Greetings and salutations!

My good friend JC & I just released the second episode of our wonderfully swell and informative fitness podcast. In this episode we cover:

How to maintain muscle while dieting.

Program design and modifications for the individual.

How to break through strength training plateaus.

What music we life and chill too.

In other news, we’re still at a loss for what to call the podcast! If you have any input or suggestions, we would love to hear them.

To listen, you can either click play below or right click and save here.

You can also download our very first episode by right clicking and saving here

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I also talked about microloading as a form of progress, so if you’re interested in ordering some of those plates click this link: http://www.mcmaster.com/#catalog/118/3217/=ggpbvp

To find them, hit “ctrl-f” on your PC or “cmd-f” on your Mac and paste this number into the search field: 90108A046

Thanks for the support!

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Before you start moving in any direction – putting on weight or trying to lose it – you first need to determine where you are.

It all starts with maintenance (how many calories you need to maintain your current weight within a 2-4lbs).

Step 1: Figure out your BMR.

BMR stands for Basal Metabolic Rate, a fancy term for the amount of calories it would take to maintain your body weight if you were to enter some type of bear-like hibernation, not moving at all.

There are a few different formulas for figuring this out, but since the numbers are going to have to be adjusted based on real world results, keeping it simple as pie works best, and this calculator does just that: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

Step 2: Factor in activity

Using the number you got from the calculator, you would now factor in your activity in order to arrive at that maintenance number: ====> activity multipliers.

BMR = 2120

I train 2-3 days per week, walking an hour 2-3x a week, but other than that I’m not very active & am either training clients or sitting at the computer (aka not much activity). I’d then check the activity multiplier chart and see which one best fit in with current situation.

2120 (BMR) x 1.375 (multiplier) = 2915 calories

Note: The activity multipliers can sometimes spit out a number that’s a bit too high (which it is for me in the above instance), so don’t be afraid to use a lower number that’s not on the page. Test for 2-3 weeks & adjust on based on results.

I feel my number is a bit too high given my activity, so I played with the numbers and below are my adjusted calculations.

2120 (BMR) x 1.28 (adjusted multiplier) = 2714 calories

Step 3: Adjust For Goals

Now that I have my theoretical baseline, I can now plot out my training day and off day calories.

In my case, I’m going for straight up fat loss at the expense of everything else – muscle or strength  gains are not in my plans at all. If I gain any of those two, it will simply be icing on the cake. The goal is to maintain what strength I do have until I’m done dieting down.

With that determined, I subtracted 500ish calories from my maintenance calories to determine workout day calorie intake (2195) and a little more than 1,000 calories from to determine my off day calorie intake (1660).

As you can see, I’m venturing pretty far from my maintenance levels, adding up to a pretty big calorie deficit. Please note that the bigger the deficit, the smarter you need to be about diet breaks and refeeds (check here for a great explanation as to what those are and why they’re important).

It all comes down to this: how fast do you want it, and how much of a deficit can you handle day in and day out?

I wouldn’t recommend big deficits like this for someone who is prone to food binges – slow and steady often is the best way to go in those cases.

For someone looking to lose fat at a slower pace (or increase strength and muscle mass), they would ease up on the big calorie deficit and add more calories to both their training days and off days, adjusting based on their results.

Step 4: Fill in with macros

Note: scroll down to the bottom of this post to see my macros & calorie intake.

Protein: 1 gram/lb of body weight is a decent starting point for fat loss, but in order to ensure maintenance of muscle mass I like to go a bit higher (1.1 – 1.2 grams/lb of body weight). The further you venture from maintenance (and the longer you’re in those periods) the more protein you’re going to need to make sure you don’t end up a smaller version of your former self at the end of the dieting process. This means your intake could vary anywhere from 1.1 – 1.5 grams/lb of body weight.

I set mine at 1.15 for the sake if ease and comfort.

Fat: I love eggs, cheese, ice cream, full fat dairy, bacon and fattier cuts of meat, and on a diet I would much rather have more of these than loads of potatoes, pasta & rice, and my macros reflect this as I skewed my numbers more towards fat on both training and off days. Coupled with all the protein, it helps keep me full longer and just tastes downright delicious.

Carbs: This was a personal preference decision. Large amount of carbs make me sleepy, even fruit if I eat way too much of it at once, so I kept them relatively low on my training days and very low on my off days, allowing me to enjoy more delicious fat while still getting in just enough to make sure that my workouts are productive and adequate recovery still takes place. Since I’m refeeding once a week, this isn’t a problem for me.

In general, you want to cycle your carbohydrates, having more of them when they’re needed (workout days) and less of them when you don’t (off days). As a result, fat also generally decreases significantly on workout days and increases on off days.

1st update

Questions? Concerns? Mean comments that make me want to go cry in the corner for all eternity? Drop them below in the comment section!

For the past few months I’ve just been eating anything that I’ve wanted, loosely tracking calories and macros, but for the most part not really caring how much I ate – lots of ice cream, steak, ribs, fruit, pasta and the occasional Cinnabon.

Training has been whenever I’ve felt like it – sometimes 1x a week, but usually 2x with a couple of challenges throw in for fun. Simply put I’ve been maintaining my results with as little time as necessary, but today marks the the day that I finally get off my butt cheeks and decide to actually get moving towards my own personal Sexification goals for several reasons.

1. I’ll be speaking on a panel along with Fitocracy at PAX East in Boston on April 6th entitled Gaming and Fitness – A Surprisingly Awesome Marriage, so I want to come in looking as Sexified as I can.

2. Pursuing a solid physique goal helps keep me on track in other areas of my life as well.

3. I want to show you, live & in the flesh, that getting the body that you want doesn’t have to be difficult at all (and it can actually be more fun than a box of kittens playing with a box of puppies playing with a box of pandas).

4. It gives me a fun reason to keep myself accountable along with my awesome friend Sohee Lee on her own Sexification journey.

My goal is simple: to look and feel as great as I can over the next 12 weeks, with April 6th being a nice checkpoint.

At my current weight, I have about 30-35lbs to lose, and I’m giving myself  8-9 months to knock it all out in a leisurely manner.

Here is my diet breakdown, with the logic and how I accomplish to be the subject of an upcoming post:

Training Days

240g protein
75g fat
140g carbs
2195 calories

Off Days
240g protein
60g fat
40g carbs
1660 calories
This is on top of getting in an hour of activity that I love on off days (walking, hiking, dancing, practicing kung-fu moves, fighting along with Bruce Lee movies, etc).

Every Sunday I’ll be updating with pictures and talking about what I’m doing training wise, what I’m eating, my calorie intake and how I’m varying it and pretty much anything else that I think will be helpful.

More importantly, I’ll be covering what YOU want to know about the transformation process and how you can apply it to your own situation, so ask away in the comment section below!

Starting weight as of 2/18/2012: 210.4lbs

1. Realize that you are ready

You might not have everything you need to complete the journey, but you have enough to start RIGHT NOW. Don’t worry about the details – the journey will change you and you’ll find all the tools you need to reach your goals along the way. Just take some action, no matter how small, right now.

2. Embrace fear

Do you get anxious/scared when you go to take a shower? Hopefully not. What about before going to speak in front of hundreds of people, or before lifting a weight you’ve never lifted before? Fear will always be a part of your life, so instead of avoiding it at all costs, embrace it. View it as a guidepost that says what you’re about to do is important and meaningful to you, and then just do it.

Here is a fantastic free resource to help you tackle your fears: The Flinch

3. Consume less, create more

It’s near impossible to effectively consume and create at the same time. Try sprinting while reading a book, or jumping out a plane while doing your taxes (making sure to send the video footage to me) and lemme know how that goes.

The less time you spend consuming, the more time you have for creation, and creating is the only way to move forward.

Create movement. Create time. Create relationships. Create the life you want.

4. Get the #*(@ out of your life

Have you ever cleaned & organized your place after putting it off forever? For approximately 6-7 seconds after you’re done, the universe opens up and drops this knowledge nugget right into your head:  ”Damn this feels awesome! Why didn’t I do it sooner?”

This could be stuff that has been piling up forever, but it could also be negative people who just drag down at every turn.

Getting rid of stuff that only takes up space and adds no value makes room for things that do.

5. Be inspired daily

Read a book.
Have a great conversation.
Listen to a podcast (recommendations here, here, here & here)
Watch a dope movie clip.
Read some awesome quotes.

Pretty much do ANYTHING you can to get your mind right. Everything becomes easier to do with a positive mindset.

6. Make it fun.

‘Nuff said. If you don’t like doing it (or make it at least enjoyable on some level), you won’t stick with it.

7. Be a Toyota Prius, not a rocket ship.

The problem that often befalls people is not their actual goal, but the time frame that they set to achieve it. Losing 20lbs of fat ? Hell yeah – super possible! Losing 20lbs of fat in 30 days? Only if you have a chainsaw and are up for losing some limbs.

The more unrealistic the time frame, the more ridiculous things you’re gonna have to do to even have a chance of getting there. Even then, the chances of failure are pretty high.

A realistic time frame gives you more breathing room to find out what works and to play around the variables related to your goal, while still giving putting enough fire under your cheeks so that you don’t stretch it out into infinity.

Don’t burn out via a rocket ship-esque effort (aka an all out guts & glory approach with little to show for it when all is said & done). You’re in this for the long haul.

8. Chase failure like a cheetah chases…whatever it is that cheetahs chase.

No one fails by doing nothing; failure requires risk and action. Failure means you found a way that didn’t work – AWESOME!

And guess what? You didn’t die, the world didn’t come crashing down around you and you didn’t soil your pants.

You’ve lived to fight another day, gained valuable experience and are now one step closer to finding something does work.

9. Do something different

If you’ve been tackling a goal for some time with a lack of results, change something.

Expecting a different outcome by doing the same thing you’ve always done is like expecting a punch in the face from Mike Tyson (any era) not to hurt: no matter how much you want it to be true, it’s just not.

10. Never give up

If winning is the only option, how can you lose?

Bonus

“Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” - Dale Carnegie

“If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.” – Jim Rohn

“It’s always too early to quit.” – Norman Vincent Peale

“Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start.” – Nido Qubein

“Opportunity does not knock, it presents itself when you beat down the door.” – Kyle Chandler

“Small deeds done are better than great deeds planned.” – Peter Marshall

“The gap between ignorance and knowledge is much less than the gap between knowledge and action.”
-Anonymous

“The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential… these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.” – Confucius

“To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities.” – Bruce Lee