Have you tried dieting plans that haven’t really worked?
With all the dieting programs out there, are you confused at which programs will work for you and which programs won’t work?
Do you have stubborn fat that just won’t go away no matter what you do?
Do you want to challenge your body to achieve a new breakthrough?
If you answered YES to any of the questions above, this article is for you. I answered YES to all of those questions in March 2019. And as a result of the routine and nutritional cleanse program I followed, I lost 10 pounds, 4% body fat and 4 inches from my waist line 30 days before my 40th birthday. I feel incredibly healthy and feel great about the way I look. And you can do the same thing.
HOW I LOST 4-INCHES OFF MY WAIST IN 30 DAYS
Who is this plan for:
- Individuals that are able to follow a dedicated nutrition plan (without cheating) for 30 days
- Individuals that would like to lose stubborn fat
- Individuals who have tried other types of diets that have not been successful
- Anyone up for a fitness challenge to become leaner
Who is this plan not for:
- Individuals who struggle to follow a dedicated nutrition plan
- Individuals who lack the discipline to say NO to unhealthy foods in a “hungry moment”
- Individuals who are not able to carve out time during their day/week for a consistent exercise routine
- Individuals who do not have a strong support network (including significant other, best friends, co-workers, family members, etc.) to help encourage them and keep them on track to meet their goals.
MY GOAL: BE IN THE BEST SHAPE OF MY LIFE BY 40 YEARS OLD
I’ve always been a hard-gainer. People usually roll their eyes when they hear me say that my goal is to gain weight (lean muscle mass) since, for most of my life until now, I could eat a lot and not gain weight. But my challenge was to gain weight by eating the healthy foods that will help my body gain strength and not eating foods that are fatty which would certainly help me gain unhealthy weight.
I’ve always had this vision that I would be in the best shape of my life by the time I turned 40. But not only feel good by 40, but also look good. And I envisioned this elaborate photo shoot with my shirt off to capture the moment in time. (Sharing this admission makes me laugh).
Over the past couple of years, I have traveled extensively around the world. And it’s very difficult to have any type of healthy eating or exercise routine while on the go. I continued eating healthy when I could but I didn’t workout much. There is plenty of chicken and vegetables available at most restaurants around the world. (For those that do travel and want a way to continue to workout, look into these resistance bands that I carried with me and don’t take up too much room in your luggage).
80 DAYS BEFORE MY 40th BIRTHDAY
I knew my birthday was approaching quickly and I hadn’t really focused on being in the best shape like I had envisioned. Eating (and drinking) whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted: pizza, cheeseburgers, chocolate chip cookies, juicy steaks, red wine, vodka sodas.
I looked decent. But I wanted abs. I began to notice some “flub” around my waist and love handles were beginning to form on the sides and on my lower back. When I wore my boxer briefs, the waist band pulled into my sides and I could see my stubborn fat bulge out over the top from the pressure of the band. I didn’t like to see the fatty bulge. I wanted to change that.
And I know from my previous workout history, I wouldn’t really do any cardio because I knew that I would lose weight (insert: eye roll from some). But now, as my 40th approached, it was time to take action to achieve my lifelong goal.
TIME TO LOSE STUBBORN FAT
During the first 40 days of my 80 day journey to 40 years old, I began eating healthier but my workout routine never incorporated any cardio. So there was no way to burn any stubborn fat which was my ultimate goal. Once I arrived at 40 days until my 40th birthday, I measured myself and saw that I had minimal results. I actually had gained weight. I gained muscle, but I accumulated stubborn fat. I was going in the wrong direction.
I weighed 187 and had about 18% body fat. So for the last 40 days, I needed to take more drastic measures. I wanted to reduce my body fat! After speaking with a friend who is an expert in this area, I took on a special 30 day challenge and I lost 10 pounds and 4% body fat. And that equated to 4 inches lost from my waist line.
HOW I LOST 10 POUNDS, 4% BODY FAT, 4 INCHES FROM WAIST LINE
SOLUTION: nutritional cleanse + dedicated exercise plan + DISCIPLINE
Here are the SEVEN steps I took:
1. PURCHASED 30-DAY NUTRITIONAL CLEANSE PROGRAM
I worked with a friend of mine who is a nutrition and fitness coach. I purchased a 30-day program that provided the following:
- Daily morning powder drink mix consisting of adaptogens to help manage stress on the body
- Daily accelerator capsules designed to increase your metabolism and burn fat
- 2 meal replacements per day (great-tasting shakes) – non-gmo, all natural and do not contain fillers like most over-the-counter protein shake mixes include
- Daily probiotic to keep your bowel movements regular
- 4 cleanse day supplies (includes small snacks and powder drink mixes containing the nutrients you will need to replace food intake for one full day of fasting).
2. MEASURE & TAKE PHOTOS
Yes, measure with a tape measure. The scale is ok, but you WILL lose weight on this program. The hard part is to know how many pounds to aim for. Five pounds, 10 pounds, 20 pounds. It is basically just shooting in the dark when picking pounds to lose.
But the real measurement is in inches! Most of us don’t actively measure our waist size. You will receive a body tape measure when you purchase the nutritional cleanse program mentioned in #1. Use this to measure around your waist about three inches below your belly button. Then make sure you take this same measurement of the location to compare during and after you finish the program
GOAL: Take the number of jean’s sizes you have gone up that you don’t like and then multiply that number by 2. This should be your goal in inches. For example, if you went from a 36 jeans waist size to a 38 jeans waist size, that is a difference of 2 inches. Multiply 2 by the number 2. Your goal will be to lose 4 inches from your waist line. This is a very achievable goal.
You can come up with your own goal, but make your 30-day goal achievable. After the 30-days, you can always set another goal to achieve. But it is important for you to see that you can achieve goals that you work towards. If you set an unachievable goal, there is a high likelihood that you will become discouraged and lose hope.
3. NUTRITION
Nutrition is probably the most important part of any fat-loss, workout plan, including this plan. The main goal on this program will be to lower the amount of carbs and fat that you consume. You will eat a high protein, low fat and very low carb diet. Low carbs will certainly be a challenge for many. But this is where the discipline comes into play. Remember, sugar = carbs. And diet foods (e.g. sugar free) and drinks (e.g. Diet Coke) are not good for you (those foods and drinks include fake sugar that does not show up as sugar on the food label but are even worse for your body than real sugar).
I suggest before you begin this program, you track your food and beverage intake for a typical day (or days). Use the MyFitnessPal app that allows you to track Calories, Carbohydrates, Protein, and Fat. It will be interesting for you to see the actual calories you consume in a typical day. Once you know your baseline, you must calculate your macro goals (carbs, protein, fat) to consume each day. MyFitnessPal has an option in settings where you can manually enter your macro mix.
Here is how to find and use your macro nutrition mix goal for the 30-day program:
- Calculate your macro goals: Use this macro calculator to find your “goal” macro: https://healthyeater.com/flexible-dieting-calculator. (All of the descriptions for each input are at the bottom of the page to help you enter accurate information.)
- Plug in your macro goals into MyFitnessPal: The website in #1 will give you your total calorie MAX and how many grams of each macro you should be consuming. In your MyFitnessPal app, plug in the total calorie count first (e.g. 1,800 calories) and then enter your macro mix percentages: % protein, + % fat + % carbs = 100%. (e.g. 50% protein, 30% fat, 20% carbs).
- Achieve your macro goal each day: Then each day, enter everything you consume into MyFitnessPal and try to achieve your macro/calorie goal each day. You probably will need to adjust your diet in the first few days to get to your daily goal. But keep working at it and play around with different foods.
I will send you a sample meal plan that I used during my nutritional cleanse which outlines my target macros and calories AND a detailed grocery shopping list to help identify which foods you should purchase for this program for FREE!! Just enter your information below to subscribe to my mailing list and I will email you the FREE PDF that you can print out to help you get started!
4. WATER INTAKE
Water is a vital part of this program. Try to consume one gallon of water per day (128 ounces). I typically filled up a gallon jug with water and only used this jug throughout the day so I knew how close I was to completing the goal each day.
5. CLEANSE DAYS
Cleanse days are really fasting days where you do not consume food for an entire day. The cleanse days are scheduled once per week and you pick which day it is. Just be consistent. I did my cleanse days on Wednesday. The cleanse days are designed to give your body a break from digesting all the heavy foods we eat. And it helps reset the body to then burn even more fat since our bodies are so used to having food move through it.
The cleanse days are really not as hard as they sound. The program has you consuming something each hour, like a liquid mix or a snack the cleanse program provides. For someone who had never fasted for one full day, I found that once I got into the afternoon I was fine. I even worked out hard on cleanse days and felt ok for the most part. The snacks the program provides are actually quite tasty (they give you small chocolate squares to eat – the milk chocolate with sea salt caramel are insanely good).
6. EXERCISE
Stick to a workout plan that works for you. However, doing nothing is not a workout plan. Make sure you get 3-5 workout sessions of at least 30 minutes in each week. Walking around the block does not count. You need to elevate your heartrate for at least 20-30 minutes.
SAMPLE WORKOUT SCHEDULE
This is the workout program that I followed each week I was on the nutritional cleanse program. This isn’t a program you must follow, but I would recommend a program that has the same amount of cardio associated with the program I include below:
MONDAY: 60 minutes strength training (upper body) + 15 minutes Fat Burner video (find a YouTube video to follow) OR Cardio
TUESDAY: 60 minutes strength training (lower body) + 15 minutes High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) – it is circuit training with little rest.
WEDNESDAY: Rest + Cleanse day
THURSDAY: 60 minutes strength training (chest + arms) + 15 minutes Fat Burner video OR Cardio
FRIDAY: 60 minutes strength training (legs) + 15 minutes HIIT
SATURDAY: 60 minutes strength training (back + shoulders) + 15 minutes Fat Burner video OR Cardio
SUNDAY: Rest
7. OTHER ITEMS FOR SUCCESS
- Discipline: This is a MUST. Staying focused each day is very difficult. You have to be in the right mind set each day. TIP: One thing I did each day immediately after I woke up (and before I began my eating program) was to meditate for at least 10 minutes. This helped focus my mind to remain disciplined to stay on the plan and not cheat. I used the app called “Insight Timer“.
- Plan Ahead: I realize many people struggle with planning ahead. But this is one of the keys of success for this program. Meal plan preparation in advance is key. Make sure you go to the grocery store on the weekend to buy enough food for all meals for the week including breakfast, lunch and dinner. And then plan out each day with meals. Here is why: When you are hungry, the easiest thing to do is grab a slice of pizza or get a quick sandwich that isn’t on the plan. I know because I have been there. AND, in the moment, you will tell yourself, “its ok just this one time.” But it’s NOT OK! Plan all of your meals ahead of time and this will help you stay on track.
- Minimize Alcohol: I write this because many of us use alcohol frequently. And a drink here and there usually is ok. However I have found that once you have a drink, it allows your mind to think the next time, “it’s ok to have a drink”. And then, “I’ve already had one drink, it’s ok to have another.” I know because I have been there. A glass of wine here and there won’t wreck your diet, but use this glass of wine or beer as your reward for achieving everything during the week. This way you will be rewarding yourself for all of your hard work and for strengthening your willpower. Don’t use alcohol as a way to relieve stress from the program.
- Support system: Share with your family and friends on social media to help them hold you accountable. Once you know others are watching, you are more likely to stick with the program. Even if you have one bad day, your support network will help pick you back up and keep you on track the next day.
I hope you found this guide helpful. If you are interested in speaking with me and my coach about this program, please CLICK HERE to send me an email. We will schedule a time to discuss the program and help you achieve your goals.
And I would love to see and hear about any progress that you make on this program. Feel free to share this article with others and tag me on Facebook (@CoryCalvinOfficial) or leave me a comment below so I can see how you are doing! I wish you all the best!
