Chances are you’ve heard the phrase, “There’s no better time than now” in reference to starting your fat loss journey.
The intent is to get you to take immediate action and is often directed toward those who are procrastinating or waiting for a perfect time to begin the process.
But the truth is, there are better times to start a fat loss journey than others.
If your life is insanely busy, you’re not sleeping well, and you’re stressed to the max, embarking on a fat loss journey will only add more stress to your life. Making it much more difficult to strip fat from your body while causing feelings of frustration and doubt.
This is where I was 15 years ago when I wanted to lose the 50 pounds of excess fat that I had gained as a result of crappy lifestyle choices.
I was attempting to lose weight while working 16 hour days running my personal training studio, learning how to build an online fitness business, and spending time with my wife and young children.
For nearly 10 years this was my battle.
I knew what to do, but I just couldn’t execute the plan consistently. It wasn’t my fault. The timing to get ripped just sucked.
When people hear my story and see where I’m at today, they often ask,
What was the secret? What did you do different to achieve success?
My response…
One day I woke up and finally felt ‘ready’ to change. It’s as simple as that.
I didn’t read a motivational meme or get a pep talk from a friend or colleague. I just simply felt ‘ready’.
A lot of it had to do with my lifestyle at the time. My kids were growing up and could take care of themselves a bit more. I also had systems in place with my business that created more free time in my day.
There was still stress in my life, but nothing like what I had been experiencing up to this point.
I got to work executing the exact same plan I had attempted for nearly a decade.
7 months later I had ripped six pack abs.
I started taking part in photo shoots, which felt incredibly rewarding. And one year later I competed on the bodybuilding stage for the first time at age 37.
I was now in the zone. And it all came down to timing.
Now don’t get me wrong. If your life is chaotic at the moment, it doesn’t mean you need to abandon the idea of sculpting a lean physique all together. You just need to put things into perspective and cut yourself some slack.
I wish I could go back in time to share this advice with my younger self.
If it was possible, here’s what I’d recommend to set myself up for long-term success;
Make Lifestyle Improvements Your #1 Priority
1) Improve time management
Focus on a) eliminating distractions, b) spend less time on social media, c) watch less television, and d) prioritize a to-do list to maintain focus.
2) Improve sleep quality and quantity
Start by a) turning all electronics off well before bed time and instead read a book or write in a journal, b) create a dark, cool, and relaxing atmosphere in the bedroom, and c) do a brain dump before bed to get everything off my mind.
3) Go for a daily brisk walk
Soak up your surroundings. Become completely present in the moment. Be grateful for the miracles around us.
4) Create structure and keep things simple
Focus on building positive habits that will serve you well over the long-term. You can break this down between nutrition and exercise.
Nutrition: First and foremost, focus on improving the quality of your food sources and become aware of your portion sizes.
Second, think of 2 or 3 quality meals that you would enjoy eating every day. For example, here are three meals that I eat just about every day of the week throughout most of the year.
Meal 1 is a shake consisting of 1 cup kefir, 1 scoop whey protein powder, loads of spinach, and fruit. It’s quick, easy, and loaded with nutrients that energize my morning.
Meal 2 is 260 grams of plain Greek yogurt, 1 scoop of whey protein powder, and 140 grams of frozen fruit. Once again, quick, easy, and energizing.
Meal 3 is an egg omelet (8 egg whites and 2 extra large eggs) with loads of veggies, cooked in a bit of coconut oil, and topped with ketchup.
Then there’s dinner, which is typically a lean protein and loads of veggies. This is where I get some variety.
We have about 10-12 different dinner meals that we rotate through. Some we have more often than others, either out of convenience or because we enjoy them the most.
Depending on how large the dinner is, I may have room for a snack before bed or during the day.
Having this structure in place makes nutrition somewhat mindless while reducing stress around what to eat each day. It also breeds consistent behaviours.
Exercise: Adopt a flexible training plan. You’ll always be better off fitting a workout plan to your lifestyle rather than fit your lifestyle to a workout plan.
If you only have 30 minutes to workout three days out of the week, roll with that rather than trying to follow a rigid five or six day workout plan that leaves you feeling like a failure when you can’t comply to it.
The key is to follow a workout plan that provides the opportunity to celebrate mini victories on a consistent basis.
And above all else, follow a workout plan that’s fun.
When you enjoy your training sessions, you’re more likely to stick with the plan. Don’t worry about all the new trendy ‘fat burning’ workout programs out there. Just follow a plan that makes you feel good.
It’s all about building positive habits and setting you up for success. That way, when you finally feel ‘ready’, the foundation will have already been laid and ready for you to build upon.
How do you know when you’re ready?
You may have told yourself that you’re ready to start your fat loss journey and still not follow through.
That’s because there is a huge difference between saying that you’re ready and actually feeling ready.
It’s kinda like that feeling when you meet your soul mate. You feel it at the core of your being. You just know that this is it.
The point is, you can’t make yourself feel ready to change. Just as you can’t make anyone else feel ready to change.
For whatever reason, it just happens.
But again, it really helps to lay that foundation and make the lifestyle improvements you can during those times when you’re not feeling so ready.
Slowly, but surely building those positive habits and setting yourself up for success.
Then one day, for no rhyme or reason, you’ll notice that it’s easier to resist the temptations. It’s easier to go to bed feeling a bit of hunger. It’s easier to push yourself a little harder in the gym.
Not only will you embrace the challenge of stripping off fat, but you’ll thrive from the process. You’ll laugh in the face of hunger, shouting from the roof tops, “Bring it!!!”
When you live the Physique Artist Lifestyle, this scenario will play over again
As a Physique Artist you typically go through building phases where you gain a bit of fat along with the muscles growth.
As a result there are times when you need to go through a mini-cut to strip away the bit of excess fat and reveal the muscle you added to your physique.
It helps to take part in those mini-cuts when life is rolling smoothly and you don’t have any life events that can make the fat loss process more challenging.
For example, trying to diet while on vacation is not only a challenge, but it takes away from the full vacation experience as well.
Always set yourself up for success!
This is exactly what I did in January, after a successful muscle building phase. I had nothing going on during January, February, and March that would make the fat loss process any more difficult than it needed to be. It was great timing!
Plus, after indulging a bit during the holiday season I had absolutely no desire for junk food or alcohol. I wanted to eat less and felt ready to eat less.
This resulted in a seemingly effortless 12 week cutting phase that I thoroughly enjoyed.
This was followed by 8 weeks at maintenance, which also felt effortless and lead right into an incredible family vacation to Jamaica.
I gained about 7 pounds during that trip and dropped 3 of those pounds the first day back, (Water weight, food volume, bloat).
Dropping the next 4 pounds should have been easy and shouldn’t have taken any more than 2-3 weeks to burn off.
I immediately got right back to the same nutrition plan I had followed to get ripped earlier in the year. The same plan the felt effortless to me.
But things didn’t go the way I expected them to. I’d be great for 4 days, then loose control for the next 3. After a few weeks I was able to make some improvements and get it down to 5 great days and 2 not so good days.
A lot of it had to do with life events. We had a lot of gatherings and parties throughout May and June and I really wanted to enjoy them without thinking about dieting.
As I reflect on why it’s taken me so long to get rid of the 4 pounds I gained during the vacation, it all comes down to me not feeling ready to cut again.
After the last cutting phase I felt done with ‘dieting’ for a while. I didn’t have the mental gusto to strip off the fat.
I was trying to force myself to feel ready. I even announced that I was ready a few times in our private Physique Mastery Movement online community. But again, saying you’re ready is much different than feeling ready.
And then 12 days ago (6 weeks post vacation), it happened!
I woke up with that feeling. I was officially ready to become a fat burning machine.
Again, following the exact same nutrition plan and training schedule. Nothing had changed other than that ‘ready feeling’.
For the past 12 days my nutrition has been on point. I’ve still had some gatherings where I’ve faced temptations, but I planned for it. I gave myself permission to have a couple drinks and a few treats at the event, knowing that I’ve eaten well the rest of the week.
I’ve fully embraced that bit of hunger before bed and I’m completely thriving from it. I’ve walked to the cupboard a few times out of habit, saw some chips, and walked away with ease. That’s how I know I’m completely in the zone.
I’ve also noticed that I’m enjoying my workouts even more than normal, which is crazy to think because I absolutely love training. But this is an entirely new level. I’ve got an extra skip in my step. I’m more focused and in the moment. All of my energy is directed toward giving my best effort to what is immediately in front of me.
Don’t underestimate the mental capacity required for the fat loss process
Fat loss is simple, but it certainly isn’t easy.
Most of us know what to do. The challenge is consistently executing what you already know.
If you’re not mentally prepared for the challenge, fat loss will feel like you’re fighting an uphill battle.
You’ll become frustrated because you’re trying so hard with little or no progress to show for it. It’ll feel like you’re swimming up stream, because you’re putting in a great deal of effort and getting nowhere.
But when you’re feeling ‘ready’, the ball is in your court and you level the playing field.
(OK, that’s enough metaphors for one day) 😀
The point is, there are times throughout the year when we have the mental capacity to make the fat loss process feel somewhat effortless and other times throughout the year when fat loss will feel like a constant struggle.
Developing a heightened sense of awareness and recognizing these times, will save you a great deal of frustration and make this Physique Artist Lifestyle a heck of a lot more enjoyable.
The Ebb and Flow Of Physique Transformation
Bryan Krahn and I often bring up this topic during our Physique Mastery Podcasts. This is where experience really comes into play. With decades of practice we’ve honed in our awareness skills. As a result we’ve learned to go with the flow.
When you don’t have the mental capacity to embark on a cutting phase, don’t fight it. Roll with it. Focus on those foundational positive habits I shared earlier.
And when you have the gusto to go for it, give it everything you’ve got. Get’er done and move on.
It’s interesting, because as I’m writing this post I’m reflecting on how I’ve grown during the past year.
At this time one year ago I created a 12 month calendar that laid out my muscle building, maintenance, and cutting phases. It all went to plan other than the 4 pounds I gained from vacation. I didn’t know I was going to be travelling to Jamaica at the time I made the calendar, so I had no way to plan for it.
Creating this calendar was good for me at the time. It kept me focused and on task. It worked for me and the stage of mastery I was at back then.
But during the past 12 months my awareness has been taken to a new level and I’m becoming more intuitive with the direction of my goals.
I no longer feel the need to lock myself into a calendar. I’m mastering maintenance. Staying much closer to my ideal body fat percentage during muscle building pahses. Always within striking distance of being pretty freak’n ripped. And when the time is right for me I’ll take part in a mini cut to get me there.
This may sound zen like… and it should, because it is. That’s the point.
Rather than trying to discover a bunch of advanced weird tricks to get you ripped, focus on becoming more in-tune with your body and mind.
And when you do, you’ll experience much more joy from this lifestyle. Everything will feel ‘right’.
Let go of this need for control and go with the flow.
Sculpt a Masterpiece,
Coach Scott Tousignant