fbpx

Latest Posts

How to lose all the fat you want (virtually) On Demand

From 3, 5 10 pounds to 50+ pounds, there is one way to lose all the fat you want.

And yes, you can do this pretty much on demand.

The best part is… 

it’s not a miracle diet, a supplement or some type of crazy routine you have to follow and stick to it.


This is possible all because it’s based on the science of fat loss and what I call the building block of all diets.

No matter whether you’re doing keto, intermittent fasting, clean eating, or counting calories… if you don’t have the building block of all diets in place, you won’t lose weight at all.

As simple as that.

Plus, this shows you don’t have to sacrifice your favorite food, feel like starving yourself… or like you’re dieting at all.


Once you know what makes any diet work or not, you are able to choose something that works for you and that will let you do all of this, while enjoying the process (and results, of course).

This isn’t anything new or some secret no one has ever heard of and whatnot…

This is based on science that tells the complete spectrum rather than trying to push a certain diet as the “only way” to lose fat.

If anything, using the building block of al diets is the only way to lose fat… 

and that’s something research can back up again and again.


If you’ve been going diet after diet and not seen any results (or kept them), then this is for you.

I just released my brand new ebook “Fat Loss On Demand”.

It shows you exactly that…

how by using the building block of all diets you can make your next diet the last one you’ll need to lose those pounds for good… pretty much on demand.


And if you order it on the page below, I also give you 3 Bonuses so you really have everything (and I mean, everything – I hold nothing back on this book) to lose fat and the science behind it.

So click the link below and get your digital copy today:

→ https://www.fatlossondemand.com/book

It’s time to put an end to yo-yo dieting and not knowing why is it that you can’t lose weight and keep it off…


And you now have the power to do it by getting this ebook.

Ivan Iniguez

Not all weight loss is created equal

Do you know why I’d rather lose 3-5 pounds of fat per month than 10+ of weight?

Simply because it lets me know that the majority of the weight I lose will come from fat and not other tissues like muscle.

There’s this idea that all weight loss is created equal.

And they simply don’t take into account that when you focus on losing weight, if you just want to see the scale moving down much of the weight can come from organs, muscles, or even water.

But you want to lose fat (most of it, it’s quite inevitable you will lose some other fluids or weight from other things like muscle – but you can minimize it).

This is why the first step to knowing what you are losing the most is the difference between Lean Body Mass (LBM) and Fat Mass (FM).

This concept isn’t new or special, and the definitions are quite simple:

LBM = everything that’s not fat tissue (organs, hair, water, and of course, muscle)

FM = all the fat tissue

This is why people constantly want to know about their body fat percentage because it allows them to know how much of a difference they see in their fat levels (it’s not 100% accurate, and I will expand on body fat in another post).

That’s why you want to focus on losing as much Fat Mass as you can while minimizing the loss of LBM.

You don’t have to think much about it to do this, because it’s something quite simple to do.

In fact, that’s what I will be covering in detail in my brand new book I will be launching a month from now.

You can check it out when I launch it and get a 75% discount by signing up early.

https://fitnessthetic.com/flodwaitlist/

But even if you don’t sign up for the waitlist, know that you want to focus on losing fat and not just weight… the way you look at the end of both decisions could be drastically different, which is something the scale will never show you.

Ivan @ Fitnessthetic

What I ate to lose 27 pounds in 4 months (and don’t gain them back)

Whether 27 pounds sounds like a lot or a little for you, what matters is the way I did it to lose that weight…

and how you can do the same to finally lose weight and keep it off.

That being said, you should know something.

This isn’t a magical diet or some type of super restrictive protocol (or fad diet) to lose fat.

If anything, it’s the opposite.

You won’t really see me telling you things like “I ate one apple at noon, followed by a meal where I ate oats mixed with protein powder, 7g of walnuts and some cinnamon” for a simple reason.

What I ate isn’t what made me lose that weight as much as it is how I ate (and why).

Once you know that and truly accept it, you’ll lose all the weight you want.

Now, it’s time to show you what and how I ate to lose those 27 pounds in 4 months.

Let’s start with my initial weight… which was 181 pounds.

It was until I realized I had a big belly that I couldn’t “hide” that made me say “I can’t believe I let myself get this far. I need to do a change.”

I was already exercising and was tracking my food, but I was going to actually start a fat loss phase.

So I started with a 500kcal deficit.

That means I went from eating about 2,600kcal to 2,100kcal.

The first changes I did wasn’t in terms of getting rid of fast food or restricting myself with the number of meals.

What I did was start reducing both carbs and fats (while keeping my protein high).

So yes, I was eating less rice, pasta and some cheese, but…

just because I needed to cut calories from some food, not because there was something particular about this food that made the difference.

In fact, to avoid hunger while still allowing me to actually feel satiated, I added more fiber and protein to my diet.

In terms of fiber, I ended up consuming about 25g of fiber per day… while going around 150g of protein per day (nothing crazy either, as you can tell).

With this…

For the first 2 weeks, I didn’t see any significant changes in my weight or in my shape.

So that meant I had to then cut another 500kcal out of my diet?

Not at all.

I didn’t change a thing for the next week…

and I didn’t have to, because that week I dropped about 3 pounds.

From there, I kept eating the same in terms of food options (some burger here and there, some ice cream every now and then…) while sticking true to my total calories and macronutrients.

But, what happened when I got to a point where I stopped losing weight with that deficit?

I made some adjustments (they were minor).

I probably dropped just another 100kcal to my current deficit and stay there for another 2-3 weeks, until my metabolism caught up and adapted to it…

which meant I needed to repeat the process.

I followed this until I finally lost 12 pounds from my starting 181.

Then, I decided to stop there for 2 months and do a reverse diet until I got back to my new maintenance calories.

Why?

Because I wanted to lose 20 pounds in 2 “sprints” rather than make it a marathon.

So once the 2 months went by, I repeated the exact same process that I did before.

But this time, I didn’t lose 10 or 12 pounds…

I lost 17 pounds!

That put me from the original 181 down to 153 pounds.

And right now, I am just finishing my reverse diet for the second diet… 

and haven’t gained any weight at all since then.

And when I look back… I didn’t feel like dieting at all.

In fact, no one around me knew I was “on a diet”, just because I was still eating my favorite food and was able to go out and socialize (no need to stress when you are going to eat out).

Now, guess what?

You can do the exact same thing.

There’s no reason why if you get into a real caloric deficit and only eat about 20% of your daily intake from processed food you can’t lose weight.

Who knows, and you can lose even more than 10 pounds in the same amount of time.

It all depends on your current situation, but know that it’s possible.

The point of this is to show you that there’s no magical diet, food or supplement to lose weight.

When you know what it takes to lose weight and keep it off… you just know you’ll lose fat.

There’s no other way.

And now, you should know what it really takes to lose weight.

But if you’d like to have more tips on how to make the next diet you make the last one you’ll need to lose that weight you want, you’re gonna want to sign up below to get daily email tips that make it happen:

www.fitnessthetic.com

For your success,

Ivan @ Fitnessthetic

The myth of Glycemic Index and what to focus instead

If you were to say that GI is important, you’d be right.

But at the same time, you would be focusing only on one area rather than in the whole scenario.

Let me explain.

It’s not uncommon to hear that people should avoid high glycemic index food since that causes spike in insulin, thus leading to gain weight.

But here’s something important they don’t consider.

Every meal you eat increases your blood glucose levels, that’s for sure. 

But while there is a certain food that will spike your insulin and others that will keep it within normal range, it’s not seeing the full spectrum.

Not only research has shown that the glycemic index is meaningless when we add other macronutrients in the meal like protein and fats (and some fiber if possible), but it has shown that what dictates the change in weight isn’t really the glycemic index and its impact in the blood.

It’s quite easy to eat a ton of bread, rice, potatoes, or any “high glycemic index” food and not feel satiated, thus making you open to the idea of eating more. 

And that “extra” desire for eating more when you should be satiated is what leads you to eat more from what you should… thus, making you gain weight.

If you were to eat more “low glycemic index” (AKA. food high in fiber), you will start seeing that not only your hunger goes down, but your satiety goes up… and if you put into practice this while also eating at a negative energy balance and consuming an adequate amount of protein, you bet you will be in a far better position to lose fat.

So focus on what people consider “low glycemic index” food, but not for the reason of lowering your spikes of insulin.

Plus, you should pay attention to how much you’re eating more so than what you’re eating… if you focus on the latter without first taking care of the former, you can still gain weight by eating oats, vegetables and chicken breast.

I know this information can be sometimes confusing and for some even counterintuitive, but science is clear about this.

And in fact, if you want to get daily emails tips based on science on how to make the next diet you make the last one you’ll need, then you’re gonna want to click the link below and sign up so you don’t miss any tips:

www.fitnessthetic.com

Ivan @ Fitnessthetic

How to get past the tendency of your body to keep the same fat levels

Chances are you have heard about body fat set point before…

it’s the tendency of your body to keep the same fat levels you have in your body.

Said in another way,…

it’s the way for your body to stay on the same body fat levels (on average).

And in case the definition of body fat is not clear, it simply means all the tissue in your body that’s fat – the rest can be classified as Lean Body Mass (LBM), which includes muscles just as it is organs, hair, and even water.

But with a body fat set point, it sounds like something like losing fat should be either impossible or hard to do it…

and you’d be right.

The thing is that the same number of fat cells in your body will stay the same regardless of how much you lose fat, but the size of those cells is what it reduces, but…

losing fat is something simple to do.

When you want to lose fat, you’re telling your body that you want to use the fat cells in your body already as energy… that’s it.

The way you deliver this message to your body is by letting it know that it’s okay to use it as energy, to which you need to have some type of changes in your energy balance.

Sure, the food you eat can be the answer, but it’s not the only option.

You could simply focus on increasing how much energy you need to use in your day so that you also tell your body the same message.

And I’m not talking about doing hours of cardio or spending hours at the gym.

The most influential part of the energy balance equation is what’s called as Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT)… which means all the activities you are not aware of it when doing it.

So fidgeting, moving your arms when explaining things, or walking count as NEAT… again, when not done on purpose (otherwise, it becomes some type of exercise).

In that way, you will eventually get over the tendency of your body to get to its current body fat set point and then create a new body fat set point… 

which is how your body would keep your new weight.

That is assuming you managed to keep the weight you lose off – which for most, it’s where the challenge is.

Either way, you need to know both how to overcome your current body tendency to your body fat set point and then know how to let your body know it’s okay to stay at that new weight, thus resetting your body fat set point.

Something to consider when looking for an approach to losing fat – more than just the fact of losing it as fast as possible.

And if you want to know how a more slow approach to losing fat than a quick and fast one can be the answer to keeping your weight off, then you’re gonna want to click the link below:

www.fitnessthetic.com

I give you not only daily tips on how to make the next diet you make the last one you’ll need, but I give away a guide of the 3-quick “tweaks” you can make to your diet that can help you lose fat faster.

Nothing special or magical, and it’s meaningless compared to when you have the most important thing in place, but they can help you start seeing some quick results when using them.

Check it out and see it for yourself.

Ivan @ Fitnessthetic

DIETING AS A RELIGION

How many times have you seen or heard someone who (no matter the situation), it seems that there’s just one diet that is the answer to everything?

In my decade in the industry, I’ve seen plenty of them.

Whether it was that it worked for them as a miracle (that’s how it usually starts), it seems like they start quite literally to glorify that diet.

It’s not even rare to get them to the point where they see a particular diet as their new religion.

No matter what everyone else says, they are firm in their convictions that X or Y diet is the only way to lose fat.

But now, you should know that there isn’t any specific diet that’s “better” or “worse” when it comes to fat loss.

What worked for you won’t necessarily work for me, and unless I go through the process of knowing myself and asking the questions to see if I can do that particular diet, I should not expect to see results and keep them.

And the problem comes from different sources:

1) There are these false expectations around the internet about what’s possible or how fast it’s possible

Social media is responsible for this one.

If you see those guys or girls posing in a great shape at the beach, then you know what I’m talking about (some people are trying to bring the truth by recognizing they don’t look like that all year round, but it’s not enough and I can talk about that in the future).

The issue is that you start either comparing yourself with those physiques and telling yourself you want to look like that.

But can you really look yourself like that?

Just the fact that your genetics are not the same will make it impossible for you to look like someone else, regardless if you follow to the T what they eat and how they train (in fact, doing this is the recipe for disaster).

That’s why on the main website you visited that got you here I didn’t have a photo of myself or my physique… and not you know why.

But this is not the only cause of this adoration for diets

2) Personal experiences don’t equate to duplicate results

This is why I gave you the science of fat loss, not what worked for me.

Because no matter your age, your sex, how many diets you’ve tried in the past or your situation, when you follow the science of fat loss and put into practice this knowledge, you can be confident that you will get results.

Not only from a knowledge standpoint, but because you have a system and know 1) why things work 2) how to correctly assess your progress, and 3) where and how to tweak it so you keep making progress.

No guessing.

No stress of not understanding why you’re stuck or thinking lowering calories is the answer

No need to start wondering why you’re not losing fat and out of that worry start looking for fad diets that will only make things worse for you in the long term (plus, there’s no way to tell they will help you and you now know why).

It’s just a matter of following this system and (almost like magic), start seeing those pounds be gone and knowing you won’t gain them back again.

But my point is…

whatever approach ends up working for you, know it’s only applied to your personal situation.

The science of fat loss is the one constant thing here, but the way you do it has to be adapted to every situation (since everyone is different by nature).

And if you’d like to know where you can get more tips like this, then all you have to do is sign up below to get them daily delivered to your inbox:

www.fitnessthetic.com

Don’t become a religious about any diet… do what works best for you and see which one adapts better to your situation, knowing it’s nothing magical.

Ivan @ Fitnessthetic

Cutting calories won’t give you results

How many times have you tried losing weight by simply cutting out your calories?

If it didn’t go as planned, there’s a simple reason for that.

Cutting calories won’t give you results.

(Not in the way most people do it, at least).

You see, the way most people go about it is that once they want to start losing fat, they simply cut out either their favorite food, a particular meal, or some type of food (like carbohydrates) and hope that’s the answer for them to lose fat and keep it off.

And while doing anything of the above will get the scale moving down, it will only do it for a couple of days.

That’s where the real issue comes in.

As they don’t know what to do or why is happening, they go out there and cut even more calories (choosing any approach, it doesn’t really make a difference).

The end result?

They get stuck, not knowing what to do and thinking that they can’t lose more weight out of it.

Maybe it’s time to add some cardio sessions to your routine, right?

And yes, it starts moving the balance a little bit…

until you get stuck at a certain number again.

So, what’s the solution?

Simply put, you need to know (and expect) that you will get stuck at some point during fat loss, and it’s a matter of knowing what to tweak to just get over them and keep losing fat.

For many, not doing even a 5% deficit from what they are currently eating is more than enough to keep the scale moving.

The tricky part is that you should know how much you are eating from the beginning so you know what a 5% deficit looks like, otherwise it becomes guessing.

That’s why I recommend counting calories as a way to manage progress (it’s not needed as it can stress some people, but there’s also a way to get around that).

Whatever approach you take…

Make sure you’re measuring something so you can then tweak things accordingly rather than simply cut out more food, your social life or meals from your diet.

If you like this and want to get daily tips like this delivered to your inbox, then make sure you sign up below:

www.fitnessthetic.com

Ivan @ Fitnessthetic

Hormones vs. calories: which one is the ruler?

It’s said that whenever we talk about calories we disregard hormones.

Funny enough, it’s the exact opposite.

Energy balance is affected by hormones and vice versa. It’s a matter of influence that goes in both ways, not a one-direction path.

What’s more, energy balance is based on certain things like how many calories does your body burn at rest (because it needs calories just to keep you alive) or the type of food you’re eating (recall TEF?), as well as other factors that are influenced by hormones.

Does this mean that you should rather disregard calories and rather focus on hormones?

Not at all, and by doing so it’s like trying to focus and control the effect of something rather than the cause.

To have a better understanding of this scope, let’s look at 2 hormones in specific that are of great importance when it comes to fat loss: ghrelin and leptin.

Ghrelin is the hormone that controls hunger/appetite in your body. It’s produced in the stomach, and it sends signals to the brain whenever it feels it’s hungry. 

(As a rule of thumb, when we have a lot of weight to lose we have lower ghrelin levels, while underweight individuals have it higher.)

Leptin is the hormone that controls satiety, produced on the fat cells, and tells your brain that you have enough energy in the form of adipose tissue to survive.

Whenever we are on a deficit (eating less from what we’re burning), we are telling the body that we want to use the current resources that we have as energy.

Well, guess what happens with your hormones?

Ghrelin (the hunger hormone) sends the signal to the brain that there’s not enough food and that you need to feed your body, or else you might die – probably not literally today, but that’s how it was back with our ancestors.

In the meantime, leptin knows it has enough resources to fuel that deficit, but if it doesn’t work properly (like when we have damaged it after trying so many diets in the past)… it won’t communicate that to your brain, thus making you eat more even when you’re satiated.

Both ghrelin and leptin have a negative relationship – so while one is up, the other one is down and vice versa.

What’s more, if the brain doesn’t signal that it has enough resources to survive, it proceeds to start spending less energy on its daily activities to preserve more of it as a reserve (you know, just so that you can survive).

So if you add up all of this, it’s the recipe for disaster.

And this is exactly part of the vicious cycle many people who are constantly dieting experience.

So to finish this cycle, you should focus on your calories.

It’s simple said than done, but when you get your calories nailed down you don’t have to worry about hormones since they would be taken care of it as well.

Now, if you would like to know in greater detail how to do this and what you need to make it happen, then you’re gonna want to sign up below where I give you daily email tips to do it (and a Free guide when you sign up as well):

www.fitnessthetic.com

Ivan @ Fitnessthetic

All diets are the same

Not all diets are created equal, but they are all guided towards the same results.

And let me show what I mean.

The ketogenic diet has the principle of using ketones (that are already in our body, just in small amounts when we’re eating a diet high in carbohydrates) as a source of energy rather than glucose.

The reason behind that?

Since glucose is the primary fuel in our bodies, this is what’s leading us to store more fat and not let us use the energy we have already in our bodies… our fat tissue. 

So to compensate for this, we have to eliminate the carbohydrates from our diets (or eat no more than 30grams per day) to turn on the switch of using ketones in our body as the primary source, which will allow us to start using the fat as energy and thus make us lose weight.

Ok… let’s stop right there for a second.

Before you go on and think that the ketogenic diet is the miracle or “the answer”, I want now to show you the full spectrum (rather than part of it).

Yes, the ketogenic diet does all of that and the reasoning behind it is pretty convincing, but… if we were to put the focus on what really matters in diets, it’s meaningless and useless.

There have been studies that compared how much weight people lose when doing a ketogenic diet vs. doing a High-carb Low-fat (HCLF) diet and measured things like how much weight they lost, how much muscle and Lean Body Mass they retained (if this doesn’t make sense to you yet, don’t worry – I’ll explain all of this in upcoming chapters).

The end result? After both groups completed the period of fat loss, they found something unexpected…

both groups basically lost the exact same amount of weight.

Plus, they retained pretty much the same amount of muscle and Lean Body Mass.

So… what does this all mean?

It means that the ketogenic diet isn’t somehow superior or better than a normal diet with carbohydrates in it.

So while the theory behind doing keto sounds compelling and it makes sense, in reality, it’s just that… it sounds good, but it doesn’t mean it’s true.

And this doesn’t happen only with the ketogenic diet.

Choose any other diet you have tried or heard before, and you’ll see the common denominator is not a “secret” or something special about them – if someone tells you there’s one, I’d run away.

Focus on what really matters and the building block of all diets.

When you do that, it’s only a matter of picking the right diet for you and lose fat (with some nuances in the process, of course).

If you’d like to get daily tips like this delivered to your inbox, then make sure you sign up below:

www.fitnessthetic.com

Ivan @ Fitnessthetic

What does it take to lose 1 pound per week?

Whenever you have 10+ pounds to lose, you want to make sure you lose all of it as fast as possible.

And while it’s possible and there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s like trying to fix something that has been happening for years overnight (quite literally).

I feel that the insane approach of losing 10+ pounds per month is something that when plausible, it’s not ideal for most people.

Why?

Because in the case you can’t get to keep that weight off, you’ll continue going diet after diet trying to lose the same 10 pounds. 

I suggest that most people rather focus on 3-5 pounds per month and take their fat loss journey as a sprint rather than a marathon.

That’s what allowed me to go from 181 pounds to 154 pounds in 4 months total.

So if you were to choose a less aggressive approach (like losing 3-5 pounds per week), that would be about 1 pound per week.

But it would be a pound you know that once it’s gone… it’s completely gone.

You won’t have to think about gaining it later on after you’re done with your diet, because you follow a system that lets you lose 1 pound per week and keep it off.

Now, the question is…

What does it take to lose 1 pound per week?

While there are a lot of ways to answer and where that question can lead, I’d rather go with the direct approach:

For you to do it, you need to create a caloric deficit.

I know, nothing magical…

because whether you want to lose 1 pound per week or 1 pound per day the system is the same.

The only difference is that the approach will determine how aggressive and sustainable it is for you, hence how likely are you to stay on track and keep the results.

Now, there are formulas for you to know exactly how much of a deficit you need based on your current situation and your goal, but…

as a very basic guideline, creating a 500kcal deficit to begin with is a good starting point.

I don’t know how long it can take for your body to respond (of course, this varies from person to person), but give it some time to realize there’s a change and that it has to adapt.

2-3 weeks is a good starting point.

And just like that, if you were to keep a caloric deficit (no need to drastically cut calories – or food – just for the sake of cutting them), you’d see how over 3 months you’ve been consistently lost 12 pounds… maybe a little bit more or less. 

But of course, you’d know that those 12 pounds (or whatever number you lost) will never come back.

That’s why I prefer to lose 1 pound per week… and now, you even know how to do it.

So go and make sure that the next diet you make is the last one you’ll need to lose those pounds for good.

Ivan @ Fitnessthetic

P.S. if you want to get more daily tips like this delivered to your inbox, then sign up below so you don’t miss them.

–> www.fitnessthetic.com

Most Popular

This is what a “diet” really means

Many people go out there saying they are on a diet without paying attention to the real definition. To begin with, let’s explore the roots of the word diet. It comes from the greek diata, which means “a way of living” So this means that when you say “you’re on a diet”, in reality, you

Keep Reading »

3 steps to know if you’re on a real deficit or not

If you’ve tried to lose fat before by cutting more calories and it didn’t work, here’s why. It has nothing to do with whether calories are not the same (spoiler alert: they are… but I can cover that in another post) or if you need to make a bigger deficit to see results. As weird

Keep Reading »

Dieting is making us fatter, Here’s why.

Have you asked yourself what happens in your body whenever you diet, yet for some reason, you couldn’t keep the weight off? Well, science shows us that whether we like it or not, it has some negative consequences. In fact, dieting is making us fatter. Why? Studies have shown that only 5 out of 100

Keep Reading »

Why losing fat is simpler than you think

f it seems that no matter how hard you try to lose weight with diets or exercise, then let me share something with you. Even when you’ve tried a lot and haven’t seen the results you want (or keep them), losing fat is simpler than you think. Here’s why. You’ve probably heard a lot of

Keep Reading »

Are calories in vs. calories out real or BS?

Let me ask you a question, How many times have you heard the saying “not all calories are equal”? I’ve heard it a hundred times (maybe a hundred one with this one). And this saying makes sense. I mean, if you eat 100kcal of avocado (because it’s a healthy fat, right?…) is not the same

Keep Reading »

The food you should avoid when losing fat

The moment you start cutting out some food from your diet, a lot of things start to happen. Both good and bad. The good things are that if you cut rice, pizza, ice cream or any other food… you can be pretty much confident you’ll lose weight. But not because there is anything inherently bad

Keep Reading »