Lose 20 Pounds in 6 Weeks – Case Study – Day 1 – 5

June 9th, 5 days into the program to lose 20 pounds in 6 weeks

The weekend off was a big test for Ruben. Typically he tells me that he can gain up to 5 or even 7 pounds on a weekend! Between wine or beer, snacks, nuts, cake, cookies, bagels, pancakes, any time he ever lost weight during the week, he gained it right all back on the weekend! So, going through the weekend and not putting on seven or more pounds is a real test for him and so many of us.

Here is the great news. While he did not lose any weight over the weekend, he lost half an inch off of his waist and went down every so slightly in body fat percentage. He stayed on the program through the weekend and so far is finding that as long as he eats some wholesome food every few hours, he has been feeling great. He did not go crazy with a ‘cheat' meal, and he will not have to, because he likes all of the meals he is having, they are all based on his favorite types of food.

He took a long walk with his family on Saturday and went back to the elliptical again yesterday and today. So far, he is on a great roll. Keep going!

The updated weight table:

[table id=13 /]

Lose 20 Pounds in 6 Weeks ? Is it Possible? Yes! Day 2

Shocker of shockers!

That is what Ruben said when he told me this morning that in one day, he went from 202.4lbs yesterday to 199.2lbs today. Is that possible? Yep. Even better, he did not eat only grapefruit all day, or apples all day, in fact he had a total of 2400 calories the entire day yesterday and still lost 3.2lbs using the same exact scale and time of day. I had told him to just measure once a week, but he checked this am and was very motivated.

So what has the big difference been? There are alot of factors to speak about, but I will just mention a few that will hopefully help you as well.

Granted that this is only one day, but if he sticks to it, he is going to reach his goal to lose 20 pounds in 6 weeks.

How is it possible to lose 3.2lbs in one day while having a whopping 2400 calories?

Let's mention the biggest factors:

1. His meals were spread throughout the day with calorie counts of approximately 300 for snack and 500 for meals. The reason that this is so effective is because 400 – 500 calories is the limit for the liver to process. By keeping the calories to 500 max, you are enabling your liver to completely process the food that you ate. When you stuff yourself, the liver cannot process all of the calories and will take the excess calories and shove them into your fat cells for being a glutton. The lesson here is to stop making your body work so hard. Go easy on your body. Be nice to your liver and when you are, your body knows that it has digested all of your meal and can now dip into your fat stores for extra energy.

2. By eating six meals yesterday, from 11am to 11pm, Ruben never felt hungry. He told me that he was sure that there was no way he would take off any weight. He was afraid that he was going to put on weight because he had eaten so many times and so much over the course of the day. The trick is that he did not eat all 2400 calories in one meal as many of us have done. As soon as you eat a very large meal in one sitting, you are putting y0ur organs under unnecessary stress. The lesson here is to make sure that you eat a reasonable amount of food, from 250 to 500 calories, six times a day, yes, every few hours.

3. The type of food. He had mainly wholesome foods, oats, berries, peanut butter, whey protein, turkey, sprouted grain bread and even a protein bar at the end of the day. As a result, he is fueling his body with foods that will reduce his cravings. How? First of all his blood sugar is stable all day because of the frequent meals. His body will get used to having a few hundred calories or so every few hours. This lets his body know that he is not in starvation mode and that his fat reserves can be tapped for energy, as opposed to losing lean muscle mass. Second, by eating wholesome foods, he is fueling himself with good nutrition. So his body has no reason to go into craving mode.

Let's take a look at the updated weight table:

[table id=13 /]

I suggested to Ruben that if he was happy with yesterday's meals, he should basically stick to the same meal plan with some variations here and there. Today, he was up much earlier, did his 60 minutes on the elliptical for a total of 5.6 miles and 531 calories burned. Even better, he had his breakfast by 9 am, which means that he can finish up his day by 9 pm. The earlier the better as this will enable him to fall asleep earlier. He is absolutely on his way to lose 20 pounds in 6 weeks. I am going to adjust his plan to account for a weekend glass of wine and dinner with family tonight. Will be back shortly to update his meal plan! Keep going Ruben, you are doing a great job!

Lose 20 Pounds in 6 Weeks Meal Plan for Day 2

Lose 20 Pounds in 6 Weeks ? Is it Possible? Yes! Day 1

I think that this post is going to be very useful for every guy out there who is totally frustrated at his seeming inability to lose the belly fat which lurks behind every loose fitting sweater in our wardrobe.

Recently I had a friend of a neighbor approach me and ask if I could help him slim down.

Believe it or not, when I asked him what his waist size is right now, he told me 34 inches because that is the size pants that he wears.

I took that at face value, but when he did the measurement himself, he himself was stunned, his waist, measured over his navel is 43 inches.

Wow!

How many of us have fallen prey to the same mistake?

I am sure many.

He was spot on when it came to his weight, he said about 200 pounds and in fact, his scale says 202.4 pounds.

But h0w can he, how can we be close to 10 inches off on the waist?

Basically, this is the reason that we see so many guys with the pants belt tight at the hip and the ‘overhang', the pot belly, leading the way when we are walking.

So Ruben Sanchez came to me with this very issue.

I am sure that hundreds, thousands, even millions of guys are dealing with this exact problem.

You think you are not that fat because you are wearing pants that are 10 sizes too small!

He should be wearing 43″ pants, but instead is wearing 34″.

There is some logic to it actually, because Ruben, like most men, carries his extra weight in his belly, not in his legs.

So, 34″ pants in truth does fit him when it comes to the legs, and if he was wearing 43″ which fit his waist, then he would look like a total clown.

Hence, the bizzare sight all the time of men who look like pears, bulging at the waist and pretty much slender everywhere else.

I am not going to go into all of the reasons that he and we are fat. I have written about it before and essentially it is what processed food does to us. Processed food = a Pear Body. Processed food equals a processed body. There is just no way around it. Even worse, the processed food, especially ingredients like High Fructose Corn Syrup which is much cheaper and sweeter than natural sugar, keep us addicted for our entire lives.

This is also the result of loss of lean muscle mass over the years.

He asked me if he could genuinely be able to fit into his 34″ pants over the next year.

I told him, that if he follows my program closely, he will be able to fit in those pants in the next 6 to 12 weeks max, he will be able to lose 20 pounds in 6 weeks.

He was shocked. Totally so shocked that his jaw dropped.

The notion that if he treats his body right, he could lose 20 pounds in 6 weeks fired him up.

Well, we are all fortunate in that our body is always doing everything possible to stay healthy and get healthier, so when we give our bodies the opportunity to be healthy, it will seize the moment.

As usual, I had Ruben fill out a table, only asking for five simple measurements. All you need is a scale and a tape measure. I asked him for his weight, his BMI (body mass index), his body fat percentage, body fat in pounds and his waist in inches.

I am also asking him to take these measurements on the same day, once a week, over the next 6 to 12 weeks.

I believe that if he follows the rules, he is going to drop 10% of his body weight, approximately 22 pounds over the next 6 to 12 weeks.

He wanted a program that will allow him to have grains as well and that is fine with me.

If you are like many men, you are probably carrying around an additional twenty pounds and have no clue how to get rid of it.

I asked Ruben to try and have breakfast as early as possible. Between 7 and 8 am preferably, but he ended up getting his breakfast ingredients a bit later and finished breakfast at 10am. No problem, we will adjust and work around it.

Lose 20 Pounds in 6 Weeks Breakfast sample

Here was his breakfast today:

Ruben said that he was very satisfied and is even more surprised that I want him to have another 5 meals today. What? Yes, this is how he will lose 20 pounds in 6 weeks.

Yes, you will see as the day goes along and I record what he has, it will be a total of 6 meals, three will be approximately 1200 – 1500 and the other three will be another 600- 900 calories.

Plus, drink alot of water and I will also note his exercise. We will start small, but he will gradually get stronger and will be able to do more.

In the meantime, I am asking him to take a brisk walk, at least 30 minutes , up to an hour, either outside or on the treadmill.

At minimum, he , I , you have to get moving at least for that amount of time most days of the week.

I am so proud of Ruben! Just got a call that he went to the gym and did the elliptical trainer for an hour!

Good job!

60 Minutes of Elliptical

5.5 Miles total and 5.5mph average.

513 calories burned

Average Heart Rate was 111 beats per minute

Equivalent to climbing 4,200 feet. Ruben told me that one of his goals is to go hiking with the ones that he loves. That has been fueling his motivation to get his act together.

Ruben told me that he felt great after doing the elliptical for an hour. I told him to go slow, no neeed to push himself crazy, 5 miles an hour is sustainable and good enough to start with. He broke a sweat, but was able to finish the hour with an average of 5.5mph. I also told him that if he gets bored, he should say affirmations, especially that on July 17th, he will be 180 pounds and 14% bodyfat, an awesome goal which is definitely possible. If he goes up to 5.6mph tomorrow is fine with me. The bottom line is that as a result of his 513 calorie cardio, so far his net calorie intake today was 40 calories. Not too shabby! That is also motivating to him.

He is running a bit late on his meals as he did not have his snack until 130pm, but as I said, we will adjust.

Here was his snack for today. I suggested that he use Ezekiel sprouted bread if he could find it, and he did.

Now, we will go to the drawing board and plan out a good lunch for him to have, shooting for 4pm.

It is 7pm now NY time and so far, Ruben has had four of his meals, he just added his lunch and snack. He took another walk this afternoon outside, off of the treadmill, about 45minutes and I am going to plan out a workout for him this evening.

By the way, he is not even that hungry at this point, but I told him that he should still eat dinner and a snack.

My recommendation for him tonight is to have a simple chicken avocado sandwich on whole grain and a clif bar for a snack later on, but will think about it. In the meantime, he has had a net of 1161 calories and still has a 20 – 30 minute workout for tonight plus 2 more meals.

As you can see, Ruben's totals for the entire day was 2,481 calories. According to him, that is almost a thousand calories more than he would normally have when he is ‘dieting'. Also, we still have to subtract the 500 calories that he burned doing the elliptical trainer for an hour. That would give him a net calorie count of 1,981. And on top of that, he did another 20 minutes of weight lifting this evening. My guess is that was about 100 calories if not more.

I asked him to go slow, do a circuit of basic weight moves with no rest in between. Here is his start table and what he did for strength today:

[table id=13 /]

[table id=14 /]