3 Nutrition Strategies That Can Strip Off Body Fat & How To Break Through Plateaus
Aug 08, 2024
I shared this in a client group session recently.
‘There’s one thing that will help you more than anything else in your life’ I said.
‘That one thing is FOCUS’. I shared
Focus has been my main driver the past few years.
It’s focus (or attention) that gives us the ability to channel our energy into different areas of our life.
As the saying goes ‘Where focus goes - energy flows’.
In the most literal way possible - our life force goes where our attention stays.
Focus is a human superpower.
And in health & fitness it’s the catalyst to creating dramatic results in your body.
Focus more on your nutrition? Results
Focus more on your exercises? Results
Focus more on your mindset and emotional health? Results
Focus more on your health and well-being? Results
Yet, not all focus is created equally.
Which is why focusing on the RIGHT strategies, routines, and beliefs are paramount to success.
Having the right game plan for your calories, your micros, your exercises, your health habits, sleep, stress, and beliefs is important.
Because when we focus on the wrong things in our health - we don’t create positive transformation.
Focus is a superpower that we all have access to.
It’s an ability that allows us to turbo boost our progress and see faster results without doing more.
Focus on the right things in your health and body.
Then, see results faster.
Focus matters.
Lesson: Where you put your attention is where your energy will go.
Here's Your 1-3-1 Friday:
#1 Top 3 Proven Nutrition Strategies
95% of people who diet, regain the weight/lose their results within 5 years or less.
Without having the right systems in place, health gets put on the back burner.
Which is why dieting ALONE won’t work to drop pounds in a permanent and sustainable way.
What you need is a bullet-proof strategy that can work regardless of where and what you’re doing.
Here’s a 3-tier strategy you can start implementing this week:
1. Create a caloric deficit
Most people are aware of this.
Most people apply this incorrectly.
Most people try to drop weight as fast as possible…
… inevitably regaining the weight and inches back a few months later (plus more).
Using negative energy balance (a caloric deficit) the right way means including specialized phases to allow your body to adjust to your new body weight while giving your body a chance to stabilize hormones during each fat-loss phase.
A simple way to get started with your caloric deficit is to start with a moderate deficit.
Once you calculate your current maintenance calories, aim to slice off ~250 k/cal - 500 k/cal per day.
Watch how your body responds to the initial calculation.
If you’re dropping weight too fast, add in a bit more calories.
If you’re dropping too slow, consider taking off a few more calories.
Once you’re averaging a pound of fat-loss per week, keep your numbers dialed in until you hit your next plateau (anywhere from 2-6 months ahead).
(*If you'd like me to write an in-depth letter on reverse dieting, let me know and I can go deeper on what to do after you reach your weight-loss goal and what to do then).
2. Reteach your eating speed
95% of diets NEVER teach this concept.
Yet, most of us are still eating like young children.
Learning how to listen to our hunger and satiety signals is an incredible way to create an internal regulation system.
This will allow you to keep your new weight loss results after you reach your desired result.
Patience is key here.
Trying to do this too fast will lead to frustration and overwhelm.
A simple way to get started with this is by eating 50% slower than usual.
If you’re used to eating while watching TV, on your phone, or multi-tasking, this will be a challenge.
But being challenged is where real growth lies.
Challenge yourself to chew your food slowly.
To enjoy what you’re eating.
And to slow down your pace.
For many of us, there’s childhood associations with fast eating.
Slowing down can start to rewire these neural pathways to recognize it’s safe and okay to eat slowly.
Slow down by 50%.
Note your results for a month.
Feel free to share any findings after you do. 🙂
3. Learn which foods optimize your health
Fruits. Vegetables. Herbs. Spices.
These are the core 4 food groups that can optimize your health more than anything else.
(courtesy of A.W. and his team).
When it comes to fitness, lean protein like tofu, tempeh, seitan, minimally processed mocks, TVP, and protein powder will help accelerate your progress towards toning up and dropping body fat.
Learning to balance health foods with fitness foods is important.
I recommend starting with which goal is most important for you.
Is healing from a chronic autoimmune disease #1 on your list?
Then, focus on eating as many health foods as possible (raw vegan can be a powerful way to heal FAST).
Is dropping body fat and building muscle a priority for you?
Then, creating a strong base with a healthy vegan diet with lean protein will be important.
It comes down to your health vision first.
Get clear on where you want to go.
Then set up your strategic objectives to get there.
Finally, create your daily action plan to move towards there.
Regardless of which goal you’re working towards, your body can never go wrong with more fruits and vegetables.
They’re that impactful.
#2 Breakthrough Stubborn Plateaus
‘I’m sick of feeling the way I do’.
Recently, after speaking with one of our students, she elaborated more on the statement above.
‘I just NEED to do something now, Gabriel’.
I nodded as she continued, ‘I’ve been in a huge emotional rut for a year and been hit by so many things that this can no longer go on.’
I hear this often.
The longer we stay in the PIT - the worse we feel, the further we go backwards, and farther we fall.
Yet, DIPS and PITS are inevitable parts of life.
DIPS = when we begin to slide backwards or start to stagnate
PITS = when we’re stuck in a plateau for an extended period of time (due to to DIPS)
They are package and parcel of what it means to be a human being.
However, it doesn’t mean that we need to stay for extended periods of time in DIPS or PITS.
What can start to reverse your DIP and come out of your PIT is to start the CLIMB.
CLIMB = coming out of PIT
Getting setbacks whether it’s due to work, family, travels, life, emergencies, deaths, etc are a part of living on this planet.
There’s NEVER a time when everything will be PERFECT for you to focus on your health, fitness, or growth.
So if you’re ever caught in a DIP or PIT, two suggestions:
1. Acknowledge that you are where you are
2. Seek support or guidance to help you CLIMB out of PIT
We all need support and help at different points of our life.
It’s a sign of maturity to recognize you need support.
1 Action Step
Slow down your eating speed. As an experiment, try to eat 50% slower in your next meal. See how your body feels afterwards. Repeat and keep testing.
Client of the Week
Tracy is a busy executive.
Overworked and stressed out, she struggled to balance everything in her life.
She struggled due to lack of support and accountability.
She also had chronically UNDER eaten for years at ~1200 k/cal while doing bootcamps, cardio workouts, and OrangeTheory for years.
Going into her mid 50’s, those former strategies had stopped working for her. Especially in the first 6 months of consistent strength training, body recomposition is where you can simultaneously drop fat and build lean muscle.
In fact, if you’ve been chronically under-eating, the uptick in calories from eating more and training properly will most likely lead to weight gain.
Weight gain does NOT always mean fat gain.
Which is why having the correct strategy for your body and health is key if you want to see the right results.
Part of her wins from the past 6 months:
✅Dropping 4 inches from her waist while toning up and tightening her arms, belly, and glutes
✅Reclaiming day-long energy to fuel her staff meetings, leadership sessions, and spend more quality time with her two kids
✅Create a NEW standard of health & fitness that she felt proud of while creating a positive self image that upholds who she’s becoming
✅Triple her strength levels and going from 10 lb dumbbells up to 40 lbs in under 4 months using our 3-phase Accelerator System.
Tracy is a great example of what it means to be committed to her health & fitness even with a busy lifestyle.
Awesome work Tracy! 🙂
If you're a busy vegan, plant-based human, or plant-curious and want to get in the best shape of your life while leading by example, apply here to get lean, strong, and healthy in 2024.
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One Quote To Finish Your Week Strong
“You know, if we understand one question rightly, all questions are answered. But we don't know how to ask the right question. To ask the right question demands a great deal of intelligence and sensitivity. Here is a question, a fundamental question: is life a torture? It is, as it is; and man has lived in this torture centuries upon centuries, from ancient history to the present day, in agony, in despair, in sorrow; and he doesn't find a way out of it. Therefore he invents gods, churches, all the rituals, and all that nonsense, or he escapes in different ways. What we are trying to do, during all these discussions and talks here, is to see if we cannot radically bring about a transformation of the mind, not accept things as they are, nor revolt against them. Revolt doesn't answer a thing. You must understand it, go into it, examine it, give your heart and your mind, with everything that you have, to find out a way of living differently. That depends on you, and not on someone else, because in this there is no teacher, no pupil; there is no leader; there is no guru; there is no Master, no Saviour. You yourself are the teacher and the pupil; you are the Master; you are the guru; you are the leader; you are everything. And to understand is to transform what is.I think that will be enough, won't it?”― J. Krishnamurti
I used to blame others for not seeing results.
Then, one day I realized I wasn’t taking responsibility for my actions.
Guess that’s called growing up?
- Gabriel
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