Oats and Iron

Mark’s friend Steph just got back from Indonesia. There’s a great story behind this photo.

Today’s Brunch Crowd (via nickgraywfu)

Tea and Breakfast Snacks in Williamsburg

We will be serving tea and breakfast snacks tomorrow morning at 11:15am from my kitchen. This is a participatory brunch experience… bring your own mug. We will be running bike shuttles to the grocery store for foodstuffs. Call or email me for details. Assume that you are invited and I want you (yes you!) to come.

June 27

Oh, Danielle! (via Strle)

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Reader Mail (from a male)

Dear Nick,

My metabolism is shit. Sometimes I forget to eat lunch and sail right through to dinner an hour before bed.

I love your blog. I recently took on your “hack your metabolism mantra,” and after a week have lost a few pounds and feel more energetic.

Firstly, I like the title “Hack Your Metabolism” better than “Oats and Iron.” Secondly…

When should I have larger/smaller meals?
What are good breakfasts? I’m thinking of cooking up a shitload of hard boiled eggs.

Love,
A friend

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Hey buddy, here are the answers to your questions:

When should I have larger/smaller meals?
I try to eat something every two or three hours… If you wake up early, that would be eating at 7am, 10, 1pm, 4, and 7.

ALWAYS eat before you are hungry! If you are hungry then you will make bad decisions about what to eat. Like some people pre-game by drinking before a sporting event… I am always pre-eating, eating before I think I will be hungry. When I am hungry I get grumpy and I will eat anything - like pizza or bread - just to get rid of the hunger. Bad Nick.

What are good breakfasts? I’m thinking of cooking up a shitload of hard boiled eggs.
Hard boiled eggs are AWESOME!! Oatmeal, granola, big glass of skim milk, sweet potatoes, cottage cheese, bananas, etc - all good. And drink a big glass of water as soon as you wake up! Your pee should be nearly clear all day (unless you take B vitamins).

June 26

Street Work Out

My friend needed a quick 20-minute energy boost, but our gym was closed. So we made an impromptu outdoor circuit on the corner of Bedford and Metropolitan Avenue in Williamsburg.

Sidewalk Push-ups, 5 sets of 12 reps.
Curb-side Calf raises, 4 sets of 15 reps.
Walk Signal Pull-ups, 4 sets of 3 reps (underhand grip).
Sprints around the block, 2 sets.
Free Standing Squats, 2 sets of 10 reps.

The walk signal pull-ups were probably my favorite. Look at the average NYC intersection dual-sided walk signal (yellow metal bars) and you will see it is tied to the light post at an almost perfect height for underhand pull-ups.

If you like the idea of working out in the outdoors, check out this article - Non-Gym Workouts for Great Gains.

June 25

I was in Atlanta for a quick visit. Here’s a picture of me and my little sister Emily this morning. She’s 20… do not reblog this or I will kill you.

June 23

Do Not Do Sit Ups to Lose Weight

Disclaimer… This advice is only for people who want to change the way they look and feel. A lot of my friends do not give a damn about their extra weight - in fact I like them the way they are.

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Here’s a tip that everyone should know: If you want to lose fat around your stomach, DOING SITUPS WILL NOT REALLY HELP!

Instead, you need to change your diet. Start by eating the same things you eat now, just 5 times per day instead of 2 or 3. Once you get used to that, change your diet and eat healthier.

I operate on the premise that most people know what’s good and what is bad for them. Cheese cake? White bread? C’mon… you know.

I saw this HUGE huge heavy girl really doing sit-ups at the gym today. She was killing it - doing a great job, really - sweating and giving it her best. She even asked me for advice on her technique. (I didn’t have any advice - she had obviously done these before and was feeling the burn.)

But it doesn’t matter. She can do those every day and she is not going to lose fat. You can’t spot train. Like, doing bicep curls will not make my arms lose fat. You have to hack your metabolism first.

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Vimeo Meetup this FRIDAY!! in Williamsburg with special guest appearance by Andrea Allen

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My Monday Thus Far

1am - Return home from watching a Kurt Cobain documentary at Zach’s. Send a few emails to my international dealers in UK, Australia, and Indonesia.
3am - Sleep.
9am - Wake up, immediately get on company-wide weekly conference call.
9:30 - Follow-up call to chat details with my mom - it’s cool to work at a family business :)
10am - Sales conference call

To tie this all in to diet… You can prepare a healthy breakfast when you are on a conference call by placing the phone on speaker and muting the microphone!