This was just published on the Return of Kings website:
Go Hardcore And Cut Weight Like A Man
Here we go gentlemen. If you’ve finally decided it’s time to burn off that extra weight and get back to your glorious and lean former self, then buckle up. You are going to come out of the gate hard, never look back and set the tone for the rest of your life. In a few short months you will transform your physique and develop the habits to excel as an elite physical specimen.
It’s time to go hardcore and cut weight like a man.
Go Badass
The first step is to cut out all alcohol, sugar and wheat. This will keep things simple and eliminate a huge swath of empty and harmful calories. It will also set the proper discipline for the rest of your life. After six months of eating as a man should you will have the energy to go full throttle all day, every day.
If you did nothing else but remove these three items from your diet you’d be well on your way to success. If you stay away from processed foods as well, all that remains are choices which will lead to fewer calories consumed as a natural course of action—more on that later.
Alcohol
Let’s start with alcohol. This is a tough one, but necessary if you’re going to go all out. At first you will make it an absolute because you’ve made a hardcore decision the weight is going to come off. Calories will be limited and they will need to sustain you through a transition from eating your fill at every meal, to eating at a caloric deficit until you reach your shredded prime. This new habit will be greatly aided by consuming quality sustenance and by maintaining a clear and focused mind.
Do yourself a favor and man up by quitting alcohol while you cut. Later, when you’ve reached your goal, you can reassess the limited consumption for relaxation and recreation.
In fact, let’s take it to another level and limit your beverages to black coffee and water. You will drink black coffee for pleasure and water to stay hydrated. Both are calorie free and in line with your new clear and focused resolve.
Water and Coffee Only
Sugar And Wheat
Next are sugar and wheat. These two items, especially wheat, are responsible for the cultural surge in weight and diabetes here in the United States. They both have the same effect on your metabolism, but wheat is the stealth killer of the two.
Refined sugar from sweets and beverages is an obvious source of empty and wasteful calories. No problem, you’ve made a man’s decision and will also make them an absolute no go until you get to where you need to be. Then like alcohol, and once the shallow habit is broken, the occasional indulgence will be allowed after you reach your goal.
Now on to the underlying cause of weight gain in the American diet.
Despite the rampant promotion of whole grains as a replacement for cholesterol and fat by the U.S. government and medical establishment since 1985, wheat has basically the same effect inside your body as refined sugar. Not coincidentally, the year 1985 marks the beginning of the rapid upward climb in body weight and diabetes here in the United States. Culturally, we are now a nation where wheat based products are pervasive and dominate our diet.
Glucose And Insulin
Both refined sugar and wheat are converted into glucose or blood sugar once digested. In fact, the glycemic index (blood sugar or glucose level) of whole wheat bread is higher than that of table sugar once metabolized. Imagine that, whole wheat bread is worse for you in some ways than table sugar and yet remains the darling of the U.S. federal government and other health advocates.
Each of these sources of bloodstream glucose results in a surge of insulin. This is a metabolic response to remove and convert them to stored fat. Unlike with protein, fat and more complex carbohydrates, this rapid glucose-insulin cycle will lead to hunger again in about 2 hours. Thus, emerges the need for between meals snacking, the resultant storage of more fat and another round of sugar high and then sugar low.
This is the crux of the obesity problem in western society. Break away from the slothful masses and remove sugar and wheat from your diet. Each meal will sustain you longer and as a natural consequence you will consume less.
Focus on Meat and Vegetables
Eat Paleo Plus
What to eat then you ask? Eat as we have as a species for 99.5% of our existence. Basically that means to eat Paleo or as we did as hunter-gatherers.
It is only in the past few thousand years that humans converted to an agricultural existence and radically changed our evolutionary diet. Eat Paleo and you will avoid the modern repeated glucose-insulin cycle and end up consuming the macro and micro nutrients we have evolved best to thrive on.
Today this means eating chicken, beef, fish, eggs, vegetables, tubers (root based food), nuts and berries. To these I would add dairy and rice which are not strictly Paleo, but will allow for an additional variety in a family setting. Keep the consumption of rice and non-berry fruit to a minimum to avoid their simple carbohydrate content.
Eat At A 25% Dynamic Deficit
Now that you know what to avoid and what is best to eat, you will consume at a 25% deficit below your breakeven caloric number. This is the daily total at which you will maintain your weight.
A good rule of thumb is to multiply your current weight in pounds by 14 or 15. For example, if you weigh 200lbs your breakeven number would be between 2800 and 3000 calories. Your actual number will vary based on metabolism and activity level. My advice is to be conservative and use the lower of the two. Thus, for a 200 pound man a 25% deficit would mean a daily budget of 2100 calories.
Also structure your diet so that you shoot for 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. In other words, make the basis of your diet meat, eggs and vegetables. These meals will provide the foundation for your new muscular and explosive frame, as well as keep you full as you lose the weight. Find a smartphone application such as MyFitnessPal to track your daily consumption.
And finally, as the pounds burn off keep the pressure on your metabolism and maintain the 25% deficit. In other words, keep dropping your daily caloric number. Get the job done.
Get Serious and Reap the Benefits
Lifting And High Intensity Training
I did say go hardcore and cut weight like a man, right? You want to lose weight, add muscle mass and then pursue an elite physical excellence from there. We don’t want you to end up losing a bunch of weight just to end up skinny soft and then put it all back on again.
Our metabolism has evolved to slow down as we lose weight. This is a survival mechanism to prevent starvation. As a result, your breakeven number will drop and eventually lead to rapid weight gain once consumption returns to normal. Sound familiar?
The answer to this metabolic adaptation is lifting weights and High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). Both will raise testosterone levels, add muscle mass and increase your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR).
The body’s BMR is responsible for the vast majority of calories burned on a daily basis. It is the minimum amount of caloric energy necessary for your body to function at rest.
Adding muscle mass and putting your body under stress through resistance training and some form of HIIT (such as sprints or 2 minute rounds on the heavy bag) will raise your BMR. It will counteract the metabolic slowdown from losing weight.
Work Up a Sweat Every Other Day
Take Control
There you have it gentlemen. Cut out all alcohol, sugar and wheat. Eat meat and vegetables at a 25% caloric deficit. Limit beverages to black coffee and water. Lift weights and do sprints.
If you are serious about losing weight and pursuing a jaw dropping physical transformation you have your answer. In six months you can be a new man if you choose to do so. Make a man’s decision, go hardcore and become a
Force of Nature.
http://www.returnofkings.com/112763/go-hardcore-and-cut-weight-like-a-man
