Whatever diet you choose to use in your six pack journey is up to you but one thing is certain, if you do not create a caloric deficit you will not lose fat. It’s as simple as that. “Online Gurus” will argue this point but I always fight any push back to my arguments with logic, so here it is. This guy lost weight using only ice cream and a bit of protein. https://www.menshealth.com/weight-loss/a19546608/ice-cream-diet-32-lb-weight-loss/
Now that we have the caloric deficit established as the principle driver for fat loss we can move on to the choice of diet. What Howard Crow proved with his ice cream experiment is that any diet will work as long as there is a caloric deficit. But this six pack journey is not just about losing fat, it is also about exchanging your old life for a new and better life. This means your eating habits need to change.
Step one is to download my fitness pal app, it is free and I have fouh out for dnd it to be a fantastic tool for weight loss. This will help to keep control of your calorie intake. At first it’s a bit time consuming as you have search your foods to input but as time goes on it remembers your foods and you can input your meals very quickly and with minimum effort.
Step two. Now you need to start eating lots of meat/fish, have roasted or boiled veggies and salads of all kinds. Just watcressings as they often contain sugar and can be high in calories. The protein in your meat will help you with your muscle gain and veggies will provide necessary vitamins as well as make you feel full. My food split would look something like this: 70% protein/fats and 30% carbohydrate. Carbs from green sources such as veggies, you want to take in complex carbohydrates as they will fill you up and take longer for your body to turn them into glucose which is then used by your body for energy. You want to stay away from simple carbs such as sugar or sugary treats, also fruits. I do recommend having fruit if you get sugar cravings, especially in the early stages of your diet change. I also recommend you get the best protein powder you can afford, good organic whey protein is what I use. It’s very hard to take in large amounts of protein per day, you should have 2 grams of protein per every 1kg of body weight. This is what is needed to build muscle, it’s not always possible to achieve this intake per day. I find if I get close to my goal of 220g per day I see good progress in my muscle gain.
Step three is the most important of all. It is discipline, you need to stick to your low carb diet no matter how hard it seems. No matter what cravings you get you need to stay strong and find healthy substitutes. If you crave sugar have a piece of fruit, if you crave savoury treats such as chips have beef jerky or nuts. If you have a blow out and eat junk, try to get back on track as soon as possible. If you find that you have a blow out for a day or several days you need to have a serious at look at your commitment to this process. You are sabotaging your fat loss and as a consequence you are sabotaging your goals. Know that when you don’t achieve a daily calorie deficit you are going backwards and are in danger to saying “screw it” and going back to your old habits. You need to recognise within yourself that you are in danger of going off the rails, you will not reach your six pack goal and will go back to your old self. This fear of going back to your old life should keep you from falling off the tracks. You should fear of going back and use this fear to motivate you to stay on track. We all fall off the wagon sometimes but you need to get back on as soon as possible.
Step four is staying in the new healthy lifestyle when you have reached your six pack goals. You have worked hard to get a six pack but now if you want to keep it you need to continue to make good food choices and continue exercising. It’s not only about looking good but about feeling good. As your body improves, your self-esteem will improve, your health will improve, as a result your mental health will also improve. In the end your health and mental health are the most important.
My diet plan is as I have outlined above, but I also do intermittent fasting, this is a way of eating. You only eat for a planned 8 hours per day, every day at the same time. This allows your body to digest food and repair itself when it has a rest from digestion. I also find having a small 8 hour window helps me to control my calories a lot easier. I eat till I’m satisfied. At all times I try to keep the protein intake up and carbs low. I stay away from sugar. An amazing by product of this diet is the mental focus, basically when we were hunters and gatherers, would not ear very often, our mind would focus when we were hungry. I get the same benefit form intermittent fasting which helps me in my business life and in life in general. You become a lot more switched on. I recommend this lifestyle, I feel great, I continue to lose fat and gain muscle.