The Importance Of Tracking Calories For Weight Loss And Building Muscle (For Men & Women).

Whether you want to lose fat or build muscle this blog post is for you!  Tracking calories has played a huge part in my journey so far and is literally a staple in building a body you are proud of.  I have been tracking calories for about a year now and yes there are sometimes days and weeks I forget to track calories and guess what happens?  I almost always gain fat, the reason being is even if I think I am eating the same amount of food as I do when tracking calories I always end up over eating.

Tracking calories also works as a way to motivate you to eat foods that have a good balance between calories and macros.  The reason being is that you won't want to be eating a high calorie food with low macros because every single calorie counts and either helps you or works against you.

I can say that while tracking calories I have learned the do's and don'ts of cutting calories from a start.  Lets say that you are currently eating 3000 calories and to lose fat you need to be eating 2200 calories per day.  I have had the experience of literally cutting 1000 calories overnight and I can tell you from experience that is not the way to go.  It ends up messing with your metabolism and backfires on you.

Instead you would want to take 8 weeks to cut out the 800 calories.  It is going to be a long process but it will be worth it.  On the first week you will cut down to 2900, the second will be 2800 and so on.  I know this doesn't seem like it would work but what I have found is that it actually is a more permanent fix rather than the quick fix of cutting 800 calories from day one.

First off it will make your body adapt, and secondly it will be easier for you to eat just under the amount of calories you are used to eating.

By doing it this way it will also feel more obtainable. think about it, if you are walking 10,000 steps per day is 300 more steps going to be a big deal?  Probably not.  But now think if you had to do 2400 more steps, I bet that would be a little harder because its almost 25% more than you are used to doing.  Now if this week you walk 10,300 steps that isn't much harder, then next week you walk 10,600 steps the same rule applies.

Eating for weight loss is the same way!  Make things easy on yourself by taking steps to achieve your goal, rather than taking a big jump off the cliff and hurting yourself.

Closing Thoughts.

I really hope reading this helped you achieve the goals you have for your body.  This concept is very hard to grasp because we all want a quick fix and think if we eat a great deal less that it will help, don't worry I did that to and learned the hard way so you don't have to!

How To Move Up The FOOD Chain. (Eating Healthier)

Eating healthy is different for everyone.  There are no foods that are for sure "healthy" because one person can say that meat is healthy another can say it is the worst thing in the world for you.

This being said you can work towards what foods you consider healthy.

My Story.

About 5 years back I was eating McDonalds, crackers and Jif peanut butter, and Ramen almost every single day.  Sure there might have been some healthy food thrown in the mix but for the most part all I remember eating was pure junk.  If you would have told me 5 years ago "just eat some spinach and stop eating the McDonalds" I probably would've laughed in your face.  It wasn't going to resonate with me to do a dramatic shift in what I was eating in a split second.  In fact now, I do eat healthier than I could've imagined 5 years ago, but I still have a ways to go, (finding out what foods work with me and which one's don't) while implementing more greens and veggies.

Maybe you feel just like I did 5 years ago.  Maybe you are just looking into health, whether it be to lose weight, gain muscle, or maybe you are in great shape but still eat a ton of junk food you know isn't good for you.  Whatever it is this blog will help you!

What does it mean to move up the food chain?

To move up the food chain you must start to make a shift in the foods you are eating.  Lets say you are where I was 5 years ago, you are starting to head down a path that will lead to obesity.  You have been eating this way all of your life and it is starting to catch up with you.

What can you do about it?  Instead of looking at the healthiest foods you can eat, I want you to think of something that is healthier than what you are currently eating.  If your daily diet consists of Cheetos, moving up the food chain might be eating french fries or sweet potato fries.  At this point you may be saying "but don't I need to cut all the crap out of my diet?"

The answer is yes, but it is going to take time.  You most likely won't be able to go into the gym if you have never lifted weights before and start to curl a 50 pound dumbbell.  So we start with something that is still a challenge, we replace a bad habit with a better one.

There is no need to compare what you are eating to what someone else is eating, your first step is to start to cut out the things that are bad and replace them with foods that are a step better.

I remember when I was losing fat about 3-4 years ago eating things I would never eat today, but it worked for me back then.  Meat, even if it was cured in sugar was better for me than some McDonalds.

Closing thoughts.

What are some foods you can eat that are slightly healthier than the foods you are eating right now on a day to day basis?

Don't try to get in shape in a week.  That is the purpose of this blog post, it is going to take longer than you expect, but it also won't be a super long time as long as you continue to replace the bad foods with better foods and make eating these better foods a daily habit.

How To Use Your Tax Refund Wisely.

Mindset

You probably already have or are still waiting to receive your tax refund.  What are your plans with the money you get back?  Are you going to save it or spend it?

Most of the time people are going to spend it on a TV or something that will depreciate.  I don't want that for you, the fact that you are reading this means you think different, you want more out of your tax refund.  However it is going to require some work on your part.

This is in no way easier than going and blowing you refund on something right now.  What can happen if you do what I am going to share with you today is that you may have the chance to multiply your tax refund!  Like I said, it will take work and it isn't easy, but will be worth it in the end.

The Process 

When you receive your tax refund instead of looking at what you can spend money on look at what you can invest in.  Start to look at how you can use that money for leverage in your life instead of "extra money" that will soon be spent on some junk you don't even need.

Although I cannot tell you what is right for you to invest the money in I can give you some pointers, but you are the only one who knows the right way to leverage your money.  The things I would consider are investing in yourself (books, audiobooks, courses etc.) and flipping items (retail arbitrage, garage sales etc).

For example, I decided to invest some more money (about $100) into retail arbitrage through Amazon FBA, this allowed me to put the rest of the money in the bank and let that $100 (hopefully) work for me over the next couple weeks.  If it does end up making a profit that will leave me with $20-40 extra, which will be re-invested back into more items to flip, and the process will continue.  

Imagine if you did this yourself.  Sure you wouldn't be able to buy a new TV or computer right away, which is a bummer, but after a while you will have more money to buy something even better as long as everything works out (nothing is guaranteed) but worse case you are going to be out a couple hundred dollars and gain the experience of trying something new.

Maybe you would rather invest in yourself instead.  The benefits of this are that you have something that will always be there to help and guide you.  However, I would only recommend investing in yourself if you are going to take action on it.  From firsthand experience I have spent an insane amount of money on books in 2015 but I read so many of them without taking too much action which  really just made reading those books a waste of time.

Once again, for investing in yourself don't spend all of your money on it, focus on one or two books or programs that are going to benefit your life.  This way it is easier for you to focus on one thing instead of a bunch of books or programs to the point where you rush through them and don't even learn anything.

Some books/audiobooks I would recommend are Awaken The Giant Within, The 10x Rule, The Millionaire Fastlane, The Power of Now, and The One Thing. (Links to all of these books below.)



 

Closing thoughts

Is investing your tax return something that sounds worth while to you? If so leave a comment below on how you will invest your tax return to give yourself and your loved ones a better life!

Thank you so much for reading, as always,
Make the best of today,

Brian

My First Cheat Day In 3 Weeks (My Experience & How It Can Help You).

As you may or may not know in early March (I believe March 10)  I decided I wasn't going to take another cheat day until April 1.  Now leading up to April first was actually pretty hard.  It only got easier the last 5 days before April.  As I got used to eating junk food once per week my mind also adapted and wondered why I wasn't eating the pizza and what not every week.  It was really hard and I did eat some ice cream throughout the past 3 weeks, but it is ice cream with ingredients I consider pretty good (it kept me sane as well during this period).

As I write this it is April 1 and I can tell you my body has changed to like the taste of healthier food more again.  So far I have eaten about 4000 calories today and it is 8:00 pm.  I may eat one more thing today but that is only if I get hungry before bed, which I doubt but it is possible.  

How can this help you?

Maybe you are where I was last month or you are where I was 5 years ago.  Either way you have the ability to change a habit of always eating junk food.  

Some ways junk food can affect you are:

 - Low energy

 - Sugar crash (having energy for about 30 minutes then losing it all and being tired for hours after)

 - Unclear thinking

 - Slow moving

 - Fat gain

Obviously these are just a few ways junk food can affect you and are the most common in my life when I eat junk.  When you start to eat healthier (leafy greens, high quality protein, and so on) you will notice that you slowly start feeling the effects of junk food less and less and will actually notice your body starts to feel and look better.  

After taking a break from junk food for so long I can dramatically tell the difference in how I feel when I eat it compared to when I was eating it once per week.  Even as I write this I am having trouble focussing  on the writing and I believe it all has to do with what I ate today.  

So enough about me, how can eating junk food less often help make your life better?

First off you will start to have higher energy in your life and a better ability to focus.  (an easy way to start eating healthier is by incorporating smoothies into your diet) they help feed your sweet tooth, but in a healthy way since you are getting fruit and vegetables, (as well as protein powder if you want to add it).  If you have a smoothie filled with bright tropical fruit in the morning you will most likely also notice a better mood throughout the day.  

Try this smoothie every morning:

 - coconut or almond milk

 - frozen pineapple chunks

 - ripe banana 

 - frozen mango chunks

 - coconut oil

 - spinach or kale

I used to make this smoothie every morning.  It was great for a good mood in the cloudy, cold winter and is also what I did every morning while I was losing weight.  Give it a try and tell me how you feel after one week!

Closing thoughts.

If you are someone who is taking cheat days frequently like I was, set a challenge for yourself where you don't take a cheat day for 3 times longer than usual.  Record how you feel throughout this process.  Share in the comment the good and bad you notice from putting off your cheat day, and how you feel after you eat the cheat food.

Thank you so much for reading, as always,
Make the best of today,

Brian