How do I manage to be this lean and toned year-round? I will tell you how as follows. You know how to tell I’m telling you the truth about this? You’re gonna hate the answer. People ask me all the time the quickest way to do this. Here goes…
In life, we often look for the quickest way to getting something done. Especially those tasks we least look forward to. Sometimes to great effect, working fast can make for excellent results. However, while that is great, it is never good to sacrifice quality in exchange for expediency. Yes I get it–you want to achieve your fat loss goal as quickly as possible with as little effort as required. The purpose of this post is not to tell you what you want to hear. You want the truth because you can handle the truth.
Eighteen years ago when I started my fitness journey, I would have been willing to die and be reborn to have six-pack abs. I never saw myself looking the way I look now at 36. Right now I’m giving out some keys. I want to tell you some things that I wish someone had told me when I first started out. I am not a certified trainer. I am not a pro or even amateur bodybuilder. I do not even have a degree in exercise science.
What I do have is eighteen years of experience backed by hundreds of workouts in dozens of gyms whilst spending years of trial and error taking different protein powders and creatines and testosterone boosters, as well as tens of thousands of hours spent digesting hundreds of fitness related media from magazines to forums.
In my fitness journey, I have found that the path is even greater than the goal. “Losing fat fast”–get that out of your mind right now! You deserve more because you are worth more. Why not lose the weight and keep it off? Is that not much better? Time has long since passed for you to upgrade. I have to level with you now.
Weight loss is a hard process. It is not easy. You have to work for it. I will not sugarcoat this for you because that would be a slap in your face. It can be a struggle but instead of strangling the struggle it is better to learn to embrace it over time. Allow me to explain.
I would love to tell you that you can train 2-3 times a week for 30 minutes and have perfect ripped abs. But you and I both know deep down it does not work that way. Fat loss requires something called EXTRA–you have to exert extra effort my friend. You have to be willing to go BEYOND. You have to want this so badly that you do not mind training for an hour or 90 minutes a day 4-5 times a week.
I not only look forward to the pain but I rely on it. If you are not sweating you are not working hard enough. You have to bring the pain. It will hurt. You will sweat. You will be winded. You will experience exhaustion. You will suffer. And you have to love every second of it because that will get you through. Remember to EMBRACE this struggle. Do not strangle it. You have to want fat loss and ALL the work that comes with it because that’s what it is–hard work in the gym and in the kitchen.
A common workout for me consists of a 90 minute workout with weights followed by 30 minutes of cardiovascular training–running outside or on a treadmill. I routinely train at this intensity a minimum of four times a week. If I am looking to add size, mass, or strength, I’ll add more focus on weights and less on cardio. If I want to drop fat and get that ripped shredded physique, I put more emphasis on lifting weights for more reps and slightly less weight. Depending on my goals or how I want to “look,” I will bump my training to six days a week. When it is that frequent, I dial back the weightlifting and turn up the cardio, so instead of weights and cardio, I will do one hour of cardio and that’s it.
What you eat, and when, is even more important than exercise. As a whole, diet really does not have to change all that much. My biggest variable is portion size. If I am looking to add size and strength, I eat more food. If I am looking to lean out and drop fat and subcutaneous water, I will eat less food less times of the day. When in doubt, if you are looking to lose weight, keep your protein high, and your carbohydrates on the lower end. My protein staples are fish, turkey, and chicken. I do not consume any beef or pork whatsoever. My biggest staples of carbs involve vegetables, rice, and “junky” fast digesting carbs like potato chips and chocolate chunk cookies–a very guilty pleasure of mine. You do not have to cut out all junk foods all the time. The key is knowing when to eat them. Timing is key. I will elaborate more on this in future articles to be sure.
A lot of us struggle with our bodies because we do not respect the process. From the glitz and glamour of fitness personalities on social media, to infomercials on late night television, we are trained to believe that fat loss should be easy. But like anything else, just because we think it should be does not mean that it will be. You have to get over avoiding pain. Face this obstacle head on with anything you set out to do, whether it’s six-pack abs or a six-figure and higher income–you absolutely will have to overcome challenges in order to level yourself up.
Success is not a painless process! Success is going to be painful. Were this not the case we would all be walking around with six-pack abs whilst dieting on pizza and wings. We would literally find more success achieving and keeping the physiques we truly desire if we just showed more respect in that process.
DO NOT shy away from this. It is going to be painful. But you got this. In future posts I will expand upon this more because I have been where you are right now. If you have never worked out before in your life or if you have tried dozens of diets and failed in all of them, you can relax now. I will walk with you step-by-step.
Before ending this post, I will leave you with a workout that I have done for many years. It has done everything from strengthen my lifts in the gym to increasing my mental stability as well as cardiovascular endurance. And best of all, it is so simple. You will not have to spend any money. All you need is a place to walk. Here it is as follows:
Spend 30-45 minutes a day 4-5 days a week walking/jogging/running outside. That’s it!
Take a breath because I just gave you a MAJOR fat loss secret. You want to lose weight? You want to get ripped or shredded? You want to get in the best shape of your life? Start there my friend.
Even if you never step foot inside a gym or do not alter your diet in any way whatsoever, if you do what I have outlined above, you will see your body change before your very eyes. Build up the intensity of it. If you have not run for years, please do not start out the gate attempting to run a 5k. Pace yourself. Listen to your body.
Your body will tell you how hard it needs to be pushed. Start off by walking. Then over time, you can build up to jogging and running. I do all my cardio outside in the fresh air. I will run in the park or around my neighborhood or on a track. Find a safe well-lit place and get on it! This does not cost any money. All you need is a little bit of time and a commitment to yourself that you have absolutely raised your standards for yourself.
Remember now–be consistent! You cannot do this for one week and expect to see dramatic permanent results for the long term. Respect the process–I have been doing this for eighteen years. If I can do it, so can you!
I will see you all at the top!
–Daniel Cousin
