215 to 175, I: The Overview

“If you’re into just giving it a try, I promise it won’t hurt you to try it and really did work for me.”

Yes, I know it’s a title so lame that it begs for mockery. Feel free to do so in the comments. In all honesty, I could not think of a title that better summed up what I’m going to write about. I really want this information to be easily accessible and navigable, so I’m not going to be too subtle with what I’m doing or where I’m headed. That said, Part 1 is about how I prepared for the transformation. The Overview is the basic steps that I followed, which you can research for yourself if you want, or wait for me to explain the science/theory behind it. If you’re into just giving it a try, I promise it won’t hurt you to try it and really did work for me. Also, one thing I want to promise you:

I did not use any supplement or product or practice that is not mentioned below. That means no steroids, no “fat burners”, no phentermine, no bulimia or anorexia, no starving myself, no insane workouts (not by my definition, anyway).

I’m going to add to this as I have time, but I have had at least twenty people request information about what I did. That said, for the moment, I’m going to lay out the bare bones of my strategy, which I will explain. More detailed information (e.g. “Making One Change Per Week”) will come along when I get time to post it.

Overview

“I have to go enjoy some pizza with the family…”

1. I practiced intermittent fasting, following Martin Berkhan’s Lean Gains Guide for my daily plan, and following Brad Pilon’s Eat Stop Eat program one or two days per week. I’ll explain more later, but essentially I…
   1. stayed in a fasted state from 10 PM to 2 PM (and sometimes, 4 or 6 PM) daily, regardless of whatever else was going on;
   2. followed a 24-hour fast (the Eat Stop Eat plan) at least once per week, although I added a second day if I had been through a “cheat day” (e.g. the Super Bowl, a party, etc.) where I really consumed a lot of calories;
   3. learned to view eating as an experience to be enjoyed (e.g. dinner with family, eating yogurt with girls, etc.) rather than something to be done at a proscribed time (i.e. lunchtime, dinner time, etc.)
   4. ate celery, sliced peppers, a few grapes or blueberries, broccoli, or some other vegetable AND drank 16 ounces of water if I was convinced I was somehow about to die (but almost never did I do this before the 14th hour of fasting);
   5. learned that, after a couple weeks, the “low blood sugar” and “low energy” excuses were just that: excuses- they didn’t really exist! (Caveat: that statement does not apply to medical conditions diagnosed and treated by a doctor)
2. I exercised three to four times per week, always Turbulence Training, although any workout designed to make you move quickly with little rest will probably work for right now. Also, it’s important to note…
   1. I did not do “bodybuilding” workouts, which are slower and usually have “days”, like “Chest Day” and “Arms Day”. If you read the Turbulence Training website, you’ll eventually find out that those workouts only work when you’re already really lean (and they consume a lot more time than you have to devote);
   2. I did some “steady state cardio” (what you would call running at a basically steady pace) only as an off day, enjoyable activity (because I truly enjoy 3 – 6 mile runs; I almost always began runs with “torso training” (what you might call “core work”) and I never let the running interfere with the workouts;
   3. I did interval and HIIT training after a workout when the weather permitted- I’m especially a fan of the Tabata Protocol for interval work (I did it for four minutes of sprinting after a ten to fifteen minute jog), but there are some easier, also effective methods that you can find online;
   4. I only did ANY of this because I truly love exercise, running, and HIIT. I truly believe what Brad Pilon says (in the ESE book) about “just being leaner”, which is basically that you don’t have to exercise to get leaner (it can speed the process up, give you more muscle, and make you look better, but most fat loss comes from your eating habits).
3. I decided to eat as “clean” as possible (veggies, fruits, lean meats, water (and beer, haha)), although I think for initial weight loss, it’s mostly the calories that matter (and lowering non-natural sugar)- this actually turned into a powerful strategy, because you can eat a damn TON of veggies (and fruit, but they are high in sugar) before you make a caloric impact, and you are FULL from all the fiber.

And there you have it. WHAT I DID. There’s plenty more information to come, but for now, I have to go enjoy some pizza with the family (as I’ll explain, once you get to where you want to be, once you’ve mastered self-control, a pizza-night is not a huge deal.)

PART II: Old Fallacies in Eating

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