Chewing the Fat Intro

Discussions between TLN Founder Phil LeClair and Special Correspondent Mike Davey on a variety of nutrition and fitness topics.

During the more than a decade-long friendship with Fitness Trainer and TLN Correspondent Mike Davey, we've had some pretty excellent conversations on just about everything to do with nutrition, fitness and supplements. Many times post-chat, I would say to myself, "Man, I wish I had recorded our discussion. It had good stuff to share with others" Chewing The Fat (unsaturated, of course!) serves the purpose by corralling some of of our conversations and share them with the TLN Network. Stay tuned for Chewing the Fat posts!

Along with serving as a TLN Special Correspondent, Mike is the founder and president of Iron Fitness Training. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Worcester State College, received Certified Fitness Trainer (CFT) education from International Sports Sciences Association and is a member of Staley Training Systems Coaching Group. He specializes in Weight Training Fundamentals, Building a Fitness Program Around a Busy Schedule, Better Eating Solutions, Assembling an Affordable, Yet Functional Home Gym.


His health and fitness philosophy: "There is a lingering opinion that you need to spend several days and hours a week in the gym to make progress and reach desired goals. This is totally untrue. My mission is to help dispel this myth and educate my clients with the fundamentals and basic tools necessary to develop a fitness program that works for their lifestyle and needs. From there, the sky's the limit!”


Personally, I feel that Mike is a great "learn by doing" guy. During the past decade, he has learned and done many times - with beneficial results. The continuous desire for nutrition and fitness knowledge has led to a professional that teaches from everyday experience. His positive nutrition, fitness and wellness habits can't help but rub off on his clients. --Phil LeClair

Chewing The Fat: To Carb or Not to Carb

Nutrition and fitness discussions between TLN Founder Phil LeClair and Correspondent Mike Davey

Phil: OK. Let's ramp this forum up and get right to one of the biggest topics we've discussed over the years: Carbs! Refresh my memory when you switched gears and dialed down the carb intake. You've never been really overweight and always active, but you were pounding the carbs back in the day. What made you decide to change your eating habits? Knowing you went from carbs, carbs, carbs to limiting carbs to a more recent revelation (which I will let you share), how did each stage affect your body composition, energy levels and mental state (i.e. cravings)?

Mike: My own personal carb intake has always been my biggest challenge. Through most of my twenties I was very much into starchy carbs. I was no stranger to a LOT of white bread, potatoes, rice, and pasta every day. In fact, at least 4 times a week I was eating a half box of pasta with about 5 slices of bread per sitting!!! This was mostly back in the 1992-1996 range when whole wheat bread and whole grain breads were not as abundant as they are now. At this time of my life I was weighing between 185-190 but it was a bulky, soft-around-the-middle weight that I wasn't comfortable with. I was putting up pretty good weight at the gym but I wasn't as lean as I wanted to be.Then in the late 90's I pretty much switched from these starchy carbs to mostly all vegetables and salads. The result was a thinner, leaner me, which I always wanted. However, I was too lean and was now tipping the scales at a paltry 158-162!!! While I liked how I looked with a shirt off I hated how I felt wearing t-shirts and sweatshirts....I felt so scrawny!! I was always feeling hungry and I seem to remember feeling weak in the gym. Something had to change.As of today I seem to have found the right combination of starchy carbs and vegetables/greens. No longer is it 4-6 slices of white bread every day or a whole bag of Minute Rice per meal. Portion size and weekly intake of these carbs were my biggest downfall. Now, I'll have only a slice or two of wheat bread about 4-5 times a week, 1 cup of brown rice about 4 to 5 times a week, a baked potato a couple of times a week, and vegetables with nearly every dinner. Of course, I do have other carbs such as bananas, orange juice, and oatmeal, just not with dinners.The end result is that I don't feel bloated after a meal but I also don't feel hungry after a meal either. The key for me is keeping an appropriate portion size. My body type dictates that I can't get crazy with starchy carbs because it won't take long before I start to show it around the middle.

Chewing the Fat: Mike's New Weight Training Routine

Nutrition and fitness discussions between TLN Founder Phil LeClair and Correspondent Mike Davey.

Phil: Mike, you called very excited the other day to tell me about how great your new weight training routine is working for you. Please share with our TLN readers what you are doing now, and why it seems to be more productive than previous routines.

Mike: Yes Phil, it was time to shake things up just a bit. I'd been in a rut with the workouts because I've always been guilty of sticking with what I'm comfortable with. However, after returning from vacation in December in the midst of the holiday season my enthusiasm for working out had reached a low point. Of course I wanted to work out and I did work out, but I felt like I was having too many uninspired workouts while seemingly fighting one nagging injury after another. Two clear cut signs of being in a workout rut.

So, two weeks ago I went completely outside of the box in my approach. I knew it was time to take a break from the chest/tri's, back/bi's, etc., routine. Sound familiar? Probably. I think we've all been doing that kind of routine since we first ventured into a gym! I've never had a routine of doing all upper body excercises in one day because I was afraid it just wouldn't be enough to sustain that burn you get from working out. I was sure it would feel like I just wasn't doing enough throughout the entire week. But feeling desperate to try something new and inject a little life into doing what I loved, I decided to give it a shot. Thank god I did. Read on for details on Mike's new routine!

Chewing the Fat: Mike's Trip to Hawaii

Nutrition and fitness discussions between TLN Founder Phil LeClair and Correspondent Mike Davey

Phil: You recently took a trip to awesome Hawaii. So how did you do eating and exercise-wise? Since it was a vacation, did you let it all hang out and stray away from your usually tight eating and exercise routine? Do tell.

Mike: Yes, Phil, I did just get back from Hawaii and all I'll say to our fellow TLNutrition members is that if you've never been to Hawaii make a point to get there at least once in your lifetime. Truly an amazing place to see.Now, on to your question. Well, my intentions before I went on the trip were all good one's!! I brought plenty of protein shake packets and nutrition bars for the trip but never quite stuck to my intentions. I even brought gym clothes with the intent of sneaking in a workout 2 or 3 times. Not!! Read Mike's full reply!