Man 2.0 Engineering the Alpha

food, your body creates an expectation for calories. And for most people, that expectation means hunger pangs that are too hard to overcome, leaving you grabbing for snacks by ten A.M . and eating more calories than you should by the end of the day.
    But aren’t you supposed to eat more frequently? Not exactly . . .

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    REJECT THIS THOUGHT:
    Eating frequently stokes your metabolism.
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    Guy walks into a gym. Meets with a trainer. Gets pitched a $600 training package. One thing leads to another and the trainer starts talking about nutrition.
    “Bro, you got to eat six meals a day if you really want to lose fat. It keeps your metabolism going. You gotta keep the fire burning. That way, you can actually eat more and lose fat. It’s pretty sweet, bro. It’s what I do, and I’m shrippped !”
    Forgive us for buying into the trend of demonizing the word bro (which we love), but some version of this happens every single day. To be fair, it’s not just trainers, and the people offering this advice are trying to be helpful. But they are misinformed, so let’s say this as clearly and concisely as we can: eating six meals per day does not help you burn more fat.
    Read that again, and then read it once more. Then read it out loud and watch the reactions of the people around you. They will probably look at you like you have three heads. Because everyone and their mothers (including our mothers—until we taught them) think that eating small meals helps you burn more fat, build more muscle, and fight off hunger.
    Unfortunately for them, that’s complete and total bullshit.
    Remember when we told you that in order to come with us on your journey you have to unlearn what you have learned? To forget what you thought was true? This is one of those times.
    If it’s not true, then why does everyone—and we mean everyone—tell you to do this? Unfortunately, there’s no good reason. We know that when you eat, you burn calories. So about thirty years ago, it was determined that if you eat more frequently you must burn more calories.
    The idea seemed great. You get to eat more often and still have a lean, hard body.
    But then some geniuses in white lab coats (call them scientists, doctors, professors) decided to actually test the theory. The results? Not so good for people who believe in the six-meal god.
    French researchers found that there is “no evidence of improved weight loss” by eating more frequently. And they even went a step farther to show that in terms of the number of calories you burn per day, it does not matter if you graze or gorge—assuming that you’re eating the number of calories you need to lose weight. So if you’re told to eat 2,000 calories per day, it doesn’t matter if it’s separated into five 400-calorie meals or two 1,000-calorie feasts. (However, the composition of those meals does matter.)
    But that’s not all. Canadian researchers decided to compare three meals per day to six meals per day, breaking the six into three main meals and three snacks (the routine that has been advocated by every diet book written in the last twenty years). The results? There was no significant difference in weight loss, but the people who ate three meals per day were more satisfied and felt less hunger.
    That’s why on our plan we take a more realistic approach to your eating habits. It’s our opinion that fewer meals per day work better for most guys. But the only rule that really matters is how much time you spend eating during the day. So we’ll provide you with easy-to-follow guidelines that put you in charge of your diet within the parameters of the plan. You’ll know exactly how many hours you have to eat during the day (don’t worry, you have more than enough time to chow), and then you can choose how many meals you want to have within that eating period.
    It’s the best of both worlds. A diet plan backed by science and optimized for your goals, but without the stress of being forced to eat in a way that isn’t natural to your own preferences.

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    REJECT THIS THOUGHT:
    Your body can only digest 30 grams of protein.
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    A little knowledge can do a lot of damage. Several years ago a very smart researcher named Douglas Paddon-Jones ran an experiment. The design was innocent enough: test out how to maximize muscle protein synthesis. You might recognize this as your body’s ability to convert protein into muscle.
    Paddon-Jones found, once again, that protein builds muscle.
    But he also