Thursday, February 7, 2019

Putting It All Together

We've made it to the end!

I hope you've just received the weight loss and body re-composition education of a lifetime.

And I truly hope you implement these strategies to build the body you've always wanted (and the body that turns heads and drops jaws when you take simply walk down the block!)

Before we officially end with the appendix, though, let's condense all the main points of 247 Leangevity Secrets from top to bottom. Refer back here whenever you need...

How to be a part of the 1% "elite" that loses weight and keeps it off permanently (discover the simple, but effective, lifestyle switches that will keep you fit and happy for a lifetime)

1. Weight Loss & Longevity are 2 different things

a. Weight loss is tied primarily to calorie intake, with food choice coming as a secondary factor

b. Weight loss is also tied to three big "hidden" factors:
i. Chronic inflammation
ii. Insulin Resistance
iii. "Clogged" Liver (and poor detoxification/fat breakdown as a result)

c. Longevity is tied to equally to calorie intake and food choice (and the 3 hidden causes of weight loss).

d. This isn't to say that food choice is not that important for weight loss, but it is to say that just substituting chicken for beef, or having brown rice instead of white rice, or eating the next new "health food" will not magically help you lose weight.

e. You MUST be in a calorie deficit to lose weight i.e. taking in less calories than you burn, without going too low.

f. To have both weight loss and longevity (a worthy goal, if you ask me), focus on the big three:
i. Smart Nutrition (eat healthy most of the time)
ii. Natural movement (at least 3x per week plus walking for best results)
iii. Reduce Stress and Manage Toxins

2. Live as close as possible to the way that modern day, disease-free traditional cultures live:

aEat like this:
i. Zero processed foods.
ii. Moderate amounts of healthy fat.
iii. Sufficient amounts of all-natural protein.
iv. Nutrient-rich carbohydrates, soaked, sprouted (and sometimes fermented).
v. Cultured and fermented foods

bMove like this:
i. Nearly every culture of 100+ year old inhabitants incorporates daily movement, up to 10,000 steps of daily walking.
ii. You can also reach this amount of steps in 45-60 minutes of any light/moderate activity
iii. For best results, try to do formal exercise for about 45 minutes, 3x per week
1. Use compound movements like squats, chin-ups, various presses, lunges, and other exercises that use many muscles at once
2. On your off-days try to get in some light activity or at least go walking.
3. Both of these activities will ensure you maintain lean muscle on a diet, while improving virtually all health markers
iv. At a bare minimum, get in 20-30 minutes of movement 3x per week.

cRejuvenate like this:
iAll traditional, long-living cultures frequently used herbs and plant extracts taken straight from nature
1. This keeps the mind sharp, body fit and vital organs cleansed and functional for the long term.
ii. De-stress and laugh daily.
1. The sense of family, community, laughter and openness on the Greek island of Ikaria is the biggest factor in life spans which reach to be over 100 years old in many cases

3. Reduce chronic inflammation, insulin resistance, and liver clogging

a. Remove the following foods for best results:
i. Excess sugar and refined, chemically-laden processed foods
ii. Industrial/seed oils that are high in Omega-6 fatty acids
iii. Gluten and wheat (for those who are intolerant). Wheat is the bigger offender.
iv. Commercially-raised, feedlot meat and farmed fish
v. Low intake of Omega-3 fatty acids
vi. Lack of exercise (whether formal gym workouts, or even daily walking)
vii. Too little sleep
viii. Too much stress and not enough relaxation/"me" time
ix. Poor gut health (due to toxin/chemical-heavy foods)

b. Do a low-carb, starch-free "Insulin Reset" period to decrease insulin resistance

c. Only when fat loss has stalled for a prolonged period, do a "Leptin Reset" (weekly "re-feed" days) to decrease leptin resistance

d. Use a synergistic blend of herbs, vitamins and minerals to steady blood sugar, detoxify the liver, and stop inflammation in its tracks.
i. Take 1 capsule of the InvigorateNOW blend with a fat-rich meal.

4. Structure your meals around natural protein sources, veggies, fruits, healthy fats, and natural carbs.

a. Eat "clean" 80-90% of the time.

b. Eat junk food/cheat foods 10-20% of the time.

c. Use the formulas in this book or in the calorie calculator to determine you optimal calorie and nutrition needs for weight loss
d. Eliminate or reduce all source of anti-nutrients and allergens
i. Remove gluten and wheat
ii. Remove sources of lectin and phytic acid (unless you soak/sprout/ferment the food)
iii. Remove soy (unless fermented)
iv. Remove non-cultured dairy (a.k.a. milk)

e. Avoid diet fads like zero-carb, very low fat, vegan, very low calorie, etc.
i. They do not facilitate proper education around nutrition for weight loss, setting you up for disaster once you inevitably face a plateau.
ii. They also starve the body of nutrients it needs for proper longevity and disease-prevention

f. Don't eat soy unless it's organic and fermented
i. This means, if you'd like to have soy, only have unprocessed miso, tamari, natto, tempeh, whole soybeans, or edamame in shells

g. Avoid foods with GMOs (genetically modified organisms)

h. Drink water. Thirst is often mistaken for hunger. Have a glass of water when you woke up and drink a glass at least every other hour. Try to drink your bodyweight in ounces of water every day (if you weigh 150 lbs, have 150 oz. of water).

5. Eat enough protein to raise your metabolism and maintain lean muscle

a. Get roughly .8 grams per pound of bodyweight (less if obese, more if lean and/or weight training)

b. After weight loss is accomplished, maintain weight/longevity with about 15% of calories as protein.

c. Eat only natural meats, fish, natural plant foods, and artificial-ingredient free protein powders
i. Buy grass-fed/pasture-raised meats and wild-caught fish

d. Eat at least 1/2 (but preferably 3/4) of your protein needs from whole food sources, and get the rest from a protein shake. I recommend Biotrust Low-Carb.

6. Eat carbs properly

a. In Phase 1 (Insulin Reset), get 50 grams of carbs if you're female and 75 grams if you're male.

b. In Phase 2 (Primary Fat Loss), after calculating protein intake and fat intake (30% of diet), eat the rest as carbs

c. In Phase 3 (Leangevity/Maintenance), get roughly 25-30% of your diet from carbs

d. Stick to natural starches such as rice and root vegetables.
i. Also try gluten/wheat-free starches and fermented or sprouted breads
ii. Have beans/lentils and brown rice if you can soak/sprout them to reduce toxin loads.
iii. Avoid: white bread/white flour, wheat bread, pastas, and other cereals/grains (don't be fooled by their smart marketing)

7. Eat healthy, natural fats

a. Fat doesn't make you fat. Poor nutrition, "bad fats", high toxin intake, and lack of exercise does.

b. Remove industrialized fats that are high in Omega-6 content
i. Polyunsaturated, high Omega 6 fats (NOT sugar) is one of only 2 factors of American food consumption that has increased in the last 50 years, corresponding with the rise in obesity.
1. The other factor is a roughly 500 calorie rise in daily intake, that is also be tied to the increase in Omega-6 intake.

c. Get fat from natural grass-fed/pasture-raised meats and fish

d. Also, have healthy, low Omega-6 oils.
i. Best: Have coconut oil/coconut milk, butter/ghee, palm kernel oil, etc.
ii. OK: Have olive oil, palm oil, avocado oil, etc. (only cook with these on low/medium heat)
iii. Avoid: Soybean oil, corn oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, peanut oil, canola oil, vegetable oil

e. Have cultured, preferably grass-fed dairy (get rBGH-free dairy, if not grassfed/ organic)
i. No milk (the milk sugar/lactose can stimulate insulin and allergies)
ii. Have greek yogurt, kefir, butter, cream, some cheese, etc.

8. Eat veggies and fruit often

a. Eat dark, leafy green vegetables (spinach, kale, romaine lettuce, etc.)

b. Eat cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, etc.)

c. Eat starchy, root vegetables (sweet potatoes, yams, squash, etc.)

d. Eat fruits that are in-season in your area, and preferably buy them at your local farmer's market

e. Eat 2-3 pieces of fruit a day. This fills up liver glycogen to support long-term health, without some of the possible negative of very high fructose intake.

f. Eat organic if you will be eating the skin

9. Prepare food correctly and reduce unnecessary decision making

a. Prepare "batch meals" 1 or 2x per week for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

b. Split these meals into Tupperware, bring them to work, and just warm them up for each meal.

c. Keep a glass Pyrex container to transfer food into, for microwave use. Otherwise, simple Tupperware/plastic containers can leech chemicals into your food when heated.

d. Switch up the foods every week or two for variety

e. If you fail to bring a meal on a rare occasion, have a "fast-food" meal that you can count calories for (I prefer Subway or Chipotle, both of which post their nutrition info in the stores and online)

f. Try to prepare meals on low heat or cook them with water-based methods (as opposed to grilling, frying, or otherwise "browning" the food) to reduce formation of Advanced Glycation End products (AGEs)

g. "Hack away at the unessential"
i. Track spending and cut out unnecessary expenses
ii. Don't watch the news. Get important info from friends/colleagues. Spend that free time to work on things that make you happy.
iii. Cut out binge TV watching. Just watch your favorite show for 30 minutes, help you reach those goals/dreams that you pushed to the backburner.
(Wanna learn guitar? Build a business? Write a story? Just do it.)
iv. Keep only your quality, comfortable clothing and get rid of the stuff you don't wear. Give them to people who need it more than you do.


Interested in losing weight? Then click below to see the exact steps I took to lose weight and keep it off for good...

Read the next article about "Advanced Fat Loss - Part I: Calorie Cycling"

Moving forward, there are several other articles/topics I'll share so you can lose weight even faster, and feel great doing it.

Below is a list of these topics and you can use this Table of Contents to jump to the part that interests you the most.


Learn more by visiting our website here: invigoratenow.com

Wednesday, February 6, 2019

Advanced Fat Loss - Part III: Intermittent Fasting

This is the food-timing strategy used by countless traditional cultures to reduce inflammation, fix hormonal imbalances, and literally slow down the aging process. (A nice side-effect of this strategy is an unrivaled effect on focus and productivity)

Intermittent Fasting, also known as IF, basically means eating all of your calories within an 8 hour period for men (or a 10 hour period for women) and fasting the rest of the time.

This is highly beneficial for fat burning during the fasting period, and it has the added benefit of reducing stress on your liver, other vital organs, and adrenal glands and causing a mini-detoxification process in your body.

But wait! How many times have you heard that the best way to lose weight is to keep your metabolism constantly stimulated - by eating five, six, seven times a day? Or that you'll "never lose weight" unless you eat every three hours? Too many to count, right?

Look, the supplement companies would love for you to believe that, because that keeps you using plenty of protein powders, protein bars, and meal replacements throughout the day.

But the truth is, intermittent fasting is actually closest to the way our bodies are programmed to eat; our ancestors often hunted and foraged all day, lit one fire at sundown, and did all of their cooking and eating at that time.

Now we've come a long way since that time, and made a lot of advances in nutrition and
medicine that help us lead longer, healthier, more productive lives. But everyone can agree it's easier to swim downstream than upstream, and IF is definitely the way our bodies have evolved to eat.

Let's get further into the specifics of a healthy IF regimen...

You already don't eat for about 8 hours a night when you're asleep, so that's not difficult. It's the 16 hours that you're awake that you need to manage. Out of those 16 hours, you just have to choose one 8-hour period during which to fast.

The good thing is, you can work out an IF regimen that fits into your lifestyle best so long as you hit a total fasting period of 16 hours for men or 14 hours for women.

For example, if you're a man, you may decide that the eight hours after you wake up is the best time to do all of your eating, and that you won't eat anything in the afternoon, evening or through the night. This is a good way to start things off if you've still got a substantial amount of weight to lose or you have a body type with a slow metabolism.

However, if you're not someone who eats much in the morning, listen to your body! It's telling you not to eat until the eight hours between your afternoon and your bedtime.

Oh yeah, there's more.

I should also note that IF is the "strategy of champions". You, see IF is the main thing that Bruce Lee and a college football hall-of-famer (leading rusher and Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker), have in common. IF is basically the "strategy to trump all strategies" and it is my hands-down favorite way to build a jaw-dropping physique.

For example, here's how I've been structuring my fast for the past 6-8 months (for massive results!):

  • Last meal of the Day 1: 7:30-8 p.m.
  • Fast begins at 8 p.m.
  • Sleep: 11 p.m.-7 a.m.
  • Continue fasting until 12 p.m.
  • Eat 2 big meals from 12 p.m. - 8 p.m. on Day 2

Keep in mind that there are many variations on the IF concept: You could eat only in the late morning and afternoon, leaving four hours after you wake up and four hours before you go to bed (plus 8 hours of sleep) as fasting portions.

Or you could fast the way that Muslims the world over do during Ramadan (and Sumo wrestlers in Japan do year-round) - no food between dawn and sunset, but the feast at the end of the day is something truly epic. The point is, it's up to you and your lifestyle.

The only thing to add is that you should definitely perform your workouts during your eight-hour eating period, not during your sixteen-hour fasting period. There is a slight exception to this rule if you do one (or both) of the following:
- Have some grass-fed butter or MCT/Coconut Oil with your morning coffee. This will give a bit of a boost and not be so stressful on your body.
- Take 5-10 grams of BCAAs (branch chain amino acids) about 45 minutes pre-workout.
This will help prevent muscle breakdown that may occur when training fasted. (You can get roughly 10 grams of BCAAs for every 40 grams of whey protein.)

Otherwise, if you work out on an empty stomach, your body is too low on many of the hormones you need to promote muscle growth and burn fat, and in many cases, you'll only end up forcing your body into a catabolic state, where it's cannibalizing its own muscle for energy (and rapidly lowering your day-to-day basal metabolic rate.)

That said, as long as you're in a caloric deficit and are training steadily on IF, I wouldn't worry too much about losing too much muscle or stalling your fat loss.

For example, here's a peek into Herschel Walker's very unorthodox fitness regimen. He eats one huge meal per day (dinner), and it consists of soup, salad, bread, and occasionally chicken. He workouts out daily, but uses no weight training whatsoever. Instead, he sticks to progressive bodyweight training. I wouldn't recommend his workout regiment to any of us mere mortals, but for reference, he is known to do up to 1,000 push-ups, pull-ups, dips and squats EVERY DAY.
(The man is a beast.)

On a somewhat similar regimen, Hugh Jackman (from Wolverine/X-Men, Les Miserables, and various other films) practiced a 16/8 Intermittent Fasting routine. Like the method I've described above, he fast for 16 hours and then eats all 6,000 of his daily calorie needs within an 8 hour period.

A few things to keep in mind during IF:

- You will get hungry the first week or so and want to give up. Just stick with it, and keep in mind that you have 2 huge meals coming up in just a few hours.
- To stave off hunger, make sure you have your morning coffee or tea, and feel free to have an extra cup or two of plain green tea if you need.
- Stay hydrated!! One of the biggest reasons IF doesn't work is because people don't drink enough water, and misinterpret thirst as hunger.
- Keep busy. One of my favorite benefits of IF is the massive productivity boost. Many IF practitioners have noticed the same effect. Basically, water, some caffeine, and some work to get done somehow bring you into an intense state of focus. I usually get more work done while I'm fasting in the morning (and not worrying about food) than I do the whole rest of the day. 

That's all for now. You've got three "cream of the crop" methods that will constantly fire up your body and reveal a lean, lean physique, especially when more traditional methods eventually fail.

Remember, though, that this is advanced fat loss - if you're just getting started on a weight-loss program, cycling your carbs and calories won't actually be as effective for you as a standard calorie-restriction and exercise regimen.

After the first month or so of a standard program, the ideal fat loss per week is between one and two pounds; anything more is unsustainable (and counterproductive in the long run, because it can destroy your lean muscle and stresses your heart) and anything less isn't working fast enough to get you the results that you want.

Thus, use traditional means to lose weight (eat less, eat better, work out, use the calorie calculator bonus) until you stop losing one to two pounds per week; this should happen between four to six months after you've started your program.

Once it does stop, you're ready for advanced fat loss methods like carb/calorie cycling and intermittent fasting (and the body of your dreams!)


Interested in losing weight? Then click below to see the exact steps I took to lose weight and keep it off for good...

Read the previous article about "Advanced Fat Loss - Part II: Carb Cycling"
Read the next article about "Putting It All Together"

Moving forward, there are several other articles/topics I'll share so you can lose weight even faster, and feel great doing it.

Below is a list of these topics and you can use this Table of Contents to jump to the part that interests you the most.


Learn more by visiting our website here: invigoratenow.com