The Bare Truth: Confessions of a Personal Trainer

THE BARE TRUTH CONFESSIONS OF A PERSONAL TRAINER By

D AVE S MITH

www.makeyourbodywork.com

INTRODUCTION In 2013 my career as a personal trainer seemed to be taking off. My schedule was booked full of amazing clients, I had a large readership on my blog, and I had just won a prestigious award, being named “Canada’s Top Fitness Professional” by CanFitPro. However, I didn’t feel like much of a success. In fact, my passion for fitness had been dying for some time.

When I became a personal trainer in 2001 I thought I had found my dream job. I personally loved exercising and aiming for new fitness goals, so the idea that I could make a career from helping others do the same sounded perfect. I was enthusiastic and knew that I was going to change people’s lives through fitness!

Over the course of several years however, my eyes were opened to the realities of being a personal trainer. The amazing results I thought I was going to provide to my clients weren’t materializing. No matter how hard they worked, and no matter how much guidance I offered, “life-changing” results remained elusive.

I began to doubt the value of the services I was providing.

Maybe I just wasn’t a very good personal trainer?

I also had a difficult time being honest with my clients

How can I sell personal training services to someone when I know she isn’t going to see the changes she wants?

I didn’t have much confidence in my expertise and felt very much like a fraud. In fact, there were many times when I considered a career change, one that would take me away from fitness altogether.

I’m happy to say that I didn’t give up on my career at that low point. Instead, I began looking for answers outside of the fitness community. My wife, a clinical counsellor, became one of the most important coaches I could have asked for. She taught me about the psychology of behavior change and helped me understand how to use these concepts in my work. I consulted with other counselling and psychology experts and began to redefine my beliefs about how fitness can be done successfully.

As I learned more about the psychological component of getting in shape (and staying in shape), and as I began applying these ideas, my clients began

experiencing better results. For the first time in years I didn’t feel like a helpless personal trainer who was just hoping for the best. My excitement surrounding fitness began to return.

It took time to redevelop my approach to personal training, but I did find a formula that provides my clients with fantastic results. It is based in selfreflection, honesty, planning, teamwork, and accountability. It’s simple but also requires some hard work.

Are you interested?

This book is broken into three sections and each offers unique value. Part 1 dives much deeper into my failures as a personal trainer, what I learned from these failures, and how the entire experience led me to a better approach to fitness. It’s my story.

Part 2 is all about you. In this section I will help you discover what you really want and what you’re willing to do to achieve it. You will begin to set your expectations and will start preparing for the process of changing your lifestyle.

Then in Part 3 you will learn the specifics of the program that I now use with my clients. While there is nothing magical about this program, it is structured differently than many others.

You won’t have to eat strange foods, buy any products from me, or follow some crazy exercise routine. The “bare truth” of the program actually

comes from its focus on simple strategies that make behavior change more doable and sustainable.

I would love to hear from you as you adopt the plan you’re about learn. Feel free to ask questions, talk about your challenges, and share your successes. I look forward to hearing your story,

www.makeyourbodywork.com

LEGAL NOTES Copyright Š 2015 by Dave Smith.

All rights reserved.

This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction Part 1: My Story, My Confessions Chapter 1. Fat Legs, Skinny Arms Chapter 2. Feeling Like A Phony Chapter 3. I’m Not A “Sinker” Part 2: Your Story, Your Success Chapter 4. What Do You Really Want?

Chapter 5. Barriers You’re About To Face Chapter 6. I Need You For 4 Weeks Chapter 7. Planning For Success Chapter 8. Staying Accountable Part 3: Creating Your Program Chapter 9. Hydration Chapter 10. Six Days of Exercise Chapter 11. Your 5-Day Eating Plan Chapter 12. Creating Your 5-Day Meals

Chapter 13. Cheat Day Chapter 14. Fast Day Chapter 15. Putting It All Together Additional Resources Questions and Answers Appendix A. Planning and Tracking Template Appendix B. Healthy Foods List Appendix C. Sample Meals About The Author

Part 1: My Story, My Confessions

CHAPTER 1 – FAT LEGS, SKINNY ARMS When I was 7 years old my mom bought me a new pair of shorts that I absolutely loved. They were royal blue (my favourite colour) and they had red, yellow, and white racing stripes circling around the bottom of each leg. They were so cool and I was excited to wear them to school.

The next morning I put on my new shorts to go along with my favourite Bart Simpson t-shirt. In retrospect I’m pretty sure the two didn’t match at all, but when you’re a 7-year old boy creating a matching ensemble isn’t top priority. I left the house feeling confident and looking good.

Arriving at school before the classroom opened, I headed straight for the playground to show off my new shorts. Brandon, a classmate of mine, was already at the playground and he piped up as soon as he saw me coming,

Nice shorts. They make your legs look so fat!

I was not an overweight kid at all and I certainly didn’t have fat legs, but Brandon’s comment destroyed my confidence that day. I didn’t say or do anything in the moment – it seemed easier to pretend I didn’t hear what he had said. When I got home I went to my room and cried. Those stupid blue shorts made my legs look fat.

This was my first experience with negative feelings about my body. It wasn’t that big of a deal (although I didn’t wear those blue shorts again), but it was meaningful enough that almost 30 years later I can still remember the pain I felt. Feeling self-conscious about my body wasn’t fun.

MY SKINNY ARMS A decade after the blue-shorts incident I had no more worries about fat legs. I had the exact opposite problem in fact – I was 18 years old, 6-feet tall, and I weighed about 140lbs. I was a string bean.

I knew I was really skinny but it didn’t bother me for the most part. I was good at sports, got good grades, and was the president of the high school students’ council. These things gave me a good self-confidence despite being such a beanpole.

One of my jobs as student president was to emcee school assemblies. I really liked this job because it gave me a chance to be in front of an audience and to

hopefully get the attention of some of my female classmates. It was my time to shine!

After one assembly I was walking back to science class and was feeling pretty good about my performance as emcee. I had engaged the crowd and my jokes made people laugh – things went well.

Nadia, a girl in my science class, found me in the hall and started walking with me back to class.

“Dave, you know what I noticed when you were on stage in that assembly?”

This is exactly what I was hoping for! I was pretty sure Nadia was going to mention how funny I was, or how cool I appeared in front of such a big crowd.

“What’s that?” I replied.

“You’ve got REALLY skinny arms. I think they’re skinnier than mine.”

(For the record, this was worse than Brandon’s “fat legs” comment).

Of course I didn’t let on that Nadia’s comment was just about the worst thing she could have said. I laughed it off and pretended that I didn’t care. I did care though. I was embarrassed knowing that everyone else in that audience had been staring at my skinny arms. They were likely laughing at me, not my funny jokes! I instantly hated my skinny arms.

HITTING THE GYM One day after the “skinny arms” comment I got my first gym membership. I didn’t know anything about working out but I was pretty sure that lifting weights was the only way I’d build man-sized arms.

I remember going into the gym for the very first time.

Everyone there looked like they knew exactly what they were doing. They were all wearing the right clothes – I’m talking real workout clothes, not the basketball shorts and t-shirt I was wearing! Some of the guys even carried around little notebooks that they would write stuff in. What were they writing? I wanted to know their secret messages.

People moved around the gym with purpose and nobody looked as lost as I felt. I could feel the others sizing me up, and I knew that they knew I was a firsttimer.

My first workout lasted about 8 minutes. I did a couple of biceps curls (I had seen guys with big arms doing those on TV), did maybe 12 push-ups, and then left as quickly as I could. Maybe skinny arms aren’t that bad after all?

Instead of going back to the gym that week I decided to do some research. What would it take to change my body? How could I do it as quickly as possible?

Keep in mind that this was all taking place in the late 1990’s so the Internet wasn’t a go-to resource like it is today. I actually went to the library (yes, the library!)

and began reading about bodybuilding in various books and magazines. I learned how to put together a workout program that consisted of more than just biceps curls and push-ups. I read about protein supplements and other foods that would help me build muscle faster. I also discovered stories of other skinny guys who morphed into muscle-bound men after finding the right formula of exercise and nutrition.

The following week I went back to the gym and this time I had a plan. I even bought a little notebook from the dollar store so that I could carry around my own magic muscle-building formula and track my results.

I was still the scrawniest, weakest guy there but I was determined to change that no matter how out of place I felt at first.

When I wasn’t at the gym I was studying everything I could get my hands on related to exercise, fitness, and nutrition. The interconnected systems of the body, how they worked, and how they could be changed was so fascinating. I couldn’t get enough.

Three months after my exercise love affair began, I had gained about 20lbs of muscle and my arms weren’t that skinny anymore. Even more empowering was the knowledge I had acquired along the way. My body wasn’t set in stone. I had the power to transform it with a little hard work and dedication. What a feeling!

A DREAM JOB AWAITS In September I went to university to study Marketing and Business. I was excited to meet new friends and to experience university life, but I was really excited about the university’s athletic complex located just a block from my residence.

Most of my free time that year was spent playing sports, weight training, or studying more about the science of fitness. I loved my Business classes, but my passion was exercise and fitness.

It was during my second year at university when I saw a poster in the athletic complex advertising an upcoming personal training certification course. The course was 40 hours long and was followed by a set of 2 exams. Passing both would certify me as a personal trainer - I could actually make a living by helping people exercise!

I paid my $400 and registered for the course that day.

Hello dream job!

All my fitness studying and research came in handy – The certification course was a piece of cake and I passed both exams with flying colours. Soon after I began training a few clients, something I considered mostly a hobby that I could enjoy while finishing my education and then exploring careers in Marketing.

It wasn’t just a hobby for long though. While I worked a corporate Marketing job, I had a hard time focusing

on my tasks and responsibilities. I wanted to be a good employee but my heart just wasn’t in it.

With a small client base already established, I launched my first personal training company in 2006. I was ready to change the world by helping others find their own passion for health and fitness. I was going to teach people how they could morph their body (by shedding fat or gaining muscle) just like I had done for myself. All of the knowledge and personal experience I had been accumulating for the past several years was going to change people’s lives!

CHAPTER 1 QUESTIONS 1. Can you think of a specific instance that made you self-conscious of your body?

2. How did you respond in that instance? What did you do about it?

CHAPTER 2 – FEELING LIKE A PHONY A few years into my personal training career I begin working with a client who was excited to make some big changes. Sarah was 34 years old and was tired of not feeling good about the way she looked. Her story was a common one: Three kids, a hectic schedule, and very little “me time” had taken a toll on her onceattractive body.

During our exercise sessions we would talk a lot about how she felt about herself and about the feelings she wished she had. It was heart breaking to hear Sarah speak about the chore of looking at herself in the mirror. She often said things like, “I don’t think I actually look like that…who I see in the mirror is so old and tired. I hate it.”

Sarah, like many clients I worked with, realized that her physical appearance and lack of physical fitness were taking a psychological and social toll that compounded her problems. Feeling “fat” made her self-conscious to get involved in activities that were physically demanding. Going for a bike ride with other parents in her neighborhood was a stressful thought.

She would be “the worst one” out there would feel so embarrassed if she couldn’t keep up.

Sarah also shied away from doing social things that required her to get dressed up. She didn’t feel comfortable wearing fitted clothing and often found herself declining social invitations as a result.

Events like her husband’s Christmas work party were the worst. She was expected to be there and there was a “dress code” that was socially acceptable.

Sarah would go, but the entire process was so stressful and she felt uncomfortable the whole time.

I felt like everyone there was just thinking about how much weight I had gained over the years. It was embarrassing.

Sarah’s weight was also causing issues in her marriage. She had become very sensitive to anything her husband said about her appearance, finding it impossible to believe that his compliments such as “You look so pretty today!” carried any truth.

He’s just saying that to make me feel good. I appreciate that he does it, but it’s hard to accept the compliment when I know it’s not true. I know it makes him feel bad in the end because his positive comments usually just

upset me. I wish I could believe him.

Being overweight was a burden that spilled over into all parts of her life and that is why Sarah had come to see me. She had decided it was time for a change and I was going to help her do it!

WHERE ARE THE RESULTS? Sarah and I started training together twice per week.

Every Tuesday and Thursday morning she would meet me at the gym at 7am for an hour of exercise.

We had good chemistry and had a fun time during our training sessions.

At first even the simplest exercises were a real challenge for Sarah. We’d practice squatting, bending, twisting, and pushing – all movements that she hadn’t done in a long time. There was a lot of sweat, a lot of muscle pain, and the odd expletive directed at me (in jest I think).

It was amazing to see Sarah’s improvement over the course of our first 8 weeks working together. She was stronger, more mobile, and was feeling great. I was so excited for her and was thrilled to be part of this life-changing process.

There was just one problem: Sarah’s weight barely budged after all her hard work. She was discouraged.

I was embarrassed (wasn’t I supposed to be the expert?). Both of us were frustrated.

“Shouldn’t I be seeing some improvements by now?

Am I doing something wrong?” Sarah asked.

Unfortunately I didn’t have a good answer for her.

It was this discouraging experience with Sarah, and many other similar experiences, that served as my wake-up call. I couldn’t deal with her disappointment and I certainly didn’t want to repeat the discouragement I felt in letting her down.

I was supposed to be the fitness expert but I felt like a phony. I wanted to help Sarah change her life but I wasn’t able to deliver.

A BROKEN EQUATION I became a personal trainer because I loved exercising. I chose it as a full-time career because I knew that I could parlay my exercise enthusiasm to help others who were struggling with their fitness.

At least that’s what I had thought.

Sarah was one of many clients who I couldn’t help. I tried, and they sure tried, but it was much harder to help someone change their body than I ever expected.

After about 10 years of helping clients achieve very mediocre results, a lot of my enthusiasm about health and fitness had started to wane. Despite all my experience and education, most of my clients were like Sarah – They were getting in better shape, but the goal of losing significant weight wasn’t be attained.

Subjectively, the training I did with my clients was working. Many did feel much better physically and many could see that the shape of their body had changed, but the objective goal of moving the needle on the scale wasn’t happening.

I responded to their disappointment by studying harder. I read books, searched advice from other trainers, and attended all sorts of seminars in hopes of finding a solution. There were many “answers” to be had…

“You need to create cutting-edge fitness plans” “You must motivate your clients to work harder” “Just pass along this useful nutrition advice” I tried all sorts of approaches but only saw mixed results. Rarely did my clients achieve their weight-loss goals, and when they did, rarely did it last.

I started to doubt everything I had been learning about weight-loss. To me, the fitness equation had always looked like this:

Regular Exercise + Healthy Eating = Fitness But this equation wasn’t working. What am I missing?

PREACHING A LIE Ironically, as more and more doubts crept into my head, I simultaneously started achieving more and more recognition for my work in the fitness industry.

I began receiving invitations to present at various corporate functions as an “expert” in healthy living. I also took jobs instructing other personal trainers - I was supposed to impart my “wisdom” about how to be a success.

The biggest acclaim came when I was nominated for and won the award as “Canada’s Top Fitness Professional” in 2013. This was such an honour and was I was very flattered to even be considered for such a prestigious award. It was gratifying to know that others recognized and appreciated the work I was doing to promote fitness and healthy living.

All of this career success felt great in one sense, but it also left me feeling like even more of a phony. I didn’t have the answers that people were looking for, and I felt very dishonest preaching principles that I knew didn’t work as well as I described.

This was my lowest point as a personal trainer and I started to wonder if I should begin looking for another career path.

I HATED WEIGH-IN DAYS Despite my internal career struggles, I put on a happy face and tried to serve my clients as best I could.

There were still many things I still loved about being a personal trainer: I enjoyed getting to know my clients, seeing their excitement when they mastered a new exercise, and helping them move pain-free. But there was one thing I particularly dreaded about my job and that was the weigh-in day.

At a conference I heard a fitness expert preach to a group of personal trainers:

If you’re not assessing, then you’re just guessing.

His point was that as personal trainers we needed to regularly measure our clients’ progress, otherwise it would be impossible to know if they were actually improving.

I took this advice to heart and began assessing my clients every few weeks. One of the assessments was a simple weigh-in and this was always the one I (and likely my clients) feared the most.

You see, other assessments have some “wiggle room” – Holding a “better” plank is a matter of interpretation, and being able to do a few more pushups can be influenced by numerous factors on any given day. Those types of fitness assessment aren’t black and white.

Stepping on the scale however, can seem very black and white. It also happens to be the unit of measure that most people use to determine their progress.

Improvements in other areas of fitness (e.g. strength, cardiovascular endurance, body shape, etc.) are often secondary thoughts – People want to know what they weigh and how much weight they have lost.

After weeks of intense workouts my clients had every right to expect to see their weight drop. They were paying good money to work with me and I was supposed to be really good at my job. Let’s see the results!

Early on I expected to see big changes for every client on weigh-in day, but I soon realized that wasn’t happening. A pound was lost here and there but rarely were there any monumental changes.

Uh-oh. How do I keep explaining these disappointing results?

EXPLANATIONS AND DISBELIEF Perhaps the worst part of weigh-in days was seeing the expression on a client’s face when he or she didn’t lose any weight at all. It was crushing and I felt as though I needed to soften the blow:

It’s not all about the numbers on the scale. You’re in much better shape than you were last time we measured.

That was a common line I used to help a disappointed client see the bright side. There was certainly truth in that statement, but I knew it was a weak consolation prize.

Obviously there were many variables that would impact my client’s weight aside from the workouts we had done together. What was she eating? Was he exercising on his own? Did she drink enough water?

Did he get enough sleep or take time to de-stress?

When we would talk about these other “homework” assignments I would usually get one of two responses:

Response #1: “I am doing all of those things” These clients would tell me that they ate perfectly, exercised daily, and pretty much lived the ideal healthy life that I had prescribed.

These instances were tricky. If my client really was doing all of these healthy behaviours then weight-loss should be no problem. Something didn’t add up.

Often I would suggest we use a food or exercise journal “just to be sure” these items were really ontrack. But, even with those tools in place there still seemed to be a gap between what my clients reported they were doing and what was actually being done.

Cognitive Dissonance is a psychological phenomenon that may explain what was happening.

Cognitive dissonance is the discomfort experienced by an individual who holds two contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values at the same time.

It can also occur when someone is confronted by new information that conflicts with existing beliefs, ideas, or values that they hold to be true.

We all have certain beliefs about ourselves. If one of those beliefs says, “I eat well and exercise regularly” then it can be uncomfortable if we encounter evidence that suggests otherwise.

For example, when I asked a client about his diet, it would be difficult for him to quickly retrieve instances when he made unhealthy food choices – This would conflict with his self-concept of being a “healthy eater”.

The same goes for exercise. It is comfortable, and therefore more likely, to remember all the exercise we did do versus the workouts we skipped.

While I don’t think that my clients intentionally lied to me about their health choices, I confess that I do think they were only telling part of the story. This gap between perception and reality makes it very hard to achieve and sustain weight-loss results.

Response #2: “I couldn’t do that because…”

The other response I got from clients who weren’t losing weight was some sort of rationale as to why my expectations just weren’t possible. These clients were usually “too busy” to follow through with the actions

we agreed were necessary for weight-loss, although other reasons did come up occasionally: “I don’t like eating healthy food” “I hate going to the gym” “I can’t cook” These clients suffer from a sort of Self-Fulfilling Prophecy that prevents them from adopting a healthier lifestyle.

A self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that causes itself to become true due to positive feedback between belief and behavior.

Let’s look at an example: Dwayne was another client of mine. He has a highpowered (and high-stress) job as Vice President at a technology company. His days are filled with meetings, deadlines, and work emergencies that require his attention. There is a lot of stress associated with his work and he has little time for exercise or preparing healthy meals.

When working with Dwayne he was adamant that they only time he could devote to his fitness came in the form of two workout sessions with me each week.

He would often say things like, “There is no way I can squeeze in another workout tomorrow. Work is going to be crazy.”

I don’t doubt for a second that Dwayne has very busy days at work, but it was the way he viewed his situation that made it impossible to lose weight, not the actual busyness of his life.

Using statements like “There is no way…” when discussing exercise or other healthy behaviours became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Dwayne perceived it as impossible for him to adopt new ways of living and therefore he never changed.

I don’t really blame Dwayne either. Oftentimes the life patterns we develop become so entrenched that it is nearly impossible to see another way. If you believe that you are too busy to exercise, and if you believe this for long enough, then it will likely become true.

Your life will be built in such a way that you have no room for exercise.

The same goes for healthy eating. If you believe that preparing healthy meals is beyond your culinary abilities then you will establish strong habits of eating unhealthy convenience foods.

It’s much like Henry Ford’s famous quote:

Whether you think you can, or you think you can't - You're right.

I don’t think my clients who fell into this category were making excuses. I believe they were convinced that certain variables in life were just stacked against them. Unfortunately, that belief makes it so, and achieving weight-loss becomes nearly impossible.

EVERY DAY W AS A MONDAY If you’ve ever worked a job that you didn’t like you can probably remember having a “case of the Monday’s”.

It’s that feeling you get on Monday, knowing that the weekend is over and you have to do something that you don’t really enjoy.

Being a personal trainer started to give me a strong case of the Monday’s.

It didn’t feel good going to work every day, spending time with some really great clients, all the while knowing that most of them would never obtain the results they wanted. I knew that there were psychological factors that needed to be addressed, but I didn’t know how to approach these issues. I felt helpless.

Even worse was the fact that my livelihood depended on my clients sticking with me. I had financial incentives to keep selling them packages of training sessions even though I didn’t really think I could help them.

I wanted my sales pitch to sound like this: “Janet, I really enjoy working with you and think you’re doing great in your workouts. You are getting stronger and are in much better shape than you were a few months ago.

I know you really want to lose weight but I can’t promise that’s going to happen. I hope you do (I really hope you do!) but there are factors out of my control that prevent me from promising you will lose any weight at all.

I’d love it if you’d keep training with me, but I just want to be honest about the results you are going to get.”

I actually think some of my clients would have stayed with me if I told them this (like I said, I had some really amazing clients!), but it just didn’t feel good to offer such a wishy-washy service.

I wanted to do things differently. I wanted to be a more effective coach, one who could honestly tell clients something like this: “Janet, I know losing weight is difficult but we are going to do it together. I’ve got a plan that will work for you even though there are going to be challenges

along the way. Stick with me and I promise you will reach your goal.”

I needed to change my approach as a personal trainer if I was ever going to be able to make a promise like this. I just didn’t know what I needed to change.

CHAPTER 2 QUESTIONS 1. When have you felt like a “phony”? How did you reconcile that feeling or help yourself feel more authentic?

2. Can you see examples of Cognitive Dissonance and/or the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy at work in your life? What impact are they having?

CHAPTER 3 – I’M NOT A “SINKER” I have always thought triathletes are really impressive. They have to find a unique balance of skill, strength, endurance and mental toughness. I wanted to be a triathlete.

There was only one little problem: Triathlons include a swim, a bike, and then a run. I could bike and run but I could barely swim a lap in a pool let alone hundreds of meters in a lake.

No problem, right? Just start swimming.

I bought a pass to my local pool and a really fastlooking Speedo (no joke – I thought a tighter bathing suit would help me improve more quickly) and I started swimming.

At first I swam once per week, but I didn’t really get any better. I could swim a lap or two and then was completely out of breath. So, I started swimming three times per week. Practice makes perfect!

It didn’t.

No matter how hard I swam, I wasn’t getting any faster and I couldn’t swim much further. I began swimming 5 times each week and knew that I was bound to figure it out sooner than later.

Nope. I was still exhausted after just a few minutes in the pool and my aspirations of becoming a triathlete began to fade.

After swimming five times per week and seeing no progress I was on the verge of quitting. I was frustrated and felt like I was wasting my time. Maybe I was just a “sinker”? Maybe I wasn’t built to swim?

Fortunately I didn’t quit. Instead, I learned a lesson.

During one of my swim sessions an off-duty lifeguard approached me while I was catching my breath (likely after swimming just 2 or 3 agonizing laps!)

“Are you interested in few tips on how you can improve your technique?” she asked.

I was thrilled. After all, I certainly couldn’t get any worse!

She gave me a couple simple things to think about while I swam the rest of my laps. Her advice wasn’t easy – in fact, I do think I got a little bit slower while I tried to change my technique - but the next time I went swimming things started to click. I was still dying by the end of a few laps but it did feel a bit easier. The next time got easier too. And so did the time after that.

Within a month I was swimming 60 laps without much trouble. I wasn’t a “sinker” at all! I just needed to be pointed in the right direction.

FINDING A NEW PATH

The vast majority of my clients wanted to lose weight.

How could I help ensure this would happen? I needed to find a new direction.

I started studying other personal trainers and examining businesses that operate in the health and fitness industry. One thing became very apparent: Most of them were really good at selling hopes and dreams, but very bad at following with actual results.

Consumers spend billions of dollars per year in an effort to lose weight, but at the same time obesity rates around the world have doubled in the past 30 years.

People are spending more and more on fitness, and are getting more and more out of shape at the same time. The available weight-loss and fitness “solutions” simply aren’t working and I wasn’t satisfied being part of this game.

Fortunately I had an unfair advantage over every other personal trainer out there – I was married to Cassie!

My wife is a gifted clinical counsellor who spends much of her time helping clients make positive life changes. Often she helps them change in areas that I wanted to help my clients - She teaches her clients how to overcome psychological barriers such as Cognitive Dissonance and the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy?

She also helps clients who are struggling with anxiety, loneliness, depression, and many other psychological issues that seemingly have little to do with fitness.

While their issues may be different, every client Cassie works with has one thing in common with each of my clients: They all want to change.

Cass and I spent a lot of time talking about the approaches she uses in her clinical work and howthey are very applicable to fitness. One idea called the Transtheoretical Model (or the Stages of Change) seemed especially relevant.

The Transtheoretical Model of behavior change assesses an individual's readiness to act on a new healthier behavior, and provides strategies, or processes of change to guide the individual through the stages

of change to Action and Maintenance.

Simply put, this model shows how a person moves from a place of not wanting to change at all (Precontemplation), to considering and learning about change (Contemplation), then preparing for change (Preparation), adopting new changes (Action), and finally being able to maintain those positive changes over time (Maintenance). The diagram below shows how these stages interact.

Knowing about these stages instantly helped me improve the service I offered new clients. Being able to identify which stage they were in enabled me to develop a plan that corresponded to their stage and their specific needs.

For example, Becky came to meet me on the recommendation of her friend, whom I had worked with for several years. Becky was overweight and voiced a desire to lose 30lbs that year. She told me about her diet and that she knew it needed to be fixed. She also admitted that she didn’t exercise at all, but that she understood exercise would be needed in order for her to reach her 30lb goal.

What stage do you think Becky was in?

She was preparing herself to take action – She was in the third stage of the model.

The old version of myself would have put together an amazing workout plan for Becky to follow. I would have booked her in for a training session that week – “We’ve got no time to lose!”

Now I knew better. Becky wasn’t ready to take serious action, but she was ready to start talking about some baby-steps that would put her on the right path towards reaching her goal. If I had given her a fullblown fitness and nutrition program to follow there is a slim chance she would have made through the first month. A client like Becky needed to be coached into the Action stage of change.

This was a massive turning point in my career.

Understanding the psychological needs of my clients made it so much easier to help them develop a plan that felt within reach. I started to feel enthusiastic about fitness again and was excited to learn more.

With Cass’s help I started building a new fitness program based on the Stages of Change as well as a number of other powerful coaching concepts. We spent a lot of time discussing motivation and the power of working with others. Cass also taught me about the process of effective goal-setting. Sure, everyone talks about the importance of setting goals, but I wanted to know why some people achieve theirs while others give up so quickly.

The psychology of behavior change became the backbone of my approach to fitness. Yes, I still taught many of the same exercise and nutritional concepts I had for years, but the delivery was different. My new approach was much more adaptable and much more defined by accountability and motivation, two things that I had been missing all these years (despite the fact that I thought I had been an expert in both!)

In this book I am going to teach you the most important lessons I have learned about making positive life changes. Specifically, you are going to learn that the process of losing weight is simple, but challenging. It’s more than just “eat less, exercise more” – It requires introspection, honestly, planning, and working with others in your life.

After reading this book you will have an action plan and will be able to confidently make the right choices that do provide results. You will be able to lose weight and keep it off for a lifetime.

DO YOU THINK YOU ’RE A “SINKER ”?

I almost gave up when I was trying to learn to swim. I wrote myself off as a “sinker” and figured that I was just going to have to live with that truth.

Maybe you’ve had a similar experience with losing weight? You’ve tried really hard without making any progress and you’ve started thinking, “I guess I’m just not meant to lose weight” or “Maybe this is just the body I’m stuck with?”

Those types of thoughts are not true.

Yes, everyone is born with a different body shape and size – Not everyone is going to be a 6-foot tall rail-thin model. BUT, everyone can dramatically change the way his or her body looks and feels by adopting the set of healthy living practices I’m going to outline in the coming pages.

As I found when learning to swim, trying harder at implementing a broken system or technique wasn’t going to make me a better swimmer and it’s not going to help you lose weight and keep it off. Having the right direction is critical.

Each month I host accountability groups (called the “10 in 4” Challenge) that help people make positive life changes and help them lose weight in the process. The participants are shaping their lives based on the principles you are about to learn in this book and their changes have been remarkable. Here are just a few of their comments:

Umm…it’s quite extraordinary, but I’m down 7lbs. Four after the first week and an additional 3 since Sunday…I’m just really happy to have some movement on the scale since the small tweaks I’ve made over the last few years have had no effect. Julie

Dave! I’ve lost 10lbs! I’m amazed and so thrilled! I wore pants to dinner last night that I hadn’t worn in nearly a year and they didn’t fit! I wore them anyway but they were so big in the waist that they also became too long. -Caroline

What I consider my biggest accomplishment is losing 23lbs over the past 9 weeks. Finding accountability has been the most helpful part. –Donna

My results have been really good – I’m down 12.5lbs and I feel better than I have in a really long time. The best part is how much I’ve been able to change my eating. This is simple and is something I will be able to keep doing. -James

I’m down 8.5-9lbs and am just about at my pre-baby weight, which was about 5lbs heavier than usual anyway. My original weight is in sight now! I’ve certainly learned a lot about food as it relates to my needs. Sarah

A girl at work just got her diet pills and a couple others just finished their “cleanse”. I’m just glad I’m doing something normal and sustainable. -Keely

Many of these people once thought they were “sinkers” too. But, just like when I couldn’t swim, it wasn’t about a lack of ability or determination. They were able to make tremendous life changes and lose significant amounts weight once they were pointed in the right direction.

You’re not a “sinker”…nobody is.

CHAPTER 3 QUESTIONS 1. Take another look at the Stages of Change diagram in this chapter and the brief descriptions of each stage. When it comes to your fitness, which stage do you think you’re currently in?

2. Have you ever started to believe that you’re just a “sinker”? Do you think there is any truth in that?

Part 2: Your Story, Your Success

CHAPTER 4 – WHAT DO YOU REALLY WANT? Earlier this year I attended a conference for entrepreneurs and the keynote speaker was someone who I was really looking forward to hearing from. He had a reputation of being very motivating and apparently had a way of challenging his audience to take action.

The speaker came onto stage:

You are all full of shit.

He repeated it – “You are all full of shit.” As you can imagine, there were a few awkward chuckles in the audience but most of were a little stunned by his less than warm introduction.

“Who does this guy think he is?” is what I was thinking, and I’m sure I wasn’t alone.

Without any explanation of his “full of shit” statement, the speaker began to talk about his personal fitness goals. He admitted that long hours spent running his own business had taken their toll. He made little time for exercise and ate on the road often. His lifestyle

caught up with him and he was 55 pounds heavier than he wanted to be.

He told us that he knew he needed to make a change when his belly became the same size and shape of his pregnant wife’s! He joined a gym and hired a personal trainer.

He then recounted a story that many of us in the audience could surely relate to. He started going to the gym 4 days per week. He cut out a lot of junk food from his diet and was very motivated to do whatever it would take to shed those 55lbs.

After a few weeks however, work began to get hectic and it was harder and harder to pull himself out of bed early enough in the morning to make it to the gym.

Stress led to snacking, and snacking led to a little weight gain, not the weight-loss he was aiming for.

He relayed a conversation he had with his personal trainer: Him: “It’s just so hard to get here every day when I’m dealing with all this stuff at work.”

Trainer: “Do you really want to lose those 55lbs?”

Him: “Yes! I will do whatever it takes!”

Trainer: “You’re full of shit.”

This story got a less-awkward chuckle from the audience. Maybe this guy isn’t so bad after all (since he’s “full of shit” too).

The point of his story was clear: He said that he wanted to lose 55lbs and he even declared that he would be willing to do anything to reach that goal. But, those were just words. He really was full of shit because he prioritized his work over the healthy choices required to lose weight.

He challenged the audience in a similar way.

Is your business not performing as you’d like? You have to ask yourself if you’re really willing to make the sacrifices needed to get it where you want it to be.

What do you really want?

What do YOU really want?

IS IT W ORTH IT? I recently read a interesting article that discussed the sacrifices required to have 6-pack abs. It was written by a woman who was in great shape but who had never been able to get the defined abs she wanted.

So, she made it her mission to get a 6-pack and she decided to chronicle her journey.

She talked about the regimented exercise routine she followed, and she discussed all the foods she cut out of her diet (goodbye chocolate!). Her progress was slow and painful, but even though she wanted to quit many times, she stayed on-track until she got her first 6-pack stomach.

That wasn’t the point of her story though. Yes, she was proud of what she had accomplished but her message was a little surprising. When asked if all the sacrifice was worth it she quickly responded, “Not a chance!”

Giving up foods she loved and spending all that extra time in the gym was NOT worth the reward of having great abs. After accomplishing her goal she reverted back to a more “normal” routine, one that still kept her fit but was much less stringent and much less lifedefining.

Think about your fitness goals. Do you have a number that you’d like to see on the scale? Or maybe there’s something that you’d like to change about your physical appearance? Maybe you’d like to be able to do something athletic that you’ve never done before?

What are you willing to do in order to reach that goal?

You are going to have to give up a lot in order to be successful. Are you ready to make those sacrifices?

I know it sounds intuitive to say that improving your fitness will take sacrifice. Of course it will. But,

knowing this intuitively and owning it for yourself are two very different things.

I think you’d agree that it’s hard to lose weight if you eat desserts every day. Donuts, cookies, candy, chocolate, cake, ice cream, and other similar treats are not weight-loss foods. You know that.

But, what happens when you’re at work and someone brings in a batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies? Are you willing to sacrifice the enjoyment of eating those cookies in order to stay on the path that leads to your goal?

When you go out for dinner with your friends, are you willing to pass on that glass of wine or beer that everyone else is enjoying? Is the sacrifice in the moment worth the satisfaction you are going to get several weeks or months in the future?

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not doubting your intentions or your resolve. I’m simply asking legitimate questions that I hope you’ll consider.

In theory most of us would say that the long-term benefit of reaching a fitness goal far outweighs the short-term enjoyment of cheating on the action plan.

However, the short-term enjoyment is very real AND it’s immediately available. This instant gratification is powerful and shouldn’t be overlooked.

SHORT-TERM VERSUS LONG-TERM REWARDS

The fact is, there are real benefits to saying YES to that chocolate chip cookie your co-worker offers.

There are social benefits of connecting with others who are also eating the cookies, plus there is a physiological reward that comes from eating something sweet. That cookie will make you feel good – Your stress will seem lessened, your energy will peak, and you will feel happier. Those feelings all have real value and shouldn’t be minimized.

In contrast, saying NO to short-term pleasures can have many costs. You may find yourself in awkward social interactions when you are the only one who isn’t partaking in the food or drinks. Also, you are passing up on opportunities to put yourself in a better mood. Avoiding a cookie may actually make you feel a little extra stress in the moment, or it might make you feel a little more tired. Again, those are real feelings and they are powerful.

This is one of the reasons why weight-loss is so elusive. It requires commitment to a long-term reward while sacrificing many immediate rewards that feel so good. The long-term reward is mysterious – When will it happen? How will it feel? Will I actually get there?

Whereas the short-term rewards are concrete – That cookie will taste great right now!

Before you decide to take up the program I outline in the coming pages, I want you to think about the shortterm rewards you enjoy each day. What would happen if you gave those up? Is achieving your longterm goal worth the sacrifice?

Unlike the woman who wanted to get 6-pack abs, I’m not going to ask you to make any insurmountable changes to the way you live. But, I am going to ask you to make some changes that are uncomfortable at first.

In the next chapter we examine some of the barriers to change that you will likely experience. If you are ready to break through those barriers then join me. I fully expect you’ll find that the long-term reward your earn is far more valuable than the sacrifices required to attain it.

CHAPTER 4 QUESTIONS 1. What do you really want? (i.e. what is the specific goal you would like to achieve?)

2. What rewards would you get if you reached your goal? (i.e. how would your life improve?)

3. Are there things in your life that you would NOT give up in order to achieve that goal?

CHAPTER 5 - BARRIERS YOU’RE ABOUT TO FACE This book is all about making positive changes. The plan I am going to lay out is simple, and if you follow it I am confident you will be successful. There is a “BUT” however…

Change is never easy. Change requires work, it often comes with a little pain, and there are certainly going to be some roadblocks along the way that can stifle your plans if you’re not prepared.

I want to take a look at just a few of the most common barriers to success that my clients face. You may relate to these or you may be able to identify others that you know will be challenging during your change process. The key is to recognize your own set of barriers and prepare to deal with them.

Change is always hard, and that’s what makes it so satisfying once it’s been achieved.

THE STRENGTH OF PEER PRESSURE Amber was a recent client of mine who had been dieting on and off for about 6 months but had never been able to get into a groove that worked.

She was about to be the maid of honour in her best friend’s wedding and had 6 weeks to lose about

15lbs. She was motivated and had a defined goal (a.k.a. the “perfect client” to work with!)

Amber joined one of my “10 in 4” Challenge groups and began applying the principles you’re going to learn about in this book. Her first week went really well and she lost 3lbs right away. She was ecstatic and I was so happy for her.

The second week wasn’t so hot. She lost a pound but reported to the group that she had been “cheating” on her eating plan. I was surprised: “What’s going on Amber? Was it just a tough week or did something else happen?”

She began to explain that her husband wasn’t really on board with her weight-loss plan. It wasn’t that he didn’t want her to lose weight, but he wasn’t ready to support the changes that she needed to make in order to be successful.

Amber described how he would munch on junky snacks in front of her, and would nag her to join him on the couch, watching TV and eating away (something they used to do together). Eventually she began to cave.

“What a jerk!” (you might be thinking) But her husband’s behavior is actually quite typical. I often hear about spouses, co-workers, friends, parents, or children who aren’t supportive, and are

often downright destructive when a client is trying hard to make positive change.

In most cases these people aren’t intentionally acting out a plan of sabotage – They just don’t know how to accept change, even if the change isn’t directly their own.

You might not think that anyone in your life would drag you down like this, but you may be surprised.

Even if it’s not blatant, you will likely encounter others who offer you food or ask you to do things that are part of your old lifestyle, not the new one you’re creating.

How are you going to react? What will you say or do when this peer pressure arises?

Peer Pressure is often associated with childhood – Kids try to influence others to do what they’re doing, even if they know it’s not good. Guess what? Adults peer pressure each other all the time too!

The social pressure you’ll face when you begin to develop your new lifestyle is one of the major barriers that can set you back or even cause you to quite altogether. That’s why it’s important to start thinking about how you’ll handle those situations and how you’ll deal with the people who aren’t helping you change.

OLD HABITS DIE HARD

Another barrier you’ll face is your own lifestyle the habits you may have been building up for many years.

These habits can be broken but it will take some work and will take time.

Do you eat something salty before bed each night?

Does a meal not seem complete without something sweet at the end?

Do you have favourite TV shows that you watch every evening?

Does time surfing the Internet not seem complete without something to munch on?

Our brains are pretty amazing. They learn to do things without thinking so that we can multitask and so that we can function without having to think about each little decision.

This is a great thing at times - Just imagine having to consciously decide to put one foot in front of the other when going for a walk‌you’d never get anywhere.

Other times it becomes a real hindrance. Have you ever eaten a bag of chips without realizing what just happened?

As you begin to establish your new lifestyle, you are going to bump up against your brain and the old habits it has programmed over the years.

Re-programming your brain takes conscious decisions and this seems like a lot of effort at first.

Know that it will get easier and that your new ways of living will eventually become the habits your brain carries out without any thought at all. Just be prepared for the initial fight that comes with the reprogramming process.

CRAVINGS AND W ITHDRAWAL Years ago I suffered a pretty horrific knee injury while playing basketball and I had to undergo reconstructive surgery. During recovery the doctor prescribed painkillers that I was supposed to take daily for a number of weeks.

One day shortly after the surgery, my knee seemed to be feeling better and I decided to skip my morning round of painkillers. Within a few hours I developed the most dreadful headache I had ever experienced.

My head pounded, my eyeballs hurt, and all I could do was lie on the bed with a pillow over my head.

I had developed an addiction and was suffering from withdrawal.

There’s a good chance your body is addicted to some foods that are preventing you from losing weight.

Sugar is the most-likely culprit. Refined grains are another.

When you begin to clean up your diet your body may not like what’s happening. You might go through withdrawal symptoms that aren’t fun – Irritability,

fatigue, headaches, and muscle pains are a few of the symptoms my clients have experienced in the past.

Want some good news? The withdrawal process is a quick one. It usually takes less than a week before your body learns that those harmful foods are no longer part of your life, and your body will begin to thrive off the healthier foods you are feeding it.

Want some more good news? Eventually your body will forget about those foods you once loved so much.

Your cravings will lessen or disappear altogether and you will feel better than you ever remember.

Be prepared though – the initial cravings will be strong and the withdrawal symptoms can be nasty. I promise it’s all short-term pain that you’re exchanging for a lifetime of feeling great!

CHAPTER 5 QUESTIONS 1. What people or social situations will tempt you to revert back to old habits that you’re trying to break? How will you deal with those situations?

2. What is one habit that you are most excited to break free from?

3. What food do you find yourself craving most often? How would your life improve if that craving were gone?

CHAPTER 6 - I NEED YOU FOR 4 WEEKS Maxwell Maltz, a plastic surgeon in the 1950s, noticed something interesting with many of his patients.

Those who had facial reconstruction seemed to take about 21 days to get accustomed to seeing their new face in the mirror. The same was true for patients who had to have an amputation performed – They reported sensing their “phantom limb” for about 21 days after the surgery.

Maltz believed that this 21-day adjustment period could be translated into other parts of life. He began to test his theory on himself – How long would it take him to adjust to new habits or patterns in his own life?

Well, it took about 21 days!

Maxwell concluded,

These, and many other commonly observed phenomena tend to show that it requires a minimum of about 21 days for an old mental image to dissolve and a new one to jell.

His conclusion has caught on with many self-help gurus who have continued to preach the message of 21-day transformations. There’s just one little problem: Maltz concluded, “…that it requires a minimum of about 21 days…” to create a new habit.

He doesn’t say that 21 days is the magic number, or that all old habits can be broken in just 3 weeks.

HOW LONG DO NEW HABITS REALLY TAKE TO BUILD? While Maltz’s theory wasn’t really substantiated in scientific research, it did spark a lot of interest in the subject of habit formation and behavioural change.

Many studies have since been conducted to determine exactly how long it does take to break old habits and form new ones. One of the most recognized studies was performed by Phillippa Lally, a scientist at University College London, in 2009.

Lally studied 96 participants over a 12-week period.

Each participant chose a new habit that they wanted to form (e.g. exercising for a set period of time, drinking a bottle of water with their lunch, eating vegetables with their dinner, etc.) and reported each day whether they were able to do it.

The participants were also asked about how “automatic” the behavior felt each day. Was it still a conscious decision or was it becoming routine?

How long did it take for the behaviours to become habitual?

On average it took 66 days! (Far longer than Maltz’s 21-day theory)

WHY I’M ONLY ASKING FOR 4 W EEKS If it takes 66 days to really form a new habit then why am I telling you that I need you for 4 weeks?

While I agree that 4 weeks might not be long enough to break all of your old habits and truly embrace a new, healthier lifestyle, I also know that 66 days is a really long time. Effective goal setting must be rooted in high achieve-ability.

If I asked you to eat only broccoli for one single day, could you do it? Yes, of course you could – It’s just one day! But what would happen if I asked you to eat just broccoli for an entire week? (Don’t worry – I won’t ask you to do that!) Chances are you wouldn’t last long, or you might not even take up the challenge.

Goals are most effective when they are relatively short and are highly-achievable. If you decide to take up the program that I lay out in this book then I ask for a 4-week commitment in return. Some of the changes you’ll be making are going to be tough at first, but you can relax a bit, knowing that it’s just for 4 weeks.

“So I just have to follow your advice for 4 weeks and then I can go back to my old habits?”

That’s not the point either. You see, if you can commit to 4 weeks of cleaner, healthier living as outlined in the following pages, then I am convinced you are going to love the way you look and feel MORE than you love your old, unhealthy habits.

Your old habits may not be broken in 4 weeks, but you will have seen the light at the end of the tunnel and I am confident that you will want to keep moving towards it.

Most clients I take through this program find it pretty challenging in the first week. The second week gets easier, and so does the third. By week #4 new habits are starting to form and most people don’t want to go back. They worked too hard and have seen too much progress to give up.

Can you give me 4 weeks? If you answered YES then I believe you will also make it to 66 days (and far beyond!)

CHAPTER 6 QUESTIONS 1. Can you honestly say that you’re ready to give me 4 weeks in exchange for a life-changing experience?

2. Picture yourself 4 weeks from now – What will you look like? How will you feel? Where will you be headed in life?

CHAPTER 7 - PLANNING FOR SUCCESS I spend a lot of time talking with people who are in the Contemplation stage of change (see Chapter 3 if you want a refresher on all of the stages). These people have decided that they do want to make a change, but they’re not sure how to do it or how to begin.

People in this stage are often looking for practical steps that will help them get started so they will sometimes ask questions like this: “What’s the one thing I can do that will make the biggest difference?”

My answer is always the same: The most important thing you can do to lose weight is making time to plan.

I’ll say that again,

Planning is the most important part of the weight-loss process.

A few years ago I was asked to speak at a corporate event in the city where I live. The audience was small (maybe 100 people) and was made up of mostly business executives who spend the majority of their time sitting in meetings and in their offices. I was

asked to talk to them about healthy living and worklife balance – No problem.

The talk was only supposed to last about 30 minutes and the topic was something I knew inside and out. I was confident that I could deliver an engaging message in my sleep so I didn’t take too much time to prepare.

A day or two before the event I ran through some ideas in my head. I had a couple stories I wanted to tell, a few stats and research studies I’d touch on, and a joke or two that would keep the audience entertained.

On the day of the event I was running behind schedule, and by the time I arrived the group had finished their meal and was waiting for my presentation. Maybe it was my tardiness that threw me off, or maybe it was the audience, or the venue. I just know that I stood up on stage behind the podium and I didn’t feel comfortable at all. My confidence disappeared and my mind went blank.

I forgot the story I wanted to open with, and the my statistics all began to jumble together. I opened with a joke about being late – It wasn’t funny and few people laughed. I could feel the sweat start running down the inside of my shirt.

This was going to be a long 30 minutes!

I went into that situation thinking that I had planned for it. I knew what I wanted to say – it was all in my head.

But, when it came time to perform, my plan went out the window. I bombed that speech.

If you don’t take time to make a detailed plan, your weight-loss goals are going to bomb too.

WHAT GOES INTO YOUR PLAN Your plan is your roadmap for the following week. It will make all of your daily decisions easier because you have pre-decided what you want to do and where you want to end up that week.

There are at least 3 things that need to go into your plan: (Note: we will cover each of these items in the upcoming chapters. For now, just focus on the general items your plan needs to include) #1. Water – How much water are you going to drink each day? #2. Exercise – What exercise are you going to do and when will you get it done each day? #3. Food – What are your 3 main meals of the day going to include? What snacks are you going to prepare?

I say that your plan needs to include “at least” these 3 things. Some clients like to include other items as well (e.g. bedtime, social events, etc.) – Feel free to add any other categories you like, but just be certain to include the 3 I’ve outlined above.

IMAGINE YOUR LIFE ON A PLAN Next I want you to imagine how different your days will look when you have this plan written out and ready to follow. Your day might unfold like this: You wake up in the morning and roll out of bed.

Instead of grabbing a bagel on the way out the door you open the fridge and find all the ingredients for your green smoothie. In 5 minutes your new breakfast is ready to go and you’re taking the kids to school on your way to work.

It’s mid-morning and you can feel a little hunger in your stomach. A co-worker brought cookies to the staff room but you pass on them because you have a container of chopped veggies at your desk (yeah, cookies would taste great but you know they aren’t what you really want to eat!)

Lunchtime rolls around - You’d normally slip out to the local sandwich shop for a bite to eat, but instead you put on some confortable shoes (you packed them this morning) and head out for a 30-minute walk. When you get back to the office you feel energized and look forward to enjoying the homemade chili you prepared on the weekend. It’s waiting for you in a Tupperware container and comes with a side of salad with balsamic dressing, both of which you made last night.

Sitting on your desk is your water bottle. It’s halfway empty and you know you are going to drink the rest

before your workday is done – That will put you ontrack to easily get all your water in for the day. This is easy!

Your afternoon seems to fly by (maybe it’s the exercise you got at lunch) and soon you’re on the way home. It’s nice knowing that your fridge has the ingredients you need for Rainbow Raw Pad Thai (that’s in your plan for dinner – no guessing or lastminute scrambling).

It doesn’t take much time to prepare dinner because you already have the recipe and ingredients ready to go. It’s a meal you’ve never tried before – it tastes great and even the kids don’t mind it!

After dinner you take your son to hockey practice and bring your water bottle, which you filled up when you got home because you know you have one more bottle to drink today.

Back at home the kids get ready for bed and you head to the kitchen. Looking at the plan for tomorrow you see what foods need to be prepped and you open the fridge to find all the necessary items (you did grocery shopping on the weekend with your plan inhand so you know it’s all there).

Time to relax before bed. You look at your plan one last time and feel a sense of satisfaction as you check off all of your items.

Water – check!

Exercise – check!

Food – check, check, and check!

Sounds pretty great. Maybe it sounds a little too good to be true? Well, it might not be so smooth at first, but as we’ve discussed, you are dedicating 4 weeks to this process. After 4 weeks of planning and using that plan on a daily basis, it will become very natural and eventually habitual.

Much of the daily stress you face each day is due to a lack of planning. By putting your water, exercise, and meals into a concrete plan, you reduce the ambiguity of your day and free your mind from having to problem-solve as you go.

As an added bonus, your plan will help you overcome temptations. When someone unexpectedly brings treats to work or to your house, it’s really hard to say no if you’re stomach is growling from hunger. It is much easier to pass on the treats when you have eaten a good meal and have snacks prepared, ready to be eaten.

The same goes for exercise. Most of us would like to exercise regularly, but life is just “too busy”. Truthfully, life is only too busy when exercise isn’t part of your plan. Once you schedule exercise into your day and treat is as an appointment (which is why I ask you to plan the type of exercise and the time it will get done), the likelihood of actually doing it skyrockets.

WHEN TO MAKE YOUR PLAN In the “10 in 4” Challenge we always set Sundays at 9pm as a “due date” for plans for the upcoming week.

Your due date doesn’t have to be on Sunday but there should be a day and time when you commit to having it done.

Personally, I like Sundays as the deadline because it will force you to plan on the weekend, which gives you an opportunity to buy groceries and do some food prep for the week.

You might choose to buy groceries on Saturday and then prepare some of your food (e.g. cut up veggies, put a meal in the slow cooker, thaw ingredients from the freezer, etc.) on Sunday. By Sunday night you will have a very clear picture as to what your upcoming week will look like. It’s a very satisfying feeling.

A SAMPLE PLAN On the next page you will find a sample plan that I use with my clients. You will also find a blank planning sheet just like this one in Appendix A that you can use to create your own weekly plans.

Don’t get caught up in the details of this sample plan as we will cover those in the upcoming chapters. For now just notice how this plan is set up. The 3 categories (water, exercise, and food) are clearly laid out and there is a place to check off the items that you

accomplish you each day. We’ll return to these checks when we discuss accountability in the next chapter.

This plan is simple, it includes just enough detail but not too much, and it provides all the guidance you need to make the healthy choices you want to make.

I don’t exaggerate when I say planning is the most critical aspect of your weight-loss success. Taking the time to craft your plan will instantly pay dividends and will become the backbone of your fitness success.

CHAPTER 7 QUESTIONS 1. How will planning change the way your week plays out?

2. How will you feel when you have your plan completed and have your food prepped for the week?

3. What day and time will your plan be finished?

CHAPTER 8 - STAYING ACCOUNTABLE Imagine announcing to thousands of people every time you ate something, including what you were eating and how much. What do you think would happen to your diet?

That’s exactly what my blogger friend decided to do this year. Mona has been frustrated with her slow but steady weight gain over the past 5 years and she decided to do something about it. This was going to be the year that she got back to her healthy weight.

Mona had tried a couple diets and fitness plans over the years but she self-admittedly had trouble with staying motivated. For a couple weeks things would be great, but a slip-up here and there would quickly send her plans into a downward spiral. This time she was going to take a very different approach.

She wrote a blog post outlining her fitness goal for the year – “I am going to lose 70lbs!”

That was a turning point. In telling her readers exactly what she was planning to accomplish, Mona had created an accountability group for herself. She now had thousands of readers who would be asking about her progress on pretty much a daily basis. Choosing to give up would not only be disappointing herself, but also all those followers who would be tracking with her.

Mona lost 70lbs in just more than 10 months.

Ask her if it was easy and the answer will be a point blank “No way”, but she was able to do it. Mona will tell of bumps along the way (fighting food cravings, skipping exercise, poor eating choices while travelling, etc.) but she will also say that quitting was not an option.

I wanted to lose the weight for myself, but I also wanted to do it for everyone who was following along with me. I knew several people who had set similar goals after reading about mine – I didn’t want to let them down.

I DON ’T HAVE ANY FOLLOWERS So maybe you don’t have thousands of people reading your blog posts each week. That’s okay – You do have people in your life who will happily be your accountability partners.

Telling even a couple people about your goals and how you intend to reach those goals will be the difference between a short-lived health kick and a

long-term lifestyle restructuring. Here’s how to get started:

#1. Pick 2 Accountability Buddies – I always recommend having at least 2 people on your team.

Ideally these will be people who you talk with on a daily or at least a weekly basis (i.e. phone, text message, Facebook, email, etc.)

Choose these people wisely. As we discussed in Chapter 5, some people will actually try to sabotage your fitness plans. You obviously don’t want these people acting as your accountability buddies.

Who in your life would genuinely want to see you succeed?

Who would get real happiness in seeing you lose weight and adopt a healthier lifestyle?

#2. Be Specific With Your Plans – Telling your buddies that you “want to lose weight” isn’t all that helpful. That’s a very ambiguous goal that will be tough for them to follow up on.

Instead, try to be as specific as possible in terms of your goal AND your plans on how you will get there.

For example, you could say something like this:

I have a wedding to attend on May 10th and I really want to feel good about how I look that day.

My goal is to lose 15lbs by then.

To accomplish that goal I will go to the gym 3 times per week and will walk for 30 minutes on days I don’t go to the gym.

I’ll also keep a food journal that shows everything I eat. I want to use this food journal to help me eliminate the snacks I eat every night before I go to bed.

Notice how specific the goal is and how actionable the plans are. This makes it much easier for your accountability buddies to follow up with your progress.

They can easily ask questions about your exercise, your food journal, your progress in cutting out nighttime snacks, and how close you are to achieving your weight-loss goal.

#3. Be Specific In Your Request – It can be uncomfortable for buddies to ask about your weightloss. The topic of “weight” is personal and oftentimes

people will be afraid to offend, so they choose to avoid the topic altogether.

That’s why you need to be very specific in what you’re asking your buddies to do. Here’s a good example:

Can we have a 10-minute phone conversation every Wednesday at noon? I would like you to call me and ask me if I did my exercise for that week.

I’ll send you a copy of my food journal via email on Tuesday so that you can see what I’ve been eating. If you see nighttime snacks in there (and yes, I’ll be honest in my food journal!) then let’s talk about it on Wednesday.

I know snacking is a weakness of mine so I would really appreciate you keeping me accountable to my plan.

There is real accountability in that request. Think about how motivating it could be to have a friend call you each week to chat about your progress.

Think about how supportive it would feel to have someone willing to chat about your ups and downs and how you can improve from week to week.

Having a caring and dedicated accountability team is crucial for your success. Very few people accomplish long-term weight-loss if they try to do it based solely on their own willpower. We all need the help of others.

BEST PRACTICES FOR ACCOUNTABILITY In the weight-loss groups I run, we check in with each other every single day. Participants are required to report to their groups with 4 pieces of information: 1.

2.

3.

4.

Did you drink your required water for the day?

Did you get your planned exercise done?

Did you eat according to your plan?

If anything fell off-track, how will you fix it tomorrow?

You don’t have to ask your own accountability buddies for daily check-ins, BUT the more frequently you check in, the more accountability you will be creating. I recommend scheduling your check-ins at least once per week.

You might find that check-ins are really “official” at first but then lose focus over time. It’s easy to turn your check-ins into chitchat with your accountability buddies. Don’t let this happen!

That’s why participants in “10 in 4” have those 4 questions to answer each day. They know exactly what is required and then they can chat about whatever they want after they’ve met their check-in requirements.

When establishing your check-in appointments, be sure to have an agenda. If your accountability buddy is going to ask you about your exercise, be prepared to tell him or her specifically what happened that day/week AND how you are going to fix any bumps that may have occurred along the way.

The same goes for eating. It’s easy to say, “my diet was okay this week but I’ll try harder next week.”

A vague conversation like this is NOT helpful. Be prepared to talk about specifics with your buddies.

If you’re not sure what those specifics should look like, don’t worry. In the upcoming chapters we are going to be covering all of the exact elements I teach participants in the “10 in 4” groups. You can follow these exact guidelines to establish your own check-in agenda.

CHAPTER 8 QUESTIONS 1. Who are your accountability buddies going to be?

2. How and when will you check in with them?

3. What are some items that you know you need to be accountable for? (e.g. exercise, eating healthy meals, avoiding certain foods, etc.)

Part 3: Creating Your Program

CHAPTER 9 - HYDRATION When I was a kid, maybe 10 years old, I remember my best friend’s mom drinking a lot of water. She carried a plastic cup around the house with her and was constantly guzzling water through a straw. I didn’t understand why she was so thirsty all the time.

My mom explained that this woman was on a special diet to help her lose weight. She had to drink 5 litres of water every day, and if she did then she would get skinny.

Sounded simple to me. But would that actually work?

Does drinking water really help people lose weight?

DRINKING W ATER TO LOSE W EIGHT The human body is made up of 60-70% water. The fluids in your body aid in essential processes such as digestion, vitamin absorption, circulation, creation of saliva, transportation of nutrients, and maintenance of body temperature.

While drinking enough water is obviously important, research consistently shows that most of us are chronically dehydrated. People simply don’t consume enough water to be healthy, let alone to effectively lose weight.

It is generally well known that water is an essential component to proper body function, but it is sometimes less clear is how it might support weight

loss. Here I would like to look at some of the roles water plays managing weight, and answer the question: Can you really drink water to lose weight?

THE ROLE OF WATER IN MANAGING YOUR WEIGHT A recent study at the University of North Carolina found that obese dieters who drank two cups of water before each meal lost an average of five pounds more than dieters who did not drink the water.

The water-drinkers also kept more of the weight off a year later.

According to Barry Popkin, Director of the Interdisciplinary Obesity Program at the University of North Carolina:

Water consumption might spark the body to produce more heat, boosting metabolism and burning more calories. Or, drinking more water might simply make people less likely to drink a lot of high-calorie sugar-filled beverages

It is not yet known whether water works by filling you up, boosting your metabolism, or simply by taking the place of sugar-laden drinks such as soda and juice.

Regardless of the reason, simply drinking water can be key in helping you manage cravings, reduce hunger, and ultimately losing unwanted weight.

THE PROBLEM WITH OTHER BEVERAGES Perhaps one of the best pieces of advice when you’re trying to lose weight is to stop drinking pop, fruit juice, sports drinks, and other sugary beverages. These products, along with many other processed and prepackaged foods, contain high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS).

Fructose has a pervasive negative influence on your health. When you consume too much fructose, the liver can’t keep up. It begins making fats from the fructose and sending them off into the bloodstream as triglycerides. Over time this process increases your risk of heart disease, suppresses hormones that signal “fullness”, perpetuates hunger and cravings, and increases risk of type 2 diabetes.

Along with other health risks, regular consumption of fructose is sure to make you gain weight. According to Professor Bart Hoebel of Princeton University, the results of a recent study show that rats drinking fructose at levels well below those in soda “[became] obese – every single one, across the board.” He adds

that even when rats were fed a high-fat diet, they did not all gain the same amount extra weight.

Fructose not only makes you gain weight faster than many other food ingredients, but it also aids in the production of adipose fat, a particularly harmful kind of body fat. Adipose fat collects in your abdominal regions and is linked to heart disease risk. This alone is reason enough to avoid soda and other sugary drinks altogether.

The health risks listed above only highlight how important it is for water to be your beverage of choice, especially if you are trying to lose weight. It’s not that water has some sort of magical weight-loss property that melts away fat, but it does help us reduce our calorie intake, it helps us stay hydrated, and it allows our body to function optimally.

HOW MUCH WATER SHOULD YOU DRINK ?

The guidelines I propose for your water consumption are pretty straightforward: Women should drink a minimum of 2L each day and add 250ml for every 20 minutes they exercise.

Men should be drinking a minimum of 2.5L each day and then add the additional 250ml for every 20 minutes of exercise.

I also want to offer a strong suggestion when it comes to how you drink your water: Find a large pitcher that can hold at least your minimum daily water requirement (i.e. 2 or 2.5L). Fill this each day and draw all of your water from it. You can fill smaller bottles if you like, but be sure to fill them from this larger pitcher.

Why should you do this?

Without a single pitcher it can become very tough to keep track of your true water consumption. It’s easy to fill a small bottle, drink a little, and then refill it. How much did you actually drink?

When you exercise you can fill secondary bottle that meets your exercise requirements (i.e. 250ml for every 20 minutes of exercise). This ensures that your exercise water is accounted for in addition to your baseline water.

This all might seem nit-picky, but it’s quite possible that drinking glasses (or small bottles) of water here and there could leave you far below your minimum daily requirement. As we just discussed, this can leave you dehydrated and rob your body from the ability to lose weight.

CHAPTER 9 QUESTIONS

1. How much water do you think you drink each day? How does this change on days you exercise?

2. Do you have a pitcher that can hold your daily minimum requirement? (If not, go get one!)

CHAPTER 10 - SIX DAYS OF EXERCISE Earlier in this book I told the story of my client named Sarah. She added a lot of exercise to her weekly routine and still didn’t lose the weight she was hoping to. So, if exercise isn’t the path to weight-loss then why is “Six Days of Exercise” a component of this program?

Great question – Here’s my 2-part answer:

#1. Losing Weight Isn’t Everything – While this book is mostly about losing weight, there is a bigger goal that I hope you aim for. I want you to live a healthier life, and a healthy life includes physical exercise.

I don’t think I need to preach the health benefits of exercise. You likely know that it improves the strength of your heart, helps prevent disease, and enables your muscles and joints to work as they are meant to.

Yes, “Use it or lose it” is a true statement.

There are many skinny people out there who are very unhealthy. You are not going to be one of those people! Exercise provides your body with muscle tone and an aesthetically appealing shape.

A client recently passed along a great saying:

The size of your body is built in the kitchen. The shape of your body is built in the gym.

You can lose weight with a good clean eating program (and I’m about to take you through one in the upcoming chapters), but using your body for exercise is what will give your body a strong, lean shape.

#2. Exercise Can Help Your Lose Weight – There is an amazing video I’ve posted on my blog several times that shows a fitness challenge between two friends. One is going to run on a treadmill for 3 minutes, trying to burn as many calories as he can.

The other is going to eat a pizza and wash it down with a root beer, aiming to consume as many calories as he can.

Guess who wins?

The runner burns about 40 calories in 3 minutes (and he is working very hard!), while the eater consumes over 800 calories!

The point is simple: Exercise will never, ever be able to keep up with a bad diet.

Most people would be able to draw this conclusion on their own, however many still leave the gym with the

attitude that, “I really worked hard in there. I deserve a reward…time for pizza and a glass of wine!”

If you have that attitude then exercise will NEVER help you lose weight. Your diet will always outpace the work you’re putting in.

That being said, if you are able to develop a healthy diet (and you will have all the tools to do so once you’ve read this book), then exercise can help you get faster, more dramatic results.

You will burn more calories during a workout than you would sitting on your couch. Go for it! You will help speed up your metabolism so that your body burns more calories even when you’re not exercising. Do it!

And, you will feel better about the way you look when you are exercising regularly. That’s worth it!

THE IDEAL EXERCISE PLAN The exercise plan I have for you is really simple. Here are you guidelines:     

Exercise 6 days per week Exercise for 30 minutes each day Your “day off” corresponds to a fast in your diet (more on this in Chapter 14) You can choose any type of exercise you want Your exercise must go into your weekly plan (see Chapter 5 for a refresher on Planning)





When planning, you must include the time you will exercise – Treat it like an appointment that can’t be broken Your accountability buddies should know your exact exercise plan for the week (see Chapter 8 for more on Accountability)

CHOOSING YOUR EXERCISE TYPE I meant it when I said that you can choose any type of exercise you want. You can walk, run, lift weights, bike, swim, dance, do a step class, rock climb, play soccer, or do anything else that gets you up and moving for at least 30 minutes.

I want you to choose activities that you like to do. I could prescribe a specific workout schedule for you that would be super-effective, but chances are you wouldn’t like it that much and therefore you won’t do it for long.

Don’t be offended. The same goes for me. I love exercising…when I can run, swim, bike, or do circuits in the gym. Tell me to start taking step classes 3 times per week and I’ll hate my life! (Okay, that’s a little extreme – but I likely won’t last on the program for very long) I firmly believe that everyone likes exercise once they find the right type.

Years ago my mom decided to start exercising. I was surprised by this decision since I had never seen her exercise before, and was pretty sure she didn’t even like exercise at all. I’ll admit that I doubted her and thought this was going to be a short-lived adventure.

To my mom’s credit she found a type of exercise that she actually enjoyed doing. She bought an inexpensive treadmill and started walking on it each night while listening to her favourite records. No, that’s not a typo – she actually pulled out a record player and listened to records!

It doesn’t matter what exercise you choose as long as you enjoy it and can commit to doing it.

Take a look at Appendix A and you’ll see a section for your daily exercise. What do you want to do for 30 minutes and when are you going to do it?

HOW HARD SHOULD YOU BE W ORKING? Again, the intensity of your workouts is really up to you. Working harder is better only until it starts to make you dread your exercise.

The most important part of your exercise plan is your compliance. You must enjoy the type of exercise and be able to do it at an intensity that sits well with you.

I like to offer the following chart of Perceived Exertion as a guide for choosing the right intensity.

If you’re new to exercise then you might want to aim for somewhere in the 4-6 range, while a 7-8 is more appropriate for those who have been exercising regularly for quite some time.

Obviously you will enjoy greater health benefits and more calorie-burning from exercising more intensely, but the main goal is just to get moving six days per week. Focus on building s strong exercise habit.

CHAPTER 10 QUESTIONS 1. What type of exercise would you like to do?

2. When will you do it each day?

3. Can you foresee anything that might come in the way of your exercise? If so, how will you deal with this obstacle?

CHAPTER 11 - YOUR 5-DAY EATING PLAN When I was a kid I hated vegetables, especially green ones. Beans? No thanks. Broccoli? Not a chance.

Spinach? Save it for Popeye!

I can clearly remember shuffling peas around my dinner plate, hoping that if I move them enough maybe they’d somehow disappear. They didn’t.

Thankfully, my taste buds have evolved over the years and I really like most vegetables nowadays (I’m still working on beets). But “liking” something doesn’t necessarily mean it becomes a daily food choice. It is always going to be easier to grab a bowl of cereal than it is to prepare a spinach salad.

When it comes to losing weight, convenience cannot be priority number one. Yes, there are a lot of healthy meals that are super-easy to prepare, but even these are going to seem like a bit more work than the readymade meals you can buy in the grocery store.

Now’s a good time to ask yourself, “Do I really want to lose weight?”

A “YES” means that you’re ready to change your eating habits even though it’s going to require more work, especially in the beginning.

A “YES” means that you realize your eating choices are the most important factor that determine whether

or not you are actually going to lose weight and keep it off.

A “YES” means that you are ready to adopt the 5-Day Eating Plan that I will lay out for you right now.

WHY JUST 5 DAYS? Remember when we talked about goal-setting in Chapter 6 and I asked you if you could go a whole day with just eating broccoli? (I still think you could do it!)

One day seemed doable but a whole week or month would be almost impossible. That’s the main reason we are going to practice clean eating for 5 days. It will have a tremendous impact on your weight and overall health, AND it’s doable.

What will your eating plan look like for the other 2 days each week? That’s coming up shortly.

YOUR GOAL FOR 5 DAYS This 5-day eating plan has one goal: Feed your body with the most nutritious food possible. You aren’t going to count calories or assign any points. You are simply going to construct meals that consist of highly nutritious foods that will allow your body to thrive.

Which foods are most nutritious?

The easiest way to answer that question is by looking at the “new” food pyramid.

THE NEW FOOD PYRAMID You’re likely familiar with some version of a food pyramid. Usually it places an emphasis on grains as well as fruits and vegetables. Next there will be some dairy, then meat products, and finally fats or oils.

While there are some positive aspects of this setup, the traditional food pyramid is NOT designed for proper weight management and I don’t believe it outlines and ideal eating plan.

Below is the food pyramid that I believe will lead you to significant, sustainable weight-loss:

There are some important things to notice and learn about this revised food pyramid:

#1. Fruits and Vegetables Are Different – Most food guides place a high importance on eating “fruits and vegetables” each day. It’s almost as though the two are interchangeable – Eat an apple OR eat some asparagus…it’s all the same.

Well, it’s not.

Vegetables offer significantly different nutritional value than fruit – Here are just a few examples:

I could go on but I think the point is pretty clear. Fruits and vegetables are NOT created equal, and in many cases vegetables are much more densely packed

with the important nutritional components that our bodies need in order to thrive.

Am I saying fruits are bad? Not at all. In fact, some fruits offer health benefits beyond what even vegetables can offer. For example,

In this case it’s a fruit (i.e. apricots) that offer the most nutritional bang for your buck, however this instance is more of an exception than a rule. When it comes to nutritional value, vegetables win out far more often than not.

Aside from nutritional content, sugar is another key reason why fruits and vegetables are not on par.

As you’re likely aware, sugar has been declared enemy #1 when it comes to healthy eating, especially if you are watching your weight. It likely won’t surprise

you to see how sugary fruits are when compared to vegetables:

You do not need a dietary source of sugar (there is no daily requirement you need to consume through food), so there is no reason to eat much sugar at all.

Again, I’m not declaring a war on fruit – I am simply pointing out that fruit is often lower in nutritional value than vegetables AND it comes with a higher sugar count (and therefore is usually higher in calories).

#2. Some Foods Are Missing – During your 5 days of clean eating there are certain foods that are “off limits”. These include:     

Sugar (including natural and artificial sweeteners) Processed Foods (most foods that come in a box, can, or package) Dairy Alcohol Glutinous Grains

These foods are generally very low in nutritional value. Eating them simply adds calories (often LOTS of calories) to your diet without offering much in return.

Some of these “off limits” foods (i.e. dairy and glutinous grains) can also negatively affect your digestive system. An inhibited digestive system can lead to increased eating, decreased ability to absorb nutrients, and ultimately weight gain.

Here are some common foods that will be off limits for 5 days each week:       

Bread Most pastas Cereal Milk and Cheese Sugar/honey added to your coffee or tea Crackers Most baked goods (e.g. cookies)

 

Granola bars (or other similar processed snacks) Canned soup and stew

This list is not at all exhaustive. When choosing foods to put in your 5-day plan, you can ask these questions: Is this sweetened?

Was this made in a factory?

Is this the most nutritious food I can choose?

At first it will be a conscious effort to ask these questions, but soon you will do it without thinking. You will just know which foods fuel your body optimally and which are just filler.

Right now you might be asking, “What can I eat?” – Let’s take a look at the many nutritious options you have to choose from for these 5 days…

#3. There Are LOTS of Foods To Choose From – The following chart includes foods from each step in our new pyramid that you can add to your 5-day eating plan. There are a lot of goodies in here, and likely some new ones that you’ve never tried before.

You can reference this chart in Appendix B as well.

In the next chapter we will discuss how you can begin assembling amazing meals for your 5-day eating plan using the foods in this chart.

For now it’s just important to familiarize yourself with each step in the pyramid and the foods associated with each step.

#4. There Are 2 Recommended Supplements – Most people have deficiencies in their diet even if they are conscious about eating well. Vitamin and mineral deficiencies can play a huge role in unnatural food cravings, a slowed metabolism, imbalanced hormone production, and ultimately weight gain. It’s important to minimize those deficiencies as much as possible.

Supplements should be treated as just that – They are intended to “supplement” your good diet. They never replace vegetables or other whole foods that included in the food pyramid.

In this program I recommend just two supplements that will remedy the most common nutrient deficiencies:  

A multivitamin An omega-3 supplement

There are many good multivitamins in the market today. The Dieticians of Canada provide this excellent multivitamin guide that will help you find an appropriate choice.

As for omega-3 supplements, it’s important to read the labels. Look for one that offers at least 600mg of DHA (Docosahexaenoic acid) to ensure that you’re getting an adequate daily dose.

CHAPTER 11 QUESTIONS 1. Quiz: Are fruits and vegetables the same? Why or why not?

2. Quiz: What are the 5 “off limits” foods?

3. What will be the most challenging part of adopting this 5-day eating plan?

4. What do you have to look forward to when you begin eating according to this 5-day plan?

CHAPTER 12 - CREATING YOUR 5DAY MEALS Tim Grover is one of the most prolific personal trainers in professional sports. He trained Michael Jordan throughout his career and continues to work with many top athletes.

Tim talks a lot about his professional athlete clients who can’t lose weight. Sounds strange, right? If your job is being an athlete, shedding a few pounds should be easy!

When Tim begins working with an athlete who needs to drop some fat, he starts by asking about the athlete’s diet. According to Tim, the client will almost always say that he “eats really healthy”, but Tim isn’t convinced.

One common problem Tim comes across is misconceptions about serving sizes and how too much of a “good thing” can actually become problematic. For example, some of his athletes love their smoothies. They pile in berries, pineapple, fruit juices, honey, and all sorts of other “healthy” ingredients.

Tim says that some of these guys are eating more sugar in one smoothie than they should eat in an entire day. Good luck losing weight on that diet!

What foods go into your meals is very important, but so are the proportions of those foods and the overall portion sizes.

This chapter will outline exactly how you can build perfect meals for your 5-day plan.

CREATING PERFECT WEIGHT-LOSS MEALS In the Chapter 11 we looked at a new food pyramid that had it’s steps in the following order of priority: 1. Non-Starchy Vegetables 2. High-Protein Foods 3. Fruit, Starchy Vegetables, Grains, Beans and Lentils 4. Healthy Fats 5. Supplements Then we looked at a chart that laid out all sorts of great choices for each of these food categories. You can reference this chart in Appendix B. The next obvious question is, “How much of each food category should I be eating in my meals?”

There are many ways to measure food portion sizes, but I like to use the “hand portion sizing” developed by Dr. John Berardi and his team at Precision Nutrition in Toronto, Ontario.

I’ve heard Dr. Berardi say, “You won’t always have a measuring cup with you, but you always have your

hands” as a reason why this method is so practical and effective.

We’ll start with Portion Sizing for Women: During 5 days of your week you will plan 3 meals per day. Each of those meals will include foods from every category on the food pyramid (except supplements, which can be taken any time you choose).

Non-Starchy Vegetables – The portion size should be the size of your closed fist.

High-Protein Foods – Your portion should be the size of your open palm.

Fruit, Starchy Vegetables, Grains, Beans and Lentils – Use a cupped hand to measure this portion size. For grains (e.g. rice) this will be the size once they are cooked.

Healthy Fats – Use the size of your thumb to measure your fat portions. For oils or dressings, know that a tablespoon is about the size of a thumb.

Now let’s look at Portion Sizing for Men: Basically we are just going to double the portions we just outlined for women.

PUTTING A MEAL TOGETHER Creating meals using the “hand portion sizes” is quite easy. As an example, let’s say you’re making a stirfry…

Take some broccoli and cauliflower that make up about the size of your closed fist (or 2 closed fists for men). Add a little more since the veggies will shrink when you cook them.

Next, get a large chicken breast and compare it to the size of your open palm. You might end up using half of it so you can save the other half for another meal.

The stir-fry can go on a bed of brown rice. Rice expands to about twice its uncooked size, so keep that in mind when you’re taking a “cupped hand” portion size.

Cut up your ingredients and cook it as you normally would. Add your spices and then sprinkle some slivered almonds (a thumb-sized portion) on top.

Voila! You have a meal that is perfectly balanced and sized appropriately!

Other “meat and potatoes” meals are much easier since the foods stay separated on your plate. It’s really easy to see the portion sizes.

Some recipes call for many ingredients to be mixed together during preparation. With these “one pot meals” it’s important to be mindful of the overall portion sizes you are using and how many meals the recipe is creating.

For example, if you were to make a sweet potato lasagna, you could get a sense as to how many meals the entire lasagna would provide (let’s say 4 meals). Then look at the ingredients and ensure that there are 4 meals worth of veggies, protein foods, etc.

It takes a little thinking at first but becomes quite intuitive and easy with a little practice.

MODIFYING YOUR HAND PORTIONS “My hands are really small! I’m going to starve!”

The great thing about using your hands to portion your foods is the fact that hands are generally sized according to your whole body. Bigger people have

bigger hands, and these people should be eating a bit more food.

However, do keep in mind that this is your starting place. If you practice this portioning system for 2 weeks and find that you are always hungry, increase you portions a little. Or, maybe you will choose to add a forth meal in your day.

Just be sure to give this system a fair chance before making any major adjustments. Three days likely isn’t enough to let your body adjust to new foods and new portion sizes. I always recommend waiting at least a week before adjusting.

Know that this system ensures that you are eating really, really nutritious food at each meal. Your body craves nutrients and that is what you are going to be giving it.

RULES FOR SNACKING We’ve covered the basics for preparing meals to be used in your 5-day meal plan, but what about snacks?

This one is VERY simple: Your snacks are made up of vegetables only and you can eat as much of them as you like! You can eat raw veggies, cooked veggies, vegetables that are pureed into a soup, or any other way you want to eat them.

Just be sure that your snacks are only vegetables.

Why just veggies?

As we discussed in Chapter 11, vegetables are unique in that they are densely packed with nutrients while also being relatively low in calories. In other words, snacking on veggies allows you to feed your body what it wants (i.e. nutrients) without you having to worry about over-eating or taking in too many calories. Eat up!

HAVE QUESTIONS? Creating meals for your 5-day plan is often a little overwhelming at first and you’ll likely have some questions. Be sure to check out Questions and Answers at the end of this book. These are the most frequently asked questions that participants in my “10 in 4” groups have asked.

I suspect most (if not all) of your questions will be answered in that list. If not, feel free to visit www.makeyourbodywork.com to learn more about living a healthy lifestyle and to find my contact information. I’d be happy to help.

CHAPTER 12 QUESTIONS 1. Do you have a favourite meal that fits with the portion sizes discussed in this chapter? If not, how could you adjust the recipe to make it fit?

2. What veggie-only snack will you enjoy eating?

Can you think of (or find) two others?

CHAPTER 13 - CHEAT DAY I have food cravings most days but people often don’t believe me when I say that.

“You probably eat perfectly all the time,” they’ll tell me. Nope - I crave fatty foods. I love pizza, greasy burgers, and peanut butter.

A while ago my wife was searching our kitchen for a jar of peanut butter and asked me if I knew where it was. When I told her I had eaten it she was a little surprised.

“We had two full jars last week. You ate both of them?”

I had been on a peanut butter bender. Most days I would sit down at my computer to read sports news and would grab a couple of bananas and the jar of PB on the way. Without realizing it, I was eating three, four, or even five bananas drowned in peanut butter.

And when the bananas were gone I’d sometimes eat PB straight from the jar by the spoonful.

I decided to go cold turkey and stop eating peanut butter altogether.

The first day was fine. My willpower was strong. Day two was good as well – no peanut butter. By day three I started having little PB cravings, and by the end of the week I was back eating peanut butter!

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHEAT DAY I suspect you’ve gone through similar attempts to clean up your eating. Swearing off foods you love, only to find yourself eating them as soon as your willpower gives out.

This is why I’m not going to ask you to give up any of the foods you love. The mental (and physical) effort required to resist eating those foods far outweighs the value of cutting them out of your life.

For five days each week I am asking you to eat according to the plan we laid out in Chapters 11 and 12. During those days, there are off-limits foods that you will avoid, and there are guidelines directing how much food you should eat.

On the sixth day of your weekly plan I want you to enjoy any foods you like to eat. You can forget the rules for one day and simply eat whatever you want.

Having this cheat day is a psychological tool that will help make your 5-day eating plan more doable.

Knowing that you can “save up” any indulgent foods for cheat day becomes a built-in reward for following your plan the previous five days.

The cheat day also acts as a reminder that it’s okay to indulge occasionally. There is no reason to feel bad about the things you eat that day because you know that it’s only 1/7th of your week – You can let your guard down and just enjoy food that day. No guilt.

I wasn’t able to swear off peanut butter for life, but I could certainly do it for five days, especially knowing that my cheat day could be filled with as much peanut butter as I want!

THE PHYSIOLOGY OF CHEAT DAY Cheat day is more than a psychological coping mechanism. There are physiological benefits of eating extra calories on a regular basis. In fact, doing so actually teaches your body to burn more calories.

Yes, eat more calories, burn more calories…Here’s how it works: Your thyroid is a gland located in your neck that has great control over your body’s metabolism. A lowfunctioning thyroid gland causes a depressed metabolism, and a depressed metabolism leads to fat storage. This is obviously something you want to avoid. What causes it to slow down in the first place?

Often your thyroid will slow down if you are eating too few calories on a consistent basis.

“What?” you may be asking. “I thought I was supposed to eat less in order to lose weight? Now you’re telling me eating less will make me fat?”

Eating less (i.e. creating a calorie deficit) can lead to fat-loss for a short period of time, but if your body becomes accustomed to eating less food then it will

make some adjustments. Your body is designed to survive so it will do its best to conserve calories if it senses that food may be scarce.

One course of action your body can take is to limit the product of two hormones (T3 and T4) that direct the functioning of your thyroid. Less T3/T4 causes your thyroid to begin slowing down, which then reduces the speed of your metabolism.

In other words, eating too little sends your body into “conservation mode” for survival. It will actually slow down your metabolism to avoid using up precious calories. This will put the brakes on your weight-loss.

Adding a weekly cheat day can offset this unwanted effect. One day of extra calorie intake is enough to stimulate T3/T4 production, thereby preventing your thyroid from slowing down. The added calories on your cheat day give your body a signal that “conservation mode” isn’t necessary – You are not short on food and therefore do not need to store calories as fat.

In short, eating more calories one day per week allows your body to burn more calories during the rest of the week. This is a good thing!

SOCIAL EATING ON CHEAT DAY Your cheat day can be scheduled for any day of the week you choose. This allows you to schedule it for

those days when you know it will be difficult to follow your 5-day eating plan.

For example, imagine you have a party with your coworkers on a Thursday evening. There will be lots of food and alcohol and you don’t want to feel guilty about joining in.

Schedule your cheat day for Thursday and then you can enjoy the party guilt-free. This simply means that the preceding five days will ones that you eat according to your 5-day eating plan (review Chapter 11 and 12 if you need a refresher).

Yes, you only have one cheat day per week. Knowing this will help you make wise choices. “Do I really want to eat this pizza right now OR would I rather save my cheat day for that dinner party I’m going to tomorrow?”

Scheduling your cheat day will become an exercise in prioritizing and will help you evaluate when it’s really worth it to indulge in treat foods and drinks.

CHEAT DAY VS. DAILY CHEATS Oftentimes clients ask why we don’t just have “little cheats” each day instead of one entire day set aside for indulging. There are two reasons: First, those “little cheats” add up much more quickly than most people realize. Like I was doing with my

peanut butter and banana meals, it’s too easy to say, “I’ll have just one ______” and end up eating two or three before you know it. Mindless snacking is a dangerous way to eat because of how quickly the calories can pile up.

Second, losing weight (and maintaining a healthy weight) requires healthy habit-building. If you choose to indulge in a few treats each day, what habit are you establishing? Is that a habit you really want to strengthen?

Using one scheduled cheat day promotes healthy eating habits for the majority of your week. It also helps reinforce mindful eating (the opposite of mindless snacking) because five days of meals are completely planned ahead of time.

I know it might feel nice to say, “I’ll just cut back on the treats I eat each day”, but I promise that this is not an effective strategy to lose weight.

You will find much more success establishing a set plan and following it week after week until your new way of eating becomes an ingrained habit.

WON ’T I RUIN MY PROGRESS? After working hard to follow your 5-day eating plan, it can seem a little scary to throw all rules out the window for a day. Many participants in my “10 in 4”

groups have this fear: “I don’t want to lose all the progress I’ve made!”

Fortunately, one cheat day is not going to undo your progress.

You’ve likely heard that a pound of fat is created from 3,500 calories. So, even if your cheat day got really wild and crazy, you’d have to eat 3,500 calories MORE than you burn off just to gain a single pound that day. Good luck with that!

As you begin following this plan you will also notice some changes in how your body reacts to cheat foods. Most of my clients report feeling unwell after they cheat too hard, and soon their cheat days tame down because they don’t have the same cravings they once experienced.

You do not have to worry about ruining your progress with one cheat day per week.

TRACKING YOUR CHEAT DAY There is no planning required for cheat day – You can literally eat whatever you want. But, there is one caveat: You must record everything you eat and drink on your cheat day and then share this with your accountability buddies.

This record keeping process is another exercise in mindful eating. Even on cheat day (when “anything

goes”) it is good practice to be aware of what you are eating.

This cheat day food log can also be very motivating to look back on after a few weeks or months. You will likely see a stark change in your cheat day eating patterns as your body develops new food cravings and you become accustomed to healthier eating habits.

CHAPTER 13 QUESTIONS 1. What foods will you “save” for cheat day?

2. What social events do you attend that would be helpful to have on your cheat day? If there are many, think about which ones you would prioritize – How are you going to use your weekly cheat day?

CHAPTER 14 – FAST DAY What do you think of when you hear the term “fasting”? For many people, fasting sounds like a painful process of starving oneself for much longer than anyone should actually go without eating.

The truth is, we all fast every single day. Say you finish dinner at 7pm, go to bed at 11pm and sleep for eight hours. When you wake up you’ve already fasted for 12 hours. If you don’t eat breakfast first thing in the morning (or don’t eat breakfast at all) then your fast can easily stretch to 15 hours or more without much thought.

If you really want to lose weight, I recommend you try a 24-hour fast, once per week for four consecutive weeks.

Note: Breast-feeding moms are the exception. See the Questions and Answers at the end of this book for more details.

THE BENEFITS OF FASTING Regular short-term fasting (a.k.a. Intermittent Fasting or IF) offers many physiological and psychological benefits that can lead to improved weight-loss and better overall health.

1. Learn to Manage Hunger – Can you remember a time when you were “starving to death”? You’ve likely even used that phrase (I know I have), but the reality is that very few of us actually know what it feels like to be really hungry.

Because we rarely experience true hunger, it’s hard for us to separate instances when our body needs food versus times when we’re just ready to eat.

Intermittent Fasting (IF) teaches us how to manage true hunger and helps us respond more appropriately to moderate hunger signs.

For example, it’s common to feel a little hungry midmorning, especially if breakfast consisted of lownutrient food, and a common response is to instantly search for something (anything will do) to make that hunger feeling go away as quickly as possible.

This response to hunger leads many people to eat sweets or fatty foods even though their body doesn’t actually need a rush of sugar and calories. It is more a psychological food craving than a physiological need.

Having practiced IF, these situations may be approached much differently. That mid-morning tummy rumble is distinctly different than the hunger experienced after a day of not eating. A tummy rumble no longer needs to be instantly quieted – It becomes okay to feel a little hunger, knowing that a quality meal will be coming shortly.

2. Provide Digestive Recuperation – When does your digestive system get time off? Likely never. Your digestive system is constantly working to process the food you eat, and this process requires a continual supply of energy and blood flow.

Taking a day off eating provides an opportunity for your digestive organs to rest. Energy can be diverted elsewhere, and your body can “detox” naturally (no supplements or foot baths needed!)

3. Emphasize a Day of Rest – In Chapter 10 we discussed a plan for six days of exercise per week.

The exercise day off corresponds to your fast day.

Since you will be taking in no calories on fast day, it’s important that you don’t put too much physical strain on your body. Your fast day becomes a day of forced “slowing down”.

I know this will make many of you busybodies feel uneasy (I can relate), but your fast day can still be full of activity – It just requires a shift in the types of activity you choose.

Reading, stretching, watching a movie, meditating, or even napping are activities that you may allow yourself on a fast day that you would otherwise pass on.

4. Offset a Cheat Day Calorie Influx – Even though you cannot ruin your progress by having a weekly cheat day, this fast day does provide an opportunity to offset the additional calories you may have taken in the previous day.

This is another reason why cheat day choices should carry no guilt. Your body will be in a calorie deficit during your fast, and will therefore use up some of those additional cheat day calories.

5. Gain Space for Planning – Have you ever thought about how much of your life is taken up by food?

Preparing and eating meals can take up several hours each day. When practicing IF you will suddenly gain all those hours - What are you going to do with them?

I suggest you use a little of this “found” time to plan your upcoming week. What will your exercise look like? What meals will you be including in your plan?

What shopping needs to be done?

It’s easy to say, “I don’t have time to plan each week”, but with a regular fast you will be gaining time to get this important task done.

HOW TO CARRY OUT YOUR FAST

While there are many ways to practice Intermittent Fasting, I like to keep things very simple:     

You will not take in any calories for 24 hours You can drink calorie-free drinks (e.g. tea) Your fast will immediately follow your cheat day No exercise will be done on your fast day Try it for at least 4 consecutive weeks

Fasting is not for everyone, but I think most people will really enjoy the process if they give it a chance. I know I was terrified by the idea of going without food for 24 hours until I actually tried it. Now I enjoy the permission to slow down on fast days and I appreciate the extra time I have to do things I normally wouldn’t.

I think you may have a similar experience and I expect your weight-loss results will take off in the process.

CHAPTER 14 QUESTIONS 1. What benefit of intermittent fasting do you think would be most significant for you?

2. What will you do with the extra hours you “find” when you don’t have to worry about food for a whole day?

CHAPTER 15 – PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER We have covered a lot of material in this book so I want to offer a summary that will help you create practical first steps and then get started.

Let’s begin by taking another look at the planning and tracking sheet I showed you in Chapter 7.

This should make a lot more sense now and can act as a guide for your first week on the program. 

 

  



You can see that this participant has selected Friday as her cheat day (indicated by the dashed box around that day of the week) No eating plans were set for cheat day but the participant did record what she ate that day A Friday cheat day means that Saturday is automatically scheduled as a fast day (she fasted from 7:30pm on Friday until 6pm on Saturday – almost 24 hours) Notice that there is no exercise scheduled for fast day – It’s a day to rest and recover!

Water, exercise, and meals were pre-planned for each day of the week She indicated whether or not she followed through with her plans on each day using a check or “X” Some notes at the bottom explain what happened on the days that fell off plan and how to improve the following week

A STEP-BY-STEP APPROACH Now that the planning process is clearer, let’s look at all the steps involved in this program. I have indicated which chapter you can reference if you are unsure about how to approach any of these steps: Step 1 – Choose 2 accountability buddies (Chapter 8)

Step 2 – Print your planning and tracking sheet (Appendix A) Step 3 – Choose your cheat day (Chapter 13) Step 4 – Schedule your fast day (Chapter 14) Step 5 – Find appropriate meals for the 5 other days of the week (Chapter 11 and 12) and schedule them into your planning sheet Step 6 – Schedule the type of exercise you will do each day and the time you will do it (Chapter 10) I have loads of free home workouts available at www.makeyourbodywork.com if you need help.

Step 7 – Calculate how much water you will need to drink each day. Add it to your plan (Chapter 9) Step 8 – Send your plan to your accountability buddies and schedule a check-in time (Chapter 8) Step 9 – Buy groceries to cover all of your planned meals and snacks for the upcoming week (Chapter 11 and 12) Step 10 – Prepare some of your food ahead of time (e.g. cut up veggies, cook and freeze a few meals, thaw ingredients you will need to use, etc.)

My most successful “10 in 4” clients use one day per week to prepare most of their food. This makes the rest of the week much less rushed and much more stress-free!

Once you have followed these 10 steps you are ready to begin your first week on the program. Remember, you will face barriers along the way (Chapter 5), but those will become less and less with each passing week.

I am asking that you commit to this process for 4 full weeks (Chapter 6) so that you can see some amazing changes in the way you look and feel AND so that you give your body a fair chance to overcome deeply rooted habits that you are trying to change.

NEED SOME HELP? While this program is very simple, it is not easy, especially during the first few weeks when you may be making a number of lifestyle changes.

If you have any questions, please visit www.makeyourbodywork.com and feel free to contact me directly.

Also, if you feel that you would benefit from working alongside others who are following this program, you may want to consider joining one of my upcoming “10 in 4” groups (Please visit www.10in4.com) Each month I work with “10 in 4” participants as they implement the strategies you read about in this book.

Our goal is to lose 10lbs in 4 weeks (hence “10 in 4”) and the vast majority of participants surpass this goal.

Working with other participants in a “10 in 4� group is a very effective way to kick off your own lifestyle shift.

After four weeks in the group I guarantee you will be very prepared to continue strengthening your new habits and building on your success.

Congrats! You are now pointed in the right direction and can begin your new weight-loss lifestyle. Again, I would love to hear from you along the way and am excited to hear about the amazing results you achieve by following this program.

CHAPTER 15 QUESTIONS 1. Do any of the 10 steps seem confusing? If so, what can you do to clarify that step?

2. Do any of the steps seem difficult to carry out?

If so, what makes that step difficult and how can it be made more approachable?

3. Which step are you most excited to tackle?

Additional Resources

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Q: I don’t know if I can give up some of the foods on the “off limits” list. Is it okay if I reduce them, not completely cut them out?

A: Keep in mind that you have a “cheat day” each week, so you can still eat your favourite foods once per week. It is however very important that you stick to only those foods included in the program’s eating guide for the remaining days of the week.

Q: I’m a horrible cook! What am I going to do?

A: Don’t worry – You don’t have to be a good cook to make this work. The key is to find a small collection of go-to meals that you enjoy and that fit within the guidelines laid out in this book.

You will find a few examples in Appendix C to help get you started.

Q: What about condiments, dressings, and spices?

A: Spices are fair game – Many are actually quite beneficial (bring on the turmeric!) so use them however you like. Salad dressings count as a fat (i.e.

1tbsp = 1 “thumb”), and like condiments, they just have to follow our “off limits” list. No pre-packaged foods, no sugar.

Q: I’m a vegetarian/vegan – How can I get my “palms” of protein?

A: Just be sure to find some sort of protein source that you can eat at each meal (e.g. tofu, tempeh, a supplement, etc.).

Beans and lentils are also high in protein but do come with a much higher calorie and carbohydrate count, so it’s not recommended that they be your go-to protein source for most meals. You will be fine using them as your protein source for 1 meal per day at most.

Q: I am going out to a restaurant – What do I do?

A: Use your “cheat day” wisely! You can also check out the restaurant menu ahead of time and choose a meal that meets our guidelines.

Q: I’m allergic/sensitive to certain foods – What should I do?

A: Don’t include them in your plan! There are thousands of meal options you can easily create with the wide range of foods included in this program. It will just take a little bit of planning to get started.

Q: Where can I find meals that will fit with this program?

A: Ah, the beauty of the Internet! While I do not endorse all of the principles of the Paleo Diet, I do find it offers a good starting place since it is rooted in whole food eating. Try searching for “Paleo meals” and you will find loads of great resources. Here’s one to start with: Mark’s Daily Apple.

Q: Is all dairy really off limits?

A: Yes…almost. One serving of all-natural (no sugars or sweeteners) Greek yogurt is allowed per day (measure it as you would a protein). The bacteria culture in yogurt aids in digestion, and Greek yogurt is high in protein, which is helpful in planning breakfast meals.

Q. I love dried fruit – Can I still eat it?

A: YES…but at a reduced serving size. Since it has no water content, dried fruit is much higher in sugar and calories than fresh fruit, therefore we count dried fruit as double (i.e. 1 “palm” of dried fruit = 2 “palms” of fresh fruit)

Q: What about coffee?

A: Coffee is allowed as long as it follows our eating guidelines – No dairy, no sugar. As a milk or cream replacement, you can try unsweetened almond milk.

Q: Where does almond milk fit in the pyramid?

Look at the nutritional label for unsweetened almond milk and you’ll see that it’s very low in calories. Feel free to have a serving or two each day (e.g. for making smoothies) without counting it towards any of the servings from the pyramid.

Q: Is my cheat day/fast 1 day of the week or any 24hour period?

A: Your cheat/fast day are 24-hour periods. So, if you start your cheat day at 6pm on Thursday, it will continue until 6pm on Friday. Then your fast will immediately start on Friday at 6pm and continue until Saturday at 6pm.

Q: Speaking of fasts – Aren’t they bad for you?

A: No way! We fast all the time and just don’t label it as such. Think about eating dinner at 6pm and then skipping breakfast the next morning. You might be doing an 18-hour fast without knowing it.

Q: I’ve heard the ____ diet is great. Should I try it?

A: There is no diet plan that will work perfectly for everyone. We are all different and therefore require different quantities and combinations of food. Will a certain diet work for you? Maybe. But, instead of looking at “diets”, I would recommend just planning your meals to include the most nutritious food that makes your body feel good and function well.

Sounds familiar? Yeah, that’s what we’re doing in this program!

Q: I have another question about food – How do I get an answer?

A: Visit www.makeyourbodywork.com and you will find my contact information. I would be happy to help.

Q: I am injured – How should I exercise?

A: Please check with your doctor to find a safe way to get your exercise done. The key is to get moving each day – There are always ways to accomplish that.

Q: 6 days of weekly exercise is too much for me.

What should I do?

A: Examine your meaning of the word “exercise”.

Instead of meaning “lifting weights” or “running on a treadmill”, try to think of it as moving your body. How can you intentionally move your body every day? The simplest is walking – I think you can walk 6 days per week!

Q: I’m nursing my baby – Should I really fast for a whole day?

A: Fasting for a day is much less taxing on your body than you might think, but should be done carefully by breast-feeding moms. If you find it to be too much for your body then you can eat as per our normal eating guidelines.

Do keep in mind that the fast is helpful in cleansing after our “cheat day” so it would be wise to avoid over-indulging on “cheat day” if you decide not to follow it with a fast.

Q: What if I mess up?

A: Nobody lives perfectly “healthy” life all day, every day. Either during the next 4 weeks or afterwards you will “mess up” – We all do. The most important thing is to acknowledge that it happened and figure out what you could do next time to stay on track.

Q: Isn’t 4 weeks too short-term to be “healthy”?

A: Our goal it to begin building good habits. Even if a few of them stick beyond the 4-week program then you are moving in the right direction for the long-term.

Q: I still have another question – What can I do?

A: Visit www.makeyourbodywork.com and you will find my contact information. I would be happy to help.

APPENDIX A – PLANNING AND TRACKING TEMPLATE

APPENDIX B – HEALTHY FOODS LIST The following foods can be used to create your 5-day meal plan.

APPENDIX C – SAMPLE MEALS You’ll notice that there is no set meal plan for this program – This is very intentional.

A meal plan I create isn’t as good for you as a meal plan that you create yourself. I want you to find meals that meet this program’s guidelines AND that you really enjoy eating.

I do want to show you a few sample meals that perfectly fit the program. These are ones I like to eat – Maybe you’ll want to try them or maybe you’ll find very different meals that work better for you.

BREAKFAST - QUINOA VEGETABLE SCRAMBLE

Ingredients:          

1/2 cup water 1/4 cup quinoa 1 tsp olive oil 1 cup mushrooms, chopped 1/2 cup asparagus, chopped 1/2 cup bell pepper, chopped 2/3 cup spinach, chopped 1/2 cup sweet tomatoes, cut in half 10 egg whites salt and pepper to taste

Directions: Add the water to a small pot. Bring to a boil and add the quinoa. Bring back to a boil and then cook on

medium for 12 minutes or until water is dissolved.

Remove from heat and let it sit for 15 minutes.

In a large sauce pan add the olive oil over medium heat. Add the mushrooms, asparagus, bell pepper and spinach. Saute for 10 minutes.

Push the vegetables to one side of the pan and add the egg whites.

Cook the egg whites and scramble them with a spatula.

Mix the eggs with the vegetables and add the tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper.

Spoon the quinoa into egg and vegetable mixture.

(You may not use all the quinoa.)

Serve while warm.

LUNCH – SALMON AND MIXED GREENS

Ingredients:        

8 cups mixed baby greens/baby spinach 1/4 cup chopped walnuts 1 Tbsp olive oil 1 tsp walnut oil 2 tsp balsamic vinegar 1/4 tsp sea salt 3/4 lb salmon fillet 1 Tbsp lemon juice

*Notice that these ingredients do not cover the third step of the food pyramid (i.e. starchy veggies, grains, fruits, beans/lentils). Simply add a fruit as your dessert and you have a perfect meal.

Directions: Wash and spin the greens until very dry.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the walnuts and toast for 1 minute. Remove the walnuts from the skillet and set aside.

Heat ½ tablespoon of the olive oil in the skillet over medium heat. Add half of the greens and cook gently for up to 1 minute. Place the greens in a medium salad bowl. Repeat with the remaining olive oil and greens. Toss the warmed greens with the walnut oil, balsamic vinegar, and salt.

Place an oven rack approximately 8" from the broiler element. Preheat the broiler on high. Place the salmon skin side down in an ovenproof dish. Coat the fish's surface with the lemon juice. Broil until the fish is just cooked, 8 to 10 minutes, depending on thickness.

Cut the fish into 4 servings and place on top of the greens.

DINNER – PALEO CHICKEN CURRY

Ingredients:            

6 boneless chicken thighs, diced 1 yellow onion, chopped 1 cup (237 mL) canned pumpkin puree 2 medium zucchini, sliced 2 cups button mushrooms, sliced 1/4 cup (118 mL) water 2 Tablespoons (30 g) ghee or coconut oil 1/2 Tablespoon (3 g) turmeric 1/2 Tablespoon (3 g) paprika 1 teaspoon (0.6 g) red pepper flakes 1 teaspoon (2 g) cumin 4 cups baby spinach

Directions: In a large saucepan over high heat, melt the ghee.

Add the onion and spices and sautĂŠ.

Add the chicken and cook until the sides have just turned white.

Turn down the heat to low and add the pureed pumpkin and water. Stir until combined and then cover and allow to simmer for 15 minutes.

At the 10 minute mark, add the zucchini and mushrooms.

Serve on a bed of baby spinach leaves.

SNACK – CARROT FRIES

Ingredients:   

1 pound fresh carrots, cut into fries 2 tsp olive oil 1/2 tsp salt

Directions: Place carrots in a baking pan.

Drizzle with oil (to prevent burning) and sprinkle with salt; toss to coat.

Bake, uncovered, at 450° for 10-12 minutes or until crisp-tender.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Dave Smith has been a personal trainer for over a decade and was named Canada’s Top Fitness Professional in 2013 by CanFitPro, the certifying body for personal trainers in Canada!

Dave has a wealth of experience and has spent much time working with a wide range of clients that includes beginners, competitive athletes, new mothers, senior populations, and everyone in between.

He completed his degree in Business at Wilfrid Laurier University, then went on to study health and exercise at Pensacola Christian College in Florida, and finally earned his degree in Education from the University of Western Ontario.

Continuing to hone his skills as a personal trainer, Dave has completed many courses in assessment, nutrition, and functional exercise.

Find out more at www.makeyourbodywork.com