In this episode of the Eric Roberts Fitness Podcast I cover reverse dieting. I talk about things like
what to do once you have lost the weight you are looking to lose
How to “eat more calories” but still lose weight
If you have been eating 1200 calories but not losing weight
And more.
I would love to help you out with your diet. Shoot me an email at coacheric@ericrobertsfitness.com and we can see if we may be a good fit for coaching together.
If you found value in the podcast feel free to leave a comment in the review section telling me your thoughts 🙂 Would love to hear from you.
In this episode of the Eric Robert Fitness podcast I go over 10 of the biggest mistakes I have made in fitness to this point that have taught me a ton.
I want you to know that even me, the “expert” still makes mistakes. All the time. To this day. I am not perfect. You are not perfect. Yet that is okay because we don’t have to be 🙂
I talk about working out 7 days a week, not ever going off my diet, thinking if I had one bad night I messed up all my progress, and more.
This is something I have never done so would love some feedback from you if possible 🙂 Feel free to leave a review or shoot me an email at coacheric@ericrobertsfitness.com :).
Look forward to hearing from you and hope this helped -E.
How do you know what the best core exercises for abs are?
If you are stepping on the beach anytime soon you probably looked in the mirror wondering where your abs were.
If they were hiding and you just are waiting for them to pop up so you can look A+ in your bathing suit.
Not only are they important for obtaining the desired physique goals, they actually are the most important group of muscles on your body.
A main driver in things like protecting your lower back, being able to produce power and force, and helping correct posture.
Abs are important whether you are looking at the health benefits or the benefits of being able to step on the beach in confidence.
Now, let’s go over the 3 most important exercises you should be doing to obtain said benefits above.
The Truth Behind The Best Core Exercises For Abs
Here is the deal.
The 3 best core exercises for abs labeled in this article are going to build some of the most aesthetic and strongest abs ever.
That being said I have to say this.
Everyone has abs. It doesn’t matter if you are 100 lbs overweight or shredded to the bone.
You have abs.
The thing is no matter how many ab exercises you do if you are not at a low enough body fat percentage you will not see them.
You can do the exercises labeled in this article everyday all day long.
Yet if your diet is not in check and you are not at a low enough body fat percentage, you will not see the abs you are working so hard for.
What Do I Mean By “ Having Your Diet In Check” ?
Simply what this means is if you are looking to get abs you will more than likely have to lose weight.
If you want to lose weight the only way to do that is to be in a calorie deficit.
This means you eat less calories than your body burns in a given day.
Not keto.
Not intermittent fasting.
Not wearing sweat belts that are supposed to “melt the fat away!”.
Not waist trainers that will just magically suffocate your stomach fat away.
You have to be in a calorie deficit if you want to lose weight. After you lose the weight you will then be able to obtain that low enough body fat percentage I was referring to earlier that will allow you to see your abs.
I wrote an entire article on how to set up your diet HERE if you want to incorporate that in your new ab quest.
If you prefer video, I have a whole nutrition series HERE For Free!
The Best Core Exercises For Abs Are More Than Just Looks
The reality is abs are good for more than picking up chicks with.
I said earlier abs are the most important group of muscles in your body and boy did I mean it.
Abs are the powerhouse of your body.
They transfer force between your upper body and lower body.
Take my buddy eight time world champion bodybuilder Ronnie Coleman above.
He would not be able to lift such massive amounts of weights if his abs were not strong as an ox.
If you want to get better at deadlifting, squatting, push ups, overhead presses, or sex.
The answer is to get stronger more powerful abs.
If your midline cannot stabilize you and produce the force necessary to move the weight, you will not be able to get stronger.
Which leads me into my next point.
Abs Protect Your Lower Back
If anyone knows this it would be me as I have struggled with lower back pain for years.
Not coincidentally I had put my ab training on the back burner for years.
If there is one thing I want to get across to you in this article, especially for those of you with lower back pain, make it a priority to train your abs.
I hate training them. They are boring. They suck. They hurt. But the minute I put them back into my training program I immediately started to notice a difference.
(Btw these 3 exercises are the 3 main ones that helped me get back to deadlifting 500lbs, so you know they work).
Your abs help brace and stabilize your spine so you can protect your lower back.
This is not just when you are lifting weights. This is when you are bringing in the groceries. This is when you are picking up your kids. Hell this is when you are vacuuming.
I could go on and on but long story short if you want a healthy lower back strong abs are paramount.
Abs Help Posture
Notice in the picture above our skeleton friend is severely tilted off center.
For the context of this article notice his “anterior pelvic tilt”.
Fancy word for looking like Kim Kardashian.
This is when your pelvis tilts and causes you to be constantly arching your lower back.
What causes this? The main culprit is weak abdominal muscles. If your abs are weak it will pull your butt up causing you to arch your lower back.
This leads will all of the points I made above. You will not have abs you can count on for strength, protecting your lower back, or to be confident in a swimsuit in if you don’t train them properly.
Do you believe me now that your abs are the most important group of muscles on your body?
3 Best Core Exercises For Abs
These exercises are going to cover all of the things we talked about above.
They will ensure you get strong, powerful, protect your lower back, and be confident in a bathing suit ( as long as you are in that calorie deficit 😉 ).
Now let’s cover them.
Deadbug With Weight
This exercise is amazing for not only gaining strength but gaining postural awareness.
It will really teach you what bracing your core really looks like.
Deadbug With Weight Technique Points
Start lying flat on the floor on your back. Bend your legs and lift your feet off the ground at a 90 degree angle. Grab a weight in your hands, nothing too heavy here. Lift your arms above your directly over face in this position.
Before you move I want you to push your lower back into the ground and bring your ribs to your belly button. If I was to put my hand under your lower back, I should only be able to get 1-2 fingers halfway in. Think about squeezing my hand under your lower back the entire time.
Begin to extend one leg while keeping the other bent at a 90 degree angle. Begin to extend your arms behind your head. THE BIGGEST KEY IS TO KEEP YOUR LOWER BACK PRESSED INTO THE GROUND THE ENTIRE TIME.
Once you have fully extended one leg and your arms behind your head wile maintaining your back flat on the ground, slowly return to the starting position and switch legs.
The most important part of a dead bug as I stated is to make sure you maintain rigidity throughout your core. Aka pushing your back into the ground and bringing your ribs to your belly button.
Think about when you cough. Do it right now. See how that braces your abs? Cough and maintain that core brace the entire time.
Deadbug Programming Recommendations
Frequency: 2-4x per week
Sets & Reps: 2-3 sets of 4-6 reps each side ** For the reps focus on quality over quantity. Slow, controlled, intentional reps**
Workout Placement: Before Your Training Session will yield the most benefit
Bird Dog With Band
The bird dog is amazing for again teaching core bracing and rigidity, but also learning awareness of your body since you have to move and arm and leg simultaneously.
Bird Dog With Band Technique Points
Assume the starting position on hands and knees. Make sure your wrists are in line with your elbows and your knees are in line with your hips. Grab a very light band and put around your mid foot and hand.
Brace your core by once again bringing your ribs to your belly button ever so slightly.
Slowly begin to move the opposite arm and leg. Again your midline and the rest of your body should not move. Think of your body being locked in concrete stone while just slowly moving your arm and leg.
Think about reaching your heel straight back to the wall behind you and your hand reaching towards the wall in front of you.
Slowly return to the starting position again without moving the rest of your body.
Your core should be braced the entire time here as well.
Bird Dog Programming Recommendations
Frequency: 2-4x per week
Sets & Reps: 2-3 sets of 5-8 reps each leg ** For the reps focus on quality over quantity. Slow, controlled, intentional reps**
Workout Placement: Before Your Training Session will yield the most benefit but these can be done after the workout as well
Reverse Crunch
People say crunches are not the way to get abs.
Well the reverse crunch would be the exception to that. The great part about these is anyone can do them no matter your fitness level.
Reverse Crunch Technique Points
Lie on the ground and place an anchor to hold onto behind your head. Grab it with your fingers NOT your entire hands. This is simply to anchor you not help in the movement.
Start with your feet close to your butt. Brace your core before you move your body. Once braced bring your knees to your face keeping your feet tucked close to your butt. Controlling the entire way, do not throw your legs up.
Control the way down. Take 3-5 seconds on the eccentric, the part where you bring your feet back down. Once you feel your tailbone touch the ground immediately start the next rep.
Be sure that your abs are doing the work not your arms. Bracing your core before you move your knees will help this. Also make sure you are not feeling your hands grip the anchor excessively.
To progress the reverse crunch you can either
A. Use a lighter anchor
B. Move your feet farther away from your face
Yet be informed that when done correctly and intentionally this movement is incredibly difficult and will leave your abs on fire. Many elite lifters, myself included, really see no need to progress this movement if done correctly and intentionally.
Reverse Crunch Programming Recommendations
Frequency: 1-2x per week
Sets & Reps: 2-3 sets of 5-8 reps ** For the reps focus on quality over quantity. Slow, controlled, intentional reps**
Workout Placement: Before or After training will be most optimal
3 Best Core Exercises forAbs Of Steel
You have now learned how to see your abs, why they are important, and 3 best core exercises for abs that can get you an impressive yet functional set of abs.
Now is up to you to implement into your routine to see the benefits.
If you want help with your workout program or diet feel free to shoot me an email at coacheric@ericrobertsfitness.com I would be happy to talk to you.
I also include these exercises in my 52 FREE Metabolic Strength Workouts if you scroll down to the bottom of this page. They are insanely time efficient and will leave a high calorie burn. Only download if you want some really good workouts.
Beyond that hope this article helped you. Feel free to share with someone who needs to get abs for the summer, who wants to prevent back pain, or just be brutally strong.
In this episode of The Eric Roberts Fitness podcast I do something completely different. I speak with one of my online coaching clients Linda. I let her tell her side of this whole weight loss thing.
I can sit here all day and talk about what and how you should lose weight, but I may not be relating to you.
In this episode Linda covers her perspective when it comes to calorie counting, losing weight as a parent, mistakes that get made along the way, and some of the biggest factors that changed her life. She is amazing and I know you will get a kick out of me and her going back and forth.
Would LOVE feedback from you on this episode. Feel free to leave it in the comment review section of the podcast. -E.
Ever gone into the gym and wondered where to start when it comes to choosing the right weight for a particular exercise.
You have your workout program ( or at least I HOPE you have one! ) and it calls for 4 sets of 10 reps on squats.
You think “okay well, I know the squat, but how much weight should I be lifting?”.
Trust me you are not alone. On top of that it is a very valid question to ask.
You don’t want to pick a weight that is too light or you will be wasting your time.
You also don’t want to pick a weight that is too heavy causing you to get injured or do the movement incorrect.
By the end of this article you will have full confidence in how to select the weights you use not only for the first time doing the exercise but forever in your exercise career.
My only plea to you is to read from top to bottom. I want you to have total confidence next time you go into your workouts.
The more confidence you have the harder you will push. The harder you push, the better results you will see.
Let’s dive in.
Prerequisite For Lifting Weight
Before you get under the barbell for a squat or pick up the dumbbells for a shoulder press there has to be some sort of prerequisite.
This prerequisite is making sure you can master the movement with your own body weight and or very light weight.
Why?
If you cannot do the movement right without weight what makes you think adding weight is going to be any beneficial to you at all?
Not only from the perspective of preventing injury, but a step beyond that you won’t be using the right muscles.
If you aren’t able to use the right muscles with either body weight or light weight, the weight you choose to use won’t matter because regardless you will be limiting your results.
If you are doing movements that allow you to use bodyweight, for example a squat, I highly suggest mastering this movement with bodyweight.
I would much rather you wait an extra week or two to really hammer down your form and be confident in what you are doing.
If you are confident in the movement you will be able to put forth more effort when you do choose the right weight for you.
More effort = more results long term.
If you are saying “well how can I deadlift or over head press with no weights Eric”, don’t worry I got you.
You can easily use things like a PVC pipe or broomstick for a barbell deadlift or overhead press.
Video yourself to be able to check your form. This is something I do all the time with my online coaching clients so we can ensure their technique is where it should be so they can see results.
If you are needed to do an exercise involving dumbbells, you can either make fists as weights or simply just use very light weights.
This is something I still do to this day to make sure I can go through the movement correctly, feel the right muscles, and get maximum output for my body.
That is me being the “coach” telling you I still do that. You are never too advanced to continuing to master your form.
There is no shame in going a bit lighter, especially at the beginning learning the movement, to really down the form.
I promise it will be the backbone of your successful fitness career 5, 10, 20 years from now.
Selecting The Right Weight For You
When you get confident in the movement and feel as if you can start to add weight there a few things in knowing how to choose the right weight.
Let’s cover some here now.
RPE Scale
The image above dictates something called an RPE scale.
This simply means Rate of Perceived Exertion.
Often times you want to “work hard” but how can you quantify your effort? “Working hard” is more of an emotional feeling rather than a factual, data driven point.
This makes it hard to tell how hard you are actually working.
This is exactly why the RPE Scale was created. The levels above display what effort levels are being truly exerted.
It gives you actionable things you can hold onto and take to examine how hard you are working.
Aka if you are able to hold a conversation then you probably not working that hard.
RPE Scale With Reps In Reserve
So what does that mean for choosing the right weight?
The figure above now shows the RPE Scale with something called reps in reserve.
When selecting which weight you should use you may think that you are at an 8, 9, or 10 on the first scale. You think you are working super hard, you really feel like you are putting forth max effort.
Again this can be left up to emotional decision making. The chart above now gives you quantifiable rep numbers to attach the exertion levels to.
For example if you think you are working extremely hard during a given set but you could have done 3 or 4 more reps, you are only at a 5-7 on the scale.
When choosing what weight you want to use for a given exercise, I give all of my online coaching clients guidance for each exercise in each workout where they should fall on this scale.
Since I don’t know you and or work with you one on one I cannot necessarily tell you exactly where you should be but I can tell you this.
You should be spending the majority of your time in the 8-9.5 RPE Scale. This means if you truly want to see results you should be spending most of your time stopping your sets knowing you could have only done 2 or less reps.
This means if you are doing a set of 10 on squats that 8th, 9th, and 10th reps should be hard. They should require a lot of your effort. They should require a lot of focus. They should require you pushing yourself outside of your normal comfort zone.
If you are finishing your sets being able to have a Starbucks coffee and chat about the current political situation, you are not working hard enough.
Not hard enough if you want to see results that is.
What About Form?
Now that you know you shouldn’t be picking weights that leaves you able to sip on Starbucks coffee mid set, what about form?
You need to push yourself but should you be compromising form to get that extra push?
The answer is no.
The moment your form breaks down is the moment you know that you have reached a failure point.
If you continue to push through after your form has gone not only will you risk injury but you won’t be getting anything beneficial out of it.
If a set of squats calls for 8 reps and after 3 reps the weight is too heavy it causes your form to break down, you need to go lighter weight.
I know it is not always the best thing to hear that you can’t do something but let me explain it to you like this.
Say you were doing squats with 100 lbs for 8 reps and your form was breaking down after 3 reps.
After the third rep your muscles are not getting worked on anyway. It will be your lower back, your knees, basically anything other than your muscles.
From a results standpoint this is sub par. You will not see results from doing this. That would only make sense right?
As opposes to dropping down to 80 lbs and being able to do the entire 8 reps with correct form. Yes the last one or two reps were tough but you were able to keep form.
From a results standpoint this is optimal. This will yield you the best results. This will allow you to get your muscles stronger to then be able to lift that 100 lbs in 4, 6, 8 weeks for the 8 desired reps.
Which will ensure you are seeing strength progression and body changes.
That Being Said..
I am not about to tell you it is okay to use bad form so don’t worry.
What I will say this if you are so worried about never breaking form you mentally will not push yourself as hard as you can.
Truth is you can’t have perfect reps every single time especially as you get close to your failure points.
That set of 8 reps for example, if you are getting to your 7th 8th rep the weight is going to get heavy. You will start to get exhausted.
Obviously it is your priority to keep as perfect form as you can but the reality is you will have form slip ups especially as you push yourself.
The goal should be to maintain as perfect form as possible while still trying to push yourself / the weights you use.
The truth is this is just going to take time of you experimenting and learning where this line falls.
I can’t tell you where that line is for you. This is something you will have to experience yourself to find out.
Yet using these above tactics thus far, and knowing that form should be top priority but will never be 100% perfect, you will be on the right track.
Slow Down!
No that was not your mom screaming at you while first beginning to drive don’t worry.
Thus far you have a few ways to decide what weights you should be using in the gym.
Let’s cover another.
One way to choose what weights are appropriate for a particular exercise is focusing on the speed at which you are completing the reps.
Let’s take a bench press for example.
Let’s say you have to do a set of 6 on bench press.
If the bar moves up and down quite swimmingly for the first 5 reps, call it 1 second down 1 second back up.
When the 6th rep rolls around the bar still goes one second on the way down but now takes you 3 seconds to push it back up, this is a good indicator you are getting darn close to a failure point.
That would be an appropriate time to probably end the set, or if you have a spotter, try one more.
This reduced speed of the movement indicates that you are reaching a point of failure for your muscles.
Which again, going back to the RPE scale, means you maybe have one or two reps max left you realistically could have down without breaking form.
This is exactly where you want to be in terms of weight lifting and that can be another great indicator of if the weight you are choosing is appropriate or not.
If you are doing those 6 reps and throwing the weight up and down without any resistance, the weight is too light for you.
Again, too light if you want to see change that is.
How To Know When To Increase Weight
You have your weights picked out. You have confidence that you know how to pick the right weights.
Now comes the question of when should you increase the weights you are using?
Great question! So glad you asked!
Progressive Overload
When talking about getting stronger, building bigger or stronger muscles, or changing your body in general, the over arching theme you need to be aware of is called progressive overload.
The progressive overload principle basically states: In order for a muscle to grow, strength to be gained, performance to increase, or for any similar improvement to occur, the human body must be forced to adapt to a tension that is above and beyond what it has previously experienced.
As you can see, this principle states your body needs to have a stress put on it that it has not yet adapted to to see results.
This means if you were doing 4 sets of 8 squats at 100 lbs that stress your body has adapted to. This is not to say it is not difficult but your body can handle this stress you are putting on it.
To see change in your physique you need to provide a greater stress to your body for it to change.
This can be many ways but I will cover the two main in this article, adding weight or adding reps.
Adding Weight
The most common way to add a new stress to your body for the progressive overload principle is to add weight to what you are doing.
Let’s continue with the 4 sets of 8 reps at 100lbs example.
As mentioned above if you are able to complete that then your body has adapted to that stress. That is no longer enough stress to elicit a change in your body.
One easy way you can provide a new stress is to simply add weight.
Here is the best part, it doesn’t have to be a lot of weight, and actually the best progression schemes don’t have you progressing 100’s of lbs at a time.
Now it will differ if you are a beginner versus an intermediate.
If you are within the first 6-9 months of actually following a structured strength training program you are considered a beginner.
No, zumba or orange theory does not count.
After that you will be considered an intermediate.
Beginners will have a faster progression scheme. It is not unlike a beginner to add 10 20 30 lbs to their lift every time they enter the gym.
Whereas intermediates will be more towards the 2.5 5 lb range.
So a beginner could go from 100 lbs one week, to 110lbs the next week, 120 the next, etc.
An intermediate would go something like 100 lbs one week, 105lbs the next week, 110 the next, etc.
That being said regardless it is still a new stress your body has to adapt to.
If you give your body a new stress it has to adapt to it will grow stronger, it will grow bigger muscles, and you will see progress as a result of it.
Adding Reps
Alright while the idea of adding weight to an exercise every single time is great that is just not reality.
If that was true we would all be behemoths walking the earth lifting cars and buildings.
At some point you will get to the point where you cannot add weight to an exercise every week.
Not only that some exercises simply won’t require it.
Take a bicep curl for example.
You won’t go 10 lbs one week, 20 the next, 30 the next, and by week 10 you are curling 100 lb dumbbells.
That is just absurd.
For both of these reasons above you can choose a different progression scheme and that is adding reps to your sets.
Continuing with the 4 sets of 8 reps on squats at 100lbs, let’s go over how to use the rep progression scheme.
Week one you do 4 sets of 8 reps at 100lbs.
The second week you do 4 sets of 9 reps at 100lbs.
The third week you do 4 sets of 10 reps at 100lbs.
Over a three week span you increased each set by 2 reps.
You did 32 total reps week one, 36 reps week two, and 40 reps week three.
This increased your reps with the same weight by 8 more reps.
This is effectively using the progressive overload principle we talked about above because you are eliciting a new stress on your body that is has to adapt to.
I use this one a ton with my online coaching clients and it continues to provide great results.
If you want someone to help you with your workout program to ensure you stop wasting time in the gym to get the results you deserve, feel free to head HERE.
Importance Of Tracking Weights
Now that you know how to do the exercise, you know what weights to use and how to progress those exercises, let’s cover the importance of tracking your weights.
This is because after one workout you won’t see change. After one week you won’t see change. This stuff takes time to progress and see results.
All of that to say tracking your workouts is important.
Now that you know the progressive overload principle I want to ask you a question.
Are you lifting the same weights, for the same reps, on the same exercises you were 6 months ago?
If you answered yes to that question I have another one for you.
Has your body not changed much in the last 6 months?
I can assure you if you yes to both of those questions there is a correlation.
If you are lifting the same weight for the same reps today as you will be 6 months from now do not expect your body to change much.
This is why tracking your workouts can be such great direction for you.
It will ensure you can look at what you were doing, what you are doing now, and what you should be doing in the upcoming months.
Not only will it give you direction but it can give you motivation.
Knowing you have a certain weight to hit, or certain number of reps to perform.
The more guidelines you can have within your workouts the more you become data driven as opposed to emotion driven.
Bringing it full circle “working hard” is emotional.
Yet looking to your log of workouts saying “ Okay 2 months ago I was deadlifting 200 lbs for 4 sets of 5 now I am doing 4 sets of 5 with 250 lbs.” That my friend is progress. That is working hard.
That is how you will see results.
Wrapping Up
To sum up there is no perfect equation to figure out what weights you should be choosing.
There are certain principles, guidelines, and progression models that allows you to be able to make educated decisions on this topic.
I know a lot was covered here. If you want someone to handle all of this for you, head HERE to fill out the form to see if we could be a good fit for online coaching just like my other clients have been.
I will take all of the guesswork out of it. I will give you exactly what exercises, sets, reps, to do. All you have to do is execute. If you think you can do that, incase the link above didn’t work head HEREto fill out the form for my online coaching.
If you have questions or comments on the article feel free to leave them below. Would be happy to help.
Flexible dieting for weight loss is the best way to lose weight while still eating your favorite foods.
Do you think of “good foods” being broccoli, salads, and chicken?
While all of the “bad foods” or foods that are off limits somehow always end up being all of the foods you love.
Better get ready to suffer and incredibly dislike your diet if you are going to lose weight.
I am here to tell you that doesn’t have to be the case.
This is where flexible dieting for weight loss comes into play.
What if I told you that you can still eat your favorite foods and still lose weight.
How about telling you you don’t have to cut out all carbs to see weight loss progress.
Is that something you are interested in?
If so keep on reading.
Please do me a favor though, make sure you read every word. Top to bottom.
I want you to leave this article having full confidence in how to use flexible dieting for weight loss in your specific scenario.
So get ready because we are diving in.
What Is Flexible Dieting For Weight Loss?
Flexible dieting for weight loss is something that is relatively new in the diet world.
Truthfully, it is not really technically a “diet”.
Traditional diets lead you down a path of quick fixes, food restrictions, and often massive weight regain once you stop said diet.
Flexible dieting is different. There are going to be no foods you cannot eat or certain time periods where you cannot eat.
Flexible dieting is rather following a very simple set of rules and guidelines rather than following an over restrictive plan some person sold you off the internet.
Those guidelines are
Realizing that how much you eat is more important than what exactly you eat
Your individual schedule / preferences determines when you eat and what you eat.
Valuing Consistency Over Perfection
Slow and Sustainable Results Over Rapid Fast Results
You’re probably like “What did this guy smoke before he wrote this..”.
Stick with me because I am going to lay it all out for you and prove to you that flexible dieting for weight loss is the superior weight loss strategy.
Let’s go over the first point which realizing that how much you eat is more important that what exactly you eat.
How Much You Eat Vs What You Eat
This theory that there are certain food groups that make you fat, certain foods that make you fat, or certain nutrients that make you fat is nothing short of totally 100% inaccurate.
Sugar doesn’t make you fat.
Carbs don’t make you fat.
Fat doesn’t make you fat.
You see this is where how much you eat is more important than what exactly you eat comes into play.
At the end of the day all weight loss, weight maintenance, or weight gain comes down to is an energy balance equation.
Refer to the picture above. In the simplest terms if your body is burning more calories than you are consuming through food you will be in a negative energy balance.
This negative energy balance is referred to as a calorie deficit. This calorie deficit is the only way you will lose weight.
As long as that calorie deficit is present and you are eating less calories than your body is burning on a daily basis you will lose weight.
Those calories could come from chicken and broccoli. Those calories could come from pop tarts and soda. Those calories could come from Big Macs.
No, seriously, you can eat a big mac every day and still lose fat. Don’t believe me? Check out World Renowned Fitness Coach Jordan Syatt’s documentary on himself eating a Big Mac everyday for a month and losing 7lbs HERE.
A calorie is a calorie. It is a unit of measurement. In the same way a mile is a mile on the road, a mile in the sand, or a mile in the ocean.
They may have different make ups but at the end of the day you are still traveling a mile.
Flexible Dieting For Weight Loss Doesn’t Mean Eat Whatever You Want
Technically you could eat whatever you want and still lose weight.
It is going to be a hell of a lot harder though to lose weight if all of your calories are coming from Cheetos and pizza for a number a reasons.
Also not to mention if you are looking to not just lose weight but also obtain a certain look to your physique this is where what you eat comes into play.
If you want to keep or build lean muscle mass and lose fat then what you eat matters.
We will hit on this a bit later.
Prioritizing The Individual With Flexible Dieting For Weight Loss
You should be able to eat foods you enjoy on a regular basis, on a schedule that works best for you, and still lose weight.
I said it before and I am standing by it.
Here is the deal.
You can try to do keto and cut out all your carbs.
You can also try to do intermittent fasting and only eat in a 4 hour window period.
Here is the secret. Lean in.
If you love carbs, like most normal earth creatures, you won’t stick to keto.
With this being true any short term progress you may see will immediately be lost once you stop that particular diet.
Leading to this cycle of you losing weight and gaining weight in perpetuity.
I said earlier flexible dieting is not a diet. Flexible dieting for weight loss should be viewed as a lifestyle change as opposed to a short term crash diet fix.
This is why taking you the individual into account you will be able to build a diet around your schedule and preferences.
If your schedule is one that allows you to eat at 7am, 11am, 3 pm, and 7pm, amazing do that.
Or if you would rather eat 3 bigger meals great do that too.
If you want to eat carbs at every meal be my guest.
If you prefer higher fat groovy eat your almonds and cheese.
This is truly all dependent on you the individual.
Now let me make this very clear I am not saying every meal should look like bread, cheese, and almonds.
If you want to optimize health, longevity, satiety (which just means you won’t be starving all day), you want to prioritize “healthy” foods like fruits, vegetables, protein.
Yet that is not to say you cannot work in foods like chocolate, bread, or those devilishly good cookies you can whip up.
Giselle and I have been working together for over a year now.
She has lost over 35 lbs, 7.5 inches on her waist, and completely revamped her confidence.
Through this time she has gone on multiple vacations where she ate or drank calories she enjoyed and had multiple weekends where she would indulge on her beloved Aussie Rolls from a restaurant called Sweetwater.
Something Giselle does do though maybe better than anyone is stick to her whole nutrient dense foods 80-90% of the time.
Things like eggs, rice, veggies, fruits, chicken.
Yet because she does that she is able to get away with having her beloved rolls or her chocolate fixes every now and then. All while still seeing amazing progress as you can see above.
I am showing you this for two reasons. The first being I am so incredibly proud of her and all her hard work.
The second is to show you is Giselle is a busy working parent just like you. Not only is it possible but it works. It works damn good too.
We will hit on exactly what this looks like shortly.
Consistency Over Perfection
Let me give you a common dieting scenario and tell me if you’ve ever experienced this.
You start some over restrictive diet whether cutting carbs, eating only at certain times, or drinking god awful apple cider vinegar.
Eventually you “cheat”. You have the cookie, you eat outside of the time window or food allotments.
Because you “cheated” you say screw if you are going to have it you’re not gonna have one bite you’re going to have all the bites.
This leads you vastly over eat. After that you say well you just screwed everything up so might as well quit.
Sound familiar? You are not alone. This is where flexible dieting for weight loss comes into play.
When you take restrictions off foods you can enjoy them when you so please.
It is like telling your kid not to touch something in the store…. within 4 seconds of you saying that they touch something.
When you know they are not off limits you don’t have to cheat to have them you can just have them.
This allows you to adhere to said “diet” better and even make it enjoyable.
Now that is not to say some days you won’t over eat. If you go to a social event and have some drinks with your friends you may go over your calories.
That is 100% okay and actually apart of the plan.
Flexible dieting for weight loss means you don’t have to be perfect to lose weight, rather just consistent.
Slow And Steady With Flexible Dieting For Weight Loss
This is one question I ask every single one of my online coaching clients before I begin working with them.
Would you have have slower more sustainable progress or more rapid progress that is unsustainable?
If you have come to this article I assume you are fed up with the yo yo dieting, with the gaining and losing weight, and with not making a lifestyle change.
You are not going to lose a ton of weight in the first 2 weeks with flexible dieting.
You are not going to cut all your water weight or royally screw up your insides via some detox a fitness influencer sold you on instagram.
What flexible dieting for weight loss is centered around is slower more sustainable progress you can keep for the rest of your life.
This is the farthest thing from a quick fix way of losing weight.
Yet if you want to have a way of not only losing weight but keeping it off forever you have effectively just found your resource.
Let’s now go over some guidelines when setting up your own diet.
How To Use Flexible Dieting For Weight Loss
There is truly two ways to take flexible dieting for weight loss and put it into action to start seeing results.
The first is going to be simply tracking your calories and protein.
The second is going to be tracking calories, protein, carbs, and fats.
We will talk about both and the pros and cons of each but first let me give some general guidelines.
80% Of Your Food Should Be Coming From Nutrient Dense Whole Foods.
What does this mean? This means relatively 80% of your food choices should be coming from foods like the ones listed below.
Chicken
Avocado
Eggs
Sweet Potatoes
Spinach
Peppers
Whole Grains
Fruit
Beans
The list could go on but basically you shouldn’t be eating pizza and ice cream at every meal.
This is where a lot of people go wrong in flexible dieting.
They hear me say that as long as you hit your calories that is all that matters for fat loss which means they can eat chips all day long.
Here is the thing.
Could you do that? Yes. Is that anywhere near optimal or beneficial for long term health, longevity, immune system, bone density, lean muscle gain?
Hell to the no.
Not to mention that would be vastly unsustainable for you due to the health complications that would come with it.
This is why a good rule of thumb would be to have 80-90% of your calories come nutrient dense whole foods and 10-20% come from “treats”.
Treats can be things like chocolates, chips, apple caramel crumb cake…. Hmmmm.
If you are taking in 2000 calories a day that would mean 1600-1800 calories come from the foods listed above and 2-400 calories come from treats.
“But wait Eric you said I could eat whatever I want and still lose weight!”
You can but here is the deal. To lose weight you need to be in a calorie deficit.
To optimize that calorie deficit and ensure you stick to it consistently you need to do a few things.
One is eat high protein. Why? Because protein is the most satiating nutrient. What this means is it fills you up the longest.
Most peoples diets fail because they over restrict and then get so hungry they could eat enough for a small village. Keep your protein high to avoid this and stick to your calorie deficit.
The next is prioritizing these nutrient dense whole foods we have been talking about.
This is because again they will keep you full, energized, and healthy leading you to stick to your calorie deficit.
If you can’t stay in a calorie deficit you won’t lose weight. Focus on getting quality food in you with the occasional treats to satisfy yourself to see the best results.
Flexible Dieting Tracking Strategies
Now that you know what your day should look like in terms of what foods you should be focusing on and what foods can be your treats, let’s look at how to track that.
The first option is going to be to track just calories and protein.
Pros of tracking just calories and protein would be
Simple, clear, concise goal
Will be prioritizing protein dense foods within those calories
As long as your calories are met you will lose weight regardless of what your carbs and fat numbers are
This works extremely well if you are a busy parent with a job, kids, responsibilities and an endless time crunch.
Focus on what really matters and don’t major in the minor.
As far as what your calories and protein should be set to I have an entire article on that HERE.
For short term purposes, if you are trying to lose weight set your calories to your bodyweight x 10.
Set your protein goal to .8g of protein per lb of body weight.
So if you are 200lbs right now this would mean your total calories for the day would be 2000 and your protein would be 160g for the day.
If you want more information on why I chose those numbers head to the article HERE or shoot me an email at coacheric@ericrobertsfitness.com I would be happy to help.
The second option is going to be tracking calories, protein, carbs, and fats.
This option is great for people who want to take it a step farther in how calculated they are being.
Or if you just want to learn more about you and your body. Some people respond better to higher carb, some people respond better to higher fat.
By respond I don’t mean lose weight, I mean how your workouts are or how your energy levels are. The more data you gather the better decisions you can make.
Pros of tracking calories, protein, carbs, and fats
Can be more precise
Can get more data to make decisions on energy, workouts, sleep etc.
Can learn what foods have what amounts of carbs and fats in them
Can put a limit on how many carbs / fats you eat so you don’t over eat
I will fully say there is no one better way than the other. I don’t think tracking all 4 goals is better than just tracking protein and calories.
It is truly dependent on you the individual and what your lifestyle is like or your preferences are, aka what the principles of flexible dieting for weight loss are.
If you want to track carbs and fats as well I would follow the guidelines above set for calories and protein first.
I would set your fat to bodyweight x .3. If you weigh 200 lbs with would be 60g of fat per day.
I would use the rest of your calories for carbs. How do you figure this out? Let’s continue with the 200 lb person example.
Protein has 4 calories per 1 gram of protein. This means 160g of protein x 4 calories would come to 640 calories from protein.
Fat has 9 calories per 1 gram of fat. This means 60g of fat x 9 calories would come to 540 calories.
640 calories from protein + 540 calories from fat = 1180 calories total.
Take your 2000 calorie limit and minus it by 1180 to give you 820 calories left for carbs.
Carbs have 4 calories per 1 gram of carbs. Take 820 divided by 4 and that comes to 205g of carbs.
So on a 2000 calorie diet it would come to
160g of protein
60g of fat
205g of carbs
Eat On A Schedule That Suites Your Lifestyle
If you like eating breakfast cool eat breakfast.
If you aren’t hungry in the morning cool don’t eat breakfast.
If you get home late and have dinner late that is fine. We now know that as long as you hit your total calories for the day that is all that matters for weight loss.
That being said I want to give you a few things to think about.
The first being that if you consistently find yourself over eating at night because you are starving coupled with you consistently skipping breakfast, maybe it is time to think about eating breakfast.
Can you skip breakfast and lose weight? 100% yes and I am not saying you have to eat it.
What I am saying is if you have been doing that and consistently over indulge at night because your hunger gets the best of you, you may want to consider eating more during the day.
The next is going to be if you are wanting to have kick ass workouts.
If you want to be sure your workouts stay top notch I would highly recommend having
Protein before your workout
Carbs before your workout
Both can be around 20-30 grams each and about 1-2 hours before your workout.
Other than that you can have 5 meals a day, 3 meals a day with 2 snacks, or 2 big meals a day.
As long as you hit whatever goals you set out to hit via whichever tracking option you choose that is all that matters.
Technically you could even have some days lower calories some days higher calories. If you want to really learn more about that head HERE for my article on calorie cycling.
Final Word On Flexible Dieting For Weight Loss
To recap flexible dieting for weight loss is
Realizing that how much you eat is more important than what exactly you eat
Your individual schedule / preferences determines when you eat and what you eat.
Valuing Consistency Over Perfection
Slow and Sustainable Results Over Rapid Fast Results
You can either track calories and protein or track calories, protein, carbs, and fats.
Eat on whatever schedule best fits your lifestyle preferences.
See amazing results.
It is totally normal to be a bit skeptical on flexible dieting and if it really works for weight loss.
I would urge you to first try it out for yourself and see the wonders it can do.
Also to head HERE if you want to see more of my online coaching clients success stories with flexible dieting for weight loss.
You do not have to cut out your favorite foods to get the body you have always wanted.
I promise.
Drop any comments or questions below and feel free to email me at coacheric@ericrobertsfitness.com if you want some more specific help.