“I’ll Eat better after the New Year”
“My new years resolution is to eat better”
“I really need to lose some weight next year”
“I’ll start my diet after the new year”
Year after year after year the same people tell themselves the same lie story, always with the same ending….
and it’s not this:
or this:
It’s more like this:
Oh hey, I couldn’t find Tomorrow on my calendar, when is that exactly?
But when you do decide to get your sh@t together and clean up your diet he’s some quick and easy guidelines to follow.
Step One: Stop Making Excuses:
Take ACTION…make things happen.
Things don’t change by thinking about them, they change by doing whatever it takes to reach the goal.
Stop wishing
Stop hoping
Stop praying
Start doing….
The law of attraction….The Secret, is complete BS, it’s a sham.
And yes I do believe that positive thinking has positive results if you do something about your problems not just think about them.
Step Two: Set a Goal
Have a goal, make it realistic and achievable in a reasonable time frame……and write it down.
If you write it down you’re more likely to stick it out until you accomplish it.
Preferably, put it in a place where you’ll see it EVERYDAY.
With a goal, you can set expectations and monitor progress.
If your goal is to “lose weight” you could lose 4lbs and feel like not enough happened and get discouraged.
However,
If your goal is to lose 40lbs and you lose 4lbs it’s easier to conceptualize that you’ve achieved 10% of your goal already, build momentum, not frustration.
Step Three: Get a Rough Estimate of Calories Burned in A Day and Set a Deficit.
Figure out how many calories you EARN each day on average.
Quick and dirty way to do this:
Take your body weight and multiply it by the number that corresponds to your activity level.
Sedentary: 10
Moderately Active (30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise a day): 11
Active (30-60 minutes of moderate intensity exercise on most days): 12-13
Very Active (45-60+ minutes of intense exercise on most days): 14-15
Example: 205lbs x 12= 2460 calories for a 205lbs active person per day.
This isn’t perfect but seems to work.
When in doubt, underestimate your activity level.
From that number cut.….anywhere from 200-1,000 calories a day depending on your size and needs.
That said, USE YOUR BRAIN if you get a daily rate of 1,400…don’t cut 1,000 that’s stupid and unsustainable.
However, if your rate is 4,000 you can afford to cut 1,000 without much thought or pain.
Step Four: Plan for Failures
You’re going to fail, it happens….but try to plan for failures early.
This usually means removing barriers.
Too tired to cook after work?
Cook EVERYTHING on Sunday and store it.
Most stuff stays in the fridge. If it does need to be frozen take it out the night before or in the morning when you leave for work.
Reheat when you get home…..excuse gone.
Your fridge will look like this:
Do you become ravenous around 3pm?
Buy some little protein bars like Zone or the small Pure Protein bars in your desk. Put some in your car too.
And, no, protein bars are not the best thing ever, but you will get some nutrition, stave off a binge and you’ll know how many calories you’re eating so you can stay within your daily limits.
Other “little” snacks like string cheese and oranges, apples, protein shakes and greek yogurt work too.
Anything that keeps you from blowing your diet will work.
Don’t know how to count calories?
Get an app for your phone, there are LOTS out there.
The point is: plan ahead for pitfalls……. aka excuses.
Step Five: Eat like an Adult
“Paleo” is actually a REALLY good diet for most people.
Your mom was right you should eat your veggies…EVERY night, preferably, every meal.
Real Vegetables Don’t Come with Cheese…..
I know, they taste better with the cheese.
Do your jeans feel better with the cheese?
Oreos, Pizza, Beers….those aren’t food groups either.
If your 30 and eating like a 18-year-old you’re going to gain fat.
Every meal should have some protein, veggie and occasionally throw in a health(er) starch.
Deep down you know what’s good and what’s not….be responsible for your health and make the adult choice.
Step Six: Get Enough Protein
Protein is a good thing.
To eat….poor thing to wear….
It’s the primary building block of most of the body.
You MUST have it to build/ maintain muscle.
It makes you feel full quicker and longer.
It takes more energy to digest so on a one to one ratio a smaller percentage of calories ingested from protein are stored as fat as compared to carbs and fats.
In general, ingesting one gram per pound of body weight for exercising people is a good number to shoot for and if you’re reading this you should be getting plenty of activity too, so we’re going to leave it there.
Step Seven: Cut Your Carbs:
Carbs are not evil, you just mistreat them.
Food is fuel.
Nothing more, nothing less……
Time to treat it like that.
Carbs are very good, easily used, FUEL…..
However, they can’t do ANYTHING else in the body.
They either get used for fuel or stored as fat.
Some do get stored as gylcogen in the muscles, if there is a need, but don’t sweat this, it’s not justification for eating a box of cereal unless you weigh 240lbs with 3% body fat…….forget I ever brought it up…..
That’s why people get fat from carbs.
Don’t burn them……they become fat……no questions asked.
Most people, even those who workout, don’t use enough carbs in a day to justify their intakes. You’d be better off with more protein and fats…yes, fats.
Magic trick: 100 grams a day for fat loss
If you’re a man and trying to lose fat cut your carbs to 100 grams a day on training days, 50 when not training.
A woman, 60 on training days and 30-40 on days off..
I’m not the first to notice this by any means but when people do this they tend to lose fat rather quickly.
Yes, it’s restrictive….
Yes, it sucks….
Yes, it works….Fast…
Step Eight: Healthy Fats are OK, But Still Fats
Omega 3…..that’s the mantra when it comes to fats……..just keep repeating it.
You NEED more in your diet….like now or better yet yesterday.
Easy ways to do this: Use extra virgin olive oil and take fish oil supplements.
Yes, you could do other stuff like buy free range eggs and beef and wild caught salmon….but I’m thinking you’re not really into this whole nutrition thing and we’re talking easy fixes.
Just aiming to get from Sh@t to good, NOT good to great…at least not yet.
Fats still have a lot of calories per gram at 9 though so don’t overdue it.
Step Nine: Vegetables Don’t Count
I Learned this one from Nutritional Mastermind Shelby Starnes.
Basically, veggies don’t count.
They’re a “free food”, eat as much as often as you want…..yes, they must remain cheese free.
Step Ten: 90% Compliance….
It’s ok to screw up.
Eat a fast food hamburger and fries instead of a chicken breast and salad?
That’s ok.
Have a couple beers at the football game?
That’s ok
Have a slice of cake after dinner?
That’s ok…….
As long as you’re compliant with the plan 90% of the time.
For example:
Plan: 5 (meals a day) x 7 (days a week) = 35 meals a week
35 x 10%= 3.5 cheats a week. 3 and a half a week, that’s it.
Remember, EVERY thing counts.
Slice of cake= cheat
Beer= cheat
Miss a meal= cheat
Make them count.
That’s about it for the basics…..follow those and you’ll be good to go.
Don’t stress over macro ratios and nutrient timing after you have the basics down and by down I mean done consistently for a loooooong time….think months not days or weeks.
While there are many great diets and programs out there I highly recommend the Precision Nutrition program.
For the average person I think this is the most realistic long term program that works and is adaptable to changing situations and needs.
The “Paleo diet” is also pretty good and for my tastes is a close second but once you start it you have to become a mindless zombie and start promoting it and all of the non-evidence based broscience stuff that the Paleo Nazis spout even though they have NO DATA to support the claims…..besides that, it’s really great.
About Roy:
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