The Effortless Diet - vortixmedia.com€¦ · The more aggressive fat-loss strategy Nutrition –...

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The Effortless Diet – Master Your Body Fat

Disclaimer, copyright and legal notices

The contents of this program are the intellectual property of the

author and may not be in any way, copied, reproduced or

transmitted in any manner without prior consent, expressed

written, dated and signed by the author. All copyrights are

reserved.

All information within this book is provided for educational

purposes only. I am not a physician or dietician and the

information provided are not intended to be taken as medical

information. This book is meant to augment only the lifestyles of

healthy adults, and is not intended for any individuals that may

experience any negative side effects from the information

contained within these pages. Please ensure with your physician

that you may safely proceed with the advice of the program

before you begin. The author and the website are in no way

liable for any harm, real or perceived, that may take place to

anyone following this program.

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Road to your ideal body

How Fat-loss works

The body & energy

Mark Haub case study

What happens in a calorie deficit- table of fat-loss

importance

What happens in a calorie surplus

Setting up your Calories

Maintenance Calories – the 4 burners

Calorie formula 1 – most accurate formula

Calorie formula 2 – easiest formula

The Ideal Deficit and how to set it

The more aggressive fat-loss strategy

Nutrition – what you need to know

Macronutrients and the ideal range for Fat-loss

Protein and your protein needs

Carbohydrates and why you need them

Fats and why you shouldn’t keep them low

Alcohol/Ethanol

Micronutrients and Food Choices

Flexible Dieting approach

Calorie & Carbohydrate Cycling

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Intermittent Fasting – ultimate diet strategy

How fasting helps on a diet

The ‘Starvation Mode’ and ‘6 small meal” Myths

How to fast if you wake up before 7 AM

How to fast if you wake up after 7 AM

Meal Timing for workouts

16 hour Fast meal planning

The 16 hour fasting routine

18 hour Fast meal planning

The 18 hour fasting routine

20+ hour Fast planning

The 20+ hour fasting routine

The Time-Restricted Feeding (TRF) Strategy

The “TRF” routine

Diet Tricks and Hacks

Fast extenders

Water intake to regulate hunger

Diet Structures

A diet structure to take over from calorie counting

How many diet structures should you have

How to set up diet structures

Listening to your body

Weekday Diet Structure Example

Weekend Diet Structure Example

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Exercise

Cardio – my recommendation

Resistance Training for muscle maintenance

Men’s training routine

Women’s toning routine

Psychology of weight-loss

How to view your Diet Program

Diet Periodization

Self-image management

Body-fat set point – a strategy to beat it

Boredom eating dilemma

Knowing your weaknesses

‘I’ll make up for it tomorrow’ mentality

The “Burn the ships” psychology strategy

The “plate trick” psychology strategy

The “Power of association” psychology strategy

Progress Measuring

The EA Morning Routine

Habits

The program Summarized

Final word from the author

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Acknowledgements

Where would we honestly be without mentors and teachers? I

certainly wouldn’t be here – writing this very sentence.

That said, the work published and taught by the professionals I

consider my mentors has empowered me to think outside the

box – not follow the standard norms posed by the fitness

industry. Without their work – I would no doubt still be 240 lb,

weak, and sitting on my ass all day – going nowhere with my life

or body.

First up, I want to thank my astounding family and friends. Your

unbelievable level of support, love and advice has empowered

me in my best times, and lifted me up in my worst times. Taking

a risk like I did has never left me feeling overwhelmed or alone

because of how you all never let me feel unappreciated. This is

dedicated to my amazing dad, my lovely Guinea pig (I mean

sister,) my brother who always challenged my thoughts and my

best friends – Tony, Calvin and Cameron.

I want to thank Radu Antoniu from www.thinkeatlift.com for his

work on energy balances and intermittent fasting – you opened

my eyes to the lies of the industry.

I want to thank Eric Helms from

www.muscleandstrengthpyramids.com for his controversial

work on protein and strength in the fitness industry and how

much you really need.

http://www.thinkeatlift.com/

http://www.muscleandstrengthpyramids.com/

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I want to thank Greg O’ghallager from www.kinobody.com for

his work on advanced hunger management and body-fat

management, for truly cementing my understanding of

intermittent fasting on a diet.

I want to thank Chris Walker from www.anabolicmen.com for

his work on hormone balances and the true importance of all

three food groups to your health.

Finally I want to thank Clark Kegley from www.clarkkegley.com

for his work on journaling and discipline for helping me truly

come to grips with my lack of discipline and how to overcome

my lack of consistent motivation and accountability to achieve

my goals.

You all changed my life for the better.

http://www.kinobody.com/

http://www.anabolicmen.com/

http://www.clarkkegley.com/

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Road to your ideal body

The road that lies ahead for you is unique to you and you

ALONE. Just because you bought this program doesn’t mean you

are the same as everyone else that bought this program.

You may have five pounds to lose, or five hundred….

In the end, you must acknowledge that the path of mastering

your body-fat is a carefully crafted skill, and learning that skill is

the journey you have to follow in order to transform your body.

This program is the fat-loss equivalent of the roadmap, list of

shortcuts, and GPS system that tells you where all the hazards

are all-in-one.

But even though your journey is different from that of anyone

else that maybe reading this very sentence – though I suspect

your end-goals are pretty similar….

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The point of weight-loss is not just to drop some fat, the very

end-game is to look a certain way.

To look leaner, more aesthetically pleasing. You may even have a

specific look in mind – perhaps one of the following pictures

accurately displays the body you want to see in the mirror every

morning…

You know, something along these lines. And of course, you want

abs I’m sure?

Anyone can have abs (believe it or not.)

A six pack may require a bit of work on your part, but if you get

lean enough, you can almost certainly have abs, even with

terrible muscle development in that region.

So what would it take for you to get abs?

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The answer to that depends on your sex.

In general, men need to be in the range of 7% - 14% body-fat

in order to display their abs. The sweet-spot for most men

however seems to be at 10%– so we will set 8-10% as the goal

body-fat percent for men.

Women on the other hand need to be in the range of

21% - 16% Body-fat to see their abs. The sweet-spot for most

women seems to be at 18% - so we will set 16-18% as the goal

body-fat percent for women.

The fat-loss methods explained in this program can lead to

dropping 1 percent body-fat between every FOURTEEN days, to

every TEN days depending on how aggressive the approach.

And while dropping 1% body-fat every TEN days may sound

enticing, I urge you to read through the remainder of this

roadmap to see which approach I recommend for you, and

how you should go about it.

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The diet has two main premises regarding fat-loss

1) The caloric deficit chosen to drop the fat

2) The eating strategy utilized to make the deficit effortless

The deficit and eating strategies you must utilize will depend on

your individual circumstances. These circumstances don’t have

to be complex – in fact they are categorizable. I recommend you

read through the following categories and decide which best

suits you:

Person A: Someone very new to calories, macros, working

out and intermittent fasting. As you are basically a

beginner, you don’t have to be overtly ambitious with your

weight-loss plan. I recommend pushing for a 16 hour fast

and a 20% calorie deficit. The parts of the program that

you must focus on are:

1) 16 hour Fast meal planning (pg. 64)

2) The 16 hour fasting routine (pg. 65)

3) Calories (to set up your calories.) (pg. 24)

4) Nutrition (for a deeper understanding of your fat-loss plan.)

(pg. 34)

5) Diet Tricks and Hacks + Diet structures (to understand

how you’re going to set up and stick to your diet in the long

run.) (pg. 74 + 80)

6) Exercise (to understand how cardio and resistance affect your

fat-loss, and how you should be exercising to maximize fat-loss

with minimal effort.) (pg. 87)

7) Psychology of Weight-loss (to understand how your

mindset affects your ability to lose weight and how to influence

your mind to your advantage.) (pg. 95)

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Person B: You are someone with a fair amount of

experience with calories, macros, working out and

intermittent fasting. You’ve experimented with intermittent

fasting and can fairly easily make it to a 16 hour fast, but

you find either the progress is too slow, or that 16 hour fasts

aren’t helping with your hunger enough. I recommend

pushing for an 18 hour fast and a 25% calorie deficit. The

parts of the program that you must focus on are:





(pg. 34)



run.) (pg. 74 + 80)







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Person C: You are quite experienced with calories, macros,

working out and intermittent fasting. You’ve worked your

way up to an 18 hour fast, but you still aren’t happy with

this fasting window because you still find it hard to manage

your hunger during your eating window – you feel like you

could be more satisfied with your meals and that you could

use more room for the times when you go over your calorie

targets. I recommend pushing for a 20 hour fast and a 30%

calorie deficit. The parts of the program that you must

focus on are:





(pg. 34)



run.) (pg. 74 + 80)







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Person D: You have had around a year (or more)

experience with calories, macros, working out and

intermittent fasting. But even after utilizing a 20 hour daily

fast, you still find that it’s easy to miss your calorie targets

and you may even find that you have been plateaued at a

certain body-fat range for a long time and can’t manage to

break out of this range for very long. Basically, you feel

stuck – just short of your body-fat goal. I recommend

pushing for a 23 hour fast and a 35% calorie deficit. The

parts of the program that you must focus on are:

1) The more aggressive fat-loss Strategy (pg. 30)

2) The 20+ hour fasting routine (pg. 69)



(pg. 34)



run.) (pg. 74 + 80)







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Person E: You are noticeably different to the above

categories for one reason – you can’t fast. It’s not

uncommon, there are many people in the world that

cannot fast simply because they have medical conditions

that prevent them from doing so – an example of this is

Hypoglycemia. There are however people who are able to

fast, but simply do not enjoy it (fasting isn’t for everyone.)

Having said that, just because you won’t be able to fast

doesn’t mean you cannot utilize the strategies laid within

this program. I recommend utilizing the Time-restricted

Feeding strategy and a 15-20% calorie deficit. The parts of

the program that you must focus on are:

1) Time-Restricted Feeding (TRF) Strategy (pg. 70)

2) The “TRF” routine (pg. 71)



(pg. 34)



run.) (pg. 74 + 80)







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How Fat-loss works

The Body & Energy

Contrary to popular belief, fat-loss isn’t the result of eating after

8 PM, eating carbs, or whatever lies the media spins these days.

Calories are in fact the be all and end all when it comes to

weight-loss. If you burn more calories than you consume Calorie

Deficit,) you will lose fat. Likewise, if you consume more calories

than you burn (Calorie Surplus,) you will gain weight.

The Body needs energy to function, and the primary source of

energy is the food we consume on a daily basis. If you think

about it, it’s basic thermodynamics. But then comes a question –

surely what we eat affects how we lose weight? Well yes… to a

certain extent.

Different Macronutrients (or food groups as you may know

them,) play different roles in the bodies’ daily functions. (We

will discuss that in nutrition.)

But basically, you could eat nothing but junk food, and provided

you are in a caloric deficit – you will lose weight. Bold claim?

How do I back this up?

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Mark Haub Case Study

Researcher and Professor of human nutrition at the University of

Kansas, Mark Haub proved that you can lose weight on a

“convenience store diet” provided your calorie intake is below

your calorie expenditure. He lost 27 pounds on a diet of

Twinkies, Doritos, Oreos and protein shakes, in 10 weeks (and

his blood cholesterol improved too.) (1)

Haub stated “It doesn't matter where the macronutrients are

derived from as long as essential nutrients are consumed at the

recommended levels, and the fuel is consumed at a level at or

below energy expenditure, you are guaranteed to lose fat.” The

study showed that Professor Haub derived 90% of his calories

from “unhealthy junk foods” but managed to lose weight, and

not get terribly sick. Why is this?

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Well let’s discuss what unhealthy foods are

Most would describe an unhealthy food as something that’s bad

for your health, what is an example of this for an average healthy

adult?

Some run straight to sugar, but there is no evidence that sugar

consumption has any negative effects on the health of an average

healthy individual. In fact, studies show that certain sugars do

carry some health benefits. For instance, yes, someone who has

diabetes must watch their intake of table sugar, however they

can safely consume fructose at normal levels because it is

metabolized in the liver,(2) so it doesn’t require insulin to be

digested, and in some cases, fructose has actually aided insulin

sensitivity. (3)

To quote Eric Helms, “There are very few, (if any) foods, that

when you eat them, they immediately harm your health.” (4)

Rather the problem with these perceived “unhealthy foods” is

that they are generally devoid of nutrients to support a healthy

endocrine system. So only by letting these dirty food sources

dominate your diet, and by not receiving enough micronutrients

and fibre to support your body, do the real health problems

occur. The best way to balance your diet with these foods will be

discussed further in “Food Choices.”

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What Happens in a Caloric Deficit?

To state the obvious – weight loss - but there are factors that will

determine what weight will be lost. This will be best illustrated

on the Table of Fat-Loss Importance…

As the table above illustrates, there’s an order of importance for

fat-loss, going in ascending order:

1. The calories determine if weight is lost (by a deficit,) or gained (by

a surplus.) But in the case of a deficit, not all of the weight lost will

necessarily be from fat. The reason is because the body has survival

mechanisms that substitute some of the weight lost to derive from

lean muscle tissue. The reasoning is that the longer you can

maintain stomach fat, the longer you should be able to survive

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without food. For this reason, the following 2 subsections of the

table are to ensure that the majority of the weight lost is partitioned

from your adipose fat cells. The final 2 levels of the table are to

ensure that the diet you are undertaking is sustainable.

2. Resistance Training is the major key to ensure minimum exposure

of lean muscle tissue to the caloric deficit. Resistance Training is the

stimulus that causes muscle growth (or protein Synthesis,) to occur.

On a fat-loss diet, it is often difficult for muscle growth to occur

(except in the case of “newbie gains” for complete beginners.) But in

other circumstances, it is very difficult for intermediate and

advanced resistance trainers to gain muscle on a deficit. However, If

you can manage to maintain your same level of strength on key lifts

(to be discussed in the ‘Exercise’ chapter,) this is a key indication

that you haven’t lost any muscle tissue.

3. Protein is the minor key to ensure minimum exposure of lean

muscle tissue to the caloric deficit. It is common knowledge that

protein breaks down into amino acids which aid muscle growth and

muscle maintenance. But the importance of protein has been over-

hyped by the fitness community at large. Amino Acids permit

protein synthesis to occur, but they are not the stimulus that

actually causes it to occur – the resistance training is more

important than the protein consumption. This was proven by a

study that placed test subjects into 2 groups, group 1 were induced

into a cardio-intensive workout routine, and group 2 were

resistance-trainers. The test put the 2 groups all under 800

Calorie/day liquid diets and aimed to test the difference between

the two groups in terms of weight-loss. The liquid diet gave both

groups the protein they needed, to provide their bodies with

sufficient Amino Acids. After the 12 week test, Group 1 lost

significant lean-muscle tissue (47 Kg - 51 Kg,) whereas group 2, not

only did not lose any lean muscle, just fat tissue. (5)

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4. Micronutrients are the nutrients found within fibrous-rich

carbohydrate foods that are necessary for basic health, but also to

support your endocrine system. The aforementioned Endocrine

system, as far as weight-loss is concerned, refers to the Basal

Metabolic Rate (BMR,) that our bodies operate in to burn calories

while we are sedentary. This burn usually constitutes for between

60%-80% of our daily energy expenditure, so supporting it through

nutrition is notably very important. Your diet doesn’t necessarily

have to be dominated by them, but it must always be consumed at

reasonable levels.

5. Food Choices and meal sizes are the biggest influencers that

determine how well healthy individuals will adhere to their diets.

What this refers to is satisfying both your hunger, and cravings to

make for a successful fat-loss diet. To my knowledge, no studies

have yet been published showing the success of this balanced

approach to dieting (which we will refer to as flexible dieting.)

However, the ability, and understanding of how to stay consistently

full on a fat-loss diet, while being fully able to satisfy cravings at

your whim, is definitely a skill that that can create better

relationships with food (for the healthy individuals.) My personal

approach is to get at least 80% of my food sources from healthy,

nutrient rich foods, and get up to 20% of my remaining calories

from cravings, (please note, this is my approach, not a dietary

recommendation – you as an individual may require more nutrient

rich foods for health support – we are all unique in our needs.) To

put this into perspective, if I diet at 2000 calories, so I get 400

calories or less from a craving. The optimal approach is to find what

craving fills you the most (which for me is frozen yoghurt.)

What Happens in a caloric Surplus

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Surely it’s not rocket science? If you lose fat by being in a deficit,

surely you gain fat by being in a surplus right? Not necessarily….

The 3 Macronutrients all have roles within our body, and each

macronutrient stays true to their role even after a slight calorie

surplus.

For Instance, even under a slight surplus, protein calories will

still most likely convert into amino acids for the needs of your

muscle fibers. Carbohydrates on the other hand will still most

likely revert into glycogen for your liver and muscle stores.

However Fat intake during a surplus has no use other than to be

converted into your bodies’ Adipose Fat. There is a limit though..

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If the surplus is more than slight, there will come a point where

ALL excess calories will convert into body-fat. There is a point

where your body will no longer be in need of Amino Acid chains,

and there will be a point where your bodies Glycogen stores will

be full. Once this happens, Calories from both Carbs and

proteins will become Adipose Fat. Of course at differing rates.

There’s no way of knowing where these metabolic limits are,

thus I conclude that if you are on a Fat-loss journey, to limit

eating above your maintenance calories to as little as

possible.

Resources

(1) http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/207071.php

(2) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8476028


(4) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdFFrBByv-E&t=528s


http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/207071.php

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8476028


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdFFrBByv-E&t=528s


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Setting up your Calories

Maintenance Calories

Maintenance Calories as previously mentioned, refers to the

amount of energy you expend throughout the day. And losing

body-fat means being in a caloric deficit. There are studies all

over that only stand to prove that a caloric deficit will always

result in weight-loss (1) (2) (3) (4)

And any fad diets that exist today are derivatives of a calorie

restriction – aiming to create a deficit. For example, low-fat diets

aim to create a deficit by keeping fat intake low, which makes

sense because it is by far the most energy-dense macronutrient.

Low-Carb diets on the other hand, aim to create a caloric deficit,

by means of a moderate protein intake (which satiates you

instantly,) and a high fat intake (which satiates you for hours

after consuming it due to its natural tendency to slowly empty

from the stomach.) But in terms of just fat-loss, so long as you

are in a deficit, what you eat, really doesn’t matter.

With that said, finding what your maintenance is, is the first step

in creating a deficit. But before we move onto how to accurately

estimate it, let’s first discuss what your maintenance calories

comprise of:

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1) Your BMR, (this is basically what you burn just by existing. This

would be your maintenance calories if you were in a comatose state.

Your BMR will generally constitute anywhere from 60-80% of your

total maintenance calories. It’s important to note that people with

higher than normal thyroidic activity will have a slightly higher

BMR output than normal, whereas people with lower than normal

thyroidic activity will have noticeably lower BMR caloric output

than normal. If you know you fit into either of these cases, my

advice to finding your maintenance would be to take a week or two

to experiment. For instance, if you have a slightly underactive

thyroid, use one of the provided calorie formulas to determine

maintenance, and consume about 100 less calories for a week and

see if your body-fat measurements change in anyway. Experiment

until you find your approximate maintenance. And do the same

(But increase your calories by 100,) if you have a slightly overactive

thyroid.)

2) The Thermic Effect of Food, (this refers to the calories consumed

by digesting foods. As a rule of thumb, the harder the food is to

digest, the more calories are expended to digest it. In general,

Protein consumed will burn between 10-20% of the food consumed.

Carbohydrates will burn anywhere from 5-10% and Fats burn

anywhere between 0-5% of the fat consumed. So it’s clear that a diet

higher in protein will naturally burn more calories than a diet

higher in fat.)

3) Non exercise activity, (this refers to all the calories burned from

activity that isn’t exercise based, such as fidgeting, writing, cooking

etc.)

4) Exercise activity, (this of course refers to all calories burned

through exercise, such as the calories burned from walking,

running, working out…)

These four Pillars make up your total maintenance calories.

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Maintenance Calorie formula #1 - The more

accurate formula

This formula is the more accurate formula to work out

maintenance calories. Please note that this formula is also

located on your updated Ideal Body Calculator, referred to as

“TDEE Method 1” under the tab allocated to your gender. Also

note that this method shouldn’t be used all the time, doing so

will mean that you will be forced to log in your walk distances

and gym time. I only recommend that you use this formula for

the first week of your diet and thus move onto Formula 2

thereafter. This formula can be a pain.

Formula

(Your weight in pounds) X 12,63 = your Maintenance before any

exercise activity.

From there: ADD all activity you accomplished that day

(Note: this of course would require the use of a step-counting

app or device – another reason I don’t advocate this formula.)

EQUALS: your TOTAL maintenance calories for the day.

E.G. 180lb X 12,63 = 2273 Kcal

+ 5 miles of walking (total) (translates on the calculator to

460 Kcal burned)

= 2733 Kcal Maintenance Calories.

Remember, this formula is really only for the most OCD

individuals…

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Maintenance Calorie formula #2 - The easier

formula

This formula I openly advocate to everyone. Remember, this diet

is supposed to be effortless!!!

Formula

Sedentary Day: (your weight in pounds) X 13

Half an Hour of walking: (weight in lb) X 14

A full session of weight training (1 hour at the gym,) or over

an hour of walking (target of 5 miles): (weight in lb) X 15

An hour of resistance training and an hour of walking/ 2

hours of walking: (weight in lb) X 17

An hour of gym and 2 hours of walking/ 3+ hours of

walking: (weight in lb) X 19

Basically, every half hour you spend exercising – add +1 to

the multiplier

E.G. 180 lb X 15 (hour of gym or a 5 mile walk.) = 2700 Kcal

(You may notice this is very close to the answer for formula

1, it’s only off by 33 Kcal. This illustrates how little

difference it really makes if you want high accuracy.

Besides, you round to the closest 50 in formula 1 anyway.)

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The ideal deficit and how to set it

You need to remember that our bodies are wired for survival

before aesthetics. Our bodies don’t want be in a low body-fat.

The reason is because of our species’ history. We as human

beings have not always been concerned with vanity, but rather

survival. Our ancestors have always had to worry about

protection, from fellow humans, predators, the elements,

disease, and of course, from starvation. The pre-modern world

wasn’t as convenient as the modern world, you didn’t have food

available in the abundance that it is today. Starvation has

plagued us as a species for thousands of years! It has been a high

ranking cause of death that had always pushed man to hunt,

gather and cook to the best of their abilities to avoid death by

starvation.

Luckily for the pre-modern day man, our bodies are survival

machines. The body wants to live, and has been adapted to the

many trials and tribulations we faced as a species. One such

adjustment is that our bodies hold onto fat stores for survival

purposes. The reason for this is fairly obvious: if the body can

maintain a little bit of fat, it would allow us to survive the hard

times ahead. Even if that means that we mobilize a proportion of

both muscle and fat rather than just fat alone, it would mean

longer survival in times of food scarcity. Thus, because of this

adaptation, our bodies still hold onto fat and mobilize it in a

slow and steady state, regardless of whether or not we need that

fat in todays’ world. So anyone contemplating a crash diet, must

be prepared to lose both muscle and fat at the same time. Crash

diets are very infamous for the “skin and bone” look it produces.

One such example is the Minnesota starvation study (to be

discussed later on in “the Starvation Mode Myth.”

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The higher the calorie deficit, the higher the risk of losing

muscle tissue to the deficit. In short, the safest deficit is one set

by your body. In a study done on strength trainers on a fat-loss

diet, it was found that the safest rate of fat-loss was 0.1% of your

bodyweight per day. (5)

To work this out, if you weigh 160lb, than the safest rate of fat

loss is (160 x 0,001 = 0.16lb per day, it is agreed that 1 pound is

approximately 3600 Kcal, therefore 0,16 x 3600 = 575 Kcal

(Round up to 600 calories.))

Thus the safest rate of fat-loss for a 160lb male/female is a 600

calorie deficit per day. But how much of your daily calorie

expenditure should that make up? If you for instance aim for a

25% deficit, then you would aim to eat 75% of what you burn

daily. To put this into perspective, if we take the same 160lb

female, and put her in a 600 calorie deficit, it’s going to be much

harder to consume in a 600 calorie deficit if her daily calorie

expenditure is only 1200 calories. However, by my estimations,

she should have a daily calorie burn of about 2000 calories,

making a 600 calorie deficit approximately a 30% deficit.

However, if she walked exactly 5 miles or did one of the provided

resistance training routines, her maintenance calories would rise

to approximately 2400Kcal that day, creating a 600 Kcal deficit

exactly 25% of her daily maintenance.

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The more aggressive fat-loss strategy

Safe isn’t always the best strategy – sometimes it pays off to take

a little risk.

What would risk with a more aggressive fat-loss approach?

Maybe a little lean mass, not very much else.

I never condone Very-Low-Calorie-Diets (VLCD’s,) but a smart

LCD may be the answer you’re looking for.

To give some context – not everyone thrives on a moderate

caloric deficit. I for instance have stalled between the 15-12%

body-fat range, and I just found that I wasn’t sustaining my

moderate deficit anymore because I wasn’t inspired by it

anymore. I needed a change of pace.

So I tried a more aggressive cut – this is something that helped

motivate me to go below my Body-fat set point (discussed

further in the psychology chapter.)

By using the exact same study as before, the loss of 0,7% body

mass per week was the safest, and it still allowed the individuals

to gain strength and thus muscle. However, the study showed

that the group that underwent a more aggressive cut 1,4% of

body mass per week, in fact did not lose any muscle. They

maintained strength in key compound movements – indicating

that they lost no muscle during their diet. (5)

So what does this mean for you?

Going more aggressive of course means that it is unlikely you

will gain strength, but if you do set up your caloric deficit,

resistance training & protein intake just right, you can drop fat

and keep your muscle.

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Now having experimented with all of these more aggressive

deficits (0,8% - 1,4% of Body-weight,) I’ve found the sweet spot

to reside at around a 35% caloric deficit or approximately 1-1,1%

of your bodyweight per week. This point is where you are losing

weight at a more inspirational pace, yet you don’t constantly feel

lethargic and unenergetic – and you should have enough room

to get enough protein, fats and carbs to maintain hormonal

health

Considering that I am not a medical professional, I don’t

prescribe this rate of fat-loss to everyone. This is what you

should attempt (under safe restrictions,) if you’ve found that a

moderate deficit hasn’t worked for you for a while, and you find

that your weight has stalled within a certain range, even with an

18-20 hour fast.

This more aggressive rate of fat-loss is more difficult, unless

attempted with a 23 hour daily fast.

This is where people become disillusioned with fasting, because I

am now referring to the One Meal A Day (OMAD) diet

structure.

People think to themselves: “how the hell can I fast for 23 hours

every day?”

Now granted, it’s harder than all of the other fasting windows,

but it makes a 30-35% deficit seem like bliss – merely because of

how easy it is to eat this much food within the confines of an

hour.

That said, my usual guidelines of fasting are different to

compensate for the last 3 hours of the fast. Under a 20 hour fast,

I don’t recommend having zero-calorie sodas, here I do (if you

want them, otherwise sparkling water will do.) Still no chewing

gum though…

32

By going this aggressive in your caloric deficit, the chances are

that you will lose a little bit of lean muscle, but it’s not really

something to worry about. Most people can reclaim this bit of

lost muscle quickly once they eat at maintenance because of

your muscle memory. That said, you should restrict this diet to a

maximum of 12 weeks. You should stop this diet after you reach

a certain body-fat percent (10% for men and 18% for women.)

On a final note, the rules are more or less the same, eat all your

calories within your predetermined eating window, use fast

extenders to make your fast easier. Try to get more protein than

normal when you get leaner (closer to the 1,1-1,3 g per lb of

bodyweight.) Ensure in your meal that you get sufficient fibrous,

micronutrient-rich vegetables (a big bowl of salad veggies should

suffice.) But finally, don’t be dogmatic and stubborn with your

fast. One reason why this approach works so efficiently is

because with a more severe caloric restriction, even if you mess

up, eat for longer than intended and thus eat more than you

intended, you have an wider margin of calories to consume and

thus more room for error – so even by overeating, it’s likely that

you’ll still be in a caloric deficit.

Now of course it is recommended that you eat NO LATER than 2

hours after you work out, don’t let this determine whether or not

you can do the 23 hour fasts. I personally stick to my 23 hour fast

on non-lifting days, and a 20 hour fast, eating a little closer to a

30% deficit, having some tuna or any other kind of protein prior

to/ just after my workouts. You don’t need to fast for 23 hours

EVERY DAY. Just simply be smart about your fasts, and adjust

them as necessary for your gym days.

23 hour fasts can be healthy, so don’t worry too much about how

it might affect you. For more information on OMAD, have a look

at the following sources. (6) (7)

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Resources






(6) http://www.fitmole.org/eating-one-meal-a-day-diet/

(7) https://lifeforbusypeople.com/2016/07/23/longevity-why-

i-eat-once-a-day/






http://www.fitmole.org/eating-one-meal-a-day-diet/

https://lifeforbusypeople.com/2016/07/23/longevity-why-i-eat-once-a-day/

https://lifeforbusypeople.com/2016/07/23/longevity-why-i-eat-once-a-day/

34

Nutrition – what you need to know

Macronutrients and the ideal range for Fat-loss

Macronutrients are better known by most as your main food groups: Protein, carbohydrates and fats. Most fad diets aim to restrict one or more of these macronutrients in an attempt to create a calorie deficit naturally. But in this program, I aim to promote a balanced intake of all 3 of these macronutrients (Macros,) and I will explain in detail why all 3 macros are vital to your diet, and should not be restricted.

Before we move onto the individual macronutrients themselves, I’m going to set and discuss the ideal macronutrient range for stable and easy fat-loss – 35% Protein, 30% Fat, 35% Carbs. You will safely be able to assess if you are meeting this range by looking at the “macros” section under “nutrition” in your “MyFitnessPal” calorie counting app.

The reason this range is ideal for fat-loss, is because even with a 25% deficit, safe rate of fat-loss, you will still always get enough protein to provide your body with the vital amino acids to maintain lean-muscle mass on a diet, but also, enough protein in your diet to keep you fully satiated all throughout the day (as protein is the most fulling macronutrient. On top of that, you should be getting sufficient Carbohydrates to keep muscle glycogen levels stable, thus supporting your workout performance. And finally, you will consume sufficient fat to support your endocrine system while you lean down, moreover, the fat will give you the long term satiety that the other macronutrients cannot.

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Protein

Protein is without a doubt the most over-sensationalized of the 3 macronutrients in the fitness industry, and as usual its importance greatly exaggerated. Proteins carry the amino acids that are essential for muscle growth, which is common knowledge.

Two things- 1) the amino acids permit muscles to grow, but they do not cause the growth in and of themselves, this growth is caused by the stimulus from resistance training. There are in fact studies that show muscle maintenance can occur in very low calorie intakes, with restricted protein consumption, purely because the subjects training regimens were optimized for hypertrophy (muscle building,) and strength maintenance. (1)

so it is therefore reasonable to assume from this that even with all metabolic harm a diet like this can do, the restricted protein intake had little effect on muscle growth (at least far less effect than the nutrition industry often tends to stress.) With this in mind, there are certainly no reasons to have low protein in your diet. Proteins are the most satiating of the 3 macronutrients, and they usually have the highest caloric burn from the TEF - so proteins are essential, especially when coupled with a caloric deficit. (2)

But a diet too high in protein has negative consequences for hormonal balance as explained by neuroscientist and author of the testshock program - Chris Walker. Chris explained that a diet that's rich in proteins, carbs and fats is absolutely necessary for hormonal health, therefore a diet that's just rich in protein isn't hormonally harmful in and of itself, but because it means that fats and carbs are going to be omitted from the diet. (3)

36

Therefore, we will base a level to go for around the recommendations of Eric Helms. Eric is a professional bodybuilding coach and has based his BSc Master’s degree on the protein needs of strength trainers. His studies found that overall, the optimal protein intakes of various strength trainers fared the best at about 0,8g-1g of protein per lb of body weight. My recommendation is to get between 0,9g and 1,3g of protein per pound of body-weight. This can be done without the need to buy protein supplements. (4)

Carbs

If protein is the most sensationalized macronutrient, carbs are definitely the most demonized. Carbs are easy to paint as the bad guy in the nutrition industry because of the effects a high carb diet has on body composition. To be exact, every gram of carbohydrates stored in the liver, stores a few drops of water - which is confused with weight gain. Let me be clear, so long as you are in a caloric deficit, you can lose weight eating nothing but carbs. Obviously you should not do that though.

But carbohydrate-exclusionary diets have detrimental effects to both your hormonal health, your gym performance (as stated in “macronutrients”,) and surprisingly, to our ability to lose weight. Low carb diets can aid with the initial weight loss and help rid your body of excess water, but, as with all fad diets, they don't tell you why you're losing weight. To use a popular South African diet as an example, the common misconception about the popular low carb diet is that "provided that you consume less than 50g of carbs per day, you will lose weight." And moreover, this exact diet encourages the dieter to "fill up on fats." (5)

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Now when you consider that for every gram of fat consumed, you consume 9 calories, while on the other hand, 1g of carbs or protein only holds 4 calories - you can see how this can have detrimental effects to the calorie deficit the diet aims to create. But even if you disregard the unhealthy attitude to food that a diet like this encourages, the problem once again falls to a general lack of understanding.

Some people may in fact experience good results from low carb diets for a while, so they keep eating in the same way that lost them that initial weight. Then after some time passes, they're stuck. They've plateaued and they don't know why. What happened here you ask? Well, as their weight drops, their maintenance calories will follow suit. When you weigh less, your body naturally burns fewer calories from your BMR and exercise activity. So as their maintenance calories slowly start to decrease, their calorie deficit shrinks until it disappears all together.

Over the years, marketers have managed to convince people that calories have nothing to do with weight-loss, and have since, bombarded the populace with badly run studies, and dodgy diet regimes in an attempt to confuse them about how weight-loss actually works. If you ask random people how you lose fat, the chances are they will tell you that that fat-loss comes from cutting carbs, or eating clean, or not eating after a certain time, rather than that it simply comes down to an energy balance - that's how good these marketers were at confusing the public.

38

Here is a universal truth - a confused customer, is an easy sale. If you want to have an awesome body with both good muscle development and low body-fat, you need carbs in your diet. Again, so long as you follow the flexible dieting protocols, you will lose weight - guaranteed.

Fats

Knowing that protein is the most hyped macronutrient, and carbohydrates – the most demonized, fats are the most misunderstood macronutrient.

Fats are direct fats, and if you are in a caloric surplus with fats, those fats directly convert into body-fat, whereas excess protein becomes amino acid chains and excess Carbs become glycogen (up until a point.)

With this in mind, why is it that some fats are now promoted in the now more popular, low carb fat-loss diet? A diet higher in fat means that in order to be in a calorie deficit, less food would have to be consumed, because of the higher calorie density of fats, as opposed to carbs and proteins. So why is fat suddenly promoted? Because fats are the slowest to be released from our stomachs, which in turn will keep you fuller for longer, particularly Saturated fats. (6)

But fats play another important role for your body - they are vital for your body’s endocrine system. Fats are needed to maintain a healthy hormonal balance in your body, and is a direct source of energy for certain organs, including the brain. And studies show that diets low in fat intake often correspond with higher cortisol levels, as well as lower Activity levels. Because of this, while a low fat diet may not prevent a caloric deficit, it can in fact result

39

in a lower energy output due to the lower energy levels, which thus indirectly decreases your calorie deficit. Coupled with increased cortisol levels leads to higher water retention (often confused with weight gain,) increased bloating, and several other stress related symptoms.

There are many other reasons why a moderate fat intake is important, but there simply isn’t enough space to discuss it all. Fats are vital to any healthy diet, provided they are indeed moderate (Never more than 40% of your diet.)

Alcohol/Ethanol

Alcohol is the final macronutrient – but it’s not quite a macronutrient.

While alcohol may be a different food group to protein, fats or carbohydrates, I’m hesitant to call it a macronutrient as it has absolutely NO nutrients within it. Alcohol is seen by your body as a poison in fact…

Where protein and carbs have 4 calories per gram, and fat has 9 per gram – alcohol actually has 7 calories per gram. With that in mind, drinking alcohol while on a fat-loss diet needs to be done so in a smart way.

In many social environments, drinking is inevitable, so if you want to drink without gaining fat, it is important that you 1) plan for it and 2) prepare for it.

Planning for drinking requires a bit of foresight into the context within which you will be drinking. For instance, you are more likely to drink less at a bar/home than you would at home or at a friend’s house or nightclub – simply because drinks are cheaper

40

from home and when in friendly company, you are encouraged to drink more – especially since the drinks are already available.

If you are going out to a bar/at home, then the chances are you don’t need to save any more than 500/600 calories – especially since you can have total control over what you drink. If you intend to be in a caloric deficit that day, then you will want to reduce your calories from carb sources mostly.

If on the other hand you are drinking socially in an environment where alcohol is readily available (house parties and clubs,) then you may want to aim closer to saving up approximately 1000-1200 calories. With that said, I recommend that you eat at maintenance today – being in a caloric deficit right now will simply not be realistic (unless you want to eat nothing but tuna.)

Now that you’ve planned for the drinks, you now need to focus on the preparation. Preparing for the drinking involves planning out what you would intend to drink. Now for obvious reasons, choosing the right drinks can make all the difference. While beers and wine may be the drink of choice normally, these types of drinks are very calorically dense and tend to be consumed quickly in social environments. Hardtack alcohol on the other hand is a smarter choice as it’s usually low-calorie and takes a while to be consumed.

Where your average beer or glass of wine is 150 Kcal, the average shot of whiskey is 70 Kcal.

The problem with Hardtack alcohol is usually rather what it’s consumed with. Having a shot (or two,) of whiskey never happens alone, the problem is that it’s a common duo of whiskey and coke.

My advice is to choose your vice (whiskey, brandy or whatever you wish,) and be smart about what you have it with. Whiskey mixes really well with soda water, brandy blends well with Coke

41

Light. It doesn’t have to have sugar to make the hardtack blend taste better – be smart.

The preparation now begins. Having chosen what you want to drink, if you are going to be drinking from home or at a house party – bring your chosen vice and have it on hand. Don’t worry, you won’t be an outcast for drinking whiskey where everyone else is drinking beer.

On the other hand, if you are going to a bar or club, there is less preparation you can do, but you can rest assured that every bar or club will keep soda/Coke Light/whatever in stock, so feel free to order what you planned to.

One great thing about drinking hardtack stuff is that people are less inclined to make you drink a shot of Tequila if what you have in your glass just as tough on your kidneys.

Lastly, you don’t need to get completely hammered to have a great time. Keep it moderate, enjoy the evening – be present to the moment. Worry less about your drinks and just enjoy yourself.

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Micronutrients and food options

As stated Before, Micronutrients are essential to your diet, for general well-being purposes, and supporting your metabolism (BMR.) So on that note, Micronutrients will be condensed as much as possible on a need-to-know basis, because the topic of micronutrients is VAST.

First up: Dietary Fiber. While Fiber isn’t a Micronutrient itself, it is best explained here. Dietary Fiber are plant/fruit based carbohydrates that our bodies cannot digest in the small intestine. Why it is vital is because a moderate intake of fiber corresponds with healthy bowel movements, prevention and protection against insulin and other metabolic-related diseases, and it also makes a diet more satiating, as fibrous foods are the most filling foods next to protein. Your daily intake should be between 20g-25g as a female, and 25g-30g as a male. (7)

Next: Vitamin Sources. Of course, I could discuss vitamins and minerals in detail, but at the same time, that discussion alone could take up ½ of this book, and I don’t think you really want to go into those sordid details. If you do, I will leave some excellent sources on the subject at the end of this sentence. (8) (9) (10) (11)

Food sources of necessary vitamins and minerals do not need to take up the vast majority of your diet. In truth, we only need somewhere around 2-4 cups of fibrous, mineral rich, fruits and vegetables (not a medical recommendation,) to support your endocrine system, promote your overall well-being, and attaining sufficient fiber.

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This is important to note because these days, we are constantly going out with friends during the evening, travelling etc. and it can make getting enough fiber and micronutrients a challenge in daily life. What I like to do is ensure that my first (fasted) meal gives me all the necessary fiber and micronutrients, to ensure I’m both satiated and healthy before the evening – and if my last meal is healthy or not, shouldn’t matter simply because I got enough micronutrition requirements, and I hit my Calorie target. These meals will come later in “Intermittent Fasting.”

Now of course, some food sources are just naturally superior to others from a nutritious standpoint. Potatoes and fibrous vegetables are superior bread, wheat and pasta in that they have more nutritional value, but also, they are far more satiating. But that doesn’t mean you should only look for healthy carb sources and not worry about your fat and protein sources.

There are what are known as phytonutrients in certain fat sources, and zoonutrients in certain protein sources. Both needed for a healthy diet.

What I want to propose is what perhaps coined the IIFYM movement. IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros,) is an approach to nutrition that seemingly rebelled against mainstream nutrition. The mind-set behind this is that so long as you meet your calorie target, and roughly achieve the macronutrient goal you set, You can get these foods from either good foods or bad foods such as..

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(Broccoli: 1 bunch/ 608g = 205 kcal ) | (Oreo biscuits: 4 biscuits/80g = 213 kcal ) (Dietary Fibre: 16g, rich in vitamins A, C, B-6, | (Dietary Fibre: 1.3g, no vitamin A, C or B-6, Iron and magnesium.) (Carbs: 40g) | little Iron and Magnesium) (Carbs: 33g)

(Information courtesy of Myfitnesspal.)

The logic is that your body can’t differentiate between the carbs

from broccoli and the carbs from the Oreos – and they are right

as far as weight-loss goes. But of course, this mindset will

naturally be riddled with problems, both in terms of health &

diet adherence. For instance, if taken to the extreme, people may

try and attempt to find all the food they want directly from Bad

sources, or Good sources ONLY.

Both of these approaches have their own unique problems…

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On the left, you will note are only clean foods, going for an 1800

Kcal target. This approach is clearly set to give the diet sufficient

nutrients, as well as satiety. But what the diet will lack is

excitement and craving-satisfaction.

On the right, you will now note that there only dirty foods to

tackle this 1800 Kcal Macronutrient range. This approach will

give you excitement and craving-satisfaction, but it will lack the

nutrients you need, and damn you are going to be hungry.

Both of these approaches are extreme, neither of them are

optimal. Which brings me to (in my opinion,) the better

approach.

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Enter Flexible Dieting

This approach is the lovechild of the two diet extremes set

above. Flexible Dieting proposes a way to get the best of both

worlds, and none of the downsides. Flexible dieting aims to get

the majority of your food from clean, satisfying sources, and the

rest from a craving (if you are craving something,) otherwise,

you can just eat clean, satiating foods if you aren’t craving

anything.

What you do if you are craving something is to ensure you are

getting sufficient protein for their amino acids, and try and get

some healthy carbs and fats, and work in your craving to the

remainder of your calories.

I proposed a 35/35/30 macronutrient split in “Macronutrients,”

but this is to give you an easy dieting format, to lose weight, you

do not have to follow this split religiously. If you are in a caloric

deficit, you will lose weight, if you do resistance training and

meet your recommended protein requirements, you will not lose

any muscle tissue, that’s the end of it. The given split is a split

that should give you maximum satiety, and give you enough

room to get enough nutrients and fulfil your cravings at the

same time, but you can have a higher carb day, and then a

higher fat day, the calories and protein are really what matter.

Now earlier I suggested that you get maximum of 20% of your

calories from cravings, this is plenty of room for most of us.

Remember, the best cravings to satisfy are the ones that fill you

the most. However, if what you’re craving requires more than

20% of your daily calories - I suggest making a mental note of it

& rather endulging in your cravings 1- 2 times/week, and having

47

25 to a maximum of 30% of your respective Kcal coming from

your cravings those days.

In the example of a Female weighing in at 140 lbs and is active

for an hour every day, going for a 25% Deficit:

Daily Calorie Budget: 1600 Kcal

Daily Budget for treats: 300 Kcal (this is basically a 2 Ounce/60g

Snickers Bar.)

Budget for treats if consumed 1-2x per week: 500Kcal (this could

be half a tub (500ml/17 fl Oz) of Frozen Yoghurt)

So the female in this case study has a choice between a daily

snickers bar, or 2 halves of a tub of frozen (e.g. on workout days

– Monday and Friday)

One week she may prefer a daily snickers bar, but the next week,

she may prefer to indulge in the froyo. You get the idea.

In closing, you obviously don’t have to eat this way every week –

this flexible dieting approach really comes down to you – if you

are prone to daily cravings, this approach will give you more

sanity than simply cutting out your cravings. On the other hand,

if you only get cravings once in a blue moon, then simply eat

clean daily, and have a food you’re craving as you crave it – now

you know how to integrate it into your diet.

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Calorie & Carb Cycling

On the last stretch of nutrition, we will discuss Calorie & Carb

Cycling. Some of you may know the term “refeed.” This term was

coined as a day that is set aside to eat more carbohydrates than

usual in an attempt to replenish your glycogen stores. You may

know the term because it is common in low-carb diets, or you

may be versed gym lingo.

Refeeds are going to be a big part of your fat-loss strategy. The

plan is that you are going to have at least one day per week

where you will eat at maintenance – this may seem

counterintuitive, but there is a very fundamental reason why

higher calorie days are needed on a diet.

When you restrict calories, your body will naturally think you

are in a food scarce environment. To compensate for this, your

body slowly starts to burn fewer and fewer calories through your

BMR. Now of course this can easily be counteracted by adjusting

your calories and macronutrients, so the fat-loss will continue –

but what your mind does to prevent the fat-loss is far more

interesting. The effect originates psychologically…

What I mean by this is you subconsciously sabotage your fat-loss

progress if you lose it too fast. How does this happen?

Your subconscious mind hasn’t adapted to your new lifestyle,

and because of this, it doesn’t want you to lose weight, because

as far as your subconscious mind is concerned - you haven’t

changed your self-image and because of this, your subconscious

mind wants you to stay as you see yourself in your mind. For a

more in detail explanation and a guide to change your self-

image, refer to “Self-Image.”

49

You may now be thinking, “well how does eating more calories

help me change my self-image?”

The truth is it won’t, only you can change your self-image. But

higher calorie days are the key to showing your body that you

aren’t necessarily in a food-scarce environment. The aim of the

cycling will be to slow your metabolic decline, and prevent

metabolic damage altogether. But now, the question arises –

how many refeeds per week are key to slow your metabolic

decline? That depends on your gender and body-fat percentage.

If you are a man or a woman at or above your body-fat set

point (See the Subchapter to understand how to find it) -

you may only need one to two refeeds per week – should you

utilize them in your diet.

If you are a man or a woman below your body-fat set point -

you may then need two to three refeeds per week - should

you utilize them in your diet.

As it stands, Integrating Calorie Cycling into your diet is

completely optional, though it will help you adhere to your

diet if you are either 1) losing strength/muscle on your diet, or 2)

struggling to cope with your diet in the final stages as you leaner

and leaner.

Now of course, weekly refeeds can slow metabolic damage, but it

won’t prevent metabolic slowdown in a way that taking an entire

week off from dieting can. So I propose you stick to the plan set

out in “Diet Periodization.”

There are also Two types of refeeds, namely:

Partial refeeds: A form of Calorie cycling where you aren’t

completely eating at maintenance, rather you are just

minimizing your deficit on a given day. The best practice for this

method is to simply half your calorie deficit on a chosen day.

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For instance, if you normally are in a caloric restriction of about

600 calories, while consuming 1900 Kcal daily – you can then

take a refeed day where you now consume about 2200 Kcal and

are now in a 300 Kcal deficit for the day.

Ideally, this form of calorie cycling would take part on workout

days (but can be unplanned for social events or impromptu diet

breaks,) and is only necessary for those who are either losing

muscle, or are struggling with the willpower to adhere to their

diet, BUT are ABOVE their body-fat set point range.

And

Complete refeeds: A form of calorie cycling where you are

either eating at maintenance – or slightly above maintenance.

The best practice for this method of calorie cycling depends on

how regularly and when you do a refeed. If for instance, you only

refeed once per week and it happens to be on a workout day –

feel free to consume a 200-300 Calorie surplus from additional

carbs – as your muscle glycogen stores will be depleted and can

handle the additional carbs (especially if these carbs are simple

carbs.)

on the other hand, if you take 2-3 refeeds per week, then ideally

just eat at maintenance.

Like partial calorie cycling, this form of calorie cycling would

take part on workout days (but can be unplanned for social

events or impromptu diet breaks,) and is only necessary for

those who are either losing muscle, or are struggling with the

willpower to adhere to their diet, BUT are BELOW their body-

fat set point range.

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Lastly, what should you eat, and when should you do these

refeeds?

If you have the opportunity to control what you eat on a given

refeed day, the best way to eat, is to eat the same way you would

on a normal dieting day, but try and eat the extra calories from

high carb sources like potatoes, pasta, bread, frozen yoghurt etc.

But if you don’t get the opportunity to control what you do eat,

try not to worry about where you get these extra calories from, it

can be from carbs, fats, proteins or even alcohol (ethanol.)

what’s important is that you meet your calorie and protein

target.

If you are the type that can plan when you take your refeeds, and

have the willpower to stick to your plan, then try and plan your

refeeds on workout days. Eating more on workout days gives

you the unique opportunity to partition the extra calorie to your

muscle glycogen, which is essential for muscle maintenance on a

long term diet. But if you are like most in that your willpower

can fluctuate from day to day, and your schedule is very rigid,

then I would just advise you to take your refeed either when you

are going out with friends/family, feeling weak during a

workout, or just feel like a day’s break from the diet.

This can take place on any day of the week. Experiment to see

what works best for you. If you feel the occasional need to have

another refeed during the week, that’s absolutely fine.

Remember, you can only eat in a deficit once per week and still

lose weight, (it will just be a really slow weight-loss is all.

52

Resources



(3) https://www.anabolicmen.com/protein-testosterone/


(5) http://www.health24.com/diet-and-nutrition/weight-

loss/why-you-may-not-lose-weight-on-the-tim-noakes-banting-

diet-20150915



(8) https://www.helpguide.org/harvard/vitamins-and-

minerals.htm

(9) http://www.iceberglabs.net/vitamins_minerals.htm

(10) http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/healthy-

eating/a10838/sources-of-vitamins/

(11) http://www.diethealthclub.com/food-source-for-essential-

vitamins.html



https://www.anabolicmen.com/protein-testosterone/


http://www.health24.com/diet-and-nutrition/weight-loss/why-you-may-not-lose-weight-on-the-tim-noakes-banting-diet-20150915





https://www.helpguide.org/harvard/vitamins-and-minerals.htm

https://www.helpguide.org/harvard/vitamins-and-minerals.htm

http://www.iceberglabs.net/vitamins_minerals.htm

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/healthy-eating/a10838/sources-of-vitamins/

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/healthy-eating/a10838/sources-of-vitamins/

http://www.diethealthclub.com/food-source-for-essential-vitamins.html

http://www.diethealthclub.com/food-source-for-essential-vitamins.html

53

Intermittent Fasting – ultimate diet strategy

How fasting helps on a diet

There are many dieting strategies that can make a diet easier,

but for the average person, I would say that intermittent fasting

is the best one.

Contrary to what you may believe about fasting – it is actually a

tool to manage your hunger. While most people who have very

little - to no experience with intermittent fasting, the duration of

time you go without eating calories (fasting window,) with some

experience will actually help improve you overall hunger and

cravings.

Before I tell you how, let me first explain the hormones – Ghrelin

& Leptin. Ghrelin - otherwise known as your ‘hunger hormone’ is

the hormone that signals to the hypothalamus (through your

circulatory system,) to increase appetite, whereas Leptin on the

other hand, signals to the brain through similar neural-receptors

to suppress appetite.

Leptin levels in obese people have generally been found to be

much higher than those in normal weight people. But the

problem is that overweight individuals build up a tolerance to

their Leptin. Moreover, your body releases the peptides –Ghrelin

and Leptin systematically based on your Circadian Clock. (1)

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What you may not know is these peptides are actually set on a

time schedule. This is known by the medical world as your

eating rhythm set by your “Circadian Clock,” and the entire

purpose of this metabolic function is to increase the release of

ghrelin around the times that you normally eat your meals. So if

you would normally eat lunch at 2 PM, your circadian clock

would ensure you would be hungry at that time, even if you

already ate lunch an hour before for example. But through a

progressive fast, it is possible to adapt your Circadian Rhythm to

start feeling hunger (through a systemic Ghrelin release,) at later

stages of the day. (2)

The main role of fasting for fat-loss is essentially to acclimate

your hunger to hours later in the day (resetting your circadian

clock if you will,) so you only tend to get hungry when you

would break your fast. Fasting will progressively push your

ghrelin secretion into later stages of the day until you eventually

settle on a consistent time to break your fast. But this then

brings up the question – how long into the day can you reset

your circadian rhythm without essentially pushing it too far?

There are many different takes on “the perfect fast” – from

Martin Berkhan’s 16 hour fast to Ori Hofmekler’s 20 hour fast, to

Brad Pilon’s 24 hour fast. I won’t show any preference to any of

these formats, I will just state facts. Given the success of all 3

from their client success stories, it is likely that your circadian

rhythm can adapt to all 3 formats, so given enough time, you can

adopt anyone of these of these 3 formats and only feel hungry

when you would typically break your fast. But anything beyond a

20 hour fast is very hard to manage on a daily basis - so for

inexperienced fasters, a 20 hour fast should be the maximum

55

fasting window you can aim for. Fasting beyond 20 hours should

only be attempted by more advanced fasters.

As a General Rule of thumb – the more intense your deficit,

the longer you should aim to fast for (within reason.)

If you are a man above 14% Body-fat or a woman above 20%

Body-fat

20% deficit Maximum works well with a 16 hour fast

25% deficit Maximum works well with an 18 hour fast



If you are a man below 14% Body-fat or a woman below 20%

Body-fat


20% deficit Maximum works well with an 18 hour fast



(The leaner you get, the harder it is to diet down, so once

you pass the 14% or 20% Body-fat mark, be sure to relax

your deficit a bit more or your body will fight back.)

There is a problem with the 24 hour fasting window however.

Fasting any longer than 24 hours is when your body starts to use

not just Amino acids as energy by converting it into glucose, in a

process known as “amino acid gluconeogenesis.” This would in

56

essence mean that fasting beyond this point will ensure that you

would compromise Lean Muscle Tissue to the caloric deficit. (3)

Moreover, I wouldn’t prescribe a fast longer than 20 hours to

anyone unless they find they still have binge eating and cheating

tendencies, even after a 16-20 hour daily fast. But for these rare

instances, I will discuss a practical strategy to address this issue

in “The more aggressive fat-loss strategy.”

In a nutshell, the strategy is to slowly build up to a 16-20 hour

daily fast. With the use of your “Diet Tricks and Hacks” you

will start to only truly feel hungry around when you would break

this fast, until eventually the fast just becomes normal to you, as

though you couldn’t even imagine eating so early in the morning

anymore.

On an endnote, on top on increased dietary adherence,

intermittent fasting plays host to a multitude of other benefits,

Intermittent Fasting can (under the right circumstances):

improve insulin levels, increase the level of Human Growth

Hormone release, enhanced cellular repair, reduce insulin

resistance, improve blood pressure and a plethora of other

potential benefits. The take away is not to always believe the

general health misconceptions – sometimes it helps to go against

the grain and question your general beliefs. (4)

The “Starvation Mode” and “6 Meal” Myths

57

The biggest objection you may have about intermittent fasting,

even if you are just pushing your first meal later on, is the ever

fantasized “starvation mode,” you will have heard about in mass

media. I’m not saying that the starvation mode our bodies go

into doesn’t exist, but I am saying that you have been misled as

to how it actually works.

For those unfamiliar – the starvation mode (or Thermogenic

Adaptation as it’s officially known,) myth that is spread usually

involves the lie that by skipping a meal, your body immediately

reverts to starvation mode. What this supposedly means is that

the next time you eat, regardless of what you eat, the contents

will be immediately reverted into body fat.

The next biggest objection you may have should revolve around

the industry lie that “6 small meals per day stokes your

metabolic flame.” In essence believing that eating every 2-3

hours burns more calories.

58

Let me reassure you that both of these rumours are hogwash.

To answer them in order, the starvation mode that we are led to

believe exists in our body isn’t real. That’s not to say that the

“Starvation Mode” doesn’t exist, it does, but you’ve been

completely misled about how it actually works.

Starvation mode is a mechanism that your body enacts to

protect itself from starvation, but it isn’t “triggered” by skipping

a meal. Starvation mode as it is, refers to how your body

responds to a long term energy restriction. After a long spree of

restricting the bodies’ energy intake, the body can’t distinguish

this fat-loss diet from an environment of scarce food availability.

Because of that, it tries to fight this energy deficit by reducing

the energy expenditure.

For anyone reading this that has tried any variety of diet in the

past, that spanned longer than 8 weeks, you may have noticed

this phenomenon first hand. It starts out as this feeling of

general lethargy, but it eventually leads to a complete decrease

in overall energy levels. Everything from fidgeting to impulsive

walking starts gradually declining, while hunger levels and food

cravings conversely start to rise, so as to minimise the energy

shortage, and fight against “starvation.”

59

This process of “metabolic slowdown” can slow the rate of fat-

loss, but it cannot stop the fat loss altogether. This was proven

by the Minnesota Starvation Study.

The test subject above was Dan Miller. He was one of the

participants that took part in this study. He along with everyone

on the study were put on a 1570 calorie per day calorie deficit

Very Low Calorie Diet (VLCD.) The VLCD would have caused

metabolic damage, but still, by the end of the experiment, he

reached 5% body fat. The metabolic damage was not enough to

offset the calorie deficit.

Another set of proof comes from the case study of a 27 year old

Scottish man who was put on a 382 day fast in 1965. For 1 year

and 17 days, he ate NOTHING. And by the end of the study, he

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had lost nearly 300 pounds. Total starvation still couldn’t cause

enough metabolic damage to offset the deficit. (5)

Moving onto the next myth – You don’t need to eat every 2-3

hours to burn fat or “Stoke the metabolic flame.” This myth

revolves around the 2nd pillar of your maintenance calories – The

thermic effect of food.

As you know by now, your body burns calories by digesting food.

And the high protein diets will naturally burn more calories than

a diet higher in fat or carbohydrates. But it was theorized that

your metabolism can only burn all of these digestion-related

calories if the food is consumed throughout the day and that if

you consume all of your calories in 1-2 sittings, it doesn’t burn all

of those digestion-related calories.

61

This bit of Bro-science was disproven by the study done by

Aragon, Schoenfeld and Krieger on the “effects of meal

frequency on weight loss and body composition.”

The Meta-analysis concluded that there were no differences in

energy output, regardless of whether food was consumed at

regular intervals, or within a short time span. Therefore a diet

structure should be created based on what grants the most

adherence and willpower to the dieter. (6)

How to fast if you wake up before 7 AM

One of the biggest factors that determines how long you can fast

for comprise of when you wake up and how active you are

during your fasting window. If you wake up before 7AM, you are

going to have a harder time to make an 18 (or more) hour fast

than someone who wakes up later on in the day.

62

My personal recommendation is that if you wake up before 7 AM

that you only aim for a 16-18 hour fast. Now this isn’t set in

stone. If you can manage your hunger well enough during your

fast, than you can attempt a 20+ hour fast if you wish, but if you

truly struggle with hunger pangs on your fast, don’t try and push

yourself further than a 16-18 hour fast, you will drive yourself up

the walls.

Now if you were to attempt to build up to a 20+ hour fast with

an early wake up time, you would ideally tailor it to when you go

to sleep.

If for instance you wake up at 5, but you go to bed at 9 – your

Fast could end at 4 PM, and your 4 hour eating window could

start between 4 PM to 8 PM. In this same set of circumstances,

you could have your first optional sparkling water at anytime

between 6 & 9 in the morning, and you would have Coffees/Teas

at 11 AM, 1 PM & 3 PM. Once you’ve built up to this point – if you

find that you still aren’t happy, you could attempt to move all

your coffees forward an hour (I.E. First coffee/Tea at 12, last 4,)

and see if you enjoy a 3 hour eating window more, starting at 5

PM.

Find what works best for you – Balance is the key here.

Regardless of whichever fasting approach you aim for, be sure to

still follow the Diet Structure guidelines – just because you’re

eating all your food in a short span of time doesn’t mean there

isn’t still room to mess up.

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How to fast if you wake up after 7 AM

If you wake up after 7 AM, from my experience, you should have no

problem reaching an 18-20 hour fast. This should be the end goal for most

people who wake up later than 7 AM.

Following from the same logic and reasoning as the 16 hour fast, the

optimal eating pattern will be designed around managing Ghrelin.

Knowing that we now are working with a 4-6 hour eating window, the

best meal pattern is 2 LARGER MEALS, with strategic fruit use to induce

leptin release in between meals – managing you hunger with more ease.

If However, you are a “Late Sleeper” because you are a so called night owl,

you may want to readdress your eating pattern to fit this lifestyle.

This comes from my own personal experience as I myself go to bed at

about 12 – 1 AM, and rise anywhere from 7 – 9 AM depending on how well

I sleep. And because I’ve fully adopted this pattern into my Circadian

Rhythm, I’ve planned my Diet Structure around it. As I prefer a 20+ Hour

fasted diet structure, I opt to end my fast anywhere between 7 & 8 PM,

and finish it within an hour or 2 before bed at 11 PM.

How I plan my diet structure (and how I recommend you plan yours if

you too are a night owl,) is to see how you feel an hour or 2 before bed. I

used to stick to my standard structure of eating my salad at 7, followed an

apple at 8, then dinner at 9, then my treat at 10 and finish off the night

with an apple at 11. But I still found myself a bit puckish before bed, so I

Flipped the structure around. With coffees at 2, 4 & 6 respectively, my diet

structure starts at 7 with my Treat, apple at 8, dinner at 9 – and now I save

my salad (Plus an apple) for 11 PM. This meal before bed is just enough

Fiber and Protein to fill me until bed – no trouble with bedtime hunger

whatsoever.

So if you find that you also sometimes struggle with night-time hunger, I

suggest flipping the diet structure over as well.

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Meal Timing around workouts

This is a topic that often causes a lot of confusion and mental

anguish to fasters and non-fasters alike – and understandably so.

If someone told you that if you don’t eat 30 minutes after your

workout, you’ll lose strength & muscle – who wouldn’t freak out?

That said, these myths are exactly that – myths.

Founded on the “Anabolic window” glamorized by mainstream

fitness authorities, the idea was all about insulin timing and

protein timing for repairing the torn muscle fibres and replace

some of the muscle glycogen lost to the workout.

While these authorities aren’t wrong about the existence of this

window, they may have over-estimated the strictness of it’s

timing. While the fitness industry may have you believe that

eating within an hour after your workout is absolutely critical,

more up-to-date studies show that this anabolic window is a lot

more flexible than 1 hour post workout.

In fact, the studies depict a scenario where you can still met this

anabolic window 4-6 hours after your workout, no issue. ( )

That said, if you fast later on in the day, you probably train

fasted. When this is the case, the general recommendation goes

back to the standard “eat within an hour of training,” simply

because there is not enough empirical data to conclude how long

before this same window disappears on a fasted individual.

So on that point, my recommendation is to plan your workout

around your fasting window – Provided it doesn’t cause conflict

with your diet structure and adherence to both your diet and

your workouts.

65

To explain what I mean by this, If I were to follow this

recommendation with my current diet structure – I would

workout between 5ish & 6ish PM and still break my fast at 7 PM

with my natural circadian rhythm. However, this can be quite

late for some people, and the reality that they have to workout

that late may cause them to skip the workout from time to time

– which is more detrimental than simply missing your anabolic

window.

So, my recommendation is to stick with what works for you.

To add some light to this statement, I underwent an experiment

for a month to gauge for myself if this anabolic window really is

so severe for fasters.

I always suspected its wasn’t for a few reasons.

1) Fasting exhilarates Growth Hormone, so fasted training and

recovery should essentially be protected from this effect of

muscle loss, even for a few hours after training.

2) Fasted Training stimulates muscle fibres and either burn

glucose for energy, or bodyfat (depending on how depleted

your muscle glycogen stores are,) but will never burn Lean

Body Mass to stimulate muscle during a workout. With this

in mind, your body tends to remain in this state for several

hours after your workout – so the idea that if you don’t

consume protein an hour after your workout, your muscle

fibres will essentially eat themselves is ridiculous.

3) People have attempted multiday fasts (3 to 5 day,) and

worked out during these fasts – while they did not recover

due to a lack of nutrients and amino acids, there are plenty

of cases where they maintained all of their strength and

muscle during these fasts. The premise is that by

stimulating these muscle groups during the fast, the body is

forced to find energy elsewhere.

66

While this information is all based on speculation and theory,

it does give credit to the fact that maybe this window is not so

strict after all…

Because of that, for 1 month – I decided to keep my fast going

until 7 PM on work out days, but I would work out between

3:30 PM and 4:30 PM.

This meant an entire 2 and a half Hours past where I didn't

eat anything after my workout AND I was entirely fasted.

The Results?

For 1 month, I was eating at a 25% Deficit, working on Twice per week,

eating only 2,5 hours after my workout – and I LOST NO STRENGTH

OR MUSCLE.

In fact I had actually gained some muscle in some key movements

during this experiment.

Now I’m not going to take this as tried and true evidence that the

fitness industry are wrong, I am taking it as proof that not everything is

so black and white – challenge the norms and you may be surprised at

what you find out.

While I’m not necessarily advocating for you to do the same, I am

suggesting that if it helps you adhere to your diet and workouts better

if workout a few hours before you end your fast, then that is the best

option for you.

The Best Diet is one that you can best adhere to in the end.

And me?

I still workout between 3:30 and 4:30, but I choose to eat within an

hour after my workout. Adding on an extra hour to my eating window

doesn’t really make much of a difference in the end. Not to mention I

still save a coffee for after this post-workout meal, to blunt my hunger

for until dinner. I prefer this approach – you can try it as well…

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16 Hour Fast Meal Planning

As you are working up to a 16 hour Fast, this would mean that

you have an 8 hour eating window.

Having tested and reviewed several 3 meal formats, the optimal

one for managing hunger is getting 15-25% of your calories from

meal 1 and 2, and 50-60% of your calories from dinner. In the

case of an 1850 calorie diet:

Your first meal should be high in fibre and protein as these are

the two most satiating nutrients. For example a tin of Tuna with

500g of salad veggies. (210 Kcal: +/-15%)

Your second meal should have a moderate intake of fats and

carbs in order to get both short term satiety from the carbs and

long term satiety from the slow releasing fats. An example of this

is a grilled cheese & tomato sandwich. (If you are craving

something, this should be the meal to fit it in.)(420 Kcal: +/-25%)

Your final meal will be your biggest meal. People are wired to eat

more at night, it’s a primal and natural. Your final meal should

have a fair measure of Fats, Carbs and Protein for satiety and

taste. This meal should mainly aim to get the rest of your

Protein, as well as balance out the remaining Carbs and Fats. An

example of this would be 2 Lamb Chops, and about 400g of oven

roasted veggies. (910 Kcal: +/- 50%)

And the remaining Calories should come from 3 tactical uses of

fruit. The fruit consumed should be eaten about 1-2 hours after

each meal to manage your Ghrelin by mimicking a release of the

hormone Ghrelin. This release is because of something known as

the “satiety reflex.” When sufficient glycogen is delivered to the

liver, it sends a message through neural pathways that replicates

the feeling of being full. My recommendation is to have 3 apples,

each at 80 calories on average, thus creating the last few calories

you would need to meet your calorie target.

This would thus be a total of 1810 Calories, and 132g of protein.

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The 16 hour fast routine

Assuming your fast begins at 10 PM:

Have 1 coffee about an hour after you wake up, a second

coffee about 3 hours before you break your fast (so in this

case – 11 AM,) and your final coffee an hour before you

break your fast (1 PM.)

Have any other “fast extenders” before 2 PM, but since the

eating window will be 8 hours, ideally save some sparkling

water for the evening time.

Break your fast at 2 PM with your 1st meal

Anywhere between 3-4 PM, have an apple

Have your 2nd meal at 5 PM

Anywhere between 6-7 PM, have an apple and some

sparkling water (as this is the stretch of your eating window

where you will be hungriest.)

Have your last meal at about 8 PM

Have your last apple anytime you feel peckish between

9-10 PM

Stay well hydrated all throughout the day, especially during

the eating window to avoid the feelings of false hunger.

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18 Hour Fast Meal Planning

As you are working up to an 18 hour Fast, this would mean

that you have a 6 hour eating window.

Having tested and reviewed several 2 meal formats, the optimal

one for managing hunger is getting 30-40% of your calories from

meal 1 and 50-60% of your calories from dinner. In the case of an

1850 calorie diet:

Your first meal should be high in fibre and protein for satiety,

and fats for their slow release benefits on satiety. For example a

small Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowl. (This is the meal to fit in

your craving ideally.)(575 Kcal: +/- 30%)



have a high intake of protein and carbs for satiety and moderate

fat for taste. An example of this is a 12,5 Oz/350g T-bone

porterhouse steak and side salad. (1100 Kcal: +/- 60%)


fruit. The fruit consumed should be eaten about 1,5-2,5 hours

after each meal to manage your Ghrelin by mimicking a release

of the hormone Leptin. This release is because of something

known as the “satiety reflex.” When sufficient glycogen is

delivered to the liver, it sends a message through neural

pathways that replicates the feeling of being full. My

recommendation is to have 2 apples, each at 80 calories on

average, thus creating the last few calories you would need to

meet your calorie target. (9)


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The 18 hour fast routine


Have 1 coffee about an hour after you wake up, a second

coffee about 3 hours before you break your fast (so in this

case – 1 PM,) and your final coffee an hour before you break

your fast (3 PM.)

Have any other “fast extenders” before 4 PM, but since the

eating window will be 6 hours, there may still be problems

managing hunger so ideally still save some sparkling water

for the evening time.


Anywhere between 5:30-6:30 PM, have an apple and some

sparkling water (as this is the stretch of your eating window

where you will be hungriest.)

Have your Last meal at 8 PM

Have your last apple anytime you feel peckish between

9-10 PM


the eating window to avoid the feelings of false hunger.

71

20+ Hour Fast Meal Planning

As you are working up to a 20+ hour Fast, this would mean

that you have a 4 hour eating window.

Having tested and reviewed several 20 hour fast formats, the

optimal one for managing hunger is getting 20-30% of your

calories from meal 1 and 60-70% of your calories from dinner. In

the case of an 1850 calorie diet:

Your first meal should be high in fibre and protein for satiety,

and fats for their slow release benefits on satiety. For example

500g of salad veggies and a shredded Chicken breast (feel free to

add in some vinegar of your choice.) (380 Kcal: +/- 20%)



have a high intake of protein and carbs for satiety and moderate

fat for taste. An example of this is a 12 Oz/350g T-bone

porterhouse steak and side portion of chips. (This is the meal to

fit in your craving ideally.) (1300 Kcal: +/- 70%)


fruit. The fruits consumed should be eaten in between your first

meal and your last meal (about 3 hours and 1,5 hours respectively

before dinner,) to manage your Ghrelin, by mimicking a release

of the hormone Leptin. This release is because of something

known as the “satiety reflex.” When sufficient glycogen is

delivered to the liver, it sends a message through neural

pathways that replicates the feeling of being full. My

recommendation is to have 2 apples, each at 80 calories on

average, thus creating the last few calories you would need to

meet your calorie target. (9)


72

The 20+ hour fast routine


In this instance, I encourage 3 cups of coffee: one about 5

hours before you break your fast (so in this case – 1 PM,)

your 2nd coffee about 3 hours before you break your fast

(3:00 PM) and you final coffee an hour before you break

your fast (5 PM.) (Feel free to choose a different approach if

you find coffee this late has an effect on your sleep

patterns.)

Have any other “fast extenders” before 6 PM in order to

help push the fast until it hits the 20 hour mark, but since

the eating window will be 4 hours now, there should be no

problems managing hunger during the eating window so

feel free to drink your sparkling water during your fast.


Have your apples at around 6 Pm and 7:30 PM. As the last

meal will be so large, you should be so full that you won’t

need an apple afterwards. Though if you do, then by all

means, have your apple an hour after dinner.

Have your Last meal at around 9-9:30 PM


the fast to avoid the feelings of false hunger.

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The Time-Restricted Feeding (TRF) Strategy

This is the eating strategy followed to optimize hunger and

satiety when intermittent fasting cannot be used to manage your

Ghrelin peptide.

TRF follows a similar style of meal-splitting and food

distribution as IF, but TRF doesn’t allow for the individual to fall

into a catabolic state when awake.

The main objective of an optimal TRF strategy will be to train

your body to only truly feel hungry later on in the day, while

feeling only partially hungry in the early part of the day.

Having read this far, you know that breakfast isn’t the most

important meal, so there’s no need to make it the biggest. That

said, you will need to eat just enough during Breakfast and lunch

to sustain your blood sugar levels before dinner, while

simultaneously keeping you full enough to last until dinner. To

allow for the optimal hunger-management that TRF has, you

should only stick to breakfast, lunch and dinner – no snacks in

between.

The perfect meal distribution for TRF is 10-15% of your calories

for breakfast, 20-25% for lunch and 60-70% of your calories left

for dinner. Protein and fibrous rich Lunches are the key to

lasting until dinner time.

Fast Extender tools should also be utilized between meals to

manage ghrelin. Don’t consume any caffeine-based fast

extenders 5-6 hours before bed – so black coffee/green tea and

water should still be all you drink in the mornings, whereas the

sparkling water, chewing gum and low-calorie soft drinks are all

allowable between lunch and dinner.

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The TRF Routine + Meal Planning

As this situation is different and personal, your personal

preferences will have to play the biggest part in which Fast

extenders you use, which fast extenders to use or when

you eat your meals. Assume a 20% deficit, eating at 1800

Kcal.

Have any other “fast extenders” at any time in between

meals. Preferably black coffee/green tea should be drank

before lunch, but feel free to have another cup or two after

lunch too. The more challenging break in between meals

will be between lunch and dinner – so this should be the

point where use most of your fast extenders. I would

recommend Sparkling water early on after the lunch,

whereas things like gum and low-cal sodas should be

consumed at 1-3 hours before dinner.

Breakfast will assumably be eaten within two hours of

waking up (assume 9 AM.) As this will be the smallest

meal, what you eat will completely depend on you and you

alone. A few suggestions to start off will be a common

favorite in the fitness industry –a protein shake. Granted

it’s not very exciting, but it’s a good way to distribute

protein early on in the day, meaning that there is less

pressure for your dinner meals to be less protein-orientated

(160 Kcal) (Optionally, a protein bar is a common

alternative.) Then there is the option of letting a coffee/tea

be your breakfast. For those with low blood-sugar issues, a

typical cappuccino with sugar and maybe a small

biscuit is a good, low-calorie breakfast. Those however that

don’t have low blood-sugar problems should consider the

75

popular high-fat coffees/teas that are made with 1 Tbsp. of

butter and 1 Tbsp. of coconut oil – very good for mental

clarity and focus. (180-220 Kcal)

Have your lunch at around 1-2 PM. As you are likely to be

slightly hungrier now than at breakfast, your lunch-time

meal should be fairly high in protein and fibre. I know it’s a

staple of this program, but a tuna salad is perfect for the

situation. 1-2 tins of tuna and 500g+ of salad vegetables

should be able to hold you off until dinner time. (230-370

Kcal)

Have your dinner at 7-8 PM. Assuming that enough protein

was consumed during breakfast and lunch, there is less

pressure to eat a high protein meal for dinner – instead,

there is now flexibility enough to eat pleasurable meals. If

you have 3 cups (750g) of Spaghetti Bolognese and half a

cup (57g) of shredded mozzarella – you have now met your

goal of +/- 1800 Kcal, 150g+ of protein and you have had

enough carbs and fats to support your overall hormonal

health.


the period between meals to avoid the feelings of false

hunger.

76

Resources


(2) https://medicalxpress.com/news/2009-08-scientists-

hunger-timekeeper.html

(3) https://intensivedietarymanagement.com/fasting-

physiology-part-ii/

(4) https://authoritynutrition.com/10-health-benefits-of-

intermittent-fasting/

(5)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2495396/

pdf/postmedj00315-0056.pdf


(7) http://brainoverbinge.com/blog/

(8) http://www.defensenutrition.com/success-stories/

(9)http://journals.lww.com/psychosomaticmedicine/Citation/

1975/09000/Satiety_Is_a_Conditioned_Reflex.1.aspx


https://medicalxpress.com/news/2009-08-scientists-hunger-timekeeper.html

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2009-08-scientists-hunger-timekeeper.html

https://intensivedietarymanagement.com/fasting-physiology-part-ii/

https://intensivedietarymanagement.com/fasting-physiology-part-ii/

https://authoritynutrition.com/10-health-benefits-of-intermittent-fasting/

https://authoritynutrition.com/10-health-benefits-of-intermittent-fasting/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2495396/pdf/postmedj00315-0056.pdf

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2495396/pdf/postmedj00315-0056.pdf


http://brainoverbinge.com/blog/

http://www.defensenutrition.com/success-stories/

http://journals.lww.com/psychosomaticmedicine/Citation/1975/09000/Satiety_Is_a_Conditioned_Reflex.1.aspx

http://journals.lww.com/psychosomaticmedicine/Citation/1975/09000/Satiety_Is_a_Conditioned_Reflex.1.aspx

77

Diet Tricks – hunger management tools

Fast extenders VS Meal Extenders

Now we arrive at the subject of diet tricks, it’s obvious that

first and foremost, as the main premise behind managing your

hunger will originate from fasting, managing the fast itself is

of the utmost importance.

For this reason, we need to discuss what you can and cannot

consume while fasting. This theme breaks off into 2 problems:

1) Certain foods/drinks will break your fast, thus triggering a

release of ghrelin, defeating the main purpose of the fast

itself. In truth, it’s very simple, if you consume any more

than 1 gram of either fats, carbs or protein, this will break

your fast. Therefore, things such as black coffee/tea &

sparkling water, will not break your fast. You will find

enhanced energy and hunger management with these 2

items as opposed normal water. Optionally, you can add in

1 can of diet soda (the Zeros, like Coke Zero etc.) and test

to see if this affects your hunger levels. Now, theoretically

it shouldn’t interrupt your fast as these drinks contain no

macronutrients, and their calories come from artificial

sweeteners.

2) Certain foods, while they may not break your fast, they still

have properties that can initiate a minor ghrelin release.

Now this ghrelin release won’t cause any significant hunger

pangs, but certainly it can be enough to tempt you to break

your fast early. For this reason, the Length of the Fast

should determine which fast extenders you may have.

78

Black Coffee/Green Tea: Black coffee has been noted to

produce a hunger blunting effect comparable to a minor release

of Leptin, so because of this, these caffeinated beverages are fine

for any fast. As a side note, if you do drink black coffee on your

fast, try and make sure you only drink coffee fasted. While this

may seem silly, but in my experience, coffee loses some of its

hunger-blunting effects if consumed in a non-fasted state. For

optimal hunger management, try and make sure you only drink

your coffee fasted. I recommend you have between 2-3 mugs of

coffee/tea per day, varying depending on what you like best.

However, preferably only have your tea/coffee while fasted – a

cappuccino/chai tea/ whatever when you’ve broken your fast is

fine once every now and then, but try to keep all caffeine

consumption to the period of the day that you fast, doing

otherwise will only serve to build a stronger tolerance to the

caffeine and it’s hunger blunting effects.

Sparkling Water (non-flavored): Sparkling water also

produces a similar hunger-blunting effect to coffee (arguably a

stronger effect in fact,) however, make sure to utilize it’s use by

referring to the guidelines in the earlier sections on the different

Fast Routines.

Low Calorie soft drinks: So long as they are nearly calorie-free,

then these drinks will not break your fast, however, they will

have a negative effect on your Ghrelin over a long period of time.

So this fast extender is fine for shorter fasts of 16 or 18 hours for

the newer fasters but certainly no longer – and ideally try and

wean off of these beverages during your fasts. These soft drinks

however may serve you better to aid your hunger after your fast

79

as a Meal Extender. Be sure to get non-caffeinated diet sodas,

caffeinated sodas will tend to have adverse effects on your sleep.

Chewing Gum: Chewing gum is a grey area. Technically the

typical piece of chewing gum does have approximately 1+ gram

of carbs, but at the same time, chewing it doesn’t produce the

same release of ghrelin that most foods do. Now having said

that, I’m not saying that gum doesn’t instigate a ghrelin release,

because it does, but not in the short term. So if you want some

gum, 1 piece is fine for a 16 hour fast, but not longer. However,

like the Diet sodas, you will most likely find that chewing gum

will best serve you to aid in managing hunger after you’ve

broken your fast as a Meal Extender. I have personally made a

habit of saving gum for the evening after my last meal – it

manages my hunger more than any other meal extender or

strategic fruit snack ever could, and the constant chewing action

has saved me from more late night snacking/binging sessions

than I can count. It’s simple but it’s so Damn effective.

In conclusion, the following is a summary what you should and

shouldn’t have during your fasts and meals to manage your

hunger. These are rigid guidelines, and you can experiment

outside of the guidelines, but this is what works best to manage

hunger from my own tests, data and experience.

80

Fast Extenders

Meal Extenders

81

Water Intake to manage Hunger

Hunger management in general can be a tricky subject whether

or not you fast. But in both instances, one of the most relevant

factors for managing hunger is hydration status.

Before I explain why, I want you to think back onto your past

weight-loss diets – have you ever noticed those random bouts of

hunger pangs that come out of nowhere and have nothing to do

with your “circadian clock.” Well the chances are that those

minor hunger pangs in fact are not your body crying out for

food, but rather water.

Your body is 70% water as they say, and people very rarely meet

their hydration needs. For instance, if you take out all alcohol

consumption (because ethanol is an active dehydrator,) have

there ever been days where you barely even drank 3 glasses of

water? Our bodies cry out for water so often, (but most of the

82

time, not for very large amounts,) that this sensation is very

easily confused with hunger.

Studies estimate that most of all the hunger cravings

experienced by most people on the average day are in fact water

cravings. That means that most of the time you feel hungry,

you’re actually just slightly parched… (1)

Water intake is a very important variable to manage a fat-loss

diet, bringing up the question – how much do you need really?

Maybe not as much as you thought.

It is recommended that women get 2,5-3 litres and men get 3-,35

litres daily. But this is just a rough estimate, really, the amount

of water you need depends on your bodyweight. Eric Helms

recommends you get approximately 2/3 of your bodyweight in

lbs in fluid ounces. This includes coffee, tea and soft drinks but

excludes alcohol. So for instance, a 180 lb woman would need

about 120 fl Oz, which is about 3,5 litres.(2)

But how you distribute this will have a massive impact on your

diet adherence. If you can find the optimal way to distribute

these fluids throughout, it can drastically minimise your general

hunger levels. How you distribute these fluids should depend on

the length of your fast.

Going back to the example of the 180 lb women – if she has a 16

hour fast, she may find that she likes having 1,5 litres during her

fast and 2 litres during her eating window. Whereas, if she uses a

20 hour daily fast, she may find that it’s easier to consume about

2,5 litres of the 3,5 litres she needs. This would consist of all of

the coffee calorie free soft drinks, and sparkling water. I’m not

going to set a drinking schedule though, I would advise you to

83

experiment and see what you do best with – there is no one size

fits all.

Resources


(2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdFFrBByv-

E&list=PLJ7WpCWj2moBOjRJrJGWJeW5YWtmgaq40&inde

x=3


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdFFrBByv-E&list=PLJ7WpCWj2moBOjRJrJGWJeW5YWtmgaq40&index=3



84

Diet Structures

A diet structure to take over from calorie counting

Once you have mastered hitting specific calorie and protein

intake targets, the next step is to start molding these meals

into diet structures so you don’t have to constantly rely on a

calorie counting app.

The biggest problem most people have with these calorie

counting apps is that they don’t want to have count their

calories day in and day out. But the thing is that if you know

how to eyeball portions (for instance, you can guestimate

how much a steak ways,) and you can remember how a

calorie deficit feels when you eat according to your diet

structure – you don’t need to constantly rely on your calorie

counting app.

The truth is that after about 2 weeks to a month, you will be

able to know in your head how much food you can have and

what size to make your meals to get a caloric deficit by the

time you’ve finished eating. The easiest way is to stick to your

diet structures.

The diet structure that you stick to is set to help you combat

hunger while simultaneously making it easy to know how

much food you should have at every meal. When you

understand this format, you no longer have to rely on

counting your calories to achieve a daily 20-25% calorie

deficit – counting your calories everyday may be more

85

accurate, but after a while, you come to realize that you don’t

need an exact 700/600/500 calorie deficit.

It’s a process. After about a month, you can rely on your diet

structures (and not your app,) on days where you eat meals

you are very familiar with - ones you will know exactly how

much to eat from each meal.

As time goes on, you slowly start to rely less on your app as

you become more and more familiar with specific meals and

foods.

Eventually, you get to the stage where you only enter your

meals into an app once or twice a week. I personally know all

of my favorite meals very well, and I only enter my meals in

my app when I’m trying out new foods and meals that I’m not

familiar with.

But all in all, I know that by sticking to my 20 hour fasted

diet routine (which is my main fat-loss diet structure,)

and making good food choices (I.E chicken and fish in my

meals,) I will have no problem being in a calorie deficit and

making my protein requirements.

86

How Many Diet Structures should I have?

The answer to this differs from person to person, but in

general, when the goal is to lose weight, you will need more

than one diet structure.

Now I personally thrive on a 20 hour fast when I lose weight,

but I’m realistic enough to know that I cannot stick to the

same diet structure every single day. Because this assumes

that everyday will be identical. I personally have 2 diet

structures for weight (will illustrate them towards the end of

this chapter,) A structure for normal days when I have no

problem making the 20 hour fast, but also a structure for the

days I cannot realistically make a 20 hour fast, (if for instance

I’m going out in the afternoon, and if I break my fast early.)

For you, again, this varies from person to person, but I would

recommend that you try and limit yourself to 2 diet

structures.

Remember, fasting is lifestyle friendly. If you are going to

breakfast with friends, just have a black coffee/green tea (or

one of your other fast extenders.) If you are going out for

lunch or other such afternoon activities, you can still stick to

a 16/18 hour fast (depending on the activity.) And if you are

going out for dinner, well these are the days when it truly

pays to fast because of all of the calories you saved for the

evening. If you have to break your fast earlier than usual

(which you will if you go for an 18 hour+ fast,) this is what

you create a second diet structure for. Ideally keep everything

that was discussed about managing hunger in mind when

designing a secondary diet structure.

87

How to create a secondary diet structure

In order to create a second diet structure, we need to first

understand what we need this other diet structure for.

For instance, if you’re like me, you probably need it for days

when you may have late lunches for social gatherings. If this

is the case, then you will benefit most from utilizing one if

the other fasted diet structures (16 or 18 hour fasted

structures, depending on the time of the day you break your

fast.) So if you go for a lunch for instance, having a light

lunch (I.E. salad,) and then another light meal before dinner

would be ideal. Ultimately if you leave very little food for the

evening, you will tend to feel a great deal of stress and

anxiety about food that’s only going to make your diet

harder.

So realistically, the focus of the second diet structure is

more likely than not that you will consume your first

earlier than normal, so the diet structure must be designed

around making the rest of the day easy to stick to your

calorie budget.

If for instance you are used to fasting for 20 hours, but you

break your fast at the 16 hour mark, that’s not really a cause

for concern. In this instance, if you stick to the 16 hour fast

routine, you should have no problem sticking to your calorie

budget. Rather, a real problem would be that for some

reason, you had Binged. This may not have been intentional,

this could simply be the result of you breaking down and

binging on delicious foods in the fridge. We’ve all been there,

it is for that and other similar instances that we create the

secondary diet structure – A diet structure designed for

88

times when you feast early on in the day rather than

later on.

when this is the reason for the secondary structure, you will

find yourself in a hard position - thus the secondary diet

structure will primarily reprise of utilizing hunger-blunting

fast/meal extenders, strategic fruits and satiating low

calorie meals to make the rest of the day a breeze to stick to

your calorie target. If you can stick to both your calorie target

and your protein target – that is better, but if not, don’t

worry. Going low in protein every once in a while will not

cause you lose lean muscle just like that. Hit your calories

first and foremost, and if you are a little short on your protein

for the day, its fine (just make sure your calorie deficit isn’t

too severe.) Ultimately, if you really just overdid it on your

binge, don’t try and make your usual calorie target, it just

won’t work out in the long run – rather aim for maintenance.

For an idea on how to set this structure up, personal

experience will be needed, but be sure to take note of the

hunger blunting methods from “Abnormal Diet Structure.”

89

Normal Diet Structure (my normal diet structure)

Wake up and have a glass of water

At around 10 PM I have sparkling water

At 1 PM I have my first cup of coffee

second cup of coffee at 3 PM

Last cup of coffee at 5 PM

First meal at 6 PM (High fibre and high protein)

Have 2 apples between 6 PM and 9 PM

At around 9 PM I finish off with a high carb, high fat and

high protein feast meal to get the rest of my macronutrients

and calories for the day.

I usually finish eating my last meal by around 9:30 PM and if

on the off chance that I’m not completely full, I have a few

pieces of gum to make sure I don’t go late night snacking.

90

Abnormal Diet structure (What I do when I eat more

earlier on in the day)

Wake up and have a glass of water

At 1 PM I have a second cup of coffee

I eat most of my calories anywhere between 2 PM and 6 PM

(either as a planned lunch as a social gathering, or I break

down and succumb to my willpower and binge – both often-

occurring scenarios. If I plan for this, I try to make sure that

my feast is protein orientated (e.g. a half chicken or a large

steak.) But in general, if this is an unplanned feast, I worry

less about the protein and more on making sure I don’t go

over my calorie budget for the day. The key is to not guzzle

everything straight out of the fridge, but to put it all on a

plate and guestimate what I will be consuming. In general, I

know what it feels like to eat a 1200kcal+ meal. Filling foods

are obviously extremely helpful to include.)

In between the feast and dinner time, I drink plenty of water,

sparkling water and whatever non-caffeinated meal extenders

at my disposal, as well 1-2 strategic fruits.

I finish the day anytime between 8:30 and 9:30 PM with what

normally would be my first meal (High fibre and protein,) a

tuna salad is great in this instance for how filling it is.

As a side note, If you can, try to enter your calories if you

binge – it makes it easier to keep track of your calorie budget

if you do.

91

Exercise

Cardio – my recommendation

Many fitness circles will have you believe that cardio is

absolutely vital to weight-loss, but in truth – it is completely

optional.

Remember, fat loss is a numbers game – calories in vs calories

out. Even without cardio, you are still burning calories and

therefore, you can still be in a calorie deficit. Cardio is

unnecessary to lose weight.

That said – cardio is still useful.

Cardio should only be seen as a means to burn more calories,

and give you more room to eat while staying in a caloric deficit.

That is the only way you need to view cardio for fat-loss.

Now the caveat with cardio is that it can be hunger-inducing.

Most people feel hungrier than they normally would if they

introduce some form of sweat-breaking, intense cardio. This

would make the diet harder, so it would undo the exact benefits

of cardio in the first place.

So the goal here is to introduce a form of cardio to give you

more leverage to eat more on your diet, while still having a

neutral effect on hunger. One form of cardio is perfect for this.

Walking, also known as steady state cardio, actually has very

little impact on your ghrelin levels. Studies even go so far to say

that about 60 minutes of brisk walking (or about 7km/5miles,)

will have no significant impact on your hunger levels while in a

caloric deficit. (1)

92

Therefore, to reap all the benefits of steady-state cardio, you

should aim to do 60 minutes of walking on your non-gym days.

Anymore than this may have an impact on your ghrelin levels

and thus make the diet harder than it needs to be.

To give you a target, I would say to keep your steps anywhere

between 8000 & 9000 steps TOTAL per day. You can keep track

of this with a pedometer app like “Stepz.”

93

Resistance Training – the key to muscle maintenance

With the primary goal of this program being effortless weight-

loss, the resistance training routines will be centered primarily

on the minimal key effort required to maintain lean muscle mass

while on a deficit.

The minimal key effort required to maintain lean muscle on a

fat-loss diet is to only train each muscle group twice per week,

and maintain strength on all key lifts. (2)

In order to do that effectively, a 2 day per week, full body routine

is all that will be necessary to maintain your lean mass.

The full body routine is best split up into an upper-body Push

Day (for all push related exercises,) and a lower-body Push Day.

The focus of the resistance training routines for men and women

is all on maintaining muscle by means of maintaining strength

on all of your key lifts. The reason why is because the biggest

indicator of protein synthesis (gaining muscle,) is progressive

tension overload (gaining strength on key lifts over time.) Put

another way, have you ever seen a skinny person bench-pressing

400lb?

So by extension, maintaining strength on these key lifts is the

biggest indicator that very little (if any) lean muscle is being

burned in the caloric deficit.

The time of day that you decide to train isn’t very flexible

unfortunately. You will need to base the time of day that you

train around when you plan to break your fast.

You can either workout an hour (Maximum) before you break

your fast (yes, you can train fasted,) or any time after you finish

your fast.

94

Now you can train fasted and so long as you break your fast

afterwards, there won’t be any significant protein breakdown

occurring during the training.

Nutrient timing isn’t as important for muscle maintenance as

the fitness industry would have believe. First of all, you can train

fasted and still have as much strength as you would if you aren’t

fasted. Being fasted doesn’t affect your strength, only your

endurance. Secondly, hitting your protein goals is the most

important goal for maintaining muscle, the timing is less

important. (3)

This Nutrient timing (better known as the anabolic window for

working out,) has little impact on muscle breakdown. Lots of

bodybuilders that train fasted can actually gain strength (and by

extension, muscle) even though they are training in a fasted

state. Very little studies have gone into this, but I suspect that

this is due to the trend that they consume a lot of protein (above

100g,) in the evening, providing them with amino acids in the

blood stream that release hours after being consumed anyway.

So you can train fasted or non-fasted, I recommend that

whichever you decide on, you stick to that routine. Differences

in training states can produce anabolic effects that can be

masked as increased strength, where it’s really just differences in

excess energy from food. So if you train fasted, try and stick to

that, and just break your fast soon afterwards.

95

Men’s Resistance Training Routine

Day 1 (Tuesday)

1) 2 sets of bench press (progressively adding on weight,

heavier set: 4-6 reps, second set, slightly lower weight (5-10

pounds less.) 6-8 reps. The starting weight should be 80%

of your one rep maximum.)

2) 3 sets of pull-ups (Progressing to 3 sets of 12, progressing

onto weighted pull-ups.)

3) 2-3 sets of hammer dumbbell curls (progressively adding

weight, heavy set: 4-6 reps, lighter set(s): decrease weight

by 10 pounds, and aim to add 2 extra reps each time. The

weight should be 80% of your one rep maximum.)

4) 3 sets of Upright Cable Rows (progressively adding on

weight, heavier set: 4-6 reps, second set, slightly lower

weight (5-10 pounds less.) 6-8 reps, final set 5 – 10 pounds

less, 8-10 reps.)

5) 2-3 sets squats (progressing until about 3 sets of 15, then

progressing onto sets of weighted squats, and eventually

pistol squats.)

6) 2 sets of ab wheel rollouts (as many as you can)

(Aim for about 1-2 minute breaks in between sets.)

96

Day 2 (Friday)

1) 3 sets of incline bench press (progressively adding on



less, 8-10 reps. The starting weight should be 80% of your

one rep maximum.)

2) 2 sets of Barbell Push Presses (progressively adding more

weight, 6-10 for the heavy set, 8-12 for the lighter set.)

3) 2-3 sets of Barbell Curls (progressively adding weight, heavy

set: 4-6 reps, lighter set(s): decrease weight by 10 pounds,

and aim to add 2 extra reps to each other set. The starting


4) 3 sets of Push-up variations (progressing by increasing reps

until 3 sets of 12, then progressing onto diamond push-ups,

and then eventually one-arm push-ups. All depends on

your current level of strength)

5) 2 sets of Deadlifts (progressively adding more weight, 6-10

for the heavy set, 8-12 for the lighter set.)

6) 3 sets of hanging leg raises (progressing to 3 sets of 12, from

there progressing onto hanging leg raises into a V shape,

and then progressing onto hanging body raises)


97

Women’s Muscle Tone Routine

Day 1 (Tuesday)

1) 2 sets of bench press (progressively adding on weight,

heavier set: 4-6 reps, second set, slightly lower weight (5-10

pounds less. 6-8 reps. The starting weight should be 80% of

your one rep maximum.)

2) 3 sets of pull-up variations (Progressing from assisted pull-

ups, from there you progress until 3 sets of 12 of complete

pull-ups, progressing onto weighted pull-ups.)

3) 2-3 sets of hammer dumbbell curls (progressively adding

weight, heavy set: 4-6 reps, lighter set(s): decrease weight

by 10 pounds, and aim to add 2 extra reps each time. The

starting weight should be 80% of your one rep maximum.)

4) 3 sets of Lateral Pull-Downs (progressively adding on



less, 8-10 reps.)

5) 2-3 sets of Goblet Box Squats (progressing until about 3 sets

of 15, then progressing onto sets of weighted squats, and

eventually pistol squats.)

6) 2 sets of ab wheel rollouts (as many as you can)


98

Day 2 (Friday)

1) 3 sets of incline bench press (progressively adding on weight,

heavier set: 4-6 reps, second set, slightly lower weight (5-10 pounds

less.) 6-8 reps, final set 5 – 10 pounds less, 8-10 reps. The starting


2) 2 sets of seated Dumbbell Push Presses (progressively adding more

weight, 6-10 for the heavy set, 8-12 for the lighter set.)

3) 2-3 sets of incline Dumbbell Curls (progressively adding weight,

heavy set: 4-6 reps, lighter set(s): decrease weight by 5 pounds, and

aim to add 2 extra reps to each other set. The starting weight should

start off as 80% of your one rep maximum.)

4) 2-3 sets of Push-up variations (progressing all the way from knee

assisted push-ups, then progressing onto normal push-ups reps

until 3 sets of 12 reps , then progressing onto diamond push-ups,

and then eventually one-arm push-ups. All depends on your current

level of strength)

5) 3 sets of Sumo Deadlifts (progressively adding more weight, 4-16 for

the heavy set, 6-8 for the medium set, 8-10 for the lighter set.)

6) 3 sets of hanging leg raises (progressing to 3 sets of 12, from there

progressing onto hanging leg raises into a V shape, and then

progressing onto hanging body raises)


Resources



(3) http://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1550-

2783-10-53



http://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1550-2783-10-53

http://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1550-2783-10-53

99

The Psychology of Weight-Loss

How to view your Diet

Here’s an interesting thought – how many people cringe just

off of hearing the word diet?

The process of dieting for fat-loss has been perverted in the

minds of most people who hear even the mere word “diet.”

This comes from the notorious association of horrible food,

strict eating plans and rigorous exercise regimens that are

commonplace in the fitness world.

Another interesting thought – whenever you have been on a

diet in the past, have you ever caught yourself saying “I can’t

wait for this diet to be over so I can go back to eating

normally.”

This is again the repercussion of the unsustainable lifestyle

plans of the fitness industry.

We are programmed to think this way because I mean really,

who can live like this?

A diet needs to be 2 things to be successful in both the long

term and the short term – It has to firstly produce results,

and it has to secondly be sustainable.

100

This Exact diet was designed so that anyone who undertakes

it can see their results, and live in a way that’s sustainable

simultaneously. If you want to reach and maintain low levels

of body-fat, you have to see your diet as more than just a

means to an end….

For you to stay in a low level of body fat, you have to undergo

a mental-shift. Your diet has to become a way of living.

Now of course I’m not saying you have to eat in a deficit for

the rest of your life. But the eating strategies given to you in

this book give you an ENJOYABLE WAY to eat at your

maintenance calories when you have reached your body fat

goal.

Your diet needs to become a part of your lifestyle if you want

to walk around with abs year-round rather than during most

of the summer.

101

Diet Periodization

There was a study that pit 2 groups of dieter’s. The study was

proposed to put people on diets, where one group were on a

diet all the way through, while the other group were given a

break midway through the diet where they ate at

maintenance. At the end of the study, both groups of people

lost the same amount of weight. (1)

What happened here? Well both groups took breaks from

their diet, but one group did so unintentionally. What

happens is that if you don’t take planned breaks from your

diet and eat at maintenance for a while – your willpower will

break and you’ll break your diet anyway.

The benefits of taking planned breaks from dieting are

numerous really.

On top of the psychological benefit this has for your

willpower, breaking your diet and eating at maintenance also

helps prevent the “metabolic slowdown” that occurs with

long term dieting that was previously discussed as the actual

“starvation mode.”

Catabolic slowdown of the bodies’ energy output is only

natural when on a caloric deficit – it’s the bodies’ personal

defense system against what it interprets as potential

starvation. So taking planned, weeklong breaks will in

essence stop the body from this producing this phenomenon.

Now, a popular standard in the fitness industry is to take a 1

week break after every five weeks of dieting, amounting to

taking off approximately 14 days every three months.

While I like that period of time off, I don’t recommend that

diet break structure for two reasons:

102

1) Being able to diet through an entire 5 weeks is asking a bit

much to the vast majority of dieters. You will find that

most people (myself included,) will end up taking an

impromptu diet break/binge eating weekend or two

during the last few weeks of those five weeks, simply

because it’s still too long to be in a deficit.

2) Most people, even those who are a few pounds away from

their goal body-fat percent, often find that they don’t need

an entire week off, they can in fact receive all of the

physiological and psychological benefits of diet breaks

from the first 3-5 days of the diet break – meaning that the

remaining days in the break are nothing more than wasted

days.

What I recommend is to simply take the last 3-5 days of every

month that you diet off, and eat at maintenance on these days

only.

By doing this, you are not only less likely to break your diet out

of lack of patience/motivation, and you are only taking as much

time as you need off, no more, no less. And in doing so, you still

take off around two weeks (9-15 days) every 3 months of dieting.

Now, as a rule of thumb, the more body-fat you have to lose, the

less time you will likely need off at the end of every month. To

illustrate this:

A Man above 14% body-fat / Woman above 20% body-fat would

take the 28th, 29th and 30th of September off at maintenance.

A Man below 14% body-fat / Woman below 20% body-fat would

take the 26th, 27th, 28th, 29th and 30th of September off at

maintenance.

103

Self-Image and why you may not be losing weight

There are numerous potential causes for not being able to

maintain your lost weight - ranging from miscalculating

calorie intake and portion sizes to midnight snacking and

boredom eating. But what if the thing that’s holding your

shredded six pack back the most is in fact the way you see

yourself?

Let me explain. Have you ever noticed the way you see

yourself is identical to the way you are? You wear the same

clothes you see yourself wearing, you date the people you

picture yourself dating, and you are the same body-fat

percent you probably see yourself at.

Now this may seem like a pointless statement but the way

you see yourself has an IMMENSE impact on the outcome of

your life. I first learned this from Bob Proctor. (2)

104

(3)

Bob explained in a seminar that our sub-conscious mind

works like a cybernetic-mechanism.

Now a Cybernetic Mechanism works in the same fashion as

an air conditioner – it has a set point of what temperature the

room should be and whenever the general temperature

fluctuates from this point, the air conditioner stabilizes

back to its set temperature by adjusting the

temperature either higher or lower. The self-image

works in the exact same way.

Even if you reach low levels of body-fat, but in your mind –

you still see yourself as overweight, your self-image is going

to bring you back to your initial body-fat percent –

guaranteed. It can do it by subtly convincing you to eat more

and making you think that this is the right thing to do.

The only way to prevent this from happening is to change

your self-image.

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(4)

Now I wouldn’t have made an entire sub-chapter on this

subject if it was easy to change your self-image.

There is one true method that is best suited to help you

change your self-image: Autosuggestion.

Autosuggestion (something I learned from a mentor Radu,)

is the process of adapting to a new self-image by simply

doing all the things that the person you see in your new self-

image doing, and eventually you will just acclimate to that

self-image. You basically just BECOME the person you see in

your mind, by doing the things they would do. (4)

The method that best allows autosuggestion to take place

effectively is through the use of Daily Affirmations.

You may remember the reference of Daily Affirmations

from books like “The Secret” or any other books that

reference the power of “the law of attraction.”

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Now while implying that the use of the law of attraction is all

that it takes to achieve your goals is hogwash. To boil it down

to an analogy, you aren’t going to make a million dollars just

sitting around and believing you will, you’ve got to go out

and do something to actually earn that Million Dollars – it’s

not going to appear out of nowhere.

But at the same time, if you don’t believe you are going to

make that million – doesn’t matter how hard you work, you

will undoubtedly self-sabotage along the way.

To get personal, I have a story of why exactly daily

affirmations and working to achieve your goal are both

important.

In 2015, when I was a second-year in university, I wanted so

badly to get a bursary. As a student, I really needed the extra

money.

I worked countless hours, studying all of my subjects in the

hope I would get the 75% average I needed to get my

academic bursary. But amidst all this hard work, something

really interesting happened – I gave in before I even wrote

any major exams.

Why? Well, I had always been a very poor performing

student in high school, and that cultivated the idea that I just

wasn’t very academic, and that I was doomed to mediocre

grade even in university. I couldn’t see myself getting the

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grades I wanted because it just didn’t fit my self-image. Sure

enough, in 2015 I did not get the 75% average.

Then in my final year I came across the self-image video by

Bob proctor and it had put everything into perspective. To

get the bursary I needed, I needed to change my self-image

first.

Now in the book “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill, he

speaks about using a goal card for your daily affirmations. I

tried this, but I found it to be ineffective – when I read my

daily affirmations from my goal card, I did so half-heartedly,

and I didn’t really believe what I was telling myself.

Then, after Rummaging through self-development content

on YouTube, I came across a YouTuber “Clark Kegley.” Now

Clark is well-known for work with journaling, and after

watching his content on journaling, I realized that journaling

was actually a far more effective tool to recite daily

affirmations that a goal card.

By making a daily entry into your journal, you have space to

write in your daily affirmation, but also, you can add in 3

points about why you want your goal so badly (important for

motivation,) and still space to write in a few daily tasks that

will help you achieve your goal (a rather effective way

creating a To-Do list.) Once I had accomplished my daily

tasks, I would tick them off of the list one by one, and this

would keep me motivated all throughout the, while

simultaneously changing my self-image. (6)

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Needless to say that this worked. I finally saw myself getting

good grades – excelling academically. Not only did I get my

bursary, but I actually won an award for “Best Student.” Tell

me that the self-image isn’t a powerful psychological

mechanism now…

For those with an interest in journaling, there will be a

bonus resource – showing you exactly how to make an epic

journal to help with changing your self-image, smashing your

goals and being more productive. This “Journal Bonus” will

be in your inbox

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Body-Fat Set Point – a strategy to beat it

Have you ever wondered why it is that some people stay lean

even though they have the eating habits of a water buffalo?

They radiate this image that they can eat whatever they want

and never get fat, most people laugh it up to a steadfast

metabolism.

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If you’ve read everything through thoroughly until this point,

you will know now that this simply can’t be true.

There are instances of people with Higher-than-normal BMR

rates and instances of people with Lower-than-normal BMR

rates.

But even for the people with these abnormally high or low

BMR rates, if they want to put on weight or lose weight, they

just simply have to adjust their caloric intake until they find

their actual caloric maintenance, and work from there to

lose/gain weight.

That said, many of these lean people do still eat what should

be a fair enough portion of calories to gain weight, (for

instance, some competitive eaters like “Matt Stonie.”) but

even after that, they still stay pretty much the same –so

what’s happening here?

Over-eaters like Matt probably have a very low Body-Fat

settling point (or ‘set point’ for short.)

Now what is the Body-fat set point and how does it

affect you?

Everyone has a body-fat set point, men and women both have

a graded range of body-fat percentages hardwired into their

body, which is where your body prefers to hover around. This

is one of the mechanisms that our body utilizes as a tool for

survival pf our DNA against times of food scarcity. (7)

Before you jump the gun claiming that you have a really high

body-fat set point, as a reason why you may be overweight,

what you need to understand is that while everyone has

different set points, and indeed, some people do have lower

body-fat set points, the body-fat settling point is in a fairly

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lean, very specific range for both men and women -

illustrated below.

The body-fat settling point ranges for everyone never fall

below or exceed the ranges given above.

But there are other factors that affect your general body-fat

levels such as habits, social influences and environment.

For instance, if you have a body-fat set point of around 7-10%

but you are in an environment where there is nothing but

calorically dense junk food, surrounded by people who live

for their junk food, and you as a person generally aren’t very

active – after a long enough period of this, you will become

obese…

The body-fat settling point is merely the genetics that factor

in to people’s ability to stay lean. Now there are factors that

can deter short term weight-gain like the availability of

adipocytes in the fat stores. If there are limited fat storage

cells to begin with, this can make it difficult to displace the

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excess calories into the fat storage, and a lot of time, the

excess calories can just be placed into glycogen stores or just

simply not processed by the body.

This lack of adipocytes is why skinny people gain fat slower

than overweight people, but over time, these lipid fat cells

will replicate and expand, and you will put on fat.

So why, if people do have these bad food habits, do they stay

lean?

Well there’s a good chance you are only seeing a small part of

the full picture. These people may not eat this way all the

time. There are other instances where they tell you how

much they eat but still stay the same, well the chances are

that a lot of food for them is practically nothing for you – it’s

all relative.

But there are rare circumstances where these lean people

genuinely do have these ridiculous eating habits and still

manage to stay lean – they do so because their low body-fat

set point interrupts the fat-gain.

When they’re habits are likely to cause weight-gain above

their settling point, the body tends to fight back by burning

more calories (Through NEAT mostly,) decreasing appetite,

and often enough – making you sick to avoid eating and

balance out the long term fat gain with a short caloric deficit.

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Now this of course works both ways. Your body doesn’t want

you gain weight above your set point, just as it doesn’t want

you to lose fat below your set point. Just as it fights against

fat gain with increased energy expenditure and reduced

appetite – it will fight against weight-loss with increased

hunger and as well as plummeted energy (and therefore,

activity levels.)

You will know when you arrive at this point when your body

just seems to be struggling more with weight-loss than

before.

If you are still a short distance from your goal body-fat

percent, don’t stress, there is a strategy to fight this…

Eat more.

Yes you read that – eat more.

If your diet structure still doesn’t feel like it’s enough to make

attaining this goal possible (which can happen to those that

fast for less that 20-23 hours,) the best thing you can do now

is ease the body into a slower deficit.

This can be done either by reducing your daily caloric deficit,

or taking an extra refeed day per week, whichever works best,

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this decision will come down to personal preference – which

do you prefer: eat slightly more every day, or take an day of

eating at maintenance.

(But sticking to a 20-23 hour fast is another way to overcome

the hunger from your set point.)

The Boredom eating dilemma

Now this issue is often overlooked as a big problem among

the fitness industry. “Experts” hear about the subject and

respond to it with a “don’t eat out of boredom” remark –

trivializing the problem.

But boredom eating often leads to offsetting calorie deficits

and going so far as creating caloric surpluses of as much as

2000/3000 calories. This is not a laughing matter.

How do you prevent boredom eating? There are 3 ways I

know work very well.

1) This seems blatantly obvious but just don’t be bored…. The

reason you look for food when you’re bored is your minds

way of looking for instant gratification – so if you keep

your mind continuously occupied, you’ll notice you don’t

even think about food.

Think back to times when you were so engaged with what

you were doing - so engulfed in your current activity, that

you can barely take your mind off of it. A good example of

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this is reading a thoroughly interesting book, or playing an

enticing videogame – you can barely put you

book/controller down. If you keep your mind busy,

especially at night when you’re most likely to crave

something out of boredom I guarantee boredom eating

will not be a problem.

2) Leave yourself something for the period when you are

most likely to crave.

Most people (especially those who fast, feel the strongest

cravings at night-time. If you leave yourself something to

eat long after dinner, such as an apple – you are then

boredom eating on purpose, thus not breaking the rules of

your diet. A simple solution, but very effective.

3) Lastly, if you find that you are in fact prone to boredom

eating, especially at certain times of the day – you need to

make sure you stay away from the line of sight of any food

at that time.

When you have to look at food (even if it’s not particularly

appetizing food,) you are making food decisions not to eat

that food. Now keeping in mind that your willpower is

finite, and in greater supply at the beginning of the day as

opposed to the end of the day – the later on that you have

to endure making food choices just simply whithers away

what little willpower you have by the end of the day. You

know that you have more willpower during the day

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because you are more easily able to resist boredom eating

during the day than at night.

Eventually after this continuous torture, you just give in

and say “oh what the hell, why not?”

If you have the option, stay away from the kitchen after

dinner, the further the better. But if you do end up in the

kitchen, do yourself a favor and make sure that there are

no visible containers of food lying around – especially if it’s

something you love.

Know Your Weaknesses

I make the case that when you indulge in what you’re

craving, but still fit it into your calorie budget – you will

have an easier, saner diet.

But there are a few foods that you are constantly craving

(even if you don’t know it.) These few foods are the treats

that once you start - you don’t stop until you’ve finished it.

I call these foods “Binge Triggers.”

The average person has at very least one binge trigger, but

most people have more than one. From my experience,

people have on average 5 foods that trigger them to binge

more than anything else.

If you buy these foods in large quantities, that can be very

dangerous to you daily energy deficit, and unintendedly

result in more weekly refeed days than were initially

intended.

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Trying to avoid these foods is unrealistic in the long term,

instead of this I say be honest with yourself about them.

Acknowledge what these foods are and understand that if

you’re going to eat these foods, you’re going to eat all of it

– and simply plan your meals around this.

The first thing you have to do is give a long hard think of

what these 5+ foods, that you simply can’t stop eating, are.

This will require honesty on your part. Once you’ve figure

out what these foods are, write them down and stick them

on your fridge.

Like so.

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Now having these displayed on your fridge reminds you

that indulging in these types of foods will only create an

all-out splurge, if these treats are bought in big quantities.

So keeping this list on your fridge should serve to remind

you that when you buy these trigger foods, you should

only get them in quantities that you intend to eat that day

and no more.

For instance, when I feel like indulging in ice cream or

frozen yogurt, I would simply buy a single magnum ice

cream stick (my favorite,) or an entire low-medium

volume of low-calorie frozen yoghurt that I can easily fit

into my calories. Such as:

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This entire tub is about 600 calories, which is very easy to fit into

my calorie budget, not to mention how filling it is. This is a good

example of how efficient food choices will make your diet easier.

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The “I’ll make up for it tomorrow” mindset

The regressive nature behind this mindset is one of the biggest

pitfalls of modern day dieting.

When people have these thoughts it’s usually after they’ve eaten

more than they planned to, and are now feeling the guilt…

Look, everyone screws up their diet every now and then – even

pro bodybuilders who are doing contest preparation, trying to

cut down to extremely low levels of body-fat.

But this reaction to breaking your diet is worse for you than the

excess food you just ate – it means you have a very hazardous

mindset that isn’t conducive to a long term diet.

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If you have a fair amount of weight to lose, you will need to stay

focused on your diet, but at the same time, you have accept

yourself as you are presently.

If you are thinking “I’ll make up for it tomorrow,” shows that you

don’t accept yourself as you are now, you can’t wait to get lean,

and you don’t believe that you can spend another day more than

usual on diet.

Let me tell you, if you aren’t loving the process of getting lean,

the chances are you won’t stay lean for very long.

Rather than trying to make up for it the next day, making the

diet any worse than it has to be – I say just accept that you

screwed up, accept that getting lean won’t make you happy, and

just go back to your normal diet tomorrow.

Remember, relapsing is a part of the process.

If you enjoy your diet, enjoy seeing the difference in the mirror

every day, enjoy feeling good about yourself, and you want to

lose weight and get lean more than you want food – trust that

you will get and stay lean.

But, there is something you can do to minimize your cheating.

Change your reaction to cheating…

More specifically, instead of trying to make up for it, make a

promise to yourself that you must now eat the same way

tomorrow and for the next six days too.

So if you binged and ate in a 600 calorie surplus, make a promise

to yourself to be in a 600 calorie surplus for the next ahead.

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Why the hell would you do that?

By knowing that cheating your diet (being in a surplus,) means

that you have to keep being in a surplus, people will naturally

become less inclined to cheat now knowing that they can’t make

up for it, and furthermore that such behaviour will actually

cause further harm than you may be prepared for in the first

place.

And if you can keep yourself accountable to this promise,

chances are you’re going to cheat your diet a lot less frequently

than normal.

Is this reverse psychology? You bet.

Try it out. The next time you think you’re about to eat your way

into a surplus, remember what that will mean for you. Bare in

mind that you have no chance to make up for this tomorrow and

that by continuing to overeat, you will only seal your fate to have

to diet for longer, I very much doubt you will continue stuffing

your face.

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The importance of “burning the ships”

I first heard about this sentiment of “burning the ships” when I

read about Alexander the Great, and his conquest of Persia.

Alexander’s army were greatly outnumbered by Persian soldiers,

and the odds of success were not looking in their favor. What

Alexander did to motivate his men was unanticipated – he

ordered them to “Burn the ships.” How did that motivate them

you ask?

Alexander’s army arrived to their designated battle preparation

grounds via ships – they were taking on the Persian army in their

home grounds. So by burning the ships, Alexander’s army were

left with no plan B. They had no choice, fight and conquer or

fight and die. No retreat.

Believe it or not, in the face of overwhelming odds - they won.

So to recap this aspect of “no retreat,” how in turn does this

apply to your weight-loss journey?

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To state the obvious, you cannot allow yourself the option of

retreating – going back to the way you were. If you allow yourself

the mere possibility of putting back your lost weight, this

possibility will always sit in the back of your mind, and if you for

instance, hit a weight-loss plateau – it fosters a subconscious

“Okay, I guess I can just go back to the way I was,” mentality –

and you then voluntarily put the weight back on. Something to

combat this really comes down to something as simple as

throwing away your old clothes that are too big for you now.

But then, this recommendation works well for those that

actually get to their goal body fat percentage – but what about

those that don’t?

Another key to success in achieving any goal is to not be able to

retreat when you are on your way to achieving it. So what is the

best way to burn the boats when you get started?

Accountability. Specifically public accountability.

You are far more likely to stick to your goal if you have made

your goals known to others, especially if they hold you

accountable to it.

After all, Imagine how you would feel to tell the world that you

are going to get to single digit body-fat, in 3 months… and you

don't deliver. How do you feel now?

Pretty foolish I would imagine.

Now I’m not telling you to go and post your diet, your plan, goal

and body pictures on social media – there’s a more practical way

to keep yourself accountable to others.

For instance, if you join my exclusive Effortless Dieters group,

and you find an accountability buddy/group, chances are that a

weekly message to this buddy/group with progress pictures, I

think you officially just burned your ships…

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Size Matters – The small plate strategy

At first glance, which salad looks more filling?

A

Or B

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Obviously B Right?

But as you look closer and closer at these two salads, and

account for how small the size of Plate B is, you will undoubtedly

start to realize that there probably isn’t very much more food in

plate B as opposed to plate A. The question arises – “why does

Plate B look like an utter mountain of food even though it

probably doesn’t have that much of a difference in food quantity

compared to Plate A?”

The answer is Perspective!

Not only are the two photos positioned differently (with plate B

zoomed in more,) but the relative quantity of food on plate B

makes the plate look small (or more specifically, makes the meal

look huge.)

And even though, you may realize that there isn’t as much food

on your plate as there seems to be, subliminally, you are still

convinced that you are eating more food than in reality.

And the studies support this.

In an article published by the University of Cornell, a meta-

analysis concluded that halving your plate size can reduce food

consumption by as much as 30% and produce higher levels of

satiety (and therefore, Leptin.) (8)

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With this study in mind, you can use this strategy both at home,

and at social events.

At home, you can choose the smallest plates that can fit your

meals. You can even go so far as to split your food into multiple

small plates that make each portion of food look large. Using

this at home is probably much easier than using this trick when

you’re away from home.

When you’re away from home, you have less control over the

plate sizes you can use, as well the portion sizes – relative to the

plate sizes thereof.

The only real way around this is to be smart with your food

choices.

When out at restaurants, choose meals that will usually come in

small plate sizes and bowls, like salads, pastas and/or platters

such as curries, stews, soups etc. Or, if you have enough calories

saved, choose big meals that will make the plate look small

anyway such as steak + vegetable platters, chicken + vegetable

platters etc. You get the Idea.

When out at a friend’s house for instance, granted you have less

options, but more perspective however. What I mean is the

chances are that you will have very little choice in plate sizes –

you will use what they gave you. But on the other hand, you

probably have the option to choose your foods. My advice, keep

it simple. One big helping of veggies will be enough to fill you

up, try and keep meats down to one choice – so choose what you

want most. But obviously, don’t let this psychology trick take

over your social life – just let it be something you consider.

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Mirror Neurons – The power of association

There’s a saying that sums this all up – “You are the sum of the

five people you associate with most.”

The implications of this statement reflect the sentiment that the

people you spend most of your time with, have the most sub-

conscious impact on your habits and behaviours – so much so

that you tend to ‘mirror’ their habits more and more as you

spend more time with them.

This phenomenon is proposed to be caused by our “Mirror

Neurons.”

Mirror Neurons were first observed on a Macaque Monkey. The

premise was that the neuron acts both the animal observes

another performing an act, or when an animal performs the act

itself. The Neuron ‘mirrors’ the behaviour as if the observer

themselves were acting it.

Scientists have hypothesized that these very same mirror

neurons have helped humans evolve, granting us the ability to

understand, mimic and respond to speech patterns – allowing

human’s to create the many languages that have been spoken all

throughout our history. (9)

The benefits of mirror neurons don’t just stop there though.

Your Mirror Neurons have had a far deeper impact on your sub-

conscious mind than you may even be aware of.

Think to the person you spend most of your time with. Have you

ever noticed that you picked up one or more of their habits?

Maybe something as subtle as their laugh?

It happens more than you realize.

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But these habits can extend far beyond picking up a mere laugh.

Think about this subjectively – if you eat out with a lot of people,

you’ll probably find that you don’t eat as well as you would at

home. Habit deviations from munching on bar snacks, to eating

fattier meals, to drinking far more than you anticipated – you get

the idea.

But also think back to your home environment. Does obesity or

bad eating habits run in your immediate family? If so, do you

think you can easily adopt those habits if you spend enough time

with your family? Of course you can.

But I’m not telling you to abandon your family and friends while

you try and diet down though – rather to just be aware of this

phenomenon.

Of course you can use this to your advantage.

Remember, the saying is that you are the sum of the five people

you spend most of your time with.

Being selective about who you spend most of your time with can

fall solely on you. If you have fit/thin friends and family

members – spend more time with them. But there is another way

to use this to your advantage.

Spending time with people can even come down to watching

video content of them - hence why coaching programs that

incorporate vlogging can produce awesome results. You may

find that after spending enough time watching your fitness

YouTuber that you eventually adopt some their particular habits

– which is good.

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Habits

You are Little more than a Clump of habits all stacked together.

What do I mean by this you ask?

Look closely at your life and tell me what you do that isn’t a part

of a habit?

Wake up every morning at around 8-9 AM? (even without an

alarm)

That’s more a result of what time you habitually go to bed every

night, as well as how much sleep you’ve habitually accustomed

your body to function on.

Prefer Pizza to salad?

This is because of consistent habitual exposure to pizza, and a

lack of such exposure to salad (at least to the same extent.)

Binge Eater?

You get the idea…

With this in mind, Just how do habits work?

Common Crowd wisdom suggests that habits are simply

inconsequential routines that can simply be reversed if Counter

habits are sequentially performed for 21 days (or 66 Days

depending on who you ask) – but this couldn't be more wrong…

You see, habits are more than just routines – taking a closer look

at what makes a habit work. Down to the cellular level, habits

are Neural pathways in the brain, and every time a habit is

performed - the neural pathway gets sheathed in another layer of

White matter known as “Myelin.” Like so:

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Now it goes without saying, that the more Myelin wrapped

around the Axon – the stronger the Neural Pathway, and by

extension, the stronger habit.

As the habit itself becomes stronger and more prevalent in the

mind, the harder it is to “break” a habit. This is why so many

people cannot sustain new diets – they are so literally stuck in

their old ways that trying a new lifestyle (or an entirely new set

of habits,) which directly conflicts with their old, dominant

habits… They are basically running on short term inspiration and

will power – both of which are very limited.

So if you want to start a new habit (or set of habits,) I propose

that instead of trying to ‘break’ old habits, you simply just

Hack them.

How do you hack them?

Well, first you need to understand how they work.

An expert on the subject, Charles Duhigg, illustrated the exact

structure of a habit as “The Habit Loop”

http://charlesduhigg.com/books/the-power-of-habit/

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Duhigg Proposed that the habit comprises of Three Stages – but

they are best explained in reverse order:

The Reward

The reward is what you’re seeking from your specific habitual

behavior. No really, it’s that simple… Sort of.

The Reason you have a habit is you’re looking for something –

People don’t work out and diet habitually unless they’re aiming

to look leaner and more muscular. So in the instance of

something like habitual binge eating – most cases seem to point

out that they are simply crash dieting – and trying to lose weight

way too fast. So the reward for a habit like this is simply to get

more food – You’re hungry and depleted, so you need to fix that.

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But not all specific rewards are that obvious.

Take for instance, someone who despite trying to diet, has a

habit of boredom eating.

You may look at someone like this and think “well, that's hardly

a bad habit – just don’t be bored.”

Except it’s not that simple…

Someone who consistently eats out of boredom is a good

example of someone who is in constant need of stimulation – so

to say “don’t be bored” is the equivalent of someone saying to a

dog, “Don’t Bark.”

In the end, you can stop them from barking for a while (by

shouting at them for instance,) but given some time, that dog

will start barking again, and that boredom eater will be bored,

stuffing they’re face again. Trying to go against someone’s nature

is trying to “break” habitual behavior that exists for a reason.

And yes, the boredom eater can develop a few hobbies that takes

up their time and keeps them stimulated, but you cannot be

constantly stimulated and still be a functioning member of

society – eventually, you’re gonna get bored again.

Trying to distract yourself from the problem is an unsustainable,

short term solution to a big, Long Term problem.

But what we do know about this situation is what the boredom

eater is looking for in a Reward – Instant gratification, not just

food, but mental stimulation.

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The Routine

Given the context of the Reward, the Routine pretty much

speaks for itself. The routine is the exact behavior that you are

looking to break OR adopt from the habit you either have OR

want to have.

What you need to know about the Routine, is that it’s more

flexible than you may realize.

The reason you have a habit in the first place is because you are

trying to elicit a reward (usually in the form of a feeling.) When

you narrow down EXACTLY what you want from the routine,

what the exact reward is, you then start to realize that this

routine you have, is not the only method to elicit the effect

you’re looking for.

Going back to the example of the boredom eater, we know the

reward they’re looking to elicit is instant stimulation – but eating

is far from the only way to stimulate yourself.

Stimulation is a very specific effect, and it’s easy to piece

together that the boredom eater is looking to stimulate

themselves in a way that releases endorphins – simply because of

the nature of food and the feelings that eating produce.

Understanding this – the routine itself doesn’t have to be

centered on food. Quite literally, this void could be filled with an

array of activities ranging from a little mild exercise (walks are a

staple,) or taking a drive, playing a brain game,

writing/building/creating something, or any of the many things

that could provide the same type of stimulation as food.

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The Cue

The Cue should be fairly straight forward really. The cue is the

subliminal sign that your mind views as a trigger to commence

the Routine your habit.

However, despite being a relatively simple concept – that doesn't

mean that the cue will be quite so simple to spot.

Being the first stage of the Habit Loop, the cue is what begins

the process. However, continuing with the discussion of

Myelinated Neural Pathways – the more practiced you are with

your habitual behaviors, the stranger the pathway & habits

themselves. But the stronger the habit, the stronger the cue

becomes and the more power it has over you.

This is how the habit loop goes full circle – the more you

complete the habit loop & receive the Reward of the habit, the

more powerful the habit’s Cue is, and thus, the more likely you

are to continue the habitual behavior.

But the upside of this cyclical behavior is that the stronger the

Habit - the easier to spot the Cue(s) will be. When you can

identify the all of the cues of the bad habit (boredom eating,)

you can then interrupt the habit itself.

The hard part now is to identify the exact cues – ALL OF THEM.

This is hard because it requires a lot of introspection and critical

self-analysis. You need to know EXACTLY which particular

thoughts, emotions/feelings, and external stimuli (your 5 senses,

in the case of the boredom eater, this may be Ice Cream that

they have in the freezer, so it’s both the look, smell & taste of

this food,) set you off down the road of your habitual routines.

Only once you list out all of these cues, and know exactly what

they are, can you begin to start hacking your habits.

http://110387.myparetocart.com/Portals/0/The%20Habit-Hacking%20Strategy.pdf

137

The Strategy

Now knowing the complete structure of your habit loops,

assuming you now know exactly which cues cause you to

commence with your unwanted habitual routines, you would

then use this knowledge to spot the ‘cues’ before they commence

the ‘Routine’ part of the Habit Loop.

As you Recognize the cues, you would then do a pattern

interrupt to stop the routine in it’s tracks. There are many ways

to do this – but the most usable option is to simply DROP

whatever it is you are doing, the very second you spot the Cue,

and immediately BREATHE DEEP. Doing the pattern interrupt

stops the pattern dead in its tracks & the breathing changes your

state – effective immediately.

Once you have finished the Pattern Interrupt, you would then

start a reasonable Replacement ‘Routine’ in place of the old

habitual Routine.

Care must be taken to ensure that this new routine replaces the

original routine to the extent that it produce the same feelings

(Reward) as the original routine. If this is in place, your

Habit-Hacking Strategy is all set-up and ready to go.

In Summary You want to:

138

Replace this

With This

139

When and how to measure your progress

Noticing your progress is the key to maintaining motivation for

weight-loss over the long term, although there is such a thing as

being too pedantic about your progress.

While some dieticians and weight-loss experts might tell you to

measure yourself every day, I can tell you that this is not only

unnecessary, but it’s a sure way to create a lot of anxiety in your

day-to-day routine. Measuring your progress should be the

intangible reward you receive for sticking to your diet, so

measuring progress every day will not reward everyone, but in

fact for the less OCD types, it will be more of a punishment.

Your weight and measurements will fluctuate – this is a given.

The causes range from water retention, glycogen fluctuations

and intestinal bloating – to eating an abundance of low calorie

vegetables and legumes, resulting in a really high Glycemic load

in your stomach.

One day you could be at an all-time low on the scale, the next

day the scale might have said you put on 4 pounds overnight….

140

You have less control over your immediate scale weight than you

think – but just because you pick up weight doesn’t mean you

put on fat.

I propose something VERY different – weigh in and take your

measurements once a week when you feel thinnest.

Another common recommendation among the experts is

measure in at the same time every week. The problem with this

is that it may not account for what was eaten the day before and

how that would affect your weight the next day.

I say “Piss off” with being unnecessarily regimented, you don’t

need that extra anxiety if you are already anxious over your diet

to begin with.

Look, you cannot weigh less than you actually do – that’s just not

how it works. Sure you might lower your carbs and consumption

leading up to the weigh-in, resulting in very little water

retention, but this still means you are weighing in minus your

water-weight. This is cannot be more simple – weigh-in on the

day of the week you feel the lightest.

141

So long as you see that your scale weight has gone down and

your body measurements are decreasing – then you are doing

well.

This is also a good time to reassess your maintenance calories.

As you know, when your weight drops, so does your TDEE. So as

you measure in, you now have a new base weight to use when

working out your calories.

So to conclude, If you are the type that will feel hopeless over

weight fluctuations on your scale – rather just weigh in on your

scale once to twice a week when you feel your leanest.

If on the other hand you can psychologically handle seeing the

fluctuations on the scale, and weighing in and measuring every

morning will help keep you motivated and accountable to your

diet – then weigh in every morning – timing is not very

important.

Resources


(2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3QhS4WDqcA

(3) https://wn.com/bob_proctor_%7C_the_secret_of_self_image

(picture source)

(4) https://www.indoindians.com/10-ways-to-improve-self-

esteem/ (picture source)

(5) http://thinkeatlift.com/stop-cheating-get-lean-good/

(6)https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2LyGQJuIOzBJi

XgQCSxZWqJP8Uy9kc2e


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3QhS4WDqcA

https://wn.com/bob_proctor_%7C_the_secret_of_self_image

https://www.indoindians.com/10-ways-to-improve-self-esteem/

https://www.indoindians.com/10-ways-to-improve-self-esteem/

http://thinkeatlift.com/stop-cheating-get-lean-good/

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2LyGQJuIOzBJiXgQCSxZWqJP8Uy9kc2e

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2LyGQJuIOzBJiXgQCSxZWqJP8Uy9kc2e

142

(7) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vmir2s4GUgo

(8)http://foodpsychology.cornell.edu/JACR/Small_Plates_Los

e_Weight

(9)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3510904/

Program Summarized

(Just in case you need a recap)

Person A (New Faster):

Workout your maintenance calories e.g. 2500 Kcal

Workout your goal calories after accounting for a moderate

15-20% deficit e.g. 2000Kcal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vmir2s4GUgo

http://foodpsychology.cornell.edu/JACR/Small_Plates_Lose_Weight

http://foodpsychology.cornell.edu/JACR/Small_Plates_Lose_Weight

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3510904/

143

Spread your calories into the appropriate macros e.g.

35% - 176g Protein, 35% - 176g Carbs, 30% - 69g fats

Aim to meet the above numbers on your calorie counting

app as a base for planning your meals, but do not stick to it

religiously. Provided you get to 0.9g per pound of

bodyweight from protein and hit your calorie target, you

are fine for the day – all else is secondary in importance.

Workout according to the prescribed guide of 1+ hours of

brisk walking on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays,

Saturdays and Sundays – while doing 1 hour of the

prescribed full-body resistance training workouts on

Tuesdays and Fridays.

Aim for a daily 16 hour fast from the time of your last meal

– the previous day. Spread your calories into 3 meals – 3ish

hours apart. (15%/15%/60% meal split + strategic fruits.)

Take one day per week and eat at maintenance for the day.

And after every 6 weeks of dieting – take a week to eat at

maintenance.

Get at least 70% of your calories from healthy, clean,

nutrient rich foods and get at most 30% of your calories

from whatever you are currently craving.

Utilize black coffee during your fast, then your strategic

fruits and all other fast extenders at your leisure.

Learn to replace food weighing and calorie counting with

eyeballing food sizes & setting diet structures that work.

Person B (Intermediate Faster):






144













hours apart. (30%/60% meal split + strategic fruits.)

Take one - two days per week and eat at maintenance for

the day. And after every 6 weeks of dieting – take a week to

eat at maintenance.




Utilize black coffee during your fast, then your strategic

fruits and all other fast extenders at your leisure.



Person C (Experienced Faster):






145













hours apart. (20%/70% meal split + strategic fruits.)

Take two days per week and eat at maintenance for the day.


maintenance.




Utilize black coffee and all other fast extenders during your

fast, then your strategic fruits at your leisure.



Person D (One-Meal-A-Dayer):






146



religiously. Provided you get to 1g per pound of bodyweight

from protein and hit your calorie target, you are fine for the

day – all else is secondary in importance.

Workout according to the prescribed guide of 1,5-2 hours of



prescribed full-body resistance training workouts + 0,5-1

hour of brisk walking on Tuesdays and Fridays.


– the previous day. Eat all of your calories in 1 giant meal,

no strategic fruits.

Take two days per week and eat at maintenance for the day.


maintenance.




Utilize black coffee and all other fast extenders during your

fast. Be sure to save the optional chewing gum and low-cal

sodas for the last stretch of the fast.



Limit this to no more than 12 weeks.

Person E (Non-Faster):






147



religiously. Provided you get to 0,9g per pound of



Workout according to the prescribed guide of 1 hour of





As there is no fasting, be sure to spread your calories

ascendingly and appropriately according the time of day

(e.g. 10%/20%/70% calorie distribution to meals, no

strategic fruits.)

Take one day per week and eat at maintenance for the day.


maintenance.




Utilize black coffee between breakfast and lunch. Save the

optional chewing gum, sparkling and low-cal sodas for the

stretch between lunch and dinner.



Final word from the author

That’s all Folks

148

You now know all the knowledge I have cultivated about fat-loss.

You know all my strategies and tactics, all my formulas, tips and

tricks. You know my roadmap and plans.

But all this knowledge is useless without action.

Take a step towards your goal today. Count your calories, plan

your meals, go for a walk – ease in to your fat-loss journey.

The first step is always the hardest – but it’s also the most

important.

Remember – I expect to see the results. I expect your

accountability.

I don’t just wish you an effortless journey – I wish you a

worthwhile journey of empowerment and self-discovery.

The World Is Your Oyster My friend.

Seize the moment – Seize you Glory.

David Stafford

Founder at

Effortless Aesthetics

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