fbpx

Latest Posts

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

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

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 times that yo need to exercise more and/or eat less to lose weight, but…

you’ve tried that and simply didn’t work for you.

Well, what if I told you that in reality it wasn’t because they don’t work for you or there’s something more complicated than that… 

but because you weren’t in a real deficit?

Let me show you what I mean.

For you to lose weight, you need to create a caloric deficit (nothing more or less complicated than that), but if you did some type of restriction yet didn’t see results it was for one of two reasons:

  1. You weren’t in a real deficit (meaning, what you thought it was or what it once was a deficit for you it no longer is the case)
  2. You overestimated how much exercise you did, you underestimated how much you ate – or both.

For you to know which one it was and how to deal with it, here’s a simple way of doing it.

Start by calculating how many calories you need to eat per day (based on your Total Energy Daily Expenditure – TDEE) and stick to it at least for 2 weeks.

If you keep the same weight (which you should, as that’s the idea), it means your calories in theory match your real calories.

But you can guess what’s going to happen in the other situations.

If you gain some weight, it could be one of the 2 scenarios I mentioned above (and the only way to get accurate would be by weighing your food)… so you want to adjust and lower your real calories until you stop gaining weight.

And in case you lose some weight (assuming you were tracking accurately), then it was because your real calories are a little bit over from the predicted… so you’d have to increase your calories until you also get to your real calories.

From there, you’d know 2 important things:

  1. Your current and real maintenance calories
  2. How to get over the inaccuracy of overeating or undereating.

That leaves you only with the option that’s most important.

How to lose weight.

And with a caloric deficit (it can be somewhat aggressive only at first), you’d then be in a position where losing weight is almost guaranteed.

To put this with numbers, if you were to eat 2,300kcal as maintenance and you’d then cut 500kcal, you’d then start eating 1,800kcal a day… 

which should be enough to lose fat and not get stuck for 3-4 weeks.

Then, all you have to do is keep tweaking your diet (or increase exercise activity – or both) so you break past those moments where you feel stuck.

And that’s really it.

Of course, this is a general overview of something that can get pretty detailed and there can be a lot of nuances, but from there…

there’s not much I could add on what you need to do to lose weight for good.

Now, all you have to do is go out there and start doing it.

And if you’d like to get more tips like this one that help you do it, then sign up below to get them delivered to your inbox:

www.fitnessthetic.com

Ivan @ Fitnessthetic

A new (and better) way to lose fat?

How many times have you to diet and lose fat all at once, just to later on find out you have gained the weight back… sometimes even more?

Even if your answer is just once, I wouldn’t be surprised.

You see, most people want to lose the weight they have to lose (let’s say 25lbs as an example) all at once, yet…

while it’s possible, you’re putting a lot of pressure on yourself.

Here’s why.

For most people, losing fat means you go on a very aggressive caloric deficit while staying there as much as you can to maximize the fat you lose… until you plateau.

From there, you keep creating a deficit – which means cutting calories for most – and keep doing it until you lose those pounds.

But when you have a considerate amount of fat to lose, doing a fat loss phase as a marathon might not be the best way.

The good news is…

there’s actually a new (and better) way of doing this.

Now, this doesn’t ignore the basic law of physics or it means it’s somewhat magical, yet…

you can lose as much fat by minimizing the plateaus… while maximizing your muscle retention.

I’m talking about doing fat loss sprints.

Let me explain.

Instead of going on a 3-month period straight where you create deficits (while adding some refeeds here and there), you divide this in week periods.

That means that you can go 2-3 weeks somewhat aggressive on your caloric deficit, and then go to a diet break for 2 weeks.

From there, you’d go back to a caloric deficit, followed by diet breaks… and so on.

This way you’re doing fat loss as sprints rather than as a marathon.

But there’s a main negative side to this.

That is… 

as you’re taking literally these diet breaks from dieting instead of doing it all at once, by default you’ll be extending how long it will take you to lose the same weight.

Let me show you.

Let’s say you “need” 16 weeks to lose 25 pounds of fat.

Doing it as a marathon, you’d only need 16 weeks (maybe a little bit more if you add diet breaks here and there), but…

doing it as a sprint, it will still take you to lose 16 weeks to lose that weight – but you’d need to account for the weeks you are not dieting between them.

So let’s say you’d add about 12 weeks from those diet breaks to your 16 weeks of dieting…

that will give you a total of 28 weeks.

So that’s close to twice the duration to lose the same weight.

And let me ask you…

what’s the reason to rush it anyway?…

Unless you have been diagnosed with some medical condition (which you should be having medical advice for that), chances are you can make your fat loss phase longer.

Plus, you’d not only be able to retain more muscle and lose more fat, but also increase the likelihood you’ll keep that weight.

But in the end, you’re free to choose.

Do you want to make it less likely that you’ll feel like hell when dieting and you’ll gain your weight back? 

Then going for a fat loss sprint may be something you’re gonna want to use.

And if you want some extra help first not only with your fat loss phase, but also enjoying your life when doing it… then make sure you don’t miss my daily email tips – which you can sign up below:

www.fitnessthetic.com

Plus, you’ll get the guide (for Free) where I share the 3-quick “tweaks” in your diet that force your body to lose more fat – they aren’t miracles, but you bet they are helpful when dieting.

Either way, now you have a better approach to losing fat and make it more likely that it’s the last time you need to diet to lose those pounds of fat.

Ivan @ Fitnessthetic

Why extreme diets make you fatter

Quick question:

What’s the #1 reason why extreme diets fail?

  1. They aren’t sustainable
  2. They don’t work
  3. They prevent you from eating what you want
  4. They will always work – it’s a myth

Now, while some answers have some truths to the question (except the last one), there’s only one correct answer.

That is the first option, of course.

I’ve seen dieters start wondering about cutting their calories to create a deficit (good) of at least 2,000kcal… just eating less than a thousand calories a day (bad).

Doing this is only putting them in a bad situation

And the reason is pretty simple.

They are not only playing not to lose (rather than to gain), but…

they are putting themselves in a much harder situation for no reason.

Why?

Because for them to see results, they have no real reason to go so low on calories right out of the gate.

In fact, doing so will only make them feel the urge to binge eat, starve themselves, and make them wonder what to do when they reach a plateau.

That’s why extreme diets make you fatter.

People who try it aren’t able to not only follow through but actually keep it.

As a result, they end up gaining their weight back (and then some).

The true beauty is…

You don’t have to go so low in calories.

You might not even need to reduce the food you eat at all – will depend on some factors, of course.

And while I tell you on my daily email tips how to do this, if you want to actually eat the same (even more) while losing weight… I share with you the 3-quick “tweaks” in your diet ‘force’ your body to lose more fat when you sign up below:

www.fitnessthetic.com

Sure, these tweaks aren’t miracles and will be meaningless compared to having a deficit, yet…

That doesn’t mean they can help you not even feel like dieting at all when you use them.

You can check it out for yourself when you sign up above.

Ivan @ Fitnessthetic

How long will it take you to lose all the weight you want?

How many times have you wondered… when should you stop dieting?

What’s more…

How much should you actually diet and for how long? …and what happens when you don’t get to your goals?

Well, let’s break this down.

First, you should have an idea on how much weight you want to lose and that the more aggressive you diet (which I don’t recommend if you want to preserve more muscle), the shorter it will be.

That being said…

If you have to lose like 50 pounds and want to do it in 8 weeks, you’re making it harder on yourself.

Not only will you be going through a lot of pain (not literally) during those 8 weeks, but…

You know it’s very likely most of those pounds lost will be fat and lean body mass, while increasing the chances of gaining that weight back.

That’s why in the Cheat sheet you get when you sign up (Click here if you haven’t signed up yet) you get to have an idea on how much time it will take you to lose the weight you want.

For instance, when I used it to lose close to 5kg (11 pounds), I did it in 2 months. That’s a little bit more than 1 pound per week – on average.

I know it’s not as impressive as you find online nowadays (like losing 50 pounds in 30 days and what not), but I was happy with the results I got.

And that leads me to the second and most important part.

What’s the reason you’re rushing it?…

You see, most attempts at dieting fail because of one single reason… and that is that we want to get those abs and look shredded NOW.

It’s now or never.

Well, if you were to speed this process up for no real reason (I consider a real reason either you’re gonna be in a contest or you have severe health issues), then it’s better to take the path where you’re gonna keep those results – while feeling good in the process.

Still, in some cases you don’t get to the actual goal you’re looking for… let’s say you saw you wanted to lose 18 pounds in 3 months, yet at the end of month 3 you “only” lost 13 pounds.

Most people feel like they haven’t made any progress or that it was a wasted time, which is ridiculous.

Yes, you failed to reach your goal for 5 pounds, but…

You lost 13 pounds! 

I think that matters, right?…

Yet, the question remains.

What should you do when you don’t get to the goals you’re looking for?

That’s a topic I’ve covered in other posts you’re free to look up, yet… keep in mind it’s a better strategy to stop there and then get back when you’re back at a better starting point than when you’ve been dieting for weeks ahead.

This applies whether you decide to do a reverse diet or simply a diet break.

And if you want to actually give you a breakdown on how to do this, then sign up below and let me know so I can reply back to you:

www.fitnessthetic.com

For your imminent success,

Ivan @ Fitnessthetic

Why most people lose weight the hard way

First things first, let’s see how to lose fat the hard way.

It’s important to point out that regardless of the definition, this is based completely on science.

That means, opinions aren’t actually very helpful when data tells us the opposite.

Cool?…

Ok. 

So now, here it is how to know whether you’re trying to lose weight the hard way or the simpler way – you’ll see why I say simpler instead of easy in a moment.

The hard way means doing at least one of these:

  1. Starving yourself
  2. Limiting or restricting any food you enjoy and want
  3. Spending hours and hours at the gym working out
  4. Doing hours of cardio
  5. Rejecting to go out and have a social life because you fear it will screw up your progress
  6. Feeling like your heart raises when you’re eating out and you cannot stop worrying about what to eat

This isn’t a comprehensive list, yet… 

You can see it covers a lot of things on losing fat the hard way.

Look, even if you were to actually lose a lot of weight this way (I didn’t say it’s possible, but unnecessary)… what’s the point if because you felt like shit then you start gaining all the weight back?

That’s why I prefer to help people do it the simpler way.

Keep in mind I don’t say easy as there’s some work that needs to be done of course, but…

With the right information, you will know exactly what you’re doing without having to do any of the above.

If you’d like to see how to do it, then all you have to do is sign up below to stop worrying about whether your next meal is going to fit into what your goals are or not, and rather enjoy a good time… knowing you’ll still eat to stay on track:

Plus, when this basics are in place… having some advantages in your diet can make the difference in how you feel while doing it.

That’s why you’ll also get a Free copy of “The Fat Loss Multiplier” guide when you sign up:

Click below to get it:

—> https://fitnessthetic.com

Ivan “The Underground Fitness” Iniguez

2 words to spot an amateur fitness coach dressed up like a pro

Ask a question in regards to weight loss to 5 fitness coaches… and their answers will determine who you’re talking to.

Here’s what I mean.

WIth the constant rise of new fitness coaches coming out of nowhere, there should be a way to spot those who know what they’re doing and what they’re talking about… from those who just throw complicated terms like “insulin response” or “high glycemic index”.

To be specific, I’m talking about those who tell you (you should do X if you’re having Y)… like, ‘you should stop eating fast food if you want to lose weight’.

Even better, there’s also those who think they know it all and that the information cannot change (or get updated, if you will) and think that what they had to “back up” their position is still valid today.

This doesn’t affect the actual basic principles, of course, but…

when it comes to certain tips and advice for fat loss, many fitness coaches pretend to know it all.

That’s what I call being an amateur fitness coach dressed up like a pro.

But, what if you want to spot a real expert who has some sense of what you need to do?

Well, there are 2 words that every expert should say before giving you any advice.

These 2 words are: “It depends”.

The reason is pretty simple.

Because we don’t know what’s your current situation at all, what your goals are and what you’ve tried in the past (and why it didn’t work), we won’t share some cookie-cutter response to your specific problem.

It would be crazy for someone who knows giving a simple Y/N answer with an explanation without asking you some questions first.

That’s why experts say “It depends” in basically all their responses.

Now go ahead and see who you’re currently following and pay attention to the words they are using.

Sometimes you can be surprised…

And if you want to receive daily tips like this delivered at your inbox everyday, then simply sign up below:

www.fitnessthetic.com

Don’t forget… there are a ton of fitness coaches dressing up out there with fancy words and citations of studies that try to compensate for their lack of knowledge.

Now, you know better.

Ivan “The Fitness Underground” Iniguez

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 »

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

Keep Reading »

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

Keep Reading »

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

Keep Reading »

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

Keep Reading »

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

Keep Reading »