72 Days until the end of the decade, and 72 days to lose the gut challenge

DAY 3 OF 72

So you’ve made it to day three of 72 and it feels like your toe has just touched the water that you’re about to dip into. Actually, I’ve made it to day 3 in this too and my big toe just got wet. If you think about it, This means that we’re 3% into this story, which may not account for a full wet toe, but I digress.

THIS PART BECOMES A LITTLE TECHNICAL, BUT STICK WITH IT — IF YOU WANT TO TURN YOUR LIFE AROUND, YOU NEED TO LEAN INTO THE GRIND

By way of introduction, I want to address some issues surrounding hormones. While most ladies will feel excluded from this conversation, I am going ask that they keep an open mind. Perhaps understanding what makes men tick a little better, can gain them an understanding — albeit in the form of offering a little sympathy. Let me put it this way… — the more testosterone you produce, the better you look, feel and the more confidence you have in life. Up testosterone levels through diet and exercise, and the rest falls into place….

You see, there’s an elephant in the room, and he’s big and pink and his trunk flaps a lot. I’m talking about the lack of testosterone that men are experiencing from an ever increasing age. Our sedentary lifestyles, the food we eat, the stress we subscribe to, have all contributed to a diminishing testosterone production in our bodies. Testosterone is what makes a man a man. It’s the stuff that gives him the confidence to claim what’s his in this world. Less testosterone means more oestrogen and essentially, you become more like a girl. Don’t get me wrong, — girls are what makes the world go round, but as a man, you don’t want that responsibility. From the age of 30, men’s testosterone levels drop by a few percent every year. The difference is imperceptible, but one day you wake up in your late 40’s, and you find that you have less confidence, you whine more, your hair is thinning and even your posture has lost its “devil may care” attitude. — Yip, you guessed it… Testosterone.

We’re going to dial into habits, food and exercises which promote a return to testosterone. You will walk straighter, become more assertive, (without being a chump) and generally return to how you felt 10 years ago.

The flip-side of testosterone is… you may have guessed… oestrogen

The less testosterone you have, the more oestrogen you will have in your system. That’s great, but only if you’re a girl. Nowadays, men are producing far too much of the girl hormone. Men love boobs, but not when they’re growing a pair themselves. You can grow a beard or a manly moustache, but if you have moobs, it’s hard to feel like a guy when you look like a chick. In the mildest of cases, moobs are simply localised fat storage influenced by your oestrogen. In the worst cases, you’ll end up with something called gynecomastia. This is where your problem goes beyond fat that can be lost. With gynecomastia, it’s a change in tissue. The fat attaches itself to your mammary glands and can only be removed by surgery. You obviously don’t want that.

This is not meant to be depressing… I’m merely setting you up with a WHY to continue powering through this program. We’re going to re-set your hormone levels through training and diet. I will keep you away from estrogen producing foods and lean your body into producing more testosterone.

Food

By now you should get it that if you’re a dude, we are going to allow your body to re-set its hormone production. We will reset the bodies insulin production by initially abstaining from carbs for the first 2 weeks. I would advise that all you take in no more than 30 grams of carbs, which should come from a post workout shake. Without getting all philosophical about insulin, let’s just say that the more insulin sensitive you are, the more nutrients are directed towards muscle building as opposed to storing fat. Years of eating haphazardly, have made you resistant to producing insulin and this is why fat has managed to accumulate. By reducing carbs completely for a while, your body will wake up and will utilise the food you’re putting into your system. Essentially, you will pack mass onto your arms instead of fat on your ass. — and that counts for girls and guys.

Training

The distinction between this challenge and other workout books, is that I want you to be able to take yourself into a workout as if you had a coach with you. It’s not your job to know how to exercise correctly; it’s your job to be shown and to learn. Even if you’re already a vet of the gym, this progression will make your body more efficient and will inevitably increase your strength gain and your fat loss.

Day 3 Food tip

Take in no carbs for the next 2 weeks.

Your carbs come from a post workout shake.

Take in no more than 30 grms on a day

Technically, you will be having fibrous vegetables which we consider “free food” These are foods which, when combined with fat and protein, can be had in as much of a quantity as you wish.

I have heard many complaints about hunger in the first 2 days of this challenge and now I offer the solution. Eat fibrous vegetables and salad. This will keep your hunger at bay and it will re-set your insulin levels. By week 3, we will up your carb content slightly, but only once your insulin has been re-set.

Day 3 Training tip

Since we’re building your insulin sensitivity, I want you to try and train a little later in the day. It’s not a deal breaker. If you have no option, then training early is better than not training at all, but your first meal of the day should take place about 3 hours before your workout. Your next meal should be immediately after your workout and all the allotted carbs for the day should be eaten then.

Day 3 tip

How do you know how many carbs you’re taking in? I love an app called MyPlate, by livestrong.com — It has a huge food database. For any food you select, simply type in the name of the food, and MyPlate will tell you exactly how many carbs, protein and fat are contained in the helping you had. I would encourage you to get a little scale for weighing food. Don’t worry. This is not a sentence. After a week or so, you should be able to just enter what you ate, because you start to get an idea of serving sizes etc. You will start to develop a sense for serving sizes.

Caloric requirements

Determining Your Daily Calories First, we need to figure out your daily caloric need — the basic food intake you’d need to stay exactly as you are now. Obviously, this is just a starting point. There are all sorts of formulas to determine this (most are not very good),

having a formula that helps you determine how much you should be eating is one of the most effective ways to keep you on track without confusion. we’ll be using the following chart:

To use the above chart, you must first find out your body fat percentage and your LBM. As a reminder, here’s how to figure your LBM: 1. Figure out your body fat percentage. 2. Subtract your body fat percentage from 100. This is your fat-free To use the above chart, you must first find out your body fat percentage and your LBM. As a reminder, here’s how to figure your LBM: 1. Figure out your body fat percentage. 2. Subtract your body fat percentage from 100. This is your fat-free mass.

3. Multiply your fat-free mass (as a percentage) by your body weight. This result is your LBM.

(lean body mass)

Now multiply your lean body mass by the Calories you’re allowed.

This is how I do it…

I weigh 90Kg’s or 198 lbs (x2.2)

I have a Body fat % of 6%, which means I have 12 lbs of fat

(198 x,006 = 12)

198–12 = 186 lb’s of lean body mass

186 x 17 (chart) = 3162 calories allowed in the day

Determine Your Daily Caloric Intake, you’re not interested in maintaining; you want to lose fat and gain muscle –, you’re going to achieve the former and set yourself up for the latter. For this phase, you’re going to adjust your daily caloric intake as follows:

To determine your calories for workout days, subtract 300 from your maintenance calories.

To determine your calories for non-workout days, subtract 500 calories.

So for NON workout days, I’m allowed to eat 2862 Calories (3162 minus 300)

and for workout days, I’m allowed 2662 calories

YOUR MAKRO NUTRIENT BREAKDOWN

PROTEIN — Your LBM (lean body mass) in lbs = gm of protein

In my case, that would be 198 or roughly 200gms of protein

Don’t worry, the app will keep track of this for you.

CARBS — 30 gm on workout days and none on non workout days

- there are 4 calories per gram of carbs and in protein

To work out your fat consumption allowance, deduct the sum of your protein allowance and your carb allowance from your calorie allowance

For me, that’s 2862 minus

carbs (300 x 4) = 1200

protein (200 x 4) = 800

Total 2000

2862 less 2000

= 862 calories remain, and that’s where I can stock up in fat

Fat has 9 calories per gram

862 / 9 = 95,7

Roughly speaking, I can eat 100grams of pure fat every day.

Veggies and Salad are FREE FOODS, and I can eat as much of this as I like

This is my fat allowance

Finally

This part of the challenge is where I may lose you, but I urge you to persevere. Once you’ve worked this out, you know that you’re going to be making actual progress. You’re taking the guess-work out of the equation. If you’re a a loss (Don’t worry, maths ‘aint my strong point either) — I’d be happy to create a little spreadsheet for you and send it to you. Just ask. You can email me at thorfit1@gmail.com

I hope you play around with this and get the right values. If you’re challenged by ascertaining your own BodyFat %, please go and have it measured by a dietician. — Google it, make the appointment and go see them. You’ll thank me that you did.

The moment one commits ones self to a cause/undertaking/idea, then providence moves too.

Things conspire to come to your assistance! — It’s the same as me sitting down to write this…

Chat tomorrow