Your Free 10-day E-course from Jon Benson and Fit Over 40
10 Pounds (Snap!) Like THAT!
Day 1: Introduction; Stagger Your Macronutrients
Welcome to Day One of your 10-day free e-course, “10 Pounds (Snap!) Like THAT!” Before we get started, we need to lay down some ground rules and guidelines.
First, none of these tips are about starving yourself. Whatever you do, avoid starvation diets. They will only wreck your metabolism and burn muscle tissue. Also, only a few of these 10 tips are meant for long-term use. Use them wisely and vary them over time. In actuality, these are ten of my favorite strategies for shedding those last ten pounds, or for kick-starting my fat burning process. They are also fantastic ways to kick-start your metabolism and shed ten or more pounds (snap!) like that—faster than simple "dieting", but not so fast that you cause harm to your body. You can apply them to your own personal goals of weight loss (or as I call it, shedding bodyfat) as you see fit.
Some days are longer, like today. Other days are shorter, as the technique requires less explanation. In each day, I'll cover why the technique works and share some personal experiences with using it myself. I want you to get as much information as you can out of these ten days!
NOTE: You should not use more than two of these strategies at any one time as it may be too hard on your body. None of these are dangerous, although each will require a physician's approval (just to be on the safe side.) Each technique for burning fat we'll cover will be putting a stress your system in some way. However, this is good stress for those of you in good health. Please get with your doctor first to be sure. Let him or her know what your goals are and what you plan to do.
The good news is that there is no need to put your health at risk in order to burn more fat. The bad news is that you may already be at risk and not know it. I want to work with you and your health care provider(s) to ensure your safety and fat-burning success!
Beginners and Advanced Sections
Some of your e-course materials will be divided into two groups: beginners, for those of you just embarking on your fat-burning journey, and advanced, for those of you with some time in the gym and/or experience with nutrition plans already under your belt.
This is one of the many reasons you should bookmark these pages. You will be referring back to some of them time and time again, especially as you progress as a fat-burner.
Is This All I Will Need To Achieve My Goals?
No, but it will get you started. It will also help you see faster results from your efforts. However, in order to succeed long-term with reshaping your body, you need three elements in place: inspired action, life-long nutrition, and the right workout plan for your body-type.
For this, you'll need other resources. A fantastic start is my best-selling book Fit Over 40. Just click on that link to order it today. Test-drive my book for 60 days, no questions asked. If you do not find Fit Over 40 inspirational and eye-opening, I'm happy to refund your purchase. That's a no-risk guarantee to you. This is as fair as you get!
I will be sharing other resources with you along the way. Some are my products, some are products I simply believe in and make no money on whatsoever. My ultimate goal is to help you succeed.
About Your Success
Have you ever wondered what makes one person successful in the gym (or in life) and another seemingly fail continually? The successful person collects tools to use—and then becomes their goal. Successful people do not participate in their goals. They become them.
For example, the successful business owner becomes and entrepreneur. He or she isn't just participating in trying to run a business. The successful body-changer becomes a fitness enthusiast! Rather than trying a diet or what-have-you, he or she goes to whatever lengths are necessary in order to change their perception of themselves. For example, I became a bodybuilder rather than a guy who worked out occasionally. The truth is I was a bodybuilder in my mind before I ever was one in my body!
The image that the word bodybuilder created in my mind was much larger and more interesting (and more challenging) than just thinking of myself as yet another guy in a gym. It set a visual goal in my mind. I became that goal.
You do not have to become a bodybuilder, but I would ask you now to become a body-shaper! Make that part of your identity. Any body-shaper will have a collection of books, CDs, DVDs, workout journals, cookbooks—an entire arsenal at their disposal, just to ensure they meet their goals and become their vision. Isn't that more powerful than saying, "I want to lose some weight"? You bet!
Day 1: Beginners
The only way for you to burn stubborn fat, no matter who you are, is to stress the system. This not a bad thing. It is just a necessary reality. Your body does not want to let go of its most "valued" fat stores. That's what those stubborn pockets of fat represent to your biochemistry.
However, we can change that—and we'll get started today with staggering macronutrients.
Macronutrients are simply "carbohydrates", "fats", and "proteins." Alcohol is technically a macronutrient, but not one we need to be concerned with.
While many people stagger calories (covered in Day 9), very few people stagger macronutrients. I will be referring to macronutrients as "macros" from here on out.
For the beginner, I recommend you stagger your weekly intake of protein and carbohydrate. For a listing of what foods constitute proteins and carbohydrates, you can go here.
Stagger your protein and carbohydrate intake, and don't worry about percentages. Just go by the palm of your hand. For two days, consume 3-5 meals per day with a serving of protein (lean meat, chicken, tuna, tofu, etc.) about 1.5 times the size of the palm of your hand. Consume about half the palm of your hand in slow-burning carbs (brown rice, yams, whole grain bread, oatmeal, etc.) Consume this combination at each meal along with as much salad or veggies as you please.
On the third day, alternate—consume 1.5 times the size of your palm in carbs and 1/2 the size of your palm in protein. Keep your fats consistent and do not add butter or excessive oils to your foods. A little olive oil is good to use.
Repeat this cycle over the next three days. So, if you being on Monday, you would eat higher protein/lower carbs on Monday and Tuesday, higher carbs and lower protein and Wednesday, higher protein and lower carbs on Thursday and Friday, higher carbs and lower protein on Saturday, and Sunday would be a free meal day. Begin Sunday with a nice high-protein, low-carb meal to get your day started right. Then, eat in moderation some of the other foods you enjoy. This is a good day to have a “free” meal—something you have been craving during the week.
Remember: your body is "not" a machine. You do not need to be so caught up in numbers all the time. The palm-of-the-hand trick works really well when you don't need to be precise.
Day 1: Advanced
Advanced dieters will want to look at macronutrient percentages. Everyone on earth consumes a percentage of protein, carbs and fats. The goal here is to discover what percentage works best for your body-type. I cover that in my book Fit Over 40. You'll be amazed at how many variations on a "healthy diet" there are!
Rather than thinking of a specific split for each meal, every meal (such as 40% protein, 40% carbs, and 20% fat, as an example), start thinking more along the lines of getting your marcos over a longer period of time. I use both a 24-hour time frame, as well as a 7-day time frame for intense fat-burning.
This tip is a "4" on my scale of 1-5 as far as difficulty goes. The "4" rating is due primarily to the fact you will need to do some math and some serious preparation.
This is the most difficult of my ten tips as far as preparation is concerned. I'm starting with the hardest tip first...just to get it “out of the way” if you will. If it didn't work so well, I wouldn't even bother with it. You will find tips that range from 1-4 in my e-course, so if one doesn't suit your fancy, the next one probably will. My goal is to cover the top tips and let you decide which one (or several) you wish to use.
You can use this trick for a period of 4-6 weeks. Afterwards, you will want to return to a more structured approach.
Notice that your calories only alter slightly in our days. The reason this strategy works is not due to calorie changes, but rather by tricking your body to continually shift its metabolic processes throughout the week. By never knowing what will come next, your body will tend to adjust by increasing metabolic processes.
Using our 40/40/20 example, you would vary your marcos in order to achieve an average of 40/40/20 for a given day or week by taking in more protein, followed by more carbs, followed by more fat, and so-on.
A practical example of this goes as follows. (I'll be using a 7-day macro stagger):
Day 1 and Day 2: 60% protein, 20% carb, 20% fat
Day 3: 20% protein; 60% carb, 20% fat
Day 4: 40% protein, 20% carb, 40% fat
Day 5: 20% protein; 60% carb, 20% fat
Day 6 and Day 7: 30% protein, 60% carb, 5% fat
You end up with an average intake of 40% protein, 42% carbs (we won't worry about 2%...), and 18% fat (again, we won't worry about 2%.)
Again, the 40/40/20 is just an example. I personally use far more protein and fat and fewer carbs. Why? Because it works for my body-type. You see, it's all about role modeling—finding a genetic type that is similar to you and patterning your nutrition and training around that role model. I personally combined several role models' strategies, then used my Personalization Principle to create my own version to suit my specific needs and desires.
Give this trick a shot for a few weeks. It does require more work in the kitchen, but the payoff can be accelerated fat-burning, and a ton of variety in your week. In fact, if you find that your nutrition plan leaves you bored, you'll definitely want to give macro staggering a try.
My Personal Macronutrient Ratios and Stagger Plan
My daily nutrition is now about 50% protein, 35% fat, and 15% carbohydrate. Sometimes I go even lower on the carbs. I have found my body does not require them on a daily basis. I am burning fat all day long on this split, so why confuse the body with sugar from carbohydrates? Granted, I use carbs on certain days to refuel my system. Even then, carbs are a tool in my personal approach. I rely on protein foods, healthy fats, and low-carb veggies for 85% of my nutritional needs.
I stagger mostly fats and carbohydrates, consuming high fat, high protein, and low carbs for 3-4 days, then high carbs, medium protein, lower fat for 24-36 hours. I combine this with another principle we'll be covering later in the e-course: staggering calories. My system for doing this is easy—and you'll find you can enjoy some of your favorite foods throughout the week and still burn bodyfat.
If you don't want to wait eight more days for this information, it is covered in my book in Chapter 4, pages 92-94, and again throughout the book. Click here to pick it up today.
Why This Works
This technique works for many reasons, but the primary reason is more primal in nature. Our bodies have adapted to varying food sources and calories throughout the centuries. Rarely has there been times when food was consistent. Much like a drug, which can lose its effect over time, the same food taken in day-in and day-out can put the metabolism to sleep. Macro staggering is a great way to wake it up and keep your body guessing. That guesswork will generate greater fat-burning.
Also, protein is thermogenic. We'll cover what that means in future lessons, but basically it stokes the metabolic fire more than carbs and fat. Increasing protein for several days and lowering carbs is a great way to stimulate that thermogenesis, which means you'll burn more bodyfat in the process. The trick is not to over-consume protein, and that's where macro staggering works like a charm.
Tomorrow's Lesson:
** A Simple Trick to Burn Up To 43% More Bodyfat! **
“Discover More Tips Plus 52 Awe Inpsiring
Role Models For Life-long Fitness!”
Click On The Book or Buttons Below To Discover How You Can Get
Over $600 In Free Bonuses AND My Free Audio CD BodyTalk™—
Now Including My Ground-breaking Audio “The 15-Minute Workout Plan!”
© Jon Benson, Fit Over 40 LLC
All Rights Reserved. No reprinting or duplication of this material in any way is permissible without written consent from the author.
All content provided for information purposes only. The information on this page and in this e-course is not intended to treat or manage disease. Be sure to check with your doctor before engaging in any dietary or fitness changes and/or routines.