This post is designed to address the most common problem that plagues MOST modern Americans. The American Lifestyle. That is, once you fall into one path, you stick to it. People work full time, have large families, travel, stress, pay bills, and eventually find fast food and drink at every turn.
Before you say that "well he doesn't know what it's like", I do. I know exactly where you are. I used to be an overweight person too. I just found a way to change it. To this day, I work over 60 hours a week, and still make it to the gym almost every day. Stimulants are your best friend. Excuses are not. Even if you went and had a bad workout, you had no energy and you gave up after three sets, here is the bottom line. You still got up and went to the gym, and you are at least three sets ahead of everyone that decided to just sit at home. These days add up in your favor.
For "stimulants", I've added a section at the bottom just for supplements.
Every person has their reason for workouts. The goal is to find what drives and motivates you, and let it carry you. The reason doesn't even have to be a good reason. It just has to be YOUR reason. You are not working out for anyone else. You are doing this for yourself. Being a strong and confident person is not built in the gym, it is built from within. Let every day that you get up serve as a reminder to what life you have left behind. Even when that life has knocked you down, you got up and gave it a taste of the dust of your forward progress. Refuse to be just average.
So, let us begin!
If you read the last gigantic post about body fat and healthy eating, and everything else you want to know about fitness, health and diet plans, now it is time to address the other half. Because the workout "program" will eventually stop working. Working out, and becoming a better, happier, fit individual is a lot more than just following steps. It is a complete lifestyle change. One day you'll realize that instead of hitting the burger joint, you WANT to bring your own lunch. Instead of taking the elevator, you WANT to enjoy the challenge of taking the stairs. The critical part is figuring out what works for you and your own life, and applying it.So this post is mostly an example of how I organize my life. You may try it, modify it, or even do something completely different. As long as it works for you.
Firstly, you don't HAVE to eat 6-7 meals per day. Its annoying and tedious. As long as you are hitting the correct calories and macros by the end of the day, you're ok. Macros, is a shortened way to write "macronutrients", or a break down of the food components you are consuming. Carbs. Proteins. Fats. The key benefit that eating so often gets you, is that it eliminates your urge to snack. You'll never go through the day being hungry, or having the feeling that you have to eat something else. And that reduction in calories will be foremost to your progress as a healthier person. Do I eat 6 meals a day? Yes. Does that mean you also have to? No.
You should accept now, that you may lose a little sleep getting up earlier in the morning or going to sleep a little later at night just to cook and prepare your meals. It is imperative that you get into a habit of it. Because once you do, you'll feel as if your day isnt complete without doing it. For me, I use a food container such as the IsoBag, to store and carry all of my food and drink for the day. Even if I am away from the house all day, I will never miss a meal. A company called SixPackBags also makes one. I very quickly noticed that I saved a huge amount of my paycheck every week by not eating out so often.
This is a great opportunity to address something I get asked very often.
Do I have to keep changing my diet like I change my workouts?
The best thing about eating right, is that unlike your workouts, your body will almost never become acclimated to eating right. You don't have to keep constantly changing your diet in order to obtain the same results.The way I eat for the on and off season are completely different. I view the "on" season as warm weather and summer time, the period where you are more exposed to the outside world and also a time to compete or model for various companies. In the "off" season, typically in the winter, I eat and sleep. Sometimes upwards of 6000 calories a day with tons of carbs just to increase my overall physical mass. A normal on season TBF (total body fat) for me is about 8%, and an off season can be upwards of 18%. This image is a fine example.
This post specifically, is written to address fat loss, or a "cut cycle". It will feature counts, nutrition, and supplements that are geared more towards that goal. Especially since the weather is now getting warmer, and misinformation and fake trainers are circling the internet like a pack of fat vultures.
I pick a single day to start my cut cycle. The two weeks before that I prep. Two weeks out I move a minifridge from the garage, just so all my food is exactly where it was when I left it, and no one touches it but me. I arrange my containers so that all the same size containers are all together. I place orders for more containers if I am missing any. I order all of my supplements in bulk, and pack them into capsules myself, weighed out on an analytical balance. And most importantly I start my taper in. I am normally eating A LOT of calories. Every day is monitored closely so that I eat maybe 200 calories less per day. So there is not a "caloric cliff" as I call it, when cut is actually started.
Word of wisdom, I personally take this time to get my junk fix out of the way. I eat all the cheeseburgers I've been thinking about. I slack. I eat less meals than I probably should. I drink soda. Knowing that in two weeks, I'll never have any of that again for months. Is this a bad way to do it? Yes. But it works for me.
Starting Weight: 183 @ 14.8%
Tapering In Weight: 177 @ 12.5%
Cut Weight: 167 @ 8%
The most weight I ever started cut at was two years ago, at 193lbs. Not including the years I have been overweight. But it is important to look at weight as a small portion of your overall image. If one year ago at cut I was at 7.5% TBF but 152lbs, and this year I would reach cut at 167lbs, it is reasonable to view your progress as 15lbs of lean muscle gained in one year.
During cut the normal rule of thumb is 11-12. That is, for you to cut to a certain TBF, you must consume 11-12 calories per pound of your target weight. This year I will be at cut around 170lbs. I calculate that I need about 12 calories per pound. That is 2040 calories to cut. Because I need at minimum 2700 calories to maintain my current body weight at 177, that is approximately a 700 calorie deficit per day. That equates out to about 1.5lbs lost per week, of FAT. This math works because there is 3500 calories per pound of saturated and stored fat. If a person reduces their daily diet by only 500 calories per day, they lose one pound per week. No questions asked.
Still with me?
So your body is going to be in a desperate starvation mode. Remember, your body does not like to lose its preciously stored fat. Other than closely monitoring my caloric intake, I take note of a single macro. Protein intake. In my current diet plan of 2100 calories, I take in 266 grams of protein. Which is a little over 1.5g per pound of body weight. This is primarily designed to induce your body into salvaging your hard earned muscle, and allowing your fat stores to be depleted. Unfortunately, having previously been fat, it is easier for me to be fat again. Look at almost half of the previous winners of The Biggest Loser. Many of them have gone back to being obese. It was clearly not a lifestyle change for them.
In the times I have trained girls, the large majority of them are eating FAR too less. Sometimes 1000 calories or less per day! If they say a picture is worth 1000 words.
Most of these girls were skinny yes, but they lacked any physical strength or complexion. Resulting in an ultimately unattractive figure. You MUST eat in order to lose weight. A concept that seems backwards to a lot of people.
Scientifically, two identical people can eat over 3x of their daily required calories. One will gain a significant amount of weight, the other will gain almost none. If the principle of CICO (calories in calories out) is true, what accounts for this difference? This is the reason I do not advocate CICO, because there is a lot more factors in play than just calories. Using laboratory studies, it was determined that the individual that gained less weight showed an increase in BMR or Basal Metabolic Rate. It is primarily shown in the sleeping cycles. At night the subject's body increases the homeostatic temperature, and converted the extra calories to heat energy instead of fat tissue. Interesting to think about to say the least.
A Normal Day
So you've read all that. Excellent. So how do you incorporate it into your already busy life? Well. Here's how. I discovered that I gained two things by moving my workouts to the morning. One, I am not wiped out from an entire day of dealing with people. Two, my hormonal balance is not trying to fight me to go to sleep instead of workout. And if you attend a gym like I do, there is a third reason. In the morning the gym is like a freezer, and like a furnace in the evening.
If you have a full time regularly scheduled job, excellent. If not, it still works.
I am not a morning person. So I plan to get up at 0900. I can get in a full workout, and requested that my work shifts are not available until after 1100. I eat several meals on breaks and lunches while I'm running around at work. If you're one of those people who sweat profusely, or are naturally smelly, PLEASE shower before you go to work. Your coworkers will thank you.
By the time you're off work, you still have a few hours to prepare your meals for the next day, watch some of your favorite TV shows, unwind and relax, play with your kids, and go to sleep.
Look at this process, as a fun learning experience. If not, you'll fall right back into the same old process of life. If you're sick of your diet, you just need to change things up a bit. Instead of just grilling and eating a boring chicken breast, a few seconds here and there and you have an incredible new dish.
Add some cracked pepper and sea salt, and you have a juicy chicken breast with some kick.
Add some paprika, rubbed in before grilling. And you have a meal with some European zing.
Add some garlic and sear in light oil, and you have Meditteranean chicken.
The possibilities are endless. The same applies to your workout. If you're doing the same thing for more than a week, it stops working. Try something new. Try something fun. Move from 5 reps to 20. Move from 20 reps to 5. Keep it fresh!
Supplements:
In a cut cycle, there are an endless amount of supplements that can be taken. Keep in mind, pursuant to the previous article, supplements are not regulated by the FDA, and can cause serious harm if used incorrectly. If you can imagine things like DMAA, anabolic steroids, and ephedra. All three are PERFECTLY safe. But when someone takes a week worth of steroids in one day, thinking it will give them a week of progress, bad things happen. And suddenly we see it over and over, "one person ruins it for everyone". With this in mind, read on.Caffeine Anhydrous:
The keystone to any workout, especially during cut. If you aren't used to it, taper into it slowly. You can find 200mg pill forms of caffeine anywhere for less than $10 a bottle. And one bottle is usually 750 cups of coffee equivalent. I take one in the morning, and every 4 hours until I go to sleep. Why? Firstly, a continuous dose keeps me from crashing. I feel alert and awake all day without drowsiness. But the most important part is that studies have indicated that caffeine induces the release of white adipose tissue as energy, or aka that it burns fat as energy. Excellent, that is exactly what we want to do.
BUT, caffeine is both a diuretic (makes you pee, a lot) and a vasoconstrictor (reduces blood flow by making the diameter of your blood vessels smaller). This is the reason why some people take caffeine to reduce a headache. To counteract this effect, I'll stack my preworkout caffeine dose with AAKG, or Arginine Alphaketoglutarate, a known short halflife vasodilator (opens blood vessels). In the morning I stack caffeine with EGCG, which is Epigallocatechin gallate (yeah try saying that 10 times). It is a known antioxidant and a concentrated form of green tea extract. It also promotes the use of fat for energy and prevents a hard crash from caffeine.
The dose for most people is not to exceed 800mg per day. Or 600mg per day for sensitive individuals, or those who have never taken large doses of caffeine.
GABA (gamma-Aminobutyric acid):
This gem of a supplement has been shown to increase your night time levels of Human Growth Hormone, and stimulates the use of thermogenic fat for muscle repair instead of muscle degradation. Meaning while you sleep you'll burn more fat than without this supplement, and it sustains your muscle growth during this process.
CLA (conjugated linoleic acid):
This supplement stacked with GABA before bed has been shown to additionally support lean muscle mass while promoting a properly healthy total body composition and increases your BMR during periods of extended rest.
NOTE: You DO NOT have to use all of these, or even any of these, to obtain the results you are looking for. But you are working hard for your body. Help it out along the way. That's how I see it. Your thoughts may differ.
Let me know if you have any questions.
"The greatest shame for a human to endure, is growing old and never knowing how much strength and potential their body had."
Natural or Nothing (Steroid Free)
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Trooper Brian is a candidate of the National Strength and Conditioning Association's Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), a graduate with a Bachelor's Of Sciences Pre-Medicine in Biology at the University of Idaho, with additional studies in Human Biomechanics and Ergonomics. He received his Certified Nursing Assistant at the age of 16, and an Emergency Medical Technician at age 18.
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