So many people want to know what's the big secret to losing the weight and how keep it off. I'm going to share with you the steps I took and have now shared with others to do the same.
I use to think you had to do tons of cardio and spend hours at the gym on the treadmill. This is what most people think and that's why they never really reach their fitness goals. The truth is, in order to shed fat you need to understand your body and how many calories it takes to maintain your weight. Ok...there's a little bit more to it, but you'll soon find out that this has most to do with your results.
You see...I use to workout all the time and think that's all it took to lose weight and sculpt my body, but it never worked and I wondered why. Then, I decided to commit to the 60 day workout program Insanity which now has changed my life. What I learned is that your 80% of your results are from your diet and 20% from your workouts. Don't get me wrong, Shaun T. kicked my butt and worked me for 60 days. But...without my diet in place, I never would have lost over 18 lbs and 5 inches off my waist.
Ok...so now what you've been waiting for. Here's what I called my personal plan that will help anyone lose weight and shed fat fast. I broke it down into 5 steps to make it simple to follow and understand.
Step #1 - Calculate Calorie Daily Intake
Figure out your maintenance calorie intake your body needs first. You can do this online by searching for your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), This is what your body needs to breathe on a daily basis. Usually then you add about 500 calories for normal exercise you perform like walking to the car, vacuuming and normal stuff. That would be your daily maintenance calorie count for the day.
Step #2 - Create Calorie Deficit
If you want to lose body fat so you can expose those muscles or abs, you will want to scale your calories back by 300 to 500 so you are now in a calorie deficit. This will allow your body to burn fat, but still keep your muscle from being lost.
Step #3 - Eat 5 to 6 Meals Per Day (Very Important)
When following this diet plan you don't want to starve yourself. You want to keep your metabolism to stay running all day long. I like to think of it like a fire. If you want to keep your house warm with a fire and you don't want it to go out. You need to tend to the fire and keep it burning. That's what we are doing with our metabolism. You will burn more calories spreading your meals out, rather than eating 3 big meals over the course of the day.
Step #4 - Exercise At Least 40 Minutes Per Day
Depending on if you are looking to build muscle or lose fat, you should do 40 to 50 minutes of exercise everyday or at least 5 times per week. If you want to speed up the process, you could do some intense exercise and you'll lose weight super Fast like I did.
Step #5 - Choosing The Right Foods
Ok...it's time to go shopping and get the foods that will keep you full longer and keep your body running at it's maximum potential to lose weight and gain muscle.
Here's a list of foods that I eat on a regular basis. Obviously, I don't eat them all together. I just pick a couple to give me the calories I need for my daily intake. Everyone is different depending on if they are trying to lose or maintain their weight.
My Get Ripped Diet
I only choose a few foods from each list. These are just examples of what I eat. You don't want to eat 3 apples per day. I usually only eat 1 or maybe 2. Fruit has a lot of sugar, so you want to minimize the fruit you have, but you do want some in your diet.
Meal #1 - Breakfast Foods:
Egg Whites, Oatmeal, Blueberries, Strawberries, Turkey Bacon, Whole Wheat Bread, Broccoli, Onions, Go Lean Cereal, Greek Yogurt
Meal #2 - Mid Morning Snack:
Protein Shake, Natural Peanut Butter, Banana, Apple, Almonds, Oatmeal
Meal #3 - Lunch Foods:
Lean meat like Chicken or Tuna, Salad, Broccoli, Carrots, Cottage Cheese, Whole Wheat Bread, Apple, 12 Almonds, String Cheese, Sweet Potato.
Meal #4 - Afternoon Snack:
Protein Bar, 12 Almonds, Carrots, Apple, Turkey Jerky, Protein Shake
Meal #5 - Dinner Choices:
Lean Meat like Chicken, Fish or Turkey Burger, Salad, Steamed Vegetable, Pinto Beans, Cottage Cheese, Sweet Potato. I usually only have a Sweet Potato once or twice per week. If you're trying to lose weight, I would skip the carbs after dinner.
Meal #6 - Night Snack:
Protein Shake, Greek Yogurt, Cottage Cheese, 12 Almonds
TIP: My night snack is usually cottage cheese. People don't realize that the protein in cottage cheese is the slow digesting type. This allows the protein to keep your body running during the night so you don't run out of fuel and go into a starvation state. Once your body runs out of fuel, it will start grabbing from your muscle and that's bad. Keeping muscle has been said to help lose weight and burn fat. Always eat something small like cottage cheese about 1 hour before bed.
So...there's my personal Plan that works for me and should for you. All you have to do now is Do IT!
Commit to trying this for 30 days and see if you notice a difference. I bet you will!
Here's an example of my 1,800 calorie Get Ripped Diet I followed to lose over 18 lbs in 60 days. Check out my 60 Day Insanity Transformation video and see how this diet worked for me.
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