Skip to contentToday I’m going to share with you how I got lean for my beach vacation in 2013. I went from around 20% bodyfat to under 10% in about 8 weeks – that’s right, visible abs and everything. What’s going to surprise you is what I consumed for the majority of those 8 weeks while getting ripped.
It was about 2 months prior to going to Cuba for a week when I decided that I would devote the rest of the time to getting as lean as I could. I upped my training frequency to 4-5x per week, which was not a huge jump from the current 3-4x per week I was already training. But I knew that even if I killed myself in the gym I wouldn’t get anywhere without making some real changes to my diet.
So what did I do?
I dropped my calories and consumed the majority of my meals from McDonalds.
Yup.
Read it again so you know for sure you didn’t make a mistake. McDonalds. The home of the Big Mac. Yes, THAT McDonalds.
The reason being is that I was lazy with my food prep and never had food ready to bring to work. I would leave early in the morning and usually train a client before eating breakfast. That along with wanting to save as much money as possible drove me – or rather walked me – to the nearby golden arches to purchase some sandwiches off the value menu. This happened at least 4 times per week and for the majority of the weeks I was prepping for the beach. Sometimes for breakfast AND lunch!
The results?
I dropped around 20 pounds of weight and 10% or more of bodyfat.
The leanest I’ve ever been.
So, why did it work?
It worked because I used 2 simple things to guide my eating.
#1 Caloric Deficit
This one is a must. I knew that in order to lose fat I would have to be consuming less calories than I burned during the day so even though I was eating notoriously bad food, I was still eating less calories.
This is something that people completely overlook more often than not and is why they’re not making progress. They switch to eating “clean” foods but still overeat. You can still get fat on chicken breast and broccoli guys, portion size is important.
#2 Adequate Protein
If I was going to up my training frequency and lower my calories I had to make sure I was keeping as much of my hard earned muscle as I could (what good is it to look like a smaller version of my then self?). So I made sure my protein was as high I could keep it during my diet.
All I did was make sure I had a protein source in each meal. For my non McDonalds meals I would usually consume a chicken breast or steak with salad.
But wait!
Before you ditch your good eating habits and run over to McD’s to order off the fat loss menu I must tell you the bad side of my experience.
I was unhealthy, and it showed. Having lost that much weight in a short period of time and consuming the majority of my meals with low quality food my system paid the price.
For the first 3 nights in Cuba I would get a fever around dinner time. It was like 35 degrees out and I was wearing a sweater. It would subside after a couple hours but it was unpleasant. About 4 days in to my trip I got pink eye! Something which I had never had in my whole life.
It was horrible.
Aesthetically the results were pretty good but inside my body was weak.
So what can you take from my experience?
By making sure your calories are low enough to actually lose fat and you keep your protein intake at a reasonable level you will be able to lose fat and still indulge in foods that you love from time to time. I do NOT advise that you go eat them for the majority of your meals like I did though because it is simply not worth getting sick and weak over.
If I were to do things differently I would also not lose as much weight as I did within that period of time. I would’ve either settled for less weight loss or set aside a larger timeframe, around 10-12 weeks.
Live and learn.
Exciting News for You!
I will soon be releasing an ebook based on the great Lean Machine: Strength Training for Fat Loss Seminar which was given at our gym!
The ebook will tell you exactly what you need to know in order to:
lose lots of body fat
maintain or even GAIN muscle and strength during your fat loss phase
eat the foods you love and still make awesome progress
This is based off the methods that we use with our clients at CTS. It’s a quick read and best of all, I will be releasing it for the low price of $0. Yup, it’s free.
Be sure to sign up for our newsletter below because I will release it there first!
