Order of Man - 173： The Man Diet ｜ Chad Howse

00:00:00.000 There is no shortage of diet and nutrition advice out there. Most of it is hype, it's gimmicky,

00:00:05.860 extremely biased, and untested and unfounded. It's no wonder though, as most of us are after

00:00:10.840 the quick fix to a lifetime of making bad food and exercise choices. Today, I'm joined by my

00:00:17.140 guest, Chad House, the author of The Man Diet, to talk about why these other diets fail and why a

00:00:23.640 man's approach to what he eats should be relatively simple. We talk about the specific benefits of

00:00:28.720 incorporating this style of nutrition into your life, why intermittent fasting works so well,

00:00:34.120 keys to developing testosterone naturally and safely, a society's emasculation of men,

00:00:39.480 and why you should consider incorporating the man diet into your life.

00:00:43.500 You're a man of action. You live life to the fullest, embrace your fears, and boldly chart

00:00:48.380 your own path. When life knocks you down, you get back up one more time, every time. You are not

00:00:54.260 easily deterred, defeated, rugged, resilient, strong. This is your life. This is who you are.

00:01:01.440 This is who you will become. At the end of the day, and after all is said and done,

00:01:06.180 you can call yourself a man. Gentlemen, what is going on today? My name is Ryan Mickler,

00:01:11.220 and I am the host and the founder of this podcast, The Order of Man. As always, whether you're here for

00:01:15.780 the first time or have been around for years, I want to welcome you to what I at least consider

00:01:21.360 the best show available for men. Whether you're trying to improve your relationship, your fitness,

00:01:29.000 your business, your bank account, the relationships you have with your kids, whatever it may be,

00:01:34.360 we've got the tools, the resources, and specifically, we've got the conversations that will help you

00:01:39.020 level up your life. We've had interviews with guys like Jocko Willink, Lewis Howes, Andy Frisilla,

00:01:45.780 Grant Cardone, Ryan Holiday, Tim Kennedy. The list just goes on and on and on. And of course,

00:01:52.080 including our guest today, Mr. Chad House. I'm excited for this one. Now, before I get into the

00:01:57.320 conversation, I do want to just make a quick mention of our show sponsors. A lot of you guys know

00:02:02.080 that over the past roughly two months now, I have been involved with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu,

00:02:08.860 which has been a painful experience, a humbling certainly experience, but it's also been an

00:02:15.440 adventure. It's also been something that has helped me build my level of confidence in myself and gives

00:02:21.420 me the ability to more adequately protect myself and those I care about. Now, of course, this is a

00:02:25.560 long journey, but one of the things that I've been excited about is my show sponsors and my friends

00:02:31.640 over at Origin because I use their rash guards, I use their geese, I use their lifestyle apparel,

00:02:38.400 and then I also use their nutritional supplemental lineup that is partnered up with Jocko. So I use

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00:02:55.700 their protein as well, which is called MULC. So guys, if you haven't checked it out, make sure you

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00:03:35.700 All right, guys, with that said, let's get into the conversation. We've got a powerful one. Like

00:03:40.480 I mentioned earlier, my guest is somebody that I've been following and paying attention to for

00:03:44.800 quite some time. A lot of you probably have as well. We only recently connected with the release

00:03:49.440 of his latest book, which he sent to me. It's called the man diet. He has been on a mission over

00:03:54.680 the past several years of reclaiming what it means to be a man and his goals and objectives are very

00:03:59.760 much in alignment with what we are doing here with the order of man. He is the founder of Chad

00:04:05.300 house fitness and average to alpha. And today he is here to talk about that new book and the power

00:04:11.260 of incorporating what he has dubbed the man diet. Chad, what's up brother. Thanks for joining me on

00:04:17.480 the show today. Thank you for having me. Yeah, you bet. I've been following you for quite a while,

00:04:21.860 but I think we just got introduced what, I don't know, maybe a couple of months or so ago,

00:04:25.760 but I had been following you up to then. And so I'm glad to be able to have this conversation.

00:04:29.200 I've been following you for a while as well, mainly on the Instagram,

00:04:32.020 which is the biggest time waster on the planet, but it can be, I've spent a lot more time over

00:04:37.160 there and things have really grown on Instagram for sure. But yeah, it can definitely be a distraction

00:04:43.020 if you're not careful with it. I like getting a tidbit or two and then getting off it.

00:04:46.940 Well, that's like anything though, right? Anything can become a distraction and deter you from what you know,

00:04:51.240 you should be doing if you allow it. Exactly. It's got a time and a place.

00:04:54.420 Yeah, for sure. So the man diet, man, that's your new book. I was actually really intrigued. Speaking

00:04:59.000 of Instagram, I made a post cause you had sent me the book and I appreciate you sending it over.

00:05:03.680 And then I had made a post about the book and that post actually did really, really well. So I know

00:05:09.460 this is something that resonates with a lot of guys, or at least they're interested in. I guess my

00:05:14.800 first question is, is there really a difference between the quote unquote man diet and a woman's diet?

00:05:19.760 Yeah. It's not really about the man or the woman. It's purely about testosterone. So when you're

00:05:25.780 looking at increasing testosterone, which is what a lot of guys should be focusing on,

00:05:29.820 there are definitely things that you need to focus on and women don't have that, 1.00

00:05:34.360 that need like men do. So they just don't really need to focus on the same things that men need to

00:05:40.240 focus on. They can eat the same foods, but they're not going to get the same benefits that men will get. 1.00

00:05:45.420 I mean, ultimately that's the chemical inside of us that makes men, men, right?

00:05:49.140 Yeah. A hundred percent. It makes our brains different. It makes us

00:05:52.160 grow different genitalia. It makes us act different and everything.

00:05:55.860 And this is really interesting when we have these conversations about gender identity and how we

00:06:00.320 identify. And it's like, you know, this is biology. This, this debate was settled long ago that this

00:06:06.220 is biological. I mean, there's certain chemicals and conditions and hardwiring inside of our bodies

00:06:11.320 that make us men and women, women. Yeah. I don't understand why people fight so hard against

00:06:17.080 this. I've been thinking about this. Like, I don't think it's the people going through this

00:06:21.120 stuff. I think they're confused. And I think they like, not to sound pandering or anything,

00:06:25.360 but I think they need help or they need some guidance or they need some clarity. And the ones

00:06:31.140 that are removing that ability to find clarity are the ones making a muck of this conversation.

00:06:36.760 You know what I mean? Like, it's not even the people going through it that are making the most

00:06:41.020 noise. It seems to be certain people in the education system and politics that are making

00:06:46.020 the most noise and messing it up for everyone. Yeah. That's a really good point because I can

00:06:49.780 tell you, I get messages every single week from guys who grew up without father figures in their

00:06:54.240 home, really struggled when it came to other masculine role models in their lives. And they know

00:07:00.840 there's a problem. They've identified that there's a problem here and they need to figure this

00:07:04.700 stuff out. I have very few people who say, you're just a man, if you're born a man. And more often

00:07:11.200 than not, it's the guys that say, you know, I know I need to learn about masculinity. I know I need

00:07:15.920 to develop this inside of me. That's, that's more what I get than the other way around.

00:07:20.300 Yeah. There's people making a massive, an argument that shouldn't be an argument.

00:07:23.860 We should be the best men we can be in the best women we could be period.

00:07:27.960 Yeah. And we're supposed to operate that way. You know, the things that we can do as men

00:07:32.440 aren't generally women aren't as good at some of those things and vice versa, the things that women 1.00

00:07:37.820 can do, men are generally not as good as some of those things. Well, you look at, uh, what was that?

00:07:42.600 It was done in Sweden or Finland. Have you seen that kind of social experiment? No, I haven't.

00:07:48.100 They tried to, uh, remove the financial incentives for different jobs. And they tried to make

00:07:54.900 every gender, like both, both genders, both genders go into different professions that wouldn't 0.62

00:08:02.360 naturally be their profession. So like mechanics were paid the same as nurses and all this stuff. 0.88

00:08:07.620 So when they removed the financial incentives, it was a government program. It ended up being more

00:08:12.660 segregated because people just went to what they naturally were inclined to go toward.

00:08:17.920 Right. It doesn't have anything to do with income. Women generally flock more towards different 1.00

00:08:24.360 careers than men. I think of education, for example, look at your school, look at your,

00:08:28.740 your son or daughter's school and tell me how many of those teachers are women compared to men. 1.00

00:08:36.000 It's pretty obvious that women flock towards certain professions and men flock towards others.

00:08:42.040 It's just the way it is. It has very little to do with income in my mind.

00:08:45.040 It starts when we play, we play differently as kids. We play different sports. We actively. So

00:08:50.840 of course, it's going to show up later in life by choosing different professions.

00:08:54.780 And you know, what's interesting is you don't have to train that. You know, I've got three

00:08:58.100 boys. I've got one little girl. I didn't teach my daughter that she needs to go outside and bake 1.00

00:09:03.080 mud pies and bring them into me and, and, and let me eat those things. And I didn't teach my sons to

00:09:08.700 go out and burn ants with a magnifying glass. That's just what they do. It's just natural.

00:09:13.040 They have different curiosities and different things that are interested in and different ways

00:09:17.380 of learning and developing as well. A hundred percent. And testosterone has a lot to do with

00:09:21.520 that. So I'm learning more and more. Yeah. And I really liked the book because you take a couple

00:09:26.340 of different angles on this. The one angle is that a lot of this can be produced naturally by doing

00:09:31.980 some things even outside of the diet. Like this isn't just a diet book. This is a lifestyle book.

00:09:36.620 And that's what I appreciated about it. The things that might move the needle in your life

00:09:41.240 the most might not be diet. If you're on a fad diet, as you've read in the book, it's not a

00:09:47.440 restrictive diet. You've got your carbs, your proteins, your fats, and you kind of eat a balanced

00:09:52.260 diet. And for good reason, but the things that might move the needle, the most might be a higher

00:09:57.500 quality of sleep or, uh, getting rid of some chemical estrogens in your house.

00:10:02.880 I want to talk about that because we've had other guests talk about that. And I think that's

00:10:06.600 really, really important because there are a lot of those, I don't know if testosterone blockers is

00:10:11.020 the right word. That sounds familiar. Maybe you use that term or I've seen it before, but yeah,

00:10:15.200 I agree. What's really fascinating is I'll hear from a lot of guys who want to jump towards

00:10:19.140 certain therapies and injections and whatnot. And my thought is, why don't you cover the basics first?

00:10:24.880 Why don't you try to do this naturally first? And then if you still have testosterone issues,

00:10:29.840 okay, well, well, let's look at some medical procedures that might help with that. But

00:10:33.100 I think more often than not taking this natural route is probably going to produce

00:10:38.360 natural and healthy testosterone levels in men.

00:10:42.760 A hundred percent. And the injection therapy route, I looked at some stats when I was doing

00:10:48.540 some work earlier today. And I think it's a, it was a $4 billion industry in 2012. And now it's a

00:10:55.000 $7 billion industry in 2017. And they're finding a lot of doctors are prescribing that stuff without

00:11:00.920 getting their patients tested. It's a growing industry. And I don't think a lot of authority

00:11:07.100 figures know how to really come at testosterone from a natural way. And there's so much you can do

00:11:12.320 in your life to increase your testosterone levels naturally. There's so much.

00:11:16.620 We're going to get into that, but you know, it's, it is interesting because anytime you get

00:11:20.360 industries and pharmaceutical, especially in the medical industry, you get these glaring

00:11:25.860 conflicts of interest. And so it's no wonder that more and more people are being prescribed or treated

00:11:33.600 with these types of therapies. And not only that, it's, it's easier, right? Like it's easier to go get

00:11:39.880 a shot or an injection. And I'm not quite sure how that works than it is to get up an hour earlier

00:11:44.920 and go into the gym and eat the foods that, you know, you should be eating. That's not

00:11:50.040 easy or it's not as easy as just going to get a quick shot. Exactly. And so I think it's a

00:11:55.200 convenience issue as well. Exactly. It's a bandaid solution. And those seem to work well for the

00:12:00.700 medical industry, not to be cynical or anything like there's great doctors out there, but that

00:12:04.400 stat kind of woke me up a little, well, not woke me up, but reaffirmed some of what I thought

00:12:08.920 beforehand. I want to go back to this diet thing because that is one of the questions I get a lot is

00:12:14.480 what's your diet. What diet are you on? I don't even like the term because frankly, it's, it's not

00:12:20.400 some sort of diet. I just tell people I try to eat clean and they ask me, what does that mean?

00:12:25.200 I'm like, come on. I mean, everybody knows what that means, right? You eat vegetables, you eat meat

00:12:30.220 and that's, and drink a lot of water. Like, I don't think that's confusing for anybody. It seems weird

00:12:36.180 that people have questions about what eating clean means. Everyone's got their hook. I've been in the

00:12:41.960 fitness industry for a bit. And when you're creating a product for people, you want a hook.

00:12:47.480 The hook isn't necessarily like the name or whatever. Sometimes it's a, it's a little

00:12:52.520 ingredient that is a magical ingredient or an enemy that you create. Like the carb is the enemy or the

00:12:58.540 fat is the enemy or whatever. So there's so much restriction out there that I can understand why

00:13:03.340 people get, when you start looking at it, people get a little, I don't know, too much information.

00:13:09.840 You know what I mean? And it's all conflicting. So eating clean isn't as simple as it used to be

00:13:14.760 30, 40 years ago. That's true. Well, and not only is it not as simple because it's, it's

00:13:19.380 convoluted with all the messaging, it's infinitely easier to run into the gas station or Burger King

00:13:24.200 and grab a juiced up burger rather than raise a cow, butcher a cow, or even just do a little bit

00:13:31.520 of shopping at some organic food store. That's certainly a challenge as well. The outside of the

00:13:36.820 grocery store is where the vegetables meet and all that stuff is. The inner aisles are where the

00:13:42.420 pre-packaged, pre-made stuff is. People are on those inner aisles because you just take a package

00:13:47.400 out, put it in the microwave, but the long-term destruction just isn't worth it.

00:13:51.880 And I've heard along with what you had just said is that if you can't identify your food in nature,

00:13:57.160 it's probably something you shouldn't consume. For example, if you're eating a steak, it's readily

00:14:03.260 available and obvious that that is muscle tissue from an animal. Like you can identify that,

00:14:08.500 but as good as they are, you can't really identify in nature, a cake batter Oreo cookie as good as

00:14:14.200 they are. So I think it's, it's pretty easy when you try to determine if you can see that food in

00:14:20.040 nature or not. If you can literally kill the thing, be it a plant or an animal, then odds are it's going

00:14:25.620 to be good for you. Where testosterone is concerned, it's not a hundred percent true. There are things

00:14:30.720 that are naturally occurring in nature that aren't great for testosterone levels, but they're few and

00:14:35.100 far between.

00:14:36.580 Like what, what would, what would be one of those items or a handful of those items?

00:14:39.960 Well, soy, obviously soy and flax are the two most estrogenic things you can, you can have, but they're

00:14:45.220 naturally occurring. They're pitched as health foods, but they're not good for testosterone levels.

00:14:49.480 And then polyunsaturated fats. So things like most nuts and fish oils and stuff aren't great for

00:14:56.700 testosterone levels. The saturated and monounsaturated fats are great for testosterone levels. So animals

00:15:01.380 like you're eating animals and, uh, different kinds of nuts and olive oils and coconut oils and

00:15:07.360 that kind of stuff.

00:15:08.720 Do those other foods, do they block testosterone or do they limit production of testosterone? Like

00:15:14.660 what is actually happening in the body? And you hear the term like soy boy and things like that.

00:15:19.220 And I've never seen the studies. I'm sure they're out there. I hope they're out there.

00:15:22.760 What is actually happening in the body when you're consuming those types of foods?

00:15:27.420 I've seen two different outlooks. The first is a more common outlook on it. That is that they're

00:15:33.280 estrogenic and therefore they increase estrogen in men. There's studies to back that up, but the

00:15:37.960 opposite argument is that they're estrogenic. So they help you flush xenoestrogens or chemical

00:15:43.240 estrogens. It seems like the first one is the correct way to look at it, where they're very high in

00:15:49.440 estrogen and they increase estrogen in both men and women.

00:15:53.240 So the ratio of those foods then is it's producing or enabling the production of an

00:16:00.000 unbalanced level of estrogen versus testosterone.

00:16:02.940 Exactly. Yeah. So like when you look at how to eat the man diet, when you look at how to 0.99

00:16:07.520 quote unquote, eat like a man to increase your testosterone levels, there's not going to be a

00:16:11.580 ton of stuff that you're just going to say no to that's naturally occurring. There's a few,

00:16:16.300 so they're easy to remember. But other than that, you're basically eating animals and potatoes and

00:16:20.660 things like that. Why is this such a challenge for people? Is it obviously we talked about

00:16:25.600 convenience price sometimes comes into play. I really haven't found that to be true, but I know

00:16:30.640 that's an argument that people say is that it's more expensive to eat healthier. I think it's probably

00:16:35.260 just a convenience issue. Is there something outside of that? I can't imagine that it's a knowledge

00:16:39.140 issue. I think a lot of people, most men would probably understand.

00:16:42.500 I do think knowledge stands in the way, not because of a lack of information out there,

00:16:48.720 but abundance of conflicting information.

00:16:51.100 Almost like paralysis by analysis.

00:16:53.220 A hundred percent. Like I'd never really thought like this until my girlfriend started looking to

00:16:57.400 how to eat better. And she didn't ask me for help until like months into it. But then she's like

00:17:04.600 so confused by everything. I'm like, Oh my goodness. I didn't even, I kind of put the blockers on.

00:17:09.480 I'm not going to look at a diet that's only got fat or a diet that's only got carbs or whatever.

00:17:14.780 There's value in each of the macronutrients, right? So, but she's going out there and each 0.90

00:17:19.560 one promises to be that be all end all. The logical way to eat is more likely the way to eat. Like

00:17:26.580 you need your good carbs, you need your good proteins, you need your good fats. But then when

00:17:30.860 you start looking into things and you read all these articles, it can be paralysis by analysis for

00:17:35.080 sure. Well, that's what I like about your messaging is that it doesn't really come across

00:17:40.300 to me as a sales pitch. And I try to be that way as well. It's like, here's what you do. How do you

00:17:44.960 exercise? You pick up heavy things. You do deadlifts and bench press and squats. Like the things everybody

00:17:50.500 knows what to do. I don't have some program I'm selling you just lift heavy objects. And then when

00:17:56.420 it comes to food, it's eat right. Here's, here's some portions. Here's how often here's the types of

00:18:01.960 foods, no program to sell you. Just here's what you do. And that's how this book comes across.

00:18:07.020 So I do appreciate that of you. Awesome. That's great to hear.

00:18:09.940 Let me shift gears here a little bit, because one of the things that you talk about in the book that

00:18:13.960 I think it's really important to cover, and this is a long, I guess this is along the lines of what

00:18:17.620 we're talking about now is when you talk about paralysis by analysis, there's a lot of misinformation

00:18:21.460 out there as well too. And one of the things that you do in the book is you go through

00:18:26.060 some of the myths that people commonly subscribe to. Like one, for example, is that you should eat

00:18:32.620 every few hours. And you've said, no, that's actually a myth. You shouldn't do that. Can you

00:18:37.020 explain what you mean there? And then some of the other myths as well. I remember when I first got

00:18:41.680 into training, I was boxing and I wanted to really learn how to be healthy and all this stuff. And they

00:18:47.240 said six meals a day. But the problem with six meals a day is that when you spread your meals out,

00:18:53.180 you end up eating more food overall. So you're not, you want to be around a caloric maintenance

00:18:58.040 if you're just trying to maintain weight. And most people are trying to lose fat when they start

00:19:02.520 looking into their diet. So by spreading your meals out, you're going to eat more calories.

00:19:06.800 The second thing that happens is that when you eat, your cortisol levels rise because you're trying

00:19:11.020 to produce all this food and all this stuff. You're just prolonging this increased cortisol that

00:19:15.960 happens throughout the day. So you don't need six meals. You get the same benefits from fewer meals.

00:19:21.440 I eat two usually plus a shake. So I just keep it really simple. And they're big meals. I can enjoy

00:19:28.020 them without really having to care about how many calories. And I think one of the things that's

00:19:33.020 really helped me because I've incorporated this way of looking at it in this diet prior to even the

00:19:38.700 book, but then I've incorporated some new things into my life and the way that I eat. Distraction has

00:19:43.060 been really helpful for me because if I'm bored and I'm sitting around and I'm not doing anything,

00:19:47.460 I'm going to eat, I'm going to put something in my face. And so for me, in order to avoid eating all

00:19:53.420 the time or getting into intermittent fasting, which we can talk about as well, it's really just

00:19:57.400 been a matter of staying a little bit busier and distracting myself from wanting to sit there and

00:20:02.340 eat. Yeah. Snacks like that's the enemy of most people. Like you go to the grocery store and people

00:20:07.520 go to the grocery store hungry and they go pick up snacks or they go pick up things that they could

00:20:11.580 just pop in the microwave. So something that I did that has really helped is I don't have any snacks in my

00:20:16.560 house and I don't have a microwave. I'm not trying to lose fat or, you know, change how I eat. I've

00:20:24.720 just noticed that the ease of heating up food kind of gets you to just eat when you shouldn't eat. And

00:20:31.400 sometimes your energy levels go down a bit after you eat and you want to maintain high energy throughout

00:20:36.780 the day. So I got rid of my microwave, which has helped me a lot. That's a good point. I know when my

00:20:42.360 wife is out of town for any amount of time, it seems like I eat even a little bit better because 0.96

00:20:48.100 I don't do the shopping in our house. And so all like the snacks and all that stuff is gone. So if

00:20:53.520 I want to eat, I actually have to prepare a meal, which frankly, I just, I don't enjoy cooking and I

00:20:58.240 don't enjoy preparing meals. So I just eat less because I'm not snacking all day long every day.

00:21:03.700 Yeah. I think that's a big roadblock for people is the snacking. Like you get someone to start eating

00:21:08.120 the right amount and they won't track their snacks because they don't even think of it as eating.

00:21:14.300 It's the same thing with finances. I mean, you look at somebody and you ask them to budget and

00:21:18.100 they don't calculate the drink that they go get in the morning because it's only $2. Except for if

00:21:22.840 you add that two or $5 up every single day over the course of 30 days, you may be a hundred,

00:21:27.720 200, $300 that you're spending on nonsense stuff. You don't even know is slipping out through your

00:21:32.340 pocket. Exactly. Yeah. One of the things that you talk about is the idea. And we addressed this a

00:21:38.760 second ago when we talked about intermittent fasting is that breakfast is the most important

00:21:43.600 meal of the day, but you say it's not. Yeah. So it depends. I like, I like intermittent fasting.

00:21:49.080 It sounds like you've started doing it as well. Yeah. I don't eat at seven after seven o'clock at night.

00:21:54.400 And then I start eating, uh, well, lunch, I have lunch around 11, 1130. How's your energy?

00:21:59.980 It was low when I started. Um, and I don't know if that's the body adjusting or, or trying to figure

00:22:05.660 out what the heck I'm doing with my food, but I actually feel pretty good right now. I do drink

00:22:11.920 a lot of water in the morning and sometimes I'll either have like a pre-workout or, or a protein

00:22:17.840 shake after, but that's all before I have lunch. I've been doing it for a while now. And when I first

00:22:22.360 started first, I always suggest to like ease into it, not just go gangbusters with it. You'll end up

00:22:29.060 craving something and eating it. You know what I mean? But I've been doing it for a while and I've

00:22:33.020 noticed my energy levels are just so much better because of the less frequent eating. And then I

00:22:39.220 load that first meal up with fats and meat. So I'm not getting that spike in insulin that you get

00:22:46.260 from carbs in the morning and then that crash. So by skipping breakfast and using the fasting just

00:22:53.020 from a time issue, I find it a lot better. You don't need the calories in the morning. It doesn't do

00:22:57.980 anything beneficial. It's not like you're fueling yourself for the day. And then for me, the most

00:23:03.440 important meal ends up being the last meal of the day, just getting good carbs in and getting me

00:23:07.520 sleepy right before bed. I think there's also a common thought, whether it's true and valid or not

00:23:14.000 is subject to interpretation that you shouldn't eat a big meal. What's your take on that?

00:23:19.900 From the studies they've done, from how your body works, there's no real basis for that. The theory is

00:23:26.100 that you're not going to burn the calories you're putting in your body, right? You've been moving

00:23:32.280 throughout the day. Your body needs it. Your body's still burning calories at night. By having carbs at

00:23:36.740 night, which is when I have meat and potatoes a lot, just sweet potatoes, yams, meat, like normal

00:23:42.980 white potatoes. I mix it up, but those carbs at the end of night or the end of the day, not, I don't

00:23:48.680 have it at night. I'm same with you. I end my day by eating at six, six 30 kind of thing. It kind of

00:23:53.740 gets you sleepy and ready for a good sleep, which is insanely important for health, testosterone and

00:23:58.220 all that stuff. It's more about your overall calories in a day. Forget about the meal at

00:24:03.080 night. Forget about, there's some people who eat a massive meal for dinner, one meal a day.

00:24:08.380 It's more about your overall caloric intake in a day rather than the timing of your calories or when

00:24:14.420 you eat most of your calories. Yeah. I think there's a misunderstanding or confusion about the

00:24:19.700 way that your metabolism works in that even sitting here having this conversation, the body is burning

00:24:25.560 fuel and using fuel to create the energy that we need even just to have this very sedentary

00:24:31.120 conversation that we're having right now. Exactly. And when you talk about diet, the main reason why

00:24:35.780 we're eating, why most of us should be eating is for energy. You want to eat in a way that gives you

00:24:41.020 maximal energy levels so that you can have high energy throughout the day and get all the awesome

00:24:46.280 stuff you want to get done during the day. So if these big meals, if you think breakfast should

00:24:51.320 be this big meal, if you've ever had a big breakfast, lots of toast and oatmeal and all that

00:24:56.560 stuff, you know, you crash a few hours later. Or even at lunch, if I have a big burger and just stuff

00:25:03.300 my face, like I get back into the office and I'm worthless for that time after lunch. So I try to

00:25:08.640 take it easy at lunch because I want to be productive after lunch. I don't want to go into this catatonic

00:25:13.940 state. Exactly. Like I remember being in college and early in the workforce and man, I'd have a

00:25:20.320 massive lunch and then I'd have to like sneak away from work and go sleep in my car. By restructuring

00:25:26.640 my diet, the way I do it is the fats and meat, which slows the rise of blood sugar. So that gives

00:25:31.400 you a elevated energy levels throughout the day. And then having like a shake with like some assorted

00:25:36.980 berries, some high quality whey protein or something after my workout. And then the dinner,

00:25:42.380 which is eating an animal and then potatoes. So I get those carbs in me. And that's a bit of a

00:25:46.840 bigger meal. My dinner is the biggest meal because that tires me out. I want to get ready for bed.

00:25:52.900 Man, I just want to take a quick break. This has been such a powerful conversation up to this point.

00:25:57.660 I've incorporated a lot of what Chad has talked about in my life. And I can tell that it's making

00:26:02.420 a huge difference in the way that I show up and in the way that I perform. But one of my biggest

00:26:07.460 struggles when incorporating new ideas like this and habits into my life was creating the framework

00:26:14.040 and the foundation, and even having some accountability to make these new habits and the

00:26:18.180 new principles and the things I'm adopting into my life actually stick. And that's the reason that I

00:26:23.780 created the iron council is to help give guys like you and me, the tools, the guidance, the direction

00:26:30.400 to make powerful. And most importantly, to make lasting changes in our lives. When you band with us

00:26:36.380 inside of the iron council, you'll be tapping into a powerful network of over 400 men working

00:26:42.820 hard to improve their lives, every facet of their lives. And then of course, helping you and the rest

00:26:47.720 of the brothers inside the council do the same. If you need a kickstart and you need, or want some

00:26:52.920 men who care about your success, I invite you to band with us inside of the iron council. You can learn

00:26:58.660 more about the benefits and the features and everything that we're doing there and why this has been

00:27:02.360 so powerful for hundreds and hundreds of men. And of course, lock in your spot as well. Do that

00:27:08.200 at order of man.com slash iron council. Again, that's order of man.com slash iron council. In the

00:27:14.480 meantime, guys, let's get back to this conversation with Chad. Well, you bring up an interesting point

00:27:19.920 about our sugar and insulin levels. And I think what's happening is that we are becoming accustomed to

00:27:27.600 not listening to our bodies. And what I mean by that, for example, is we think we have all this

00:27:32.080 energy and that's probably because you had a coffee or a diet Coke or a energy drink in the morning.

00:27:37.260 And then you get a little tired and you're like, Oh man, I don't have any energy. Let me, let me go get

00:27:40.280 another five hour energy drink. Yeah. And so you just consume these sugars that are destroying and

00:27:46.600 killing you. Yeah. They're horrible. Instead of listening to your body and naturally keeping those

00:27:52.280 levels where they need to be. So you do have the energy. We just mask what our body's telling us

00:27:57.460 with a quick five hour energy. For example, our bodies are meant to be lean and they're meant to

00:28:02.220 be energetic. We're not meant to be fat and we're not meant to be tired all the time. So then what are

00:28:08.100 the roadblocks in your life? For some people, it's going to be, you're going to react different to

00:28:12.180 carbohydrates and you might react different to other foods. But I think for the most part, having these

00:28:17.780 massive meals, these sugars, these, these artificial foods are going to making our bodies inefficient

00:28:24.120 and tired. So you just gotta, you gotta really listen to your body and see what works best for

00:28:28.080 you. But the way I've structured it for me, I know it took me a while to kind of figure that out

00:28:32.300 because there's a lot of conflicting information out there, but I like the way I structure it. And

00:28:36.980 it really like, I'm not a guy who's, first of all, I used to be an insomniac. I used to have a horrible

00:28:42.680 time sleeping and then I would just not have a lot of energy. So fixing the sleep and then

00:28:46.900 fixing the diet was big for me. Did you fix the sleep in a different way outside of the diet or

00:28:51.600 was it the diet that actually helped the sleep? Carbs at night helped a lot. The diet helped a

00:28:56.520 lot. I think I fixed the testosterone through training and through diet a lot and different

00:29:01.800 things that are in the book. But then fixing the sleep was also huge. They both kind of worked

00:29:06.860 symbiotically. Like they both helped each other, but fixing the sleep was a big one. I started eating

00:29:11.680 carbs at night and then I stuck to a sleep schedule religiously. And that made a huge

00:29:16.780 difference. Even just losing 20 pounds will make a huge difference. Like I know for me,

00:29:22.280 so I lost 50 pounds and think about this for a second. Anybody who's listening, I want you to go

00:29:28.740 to bed and lie down on your bed and then take a 45 pound plate and put it on your chest and tell me

00:29:35.120 if it's harder to breathe or not. Yeah, that's a good point. I mean, that's literally what you're

00:29:39.540 doing. You're putting so much pressure on your windpipe and your lungs. I had the beginning stages of

00:29:45.480 sleep apnea. I had restless leg syndrome and I didn't do anything other than lose weight. Not

00:29:50.940 to say that's easy, but I lost weight. That was the only thing I changed and my sleep dramatically

00:29:56.980 improved. I was able to breathe. I don't snore anymore, significantly more energy when I wake up

00:30:03.100 because I'm not fighting for oxygen and kicking my legs every hour of the night that I'm asleep.

00:30:08.300 There's so many benefits that come from eating correctly.

00:30:13.940 Losing weight, we're not supposed to be fat. That's not how our bodies work. Everything goes

00:30:19.800 to shite as soon as we start gaining too much body fat. Even estrogen stores itself in body fat. If 0.99

00:30:25.840 you're over 12%, 13%, 14% body fat, you're carrying estrogen in that body fat. Anytime I talk to a guy

00:30:32.840 who says he wants to increase testosterone, I ask what their body fat percentage is. I ask what

00:30:38.580 their body fat percentage is and then how much are they sleeping at night? Those two things. Those are

00:30:43.220 the two main roadblocks. Then you can get into getting rid of the chemical estrogens and all that

00:30:49.060 stuff and a couple supplements help here and there. Those two first questions. If you're overweight,

00:30:54.740 that is the most important thing you could possibly do for a lot of different things, but for

00:30:59.440 testosterone for sleep quality and all that stuff as well.

00:31:04.340 You also talked about less worrying, which increases cortisol levels. Does cortisol block

00:31:10.380 testosterone or limit production? What does cortisol do in the body?

00:31:13.840 It counters testosterone like estrogen does. If your estrogen levels are high, your testosterone

00:31:18.660 levels are going to be low. Same with cortisol. There's tests. Depending on how you get your test done,

00:31:22.760 they can test testosterone in relation to cortisol. They literally are not like yin and yang,

00:31:29.120 but they oppose each other. You want to have your cortisol levels as low as possible.

00:31:34.540 Cortisol is a stress hormone. Sleep is a really big one for cortisol. If you're not getting eight

00:31:39.700 hours of sleep or nine hours of sleep, every hour less you get, it's 15% less testosterone that you're

00:31:45.620 going to have. If you're getting four hours of sleep versus eight hours of sleep, you're essentially

00:31:49.920 doubling your testosterone levels by getting eight hours. You can go from high testosterone to low

00:31:54.280 testosterone by just not getting enough sleep. That's crazy how big of a difference that level

00:32:00.200 of sleep makes. What's really interesting is guys will say, well, I'll sleep when I'm dead. I don't

00:32:05.920 need any sleep. Yet, you do. You need a lot of sleep in order to produce more effectively as a man

00:32:11.600 during your waking hours. Arnold Schwarzenegger's speech where he talks about sleep six hours a night

00:32:15.820 or something. I'm like, hell yeah, I'm going to sleep five. I did that. My work quality just

00:32:20.520 stunk. Relationships with people, grumpy, name it. The quality of life just stunk. You get into

00:32:28.140 sleeping better and then you just adopt some good habits as far as work and you just produce so much

00:32:33.940 more at such a higher quality. One of the things that you talked a lot about, and I was glad to see

00:32:38.980 you cover this because I don't think this is talked about a whole lot. It's the idea of increasing

00:32:43.540 testosterone levels naturally through competition. I think there's so much to be said for that.

00:32:49.720 What's sad is that we as men are encouraged to shy away from being competitive and being aggressive

00:32:56.320 and being dominant. I think it's really impacting us. I think there's something to be said for finding

00:33:02.000 other men who you can compete against, whether that's physically, intellectually, and you can compete

00:33:09.160 and more importantly, win. The objective is to win. You're going to feel better. And the reason

00:33:14.840 you're going to feel better as a man to win is because these chemicals that are helping you are

00:33:18.480 then coursing through your body. It increases those chemicals. Exactly. The act of competition

00:33:23.120 increases testosterone. It's like crazy because you can watch your favorite sports team win or compete

00:33:29.780 and your testosterone levels will increase. Well, I know that's true. When I watch on a Saturday night,

00:33:34.980 I'll watch the fights UFC with my boys. And I know, I know exactly what's happening. And my body is

00:33:41.740 being triggered to be a man to fight and to be aggressive and dominant and physical. Well, that's

00:33:47.620 the testosterone. The point I like to make, you look at testosterone, you look at guys that want to

00:33:52.300 increase it. And it's, it's like, okay, why do you want to increase it? A lot of the times they want to

00:33:57.580 be, they want to be more manly. They want to be more masculine. They want to be more competitive and

00:34:02.100 more successful. Well, part of it, you let the actions lead the hormone. You know what I mean?

00:34:07.220 So you start competing more. You don't wait for the testosterone to come to making more competitive

00:34:11.280 or aggressive or whatever. You start, you start doing those things. You start taking risks. You

00:34:16.280 start winning. There's, there's some incredible studies about testosterone surges when guys make

00:34:21.780 a lot of money or something like that. When you see the fruition of your hard work kind of thing.

00:34:26.180 Right. So you come at it from the lifestyle, the diet, the getting rid of chemicals, the sleep,

00:34:32.860 all that stuff. But then you also start living the life of this high testosterone masculine self.

00:34:39.500 And it's just triggered by a choice, by a few changes in habits. I saw you started doing jujitsu.

00:34:44.980 Yeah, that's right.

00:34:45.640 Join a jujitsu gym, join a boxing gym, do things like that. And they'll have a positive impact for sure.

00:34:51.080 And I've always been physical. I was very athletic in high school and participated in three or

00:34:56.020 four different sports in any given year. But then I, I got away from that, you know,

00:35:00.440 because I had the family and the kids and the job and the, this and the, that, and then I got away

00:35:05.080 from it. And I started jujitsu as of this recording, probably it was a month ago. So it was about four

00:35:11.320 weeks ago. And I remember that first class I went to, I felt awkward and out of place. Of course,

00:35:15.140 that's just how it is. But I remember getting done with that and being completely exhausted,

00:35:20.060 a little embarrassed or feeling foolish. Cause I got, cause I got destroyed. But I also remember

00:35:25.440 feeling this overwhelming sense of encouragement and pride. And I just felt good for being there

00:35:33.340 and being physical and fighting another man. There's something about it.

00:35:38.800 Something, something natural about it.

00:35:40.440 Well, and forget the science. Like, how do you feel? You know, I talk with a lot of guys every

00:35:44.820 day who are like, Oh, I just feel sluggish or I don't know how to talk to women or I feel like a 0.97

00:35:49.240 loser. I don't have any confidence. And to me, I hear that because I know, and I've gone through and

00:35:54.420 done some of the research here. And I know you have as well as that definitely could be

00:35:58.040 testosterone levels. Yeah, no, for sure. There's a lot you can do to turn that around. A lot of guys

00:36:03.180 feel like it's there. It's just who they are or their, their plight in life, you know? Um,

00:36:09.360 like a lot of guys, school system, whatever been trained to act and maybe even feel guilty that

00:36:15.600 they're, they have these desires to be aggressive and conquer and, and, uh, win and all that stuff.

00:36:21.580 There's a lot they can do to bring that back and take control of their life. And testosterone is 0.94

00:36:26.020 obviously a part of it and competition and living a certain way as a part of it.

00:36:30.340 That's one of the hard things. And I'm sure you get the messages just as I do. And those messages

00:36:35.260 are, Oh, you, you know, you're making it too easy or you're trying to be too hard to be a man and that

00:36:39.760 kind of stuff. And it's from people who don't understand what masculinity and manliness is.

00:36:43.840 And so guys who are trying to step into this role are being mocked and ridiculed and quote unquote,

00:36:50.560 toxic masculinity. And it's absolutely absurd. That stuff enrages me. The best a man can be is,

00:36:56.340 well, the Roman definition, excellence in all things. Part of that, that excellence is being

00:37:01.520 as good at being a man as you can possibly be. And men are protectors. We're providers,

00:37:06.680 you know, men just like masculine stuff. We like different things. You have to give yourself 0.95

00:37:12.680 permissional like that without caring about the idiots that are going to call you a toxic or 1.00

00:37:17.100 whatever. Well, one of the other things, and we are bumping up against time, but I did want to make 1.00

00:37:21.060 sure I address this because you talked about it in the book. You talk about the importance of sex

00:37:26.320 and you talk about the importance of sex without pornography. Every time I broach the subject,

00:37:33.000 talk about this subject. I mean, guys love their pornography and they refuse to see the negative impacts

00:37:39.400 that pornography has in their life. Talk to me about that.

00:37:43.820 Oh man, what's the, there's a website that's really good at this stuff. They really go into it.

00:37:47.940 Just about the effects of pornography on your literal, like your real sexual health. The goal

00:37:53.580 should be just to have great sex with your lady as often as possible. Like it's really good for you. 1.00

00:37:59.500 Feels good. There's nothing wrong with it. But then the porn takes away from that. It can lead to

00:38:04.180 impotence. I think there's one statistic about young men who have impotence and their porn,

00:38:10.720 how much they watch porn and stuff. You got to really decide what do you want? Do you want

00:38:15.120 actual sex or do you want porn? Do you want to watch other people do it? You know, 1.00

00:38:20.540 I don't know, but like real sex increases testosterone. The thought of having real sex

00:38:24.860 dramatically increases testosterone. Porn does not have the same effect.

00:38:29.400 I think it comes down to that convenience thing again, right? I mean,

00:38:32.400 it's easy. Yeah. Very easy. It's easy to jump online and watch a video. It's a little bit

00:38:36.860 harder to take your wife on a date and seduce her in a way and earn the right. And I know people are

00:38:45.360 going to hear that and they're not going to like what I'm saying, but this is true. And it's been

00:38:47.640 true since man has been on this planet, earn the right to mate. Exactly. Well said. Even, even

00:38:52.500 young guys trying to find that mate, you got to get yourself together. You can't be a kid anymore.

00:38:59.000 A good woman doesn't want a kid. She doesn't want someone she has to take care of. She wants 1.00

00:39:03.660 someone who's got their stuff together, their life together in more than one way, physically,

00:39:08.500 with work, with career, all that stuff. So it takes time and a lot of effort. And then guys see this

00:39:15.060 alternative, which is, it sounds so weird to say it, but watching other people do it, they get the

00:39:20.960 same endorphin release and they think that that's better than having to do all that work. The benefit you

00:39:26.960 gain, Jordan Peterson talked about it, the benefit you gain from rejection of women is invaluable 0.99

00:39:32.700 because they tell you how to be and how to act. Not all women will give you the right feedback, 1.00

00:39:36.980 but a lot of them will. You just got to be open to it. Right. I mean, over a long period of time

00:39:41.380 and for lack of a better term through experimentation, you will learn what works and what doesn't with

00:39:46.920 women. Yeah. And the good one is a lot of guys when they're young are a little needy or this and

00:39:56.160 that. And they, like a woman, be it for good or for bad, can teach you how to be a leader in ways

00:40:02.740 that you're not going to get because you're not going to open up like you are with your pals or

00:40:08.200 whatever. So, well, you just don't care as much what a guy thinks as you do what a gal thinks. 0.67

00:40:13.100 Yeah. You might be a very different person around the two. You might be the guy, the man around your

00:40:18.200 buddies. But then when it comes to a lady, you're a blubbering idiot. It's just natural. Sometimes 1.00

00:40:23.280 if it's your first experiences when you're a kid trying to get a date or whatever, and they kind of

00:40:28.680 help you navigate through how to become a leader in uncomfortable situations. And the destruction of

00:40:35.760 porn is like you can come at it from a moral standpoint or a non moral standpoint. You can come

00:40:41.080 at it from either way. It changes how you look at sex, what you expect from sex. It can feed

00:40:46.300 different industries like child trafficking, whatever. Like with porn, you have to consistently

00:40:51.460 upgrade what you see or else you don't get the same satisfaction from it. At some point, it's going

00:40:57.320 to get into some dark stuff, you know. But then from just a quality of life standpoint, you want

00:41:02.980 a good sexual relationship with your wife. That's a good part of a marriage. And porn takes you away 0.93

00:41:09.600 from that. Yeah. The website that you had referenced earlier, and I think you actually

00:41:13.420 referenced in this in the book as well, is your brain on porn. Is that the site you're talking 0.54

00:41:17.740 about? Yeah. Guys, you got to step back and really see what's what. The easy way is not always the good

00:41:23.640 way. I got to learn this all the time. I think we all have to learn this. The easy way is not always

00:41:27.900 the good way. And often it's not the good way across the board. So you got to do what's good for the

00:41:33.600 greater good in your own life, for your family and all that stuff. Well, Chad, we could talk about

00:41:38.080 this. And I'm sure you and I will have more conversations, seeing as how we have a lot of

00:41:42.180 the same interest and we're in the same space. But for the sake of time, we'll wind things down.

00:41:46.580 I do want to ask you a couple additional questions. The first one we danced around a little bit. And

00:41:50.240 that question is, what does it mean to be a man? I mentioned the Roman view of manliness,

00:41:55.800 excellence in all things. I think a man separates himself from being a boy by being a leader,

00:42:02.040 by being a caretaker, a protector, your three Ps, the protect, provide, preside.

00:42:06.420 And continually being self-reliant where he can and improving. A boy or a male or whatever you want

00:42:14.480 to call it can depend on others where he should be self-sufficient.

00:42:20.420 Yeah. Well said. Well said. Well, how do we connect with you, man? Learn more about the work that you're

00:42:24.420 doing. And of course, pick up a copy of the book as well.

00:42:27.200 Yeah. I'll give you a link for the book. They can pick up the book at themandietbook.com,

00:42:31.160 average2alpha.com. And then on the YouTubes, I think just search Chad House, H-O-W-S-E and some

00:42:38.920 of my stuff will come up. We'll connect it all. So the guys know where to go. Chad,

00:42:42.080 I appreciate you, man. I've been looking forward to this conversation. Like I said,

00:42:45.140 when we started, we've been connected and I think we were bound to meet at some point to

00:42:49.300 have this conversation. And I'm really glad that we did. So thanks for taking some time with us today.

00:42:53.220 Thanks so much for having me on. I really like what you're doing. It's awesome to be on here.

00:42:58.020 Man, there it is. My conversation with Mr. Chad House. I'm sure that you're walking away with

00:43:02.760 some new information about how to incorporate better eating, better nutrition into your life.

00:43:08.980 I would encourage you to go pick up a copy of the book. It's a very quick read. It's very practical.

00:43:13.340 It's very simple. I think a lot of people will probably overlook it for its simplicity,

00:43:17.660 but I can tell you from personal experience, as I've incorporated this way of eating and dieting

00:43:23.880 and consuming and all the things that he talks about in this podcast. And of course the book,

00:43:27.880 it has been impactful. It has been measurable as far as the improvements that I've seen in my life.

00:43:33.900 So go ahead and pick up a copy of the book, connect with Chad on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter,

00:43:38.820 wherever you're on social media. Also connect with me, let Chad know, let me know what you think about

00:43:43.740 the show, what you thought about the conversation. And even I would love to hear about some of your

00:43:48.200 personal results when you do incorporate this way of eating and this style of nutrition,

00:43:53.580 if you will, into your life. So hit me up on Instagram at Ryan Mickler. I'm very,

00:44:00.660 very active over there, probably more active on Instagram than I am anywhere else, but you can also

00:44:05.660 catch us on Twitter and Facebook at order of man, but on Instagram, it's at Ryan Mickler. My last name

00:44:11.960 is spelled M-I-C-H-L-E-R. Guys, I'm going to sign out with that. As always, I am so honored and

00:44:19.020 frankly humbled. I'm humbled every single day. I'm inspired every single day when I get messages

00:44:25.400 from you, when I see what it is you're doing, when I see you salvaging your marriages and losing weight

00:44:31.260 and starting businesses and kindling that romantic relationship and connecting with your kids and

00:44:37.120 all of the wonderful things that I see you doing. It's inspiring to be a very, very small part of

00:44:44.260 that change in your life. So guys, I can't tell you this enough, but I do really, really appreciate

00:44:50.660 you being on this journey. We could not do it without you. So with that said, and until next

00:44:56.140 week, take action and become the man you are meant to be. Thank you for listening to the order of man

00:45:02.580 podcast. You're ready to take charge of your life and be more of the man you were meant to be.

00:45:07.700 We invite you to join the order at order of man.com.

Order of Man - July 10, 2018

173： The Man Diet ｜ Chad Howse

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