The Starting Point For Losing Weight

We’re in a time of instant…. everything! And, diets, nutrition, results are advertised as no different.

You’ve seen them:

• 7 Day Cleanse
• 21 Day Diets
• 9 Day Eat Only With Your Right Hand Diet

*I made one of them up*

But, no one wants to talk about the basics. About where you should actually start and focus on.

I get it. It’s not sexy. Its not going to sell books. It doesn’t have a fancy name.

Hear me out. I trust and believe, weightloss, getting to a healthy weight and body fat percentage, always comes down to the basics.

*I’m talking mostly weightloss and bodyfat % because that’s what the majority of us are in need of help*

When I say the basics, I mean, you should be doing these things before you dive down into any fitness/nutrition rabbit holes.

With food, it comes down to 3 things:

1. Eat Real, Whole Foods
2. Not Too Much Of It
3. Make It Mostly Plant Based

Let’s break it down:

Real, Whole Foods– No long ingredients list, nothing packaged with fancy advertising on the front. Nothing that is overly processed.

You know chicken is chicken. Bananas are bananas. Spinach is spinach.

When you’re food shopping, start there.

A quick tip is, shopping strictly along the perimeter of the store. A large portion of the actual healthy food is found there. The processed stuff is kept in the aisles.

Not Too Much Of It– Simple approach, 3 meals a day (maybe a 4th if you are doing high intensity workouts regularly). But for most, 3 meals a day. No going back for seconds. No snacking in between.

Mostly Plants– Whenever you’re eating one of your (3!) meals, half your plate or bowl should be vegetables and fruit. Half.

If you’re eating eggs and oatmeal for breakfast, put a ton of veggies in your eggs, and add some berries and amonds to your oatmeal.

If you’re eating chicken, rice, & beans, that can be half your plate (Actually a solid half, with proteins, carbs, and fiber). The other half should be all veggies.

That’s it!

Focus on those 3 factors. Real foods, not over doing it, and keeping a large percentage plant based (fruits, veg, nuts, seeds).

Do those things.

Workout 4-5 times a week. 6x would be awesome.

Try to get 7 hours of sleep every night. The more the better.

I love to geek out over calories, and macro percentages, but we have to get the basics down first. Do the basics, workout, sleep, repeat. That’s the foundation to build on.

Once you get to a healthy weight and body fat percentage, THEN we can play with macros and supplements and all that other stuff. Not before…

You’re post workout shake is not as important as what you eat the rest of the day.

A healthy weight is different for everyone. There are target for bodyfat percentages, based on sex and age.

For men, you want to be in the mid teens, and around the low 20s % as you get older. And for most men, getting into the lower end of the teens is ideal.

And for women, you want to aim and be in the mid 20%, and upper 20% as you get older. With a goal of getting into the upper teens to low 20%.

You get to those numbers, and you hit your goal weight, by sticking to the basics.

Day In. Day Out.

Eat Real Food

Not A Lot Of It

Mostly Plant Based

Workout Regularly

Get Sleep

That’s the foundation to build on. That’s the starting point. That’s the secret. That’s the cheat code.

You get that. You do those things. Results will come.