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5 Simple Motivation Hacks

May 24, 2013 By 1 Comment

Here’s 5 simple motivation hacks. These aren’t common ones you’ll find on Oprah. They’re real ones that actually work – if you’re brave enough to test them for yourself. I’m not even going to do a boring intro on why they work – they just do. Here we go:

hulk up

Hulk Up

Get pissed.

Get seriously pissed at your goal. Throw stuff. Break things. Yell. Scream. Call your goal names and punch it in the nose.

Then go dominate it.

It works for the hulk. It can work for you.

Blackmail Yourself

Tell your friend you intend to do XYZ goal.

Set a date & bet your rent. Or twice your rent. Whatever you do, make it HURT.

Put your money in their hands at the start date.

If you don’t do what you say you want to by the date you set – your friend either keeps the cash or gives it to the person you hate most. I’ve talked about blackmailing yourself extensively here.

Create A Painful Alternative Outcome

Similar to the above, but instead of money, make a personally painful outcome.

  • If you wuss out on finishing a race – make yourself do two.
  • If you miss your morning workout – you have to do 200 burpees before you go to bed.
  • If you quit, make yourself tell everybody you know.

My old basketball coach was a pro at this. Miss a play on defense on you’ll be on the line running sprints! (Needless to say, we focused a lot on defense).

Create a painful alternative outcome so even if you don’t feel like running towards your goal, you’ll want to run away from whatever painful alternative outcome you’ve set for yourself.

Create NO Alternative Outcome

Put yourself in a corner. Make it so that your only choice is to succeed. Make it so you have no other choice than to fight it out and win.

Decide that there is no acceptable alternative other than success.

Make no Plan B. Bet it all on Plan A

Then figure out how the hell to make it happen.

Become The Goal

Own your goal.

Stop trying to accomplish the goal and make it a part of who you are – your identity.

  • You’re not trying to work out 3 days a week – you ARE the guy who works out 3 days a week. That’s what you do – not what you try to do.
  • You’re not trying to learn spanish. You SPEAK spanish – no matter how terrible it is – you speak it.
  • You’re not a “freelancer” trying to start a business. You run ____ business and you’re making $____/year.

You need to have some gall. In order to achieve what you want, you have to become the person who’s capable of achieving that. Stop trying to become it and start acting like it’s a part of your identity from the start. You’ll get there faster.

—

Notice what most of these “motivation” hacks aren’t. They’re not “go watch this video” or “go buy X.” You don’t need that crap. You need to tap in to the animal part of your mind in order to accomplish stuff. PAIN is an incredible motivator. Use it. Create painful alternatives with TEETH that make you change OR ELSE.

Nothing happens until the pain of staying the same outweighs the pain of change.” – Arthur Burt

Stop trying to be “normal” and accomplish something impossible. If you want to do something uncommon – you’re going to have to do things uncommonly. Stop running from it – embrace it.

—-

photo credit: JD Hancock via photopin cc

Filed Under: Adventures, Fitness

How To Impose Your Will On A Situation

May 14, 2013 By 21 Comments

This Saturday, I crossed another thing off my list and did a century ride for the first time (technically it was 112.5 miles). I thought it’d be a nice relaxing ride in flat, midwest Indiana where I could take my time, relax and finish at my own pace with a few friends.

Of course, I’ve never done done anything close to 100 before and this was my first time on the bike this year, so this seemed like a great idea, but I’ll get to the full story in a second.

I did an interview the other day and had someone ask me “Not everyone can do what you do, what’s your secret?” I usually laugh at those questions as there’s nothing about anything I do that’s particularly special. I just don’t quit very often.

This past Saturday presented me with a lot of opportunities to quit (and I really, really wanted to take them), but, I simply decided not to. I imposed my will the race and I beat it.

There’s a few techniques I used to do so – which might be considered “secret”, but I don’t think there’s much beyond simple perseverance  Regardless, hopefully this is entertaining, helpful and useful the next time you run into a situation that simply needs to be “willed” into completion.

How To Impose Your Will On A Situation

Throughout this, I’ll be referring specifically to my century ride experience but you can use these techniques in almost anything you do.

Decide That You’re Doing It

Do or do not. There is no try - Yoda

The biggest decision is when you start. I decided that I was going to do it from the get-go. I could have said, “I’ll try to do it”, but in my mind when I set out that morning, I wasn’t going to “try”, I was going to do it.

Recognize & Embrace The Suck

Riding a century on a whim as your first ride of the season with zero training is not a “smart” idea. I just wanted to do it so I decided that I was going to do it. I realized quickly that it probably meant I’d be sore by the end of the day, but going into the race, I knew that it was going to suck. There was no getting around it.

I already accepted it and realized that was part of the deal of me signing up. That made what happened later during the race (slightly) easier to accept.

Break It Down

The first 56 miles of the race were relatively easy. But, while we started out in a large group with a bunch of other riders doing different distances, by mile 56, there were only 20 or so people left riding the full century ride and they were pretty spread out at that point.

At mile 56, my riding partner cramped up and headed home. At that point I didn’t really want to think about doing another cold, hilly, 56 miles by myself. We had already had some intense hills and a little rain and I was already cold, tired and wet with my nose dripping constantly, but I kept going.

However, I didn’t think about going another 56 miles in one set, I just thought about going 10. Then, every time I did 10, I mentally reset and did another 10. Over and over and over. No, it wasn’t anything crazy, but every 10 miles was a mini accomplishment and made it feasible – whereas 56 miles seemed much, much tougher.

I did the same thing when I was climbing some of the steep hills that seemed to take forever. Instead of worrying about the whole thing, I just focused on making it to the next tree, and then the next one. The cute butt strategy didn’t work in this scenario since I was surrounded by cows & sheep, but I could still use the same principle.

Say What You’re Willing To Give Up In Order To Accomplish What You Want

There’s one thing about knowing that whatever is coming up is going to suck & there’s another thing to actually say it out loud.

When I ask people “how bad do you want it?” – a lot of times they get offended because they think I’m saying they don’t want it bad enough.

Well, that’s exactly what I’m saying.

“Wanting it” isn’t’ very specific and whatever you want probably requires something more sacrifice than you anticipated at first. In order to get what you want, be very, very detailed about what you’re willing to give up in exchange for that. Because, you will be tested and asked for every single thing in exchange for what you want.

I literally started talking out loud to the “race” about what I was willing to give up in exchange for finishing the race.

  • I’m willing to be cold.
  • I’m willing to get rained on.
  • I’m willing to put up with all the wind you got.
  • I’m willing to bike endless hills.
  • I’m willing to ride the rest of the way alone.
  • I’m willing to do all of that…

But you will not beat me…so bring it.

Expect The Pain

Well…it was brought.

When you tell the world what you’re willing to be tested with – the world will be sure to test you with it. You better be expecting it to show up.

Not long after I left my riding partner,

The wind started to gust as a support car came up next to me to tell me to expect a thunderstorm bringing 30-50mph winds.

Great.

The temperature dropped about 10 degrees and the rain became more constant. The wind started to come on full force and no matter which direction I headed, it always seemed to be a headwind. Somewhere in all of that, I found my face kept getting continually pecked with what I thought was dirt or gravel. Confused, since there weren’t any dirt roads around – I quickly realized what it was – hail.

Awesome.

Miles 60-90 with no one around me. Completely alone – I nicknamed this part of the race purgatory.

Become Indifferent

Something happens when you expect the pain.

It’s not a surprise anymore.

It might be hard, it might hurt – but you can’t say you didn’t expect it.

It actually makes things easier because you get rid of the fear & anticipation of what might happen.

Instead of having to battle fear AND the actual work, all you have to do is deal with the work. That work might suck, but you can’t say you didn’t know it was coming. All you have to do now is put your head down, pedal, and focus on the doing the work.

Never Stop Moving Forward

It doesn’t matter how fast you go, as long as you do not stop

There were a couple of times where the wind was blowing so hard it almost blew my bike wheels out from under me. Race organizers would have pulled us off the course if they had been able to find us out in the middle of no where Indiana, but I kept going.

When that happened, pedaling was futile, but I’d get off and walk until that storm died down.

Realize No One Cares About Your Excuses

Somewhere between miles 70-90, I had missed my last rest stop had about 15 miles left to the next one and hadn’t taken any sort of break in about 45 miles.

At this point, I was mad (see above) and talking out loud to myself about all the reasons why I deserved to be mad.

I’m tired, I’m cold, I’m wet,  I’m hungry, my legs hurt, I’m all alone, and no matter which direction I go there’s always a headwind.

And then I looked around.

There was no one even remotely in sight except for a few dumb looking cows staring at me chewing grass.

I had to ask myself: Who are you talking to?

 

The cows don’t care about your excuses

 

No one cares.

 

No people.

No cars.

No bikes.

 

Literally no one.

 

Just some stupid cows.

 

There’s no one you have to justify your reasons for quitting out loud to. You’re all alone – you’re the only that gets to decide.

So, if you want to quit, go ahead and quit.

Otherwise, get back on your bike and start pedaling & stop trying to convince yourself of all the “acceptable” reasons you should quit. Stop whining. The cows don’t care about your excuses. They’re too busy being distracted by the strange human in tight shorts & weird shaped hat.

Quit or don’t quit. But the cows don’t care. So stop trying to convince them.

I shut up and got back on the bike.

Create Imaginary Enemies

I couldn’t get mad at the cows, so I made the race my enemy.

The event wasn’t even about 112.5 miles anymore. It was a personal competition between the race and it’s friends (wind, hail, and rain) and myself.

This let me create a “tangible” something that I could push back against.

Make It A Game

There were times where I was laughing out loud because the “race” seemed to be personally invested in getting me to quit and delivering one massive middle finger to my century ride attempt.

In response, I tried to laugh it off and ask out-loud, “is that all you got?” – only to see that – sure enough – it wasn’t.

Cue hail. Stronger winds. And lower temperatures.

Are you kidding me?

If it was anyone else it would have been funny.

Refuse To Lose

At one point inside of 85 miles, I determined that the only thing that was going to stop me from finishing this event was a broken leg. I figured I could walk the last 20 miles if my bike broke down and I had to.

But I was not going to quit.

In my mind, failure wasn’t even an option.

Get Angry And Yell

Seriously, this works better than you think it would – especially if you’ve already made your goal your personal enemy that will be conquered.

You need to get mad at your goal & make it personal. Because, if you really, really want something, sometimes it gets ugly.

When your imaginary enemy starts blowing you around the road, get mad at your goal. Get angry. Then fight it and beat it.

It works for the hulk. It can work for you.

Go Crazy

In a sense, I’m glad I did most of the second half of the race alone. Mainly, because if other people saw me yelling out loud & laughing at the wind in the middle of a thunderstorm, they’d probably think I was nuts – which at that point – I probably was.

But, as strange as it sounds, going crazy allows you to escape a little bit of the insanity going around you in a 40mph wind/hail storm.

Remove Yourself From The Situation

This might be the most “zen” recommendation here, but remove yourself from the situation. Forget all the pain, all the hills, and the storm (literally) happening around you. Pull yourself out of the situation and look at this from a third person perspective.

If this was a story (and you were the character), what would you root for the character to do? Do that.

Recognize Opportunities To Quit For What They Are

I finally hit mile 100 and the sky started to break. The rain was letting up & it warmed up slightly. 12.5 miles to go and I’m home free…or so I thought. Around mile 102, I was coming off a downhill and slowing around a corner when I realized there was about an inch and a half of gravel that I was about to hit.

Uh oh.

In slow motion I could feel the bike sliding out from under me as I crashed down on my left side.

I let out a yell – more from anger than pain. 10 miles to go in the race and I crashed – I should have figured as much with how things were going. At least my bruised hip took the soreness away from my legs.

As I dusted myself off  and looked at my bike, it would have been easy to give up at 102 and go home. I got the century – that’s what I wanted – plus a couple. But at that point it was personal. I recapped the race quickly and realized that all of the things that I had said “out loud” to the “race”, happened.

  • I’m willing to be cold. Okay, how’s so cold that you’re constantly shaking sound to you?
  • I’m willing to be rained on. Done. Plus how did you like the hail ?
  • I’m willing to put up with all the wind you got. Done. How’s 40mph sound?
  • I’m willing to ride alone. Done & done. Have fun out in purgatory?
  • I’m willing to ride hills. Good, cause you’ll have to bike ALL THE HILLS.
  • If you’re going to stop me, you’re going to have to break my leg. Well, we tried.

It would have been easy to quit. But I was 10 miles away from finishing what I started. I could walk that if I needed to. The crash was just the race’s final attempt at getting me to quit.

There was only one option.

I jumped back on my bike.

——-

In order to pre-empt many of the comments I know are coming:

I realize a century ride is NOT that far. Heck, the 112.5 miles was only 1/3 of the 3 legs to an Ironman. I thought it was going to be a nice leisurely ride that I’d be able to kick back and relax on with a few friends as we rode through the plains of Indiana relaxing and enjoying the view.

But, as things go, something unexpected happened and changed the game entirely. It became much less about a certain distance than it was a battle of the wills between me and the storm.

I wasn’t fast and I definitely wasn’t looking very pretty by the end of it, but after climbing a few hills for a few miles after the final crash, the course from from 108-212.5 was all downhill and as I zoomed around a few hills as the sun went down, I don’t know if I’ve ever been so happy to see a finish line.

THE POINT OF THE STORY

When things get bad, and you get rain, hail, wind and storms when you’re expecting, you can either quit and go home or you can push through it, impose your will on the situation and do what you came to do. If you do, eventually, the clouds will break and the rain will stop and the bruises you get will fade and you will finish.

Do something difficult – it’s worth it.

impose your will

Please don’t take this as woo-woo fluff fluff mental crap either. Actually get on your bike and ride it. Ride through a storm. Take a cold shower. Have a real physical experience. Experience it for yourself. Let it make you stronger.

Filed Under: Adventures, Endurance, Fitness, Good Stories, The List

Two Foods You Should Stop Eating Yesterday

April 19, 2013 By 44 Comments

What if I told you that most people could cut out a huge chunk of health problems just by eliminating two groups of food? Well, you can.

what if

Cutting out these two food groups can help regulate your hormone levels, make it easier to lose weight, improve gut health, normalize blood sugar levels & even improve allergies. If you take a look at food groups through the lens of the 80/20 Principle, these two foods would be the 20% of foods that cause 80% of the problems in most people’s diets.

So what are they? Well here are the two foods you should stop eating – yesterday preferably. Here we go.

Dairy

What Standard Nutrition Advice Would Have You Believe:

“It’s great for you! It’s got calcium! But be careful of that fatty, whole milk. Better drink either skim or 1%, just to be safe – and try to forget that 1% tastes like water. I mean it has to be good for you right? Besides thousands of terrible milk mustaches & “got milk” campaigns can’t be wrong – can they?”

Well…actually…

Why Dairy Is Actually Terrible For You

Dairy has different levels of bad, but particularly low-fat, 1% and skim milk are highly insullogenic – that means they cause your insulin levels to spike and causes your body to stop burning fat.  And don’t get me started on the fact that it’s nearly impossible to find chocolate milk without HFCS and corn starch in it. Really, corn starch in your milk? When’s the last time you said “yum” to corn starch? Toss in the fact that a huge portion of the population is lactose intolerant and the links to cancer that milk is known for and the picture isn’t looking too pretty.

If you’re going to have dairy, make it either fermented (cheese, whey protein, grassfed butter, or yogurt – without a ton of a sugar). Sure, ice cream is delicious  but there’s really no need for a daily shellacking of dairy in your diet.

Grains

Standard Nutrition Advice:

You need grains more than you need oxygen – they’re that important! Why else would we need 6-11 servings a day? I mean, just look at this chart!

USDA_Food_Pyramid

 

“They help with digestion & give you fiber! Not to mention, it’s completely UNREALISTIC to actually cut out ALL grains from your diet. I’m Italian, I can’t live without grains – we’re not animals, you know?”

Well…actually…

Why Grains Are Terrible For You

Grains are actually pretty unnecessary. They contain gluten, lectins and phytates that make minerals unavailable to your body & create situations prime for obesity.

Oh, and that’s just the start. It can lead to leaky gut, weight gain and even cause type 2 diabetes. That’s before we get into how these simple carbohydrates affect your blood sugar & insulin levels and cause you to store fat instead of burning it and using it for fuel. Whether you’re into paleo or not, when you look at grains (and wheat especially), there’s a ton of really, really good reasons not to eat them.

grains

Despite all of this, 6-11 servings of grains was common nutritional advice from the government up until 2011!

The truth is, for most people, there’s really very little reason to include many (or any) grains in their diet on a regular basis and once you try it, they’re not so “impossible” to cut out of your diet either. If you need a substantial amounts of carbohydrates (endurance athletes or power lifters come to mind), you can get them from vegetables & squashes that give you the energy sources you need without the added side effects of feces in your blood stream & type 2 diabetes (sounds like a good tradeoff to me).

—

Note: It’s funny that somehow both of these have made it into a standard american breakfast of cereal with milk – which is the absolute worst time to do this as the morning is your body’s prime time to burn fat and both of these “foods” bring that process to a screeching halt. Do yourself a favor & choose eggs & bacon for your morning breakfast instead.

—

80/20 your diet and take out these two foods from your diet. You might be surprised at the results.

Want to clean up your diet? Start with these two foods & cut out dairy & grains. Notice how you feel and see what happens. 

photo credit: Dustin Diaz

Filed Under: Fitness, Nutrition

The New Years Contest Transformation: 3 Incredible Stories

April 12, 2013 By 7 Comments

Woah.

I’m finally getting my butt in gear and announcing our winners for the New Years contest. We had so many entries – it took me a while to get through them all. It’s been a big process, but it’s been really cool to see some of these transformations happen in real time.

It was tough to narrow them down, not only going through physical changes, but also the stories of the people behind them but after much deliberation, we narrowed it down to our top 3 (with 1 runner up).

We had some big prizes at stake, but some of the biggest transformations actually actively turned down the prizes. While they started because of the different prizes at stake, they realized in the middle of the challenge that they were doing it for themselves – not some prizes – no matter how awesome they may be. And so while I’ll be sharing their stories coming up in the next few months, there were a ton of people who finished out the contest and deserve the swag. Here they are:

Here are the results of the winners in their own words.

Honorable Mention: Alessandra

24 year old, Quality Assurance Manager

Lost 7 pounds in 8 weeks, but gained a six pack and one cool pair of sunglasses.

Before

Alessandra-1-17

After

Alessandra-3-3

What’s Your Story Allesandra?

I’ve always been pretty fit, but got to a space where I was teetering. I just thought that was where I was going to stay. I made tiny strides of progress, but then would fall back at square one. Basically I was good, but not great.

I started off at 140 lbs (I’m 5’4”) and measurements of 37:28:40. I’ve always been in decent shape and loved my curves, but there was no reason why my stomach shouldn’t be totally flat. There were a ton of reasons why I wanted to get fitter and stronger and I just needed and excuse to do it. Honestly, I never realized how much social pressures affected my lifestyle. I was weeaaaakkkkk.

What type of Results Did You See?

Every week I felt some sort of change. First, it was endurance. I realized that I suck at starting a workout, but once I got into the groove, I could go forever. That’s when I started doing back to back MMA classes so I had 2 hours for ass kicking. Then, I felt my core get stronger. I was in better control of all my movements, especially headstands and handstands. I’ve always been an excellent yogi, but the extra arm and core strength had me pushing harder and finally getting into the full expression of some of the most challenging poses. Finally, my cardio started improving. I live in a 4th floor walk up and while getting up the stairs has never been an issue, these days it’s like NOTHING.

I hesitate to give final weight and measurements as I went on a bit of a bender during my last week, so this is in no way final, but here it goes: 133 lbs; 34.5:27:38.5.

Mental Clarity

I realized that a really hate starting an exercise on my own. If I’m in a class, I can jump right in, but that first bit of motivation (I mean, discipline), is hard to muster. Getting past those first ten minutes is the worst, but after one circuit, I didn’t want to stop working out. I’m still working on getting rid of the fear of the first ten minutes, but I’m definitely better prepared to face them.

As far as eating goes, “I don’t need it” became a sort of mantra. And I don’t. I don’t need bread. It was such a staple and it can be annoying not being able to eat sandwiches and other convenient gluten wrapped foods, but I don’t effing need it!

Any Words Out There For People Thinking About The Challenge?

I’ve been toying with the idea of going paleo for awhile, and this was the push I needed. Having the excuse of a contest to decline alcohol really takes the social anxiety out of the equation, and now that I feel amazing, I don’t even care about the social implications of drinking less and cooking more. I also can say, I can’t meet you out that night, I have an MMA class, and not feel guilty. Feeling better in my own skin had killed my FOMO (fear of missing out).

Five stars. Highly recommended. Just try it already. NOW.

 

Third Place: Josh

27 year-old Australian. Former fat guy.

Total weight loss = 17.6 pounds

josh before after impossible abs

What’s your background Josh? Tell me a little bit about your story:

I come from an overweight family. I’m not sure how much genetics has to play in it, but inactivity, good food and too keen an interest in bright colours and flashing lights (read: TV) had some input I’m sure. Being of the build I am, weight was extremely easy to put on, and it seemed the family way of life and the path down which my life was headed. Fast food, soda, junk food, and binges on bread and sweets was almost a weekly occurrence.

For too many years this has been going on. I graduated High School 9 years ago at a weight of 85kg, and since then I’ve seen it fluctuate from 79kg (working as a dishwasher in a restaurant and being poor will do this), all the way up to most recently a whopping 104kg. That was in September 2012.

before impossible abs

104kg in September

Since September I’ve been following about a 75% paleo diet, with the odd bit of exercise in there when it was convenient to do so. I noticed some of the weight simply melt away and by New Years i was a decent 94kg.

I’ve been a reader of Impossible HQ for the last 10 months, give or take a few, and I’ve owned a copy of the Impossible Abs program since it was released. And I am super encouraged by the honesty, badassery and constant pushing that is dished out on the blog and through email correspondence.

Before Christmas, I took a leap of faith (decided to blackmail myself) and signed up and paid for a Tough Mudder event. All I needed now was the kick in the butt.

Okay, so you took on the challenge, right around New Years. What types of results did you see? How did you not fall off the wagon like so many people do?

The biggest result I noticed was only a moderate drop in weight. At the start of the competition, I weighed in at 93-94kg and at the end I struck in at 86kg. That’s only 7-8kg lost (~17.6 pounds for us state side). It doesn’t sound like much, and I really thought I was going to lose more. However, I gained a lot more than I anticipated.

Core strength is the largest improvement I noticed. Obviously improvements in numbers of repetitions of exercises and the depth or intensity at which I do them were noticeable as well. But, the biggest, especially coming from a life lived mostly on the couch, was definitely core strength. The power and control  that I now have over how my body undertakes movements was the best realization I had.

I’ve been getting comments from all sorts of people about how much better i’m looking, which is always great to hear. It’s also great being able to fit into better clothes. I even found a pair of pants that I put away because I was too fat to fit into them (I’m now too thin to wear them – they practically just fall off me!). I’ve also moved down about 4″ in pants and belts size since September.

It’s cool to see the physical changes, isn’t it? How did the challenge change you mentally?

This was also one of the biggest improvements I noticed. Mental Grit, is the term I believe. Obstacles seem a lot smaller and more easily tackled. My optimism is through the roof, my confidence is up and all bets are off as to what the future holds.

Yes, it was quite difficult at times, and there were certainly days where I thought about skipping a workout (and I’m not above mentioning that, yes, there were a few days where i did skip the workout, but for the most part, I stuck it out (and  some days where I ended up outside the house doing exercise at 10pm).

Killer story Josh, what’s next for you man?

The overall result is that I want to continue down the path i’ve been on for the last 2 months, I have the tools to continue and mental determination to keep going. Self-discipline is better than it was, and there is definitely room for improvement. One day i will finally have the 6 pack abs. I don’t want them for looks, or vanity, i want them for the sake of it, to prove that i can do it, that i can take something to it’s full end.

BOOM

Second Place: Kiernan

42 year old mother of 3.

Total weight loss = 15 pounds.

kiernan before & after impossible abs

Kiernan After

I am a 42 year old mom of three. I am a yoga instructor, and I “live” yoga but I workout by running. Most of what I do for fitness revolves around being in shape for half marathon or marathon distance events. By 1/1/2013 I had fallen out of shape though. Lots of things conspired to create a perfect storm of self-medicating. A big part of that was 12/14. My kids go to school in Newtown, CT – they have for their whole lives. The shootings have turned my life upside down.

By the first of this year, I knew I needed to grab control of SOMETHING. I decided to make it the hardest thing I could think of. I had read about Impossible Abs on the blog, and I had dismissed it out of hand. Paleo eating is kind of contrary to my endurance runner/plant focused way of eating. Plus, an 8 hour window just seemed ridiculous. The workouts didn’t “scare” me but they did seem like something I would absolutely hate and dread. So – I decided to change the meaning of “Impossible” into something good. If something impossibly horrible like the Sandy Hook shootings can happen, then so can things that are impossibly great.

All right, lets cut to the chase – what types of results did you see?

I lost 15+ pounds. I am close to 5’6″ so that’s a pretty significant difference. My final weight is 137 and that’s within a pound of my lightest weight ever. I went from needing to go get size 6 jeans to having my size 4 start to fall off. Even my yoga tights are roomy! I also got back my upper body definition, not seen since I did Insanity a few years ago. I have better leg strength than I can get just from running. My sleep has improved, my skin and hair has a significantly healthier look. My belly is calm ALL THE TIME.

I have basically lost my taste for sweets. To me, this is HUGE. I take my coffee black, I don’t look twice at cakes and cookies. I see these changes as maybe more important for the long run than the burgeoning six-pack. I am eating so clean now, and I plan to continue to do so. My next challenge is to run a marathon in May at a light weight and see how that affects my performance. My kids are eating better too! What a bonus. Also, in the photos you can see my guns!!

kiernan after impossible abs

So what about the mental aspect of the challenge?

The challenge was really all mental for me. And I am a tough person. I’ve done drug free childbirth three times. I’ve done GORUCK and other all night physical tests. I’ve run marathons. I embrace hard workouts and I know how to lean into the sucky parts. The diet was tough, since I love toast and peanut butter! The workouts were tough because I really dislike pullups and burpees. But I just embraced it.

I am SO fortunate that my boyfriend did the program along with me. He is truly tough mentally. He never even seemed to want to waiver or complain. Together, we ate kale and fish and eggs and greens and fruit. We drank water and black coffee. We did not have even a cheat “moment” for eight weeks. Carlos managed to lose over 30 pounds during the challenge!

Awesome! We need to get Carlos’ story on here. Any additional thoughts on the challenge in general?

I learned from this. I read a LOT about fitness and diet, I’ve done P90X and Insanity and Asylum. I live yoga. I know my body and I know what I’m doing, yet I learned from this. I learned about how making a few seemingly impossible moves to clean up my diet could make a very big difference. I learned about how I can maintain and build fitness doing things that take less time! I learned big things about myself too – about what I can give up and what I need. About how much I’m willing to do things differently than those around me.

I think the best thing I can say about this program is that I am going to make a LOT of it my lifestyle. Specifically, the clean eating (I’m not staying Paleo, can’t give up grains completely and don’t really like to eat much meat). But no processed food! I won’t buy dairy – just have it out at a restaurant once in a while. AND – Monday thru Friday we continue to eat Impossible Abs style completely. I also plan to incorporate pushups and pullups consistently even when marathon training.

Prizes Kiernan Is Going Home With

First Place: Brock

29 years old. Full time desk jockey, full-time student, family man, and father of 3.

Total weight lost = 25.5 pounds

Before

impossible abs before brock

After

impossible abs after brock

Brock, what’s your story?

Well, I guess I should tell you a little bit about myself. I’m 29 years old, I have a family with three kids. I work full time, and also go to school full time (going to graduate with my BS in Accounting in December). I’m 6’1″ and when I started this contest I weighed in at 193 pounds with a 42.5″ Chest and 40″ waist (measured at the belly button). I started this challenge a week late and didn’t start exercising until a week after that, but did reign in my diet for the first week. I used your free No Excuse Workout for 6 weeks and no other exercise. I found it pretty challenging to get it started. I didn’t realize how out of shape I really was! After spending a year in Iraq as a Calvary Scout with the Army National guard I really started packing on the pounds over the last couple years. I also quit working out after I got back. I pretty much did the bare minimum health wise, no exercise and eat anything and everything.

What Type of Results Did You See?

Here are my weekly weigh-ins

Weigh Ins

  • 3-Jan  – 193
  • 10-Jan – 185.2
  • 14-Jan – 183.5
  • 19-Jan – 180
  • 27-Jan – 179.2
  • 3-Feb – 175.7
  • 12-Feb – 173
  • 19-Feb – 171.8 
  • 3-Mar – 167.5

That is a total weight lost of 25.5 pounds, 3.5 inches off my chest and a whopping 5 inches of my waist!!!!

Besides looking better, most importantly I feel great! I’ll admit that it was extremely hard to keep going the first couple weeks. I was tired, sore and wanted to give up. I knew that it would eventually pass when I was in shape for the Army. And it did, once that initial stage of pain was over I looked forward to working out. Plus when I was finished working out I felt great when it over. I wasn’t as tired or sluggish at the end of the day and fell a sleep quicker at night as well.

Was There A Mental Barrier To This Challenge At All?

I think the challenge really helped me break past that mental barrier and give me an end date to work towards. The hardest part is always starting out. Now that I’ve been in the swing of things it much easier to keep the momentum going. I plan on upgrading to Impossible Abs when I get my tax money back. I’ve also started training for a GORUCK Challenge, which is what I will pick if I happen to place in the top three. Even if I don’t win I plan on pursing the challenge anyways and earning my patch!

1st Place Prizes He’s Going Home With

 

BOOM!

Josh, Kiernan & Brock – shoot me an email & lets get in touch & I’ll ship you your prizes. Nice work.

These are just some of the few of the stories we got in. It made me incredibly proud to see what people could accomplish in just 8 weeks – AND how their entire trajectory for the year changed because of the habits they made in the first two months.

This is the part where I’m supposed to tell you that results are not typical – but I’d really hate to do that. Of course, these results aren’t typical if you just buy a book and expect it to transform your life. You have to take the time & energy to invest yourself in actually doing the work. If you do that, sure your mileage may vary, but the physical results will come along & the mental ones might be even greater.

What’s cool is that the results came came from about an even 50/50 split between the programs.. About 50 percent of the participants used impossible abs. & 50% just used the free no excuse workouts. You won’t hear too many fitness people tell you this, but you really don’t need the latest & greatest gear, equipment or programs to do what you really want to do. While solid info definitely can give you a boost, the real secret to fitness is this:

Half the battle is doing the work.

All the fitness secrets in the world won’t help you if you don’t get that foundation down.

So congratulations everyone. I’ve never been happier to spend a few thousand dollars on things that for other people that I want badly for myself (but hey, at least I’m racking up miles). I think this was a lot of fun. It was cool to see how many people got jumpstarted by the bribery, but once they were in, they kept going for themselves (I even had a few people voluntarily disqualify themselves from the prize because “they wanted to do it for themselves, not a prize.”) That’s what it’s all about and I can’t wait to share some of those stories :) .

Again, thanks to everyone who participated in the Impossible Abs challenge. I keep coming back to the fact that Impossible Abs is different from a lot of fitness programs for a reason. It’s not about shortcuts. It’s not about vanity. It’s not about crash dieting. It’s about taking control, creating habits & making a change.

I loved this quote from Josh (down 40+ pounds since September) that he presumably thought up while climbing the mountain he’s photographed in below:

One day soon, I will finally have 6 pack abs. I don’t want them for looks, or vanity. I want them for the sake of it, to prove that i can do it, that I can take something to it’s full end.

after impossible abs

That’s what it’s about.

—-

Impossible Abs Updates Are On The Way

I’ve been getting a lot of queestions about Impossible Abs lately. I’ll be releasing an update in the next 10 days to address a ton of questions I’ve gotten that are really easily solved. and should put your mind at ease. I’m not done with this yet. We’ve got a TON of more great stories on the way & I’m still working on making this the best resource out there. If you already have it, don’t worry, you’ll get an email notification when the update is ready. If you’re about to pick up a copy, don’t worry – you get free updates for life (cause I love you like that) so you’ll get the updated copy when it’s live.

Note From Joel:

I literally just got off a google+ hangout with Vic Magary (my co-author for Impossible Abs) at 7am this morning. After showing him the stories listed above, he wanted to do something to really get people pumped about Impossible Abs and offered to throw in his course – 40 days fit - to whoever picks up the program in the next 72 hours. If you’ve been around the blog much, you’ll know I don’t really do promotions like this ever – seriously ever – so if you want to get started this weekend, pick up a copy of Impossible Abs + forward your receipt to vic (vic@vicmagary.com) to get your f*ee copy of 40 days fit as well. This is good until midnight on Sunday, CST.

Boom indeed.

Fitness Resources

Look like a bad a** and do impossible things in your Impossible Gear (Available Here).

Want to be featured on the blog? Cross something off your impossible list while wearing your impossible gear & send it in!

Filed Under: Blogging, Business, Case Studies, Fitness, Six Pack Abs, Weight Loss Tagged With: , , , , ,

7 Habits of Highly Effective Quitters

March 7, 2013 By 14 Comments

We’re switching gears today.

Today I want to talk about those people that don’t get a lot of mentions here on the blog.

The unsung heroes.

The ones who are always right.

The ones that never get enough attention.

The realistic ones.

The quitters.

This ones for you.

And for all of you doers out there – maybe you can pick up a lesson or two from these 7 Habits of Highly Effective Quitters

7 Habits of Highly Effective Quitters

1. Don’t Even Start

The best quitters never even start. After all the best way to quit is to quit before you even start. That way you leave no question about things. If you don’t start anything, you’ll have so much more room for other activities!

activities

Seriously, the more time you waste on doing something or pursuing something you want, the less time you have for important activities like quitting projects, complaining and generally talking about how lame it is that nothing ever works out.

2. Get Really Good At Explaining Your Excuses

Now, if you’re really unfortunate, you might have some friends who want you to make yourself better.

STOOOPID.

Work on your quick draw. Have at least 5 really great excuses ready for why you didn’t start.

  • I’m tired.
  • It’s hard.
  • It’s complicated
  • It’d easy
  • You don’t understaaannnnnnnd (best one ever)

Remember, use the last one only in emergencies. Or every single time you’re questioned. Either way. Unstoppable. Win!

Another stellar option is any time someone does something they’re proud of quickly dismiss this with a flip “I could totally do that”, quickly followed up by a short list of totally legitimate reasons why it’s not worth your time because you’re better than them.

It simultaneously lets you be egotistical, diminish others accomplishments without making you actually have to do anything. 3 birds. 1 stone. Boom.

3. Believe Your Own Stories

It’s not enough to convince others about your excuses. You need to sell it to yourself.

COMMIT TO IT

You know how Christian Bale lost 60+ pounds to be in the Machinist? You need to do that. Become the person you need to be in order to sell yourself on your inability.

machinist

Forget all of your natural talents, abilities and potential if you actually applied yourself. Focus on the obstacles and convince yourself how hard you specifically have it.

Remember, the key to this is maintaining a vacuum. Here’s a few tips.

  1. Believe the world revolves around you and your happiness. If you do, life will make more sense and you can become more easily outraged at the fact that traffic doesn’t stop when you need it to and that the billions of people for some strange reason aren’t acting with your specific intersts in mind. For some reason they’re not considering YOUR NEEDS while going about their 7 billion other lives. WTF?
  2. Do your best to forget the fact that you have more opportunity and technology available to you than 90% of the world and pretty much all of human history.

Remember, your life is hard because

  • you don’t know what terms to google to figure out just about anything you could want to learn.
  • the gym is like, at least, ten minutes away from your house.
  • people might look at you weird if you try something different
  • flying around the world takes all of 12 hours. 
  • candy bars are really tempting.

Life. Is. Rough.

Stay away from news about wars, poverty and other basic things like water or education that other people struggle with on a day to day basis . Those might tempt you to think that your definition of “hard” might be slightly relative.

Lies.

Remember, this is about all about you. Whatever you do, remember that it doesn’t matter how thin the pretense for your excuse is. If you believe it to your core – it doesn’t matter if others believe you or not. You’ve already won.

4. Make Sure To Tell Others

It’s not good enough for you to quit. There’s strength in numbers so make sure to spread it around. Surround yourself with other quitters.

Hopefully, these are people who are well practiced in the art of giving up before they ever started.

If you’ve got friends who are actually trying to do something, be sure to tell them them to give up as soon as possible. Encourage them to quit quit and remind them of how hard it is. Focus on why they can’t do it and why the idea is dumb and the other countless reasons why action is pointless. Offer unsolicited advice about why it’s impossible.

If you can make them discouraged, you’ve got a good chance.

The louder you are, the better. If you have a whiney voice – practice it in the mirror. It will let people know that your reasons are really serious and emotional. Bonus points if you throw in: “I used to think that too but then I became [smarter/faster/older/wiser/better] than to believe such things. Condescending sneers are encouraged.

5. Spend Lots of Time Consuming

Every once in a while you might feel like doing something yourself.

Screw that (see item #1).

Never create anything yourself. This is a gateway drug. If you do this, you might create more things, find that they’re useful and get addicted to making things and impressing your will upon the world.

Stop. 

Fill any and all free time with mindless activities. Ideally these include Netflix, Reality TV, Celebrity Gossip, Video Games, YouTube videos and Cat GIFs.

Whatever you can do to numb your mind – do it.

If you feel the need to satisfy doing something, here’s a quick fix.

  1. Don’t do it (this is important).
  2. Google “person doing X activity”
  3. Find a website/youtube channel or other outlet of some person doing X activity.
  4. Read & Watch everything they’ve ever written. Once you’ve gone through all their content, go through it again.
  5. Breathe & Relax. You’ve successfully avoided the temptation to do something yourself. You’ll notice the dopamine start to fill your brain as you reassure yourself that, “I’m reading about people doing cool things – so I get partial credit for doing them myself.”

6. Never Try Anything New

Pick one language in one town and one thing and stick to it. Go on vacation one time a year – hopefully on a cruise so you can go to a lot of different coutnries but still experience all-you-can-eat-buffets, casinos and ‘MURICA! while never getting off the boat.

If you start to think about doing something new: immediately pre-disqualify yourself (use imaginary reasons if necessary). These new ideas are dangerous and if let them progress too far, they may lead to action. Don’t let this happen (again, see rule #1).

7. Be Really Defensive

No one has the right to challenge you. No one.

They don’t know what you’ve been through and they’re not you – so how dare they try and challenge you to change something and do it better?

It doesn’t matter if they have a good point, a different point of view or other experiences that might be beneficial to you in some way/shape/form and it especially doesn’t matter if they care about your or not.

Don’t try to listen. Instead defend your status quo to the death. It can’t get here fast enough!

Be as easily offended as possible. That way everyone will know you’re right by how outraged you get. Never even consider thinking about another point of view. That will make other people think that you think you’re wrong – which you never could be. No one can understand your unique position in life, but through sheer cunning and ingenuity, you understand everything perfectly and can dissect world problems with surgeon-like precision.

Remember: your rightness is directly correlated with how angry you can get.

If possible, avoid any actual discussion as much as possible. Better yet, if you’ve done your homework on step #4, you should be surrounded only by people who only approve of your current lack of activities – that way you never have to question yourself.

If you do this right, you’ll never even even have to interact with any of these “offensive” people, but you’ll always feel like you’re being actively persecuted by them (so you get the best of both worlds!).

Above All

Above all, remember that anytime you come to a crossroads, just quit. It’s the easiest thing in the world – and after all – life is about making things easy. I mean seriously, if it’s hard, that must mean it’s probably not worth doing.

And remember: the easy choice is always the right choice. Always.

—

Or…you could suck it up, decide that what you want is worthwhile, realize your excuses suck and that it’s not all about you, decide to do the hard stuff anyways, put your head down, persevere and go for it….but that sounds way too hard.

—

Reminder: If you want to submit your New Years transformation entry, you can do so here.

Filed Under: Adventures, Fitness, Life, Writing Tagged With: , ,

How To Get Motivated To Workout

February 7, 2013 By 10 Comments

motivationThe #1 question that I consistently get is:

“HOW DO I GET MOTIVATED TO DO SOMETHING?’

The most common variation of this how do I get motivated to workout?

My initial answer is: motivation is overrated. Get disciplined instead.

In short: motivation is fleeting. Those people who who depend on motivation consistently start out with a big bang and fail as soon as something gets hard. As soon as the motivation dries up, they quit. The people who accomplish things get disciplined.

That said, if you’re still convinced you need motivation to get stuff done, I’ve decided to finally tackle this thing head-on. Here it is – Your Guide On How To Get Motivated To Workout

How To Get Motivated To Workout

Read This

The Iron & The Soul by Henry Rollins

This is the only piece of motivation you’ll need to workout.

Realize, even if you can’t do anything else, working out is the one thing you can control. That’s why I think fitness is the ultimate discipline.

bad

Take Cold Showers

I say it over and over and over and over again.

If you think working out is “too hard”, start taking a cold shower every day.

It will be the hardest thing you do all day and you’ll start to realize how terrible your excuses really are.

Do 30 days of cold shower therapy and you’ll slowly find yourself turning into a stronger, more determined, badass-er vrsion of yourself.

cold shower

If you don’t think this will work (like this guy), stop complaining and spend 5 minutes in a freezing shower before saying anything else.

Everyone who’s actually done it says otherwise.

Start Sprinting

Help!

I don’t know what exercise to do!

I don’t have a trainer!

I don’t have any equipment!

I don’t want to get hurt!

I don’t know how to exercise – it’s complicated!

That’s fine, and that’s why I’m going to give you the best exercise in the world: sprints.

The best exercise in the world.

Why? It’s simple:

Sprinting is one of the most human exercises you can do. You don’t need a gym. You don’t need special equipment. You don’t need a coach. You don’t need to learn. You don’t need a video tutorial. You don’t need anything really.

You just need to do it.

So how do you practically make that work? Try this on for size:

Your Sprint Workout

  1. Set a time. Hit Start
  2. Sprint for 30 seconds.
  3. Rest for 30 seconds.
  4. When the timer hits “20 Minutes” – you’re done.

Workout complete.

Boom.

BUT I STILL DON’T WANNNNAA

Cool story bro.

You need to stop talking to other people and finding other reasons for your problems and you need to have a talk with yourself instead.

Get up (right now). Go to the bathroom. Look in the mirror and stare at the person looking at you.

Then you have two options:

OPTION 1

You look in the mirror and tell yourself:

I WANT TO WORKOUT BUT I’D RATHER EAT CHEESECAKE

Then go back to your kitchen, grab your cheesecake and convince yourself that that’s the most compelling excuse you can think of. Then go nuts with your cheesecake and enjoy (feel free to substitute cheesecake with whatever you want – sleeping, food, hulu, video games, etc).

But just remember that the next time you look at yourself in the mirror.

OPTION 2

You look in the mirror and tell yourself:

I DON’T WANT TO WORKOUT, BUT I’M GOING TO ANYWAY.

Then put on your running shoes, get outside and start sprinting (no matter what the weather is outside).

Long Road

Make It A Priority

The only difference between option 1 and option 2 are your priorities. That’s the only difference.

Don’t blame it on something else. Instead of feeling bad about it. Own it.

If eating cheesecake is more important to you than being healthy, living a long life and being there for your kids, that’s fine, but own that decision.

Instead of saying “I don’t wanna” or “it’s hard”, say “It is not a priority.”

Then, go look yourself in the mirror and say that to yourself. It puts things in a whole different perspective than empty-whining about where you’re not where you want to be.

Whenever someone asks me if I can help them to lose weight, I ask them, “How Bad Do You Want It?” If the answer isn’t “REALLY, REALLY, REALLY BAD” with a hint of desperation in their voice so much so that they’re a little out of breath, 9 times out of 10, they probably won’t succeed.

Realize You Have a Choice

You always have a choice.

Even if you don’t “feel” like it, you can still go do it anyways. You don’t have to be a slave to your feelings or motivations. You get to choose.

Motivation is fleeting. If you decide your actions are dependent on being 100% motivated 100% of the time, you probably won’t accomplish that much.

Everyone has an excuse. Only some people decide to believe them. You choose whatever story you want tell yourself. But always remember you get to choose.

Set Impossible Challenges

You might not be “motivated” because your goals aren’t something you think is worth pursuing.

In that case: Stop thinking so small. Create bigger challenges.

If you’re not motivated to run a 5k, then sign up for a triathlon, a half or a full marathon. If you’re crazy, start thinking about an ultra.

Aim higher. Pick something impossible. Then catch up to it.

Dream big by setting yourself seemingly impossible challenges. You will then have to catch up with them. - Richard Bransonbranson

Results Are The Best Motivation

“It’s easy to be motivated when you’re seeing results”

If I had a dollar for every person who’s gone through Impossible Abs and told me that that around week 3 or 4, I’d have…well…a  lot of money :) .

Seriously, seeing results in yourself is the best motivation out there. But, you have to step out and do something first. You don’t get results from doing nothing – you have to take the step first. In a sense, many times the motivation only comes AFTER you’ve taken action.

THE REALLY ANNOYING TRUTH

No one always wants to go work out.

But we try to to rationalize is that we’re different than everybody. That nobody knows exactly what how you feel. That your situation is incredibly unique to you. And that everybody else’s excuses are terrible, yours are somehow valid.

The annoying truth is that everybody feels that way at some point. It’s called being human.

But what you have to realize is that you’re dying. Your default state is atrophy. If you’re not consciously choosing to push yourself and grow, you’ll atrophy and decay automatically. That’s the default state of life.

No one ever gets better by doing nothing. So, if you want to get better, you’ll have to do something…and it won’t be easy.

Yes, It’s Hard – That’s The Point

Work Ahead

Working out is hard, but you do it anyway because it teaches you how to get comfortable with the uncomfortable.

You do it because:

You want to grow.

You want to get disciplined.

You want to get better.

You want to do the impossible.

So you do it.

Staying the same is an option. It’s the easy choice. But it’s not going to change anything. Eventually, you have to look yourself in the mirror and decide if you want it or not. And, if you don’t, all the motivation in the world won’t do jack.

—

You have one life to do everything you’ll ever do. Don’t fill it with excuses

—

I’m disciplining myself to do 28 days of videos in February. Check them out on YouTube.

Today’s Video is The Myth of Motivation

—

photo credit: jenni from the block | tricky (rick harrison) | gato-gato-gato | koalazymonkey

Filed Under: Endurance Racing, Fitness, Kicking A**, Six Pack Abs, Strategies, Weight Loss Tagged With: , ,

Just Run

January 31, 2013 By 8 Comments

Yesterday, I got an facebook message from a friend who’s lost over 50 pounds on Impossible Abs and was having a hard time doing that day’s workout.

—

Michael: I want to run, but it’s freaking raining out….what do I do?

Me: Run

Michael: It’s pouring…like…literally downpour.

Me: Well did you want to run?

Michael: Ya, but only because it was convenient for me…I get it.

Me: You asked

—

5 minutes later I got this:

I’m not sure where he got his waterproof phone to tweet in the rain, but the point stands – he did it

So the next time you’re tempted to ask, “what should I do?”

You probably already know. The answer is just simply than you’d like to admit.

—

Tip: Also, if you feel like working out in a thunderstorm, the first 5 minutes will probably suck, after that you’ll probably feel like a badass – just out in the middle of the rain – getting soaked while sprinting for no apparent reason is surprisingly fun.

—

Here is the only motivation to work out you’ll ever need.

Filed Under: Fitness

How To Break Through A Weight Loss Plateau

January 19, 2013 By 18 Comments

This is a guest post by Vic Magary of FatLossForFree.com, my co-conspirator on Impossible Abs.

So you’ve been watching what you eat and working out…

Your clothes fit a little better, you can start to see the faint outline of what you think is an “ab” in the mirror, and the cute girl (or guy) at the office even smiled at you.  So you keep watching what you eat and working out.  But things stall.  After another month your clothes still fit only a “little” better, that ab outline is still faint, and now you’re wondering if the cutie was just smiling at the lack of a line at the copy machine behind you.  You’ve hit the dreaded fat loss plateau.

This situation of stagnated fat loss progress is common.  But breaking through the plateau?  That requires the uncommon…

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” ~ Albert Einstein

Yes, the classic Einstein quote applies to fat loss.  When you keep doing what you’ve been doing (the common) but are no longer seeing results, it’s time to do something different (the uncommon).  Perhaps a better way to think of the uncommon is the uncomfortable.

Get Uncomfortable

My favorite exercise for embracing the uncomfortable is cold shower therapy.  And although there is some evidence that cold exposure may help with fat loss, I prefer to go for the big wins.  Anytime I need to help a client break a fat loss plateau, I ease them outside of their comfort zone on diet, recovery, or exercise – in that order.

But before we get to the diet, recovery, and exercise, we have to ensure that we have one crucial habit in place.  And this habit makes some people more uncomfortable than 100 burpees with a kale smoothie chaser.  This crucial habit is keeping a food and training journal.

Without a written record of what you are eating and how you are training (bonus points for also tracking sleep), there is no way to make an accurate prediction of what adjustment to your regimen will yield results.  And beyond the data collected, there is the awareness gained from deliberately tracking.  One study found that keeping a food diary doubles weight loss results.  My personal experience is similar – every single client that I have ever had who was not happy with their results also failed to keep a food journal.

So if you’ve hit a fat loss plateau and you are not keeping a food and training journal, step one is to start keeping a food and training journal.  Now that step one is out of the way, let’s get to what people normally think about when it comes to breaking fat loss plateaus: diet, recovery, and training.

It’s Your Diet… No Really, It’s Your Diet.

There is no facet of your fat loss program more important than diet.   And that’s why diet is always the first place I look when trying to solve a fat loss riddle.  The simplest adjustment to make with diet is to eliminate a certain type of food that you have been eating.  Below are the foods that I recommend removing one-by-one if you are not losing fat:

Wheat, other grains, and legumes.  Ok that’s not really one-by-one, but let’s scrap this junk all at once.  Bread, pasta, cereal, and other wheat products should not be part of your diet when trying to lose fat (and maybe not ever, but gluten is a topic for a blog post in itself).  Other grains such as oats, corn, and buckwheat should also be avoided when striving for fat loss.  Some people will consider legumes a bit more controversial to take out of the diet (namely slow-carb fans) but if you’ve hit a plateau, try eliminating the beans.

Liquid calories.  If you are still consuming liquid calories during your fat loss quest, stop.  Obviously soda (including diet soda even though it’s calorie free) and alcohol should go.  But also fruit juice, even fresh squeezed, should be eliminated due to the high sugar content.  And if you’re still drinking milk, consider letting go of dairy.

Dairy.  Milk, cheese, and yogurt should all be taken out of the diet.  Yes, dairy can have some great nutritional value especially when derived from the “rawest” sources available.  But remember we are talking about breaking a plateau here… so if you’re still consuming dairy, try giving it up and seeing if your fat loss resumes.  An exception to this is butter (ideally derived from grass fed cows), which is nearly pure fat and great for cooking or blending with your coffee.

Potatoes and rice.  Wait a minute, isn’t rice a grain?  Yes, rice is a grain but I’ve found that small servings for those with high training volumes can work.  But if the fat loss stops, consider forgoing the rice.  Same thing with potatoes.  Potatoes are a carbohydrate dense food that can benefit someone doing high intensity work, but I put them on the chopping block if fat loss stalls.

Fruit.  Fruits can have good micronutrient content but they are also high in sugar.  If you have hit a fat loss plateau, I recommend avoiding fruit especially the “sweeter” fruits such as mango, pineapple, melon, and even bananas.

Another factor to consider experimenting with is the quantity of food you are eating.  Even if you are sticking to a diet of lots of vegetables, some meat, and small amounts of fruit, nuts, and seeds (commonly called the paleo diet), it is still possible to eat in an amount that can hinder fat loss.  If your fat loss has hit the wall, consider using the following portion guidelines:

Vegetables.  For the most part, eat all of the vegetables that you like!  This goes especially for the green vegetables such as spinach, kale, broccoli, and asparagus.  Some of the root vegetables, such as carrots and parsnips, might hinder fat loss if eaten in large quantity.  So if you are trying to break a plateau, you might want to consider abandoning the Bugs Bunny impersonation.

Meat.  Beef, chicken, pork, fish, or anything else that has contributed muscle or organs to your dinner plate should be kept to the size of the palm of your hand.  That’s about 3 – 5 ounces for most people.

Nuts and seeds.  Keep the quantity to no more than fits in the center of your palm without overlapping.  As an example, this is about 6 – 8 almonds for most people.

The timing of meals can also be a factor for fat loss.  Intermittent fasting is worth experimenting with when trying to break a fat loss plateau.  Popular intermittent fasting methods include 16 hours of fasting followed by 8 hours of feeding and 24 hour fasts once or twice per week.  Intermittent fasting is not as much about calorie restriction as it is about hormone regulation.  And as we’ll see in the next section on recovery, hormones can play a key role in fat loss.

Recovery: The Sneaky Culprit.

The tag-team of “diet and exercise” gets drilled into our brains from every glossy fitness magazine and purveyor of six pack abs when it comes to losing fat.  But there is a third component that can sneak up and derail your fat loss when it gets neglected… recovery.  Recovery can include a variety of modalities from myofascial release to ice baths, but as usual we are going to focus on the big wins: sleep and stress reduction.

Sleep is kind of weird when you think about it.  We become unconscious, our nervous system powers down to the point that we are essentially paralyzed, yet the body is hard at “work” doing repairs and maintenance that help us function optimally during our waking hours.  Disruption of sleep can lead to hormonal imbalances that can make fat loss feel like a losing battle.

One study found that losing sleep can cut fat loss by as much as 55% and elevate levels of the hormone ghrelin.  Higher ghrelin levels have been shown to reduce energy expenditure, stimulate hunger and food intake, and promote retention of fat.  Lack of sleep has also been shown to significantly lower testosterone levels in men.  Testosterone is crucial for strength, muscle building, and bone density – all important aspects of body composition and looking and feeling your best.

So if your fat loss has floundered, try getting more quality sleep.  Go to bed an hour earlier.  Stop looking at computers, tablets, and televisions a few hours before bed.  Ensure your sleeping space is cool, dark, and quiet.  Avoid caffeine and alcohol in the evenings.  Basically, follow a bedtime ritual that sets yourself up for sleep success.

Another factor of hormone imbalance is stress.  Specifically, stress can lead to elevated levels of the fight-or-flight hormone cortisol which causes fat to be stored centrally.  Yep, stress reduction is one tip that may actually reduce the often hyped “belly fat”.   So if your pants aren’t any looser despite your best efforts with diet and exercise, reduce the stress in your life.  Meditate, play with your dog, take a walk in nature, or just stop watching the damned news every night.  Unplugging from our modern always-connected lifestyle and enjoying the simple things may be one of the best things your can do to break your fat loss plateau.

Training: Where Most People Look, But Few People Find.

Finally we get to where most people immediately turn to when they are frustrated with their fat loss – exercise.  I love fitness training and firmly believe that it is essential for overall health and well being.  But when it comes to fat loss specifically, training pales when compared to diet.  After helping people lose fat and get fit since 2001 I am convinced that nearly any exercise protocol will work as long as the diet is dialed in.  And that is why training is the last place that I look when someone hits a fat loss plateau.

That’s not to say that I don’t have my preferred training methods when it comes to fat loss.  If possible, I favor a combination of heavy strength training with barbells and high intensity interval training such as sprinting or skipping rope.  But barbells are not always accessible and some people prefer a no equipment “no excuses” approach.  In that case, I prefer using body weight circuit training as we did with Impossible Abs.

But the strength training and intervals or body weight circuits are just the foundation.  If you’re looking for an exercise “hack” to try to get you over a fat loss hurdle, below are a few methods that I’ve used with success:

Morning wake up call.  As soon as you roll out of bed, do five minutes of high intensity bodyweight exercise.  Sure you can hit the bathroom first and wipe the sleep from your eyes, but before you do anything else in your morning routine grind out your five minutes.  Burpees are my favorite morning wake up call drill.  But other movements such as squats and lunge jumps can also work.  And if you want to venture outside of bodyweight exercises, kettlebell swings are a great option.  The key is that this morning wake up call is in addition to your regularly scheduled training that you do later in the day.

Evening stroll.  This is a great option for people who already have their regularly scheduled training first thing in the morning.  Simply get outside and walk for an hour or more.  Notice I said to get outside… sure we’re burning a few extra calories with this evening stroll but we are also reducing stress as mentioned earlier.  So leave the iPod and cell phone at home, get out into the real world, and enjoy a leisurely walk.

Sprints.  If you are not already sprinting as part of your training, I can think of no better exercise to add for fat loss.  Whether up a steep hill or at your local high school track, sprints are the ultimate high intensity short duration exercise for breaking your plateau.

Now What?

So I’ve run down several different options for breaking a fat loss plateau.  By no means am I suggesting that you should try all of these options at once.  Breaking a fat loss plateau comes down to self experimentation.  You have to test and track – but if you test too many variables at once, you never know which one was the key to your results.  So here is the simple process for breaking your fat loss plateau:

1.  Weigh-in once per week.  The number on the scale is the best indicator of whether your fat loss efforts are going in the right direction.  Sure we can get into the whole “muscle is denser than fat” issue and there may be a point in your transformation where the number on the scale either doesn’t budge or actually goes up a pound or two due to an increase in muscle mass.  But that intersection will be fleeting.  By and large if you are trying to lose fat that scale should be headed south.  So weigh-in once per week on the same day and time wearing the same attire or lack there of (always wearing shorts and a t-shirt with no shoes, or naked before you step into the shower as examples).

2.  Keep your diet and training journal for a week.  For the food journal write down what you eat, when you eat it, and an approximate quantity.  Calorie counting is not necessary, but if that’s your thing, knock yourself out.  For the training journal write down the exercises used, sets and reps performed, and amount of weight lifted if any.  Other factors such as the amount of rest between sets, total time of the workout, and even the weather can be tracked if you desire but are not essential.

3.  Weigh in at the end of the week.  Did you lose weight?  If yes, keep doing what you’re doing.  If no, select ONE of the adjustments listed above in this post, make the adjustment for a week, track it in your food and training journals, and evaluate your results.

4.  Rinse and repeat until goal is achieved.

When it comes to fat loss, there is no one-size-fits-all formula.  The big picture of eat real food in appropriate quantity, train in a manner that is continually challenging, and allow for adequate rest and recovery applies to everyone.  But the finer details, especially when trying to break a plateau, will vary from person to person.

If you are experiencing fat loss frustration, start with diet.  Consider eliminating a specific food, adjusting your quantity, or trying intermittent fasting.  Next, look at your recovery.  Do what you can to optimize your sleep and reduce stress.  Lastly, examine your training. If your foundational training is solid, try adding the morning wake up call, evening stroll, or sprints.

And remember that self experimentation is key.  Weigh-in weekly, track your diet and training, and focus on one adjustment at a time.  Before you know it, your clothes will fit much better, your abs will be clearly defined, and the cutie at the office will be smiling at you even when there is a long line at the copy machine.

Vic Magary is a U.S. Army Infantry veteran and has been helping people lose weight and get fit since 2001.  Get his complete fat loss program for free – including four different 12-week training programs, a 12-week sample menu, 20-minute jump start audio, and 68 instructional videos – by clicking here.

Filed Under: Fitness, Six Pack Abs, Weight Loss Tagged With: ,

Start Your New Years Resolutions Today

December 29, 2012 By 6 Comments

adventure

Start your New Years Resolutions Today

If you’re serious about your new years resolutions. Start them today.

You don’t need permission.

You don’t need a new year.

You don’t need a new week.

You don’t need to tell anybody.

You just need to start.

Climb a mountain & tell no one.

Blackmail yourself if you need to.

Today.

Now.

Go.

—

If your new years resolution is fitness related, you can download the no excuses workout for fr**. Get after it.

—

photo credit: Stuck in Customs

Filed Under: Fitness, Hustling, Life, Personal Development Tagged With: , , , ,

Merry Christmas From Impossible HQ

December 25, 2012 By 18 Comments

Merry Christmas from Impossible HQ!

I hope you’re enjoying the holidays and spending time with friends and family. We’ve got another present under your tree…er…waiting in your inbox for you.

If you’re worried about falling off the routine during christmas or want to get started throughout the new year, I’ve put together a new workout routine for you for f*ee.

Introducing The No Excuse Workout

no excuse workout

The no excuse workout is just that – a no excuse workout.

It’s a quick and dirty guide you can read and understand in 10 minutes or less to help jumpstart your fitness goals this year that you can do anywhere in the world.

Whether you’re putting it off because you fell off the bandwagon a few months back, you’re confused, you think it’s too expensive or you simply don’t know what exactly you’re supposed to do,  we’ve worked to eliminate those reasons and make it as easy as possible to simply start. The no excuse workout is designed specifically to

  1. require no fancy equipment
  2. provide video demonstration of each exercise
  3. be absolutely freaking free.

What’s Inside

  1. 4 Weeks of Workout Programming
  2. 10+ video demonstrations + exercise tutorials.
  3. 28 days of meal plans.
  4. Simple & Solid nutritional framework

We shot specific videos for this workout and created a mircosite to get you started on eating better & more holistically through the paleo framework. Oh, and it’s absolutely f^ee to you. Think of it my Christmas Gift to you :) .

>> Pick up the no excuse workout here

Merry Christmas + Happy Holidays :) .

Get After It

-Joel

p.s If you don’t celebrate Christmas, enjoy Christmahanakwanzika or whatever seasonal celebrations you choose and if you want to pass on the holiday spirit, I know a great cause that would love your help. We are less than $600 away from hitting out #impossible school goal. Is anybody up for helping put us over the top on Christmas?

Filed Under: Fitness, Launches, Six Pack Abs, Weight Loss Tagged With: , , , , ,
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