Man, it's been a while. There are so many things in my head I can't even handle it. I guess I'll start with the thing everyone wants to know about; how do I get skinny/cut/hot for swimsuit season?
Yes it's that season already and the crash dieters and cereal starvers are coming out of the wood work hoping to look good for the summer. Want to know a secret? Even I want to "look good" in a swimsuit (I guess board shorts for me, but ya know, same thing). So how do we get there? What do we have to do? This isn't going to be a sarcastic shaming of people who think they know what they're doing or the folks that want the pill and/or the short-cut to the goal (ok, maybe a little). Instead, I'm really going to talk about what must be done, because after all I am in the business of getting people to their goals. So here it goes:
Part 1: Weight Loss and Nutrition
Ok folks, here's the hard fact: you cannot get fitness model ripped in a few short weeks unless you are already fairly close. And by close I mean 12% body fat for guys and 18% for ladies. Are you not sure? Go to any gym and you should be able to get a body fat analysis done for free or fairly cheap, heck, come see me at CrossFit Crossroads and I'll do it for free.
So then, where does that leave us? First, stop obsessing about your weight. It's your relative relationship to the gravtational pull of the planet. On the moon you weight 50 lbs. What should I be focused on then? How about feeling confident and looking (and feeling) as good as possible as fast as possible. The truth is a lean, healthy body starts in the kitchen so that's where we're headed first. Seriously, I know you're probably reading this on your smart phone or tablet so I'll wait...ok ready? Start in your pantry/cupboards. See all that processed junk? The cookies, the Little Debbies, the "healthy" bars you bought so you could have a "healthy" snack or a "healthy" breakfast. Gather them...and throw them out or give them away. Seriously. Don't hide them, you'll find them and eat them, you know you will. Now, to the fridge. Same drill. All the process crap MUST GO! The "healthy" juice that's all natural and organic...yeah, it's concentrated fruit sugars mixed with water and it's holding you back, get rid of it. Now, time for a trip to the grocery store. Here is a list of the foods you are allowed to buy and eat:
-Ground Meats (Must be EXTRA LEAN)
-Lean Meats (Chicken/Turkey Breast, Lean cuts of Beef, Fish)
-Eggs and/or egg whites
-Veggies, any kind fresh or frozen (stay away from canned), get creative, stay diverse, and buy A LOT!!!
-Fruit, a little. Not too much. Your veggies should FAR out number your fruits
-Raw nuts and seed (and avocados) these are healthy fats, you'll have a small portion with every meal
-Coconut Oil, this will replace any vegetable/cooking oil you have (yes even olive oil and all the other "healthy" oil you have).
-Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Yams, Beets . These are starches. You'll have them basically once a day so you don't need much, but you need some.
-Greens aka Spinach, lettuce, kale, cabbage, water cress, bok choy...these will be great fillers to help you feel fuller and you can have as much as you can stomach.
-Spices that you like or want to try (as long as they're not full of sodium or other fillers)
Not too bad right? All healthy stuff and now you have to build your meals. Your meals should look like this: Guys - 1.5-2 Big Handfuls of Veggies, 2 thumb size servings of fat (nuts, seeds, avocado), 1.5-2 fist size portions of protein (aka meat/eggs). Ladies, 1-1.5 Big Handfuls of Veggies, 1.5 thumb size servings of fat, 1-1.5 fist size portions of protein (aka meat/eggs). In either case you can switch out half your veggies for a fruit at breakfast, and half for a starch (aka potatoes and the like) at dinner. Use the coconut oil to do do any cooking you need to do. A little goes a long way so you should rarely need more than a tablespoon. Spices are your friend, use them often with a shake of salt...notice I said A, as in 1...maybe 2.
Also, STOP DRINKING YOUR CALORIES!!! That latte you just had, it has more sugar than a soda. The only liquid you should be drinking is water. Seriously. No milk (dairy, soy, almond, or otherwise...side thought, this also means no yogurt, cottage cheese, or other dairy or dairy type products), no more lattes, frappacinos, "green" shakes from that healthy juice place. No liquid calories. Stop it. Now. NOW! No diet, zero calorie, fake sugar bull crap either. "But what about coke zero/powerade zero/sugar free mocha-choka-bull-crap?" Nope. STOP. Fake sugar is worse for you than the real stuff and the real stuff isn't good either. Water. It's the only thing you should be drinking. You get one exception; coconut water. Raw coconut water. Not coconut water blended with or added to anything. Water or coconut water. That's it.
Got it? Sounds restrictive and exclusive. It is. It has to be to re-teach you how to eat the way should be anyway.
Plan your meals. Go shopping on Sunday come home and make your meals. All of them. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the week and put them in Tupperware and fridge them so it's done and you have no excuses. Do this with NO variance for 90 days. I double-dog dare you. If you're about to ask, "well but what about (insert food/ingredient here)?" Is it on the list of approved foods? That answer will tell you if you can have it. Don't bull crap yourself, be real, don't make excuses and don't justify it. For once in your life stick to the plan.
I think that's a great place to start. Part 1 of this discussion is about nutrition because it's THE MOST important. If your diet sucks no amount of supplements, fat burners, protein powders, OR exercise can get you where you want to be. They are all certainly a part of it and can and do help, but get your diet in line first. We'll talk about supplements, what I take and what I recommend next week. So be ready for part 2, it'll be a doozy. But first, get the food you in line and under control. It will take discipline. It will be hard. It will be...WORTH IT.
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