The sun is out which is great for some but for others it incites panic and a desire for quick results. This has inevitably led to me getting a few “What is the fastest way to get results?” questions.
Being a realist of the health and fitness world this question of course annoys me, most people would be lucky to get any long term sustainable results let alone put a time demand on when to get them. But before we delve into answering this question you have to understand one underlying concept to getting in shape –
** Speed of Weight Loss Is A Controlled Process **
What this means is you can only lose a certain amount of fat per week however hard you try. The flip side to this is you can only gain a certain amount of weight however badly you are eating.
While most people would probably accept the above as being true they do not understand what it means in the real world. If your goal is eight weeks of fat loss away. There is no way to beat that process, maybe if you gave it your best ever ever effort you can get there in 7 weeks. Perhaps a slightly lack effort it takes 10 weeks. Either way there is no 2, 3 or even 4 week wonder protocol that you can follow which will achieve it. (You will of course find many people on the internet only too keen to sell you this promise).
I showed this concept last year when I did five days of zero calories. It was a great challenge, consuming 0 calories and averaging 23000 steps a day I still only slightly increased the speed of the fat loss process. Check out my experience here>>>
This is sounding a bit negative… What Can I do?
Ok relax, so assuming you know you can only achieve so much in a short space of time here is what you can do to maximise quick results –
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1) Cut Food intake down ASAP – There are so many ways to do this, you can do it intentionally by cutting down on portion size, skipping a meal or cutting out snacking. You can also do it indirectly by choosing whole foods (less cals in general), using intermittent fasting methods or lower calorie days etc. You may choose to follow a specific nutrition plan which will achieve the above most of the time be it directly or indirectly.
2) Move Your Body – Ok, drop the excuses it is time to move. Count steps and increase them. Actually exercise instead of thinking about it. If easier get people to train with, use a trainer, join a exercise class. It doesn’t matter as long as you get it done.
3) Plan The Off Days – IF you want to go max speed then your diet should probably be around 40% under what you need (movement and basic metabolic rate). This will put you on max speed roughly for fat loss. It is also puts you on max alert for falling off the wagon and binging. But you asked for fast results so that is the risk you run.
If you are going flat out you will need to use periodic off days, which is a day of much higher calorie eating. Here is a general rule of thumb –
How Long Will You Follow Diet?
<2 Weeks – No off Days
2-3 Weeks – 1-2 Off Days
3-4 Weeks – 1 Off Day / Week
> 4 Weeks+ – VERY Unlikely you can follow a max speed for results diet for longer than 4 weeks. If so you will need to use a slightly different off day protocol.
If your goal / intention lies further away than four weeks then you are not really talking about max speed for fat loss and you are into the general “How Do I get In Shape Question?” You will need to use a slightly more moderate approach of food vs movement which may not include off days. I covered this in my
Body Transformation Blueprint>>4) Cheat – The simple way for quick results is to cheat a little. For the body the best way is:
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Stomach Vacuum / Hollowing – If you haven’t watched my
flat stomach masterclass yet then where have you been?. Almost everyone can take 1-3 inches off their stomach through changing their posture and bloatedness. It is a body hack that you need to do.
– Clothes – A change of clothes and appropriate style can transform how you look. There is a reason almost all of these body transformation shows has a stylist on board. This includes clothes, hair, make up, tanning and more.
****Then What?****
The above will maximise quick results. If you are motivated it works well. Does it help much in the long term? In general no but it certainly can be part of a successful longer term transformation. The problem is most the rules you use for a quick results motivated plan have little benefit for long term easily maintainable results.
