Stop constantly doing these things and your body will drastically change for the better.
The more fat you carry on your body, the lower your health, performance and likelihood of ever seeing your abs (or getting rid of those damn love handles) will be.
It will also increase the risk of disease, dysfunction, and hormonally chaos.
All this will drastically reduce the chances of your physique looking similar to those of the Greek Gods or whomever you see on the cover of your latest Men’s Fitness Magazine.
See what I’ve discovered after years of researching, studying, attending workshops, and working directly with hundreds and hundreds of individuals… Is that 99% of the guy’s who do not see results struggle from the same exact things.
They have bad habits that are lingering and causing them to never stay consistent. They lack guidance and do not have the accountability or commitment needed to truly stay consistent. And the vast majorities suffer from some kind of hormonal down regulation because of poor nutrition, training, stress, or combination of many.
Do you fit into one of those categories? I get it, most of the people I work with do too and I was in the same boat years ago before transforming my own body. (Click Here to Learn More About YOUR Complete Body Transformation)
It all boils down to 5 common things that keep people from cutting body fat and building a physique they can be proud of and confident walking in.
Here they are:
#1 – YOU DON’T PLAN.
At least 75% of the people I work with dropped the ball on this one before we started working together; even though it’s probably the simplest thing we can all do to see more success – in any area of our lives.
“Failing to prepare is preparing to fail”
We’ve all heard that quote or some variation of it, because it’s popular and it’s popular because it’s very true. It’s the exact reasons maps and GPS’s are such a necessity, if you don’t know where you’re going there is no way you’re going to get there.
That’s why one of the first things I have any client who works with me do is plan, record, and track. We need metrics to see where the problem is and we need to plan it in our tracking software (be that pen and paper or an app) so we can prepare to actually do the work needed for results.
See so many people just go about their day and when it comes time to eat, they grab the closest or easiest thing possible so they can just eat. It usually ends up being filled with processed ingredients, condensed sugars, trans fats, and some other stuff they cannot even pronounce.
Yet if they were to plan ahead and prepare a meal with REAL food or plan to go to a specific spot, which serves whole foods, they would see drastic changes. Forget macros and calories; just plan your day ahead.
This goes for training as well – when, what and how will you be training?
If you want to change your body, build a business, conquer your mindset and develop an unbelievable relationship – you need to plan on planning things out before hand, for each of those things.
Fix It: This one simple strategy works so well with every single client I work with… Plan your entire day, hour by hour, the night before. We need to realize that planning like this for the entire week won’t always work because things change. But 99% of the time, we know what our next day looks like the night before. So sit down and write out your day – when you wake up, when and what your meals are, what your commute looks like, your work schedule, when you’ll train, spending time with family – EVERYTHING. This simple concept works every single time.
#2 – YOU’RE A WEEKEND WARRIOR.
I don’t know what mystical treachery happens every single Friday at midnight… But man it seems like all rules are out the window the pie hole is open for business.
You probably know exactly what I’m talking about… Monday through Friday you’re on point, training your ass off, hitting your step count, and choosing whole foods 90% of the time.
Then the weekend comes and you’re poppin’ bottles and then veggin’ on the couch.
So you dump calories down and follow it up with sitting around, burning none of those calories.
First of all, these are the types of people who need accountability more than anyone else. Which is why my coaching programs do wonders for anyone in this situation (yes, shameless plug – it was necessary).
So how do you avoid this reoccurring weekend debauchery?
Well first, follow #1 and start planning. If you plan your weekend out and decide to practice some intermittent fasting and take a walk in the morning to save some calories for the evening, see what the healthiest choices are for whatever you’ll be doing, and then have a strategy for Sunday to avoid doubling down on this binge fest…. You’re golden.
The thing to realize here is simple. Your weekends can ruin the results you’re seeing if you’re too out of control. You will be spinning your wheels and repeated a vicious cycle of losing and gaining, never seeing the results you deserve.
Fix It: For this one, it relies much more on planning and discipline more than anything. So although planning ahead to choose the best meal at the restaurant you’ll be going too or choosing to have the lower calorie alcoholic beverage are both great strategies… The most realistic thing to do, is give yourself a reward meal. Work your ass off all week and then choose one single meal to truly enjoy, but keep it at that meal and don’t let it become the day or weekend.
#3 – EATING TOO FAST.
Anyone who knows me will laugh reading this… I’m a fast eater. So this one was one of the exact reasons I was over weight for so long and why I struggled to lose a lot of weight. One thing I changed when dropping 45+ lbs of fat, was slowing down when I ate.
Sounds crazy and simple, but eating too fast is a direct correlation to being overweight and feeling lethargic, bloated and having poor digestion.
The first process of digestion and nutrient absorption starts with our saliva, meaning if you’re shoveling down and swallowing whole like a python… you skip a very important part of the digestion process, which can lead to malnutrition and many digestive issues – both contributing to making you fat.
Fix It: The easiest 2 strategies for this are setting a timer and setting down the fork. Next time you have a meal, set a timer for 15 or 20 minutes and be sure that you do not finish the meal before then. While having that meal, set down the fork between each bite. Both of these delay the time of finishing the meal, force more chewing – allowing saliva to do its job – and you will actually enjoy the meal way more, because you’re present!
#4 – YOU’RE ALL IN OR ALL OUT
You’re either going gung-ho training like a mad man or you’re giving the gym the middle finger because you’ve had enough and you’re ready to just Netflix and chill.
There are many issues wrong with this picture but no matter what side you’re on, they’re essentially very similar. You’re confusing your body and not allowing it to consistently make changes, so it won’t. The body is an amazing adapting machine and it will adapt to what you give it, by improving. So if we’re training, it will change for the better. If we’re not, it will not change at all – more likely will get worse.
But when you bounce back and forth, you’re sending mix signals to your muscular system, your hormones, your brain and everything else. So it will not adapt as well next time you jump back on.
Add to that, if you’re balls to the wall constantly then you’re under recovering, which can damage hormones and actually lessen the results you will see in the long run.
When you’re doing nothing at all, your body isn’t getting the fuel or activity it needs and again your hormones will suffer because of it.
As always, balance is key. Too much is not a good thing and nothing at all is just as bad if not worse.
Fix It: Plan a routine you can consistently stick too without a single doubt in your mind. If you think you could possibly hit the gym 5 days a week, go with 4 and on the occasions you can hit 5 – DO IT! You’re an over achiever. Be patient and just know that if you slow down a bit and stay extremely consistent with a simple system, you will see the results you actually want. Plus you’ll be able to maintain those results a hell of a lot easier.
#5 – YOU’RE STRESSED THE FUCK OUT.
Stress comes in more forms than one; in fact it’s all around us. Some are even good for us and training is a great example of that.
The bad part here is that if you’re overly stressed, then your cortisol is going to be higher on a very regular basis. When cortisol is chronically high, your body cannot and will not burn body fat.
The really sad part is that cortisol causes this horrible cycle of making itself worse and keeping you stressed out. Because stress causes more cortisol and more cortisol causes more fat gain, less sleep, shitty recovery, hunger and sugar cravings, and more.
All these things cause more stress, more inflammation, more fat, and as you can guess all those things lead to one thing… MORE STRESS RESPONSES!
I know it’s fucked up, but don’t stress out (no pun intended). Once you make one small habit change, the results will be profound and just like the negative stress cycle – it will create a positive cycle leading to less stress, less fat and more health.
Fix It: The list here could go on for days… Start meditating, start a daily gratitude journal, sleep 8 hours a night, remove processed foods out of your diet, start training, focus on recovery just as much as training hard…. But the thing that sums it up most is to Change Your Environment. Audit your entire day-to-day life and determine what is actually causing you the most stress. As hard as it may be, eliminate it or significantly reduce it while implementing some of the simple habits I just listed above.
