat loss diet.

I hardly ever have a cheat day land on the same day each week, although I DO recommend aiming for a minimum of three days in between repeat cheats (unless you’re super advanced and using multiple fast days per week to offset things).

Okay, now for the more complicated question…

Are Organic Foods Really Better for You?

First off, I should define exactly what foods qualify as being “organic.”  Requirements are set forth by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the main things to understand are that crops must be grown without the use of fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, radiation and so forth.  In addition, animals cannot be given growth hormones or antibiotics, nor can they be kept completely indoors.

Apparently, anything stamped with an organic label is supposed to be greater than 95% organic ingredients, per the inspection peeps.

After defining exactly what constitutes an organic food, it’s clear that the absence (or at least greatly reduced quantities) of pesticides, fertilizers, antibiotics and hormones would be of benefit, right?  I mean, we can assume that even small traces of these chemicals ingested throughout our lifetime could predispose us to developing cancer, other illnesses/conditions and even antibiotic resistance.

But I should note that some of my research showed a potential downside that most people would never think of– because crops are not being protected with man-made chemicals, they produce their own natural pesticides in order to survive.  Guess what, these aren’t so hot for you either…

What about nutrition value of organic foods as compared to non-organic foods?  The studies I’ve looked at are fairly inconclusive, but the general consensus is that organic foods may provide more of some important vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

Another benefit of going organic is simply for the good of society as a whole.  Less chemicals in play leads to less pollution in the air, water and of course, the foods we eat.

In a nutshell, buying organic foods SHOULD give us more of the good stuff and less of the bad stuff.

But is it really worth the extra money to go organic, especially if you’re on a tight budget?  Here’s the bottom line– if you can afford buying organic, go for it.

If you can’t, consider trying to buy only those items that are known to have the highest levels of pesticides, like peaches, apples, ALL berries, spinach, green beans and potatoes.  Of course, dairy products would be where the hormones and antibiotics come into play…so again, you can pick and choose only the items that you consume a lot of, that are within this “higher amounts of bad junk” category.

And if you absolutely can’t afford to buy any organic foods, don’t sweat it.  Just do your best to use common sense when preparing your meals and snacks (wash all fruits and veggies thoroughly, etc).

If you’re a parent, especially of newborns and younger kids, I do highly recommend shucking out the extra coin to go organic as often as possible.  When the brain is in development, it’s a lot more susceptible to potential harm from these chemicals.  Also remember that, while a tiny trace of a pesticide may not harm a 200-lb adult, it could still have a substantial impact on a 20-lb child.

That’s sorta the skinny on organic foods and how to go about deciding if they’re right for you.  Just do your best, be a smart shopper and don’t stress too hard if you can’t justify the cost right now.  When the time is right or when you find some good deals, start with just one or two organic food items and build from there.  It doesn’t have to be an all or nothing approach.

If you have any other questions about organic foods or the cheat/fast day approach, hit me up like a left hook.  Speaking of which…just for fun, how much money would it take for you to take a punch in the face from Mike Tyson (the old, freakishly ferocious Tyson, not the overweight crackhead Tyson)?

I think I’d start considering it at about $100k.  What about you?

Your Coach,

Brad Campbell

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