The All-Day Fat-Burning Diet: The 5-Day Food-Cycling Formula That Resets Your Metabolism To Lose Up to 5 Pounds a Week (11 page)

You’ve likely heard of the law of attraction, though there’s a good chance some of you will roll your eyes when you hear those words. The idea holds that if you focus intently on your deepest desire, the universe will conspire to make it come true. I can see how it sounds a bit “New Age-y,” but I know from experience that it works. However, I also know that you must consistently focus and act on your initial vision. That’s what really makes the magic happen.

To
get started, get very clear about exactly what you want. Once you can see it and feel it, write it down and attach a deadline to it—otherwise it’s simply a pipe dream that might happen “someday,” a day that may never come. Review your goal every single day. Keep it visible. Attach images to it if you like and post it on your bathroom mirror or your fridge. Keep it in your wallet or put it on your smartphone. Repetition is the mother of mastery, so you need to repeatedly show your brain what you want so it can help you make it happen. Moreover, keeping your goal around you at all times will constantly remind you what to work on to make the big picture become real; it’s easy to lose focus when life is bewilderingly hectic.

STEP
2: PLAN AND PREPARE

You’re doing nothing less than building a thrilling new version of yourself, and like any master architect, you need a plan. How can you construct You 2.0 without firm guidelines and steps in place?

I believe that the main reason people fail to achieve their goals is because they don’t have a solid plan. They may have something fantastic in mind, but they don’t prepare for it. For example, how easy is it to have no idea what you’re eating for dinner after a long, tiring day? It’s all too common. By the time you shuffle through your front door at day’s end, you have little to no willpower left to prepare a healthy meal. The next thing you know, you’re dialing up for delivery or peeling the plastic off of a microwave meal. Worse yet, you’re elbow deep in a bag of potato chips. Sadly, these decisions don’t move you closer to a lean, healthy body.

This is why meal planning is so important. By mapping out a week’s worth of meals, it becomes ridiculously easy to quickly whip up a tasty, healthy meal whenever you need to, giving your brain and body even more time to relax. Eating isn’t something you should have to worry about. In this book, I’ve given you a 5-Day Food-Cycling Plan that you should follow to the letter—at least for 21 days—to maximize your fat loss. Thousands of other people have, and they’ve realized incredible results. In fact, many have found themselves continuing to eat according to its guidelines long after their 21 days are up because it’s such a completely natural and healthy way of eating and living. You can do the same.

Likewise, if you go to work out without any sense of what you’re about to do, I guarantee that your workout will be far less effective than if you know exactly which exercises to do, how many sets and reps, and so forth. Our brains are like laser-guided missiles, and they rely on us for clear direction. Why don’t you tell yours what to aim for? Figure out what you’re going to have for dinner this week and then get everything you need from the grocery store. If you work out first thing in the morning, get your workout attire ready to go and load your favorite Yuri-guided workouts on your iPod the night before. By
making
a plan, you can avoid those last-minute pitfalls and excuses. As the old saying goes, “If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.”

STEP 3: START YOUR ENGINE

How do you feel before you exercise or prepare a meal? Do you go about it with reluctance or a sense of dreariness, or do you feel pumped up and excited about the task ahead? Actually, it’s worth asking: How do you feel right now? You might find this line of questioning puzzling, but it’s really important. Although it’s easy to overlook, your
state
(your physiology, how you feel, etc.) will predict the action you take and thus the results you achieve. Conversely, it can also predict which action you won’t take and the results you’ll fail to achieve.

I learned this firsthand in the oddest of places—after walking on burning hot coals at a Tony Robbins event several years ago. It sounds crazy, but firewalking is a centuries-old practice that forces you to harness the “power state.” If the walker is strong of mind and in the right state, walking the coals—as terrifying as it may be—becomes an easy task. After spending half the day going from a state of panic to priming my mind and body to believe that I could walk on fire, I did it without flinching and without getting burned.

If we can walk on fire, what else can we achieve when we’re in the right state? Don’t worry, I’m not going to ask you to walk on fire. However, you can think of your continued struggle with weight as the proverbial fire if you’d like. Are you ready to walk all over it? Getting in peak state is simply a matter of getting your body a little more juiced up. It’s about revving up your engine. The easiest way to do this is to stand instead of sit—or try smiling instead of frowning, raising your rib cage instead of slouching, taking a deep breath into your belly instead of breathing shallowly.

All of these simple physical shifts improve your emotional state, which puts you into high gear for taking action. Remember, it’s very tough to take massive action if you feel depressed. You can’t take on the world if you don’t feel capable of it. No matter how doubtful you
may
feel right now, I’m sure you’ve had moments of sheer joy and confidence when you felt unstoppable. That’s what I’m talking about here. As Tony Robbins says, “Emotion comes from motion.” To improve your state, simply change the way you use your body. Within seconds, you will feel better and more ready to take on the world—or at least eat better and work out. That’s just another reason for being more active throughout your day.

Here’s another way of looking at it.

STATE
➞
FEELINGS
➞
ACTIONS
➞
RESULTS

In her famous TED Talk, social psychologist Amy Cuddy showed that body language doesn’t just affect how others see us, but how we see ourselves. She demonstrated how “power posing”—standing in a posture of confidence, even when we don’t feel confident—can increase testosterone, lower cortisol levels, and even improve our chances for success in various social settings. You can adopt any of these power poses to improve your state and feel more confident, charismatic, and unstoppable in a matter of seconds.

For instance, instead of standing in a slouched position with your arms crossed, which is a very weak and defensive posture, stand tall with your head high and your arms outstretched like you just won the 100-meter sprint in the Olympics. Go one step further, and get ready to save the world by standing tall with your hands on your hips like Superman or Wonder Woman. As you do this, put a big smile on your face, and you’ll supercharge your state even further.

Exercise is a great way to improve your state because it gets your blood flowing and endorphins rushing. You can also get a similar high by simply bouncing around for a few seconds like a boxer before a fight. You can even celebrate your victory in advance by making a celebratory fist pump—nothing can stop you unless you let it! If this all feels a little funny, consider the fact that animals use this same practice to assert themselves and establish dominance. Apes will stand tall and pound on their chests. Bears will rise right up onto their hind legs. Even the smallest wiener dogs will jump at your legs to make themselves more imposing.

So
don’t hide. Make yourself big and powerful because, when you do, you put yourself into a state of being ready for action. If you don’t feel like working out, raise your hands in the air in celebration or jump around while you listen to the theme song from
Rocky
. It’s impossible not to feel better after that. It’s time to get to work!

STEP 4: GET SOCIAL SUPPORT

Now that you’re primed for action, it’s time to start thinking about your team. The road to a personal breakthrough can be a lonely one, so I always advise my clients to seek out others who are on a similar quest or have already realized the results they’re after. You need to surround yourself with positive people who will support you on your path.

It makes sense, doesn’t it? You know how much of a hurdle a few discouraging words can be. When someone makes you feel terrible about yourself, it can seriously hinder or even halt your progress. Thankfully, the reverse is true as well: When you hit a tough spot on your mission, a few encouraging words from someone who can empathize can give you just the push you need to make it through. Everyone needs a sidekick from time to time.

This was confirmed by a study in the
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology,
which found that participants recruited for a weight-loss program with friends had greater weight loss at the end of both 4 months of treatment and a 10-month follow-up than did those without similar support. Of those recruited with friends and given social support, 95 percent completed treatment and 66 percent maintained their weight loss in full.
¹
Online groups can also play a supportive role. A 2010 study showed that Internet weight-loss communities (think Facebook groups or forums) played a prominent role in participants’ weight-loss efforts. The study found that participants really valued the encouragement and motivation, extra information, and shared experiences inside the group.
²

Findings like these are a big part of why we’ve created a private “readers-only” Facebook group. If you haven’t yet joined us, please do.
Becoming
part of a supportive community that knows
exactly
what you’re going through will help you live this program to the fullest. You’ll also connect with thousands of other men and women who have already transformed their bodies using the All-Day Fat-Burning Diet. Please don’t underestimate what a tremendous help this can be. You’ll love it.

For access to our private Facebook group, go to
alldayfatburningdiet.com/resources.

If social media isn’t your style, then at the very least recruit some friends to join you on this journey. But be careful to choose only those who will elevate you. You become who you spend the most time with, so choose wisely.

STEP 5: CREATE A WINNING ENVIRONMENT

Environment will always trump willpower. No matter how committed you are to your goals, if you’re hiding stashes of chocolate, ice cream, or other tempting foods around the house—no matter how far out of sight—you will eventually eat them. Trust me on this one.

Your personal environment needs to be a
dojo
, streamlined in perfect congruence with who you want to become, not necessarily who you were until now. What got you here won’t get you to the next level. My business coach and mentor, Dan Sullivan of Strategic Coach, always says this: “The skills that got you out of Egypt aren’t the same skills that will get you to the promised land.” What you then have to ask yourself is this: How can you continue to refine your get-fit skills if you’ve booby-trapped your home with apple pies and cheese puffs?

We constantly hear that it’s important to practice discipline, but we can only rely on our self-control for so long. Willpower is like a battery that dwindles away with continued use; at a certain point, it’s completely drained, and that’s when the bingeing commences. For this reason, it’s important not to sabotage yourself by having unhealthy foods around. Furthermore, relying on willpower has unwanted physiological effects as well.

It’s not common knowledge, but self-control uses up your blood sugar, a limited energy source. A study done by the American Psychological
Association
showed that low levels of blood glucose after an initial self-control task predicted poor performance on a subsequent self-control task.
³
So if you dodged that ice cream sundae for dessert at lunchtime, it will be that much harder to say no to chocolate cake after dinner! Makes sense, doesn’t it? This is why we crave sugar and sweets when we’re stressed or have had a long day resisting temptations and performing other acts of self-control. We’re wired that way.

Although you can train your willpower, it’s much like a muscle that can be temporarily fatigued. Thus, if it’s fatigued when you need it most and your environment is not set up for your success, failure is imminent. I’m sure you know what I mean. How many times have you woken up in the morning with the best of intentions to eat healthy and get in a workout only to find yourself by day’s end glued to the couch, devouring a plate of cookies? It happens to the best of us, and now we know why.