Most of us don’t just want to lose weight – we want to lose fat.
We want to look leaner, more toned, more defined.
We want to fit back into our skinny jeans or that dress in the back of the closet we can’t bring ourselves to give away because we desperately want to wear it again…
We want body recomp. We want to lose fat without losing muscle.
In this video I’ll share the 5 Golden Rules to help you do just that so you can shed those inches and see fabulous muscle definition.
Golden Rule #1: Commit To The Change You Hate The Most.
Ever jump into a new program and change everything you’re doing dramatically at once?
Which thing are you then most likely to blame if results aren’t happening fast enough and the effort starts to feel “not worth it?”
The change you least want to make…and probably need to make the most because it is the most outside your comfort zone.
We don’t want to adjust the hard workouts we’re “enjoying.”
Or the extra fats or carbs we justify as healthy and quality food that also taste good.
No….
Instead we research why high protein is bad or not needed to resist the protein increase we’ve made.
Or we resist the reduction in cardio because we love our long runs even though we’ve heard the work against building muscle.
Or we resist the push to eat more and create a smaller calorie deficit because we fear gaining weight and slashing our calories lower is what we’ve always done…
We resist trusting the full SYSTEM. And that makes it break.
We can’t only make the changes we are comfortable with.
Honestly only being willing to make those changes we are comfortable with is what has kept us stuck.
We repeat the same changes that “work” to get to the same point where we end up falling off again to start back over.
So while you may see some initial progress staying with something familiar or seemingly easy…It’s not really working if you’re constantly looking for a new fix.
This time, embrace the hard. It means that is the change you truly need!
And one hard change most of us want to resist is Golden Rule #2: Track EVERYTHING.
Tracking is restrictive. It’s hard. It’s boring. It’s tedious. It’s annoying.
It’s obsessive.
You can FEEL this way about tracking, but we have to recognize that these are FEELINGS. And feelings and attitudes we’ve created toward a tool because of how we’ve even used it in the past.
But tracking isn’t restrictive or obsessive. It may be hard or boring or tedious or annoying to start as you’re learning, but so many things are.
And you can make it worse by repeating those feelings to yourself. Or you can choose to see the opportunity in it.
You can also recognize WHY you feel this way about it.
Have you usually turned to tracking in the past when you hated how your clothes fit or the weight you saw on the scale?
When you slashed your calories super low and cut out all the foods you love?
No wonder you don’t like tracking if that has been your experience with it!
But tracking is just you recording what you’ve done. It doesn’t have to mean cutting calories lower. It doesn’t have to mean eliminating a food group.
It can even be about adding in MORE. It can be about making sure you’re fueling well. It can help you assess even food intolerances and meal timings that help you perform better to build muscle and feel more energized.
Tracking gives us data to make accurate adjustments and SMALL ONES that truly address where we are right now. It gives you the power to strike YOUR balance…if you give it the chance.
And recognize that tracking doesn’t have to be done in one form. You can use hand portions as a guide, take pictures, log just protein and calories or do full ratios.
But if you’re sick of not feeling like anything is sustainable or you aren’t sure what is working, tracking can fix all of that.
Nothing is off limits. And you know what you’re doing to adjust.
What gets measured gets managed.
You want to stay within your budget? You track it.
Well, tracking your food helps you stay within your food budget.
Golden Rule #3: Diet for fat loss. Train for muscle.
Adjust both together and that’s where the magic happens.
Because, while most of us have heard the saying, “Abs are made in the kitchen”…
Fabulous ab definition is really REVEALED by the kitchen.
The muscle we want to show is built through progressive overload and pushing ourselves in the gym.
But too often to burn more calories in our training and create that deficit to lose faster, we turn to cardio.
This only backfires, causing us to lose not only fat but also muscle.
It’s why we can see metabolic adaptations occur more quickly.
And it’s why we can feel like we’re working so hard, adjusting our diet yet not looking any leaner!
We can’t just turn our workouts into killer cardio sessions. We need to stop thinking, “I should do more cardio!”
And instead we need to think about our training as a chance to build muscle.
If you want to lose fat without losing muscle, focus on strength training and progressing moves week over week. Don’t cut out rest to feel more out of breath. Don’t just add in more to feel more worked.
Focus on truly lifting more with quality reps, even needing MORE rest between rounds to keep using harder variations and heavier loads.
That way when you dial in your macros and your diet with what I’m about to go over in Rule #4 while training to build muscle, you’ll see the best body recomp results happen even faster!
Golden Rule #4: Create DAILY Consistency.
Have you ever wondered…Should I eat less on a day off? Lower my carbs?
Stop adding more complication. Stop trying to do more. Focus on those basics.
KISS…Keep it simple, stupid.
Simple is sustainable.
Focus on that daily consistency in those habits!
The less we add complication or more variation, the easier we make it on ourselves to create a new environment and shift mindsets and habits.
The fewer changes we make at once, the more we can know the impact they have and how they are working to then adjust habits as we go.
The less we overwhelm ourselves with more to do, the more the effort feels worth the outcome!
What we do consistently we get good at. What we do consistently builds results.
You can’t know if a macro ratio or workout or meal timing works if you’re not doing the same thing weekly. You can’t build habits and routines if things are constantly shifting.
And at the most basic level, your body can’t repair and rebuild on days off if it doesn’t have the fuel. You aren’t just eating more to train hard, but to recover.
Inconsistent energy sources are what can lead to us feeling extra frustrated, confused and hangry! It also adds more precision in numbers we have to have as we cycle.
Instead, keep things simple. Allow yourself to build those daily routines and get confident in them. Then adjust.
But focus on a set macro and calorie goal you maintain for a few weeks. Plan ahead to hit those numbers. Dial in your precision with them. It will pay off.
And Golden Rule #5: What You Put First Gets Priority.
If you’re struggling to prioritize a habit change, put it first in your day.
Add protein to that first meal
Drink water when you first get up.
Do your workout before the day gets busy.
When a new habit can fall by the wayside when life gets busy or we get worn out, the best way to make sure we complete it is to do it first in the day.
That way we leave things we know we will do no matter what till later because we’ll do them anyway.
But this rule also applies to cardio vs. strength work and eve the order of exercises in your routine.
What you put first in your training gets you when you’re freshest. You’re giving a more true 100% intensity and effort.
Want to lift heavier for your glutes? Prioritize a lift for them first in your lower body workout day.
Or if you’re wanting to include some cardio because you love it while still focusing on losing fat without losing muscle?
Put your strength work first in your session and ideally first in your day if you are doing a second walk or cardio session for any reason.
That way you are freshest and can truly push hard to create that challenge to build muscle. And you can still get in movement with cardio you may put after.
Even consider timing a walk or sprint interval session at the end of workout where you work muscles near stubborn fat to help utilize mobilized fatty acids.
And don’t include steady state endurance cardio after a workout where you’re working a muscle group that you struggle to build as this can hinder those muscle gains.
But consider the order to things you include and what you need to prioritize.
While we don’t want to stress over details first, we want to note that how systems are designed together has an impact.
We need to embrace those hard changes, track how things are going and our consistency in implementation and then review all aspects of our lifestyle to make sure things complement!
Because we can lose fat without losing muscle, but it isn’t as simple as eating less or doing more cardio. It’s a strategic process and we need a clear plan to push through the hard!
Break free of the change loop keeping you stuck losing the weight only to regain it, and MORE, later…
