Hey guys,

This has to be said…

If you are struggling currently with your results, it is your fault.

Ask yourself 2 questions…

1. Are you overcomplicating things by needing to know more and never really taking action on what you know is important?
2. Are you lying to yourself about how good your nutrition is when you are not getting results?

To answer the 1st question, good nutrition is not complicated! It is honest and outcome based.

Stop subscribing to every bit of content on the internet proclaiming and contradicting every nuance of nutrition. Everything I write is based on science and is supported with real bootcamp results.

If you are doing the following consistently with good nutrition, then you will see results:

• exercising at least 5 hours a week
• being active in your daily life (10,000 steps/day) – seriously stop sitting! It is messing up your body!
• not consuming more than 4 alcoholic beverages a week
• getting at least 7 hours of good sleep a night
• not being stressed out to the max everyday – this is often the missing piece of the puzzle for most people!!! A stressed body will fight your weight loss efforts every step of the day. Look into deep breathing, a positive support system, yoga, stretching, to help alleviate stress.

So, if you are doing all those things and not getting results…. Then your nutrition needs improvement. 

And I can sugar coat it for you, but in reality, if you were doing everything I listed above and not getting results, then your nutrition is really really bad.

Great nutrition can be as simple as…

For women, start here with your daily intake:

• 3-4 servings of lean protein
• 2-3 servings of carbohydrates (this includes starches and fruit)
• 4-6 servings of vegetables
• 2-3 servings of fat

For men, if your nutrition needs improvement, then start here with your daily intake:

• 4-6 servings of lean protein
• 2-3 servings of carbohydrates * aim to get carbs in and around bootcamp
• 6-8 servings of vegetables
• 4-6 servings of fat

Here is a resource for portion sizes and good food:
http://www.precisionnutrition.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/EatRainbow_PortionGuide.pdf

The above can be broken up into as many meals as you wish. It would be best to eat protein at every meal and eat carbs around workout time. And note that when it says 2-3 carbs per day, it would be best to be having 2 carbs per day. It would be best to max out the vegetables and protein, you get the point.

And of this 2 carb servings, any fruit counts as 1 serving, a healthy carb counts as 1 serving.

It’s about making the smallest amount of changes in your life that yield the biggest results.

I said it would be best to be having 2 carbs/day, but you can certainly have 3 carbs/day for a month and get results. And when you hit a plateau, reduce it to 2 carbs/day.

THIS IS ACTUALLY THE BEST WAY TO DO THIS!

Small progressive changes. Don’t try to change everything at once. Or drop all your carbs at once.

IT DOESN’T WORK! Your body will eventually retaliate.

• 1 habit at a time.

Here’s a progression for you.

1. Make exercising 5x/week a habit
2. Make eating at protein at every meal a habit
3. Make eating more vegetables a habit. Did you see how many you are supposed to have a day!? You’re probably not doing that!
4. Make limiting your carbs to 3 times per day a habit.
5. Look at which foods affect your body with bloating, gas, uncomfortableness and eliminate them from your diet
6. If you plateau on 3 carbs per day after a month or 6 months, then have 2 carbs/day
7. Work within the confines of level 1 and optimize protein and vegetable intake, and lower carbs and fat to the lower portions as indicated for male and female.

Ok…

Now if you do this for a period of time, and stop seeing results. By the way… not seeing results would actually be eating like this for a month, exercising at least 5 hours/week for a month, not having a crazy lifestyle that stresses you out.

Then you would progress your nutrition to level 2

Level 2 is reserved for experienced bootcamp members who have mastered eating quality foods at level 1. Think of this as the second phase of your nutrition plan. You only need to move to level 2, if level 1 has stopped working for you.

Note: Most likely level 1 has not stopped working for you. Seriously, I don’t eat at level 2, I eat at level 1, as level 1 continually works for me.

Women
• 3-4 servings of lean protein
• ½ – 1 servings of carbohydrates
• 4-6 servings of vegetables
• 2-3 servings of fat

Men
• 4-6 servings of lean protein
• 1 servings of carbohydrates
• 6-8 servings of vegetables
• 3-4 servings of fat

Another note: Don’t jump to level 2 after looking at this. It will be too much for you, your body, and your long term outlook. Start at level 1 and work from there. Even if you are an experienced boot camp member.

A little big more background info about how much to exercise per week from a scientific study….

• For weight loss (greater than 5% of your current body weight), exercising less than 150 minutes per week has little effect on losing weight.
• People who lose greater than 10% of their initial bodyweight in 24 months are exercising on average 5.5 hours/week.

Now… You see the evidence. Just do this. Stop bullshitting yourself that you don’t have enough time to spend 5 hours a week out of the 168 hours. It’s clear that you just don’t want this enough.

So, if you really want this. And to prevent the lying to yourself, cause you know, the ego likes to be protected… Just write down everything you eat. Everytime you work out. And how much you are sleeping. And track it all for 2 weeks, then weigh yourself every 2 weeks.

And don’t expect weight loss to be this beautiful linear line on a graph. Aboslutely not.

It is not whistling through the grocery store, losing 2lbs per week, with not a crab in sight, with you never having cheat meals or alcohol on the weekends with zero issues that stress you out.

.. that never happens.

Here are some guidelines to expect but not to depend on.

This may not happen every week. Weight loss is a scribbly line that goes up, down, back, and forth with distractions, and crabs all over the place, trying to get you back to your “old ways”, for whatever self esteem issue they have. (It had to be said)…

That’s why, if there is ONE THING you should stay away from at all costs..

It’s mediocrity.

Mediocrity is:

– When you stop thinking for yourself – letting others make decisions for you.

– When you have no goals in life – just drifting along, ending up wherever society wants to take you (then complaining where you ended up, even though you never did anything to change your course). I always ask people to set real goals. 

– When you think that what’s happening in the news has a direct impact on your opportunities. You should start thinking more positive about yourself.

– When you try to change your monthly meal plan even though you’re only on day 2. Have you heard of The Compound Effect? Read it.

– When you get SLOW. Not taking action, and blaming others for where you are in life (while in reality, you’re upset at the consequences of your own inaction).

To live the good life, AVOID MEDIOCRITY.

And to avoid mediocrity, you must take action.

You must be willing to do whatever it takes to get where you want to be. Putting one foot in front of the other. No thinking, no talking, just doing.

You don’t have the luxury of letting the economy, your friends, your boss, or even your spouse get in your way.

Everyone knows which path they should take, but they only take the path they’re accustomed to.

So it gets me anxious when I hear people make excuses as to why they can’t get fit.

Or why they need to ‘wait’.. and how “now is not the right time.”

If you ask me, those people are scared to get out of their comfort zone.

Because problems are like triceps, we all have them.

But the ones who succeed take action regardless of their situation. And like I said earlier, success is a wild and sometimes stressful ride.

But in the end, once you’ve made it – you wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.

There’s an amazing body waiting for you.. just on the other side of what you’re afraid of.

Committed to your success,
Josh Saunders
The Bootcamp Effect