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You know those few seconds when you’re shy to take off your shirt on the beach so that no one sees those flabby love handles of yours? Please hold on to this image for a second. I’m trying to help you avoid it.
My name is Ben Rose; I’m a certified personal trainer and, for the last ten years, I’ve successfully helped thousands of clients reach the form of their life. I’m not saying this to promote anything, but to make you trust me because what I’m about to say will help you look fit, stunning and sexy not just for a month or two but the rest of your life.
As I said, I’ve met many people who all share the same struggles with losing weight and keeping it away for good, so I took some time to think of the three most life-changing tips that can turn anyone, no matter how heavy they are, into a sexy, super attractive human being.
Why three tips? Because you’re less likely to remember any of what I’m going to say if I offload lots of tips to your brain so I only picked the ones that will work the best.
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Step 1: Find an Activity You Love
Before starting any weight-loss program, you should ask yourself one simple question; “Do I want to look good forever or just the summer?”
The truth is most people fail to lose weight because they see exercising and eating healthy as a burden. Even if they build enough discipline to get results, they will get back to normal because, in their minds, they can’t do this forever. Want proof? Ask yourself, how many people you know who have kept the weight they’ve lost off for more than five years? Unless you hang out with models, most likely you won’t find many.
This is because most people see exercising and healthy eating as something transitional. In other words, “I work hard, I lose the weight, then I celebrate by eating more of the same food that got me obese in the first place.” (Read this story for further proof)
This is why I recommend you fall in love with the process and do the activities you love so you can stick to whatever fitness plan you choose. Don’t force yourself to do exercises you hate just because they burn more calories. Soon you will stop doing them, and your energy expenditure will be zero.
If, for instance, you don’t like low-intensity cardio and believe this is the reason you don’t go to the gym then why not to opt for another, more enjoyable, activity like swimming, basketball or short sessions of high-intensity training. Sometimes all you have to do to make someone love the gym is replace a couple of exercises they hate with two more enjoyable ones. Remember, consistency is king, and you can’t have it if you hate what you do.
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Step 2: Solve the “Fast-Food Dilemma” & Save +200 Calories/day
If you, like me, love to always be in charge and want to cut excess calories then you should consider cooking most of what you eat.
According to a Harvard review, our caloric consumption has increased by 268 calories for men and 143 calories for women between 1975 and 1995. The same report underlines the reason for this increase to the fact that we rely more upon fast food instead of cooking our own. The research team noticed that in 1995, married women spent less than one hour a day on meal prep which is 50 percent less than the time invested by married American women in 1965.
Before sounding illogical, I understand that people are busy and, even if they aren’t, it’s not easy to ask someone to stop ordering the food they love. But who said anything about absolutes? You can enjoy food AND lose weight if you follow these two simple rules:
- Only prepare proteins
I noticed that I’m less likely to order fast food when my fridge is stocked with chicken and ground beef. So I set aside time every weekend to cook enough chicken and ground beef to cover me for the rest of the week. Now, whenever I feel hungry, I grab some chicken wings/breasts, heat them and eat. It’s delicious, faster than McDonald’s and helps me stay in shape. I believe it will help you if you do the same thing. - Have a fast-food policy
Pick a day or two, preferably the weekends, where you can fit the food you love into your meal plan. If your weight-loss goal is to eat 2,000 calories each day, then you can save 1,000 for whatever food you like, so you both lose weight and enjoy yourself at the same time.
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Step 3: Use the Secret Weapon
If I told you there’s something you can do to eat the food you want, turn your body into a non-stop fat burning machine, and live longer, would you do it?
This one magical habit is Intermittent Fasting. By fasting I mean you stop eating for +16 hours —in which you’re allowed to drink water, black coffee and unsweetened tea— then consume all your calories within the next eight hours. Sounds harsh? You may think it is, but it’s not.
Before talking about how starvation can drain you, look at the bodies of Terry Crews, Herschel Walker, and Ronda Rousey; all three have more than fantastic physiques and all of them fast. The last two do a more extreme version of fasting called OMAD where they eat all their macros in just one giant meal.
Fasting reduces insulin resistance and blood sugar and puts your body on a fat-burning mode. It takes around ten hours from your last meal for insulin to drop which means you have six or more hours in the fasted state where your body burns fat for fuel. According to studies, fasting reduces blood sugar by four percent and insulin levels by nearly 25 percent. Additional studies also found that fasting up to 48 hours can increase your metabolic rate by 3-14 percent.
Fasting is also more enticing than a regular diet because you get to reward yourself with one or two large meals instead of five or six smaller ones. And in case you’re looking for more reason to love fasting, here they are:
- High Testosterone levels: According to this study, intermittent fasting can increase your T levels by a staggering 180 percent.
- Increased Growth Hormone levels: Testosterone and Growth Hormone are closely related, you will experience an increase in GH levels when you fast. This is why it’s a perfect option to use fasting while cutting for the summer. Despite what people may think, fasting is also useful for bodybuilders and gym goers because it improves muscle retention.
- Improved Cognition: According to studies, intermittent fasting increases the production of a particular protein called Brain-derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF). Studies suggest that this increase in BDNF helps the brain grow new nerve cells and improves your cognition. They also suggest that high levels of BDNF reduce the effect of alcohol on the mind.
- Protection against Alzheimer, depression and Parkinson’s: Studies also believe fasting can protect against brain aging and Alzheimer’s as well as protect from other neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s. On the other hand, any BDNF deficiency may lead to depression and other mood disorders.
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Put these three steps into action and see what happens for yourself.
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Photo credit: Getty Images
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