Eat Meat And Stop Jogging: 'Common' Advice On How To Get Fit Is Keeping You Fat And Making You Sick- by Mike Sheridan
- John Wilson
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Many people believe that long cardio sessions and strict calorie counting are the keys to losing weight and getting fit. This idea has been drilled into us for decades. Yet, recent research and practical experience suggest this common advice might be doing more harm than good. Mike Sheridan’s book Eat Meat And Stop Jogging challenges these long-held beliefs and offers a fresh approach to fitness that focuses on eating meat and healthy fats, reducing carbs, and engaging in shorter, more effective workouts.
Why Traditional Fitness Advice Often Fails
The typical advice to lose weight involves eating fewer calories and doing lots of cardio. While this sounds logical, it overlooks how the body actually responds to these changes. When you restrict calories for a long time, your metabolism slows down. Your body thinks it’s starving and holds onto fat instead of burning it. This is why many people hit a plateau or even gain weight despite eating less.
Extended cardio combined with calorie restriction can also cause muscle loss. Muscle is important because it burns more calories even when you’re resting. Losing muscle means your metabolism slows further, making it even harder to lose fat. The modern science behind this is covered in this eye opening book.
The Role of Diet: Why Meat and Fat Work Better
Sheridan points out that the traditional high-carb, low-fat diet often recommended will backfire. When you eat a lot of carbs, your body stores the excess as fat. This can lead to cravings and energy crashes, making it harder to stick to a diet. Carbs spike your blood sugar, and your insulin response, and unlike fat, they do not trigger the release of satiety hormone. Insulin lays down the glucose in your blood stream as fat. So cabs burn fast and leave you fatter and unsatisfied.
Eating meat and healthy fats, including saturated fats, helps your body switch to burning fat for fuel instead of carbs. This process, often called fat adaptation, can reduce cravings and provide steady energy throughout the day. Healthy animal fats are filling and trigger our satiety hormones, so we know when we are full and know when to stop eating. Meat is also rich in protein, which supports muscle maintenance and growth, especially if you are exercising.
The Benefits of Short, Intense Workouts
Instead of long cardio sessions, Sheridan advocates for shorter workouts that involve bursts of intense activity. These workouts can include sprinting, weightlifting, or bodyweight exercises done in intervals. This style of exercise helps build muscle and boosts metabolism without the negative effects of extended cardio.
Intermittent fasting and fasting in general also fit well with this approach. They help regulate insulin and improve fat burning without the need for constant calorie restriction.
Practical Tips to Get Started
If you want to try this approach, here are some practical steps:
Focus on whole foods: Eat plenty of meat, fish, eggs, and healthy fats like butter, olive oil, and avocado. Anything with an ingredient list of more than two or three things is not a whole food. Bread, for instance, is not a whole food, it is a heavily processed food. Look at the ingredient list.
Reduce carbs: Cut back on and eventually eliminate bread, pasta, sugar, and processed foods.
Try intermittent fasting: Start with a 12-hour fast overnight and gradually increase if it feels good.
Check out the Diet Plan Book: Sheridan lays out a diet plan at the end of the book. Use it for suggestions!
Listen to your body: Pay attention to how you feel and adjust your diet and exercise accordingly.
Real Results From Real People
Sheridan’s approach is backed by his experience as a personal trainer and diet coach. Many of his clients have lost fat, gained muscle, and improved their energy levels by following this method. Unlike traditional diets that feel like a punishment, this way of eating and exercising feels natural and sustainable. There is no calorie deprivation when you are eating healthy food, eat until you are full.
Final Thoughts
The idea that you must run for hours and eat less to get fit is outdated. Eating meat and healthy fats, cutting carbs, and doing shorter, intense workouts can help your body burn fat more effectively and keep your metabolism strong. This approach is supported by modern research and real-world success stories.
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