You want to stay lean and muscular year-round, but you’re counting calories and getting minimal results. (Nightmare!)
Well, the protocol I’m about to share with you will change the game. It’s simple and easy to implement. All you need is to understand a few principles.
First, we’ll go through the 5 weight loss variables.
Second, we’ll run 2 practical scenarios to understand them.
Finally, we’ll lay down a protocol that keeps you lean and muscular.
How do you lose weight?
Losing weight is a combination of the following processes:
Hydration
Go ahead and drink a liter of water.
Congrats you just gained 1 kg.
But don’t worry, you’ll get rid of what your body doesn’t need.
My point is that hydration status is a key factor contributing to the weight fluctuations you experience.
If you’re overhydrated, you’ll experience a temporary increase in body weight.
If you’re dehydrated, you’ll experience a temporary decrease in body weight.
The goal of course is to stay optimally hydrated.
How?
Hydrate first thing in the morning, and pay attention to thirst signals during the day.
Muscle weight
Muscles account for around 40% of your body weight, which is significant!
In other words, the more muscle you have the heavier you’ll be on the scale.
Is it bad?
Not at all!
Is it desirable?
I’d say yes, within reason!
Why am I telling you this?
Because if you gained weight and that weight was extra muscles, why are you fussing about it?
Glycogen stores
You can store 400-500g of glycogen in your muscles and liver. Each gram is typically stored along with 3 g of water. If you do the math, you’ll realize that your glycogen stores account for up to 2 Kg (4.4 pounds) in your body weight.
A fast way to lose weight is, therefore, depleting your glycogen stores.
An equally rapid way to gain it back is to replenish your glycogen stores.
What should you do?
Both.
We’ll get into that in a minute.
Fat stores
Fat stores constitute 10-30% of your body weight, in most cases.
Ideally, if you’re a man, you want to keep your body fat percentage around 8-12%
If you’re a woman, between 12-18%.
You probably want it so bad!
I mean losing fat. That’s the best thing to do.
And the most difficult.
Why are the best things always more difficult?
I’d say, to make life more interesting…
Isn’t it?
Bone density
The final variable involved is bone density.
Changes in bone density happen but aren’t that significant.
Everyone should strive to keep optimal bone density (3-5% of your body weight).
You can accomplish that by applying forces to your skeletal system and eating nutrient-dense foods rich in all the vitamins and minerals your body needs to maintain healthy bones (Vitamin D, K, Calcium, Copper, etc.).
2 Practical scenarios
As you might have guessed, these processes happen simultaneously all the time. These systems are interconnected and dynamically changing. So, let’s go through practical scenarios to understand the best way to lose weight.
Scenario one
Imagine you exercise like a freak, deplete your glycogen stores, lose water and some fat.
You step on the scale and your weight is rewarding you big time!
You’re jumping around, you lose more fat… but then you’re HUNGRY!
It’s time to eat.
Some junk food, a soda, and a treat to finish it up.
You replenish all your glycogen stores, but then extra glucose and fatty acids hang in your bloodstream. Your body takes everything and stores it as fat.
You step on the scale and your weight shoots back up to where you started, if not a bit higher.
Now, you’re cursing!
Scenario two
You’re serious, you trained consistently for a month and started to see muscles popping. And because you did it consistently without eating junk food, you lost fat.
You step on the scale and your weight is still the same.
You curse again!
Hold on… you should be happy.
Remember, muscles pack glycogen/water and are much heavier than fat.
Your total weight didn’t change, but your body composition did and so did your health.
Okay, you got the point.
But what’s the ideal protocol to stay lean and muscular year-round?
And this is what you’ve been waiting for:
Stay lean and muscular (Protocol)
The first signal you want to give your body is a stimulus for muscle building.
The ideal time to do that is first thing in the morning, and/or afternoon.
The second signal is depleting your glycogen stores, and keeping them low most of the time.
How?
Exercise depletes it, and eating low carbs (breakfast and lunch) keeps it low.
The third signal is mobilizing fatty acids and using them for energy production. To achieve that you want to stay active during the day in addition to your exercise and low-carb diet.
Full protocol
- Eat dinner early (natural carbs allowed in moderation = 150-250g max).
- Get good quality sleep (8-9 hours).
- Morning (fasted) strength training session (25-40 min well-designed workout).
- Delay breakfast to 1-2 hours after workout (High protein – Low/No carb breakfast).
- Lunch 2-4 hours after breakfast (High protein – Low/No carb lunch).
- 10-20 minutes walk after lunch.
- Eat dinner early (natural carbs allowed in moderation = 150-250g max).
- 10-20 minutes walk after dinner.
- Repeat.
Conclusion
Repeat this process 5-7 days a week, and you’ll stay lean and muscular year-round guaranteed. And yes you don’t have to bother with calorie-counting or dreading your life.
Now, you might not be able to jump into this protocol cold turkey, and that’s normal.
So first, aim to implement one thing and make it a habit, then tackle the next point, the next, and so on. Build up step-by-step until you can consistently follow through the entire protocol.
Enjoy!
