Before the move back to Cleveland in late March, I knew my body fat was the highest it had been in a long time. For the first time, probably ever, I didn't like to have my shirt off around people and I really didn't like what I saw in the mirror in the morning. I knew I had let myself go with the stress of managing a team, less emphasis on my workouts, and eating like an absolute asshole. The change of pace in my life that came after the move was the perfect opportunity to refocus on losing fat, getting shredded, and getting confidence back.
I not only decided that I was going to lose fat, but that I was going to use EVERYTHING I knew about fat loss all at once and see how fast I could get shredded. I put those things into a list in a general order of importance for you all. Number 1 is the most important and can get you some results and number 7 will do damn near NOTHING if you don't have the rest of the list down. There can be some leeway in the order but overall it sits pretty well. Bottom line is make sure you start at the top of the list and, once you've got that one down, work your way down. As for my results so far, I started this 2 weeks before I got to Cleveland but did not do my body fat. My first week a Life Time the Inbody put me at 15.1% and yesterday it put me at 11.6% which is a 3.5% decrease in 4 weeks. The goal is under 10% on the Inbody ASAP. Now to the list.
1.Eat real food
This is the obvious place to start. Stop eating garbage and start eating things that are actual food. Clearly we all know this, but when it really hit home for me was when I was listening to a podcast with Mike Dolce (you'll probably hear that name a lot in this post) and he said "Stop poisoning yourself with synthetic chemicals, artificial sweeteners, and artificial colors. Just stop poisoning yourself". At that time, my meal prep wasn't super existent and I was living off of protein bars and Bang at work. It struck a cord with me and I catch myself saying it in my head multiple times a day. Another great and simple way to think about it is this; eat fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, lean meat, healthy fat and whole grains in the most natural and minimally processed forms are you can. Stick to this and you will be lean and healthy, guaranteed.
Some of the swaps I personally made were to be a real adult and cook some meals, switch my post workout Gatorade powder for OJ and cranberry juice, cut out most protein bars in favor of food, and vastly reduce my energy drink consumption for black coffee and green tea.
2. Eat enough real food to start, then decrease over time
Once you've made this switch to actual food, now we need to look at amounts. Notice I don't start right away with "Eat less!' but simply "Eat enough". As crazy as it sounds, most people spend most days not eating enough total calories and their metabolisms take a beating from that (especially when those same people overeat on the weekends). So we need to get your food up to a decent baseline to start before we can cut the amount down. One of the biggest complaints I hear from extremely successful weight loss programs like the Renaissance Periodization templates or Mike Docle's "3 Weeks to Shredded" is that there is so much food at the beginning that people can't even eat it all! I do the same thing with my clients to make sure their eating up to a caloric neutral before they start to cut.
Once you're there (bodyweight should be maintaining or decreasing) then simply make small changes in the amount of food you eat each day. Based on your body type and preference, I would reduce either carbs or fat. I would definitely not reduce protein so keep that as high as ever. Make a change then give it some time. Once progress slows then reduce a little more. You really do not need to over complicate it.
The decreases I have been making have been to reduce the rice and sweet potatoes in my meal preps, and removing some of my post-cardio, pre-lifting OJ and fruit. Next week will be almost no rice in my prepped meals (probably 1/4 cup) as my next decrease.
3. Drink a lot of water
I shouldn't need to spend a lot of time on this. Water is important so drink it! Plus, when you finally give your body the amount of water it wants, you'll actually reduce your bloating and water weight because your body won't feel the need to hold on to as much. That alone can make you look leaner! I usually recommend 1 gallon a day to most people so buy a reusable water bottle (preferably not plastic, I don't care if it says "BPA Free") and math it out to see how many you need to drink a day. Don't forget to add extra for workouts and more is not always better so you don't need to be putting away 2-3 gallons a day.
4. Progressive overload based resistance training
Notice that this is ahead of cardio of a list about fat loss. Weight training will not only build more muscle to help you burn more calories, but it will also give your body better signals about storing and burning fat, as well as have powerful hormonal effects to get and keep you lean. Ideally, you should start a program that uses a lot of compound movements, has varying rep ranges, utilizes tempo time-under-tension techniques, and follows progressive overload. If you want all of that in one then keep and eye out for the release date of the Herceg Size Cycle 2.0 coming in the next few weeks. It has all of the above plus more! Fill out that annoying pop-up you probably clicked away from if you want access to a copy for yourself.
5. Fasting morning LISS
For a long time I thought fasted cardio was useless. Not that it was bad, just not any more effective than fed cardio. This opinion was based on people I trust and a meta-analysis of a ton of studies on both forms of cardio. BUT, when enough of the majorly influential fitness people in your life say they use it with everyone who wants to get lean, you set your ego aside and take a listen. Primarily, those two people were Jason Ferruggia and Mike Dolce, who I know you've seen pop up a few times in my blogs and posts. Check them both out for some awesome info.
Long story short, Low Intensity Steady State Cardio (LISS) in a fasted state can be beneficial for fat loss. The LOW intensity part is super important and I think where most people mess this up. At lower heart rates, your body is more likely to use fat as a fuel source. Combine that with a fasted state (thus a lack of insulin) and your body is in the best state to burn fat. Again, more is not better so aim for a heart rate between 90 and 110 BPM. Too much higher and your body will begin to use carbs to fuel your workout.
I have been cycling my LISS to prevent burnout so mine looks like this.
Monday: 60 minutes
Tuesday: 45 minutes
Wednesday: 30 minutes
Thursday: 60 minutes
Friday: 45 minutes
Saturday: 30 minutes
Sunday: off
I do 3 miles per hour and adjust the incline to what I need to keep my heart rate in that zone. This cycle also pairs perfectly with my weight lifting program and gives me a ton of time to listen to podcast and learn. It was actually where I came up with the idea for this post as well as a lot of other cool things to come!
6. Carb cycling based on activity
This is what Precision Nutrition would call a "Level 2 strategy" and something that most people shouldn't need to worry about. But since I want to get stupid lean this year I added it in. Basically, carbs are your main fuel source for your workouts so some days require more than others. Simply, you eat more carbs on the days where your workouts take more energy and less carbs on the days your workouts take less energy. I eat the most carbs on Mondays (Squats, legs, and core) and the least carbs on Thursday, and Sundays (off days). The other days stay pretty even as they are all about the same energy expenditure.
7. Supplements
Sometimes, this is the first thing people default to and skip aaaaalll these other steps above. Really, any fat loss supplements will not do very much and will do damn near nothing if steps 1-6 are not in check. If you have every one of these other steps down, there are some products I like by the company 1st Phorm that you can try. I started this cut with the DB-Overdrive Fastpack and since have gone back to a stack I've used in the past, the Royal 21 King System. Both are similar but the DB comes with a greens powder which is cool, and the 21 King comes with a sleep supplement that I personally love. Both seem good so far but the DB is a newer product are probably more potent.
8. Green tea
Last thing on this list is green tea. Clearly the least important (could be swapped with 7) but it is something I added recently so I wanted to talk about it. This is another Dolce recommendation which he mentioned in a podcast and added to his "3 Weeks to Shredded" book. Basically, I added green tea to my meals 3 times a day. Green tea and green tea extract (found in many fat burners) has been said to have some thermogenic properties and can aid in some fat loss. According to Mr. Dolce 1 cup is good, 2 is better, but 3 is where you start to see some real fat loss benefits.
Outside of that, green tea is just genuinely healthy and most people can benefit from it. I bought Salada organic green tea for a good price on sale and have been drinking that.
So there you have it! Everything I've been doing to melt off body fat so I was able to regain my confidence and get ready for summer! Give these a try and don't forget to start from the top of the list!
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