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Nutrition, training, Filipino food, and fat-loss reads — practical, no-fluff, written by Christian.

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Nutrition
Macros, protein, and how to eat for the body you're building.
18 articles →
Training
Programming, hypertrophy, and getting stronger in the gym.
7 articles →
Filipino Food Culture
High-protein takes on the food we grew up on.
8 articles →
Fat Loss
Cutting without losing the strength you worked for.
8 articles →
Ahi Poke
Fat Loss

5-Day Adobo Meal Prep Plan for Fat Loss: A Filipino-Inspired Guide to Cutting Body Fat Percentage

A client of mine, Marisol, texted me a photo of her fridge back in March — five stacked containers of chicken adobo, rice measured into sepa…

Healthy Chicken Sisig
Fat Loss

5 Filipino Superfoods to Boost Metabolism for Rapid Fat Loss

When it comes to losing weight, it's not just about cutting back on calories. In fact, incorporating the right foods into your diet can actu…

Beef Steak Quesadilla
Training

5 HIIT Workout Routines for Filipino-American Fitness Beginners

A client of mine, Marites, texted me on a Monday morning: "Coach, I did 45 minutes on the treadmill Saturday, ate normal all weekend, and I …

Beef Kaldereta
Filipino Food Culture

Adobo Three Ways: Cutting Fat Without Killing Flavor

Most adobo lives on the stove in one version: pork belly, soy sauce, white cane vinegar, garlic, and an hour of simmering until the sauce is…

Cajun Chicken Alfredo Pasta
Training

Advanced Periodization Training for Filipino Fitness: A 4-Week Microcycle Plan for Muscle Growth and Fat Loss

Jun, one of my longtime online coaching clients in San Diego, texted me in March with the same complaint I hear from half the Filipino guys …

Chick-Fil-A Chicken Bacon Sandwich
Nutrition

High-Protein Adobo Recipes for Muscle Gain (Without the Sugar Crash)

Marco messaged me three weeks into his bulk asking why he was crashing every afternoon around 3 p.m. He's a foreman, on his feet all day, ea…

Chicken Parm Pasta
Nutrition

Cinnamon-Sugar Bibingka Macros: A Filipino Rice Cake You Can Build Muscle On

A client of mine, Marco, grew up in Daly City eating his lola's bibingka every Sunday after mass. Two months into a muscle-gain phase, he to…

Beef Steak Tagalog
Filipino Food Culture

Adobo for Fat Loss: How to Adapt Your Favorite Filipino Dish for Weight Management

A client of mine, Marisol, sat across from me during her first consult and said, "I guess I have to stop eating adobo." She'd been told by a…

Dinuguan
Nutrition

Fat-Loss Filipino Meal Prep: A 7-Day High-Protein Adobo & Sinigang Plan for Body Recomposition

A client of mine, Marco, 190 pounds, works swing shifts at a machine shop in National City. He told me he'd already tried cutting adobo and …

Filipino Chicken Curry
Nutrition

Filipino Food Pyramid for Fat Loss: A Balanced Guide to Healthy Eating

I had a client — 34 years old, San Diego Navy vet, second-generation Filipino-American — tell me he'd already tried "eating clean" for six w…

Chicken Sinigang
Filipino Food Culture

Filipino Meal Planning for Fat Loss: How to Balance Pinoy Flavors and Macros

A client of mine, an ICU nurse in San Diego working three 12-hour shifts a week, sat across from me and said her dietitian friend told her t…

Healthy Chicken Adobo
Nutrition

Filipino Meal Prep for Busy Weeknights: 5 Lean Protein-Rich Foods to Add to Your Diet Plan

A client texted me at 8:40 on a Tuesday night: "Coach, I have adobo in the fridge from Sunday, rice in the cooker, and zero energy to cook a…

Healthy Chicken Fried Rice
Nutrition

High-Protein Filipino Meal Prep Ideas for Muscle Gain on a Budget

High Protein Beef and Cheese Pasta
Nutrition

How Much Protein You Actually Need to Build Muscle

You just finished your third training week in a row. You are 170 pounds, you have been hitting the weights consistently, and you are eating …

Jollibee Burger Steak
Fat Loss

How to Build a Cut That Doesn't Wreck Your Strength

You have cut before. You ran the deficit, ate less, maybe added some cardio, and the scale moved. But the gym moved too — backward. Your squ…

Miso Beef Sinigang
Training

How to Create a Filipino-Style Workout Split for Fat Loss and Muscle Gain

Creating an effective workout split for fat loss and muscle gain requires a combination of strength training and cardiovascular exercise.…

Chicken Tocino
Filipino Food Culture

How to Eat Filipino Food and Still Hit Your Macros for Fat Loss

Your lola's pot of adobo is simmering on the stove. Your tita brought pancit to the family party. Meanwhile, you're three weeks into a fat-l…

Pepper Lunch
Fat Loss

Using Filipino Superfoods for Sustained Fat Loss During Low-Calorie Periods

Shrimp Seafood Boil
Nutrition

Incorporating Fermented Filipino Foods into Your Fat Loss Diet: A Guide to Boosting Metabolism

As a fitness professional, I've seen firsthand the benefits of incorporating fermented Filipino foods into my clients' diets.…

Sinigang Pompano
Nutrition

Incorporating Pinoy Superfoods into Your Fat Loss Meal Plan

Tri Tip Hot Pot
Nutrition

Turmeric in Filipino Cooking: A Real Post-Workout Recovery Tool

You just finished leg day. Squats, walking lunges, a finisher your knees are already complaining about. Two days later you're walking down s…

BBQ Chicken Pizza
Nutrition

Intermittent Fasting with Filipino Meal Timing: Does It Actually Work for Fat Loss?

You set your eating window for 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Then your tita called. Lunch is ready. It is 10:45 a.m. There is rice, adobo, and nilaga on…

Filipino Spaghetti
Nutrition

Lean Bulking on Filipino Food: Add Muscle Without the Fat

Most guys think bulking means dirty eating and a soft gut by January. It doesn't have to. A lean bulk is a controlled climb, just enough of …

Lugaw
Filipino Food Culture

Lechon Without the Carnage: Macros, Plating Strategy, and How to Eat It Without Wrecking Your Week

The lechon is on the table. Skin split and crackling, whole pig, tray lined with banana leaves. Your tita is cutting the first pieces for th…

Hamburger Helper
Training

Kettlebell Swings for Filipino HIIT: The Caloric Burn Numbers That Actually Matter

A client of mine, a nurse working nights at Sharp Chula Vista, told me she didn't have 45 minutes for cardio between her shift and getting h…

Japanese Beef Curry
Nutrition

Maximizing Umami Flavor for Healthy Filipino Weight Loss Meals

I had a client, Rowena, tell me three weeks into her cut that she'd rather eat plain boiled chicken and quit the whole plan than keep chokin…

Low Calorie Hot Chocolate
Filipino Food Culture

Protein Sources in Filipino Cooking: Pork, Chicken, and Fish — What to Prioritize for Muscle

You're eating adobo three times a week, rice at every meal, and wondering why the number on the scale isn't moving. Here's what I see when c…

Thai Tea
Fat Loss

Sleep, Steps, Stress — The Three Levers That Move Body Fat Without Touching Diet

You've been eating well for six weeks. Protein is dialed in — around 150 grams a day, consistent. You're cooking adobo chicken breast, porti…

Ube Rice Krispies
Fat Loss

The 1,800-Calorie Mistake — Why Aggressive Cuts Backfire by Week 4

Ube Rice Krispies
Fat Loss

The 90-Day Cut for San Diego Lifters: What to Eat, How to Train, What to Track

Chicken Tocino
Training

The Beginner Hypertrophy Program for Filipino Guys Who Skipped Gym Class

You grew up eating sinaing and watching your dad come home from a long shift, sitting down to a bowl of kanin before anything else. Nobody i…

Sinigang Pompano
Nutrition

Balut and Protein: What a Filipino Superfood Actually Does for a High-Protein Diet

You're at a Saturday cookout in a South Bay backyard in San Diego, cooler full of ice and San Miguel, and your titas are peeling balut strai…

Filipino Chicken Curry
Fat Loss

The Honest Truth About Cardio for Fat Loss

There is a pattern that plays out in gyms every January and every June. Someone decides to get leaner, starts doing an hour of cardio per da…

Beef Kaldereta
Training

The Push Pull Legs Split Most San Diego Lifters Get Wrong

Walk into any commercial gym in San Diego on a Monday or Tuesday — Equinox in UTC, VASA in Miramar, any 24 Hour Fitness between Pacific Beac…

Jollibee Burger Steak
Nutrition

The Real Math on Rice and Fat Loss: How to Eat It and Still Cut

Your cousin stopped eating rice for 30 days. Lost 8 pounds. Told everyone rice was the problem. Then she went back to eating it, gained 10 b…

Healthy Chicken Fried Rice
Filipino Food Culture

Adobo for Weight Loss: 5 Kitchen Swaps That Cut 400+ Calories Without Losing the Flavor

I had a client, Marco, who swore adobo was the reason he couldn't lose weight. Two servings a night, five nights a week, and the scale hadn'…

Healthy Chicken Sisig
Nutrition

Macro-Friendly Filipino Meal Prep: A Beginner's Guide to Balanced Portions for Body Recomposition

Beef Steak Quesadilla
Nutrition

Unlocking Filipino Superfoods for Enhanced Post-Workout Recovery

Jollibee Burger Steak
Nutrition

Filipino Fruits for Natural Weight Loss: A Practical Detox Reset (Not a Juice Cleanse)

A client of mine came in three weeks before a balikbayan trip asking about a "3-day detox juice cleanse" she saw on Facebook. She wanted to …

Healthy Chicken Sisig
Training

Volume vs Intensity: What Hypertrophy Research Actually Says

The volume versus intensity debate has its own subreddits, coaching camps, and YouTube channels devoted to it. High-volume advocates run 20 …

Dinuguan
Filipino Food Culture

Why Filipino Breakfast Beats Generic Bro Oatmeal for Macros

You track macros, you train consistently, and every morning you make oatmeal because that is what every fitness account has recommended for …

The Filipino Physique Method

A recipe is half the plan. Here's the other half.

Christian is an M.S. Sport Performance coach and former collegiate strength coach. The food dials in your macros — the training gets you shredded. He builds both, around the Filipino food you actually eat.

EAT

Macro-built Filipino recipes like this one.

High-protein Filipino recipes →
TRAIN

The exact eat-and-train protocol his clients run.

The 90-day cut: what to eat, how to train →
Get coached by Christian →
From the Training Desk
Level up what you cook
NutritionMacro-Friendly Filipino Meal Prep: A Beginner's Guide to Balanced Portions for Body RecompositionNutritionTurmeric in Filipino Cooking: A Real Post-Workout Recovery ToolNutritionFilipino Meal Prep for Busy Weeknights: 5 Lean Protein-Rich Foods to Add to Your Diet PlanAll articles →