What's 90% Got To Do With Fat Loss?

I hope you all enjoyed your friends and family over Thanksgiving and of course, some great food!

I know this week is definitely going to be a 100% adherence
week for me to get back on track!!

Yeah, I enjoyed some foods I normally abstain from, but it’s all good.  Now back to eating clean.

Ok, so what does that mean…100% adherence?

Well, I’ve mentioned a bunch of times over the years about sustaining a 90% or better adherence policy to your nutrition and exercise.  What is basically means is that you need to be at 90% or better with both your nutrition and exercise in order to stay progressing in the right direction.

I talk a lot about consistency because it’s SO important.  I mention the 90% rule often as it’s the bare minimum to achieve consistent fat loss results.

So let’s touch on the main items….

= = = > NUTRITION < = = =

For many, the nutritional component is the hardest part and I agree!  It takes some planning and preparing if you’re going to be successful at losing body fat.

Let me ask you a few questions…..

~ Are you getting 20-40 grams of protein per meal/snack?

~ Are you eating a fruit, vegetable or both at every meal/snack?

~ Have you cut out 90+% of the processed food in your diet?

~ Are you drinking at least 70% of your weight in ounces each day?

~ Are you taking a multi vitamin/mineral and 3 grams of fish oil per day?

~ Have you cut out all starches/ complex carbs (pasta, rice, potatoes, breads) at night?

~ Are you eating 5 meals and/or snacks that contain ample protein every day?

~ Are you eating exactly the way you need to be 90% of the time? (That means you’re dialed in on 32 of the 35 weekly meals/snacks)

Answer these truthfully and I think you’ll see you have some things to work on.  We all do, but it takes some effort to plan your day ahead of time and follow through with it.

= = = > EXERCISE < = = =

How much, what kind, how often???

All important questions.

How much exercise do you need to get and more importantly, maintain, fat loss results?

My short answer is 5 weekly hours of exercise.  Both from my experience and what science is showing us….five hours is the baseline amount.  It doesn’t have to be split evenly across the board.

It could be an hour 3 x week with the remaining four days at 30 minutes.  It could be an hour 5 x week.  It could be an hour and a half three times per week with 30 minutes on another day.

You get my drift…..it just needs to be a MINIMUM of five weekly hours (however you spread it out).

Exercise stimulates metabolic rate.  Each time you exercise, whether it’s for 5 minutes or an hour, your body’s metabolism increases.  So, the more often you exercise, the higher your metabolism stays….and we all know having a faster metabolism is KEY!

What kind of exercise has the biggest metabolic effect?  Challenging exercise!

Walking is great for general health, but it will have little impact on your fat loss efforts.

Resistance training (weight training) is the KING of fat loss….not aerobic exercise.

Resistance training is the key to unlocking your internal furnace.  The heavier and harder the weight, the more impact on your body and the bigger impact on your metabolism.

A common response I get is… “I don’t want big bulky muscles”.

Well, let me put it to you this way.

If all it took was to lift heavy weights to get big muscles, the female gymnasts out there would be walking around looking like Lou Ferrigno (The Incredible Hulk).

Gymnasts fling their bodyweight around for HOURS each day…up to 20+ hours per week.  They perform all kinds of explosive resistance exercises such as pull ups, hand stands, push ups, jumping, tumbling, sprinting, etc…and their body weight is far more than the 10-30lb dumbbells you might be using.

Did I mention that the top gymnasts “train” well over 30 hours per week.  That’s a bit more than five hours or the three that the majority of you probably exercise.  Now, of course, I’m not implying you train like a gymnast or spend anywhere close to 20+ hours exercising each week.

My point is that it takes a whole heck of a lot more than lifting 15-25lb dumbbells to get “big muscles”.  That’s all.  Growing muscle is predominantly caused by hormones…most notably, testosterone.  AND since women have about 300% less than us guys…it’s a bit of a stretch to think you’ll turn green and into the hulk :-)

So, what to do?

I’d be sure you’re training with weights/body weight 3-5 days per week with the other time devoted to cardio based intervals and some steady state activity when you’re just not up to performing intervals.

= = = > CONSISTENCY < = = =

Here it is point blank…..

“Either you’re consistent 90% of the time or better and getting results or you’re not and getting nowhere!”

It’s crucial you understand that consistency is the name of the game when it comes to achieving results. There’s no substitution for lacking it.  There’s no “what else can I do”.  There’s no, “I’m good Monday thru Friday”.  It simply won’t work that way.

The sooner you understand it takes a concerted effort day in and day out to get results and keep them coming…the sooner you’ll implement what we’ve given you….and the sooner and faster you’ll get results.

If there were short cuts, I’d be the first to tell you!

If there was an easier way, ditto!

Don’t get me wrong…it’s not really that difficult.  It just takes planning on your part and the “will” to see it through each day while making it part of your lifestyle.

Follow a sound nutritional approach such as the one in our boot camp manual and get your daily exercise….that’s about it.  Nothing more, nothing less.

I know you can do it.

You’re in charge of your life…everything about it.  That includes what you do with each day and what you CHOOSE to put in your mouth.  You call the shots!  Not me, not your spouse, not anyone but Y-O-U!!!!!

So, get after it.  Plan your day.  Plan your meals.  Plan your exercise.  Now follow your plan and get all the RESULTS you want!!