Yup. Those pictures are me. Amazing change in just over 12 weeks of work. So, I wanted to share my experience with you and also dispel some myths and excuses.
First of all, let's discuss what I did differently. I spoke with a fellow trainer, Alexia Besbekos about my diet so she could kind of tighten up the way I was eating. Generally, I did eat healthy before. However, there was no consistency and I was pulling in WAY too much sugar.
The attack plan was fairly simple. I was shooting for 185 g of protein a day, less than 50 g of sugar, 1 gallon of water and around 1800 calories a day. I was also shortening up my portions, especially when it came to pasta and meat. I was the type of guy that often would go for seconds at each meal. I immediately stopped that and stuck to the serving size on each package.
So what was next? Shopping. I drive a lot, so I needed to make sure I had food I could readily heat up and eat.
Here's what my shopping list consisted of and pretty much stayed the same each week.
- Grilled and Ready Chicken Chunks and Chicken Breasts
- Steamfresh veggies and pasta
- Eggs
- Pure Protein Whey Protein
- Natural Peanut Butter
- Sugar Free Preserves
- Whole Honey Wheat Bread
- Whole Wheat Pasta
- Fresh Fruit and Spinach
That's pretty much it. Every morning before leaving, I would take a steamfresh pack out of the freezer and heat it up for about 5 min. It might be chipotle rice, thai rice and veggies, stirfry, potatoes, etc. Almost all these packs are 2 servings each. I took the bags and divided them up in between a couple Tupperware dishes. Then dropped in some chicken chunks. Usually, just about a handful is the correct amount. Seal those up, and pack them for the day. Also, dropped in my bag some fruit and depending on the length of my driving that day, a baggie of protein powder and a shaker cup with water in it.
The next key was timing of my meals. I eat EVERY three hours without fail. I get up at 4:45 some days, eat at 5, 8, 11, 2, 5, and 8. That's six meals. The chicken and the veggies usually end up being around 250- 300 calories. Sometimes more, sometimes less. The fruit are around 80-100 calories each. Keeping track of what I'm consuming was also key. Myfitnesspal is a great app for this.
I set a goal of a gallon of water a day. I usually recommend that each person drink half their bodyweight in fluid ounces. So, if you weight 184 lbs, you're shooting for 92 oz of water. I didn't always hit my gallon, but I was usually close, which shot me in the 110 oz of water mark. Which is perfect. Hydration is important and water will actually help you burn calories.
Workouts. This, I didn't really change from what I had been doing. If anything, I felt like I worked out less. I had a friend once remark that it "Must be nice to have a job where you can work out 8 hours a day." True, I could do that. But I don't. 9 times out of 10, I workout for less than an hour. For today example... 27 and a half minutes. It was doing swings and burpees, but still under half an hour.
A lot of the excuses I hear and have heard from current and former clients are the following
"I don't have time to eat right or workout right"
- I travel as much as the next person if not more. Preparation is key. It takes me less than five minutes to prepare all my meals for the day and get them loaded up in my bag. It's not that hard kids. As for workouts, an hour a day max is all that's needed. You can find that time, even if you have a little one at home. You can bring yours with you to workout or keep them at home and workout there. I've done it.
"Eating right is expensive."
- Not really. I spent less on my good food than I ever would buying bad things like Doritios or headed in to a fast food joint. Generally, I was spending about 30 bucks a week, if that.
"I'm not giving up my pizza and bad food or beer"
- I still gave myself a couple cheat meals a week. On days that I cheated, I made sure that I ate those meals at one of my designated times. This had two effects. One, it made sure I kept all the rest of my meals to keep my metabolism going. Two, because I was eating at my scheduled times, I was never starving and thus wasn't taking in 3 cheeseburgers. If that's still not good enough for you, I offer you this. If you want an amazing body, you may not get to eat amazing food. It's all about what you want.
I didn't find this as hard as I thought it would be. It's all about preparation and just a change of mindset and any of you can do it.
My starting weight was 218 lbs with a chest of 46 in and a waist of 41. I finished at 192 lbs with a chest at 41 and my waist at 36. Overall, I lost 26 lbs and 15 inches. The pictures speak for themselves. I didn't do anything crazy, I just decided to make a change.
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