YOU’VE MADE IT THIS FAR!!
HAPPY MONDAY!! I hope it’s a happy one. If this was an athletics meet and you had 3 laps to run on a 400m track, you’d be heading down the last 400m of your 2nd lap. (phase 2 / week 4)
Know this…- The final lap is coming up, and that’s where you’re going to really pick up your pace. However, what you can’t afford to do, is to start coasting now. Heck, you’re going to have to pass the point where you’re going to cross the finish line in the next lap. That’s where the crowds are hanging out. That’s where all the clapping is going to happen. If you show any signs of fatigue now, the bookies will change the odds that you’re going to even finish the race. – So now is the time where you need to stick your chest out, lengthen your strides, and if you don’t feel like smiling as you pass the spectators, at least don’t look like you’re about to die. – Just fool yourself into believing that you have an amazing amount of gas left in the tank. #fakeittillyoumakeit
I know you’ve slipped up at times. – we all have – 3 months is a long time to have to keep the focus. You’ve fallen off the wagon and found yourself shoving a tub of ice cream into your “ice-cream hole” when it should have been lettuce. I get that because I’ve done it too. – But remember, it’s what you do consistently that matters. The odd indiscretion is not going to undo all the good work that you’ve done till now.
Please don’t forget that when the course is done, you will have inadvertently adopted some habits in your life, that will help you to live longer and stronger. (Where have I heard that slogan before?- LOL)
So as you head down this part of the course, just keep pumping those arms, keep showing up, and you’ll be setting yourself up to win both this course and at the race of life itself.
The week ahead…
While things are going to change considerably over the next phase of the program, this week’s focus is more about maintaining what you’ve been doing. Your challenge is to push yourself a bit harder and to finish stronger, because you want to arrive at the final phase of the program with a solid foundation, remembering that one phase sets the foundation for the next.
Fasting
As the Thorfit pillars go, and because it’s Monday, there will be some of you who are completely abstaining from food if you can handle it. If you feel that you’re running out of energy of thinking only of food, then please feel free to ad some MCT oil into your black coffee. You can also ad Grassfed Butter – not more than a teaspoon. Have up to 3 of these Bulletproof style coffees with a good conscience. Any more than this, and you’ll battle to sleep. The fat in the coffee, whilst offering a great source of energy, can also make you nauseous if your stomach is not lined with food, so go easy.
If you arrive at 8 o’clock and the family is sitting down for what looks like the meal you’d choose if it was your last meal on death row, then why not join them for that bite. It will offer some psychological reprieve and you’d at least have covered some ground by not eating during the day.
A full-day fast is challenging at times (we all have different things thrown at us in the day) – but it can also help with decision fatigue. The reason Steve Jobs and other super performers only work one style of outfit every day, was because they wanted to save their decision-making muscles for the more important decisions. I find that by eliminating food from my manic Monday, there is one less decision that needs to be made…
If you’re following the course to the letter, then today is the day that you eat no food. This deep cleanse has too many benefits to mention, including the removal of waste cells from your body, – called deep autophagy. Your next meal, – if you’re sticking to the program to the letter, – is on Tuesday midday. You can do it.
Feasting…
Use your caloric counter app and make sure that you’re hovering around 500 calories under your maintenance target. In this way you will continue to make steady progress towards your weight-loss goals.
To summarise your recommended calories and macro breakdown:
Calories for Workout days – subtract 200 from your maintenance calories. (maintenance calories are the amount of calories you need to eat to maintain your current body weight. MyPlate will give you those)
Calories for non-workout days – subtract 600 calories.
One can also run the misconception that if you’re operating on fewer calories in than out, you’re going to lose the fat. This is not 100% correct. You need to maintain the quality of the calories you consume. If you’re sticking to the abovementioned caloric deficit, but your calories come mainly from white wine, then you’re just going to end up being a smaller (but still flabby) version of your former self.
- Steer away from processed foods.
- If you can’t pronounce some of the words on the ingredients labels, then you may not want to be eating it.
- Have your carbs later in the day, so that they can be assimilated into your body and you hit the road running in the morning when you’re not eating.
- Eat as many carbs as you think you’re able to burn up during your training.
- You need to earn your carbs.
- Don’t be afraid of fat, but make sure it’s the healthy kind, ie olive oils, etc.
- Try to consume protein with every meal. – Yes, it’s not totally in line with new-age thinking that we over-eat protein, but remember that protein is metabolically expensive, meaning that your body expends energy breaking protein down, which is a good thing. You want your metabolism to work hard to get its food.
Training…
Let’s face it… 80% of your progress will be made if you follow the dieting guidelines. Although we don’t prescribe exactly which training you should be doing, I also want to say that 20% are the ones that get your head into the right space and that’s very important for progress.
I’d rather you walk out of the gym, feeling proud of yourself, that you’ve pushed yourself hard. It’s where you get used to pushing out of your comfort zone. If you’re not in the mood for a crowded weights room, that’s fine too. Get your ass out into nature and walk hard. That’s fine too. If you wear a fitness watch, then the calories expended will still be tracked and you know where you’re going.
Physicality is followed by psychology. Even if you started the day feeling down and out and maybe a little overwhelmed, I can almost guarantee that if you go and get your sweat on, you’ll feel better for it and will be better equipped to tackle the challenges of the day.
IN CLOSING…
Keep at it…
The reason Arnold Schwartzenegger always smiled in the gym, was that he knows that every additional pound he moved in the gym, was moving him towards his eventual goal of winning the Mr. Olympia title… even if that goal was far off. If you want to lose weight and gain health, the macro view of perhaps choosing to take the stairs as opposed to the lift will add that little bit to the overall picture.
Everything helps…
Everything is everything!
