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Tell me if this sounds familiar: You scan the gram, flip through TV, or stumble into your local supplement store and hear about the “next great diet.”
You’re hot to trot and ready to get dick skin shredded.
This is the time. Women won’t be able to help but swipe right on your bumble profile and you’ll be stronger, leaner, and more confident.
Until “this” diet ends up like all the rest.
You make 4,8, or even 12 weeks, but fall back into old habits. All the weight you lost?
It comes back after a weeklong binge on nachos, beer, and burgers.
Rinse, repeat. If you’ve fallen prey to the same hypy diet bullshit, I hear you.
What I’m going to do is provide you some help to build a sustainable fat loss plan and look good naked for good.
The Biggest Problem With Most Fat Loss Diets
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The biggest reason diets fail they neglect to factor in the human element–you.
You’re told you can’t “eat” specific food groups or whole foods like bread.
You must eat breakfast if you want to lose weight.
They say you can’t enjoy a cocktail or burger.
And if you swing by Chipotle after 8:00 PM? Well damn, you will gain weight, or so we’re told. You may as well stay home, eat plain popcorn, and watch jeopardy with your aunt, Mary.
Or not. To adopt a healthy lifestyle and get lean for good you need to make gradual changes. You need a style of diet that improves your life, rather than consumes it.
Change One Habit At A Time
Depending on which research you read, it takes anywhere from 21 days to six months to change one habit.
One!
The mistake most guys make is trying to change too many habits at once.
You want to drink more water.
You want to eat more vegetables.
You want to switch to light beer and grilled chicken instead of IPA’s and fried chicken while watching Football.
Whatever the case, you need to focus on one thing at a time. Here’s one powerful strategy my clients use to adopt long-term, healthy habits:
Buy a paper calendar. Write one simple goal on the calendar for 21 straight days. Look at the calendar every morning. Check off the calendar every night. After 21 days, you’ll have a new habit–or at least be on your way.
Add another habit and continue to improve. Here is a list of habits to pick from:
-Eat a vegetable with each meal
-Take a greens supplement or fish oil each morning
-Drinking half your body weight in oz of water. If you weigh 200 lbs, that’s 100oz
-Drink a protein shake between meals
Start a morning routine
Small habits compound over time. You might feel like you can handle more. Don’t Start small. If you stay with this plan over the course of one year, you’ll adopt 17 new habits–plenty to completely transform your body.
Consider Intermittent Fasting
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Intermittent fasting is a popular diet strategy based around limiting the time frame you’re allowed to eat, like 16 hours without food followed by an eight-hour eating window. Popularized by Martin Berkhan and the Lean Gains method, intermittent fasting has exploded over the years and rightly so…because it works.
But going to blow smoke up your ass and tell you intermittent fasting is magic.
Still, most of my clients are busy men who want to lose fat and look great without obsessing over fitness. Here’s why it works so well for them:
Intermittent fasting makes it easier to eat at a caloric deficit.
At the surface, a caloric deficit is the most critical factor in losing fat. Therefore, any eating style that makes it convenient for you to stick to a caloric deficit is going to work wonders.
You can eat bigger meals.
Since you’re eating in a condensed time frame, say, 2:00 pm-10:00 pm, you’ll be able to eat larger, more satiating meals. I’d prefer to eat 1-2 big meals, enjoy my food, and still look great rather than pick at my food like a vulture.
Still, have a life while losing fat.
The biggest reason most guys fail to lose fat is it handcuffs too many aspects of their life.
I’ve had clients complain of marital issues because “they have to eat small meals” to lose weight or eat differently from their wife or girlfriend, causing friction.
Other times, guys need to close business deals over dinner and drinks. They can’t afford to be totting Tupperware to a steakhouse and eating like a starved bodybuilder.
In both instances, intermittent fasting can be a godsend. It allows you to stay in a caloric deficit to lose fat, while simultaneously allowing you to enjoy the social aspects of eating.
Making a Plan Of Action
So, what do you do next?
First, pick out one habit.
Second, if you’re interested in intermittent fasting, pick up this BroBible approved intermittent fasting cheatsheet.
Follow Eric and get tons of awesome fitness advice on his Instagram at Bach Performance