This picture has absolutely nothing to do with today’s article.
I just love Homer, and I wanted to get your attention…although you might be eating a doughnut right now as you read this.
Let’s hope not.
Before I start, I want to let you know I’m not condoning zero exercise. But I’ll tell you that one of our best success stories, Tim, got injured and “couldn’t exercise” for six months.
And yet…he still lost 50 pounds:
Look, the RIGHT kind of exercise is freaking awesome and something you should try to do every day.
However, I am here to tell you that if your primary concern is weight loss, exercise is merely the icing on the cake. Or, the bacon wrapped around the asparagus, to be healthier.
90% of your waistline battle is won or lost in the kitchen (or at the restaurant table, or at the drive-thru window, etc.)
Warning: this will ask you to possibly make some substantial changes to your diet – are you up for it?
If you’ve struggled to change your diet in the past, or you’re stick of starting and stopping a diet, I’m here to tell ya you can stop starving yourself and getting frustrated. We’ve helped tens of thousands of busy people change their diets, like Tim above.
It starts by having an actual plan of attack and following it! We know everybody is at a different point in their life, so we created a 10-Level Nerd Fitness Diet that allows you to slowly change your nutritional strategy over time so you can have permanent success.
Grab our NF Diet Strategy Guide free when you sign up in the box below, and then get back to learning about how important your diet is!
- Follow our 10-level nutrition system at your own pace
- What you need to know about weight loss and healthy eating
- 3 Simple rules we follow every day to stay on target
Eat Real Food
I’m a huge fan of the food philosophy presented in books like The Paleo Diet
and Good Calories Bad Calories.
Because they make this diet thing so simple and logical even a caveman could understand it. My apologies if you’re a caveman.
If you’re new to the “Paleo Diet” concept, here it is in a nutshell. Rather than list what you can’t eat, here’s what you CAN eat:
REAL foods – veggies, lean meats, fish, eggs, fruit, and nuts.
Why does this work? Because you’re only eating foods that you’re genetically engineered to thrive on: high quality, high energy REAL foods. Not from a box, not from a bag, not from a window. Food from the earth. Yay nature.
We’ve written a 4,000-word monster article on the Paleo Diet that’s a must read if you’re going to start eating healthier, but I know this stuff can be overwhelming. We consider the Paleo Diet fairly difficult to stick with, which is why it’s one of the higher difficulty levels on the Nerd Fitness Diet.
Grab our strategy guide (sign up in the box below) along with a free guide on the Paleo Diet too so you can pick a level that doesn’t scare you first, and then slowly ramp up to it:
- Follow our 10-level nutrition system at your own pace
- What you need to know about weight loss and healthy eating
- 3 Simple rules we follow every day to stay on target
Cut Way Back on the Rest
Bread, cereal, pasta, fried food, rice, bagels, doughnuts, waffles, chips, tortillas, candy etc. – these things are all loaded with carbs (and if they’re processed – refined carbs and sugar), and I’ll bet a million Monopoly dollars they’re the cause of 99% of the population’s weight problem.
I’m not telling you to give all of this stuff up completely, I’m just telling you that this is probably the reason the weight isn’t coming off of your frame.
Here’s why:
Most grains, refined carbs and sugar were nonexistent way back in the day, which means our bodies never quite adapted to properly process them. They can wreak havoc on our gut, cause our insulin to spike and can lead to weight gain.
Here’s a great video to explain why refined carbs make you fat:
Today’s general recommended diet ratio of 50-60% carbs, 30% protein, 10-20% fat is quite far off from where your nutrition should ACTUALLY be.
This ratio has been pushed on the public for decades, and new “low fat” items continue to pop up every day…and yet the country continues to get wider and bigger and fatter.
Something’s not right.
How I Know it Works
Although I’ve recently added some grains back into my diet to bulk up (oats, flaxseed bread, and brown rice), I can attest to the fact that the Paleo Diet absolutely works.
In the four months that I switched to a Paleo diet (my ratio was probably 40% fat, 40% protein, and 20% carbs), my body fat percentage dropped from 12% down to 5%.
Besides myself, many NF readers have lost quite a bit of weight from making this change as well.
Guys like Saint who went full Paleo:
And women like Staci who also went full Paleo and started strength training:
Cut Out Liquid Calories
Soda, beer, juice, margaritas Gatorade, vitamin water, cappuccinos, fruit coolatas – avoid them whenever possible (except for beer on St. Patty’s Day…come on.)
These beverages are all loaded with sugar which immediately turn to fat in your system. And switching from a 12 pack of Coke to a 12 pack of Diet Coke might not solve your problems either.
Read my article why Diet Coke might make you fat, and our overall thoughts on Alcohol too
My advice: chug water like it’s your job, stick to black coffee, cut out liquid calories.
It will curb your appetite, keep your insides running properly, and give you an excuse to get up and go for a walk to the bathroom every thirty minutes.
No Paleo? No Problem. Eat Less Than Before!
Don’t want to change what you eat? Welp, you’re just going to count calories, and work on portion control.
It’s a pain in the ass, but it works – though tough to maintain over many years.
Here are the three equations you need to know:
- Calories consumed > Calories burned = weight gain.
- Calories consumed < Calories burned = weight loss.
- 3500 less calories per week = 1 pound of fat weight loss.
As explained in the video above about “Why you got fat”, the types of you food you eat is more important than these equations let on, but just creating a caloric deficit will still produce weight loss (although far less efficiently).
The challenges most people run into is that they eat poorly, and then expect a bit of exercise to make everything better! The reality is, eating poorly could mean you’d need to spend HOURS burning calories just to not gain any weight.
I just don’t have that kind of free time and I’d guess that you don’t either, so why not work smarter instead of harder, right?
Remember Tim above? He followed the nutritional strategy in our flagship course, The Nerd Fitness Academy and just went for a walk each day.
Because he really bought into the idea that “Nutrition is 90% of the battle,” he put his focus there, and lost 50 pounds in 6 months in the process:
So, work smarter, not harder, like Tim.
Rather than eating bad foods and spending hours working it off, instead eat GOOD foods, only do exercise that’s fun for you (hiking, playing with your kids, biking, yoga), and then enjoy the rest of your day.
Life’s too short to spend it doing stuff that’s just not necessary. But you DO need to fix your diet. If you are overwhelmed already with the idea of changing how you eat, counting calories, and how you can make progress in a way that doesn’t scare you.
Grab our 10-Level NF Diet Strategy Guide, pick the level you want to start with, and treat each level like a challenge you have to complete before leveling up. And you’ll lose weight and get healthier as a side effect – not too shabby.
- Follow our 10-level nutrition system at your own pace
- What you need to know about weight loss and healthy eating
- 3 Simple rules we follow every day to stay on target
The Choice Is Yours
I’m not going to yell at you and force you to only eat grilled chicken and steamed vegetables for every meal – I’m not your mom (phew, that would be weird). Besides, you’re a grown individual and you can make choices for yourself.
I AM, however, telling you that if you want to see results without spending hours upon hours in the gym, you need to get your diet under control, and this is the most efficient way for you to get there.
The more you can change to what’s been listed above, the quicker you’ll get to your goal weight.
Switching to a 100% Paleo Diet after years of eating bad carbs is a recipe for disaster and you giving up immediately! Instead, try finding a way to implement a change or two along the way until you start to see those results.
I realize this is much easier said than done, which means this isn’t really about your diet: it’s about your willpower and finding a good balance of changes that you can successfully manage.
Whenever somebody says “I can’t give up that food” or “I just don’t have time to prepare a healthy meal” all I hear is, “I don’t want it badly enough yet.”
I’m okay with that!
We all start somewhere, and we are all afraid of change deep down – it’s in our DNA. So let’s start with small changes.
Start at Level 1 of the Nerd Fitness Diet, and work your way up when you’re ready – no change should be one that’s too far outside of your comfort zone. Grab our 10-level guide when you join the rebellion in the box below:
- Follow our 10-level nutrition system at your own pace
- What you need to know about weight loss and healthy eating
- 3 Simple rules we follow every day to stay on target
If you’re not at that point yet to take control of your life, I’ll do my best to inspire and motivate you to get there…but the desire to change has to come from within you.
If you ARE at the point where you really want to make a change, I’m here to help, along with a community of people on our message boards who are there to support you.
Do we have any Paleo Dieters here? How did you successfully make the transition from a modern diet to a healthy one?
Do you have concerns about giving up carbs and eating more fat? I’m only writing from experience and my own research, but would love to hear some stories on your weight loss successes or failures and I know others would too.
Let’s hear it!
-Steve
###
photo: Greg Easton Photography
Cutting back on your caloric intake is how you lose weight. I don’t waste my time working out at a gym 2 hours a day. I do moderate exercise mainly to get my cardio vascular system healthy as Im losing.
Studies have shown that people who exercise AND cut back the calories don’t lose more weight than those who simply cut back daily caloric intake
It’s about leading a healthy lifestyle and feeling better in yourself not necessarily losing weight. But if you eat right and exercise regularly your body will see the results and feel the benefits.
What you put into your body makes a huge difference.
Really great post. Very descriptive and informational. I also wrote some recipes and health topics for eating healthy while trying to lose weight. Any one trying to lose fat but still want to eat tasty food can follow this blog and mine too at http://being-foodie.blogspot.com
wow
I’ve just known one site about weight loss diet for men. What do you think about it ? Please help me understanding it. Thank you so much !
http://weightlossdietformen.com/
When I was younger I was the fat girl in my school. It was when I moved out after high school that I saw there was more to life. I knew the one way I would get to enjoy that life was to lose weight first and foremost. To give myself some courage and confidence after having been the school chubby chub (which I completely imposed on myself, no glandular problems, eating disorders, jonah hill fetishes etc.). So I remembered the Atkins diet and the kid on Bad News Bears that carried around a baggy of bacon and thought I could do that too. Fat girls love bacon you know. I dropped like 20 pounds in the first few weeks. But then I plateaued and knew that 8 lbs of what I lost was water weight that would return right whenever I ate some carbohydrates again.
I started looking what was up and I found the slightly more extreme Bulletproof diet of 70% fat, 20% protein and 10% vegetabley carbs. So I tried that out, made some of the “Fat Bomb” treats and kept them in my freezer and I continued to loose an additional 40 lbs over a few months. No exercise, although that would have helped. The diet claims its not necessary to exercise to loose weight if you are on this diet, which turned out to be completely true. Now if anyone is like me, I did not want to go to a gym as an excessively flabby person (or EFP if I may) so it was great to first loose weight sitting at home, doing collegely study-like things, reading, video games, etc and then be able to start exercising (I chose swimming because its fun and I have large breasts that make it hard to run in public, not bragging but very true nonetheless. They are all submerged when you swim). I gained confidence and even competed in the cosplay contest in Salt Lake City ComicCon 2015 as a Borg drone and won second place (that is bragging). I continued on the diet simply because my BRAIN WOKE UP! I could think so much clearer on a carbless diet and I swear grades went up because of it. The greatest difference was my ability to focus on things. I went from focus-of-a-knat to focus-of-a-cat (I assume they are good focusers?). So that was, after the weight loss, the reason I kept on the diet. But I often break from it for icecream. Hopefully that’s not going to turn the tides on me…
Anyway in conclusion, I was able to go from carby diet to no carby diet very easily because I love bacon and mayonnaise, and the Bulletproof Diet had recipes for “Fatbombs” that are basically sweetened butter cream cheese and dark chocolate which are very sweet but 90% fat. Oh and Quest bars.
Oh and I know the main problem of this type of diet is price. What I did was live off canned spinach like popeye and other dark leafy greens, eg asparagus. I have a steel belly so I ate they cold from the can but there are also fantastic recipes w canned veggies. I know its not natural and cavemen cant operate can openers or whatever, but as a college student, it worked for me. I also ate bologne. You also eat less quantities because meat and fat is more filling anyway.
i like to read your blog. visit our website to get more information
Read More @http://www.mingleweave.com/get-zero-figure-8-hoursovernight/
I did my coolsculpting at home and it worked for me as i lost 3 inches around my waist in 2 months by using blue fat freeze system (fatfreezekit/com).
Great article. All the little things can add up and make a big difference. However, you are if you are struggling to lose those unwanted pounds then be to go check out the system that I personally used to lose weight watch the video here:
( http://weightlossin3weeks.com/diet-or-all )
By following all the program’s advice on nutrition, and recovery. I lost 33lbs of fat. I look and feel great. Furthermore, the weight is staying off!
Lastly, losing weight takes a lot of focus, time and dedication to accomplish. I’ve seen so many people give up because after a few workouts they aren’t getting the results they want right away. It doesn’t happen overnight!!!!
Really good article thanks, I have dropped 25kg
in just a 2 months thanks to this helpful and lifechanging weightloss program bit.ly/wghtloss4
The truth is it’s harder for women to burn off belly fat as you get older, in fact…
It can become nearly impossible once you reach 40 and into your 50’s, after all…
Your hormones are always out of whack…
The popular workout infomercials you see on TV are mainly for men and all the high-impact jumping and burpees kill your joints and
leave you suffering in pain while feeling sore for days…
And who wants to take a crazy CrossFit class and workout in their germ-infested gyms that leave you feeling big and bulky, instead
of lean, toned and fit…
Speaking of toned and fit…
My friend Danette stumbled upon a belly slimming trick after she had her THIRD baby and wasn’t feeling the greatest about her
body, and…
You can use this simple belly slimming secret to melt away up to 10 pounds in 10 days for FREE…
I know it sounds too good to be true, but this worked so well for Danette after struggling with her post-pregnancy weight that she
decided to put EVERYTHING on a DVD and send it to you for free…
Contact me if you need any more information: danielwhite496@gmail.com
Also an amazing Paleo cook book is : http://bit.ly/2hqa6Iz
I was searching for this only guys for a longer time.
We are devoted to the development of all-natural products for elaborating Health & Fitness with innovative technology and operated by world-leading scientists.if you want to loss our healthy weight visit or contact us now :-
NATUREAL
14707 South Dixie Highway #213 Miami, FL 33176
305-964-5992
http://bit.ly/2jY3YZd
Are you looking to lose weight quickly? Are you sick of all the scams out there like diet pills and infomercial products that promise the world but don’t deliver?
Check “ http://weightlossin3weeks.com/weight-loss-diet “ for the best reviews and articles
I took excellent diet guide from WooPep. Just google WooPep diet website
I heard ‘WooPep diet website’ guides are the best for diet
I took excellent diet guide from WooPep. Just google WooPep diet website
Thank you,i have lost 40 pounds in 2 months and i shutted the mouths of those bastards in my school who made fun of me.now also feel much better with my self (i won’t say the cliche stuff about boosting my confidence because being self-confident was never my strong trait)Ireally feel happy and proud now I just cant find the right words to express it.please try this diet it is 100%worthy just Go online : pushabs.com.
You can also use weight loss tablets for accelerating your weight losing campaign. The weight losing tablets by the brand obesidat are purely ayurvedic and have no side-effects. you can check more details about these medicines at http://www.obesidat.com
I lost 26 kg of weight in 4 months Following this system:
( WEIGHTLOSSIN3WEEKS.COM/HOW-TO-LOSE-WEIGHT ).
It’s not a diet, it’s not a quick fix, it’s not difficult at all… I have found several of your nutritional suggestions to be both reasonable and delicious. I have lost roughly 5 inches off my stomach, and inches off other places as well.
I love seeing people that I haven’t seen in a while, because they all tell me how great I look, and ask me what my secret is… it is the best investment in myself I’ve ever made.
I you want to lose weight fast then go here: HootWeight. info
The constant tug of war between proponents of diametrically opposed plant based and animal product based diets does nothing but confuse, frustrate, and mislead the average American who is among the ever growing number of obese and sick people in the US.
I have no doubt that if I was still convinced the Earth is flat, I would find no shortage of nut jobs on the Internet who would assure me that I am correct.
BS! I drank soda and still lost 90 pounds in 5 months
I had used Brian’s method to reduce 8 kg in just 3 weeks; I followed step by step procedure as per Brian’s instruction. This is one of the perfect weight loss product to reduce weight without any side effect and keep the body fit for lifelong, refer here: WEIGHTLOSSIN3WEEKS.COM/WEIGHT-LOSS
If you want to lose weight you have to see this information
>> LEANBELLYBREAKTHROUGH1.CLUB/LOSE-WEIGHT-FAST <<
My goal is to train and inspire people to show them that the weight loss is possible. Going from someone who would rather sit in his bedroom playing Call of Duty to someone who has lost 181 pounds and is working toward living the rest of his life as a healthy and fit individual is something I am very proud of.
Hello friends
I lowered 7 pounds in a week. just following this system:
> LEANBELLYBREAKTHROUGH1.CLUB/LOSE-WEIGHT <
The Lean Belly Breakthrough is a simple, step by step plan that allows users to reverse the symptoms of conditions like heart disease and diabetes. Keeping things simple, the Lean Belly Breakthrough is able to help users lose up to a pound of stomach fat day, all without using any medications, stimulants, or drugs. And, the Lean Belly Breakthrough is able to do this without extreme diet plans, just the addition of natural herbs, spices, and other foods that are both delicious and effective in supporting weight loss and heart health…..
Losing weight is not so difficult with proper guidance and discipline. What helped me in my desire to lose weight and get fit was this amazing weight loss program. watch the video here:
>> WEIGHTLOSSIN3WEEKS.COM/2-WEEK-DIET
Low-fat foods may even lead people to consume extra calories. A study investigating the effects of different fats on satiety found that participants were less hungry two hours after eating regular muffins compared to fat-free muffins.
My doctor was so impressed with my 30 lb weight loss over the last 2 months, he asked me how I was doing it, and told him exactly what I do with, this weight loss program:
=> ???????????????.???/red-tea-detox <= (Google it)
and he said, 'Awesome way to do it!' I am so grateful and so happy.
If you want to lose your weight, running is the best answer. Because running is effective way burns calories.
Fantastic news, well done you! White jeans brilliant! It is an amazing feeling isn’t it? I am down 6lb and 3inches from my waist and this is week 4 for me, but people are already saying how good I look and I am into size 12 (UK size) trousers. thanks to the 2-week diet, watch the video here:
=> the2weekdietnow. com <= (Google it)
Dieting is a big part of exercise if you want to lose weight.
Hiii,
Thanks for sharing useful information. Keep it up the post.
Great tips! If you want to burn belly fat without a lot of effort, you have to try this.
It’s a research-backed system that’s been proven to be 30x more effective than dieting or exercise for burning fat.
Now you can achieve lifelong body fat reduction WITHOUT dieting or depriving yourself of your favorite foods.
Here’s proof:
Thanks for your help.. Losing weight is a challenge. but I managed to lose weight following this diet:
=> the2weekdietnow. com <= (Google it) I lost 12 pounds in 3 weeks.
I accidentally discovered how to drop 24 POUNDS of BODY-FAT in 28 DAYS! I discovered how to do it WITHOUT drugs, WITHOUT supplements, WITHOUT stimulants, WITHOUT surgery, … and WITHOUT GOING to the gym!
Article is very helpful. Thanks for sharing great tips.
Hi, I have been trying to lose 1 stone. I started low carbing on March 30th and so far have lost 8lb. My typical diet has 109g fat, 70g protein and 35g carbs which is approximately 70:20:10 % on 1400 cals/day. Female 5ft 3 and 140lb.I feel much much better eating this way, even though losing is slow. My query is, should I be in ketosis or not to lose weight while eating this amount of fat? Thanks.
Thanks for sharing this information. Lose weight is necessary for us to have an ideal weight. I also have been searching for a way to loose fat without going to gym on all over the internet then I found a guy on Instagram and he suggested me a product which is a fully natural juice and really tasty. It really helped me to loose fat in unbelievable way. I highly suggested this product for all the people who can’t go to the gym for any reasons. don’t miss it you’ll thank me later.
Your Blog is really so interesting and they way you mentioned each and everything is really so perfect.
weight loss