I posted a poll on Instagram.

Your biggest struggle is ____?

The options were:

1. Diet
2. Workouts/not sure what to do
3. Mindset
4. Everything above!

The majority of my followers answered “Everything above!”.

So, here’s the all-in-one post to address all of those issues and how to solve them.

Diet

I could write an entire book on dieting and nutrition.

And because I could, I did. It’s called “Burn Fat at Work - Simple Habits for Serious Results”.

If you’re serious about getting your weight under control buy that book.

Otherwise, dieting will always feel like a guessing game.

But there are a few easy steps you can take to get started.

Limit Snacking

Snacking is the #1 enemy of anyone’s weight loss goals.

Let’s illustrate this point with finances. People who struggle to save money will think to themselves, “I barely spend any money but at the end of the month, I have little to nothing left!” That’s a common feeling until you review your spending over the course of the month.

Those small purchases that seemed like nothing at the time add up over the course of weeks and months.

Our relationship with food is the same.

People will swear they don’t each much food until a nutritionist asks them to keep a food journal. Once they write down every single thing they eat, those “small snacks” throughout the day add up.

Be mindful of your snacking and try to limit what you eat to the meals you eat throughout the day.

Liquid Calories

Avoid drinking your calories as much as possible.

If you have a favorite protein shake you can quickly make in place of a meal, that’s fine.

But if you’re drinking stuff like soda, sugared coffee, fruit juice, milkshakes, sweet tea, alcohol, and lemonade…be careful!

Those drinks add up quick and they provide little to no nutritional value.

If you’re trying to lose fat those are extra calories that aren’t coming from food which is going to make your weight loss goals even harder to achieve.

Vegetable Oil and Seed Oils

When you cook, avoid using vegetable oil and seed oils such as canola, soy, corn, sunflower, peanut, etc.

Aside from the large amounts of processing to make these oils edible, these oils are very sensitive to heat and when consumed are toxic to the body. This heat sensitivity depletes the oils of natural antioxidants while increasing free radicals. This wreaks havoc on your body which is why so many people today are prone to high blood pressure, heart disease, and organ damage.

When you cook, use healthy fats and oils such as: tallow, lard, animal fat, olive oil, coconut oil, butter, and ghee.

80/20 Rule

Whether you’re trying to build a new habit or break an old one, it’s important to be realistic about your ability to change.

So, how does that apply to dieting? Be reasonable with your new lifestyle change and if necessary apply the 80/20 rule to your diet.

If you feel good and you don’t have any real life factors getting in your way, stick to your diet. But if your friends ask you out to brunch on Saturday morning, go for it. Just don’t let that one meal turn into a full weekend binge undoing all the momentum you built over the week.

Take some time to ask yourself, “Do I really need another cheat meal? If I don’t order pizza for lunch right now…am I going to die? Do I really value that momentary mouth pleasure over the goals and habits I set out for myself when I started fixing my diet?”

An unhealthy meal here or there isn’t going to stop you from losing weight. But a meal here or there that snowballs into an entire weekend of gluttony and heavy drinking can quickly return you back to your old, bad habits.

Live your life. Enjoy the company of friends and family. But be mindful so that your 20% of time off dieting doesn’t turn into your 80% or even worse, your day to day norm.

Intermittent Fasting

I want to briefly touch on a dieting strategy I’ve used in the past with great success. You’ve probably heard of it before: intermittent fasting.

Here’s how it works. You pick a window of time in which you eat, say noon to 8pm. Anything you eat happens within that 8 hour window. Once 8pm hits, you stop eating until the next day at noon.

This is a 8 hours on, 16 hours off schedule for intermittent fasting. When I would do an 8:16 intermittent fasting schedule like this, I would only eat two meals: lunch and dinner.

So if you find the process of counting calories too overwhelming, a dieting strategy like intermittent fasting could be something more suitable for you.

The best part about this is there’s a free app, Zero, that will do all of this mental work for you. When you’re about to break your fast, you click a button to end your fast. Then when you finish your last meal of the day, you click that button again to start your fast. Once your 16 hour window is about to come to an end, you’ll get a notification for it. Stupid simple.

Search “Zero fasting” on your phone’s app store and you’ll find it.

Workouts

If you’re looking to get started with exercise, I have a FREE book that you can download right now.

It’s called “Bodyweight Basics - Fundamental Exercises & Equipment for Home Workouts” and you can download it for free by clicking here.

The book requires some equipment so here’s your FREE NO EQUIPMENT REQUIRED bodyweight workout.

1. Push-up - This is the best bodyweight pushing exercise there is.
2. Inverted row - Watch this video for some ideas on how to do rows without any equipment.
3. Jump squat - Watch this video. If you’re on the heavier side or concerned about your knees, just do bodyweight squats without the jumping.
4. Flutter kicks - These are great for your abs and the burn will kick in quick!.
5. Reverse lunges - Another great bodyweight exercise for your legs. Once these get easy, hold something heavy and do more reverse lunges!

Do this workout 3 times per week with a day of rest in between.

Do each exercise 10-20 times (aka reps) one after another. If 10 is too many, lower the amount of reps to your level. Once you’re done, rest for a few minutes, and then repeat it again 2-5 times.

Mindset

So you want to change your diet and/or fitness habits. How should you go about doing this?

Think Long-Term

Start slow.

I get it. You want results and you want them now!

Resist the temptation to completely change your life overnight.

If it doesn’t go according to plan you are going to feel like a complete failure and give up and YOU HAVE TO AVOID THAT MINDSET!

Instead of trying to completely redo your diet, start with smaller steps like:

1. Limit or eliminate snacking. Only eat meals.
2. Avoid liquid calories. Drink water and/or zero calorie drinks.
3. Cook your own meals rather than ordering take out. Your body and wallet will thank you.

Similarly with exercise:

1. Go on a 30 minute walk everyday. Walking for cardio is very underrated and it’ll do wonders for your mental health.
2. Do bodyweight exercises once a week. Do the workout listed above.
3. Stretch in the morning immediately after waking up. You’ll be more alert in the morning and it will undo all of the tightness in your body.

Those are small, manageable adjustments to your daily routine that can help you ease into your new habits.

If you miss a day, don’t beat yourself up over it. It’s one day! You’ll live.

But don’t let that one day turn into 3 days or 1 week. If you miss a day, commit to getting back on track the very next day.

Tell yourself, “I will not break from this habit for two days straight”.

Your Mind is Your Enemy

You commited yourself to small steps. You tell yourself, “Tomorrow I will stop drinking calories and I will go for a 30 minute walk.”

But the next day your brain tells you the exact opposite! You finish work, you’re about to go for a walk, and your mind says:

Hey man. It’s just a 30 minute walk. You can do it tomorrow. The finale of Ozark was just released on Netflix! Let’s order some takeout on UberEats and watch that instead.

This is normal and inevitable. You have to learn how to control this inner demon.

Do not let it win.

That voice is an intangible stream of thoughts in your head that are actively working against what you set out for yourself just 24 hours ago.

I fight that voice every Wednesday when I do yoga.

Do you think I want to do an hour of yoga in a hot ass room surrounded by a lake of my own sweat?

Of course not! But I set that weekly goal for myself and I will not budge.

That voice in my head will not beat me.

You will not let that voice beat you.

Procrastinate on Your Breaks

Jocko Willink, a former Navy Seal, had an interesting take on mindset with new habits.

Let’s say today is your day to exercise but you don’t feel like it. Jocko recommends procrastinating on your break.

Get it done today. If you still feel like you need a break tomorrow, then take a break.

Why? Once you finish that workout you wanted to skip you’ll realize it wasn’t that bad. In fact, you feel even better and more accomplished because you wanted the break but you still did it.

Everyone Had a Day 1

Shame will destroy you.

You want to get in shape but you’re too embarassed to walk into a gym.

The people around you are in great shape. They look like they know what they’re doing.

This overwhelms you. You feel a fight or flight response like it’s your first day in high school.

But guess what? It’s all in your head.

Literally everyone in the gym experienced the same feeling because they all had their own Day 1.

At one point, they were the newbie in the gym. They were the one who thought all eyes were on them.

It’s all in your head. To reiterate, your mind is your enemy.

Don’t let another intangible stream of thoughts in the form of shame defeat you.

Shut it up and show up.

Expect Criticism

The people at your gym are living the life. If you’re a beginner, you’re still living that life.

They will not be the ones who criticize you.

Your family, friends, and coworkers who do NOT live the life will be the first to criticize you.

You’re working out? You know you’ll probably injure yourself right?!

You’ve changed. Live a little!

It’s just one donut man! Come on, it’s Friday. We’re all having one!

I cannot emphasize this enough.

If I talk with someone in the gym we’re usually discussing how we train, what our diets are like, what works and what doesn’t.

In other words, it’s productive shit!

If I talk with friends and coworkers who DO NOT go to the gym, I get those comments listed above.

They are the crabs in the bucket that will try to pull you back down to their level.

You are taking the steps to improve yourself and they see it.

Some will support you but many others will critique every new thing you’re doing.

Get your diet and fitness habits on track and you will realize very quickly how everyone is an expert on nutrition and exercise even though they look like they’ve never been in a gym.

As far as I know…this never goes away.

Expect it. Embrace it. Laugh at them to yourself.

But do not let them get to you.

Their words of criticism are proof that you’re on the right track.

Welcome to the club.

How to Accelerate Your Progress with 1-on-1 Coaching

This is you without Adam (that’s me!)

You have a goal in mind but you’re overwhelmed with conflicting information, obstacles, and staying motivated which leaves you confused, frustrated, and constantly on the verge of giving up.

This is you with Adam (still me!).

You have a goal in mind with an exercise and nutrition plan personalized specifically to you to save you endless amounts of time and frustration.

An experienced coach can fast track your results.

Work with me and I will guarantee you results. 100%.

If you’d like to get started feel free to schedule a call with me here or DM me on Instagram or Twitter.

I’m ready. Future You will wonder why you ever hesistated to hire a coach.