How To Lose 10-20 Pounds By Thanksgiving - Part 4
My smartest and my most popular clients struggle the most to lose fat. So if you're not smart or popular, you don't have to keep reading, this doesn't apply to you. 😉
The smart ones struggle because of decision fatigue and perfectionism (AKA Allornothingitis).
And the popular ones struggle because it's really freaking hard to lose fat when someone is always handing you a beer or a hotdog at the party.
Just look at my client's schedule from last week (when I saw it I spewed cold brew all over my keyboard):
Tuesday - Paint and sip event with my company to get to know the new agents
Wednesday - Lunch/Drinks at a steakhouse downtown with some top producing agents to network with a preset 3 course menu
Thursday - Continuing Education class where lunch is provided (although I feel like I 100% can just skip out after the class and before lunch for this one)
Friday - Charity Golf Event with Breakfast and Lunch/Drinks provided…Then…the Dave Matthews Concert with a friend that wants to, and I quote, "crush some light beers on the grass"
Saturday - My Son's 8 year old B day Dinner with Family
Sunday - Dinner with another family at their house with Drinks/Wine
It’s much easier said than done, but you can lose fat during insanely packed weeks like this. I'll show you three strategies to prove it:
Which bucket?
Plan before and after
Add the good so you don't act like a baby
1. Which bucket?
If your social calendar looks like a horde of drunk raccoons took a 24 pack of Crayolas to it, it is absolutely crucial that you filter the occasions into two buckets:
This is really special and I'd like food/drink to amplify the experience
This is a normal weekly life event and I'm going to keep it tight
Looking at my client's example above, he might organize them this way:
Amplify the experience
Dave Matthews, crushing light beers on the grass
His son's 8th birthday dinner
Keep it tight
Paint and sip
Steakhouse networking lunch
CE class lunch (or skip out before it)
Charity golf
Dinner at the neighbors'
All of a sudden it becomes pretty clear which events you should splurge for the big slice of cake/3rd Coors Light, and which you should order the steak/salad with chicken and stick to one glass of wine.
The most important part of the bucket system: decide beforehand. If you wait till you're already 1.5 drinks in at the charity golf event, and you're basing your next move on how you feel, you're toast. 4 beers are a guarantee, and drunchies are sure to follow.
Decide first thing in the morning, clear headed, and stick to the plan. You'll enjoy the special occasions more and still stay on track.
2. Plan before and after
"WDYM John, we just did that?"
Noooooo, I mean plan your food before and after. This might seem crazy to you, but everyone who stays in shape year-round does it.
Take my client's "Dinner with another family at their house with Drinks/Wine," for instance.
We've already decided this isn't super meaningful, so we're going to keep it tight. But do you think you'll be able to keep it tight if you haven't eaten all day and your friends are serving up burgers?
You on your fourth burger because you failed to plan. (source)
Hell to the no. You'd be four burgers deep before you even knew what was happening.
If you're serious about losing 10-20 pounds in the next few months, here's how you should approach social events:
Find out what you're being served/the menu beforehand, if possible
If calorie and protein friendly options are available (chicken, fish, vegetables, Mexican, salad, whatever), treat it like a regular meal
If it's a carb and fat fest (BBQ, burgers, pizza, wings and beer, etc.), eat protein before and after
This does not mean you sit there and twiddle your thumbs during the event!
You have one drink and one burger or slice or whatever, and you don't freak out when you're still hungry, because you know there are high protein chicken tenders at home that are ready in ten minutes
To make it concrete, here's exactly how I approached the last BBQ Kelly and I went to:
I had a smoothie with protein powder/spinach/blueberries/Greek yogurt/almond milk before we left
At the party I had 1.5 drinks, 1 burger, some fruit, and a handful of pretzels
I was still hungry, but I didn't panic
When we got home, I had Real Good chicken strips, rice, and cabbage
I was full, I hit my targets for the day, and the fat loss gods were pleased
Again, eating before and after a function that serves food might seem outrageous. But the way of the universe is that calories count whether you planned for them or not, so if you're going to be there for 6 hours getting served hypercaloric stuff that's 20% protein at most, you eat before and after.
And still, there's room in your calorie budget for 1-2 "whatever, I want to enjoy myself and have 3 beers and 3 burgers" type occasions/week. You just can't do that every time, or the calorie math won't work.
3. Add the good so you don't act like a baby
Another direct quote from my client's email: “I'm kind of at a loss for what to do on the nutrition side of things. I don't know if I feel more deprived from the week, and that's why it seems like I always splurge on the weekends."
This might surprise you, but you need to deprive yourself to lose fat. The entire game is eating fewer calories than you burn, AKA depriving yourself of calories.
But if you focus on all of the foods you're depriving yourself of, you're dead. If you tell a baby they can't have candy, what will they ask for and cry and scream for the rest of the day? Candy. Duh, it's human nature. If you tell yourself all week long you can't have pizza, what will you ask for and cry and scream for the rest of the weekend? ‘Za!
So flip the point of view. Instead of whining about what you "can't"* have, focus on adding more of the good stuff:
More protein
More fruits and veggies
New healthy recipes you're looking forward to trying out
New diet soda/drink flavors you've been dying to try
*There is nothing you "can't" have on a fat loss diet. You can absolutely fill your entire calorie budget with pizza. But if you do, you'll get like four slices, you won't hit your protein, you'll lose muscle, and you'll be starving all the time.*
And remember all of the other stuff you're adding that doesn't have calories:
Feeling better
Looking better
More confidence
More energy
Better health
How does this tie into the social event challenge? Because weekends are where the dam breaks. If you white-knuckle restriction Monday through Friday at about 4pm, you're going to walk into that party like a toddler who just got told no candy.
But if every day you're focused on adding more of the good stuff (and remembering the benefits of your hard work), the weekends are just more days to keep stacking wins.
You can party and lose fat, but you gotta want it
To recap, here’s what we’ve covered:
Day 1 - If you want to lose fat, you need to eat fewer calories than you burn
Day 2 - Automating more of your week is one of the most effective ways to accelerate fat loss
Day 3 - Perfectionism is keeping you fat, and all you need is 75% over the long run
Day 4 (today) - You can enjoy an insane social calendar and still lose fat if you sort the important events from the regular ones, plan your food before and after, and add rather than subtract to avoid the deprivation dam break
That leaves one problem on the list, and it's the one everything else depends on: you have to get clear on what you actually want, and why.
Because what we've covered so far WILL help you lose fat and keep it off forever. It's a lot of work, no doubt about it, but you'll be willing to put in that work if you're choosing this. Losing fat right now is important to you. And if it's not, that's a different conversation.
And we'll have it tomorrow.
Best,
John
P.S. Healthy For The Holidays is a special program I'm offering between now and 9/14.
What you get:
A program built specifically for you to lose 10-20 pounds while gaining strength, all before you sit down for Thanksgiving
Full movement assessment and prehab protocol built directly into their training program (a $300-$500 value, 100% FREE)
First dibs on Black Friday coaching promos
100% money back guarantee at any point in the program
27 of my 30 roster spots are already full. Once the last three are gone, they're GONE. My average client stays 9-12 months, so they may stay that way for a while.
3 Steps You Can Take
Apply for coaching - If you’re ready to start, you can fill out a coaching application here (it takes 90 seconds or less). Best case, you change your life. Worst case, I’ll help you draw up a road map to get closer to your goals.
Sign up for my newsletter - If you’d like to hear more, sign up for my mailing list here.
Keep learning - You can check out my other articles here. Nobody asked me to, but I’ve spent a ton of time researching everything from artificial sweeteners to saturated fat to testosterone and more, so you don’t have to.
