I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news but I also want to give everybody realistic expectations with their physique goals.
I can’t tell you how many clients I’ve worked with over the years that show me a picture of a world class body with less than 8% body fat without any knowledge of how their lifestyle would have to be to match their goals.
Somebody asked me a really good question the other day on my Instagram and I decided to make an entire article about!
They asked “What are the daily habits you see people make that are preventing them from getting shredded EVEN while dieting and training consistently in the weight room?
Let’s dive into 3 Daily habits making you fat!
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You take in too Much Salt and are Retaining “water weight”
Technically sodium has no calories, but taking in an excess amount of salt makes your body retain a ton of water and gives you a puffy look like the appearance of body fat.
This is the last thing you need when you are are the beach and want to look your best!
Make sure to watch the excess sodium from sauces, seasoning, and different condiments. Processed meats are the worst for salt, especially deli meats!
Drink lots of water and stick with natural sea salt at a few grams per day!
Another side effect is consuming lots of sodium and not drinking enough water tends to make you really hungry! This means that you will succumb to your cravings more frequently and take in more calories.
So not only will you be storing more water weight, you will be eating more calories and packing on more body fat. This is a nasty cycle that must be stopped!
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NOT doing Cardio
I know I’m going to get a lot of objection on this one but hear me out. To get shredded you need to lose body fat quickly. This means you need to create a caloric deficit somehow, someway.
If your caloric deficit is ONLY coming from starving yourself you are making it incredibly hard on yourself.
By doing just 20 minutes of cardio or HIIT training per day you are burning another 2,000 – 3,000 extra calories.
Combine this with counting your calories and training in the gym and you have the recipe for an incredibly shredded physique.
The best forms of cardio are going to be “fasted cardio” where you train and hit your cardio 1st thing in the morning without any food in your system, or HIIT training.
I based the fat burning science of the “3 Day Diet” on HIIT training as it creates a powerful afterburn effect where your body burns calories for up to 24 hours following the exercise!
The bottom line is when you are trying to get shredded being lazy is your worst enemy. If you are sitting at a desk all day, and only working out for about 1 hour in the gym 4 times per week it's going to be really hard to create the type of caloric deficit you need from restricting your calories alone.
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Drinking Empty Calories
Drinking your calories is just about the worst thing you can do on a shredding diet. I know above that I said if you count your calories and figure out your “shredding macros” you can technically eat whatever you want and I wasn’t lying.
The thing about liquid sugar calories in the form of Starbucks, energy drinks, soft drinks and even fruit juices is they are 100% sugar, pack in a ton of calories, spike your insulin, and cause you to crave MORE sugar.
The worst part of it all is they will make you hungrier 1 hour later due to the crazy blood sugar spike!
If you are only getting to consume 2,300 calories on a shredding diet and you are drinking 600 of those calories its going to be really hard to stay under that total while not torturing yourself and being hungry all day.
Stick with food for your calories and apply the 80/20 rule. If you want to have a high sugar cheat meal try having it after your workout when the insulin spike can go to good use.
Hope you enjoyed my top 3 daily habits making you fat.
If you are interested in any of my programs check these out:
CLICK HERE to learn more about the 3 Day Diet – where you don’t have to count your calories and only have to diet 3 days per week!
CLICK HERE to learn more about my 12-week shred – where I personally work with you and give you the exact amount of calories you need to eat to shred up fast.