Shredding For The Wedding!

Anyone that knows me, knows that I'm all about a sustainable, long-term approach towards health and fitness. That being said, I also believe in setting short-term achievable goals that advance you towards a bigger goal, or perhaps get you out of a rut and back on the road to progress. With my upcoming wedding, I have set a goal of cutting 10 pounds in the little over 8 weeks I have until the big day. Below I've highlighted the basic plan of which I'm following in order to reach this goal.

Eating Window

A recent dieting trend that's gaining traction is the process of intermittent fasting. The basic idea is that you fast for predetermined periods of time, only consuming calories within a shortened part of your day. Most protocols call for 12-16 hours of fasting, leaving 8-12 hours to eat your meals for the day. I've adapted this method, primarily for the purposes of calorie control, to where I simply do not eat past 7 pm. Why 7 pm? Because for me personally, this works. I usually try to go to bed around 9:30 or so, which gives me a couple of hours to digest without allowing time to get super hungry again. Then, usually I don't get to eat breakfast until around 7-8 am, which gives me a 12-13 hour fast window that feels natural. The main point I want to stress here is that it is imperative to do what is attainable and feasible for YOU!

Fasted Cardio

Just to be clear, this is not a part of my regimen that I currently plan on being a lifelong addition. However, getting out of your comfort zone can be a key component to breaking through plateaus. Fasted cardio is exactly what it sounds like, performing cardio before you eat anything. The principle is that by exercising without any food in your system, that your body will pull from fat stores for energy as opposed to carbohydrates and will be less "distracted" by having to focus on food digestion. The trade off here is that usually your performance will not be optimal and therefore should stick to lower impact exercises. Currently, I'm walking/running for 30 minutes every morning before work five days per week. This only puts me having to wake up about an hour early (allowing time to get dressed, exercise and shower) which I personally find isn't too demanding on my body or schedule.

Daily Resistance Training

No workout program would be complete (or really effective) without at least some focus on strength and resistance training. But it isn't always possible to incorporate all aspects of training you want without getting a little creative. That's why I reserve my mornings for cardio, when I know my mind and body are neither working at full capacity, and my afternoons are left open for my resistance training. By training twice per day, I have to be a bit mindful of my routine in order to avoid dedicating every waking moment to training. I have my resistance training pared down to 5 or so basic movements that alternate muscle groups in order to allow proper recovery, more effective execution of the exercises and keeping density at a peak level. Altogether my daily training is around an hour (30 minutes in the AM and 20-30 minutes in the PM).

In Conclusion

I wanted to share my very specific goal and the action plan I'm taking not to necessarily encourage anyone to follow my particular plan, but rather to see how we all vary in what works for our specific circumstances. To realize that what works for one person may not work for you and that's ok! What's not ok? Simply doing nothing to work towards your goal. Inaction is the only inexcusable option here. So set a goal and get after it today!