Do you want a guaranteed fat loss workout and nutrition blueprint?
Well, I am laying it all out for you below, step-by-step by...step.
Oh and you get to have chocolate for breakfast. Winning!
Just be willing to work hard with your workouts and get into fat loss attack mode with your brain and body for a short time, 6 weeks is good. During a focused fat loss phase you need to look at food more as fuel than comfort. After 6 weeks you then get to take your foot off the accelerator to add in more variety.
6 weeks is like .1% of your life and this will literally change it for the better. Do you want this or do you WANT this?
1. Relish Routine
When you're trying to lose fat fast, you want things to be as simple as
possible. Choice is the enemy; routine is your friend.
Too many choices equals too much mental energy and no action. That's why for the short-term and guaranteed success it's best to eat many of the same meals over and over for an entire 6-week fat loss program. Not all but some, for when you just want food fuel without the fuss.
On the next page is my prescribed typical day of easy eating during a fat loss phase for women.
Women stick with the servings already listed.
For men over 200lbs simply double the food servings. Under 200lbs, you get the same.
Upon waking
Tall glass of lemon ice water
*If 6am morning workout, you can have breakfast before or wait until after. Whatever makes you feel best.
Minute Meal Breakfast
1 packet or serving of plain instant oats in a bowl, place under tap and add just enough water to cover oats. Microwave for 60 seconds. Remove while hot and add 1 tsp. of almond butter, ½ a square of 85% dark chocolate, stir, add 1 scoop of chocolate or vanilla
protein powder, a palm full of blueberries and stir.
1 large cup of Organic black coffee or green tea or lemon water
1 Multivitamin
1 serving omega 3 fish oil
*If 9am morning workout, have the Super Shake after your workout.
Mid-Morning Super Shake
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 tbsp plain Greek yogurt
1/2 scoop of chocolate or vanilla protein
1/2 cup of frozen mixed berries
Handful of organic pre-washed baby spinach
1 tbsp of ground flaxseed
Blend on high for 20 seconds and enjoy!
Leftover Lunch
Palm-size portion of lean meat protein
Fist size portion of vegetables
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil on veggies
Tall glass of lemon ice water
* Previous night leftovers makes for an easy prep lunch. Warm in microwave in Pyrex glass dish never microwave food in plastic.
* If 5pm early evening workout have your dinner after.
* If 7pm late evening workout have your supper well before if possible or optional snack after
Dinner
Palm-size portion of lean meat protein
Fist size portion of vegetables
Tall glass of lemon ice water
1 serving omega 3 fish oil
1 Probiotic supplement
*Palm-size portion of organic berries and 1 cup of herbal peppermint tea for dessert if you want.
**Take advantage of slow cookers, a little planning, baking and broiling for easy dinner-time meals. If eating out just stick with a basic protein and produce meal option and lemon ice water.
*Optional mid afternoon or evening snack options if hungry:
-1 small apple sliced or celery stalk with 1 tbsp of
almond butter or natural peanut butter OR
-6 dry roasted almonds with 1 piece of string cheese OR
-1/2 cup of plain Greek yogurt mixed with a palm full of blueberries OR
-2 Hard-Boiled Eggs sprinkled with salt, pepper and dill weed.
**Emergency Minute-Meal Replacements:
1. A grilled chicken green salad from any fast food restaurant with olive oil/vinegar dressing.
2. 3-Egg omelet stuffed with veggies
3. 1 can of wild boneless salmon or 1 can of sardines/Herring Fillets
with a 1 tbsp of whole grain or spicy sweet heat mustard
While you can choose the endless varieties of meat protein you eat or what vegetables or spices you want, follow the easy hand portion guidelines exactly. Here’s the good news: counting calories is rarely necessary!
All you need is your own hand for easy eating as you will never be without it. Hopefully…
Here how it works below:
Your palm determines your protein portions.
Your fist determines your veggie portions.
Your cupped hand determines your post-workout carb portions.
Your thumb determines your fat portions. No guesswork. No funny business. No meal math. Just lots of filling flavorful real food without the brain and belly busting stress.
2. Save the Starches- Earn Your Carbs
Eating more carb calories on days you weight train, especially in the 2 hours after puts you into a peak metabolic state, giving you more carbs to distribute to muscle cells during protein synthesis and glycogen replenishment instead of fat storage. This helps you burn stored body fat more easily.
It's the perfect window of wiggle-room to building a lean healthy body.
Easy Carb Cycling
Monday- Higher carbs after 30 min metabolic resistance training
Tuesday- Lower carb after 30 min of walking or activity
Wednesday- Higher carbs after 30 min metabolic resistance training
Thursday- Lower carbs after 30 min of walking or activity
Friday- Higher carbs after 30 min metabolic resistance training
Saturday- Treat meal after 30 min of walking, sports or fun activity
Sunday- 24hr Fast + off day or 30 min walk on empty stomach
You don't have to count calories or measure your food --simply eliminate or add a little extra food to each one of my meals depending on the day.
(Note: On "low carb" days you still get plenty of carbs, just from veggie and fruits, save any starchy carbs like breads, pasta, rice, potatoes for the first post-workout meal if you REALLY want them, but you don't need them for health and energy and they will slow your results)
The biggest mistake I see people making when fat loss is their immediate goal is not enough total exercise. Several independent studies, in thousands of exercisers, have continued to show that those who are happiest with their bodies exercise for at least 5 total hours per week. Now I know, this may surprise you. But seriously, the data is there. So unless you’ve been born with a really fast metabolism OR you want to be an obsessive calorie counter, make sure you’re getting at least 5 hours of physical activity per week. Some folks need more – but 5 hours is a great starting point.
3. Feast and Fast- One treat MEAL and one fast DAY per Week.
Every Saturday for dinner have one meal of whatever you want for a treat MEAL, remember it's not a treat DAY, you want to lose fat right? Just eat it slow, enjoy it with family and friends (not huddled over in your car in the parking lot of Micky D's) and stop when you are 80% full and satisfied, not sickly stuffed. Now is the time to enjoy a drink of alcohol if you choose as well, because it will be the only time during the week. Got to be clear here, I said a drink, not a drunk. If you don’t think you can limit alcohol to only one meal a week for 42 days you might have deeper problems to worry about than fat loss.
Enjoy your treat meal if you earned it, no food guilt, have it and move on. This can help fat loss in two ways; by controlling fat burning leptin and ghrelin hormones and giving you a mental reward of a treat and not a “cheat” for sticking to your plan all week.
From Saturday dinner treat meal to Sunday dinner do a 24-hour fast -- no food whatsoever -- to help crank up fat burning hormones 300% and give your digestive system and mind a break from food. Lemon water, black coffee and herbal teas are ok and encouraged throughout your fasting hours. Plus, you will be asleep through a lot of the fast when fat burning growth hormone will be elevated. Yes, you will be burning off that belly in your sleep! (insert Homer Simpson Whoo-Hoo!) Just stay busy when you are fasting, reduce any major stress that can trigger mindless eating for comfort and enjoy the food and time freedom. If you want the best book I recommend on Intermittent Fasting download the book Eat Stop Eat by author Brad Pilon.
I can feel stress cortisol hormones rising already, “not eat for 24 hours?”, you so crazayy! Just take a deep breath and don’t worry, the world is not going to stop turning or you will not drop dead because you are making a choice to take a short break from eating for a few hours. Cultures for millions of years do this for longevity and health. You have to do it before a blood glucose test and you already fast every night for 8-12 hours, that's why breakfast is called break-FAST. Now you are just going long enough (at least 18-24 hours) to increase fat burning hormones through the roof.
Plus it will help reset your hunger cues and develop a better relationship with food, putting you in better control of when you decide to eat and when you don’t.
With this plan six days per week, you will be in a caloric deficit
-- a fat burning state-- burning more calories than you consume,
and more importantly controlling the number one fat storage hormone INSULIN, which leads to accelerated fat loss and better health.
The one Intermittent Fast day per week (Sunday), you will be in an extreme caloric deficit, which also helps reset your insulin sensitivity, boost growth hormone secretion, and stimulate fat loss while preserving lean muscle. It will give you a good appreciation on your emotional eating and the minimal hunger pangs will only last for an hour or so and remember when you feel this minor discomfort that your body is now a fat burning machine and eating up your stored bodyfat.
You may also find you have more energy and greater mental clarity and focus during your fast. Just remember to stay hydrated.
Plus it’s a good time to get other stuff done and keep your mind off food because you are not spending time in front of the TV or even prepping and eating food. Yes, it’s normal for many people to cave in and eat the first couple times fasting, it’s not the end of the world! Live, learn and stay the course.
4. Wicked Workouts- Put the Work Back in Workout
Most people think the workout program is the most important part of losing fat. Well, most people are wrong. You could have the best training program in the world, but if you're not eating the right food in the right amount it won't matter. You simply cannot out-train a bad diet. Sorry I have to repeat this one in bold and italics.
You simply CAN NOT out-train a bad diet.
You could run hard for an hour and you wouldn't burn enough calories to burn off one bagel!
A good workout program is still very important, of course. But you don't need to spend hours a day in a gym. Stick to science proven Metabolic Resistance Interval Training and full-body exercises done with little rest between sets and a workout schedule that makes sense. Because the best time to workout is when you CAN.
Got more time than 30-60 minutes to waste in the gym? Good for you, but I would rather you spend that extra half-hour preparing a healthy meal. Any moderate intensity activity that you enjoy beyond your main workouts to get your weekly 5 hours is a bonus.
5. Challenge Yourself to Change
Progressive overload. I've said it before and I'll say it again: this may be the most important thing you'll ever learn about building lean muscle in your workouts. Progressive overload is just a fancy way of saying "do better every workout." or at least try. You won't actually progress and get stronger every day otherwise we would all be curling 100lb dumbbells and giving the Hulkster a run for his 24" pythons. Not going to happen for you or for me.
But think Kaizen…
Kaizen means "continuous improvement". It comes from the Japanese words ("kai") which means "change" or "to correct" and ("zen") which means "good".
Reality Check: Approximately every 5th workout is going to suck and you will feel like someone turned up the gravity dial. A wise strength coach with over 40 years experience in this field once told me that and it pretty much rings true. Some days you will feel weak, tired and yes fat and depressed. But it's mostly just in your mind and that's just the up and downs of life. Sleep helps as well, don't forget that one! Get at least 7 hours a night.
Any less sleep and your body will kick in the carb craving hormones and you don’t want that in a fat loss phase. If you work night shift work, yeah it sucks but that’s your reality so deal with it and sleep when you can and follow the eating and exercising guidelines above for your waking hours.
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
Theodore Roosevelt
Your body won't change if you don't challenge it by making small changes. During a workout phase, you can progress by:
-doing a more difficult progression of exercise
-using more weight with the same exercise
-doing more reps
-doing more sets
-using better form
- taking less rest
It doesn't seem like much, but small progressions like these can make a BIG impact on the way your body looks and performs. Your body doesn’t want to change, it needs a little nudge. This program will give it a good kick in the ass!
But wait there's more...
4 Quick Bonus Strategies
1. Restaurant Ready- Don't cook your own food
Remember: the easiest way to stick to a new eating plan is to make it as simple as possible. Freaking out over how much time you need to spend cooking and eating? Solution?
Start eating pre-prepped foods (not pre-packaged processed)
from the supermarket, meal prep services or even restaurants. Big difference!
Pay for convenience and the couple extra bucks for chopped and washed fruit or veggies, it's worth it to keep you on track and reduce stress. Ready to go organic pre-washed baby spinach or roasted deli chicken is at your fingertips. Even most restaurants offer a chicken salad for lunch, or steak and veggies for a nice dinner so you can still live your life on the go and not be a healthy hermit.
2. Count on a Coach- Hire someone else to do the thinking
There's a reason I don't write even MY own nutrition or workout plans, even though I am fully capable of doing it: I just want to follow directions and have it done for me when I am 100% focused on getting maximum results in minimal time. Plus when we design our own workouts or meal plans we start customizing too much, do more of what we want, not what we need and get paralysis by analysis leading us to frustration and poor results.
That's why I have coaches for my nutrition, my workouts and even my business. Yes, you are going to have to pay to play, but it’s well worth it! Again, it's about making things as simple and yes sometimes boring as possible. I don't have to fight my brain to come up with a workout or determine what I am eating. I just follow the workout plan or read it and eat it.
(On that note, almost a hundred people do the same at X GYM for the same reasons. They're ready to put in the work and just want someone else to coach them through all the details of eating and exercise. Why? So they can focus on what matters most: following their healthy habits every day while still living life and taking care of their family. Smart folks;-)
3. Measure and Monitor- Strive for Progress not Perfection
You're more likely to follow through with something if you have clear and scheduled "check-in" points and accountability. At X GYM we test:
-bodyweight
-body fat percentage
-girth measurements
-photos
-strength
-health
-endurance
4. Social Support- Build a Small Army of Support
While you can choose to keep it a secret from your Aunt May, don't be afraid to use support or the Internet while doing this, everyone around you should know about it. Start a daily log on your Facebook page, take simple snapshots of your meals, post your progress. Our smart phones makes this easy but the accountability is huge. I do it. That way many will show you support, not all (the jealous), but many, will avoid tempting you from your plan. A good test to see who your REAL friends are by the way.
Your family, co-workers and close friends should know what you are up to, and even the baristas at the local coffee shop, the wait staff at your favorite restaurant, and yes even the guy in the supermarket deli who sells you the rotisserie chicken, as you will probably be on a first name basis with him by day 42.
The more people you tell, the more accountable you will be. No matter where go people will start asking you how your plan is going.
It will keep you motivated since you don't want to fail in front of them.
9 Action Steps Cheat Sheet for You
-Pick 3-5 healthy, fat burning meals and eat them over and over.
-Eat more carbs on your weight-training days and less carbs on your rest days.
-Try fasting for 24 hours once a week.
-Follow a good workout program that combines resistance and cardio.
-Challenge yourself to work harder or smarter every time you workout.
-When you're feeling stressed or overwhelmed with your diet,
buy pre-made real-food meals or go to a restaurant and have a healthy choice. (they do serve them you know)
-Hire a coach or someone you trust to help you. Do what they say.
-Let them pick a few things to measure and keep tabs on their terms.
-Stay off the damn scale everyday. This is not the Biggest Loser,
it’s about winning real life!
-Tell everyone around you what you're doing and why.
Print this off. Stick the meal plan on your fridge. Put the quotes on your mirrors and computer.
Read it again.
No more questions. Get good food, workout hard, live your life, add a
sprinkle of time and lose fat. That’s the recipe for results.
That's the Fit Body Fat Loss Blue Print.
No really, THAT...IS... IT. You can do it!
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