Losing Weight Is Hard, Until You Do This

If you're trying to lose weight by eating clean 24/7, that's probably why it feels so damn hard. Most people are trying to be perfect 100% of the time, and the second they mess up, they feel like a failure and just say screw it. I've coached over 25,000 people with their fat loss journeys, and in this video I'm going to show you how not being perfect is going to get you more results and make losing weight feel Easy. Most people think of losing weight as a light switch. Either they're on being perfect or they're off saying fuck it. This makes losing weight feel impossible because if it's always on, just like the light bulb, eventually you'll burn out. Instead, think of losing weight as a dimmer switch. Sometimes the light will be brighter and sometimes it will be dimmer, but it's always Consistently on. This instantly removes the all-or-nothing mindset and the guilt mindset of being good, but then falling off track and feeling like you ruined all of your progress. And now you might be thinking, well, Eric, if I don't have to be perfect, what does consistency actually look like to lose weight? Let me show you. There are 31 days in a month. Most people think if you fall off one day, The rest of the month is ruined. But instead, what if you aimed to be 80 to 90% consistent? That would mean out of 31 days, you need to hit your goals with a few specific items 25 to 28 of the 31 days. So this means even when you have a day that's off track, it's actually not off track because you've already worked it into your plan for the month of not being on track 3 to 6 days. And to be clear, I don't mean on these days you go all out and binge, but all of the clients I have coached are real people with real lives. You're going to go out to eat sometimes, or take a vacation, or celebrate an anniversary dinner, and you're not going to stay on track with your calories, and that's okay. It's worked into the plan and you don't need to feel guilty. And now you might be thinking, well, Eric, what are those few specific items that you need to be consistent with? Let me show you. This is our online coaching client, Wes. When he first came to us, he was eating pretty clean, but not knowing exactly how many calories he was consuming. So the first thing we did upon signing up was have him start weighing out his food, recording his daily calorie intake, and having him hit his calorie deficit goal. And he was shocked at how many calories he was eating, even though it was pretty healthy. It's like trying to save money without doing a budget. If you don't know how much money you're making and you don't know how much money you're spending, how will you save money? So don't just rely on clean eating or healthy eating to lose weight. Figure out how many calories you should be eating per day for your calorie deficit and hit that number with that 80 to 90% consistency. And by the way, if you need to know what your calorie deficit number should be, click the link in the description below of this video. There will be a free calorie deficit calculator. But the calorie number isn't the only thing that matters. This is our client Laura. When she started, she did actually know her calorie deficit number and she was tracking. She just wasn't hitting it consistently. Why? Well, she had a lot of hunger, a lot of cravings for sugar, and she felt like her metabolism was just too slow to lose weight. Once we started to look over her food logs and what she was actually eating within those calories, we realized she wasn't eating anywhere near enough protein. Protein helps you burn more calories just by eating it. For every 100 calories of protein you eat, your body can burn up to 30 of those calories. And for comparison, when you eat 100 calories of carbs, Your body only burns 3 to 6 calories digesting it. Protein also helps keep you the most full and fights off those sugar cravings, especially at night. So we immediately upped her protein to at least 100 grams per day. And we did this by adding 1 to 2 scoops of a protein powder per day. I actually have my own flavor. I'll link it in the description below if you want to check it out. She started eating larger portion sizes of chicken and Greek yogurt and And then she started adding egg whites to her eggs in the morning. So I want you to look over your daily menu of food and pick 2 to 4 places where you'll be able to increase that protein as well. But even if you hit your calorie and your protein goal, if you don't get this next step right, it'll feel impossible to lose weight. Earlier this year, I lost 20 pounds in 10 weeks. Leading up to a vacation. But how did I gain those 20 pounds in the first place? Well, it's not because of my diet. I know my calorie intake and I hit it with 80 to 90% consistency. And it wasn't because of my workouts, because I routinely work out with weights 4 times a week. What ruins my progress and makes me gain weight if I don't stay on top of it is my daily steps. Maybe like you, I sit at a desk for most of my day doing my work. So even though, yeah, I might go lift weights and push myself hard in my workout, the other 23 hours of my day, if I'm not very mindful of being active, I can not move at all. So my body burns much less calories if I don't move throughout the day. And think of daily movement like if you had a small fire going, And you poured gasoline on top of that fire, the flame would ignite. And that's basically what your body is doing when you get more daily movement. Your calorie burn flame goes much higher. So the biggest change I made in losing those 20 pounds is getting my daily walks. And with my schedule, I can't really just go take an hour-long walk. So what I do is split it up into mini 10 to 20 minute walks throughout the day. This could be after I have a meal, this could be on a lunch break, this could be before or after my workout. And breaking it up like this allows me to fit it into my lifestyle in a more realistic and sustainable way that's not overwhelming. And I'll do this until I hit 8,000 steps per day. If I can get to 10, awesome, but the minimum is 8,000. So if you're someone who's trying to make losing weight feel much easier, add in these mini walks throughout your day to up to at least 8,000 steps per day. Now, even if you hit 8,000 steps, your workouts still matter because if you do the wrong ones, you won't see your body change. One of our clients, Brian, used to think that doing lightweight for high reps and working out 6 to 7 days a week was the best way to do his workouts to lose weight. Only his body never really looked toned or defined when he was doing that, and he often found himself exhausted after his workouts. Which led to inconsistency. When he joined our online coaching program, the first thing we did was change up his workouts to be 4 days a week strength training for about 30 to 45 minutes because he is a busy father and his schedule is busy. And we focused on lifting heavier weights in the 5 to 10 rep range. Trying to do more reps or lift more weight week Over week. So it wasn't just about doing a ton of reps and a bunch of cardio. And after making this one change, not only did his scales start to drop, but his body started to change, just like the progress pictures you saw. And so for you, commit to working out 3 to 4 days a week with weights on a proper strength training program that you should be trying to lift a bit heavier weight for a bit less reps and trying to either do more reps or more weight over the course of the weeks. And a pro tip here: treat these like an appointment in your calendar, just like a work meeting or a dentist or doctor's appointment. You make the meeting and you can't cancel it. And if you can do those 4 things— calories, protein, steps, workouts— with 80 to 90% consistency for the upcoming month, I promise losing weight will feel easier than stealing candy from a baby. But don't actually do that because that's mean. And if you watch this far and you're like, Eric, I just want some help and I need some accountability to keep me on track, you can click the link below to learn more about my online coaching program. Or if you want even more information, my best information on losing weight, watch this video here for 9 years of honest weight loss advice.