As discussed in part 1 (as if it hasn't been beaten into your head already), you absolutely must create a caloric deficit in order to facilitate fat loss. Here's exactly what I did, and why, in order to achieve some pretty amazing results.
Create a caloric deficit Monday through Friday
Most people have a pretty standard routine during the week, and that's why this approach worked best for my lean days. I knew exactly when I'd wake up each day, about how long I'd be at work, and generally when I'd get back home. Knowing this routine, I could plan out exactly what I was going to eat each day and more easily track calories and stick to my routine. Most days, I'd take two to three small snacks with me, and sometimes pack a fourth just in case I was unusually hungry, or if what I had wasn't appealing.
What did I pack? Things that were easy, portable, filling, nutrient rich, and calorically light. And that almost always meant raw, organic fruits and vegetables. So, on a typical day, my feed bag (which I always prepared the night before, and you should too) may include an orange, an apple and perhaps some low fat, high protein cheese sticks. Or a huge serving of steamed broccoli, a couple scrambled eggs, and a banana. Or half a cantaloupe, a pound or two of strawberries, and a couple apples (and yes, I ate a lot of apples…).
Again, the goal was finding filling, nutrient rich foods that were easy to prepare and take with, and weren't loaded with calories. Plus, most of these things i could consume pretty quickly on the fly if need be, and during a busy day with back to back appointments, that was important. Remember, any strategy you use actually has to work and be field tested, and this was mine.
Over the course of my workday, if I ate two or three small snacks (depending on my appetite that day, which varied), I felt completely satiated and knew I could get through the day just fine. And as you no doubt figured out, even if I ate everything in my feed bag over the course of the day, I'm taking in only about 300 to 500 calories. But, that's 300 to 500 very high quality calories. And that's incredibly important, as I just didn't want to create a deficit (like the infamous Twinkie diet) I also wanted optimal nutrient intake, hence my very specific choices.
As a result, even though I work in a gym, and had an extended caloric deficit and worked out most days of the week, I never ever got sick. And that's saying a lot.
That said, you're average diet subject probably isn't going to make it very far (in terms of duration) on such a limited intake, so I had to have a something substantial, nutrient rich and incredibly filling once I got home.
And that's why I created my monster shake.
What's a monster shake? It's the thing I looked forward to most each day. The think that kept me full, fueled and completely satisfied. It is a completely nutrient rich raw food and protein based smoothie that made up the bulk of my calories each day, and to a certain extent, was kind of the backbone of my program. It clocked in at about 700 calories or so, depending on what and how much of each ingredient I used.
Here's what was in my typical monster shake: four cups of organic baby spinach, a quarter cup of organic pumpkin, one to two tablespoons of organic peanut butter, a frozen organic banana, about a half cup of frozen blueberries, lots of frozen strawberries, two generous scoops of a varying array of protein powders, and lots of water. That's pretty much it. Sometimes I'd throw in some frozen organic apples, a touch of raw, local honey, or more or less of one thing or the other, but that's the basics.
As you can imagine, once this baby got blended (and I have an awesome blender and suggest you do the same; it's money very well spent) I ended up with a gut busting 64 ounces of smoothie deliciousness – an absolute ton of food, but the perfect amount for a volume eater like me. Sometimes it took me more than 45 minutes to finish the thing, but I did it every day, Monday through Friday, and was so full at the end, that I could not possibly eat another bite that day.
Following this routine Monday through Friday gave me a caloric intake of anywhere from 800 to 1200 calories a day, and that ain't much, Sally. Without counting in the cost of any activity whatsoever, I created a pretty huge caloric deficit each day, and was never hungry. And that, my friends, is how I hit goal number one.
Next time we'll go over the next couple components of the program, and how they fit in with my overall strategy. Until then, show your blender some love and attention, and you may just be amazed at what you can create!
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