“The abs are made in the kitchen”, as the saying goes.
Time to get down to everyone’s favourite subject without sounding like a cookbook (being sarcastic!). Now if you want to get awesome abs, doing the exercises is all fine and dandy, but until you lose the lard, no amount of exercise is going to get the suckers to pop. You have to diet and eat properly. No getting around it!!
There are numerous diet plans and eating regimes out there for fat loss. But you demand effectiveness. Only the best will do. After all why waste time and effort doing something that isn’t giving you satisfactory results. (Chill. Everyone’s gone through it).
The two simple and effective methods that’ll get you shedding the lard and getting the awesome abs you deserve at a jaw dropping rate are:
- Carb cycling
- Intermittent fasting
Carb cycling
Sounds complicated? Huh, nonsense! It’s just alternating days of low and high carbs. (Not as complicated as it sounds, told you).
There are probably hundreds of ways to utilize this strategy, but the one that I’ve found the quickest for shedding the dough is, three days low carb, one day high carbs. What the rest of the fitness community calls “carb re-feeds”. Call it what you will, the point is start implementing it and watch that lard turn hard.
You’re probably wondering well wise guy, what the hell do I eat on those low carb days?
Well maestro, I thought you’d never ask. Fuel up on protein, fats and greens (veg). Avoid starchy carbs like the plague on those low carb days.
As for the higher carb days, choice is yours. Eat what you want. You have the day to eat some starchy carbs. Don’t waste it. After all it comes only once every three days.
Now some of you reading this will probably say, “I couldn’t do that, it sounds so hard.”
Save your groaning for someone that actually cares. I’ve personally used both these methods and the result speaks for itself. Don’t tell me it can not be done.
For those moaners I’ve got a question. Do you really want to lose that fat and get awesome abs?
If you do, you’ve got to be prepared to work a little. You have to get a bit sweaty and put your guts into it. Many of you reading this series, have come this far and proved without a shadow of a doubt you’ve got the courage of tiger and are prepared to realise your goal.
Time for method two!!
Intermittent fasting
I’ve covered this a little in previous article (A GUIDE TO DEVELOPING AN IRON WILL) but let’s recap. Eating all day to lose weight becomes a chore. I’m not saying you can’t lose fat doing it, but why make something so simple so complicated. In nature the prey graze and eat periodically while the hunters eat sporadically.
Simply eat 2-3 larger, more satisfying meals instead of 6-8 tiny ones.
Do you really want to live in your kitchen?
There are two methods of fasting I’ve used.
- Leangains (Daily 16hrs fast with 8hrs eating window)
- Eat Stop Eat (24hrs fast)
Personally, I’m currently using the leangains method.
Now if you’ve never used any of the above methods before, you can try them out as a singular method, alternatively you can use the very same method I outline below.
(Drum rolls).
All you have to do is combine the two above methods mentioned earlier.(Carb cycling with intermittent fasting). It’s straightforward and works well. Don’t mess around with it, keep it smooth, just stick with the steps I’ve given.
Tip: It’s probably easier to implement with the Leangains method than Eat Stop Eat.
To summarise, eat 2-3 larger meals in an 8hr eating window. Fast 16hrs a day, and eat low carb for three days, with one high carb day. That’s it. No screwing around.
Note: This isn’t a diet to follow forever. You can do the intermittent fasting as long as you want but just use low carbs until you’re as lean and mean as you want. Then go back to a diet you like. (Keep it healthy though).
There you have it folks. This 3 part series comes to a close.
SWEAT AND GUTS
Photo Credit: http:http://www.flickr.com/photos/kro-media/5820802416/