You Can’t Turn Peanut Butter into a Steak!

 Against the odds, I am an NPC Figure Competitor with Systemic Fibromyalgia, Osteoarthritis, and Degenerative Disc Disease. At 33yrs old, I'm in the best shape of my life, and getting stronger every day! Read more from this author

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I know I haven’t had much time to write for this site, and I apologize for that, but when I do, it’s very passionate!

I was at work a couple weeks ago, and one of my regulars struck up a conversation about my training and competitions. I told him I was trying to put on a few pounds of muscle over the winter to get ready for a big show in the spring. He looked at me and said, “you better get some more fat on you then”. HUH? He said he heard you have to put some fat on to “turn it into muscle”. WHAT?!?!? So, here we have another MYTH to bust!!!!

For starters, until I found MuscleHack, I was under the assumption that you couldn’t build muscle and lose fat at the same time. It’s true that you have to increase your calorie intake to build muscle. Typically, this causes people to put on more fat as they do. However, the MuscleHack M.A.N.S. and G.L.A.D. diets teach you how to avoid the fat gain while building muscle. All of that makes sense.

But I’ve NEVER thought you could turn fat into muscle! Fat is adipose tissue that sits under the skin, around your muscles and organs. Muscle is a totally separate tissue that is made up of tiny fibers and nerves. You cannot turn peanut butter into a steak! They ARE NOT the same! Now, let’s see what you CAN do….

To build muscle, you have to increase your calories. Some do this by increasing their protein and carbohydrate intake. This will work. You will build muscle, but you will also put on fat. If you don’t mind having a few layers of adipose tissue covering up your hard-earned muscle, that will be just fine.

However, I prefer to see the muscle I build! That’s where Musclehack comes in! When I first started the M.A.N.S Diet back in January, I only had 10 weeks til competition, and I was de-conditioned. My Fibromyalgia had flared up really bad after my previous competition and I had been pretty sedentary since October. I wanted to compete in April in the Big Sky Championship, but didn’t think I had time to get ready. I quickly changed my mind after starting  the M.A.N.S. Diet and THT training!!!!

I started THT and MANS the 3rd  week of January. I was @ 24% body fat, 130lbs, and still in an acute phase with my Fibro.  On Feb 10th, I was down to 127lbs, 19.5% body fat and feeling better too. On Feb 24th I was down to 122lbs, and 15.2% body fat! That’s a gain of 4lbs of muscle in just over a month!  I switched to the Total Six Pack Abs the 2nd week of March to try to cut for the show. I only had 4 weeks! I competed on  April 9th in the Big Sky Championship, and took 2nd place! My best ever! I was at 115 lbs and 13% body fat. Not too bad for 10 weeks!

In conclusion, you CANNOT “turn fat into muscle”, but you CAN build muscle without gaining fat! You definitely need to increase your calories to build muscle, but if you increase them the RIGHT WAY, you won’t put on a bunch of fat that covers up your hard-earned muscle! So, the next time some yahoo tells you that you have to put on some weight to bulk up, explain to him or her the difference between peanut butter and a steak….and make sure you’re eating both! :)

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