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Do you doubt your ability to get shredded abs? Don’t. I promise you can do this.

I used to be the typically skinny-fat guy. No muscle and a fat gut (over 20% body fat). Now I’m the opposite – muscular with ripped abs. I know what I’m talking about here.

If you’ve ever failed in the past…read these 5 quick points and see where you went wrong. Some of these factors are not what you are expecting. Let’s do it.

 

(1) GIVE UP: SUGAR

 

WHY? Apart from it bring unhealthy, nothing will drive your insulin levels up like sugar. Insulin is the storage hormone. Even if your daily Calories were the same for the day, if your sugar intake is higher, a higher percentage of those calories will be stored as fat.

While calories are king, hormones are a very close second. Hormones dictate what your body actually does with those calories. Insulin is not a bodybuilder’s enemy, but chronically elevated insulin levels are. By reducing total carbs, bringing sugar to virtually zero, and making the carbs that you do eat be the kind that are “real” and slow-releasing, you can “open the gates” to your fat stores and burn it for energy.

Also, remember that the taste of “sweet” sets off the addictive mechanism in your brain and it drives your appetite up. You’ll just want to eat more and more. (Remember you can “cheat clean” with protein ice cream, cookie dough, ‘buff bars’ and more with my Buff Baking recipes).

 

(2) GIVE UP: YOUR CRAPPY SELF-IMAGE

 

WHY? You can never become more than your self-image dictates.

“You are boxed in by the boundary conditions of your own thinking”.

If you can’t see and accept yourself as someone who is shredded, you can never become a person that is shredded. You first need to get to a place of mental acceptance that this is who you are.

If you can’t do this, you will end up sabotaging your own efforts as your actions will eventually fall in line with your own “subconscious self-image blueprint”. We are creating self-fulfilling prophecies all the time.

Tell yourself all the time, “I’m ripped” – even when the mirror denies it. Visualize it until it feels real to you. (Amazing book on this topic – Psycho-Cybernetics US | UK link)

 

(3) GIVE UP: ALCOHOL

 

WHY? Ok, you don’t have to give it up completely, but there’s 7 Calories per gram of alcohol. You can really ruin your chances of being shredded by drinking regularly.

Plus, you know that you might end up eating crap at the end of the night on the way home, or the next day when you’re hungover. I don’t drink when cutting; it’s just not worth it. However, I stay pretty lean all year, so it only takes me 3 weeks or so to hit my target body fat %.

By the way, the best way to drink when on a diet (to get the most alcohol for the least amount of calories) is a spirit mixed with a diet drink. Vodka and diet coke for example.

 

NOTE: I have also made a list of the top 20 foods to eat to get ripped. You’ll find it extremely helpful in your quest to get shredded. If you would like access to the full list for free, just type in your email below. The info you need will appear immediately after you enter your email (no spam, no BS). Enjoy…

 

 

(4) GIVE UP: HATING THE PROCESS. START TO LOVE THE JOURNEY

 

WHY? You don’t like it because you are focused on what you are NOT getting – more food, tastier food.

You need to flip this and put your mental focus on what you are GETTING, not what you are GIVING UP.

And here’s a great way to do it: When you calories are under maintenance and you’re keeping up your high-intensity training sessions, remember this…

YOU WILL BE LEANER EACH AND EVERY MORNING WHEN YOU WAKE UP.

Yep. Every single morning.

While building muscle is a slower process, fat-loss is actually quite quick when you do things right. You have the mathematical certainty that when you wake up each morning, you will be a little leaner than you were yesterday morning – how cool is that? This certainty will keep you going when dieting. Never forget it.

 

Download my totally free 3-day and 5-day/wk high-intensity THT workouts for the best gains of your life!

 

 

(5) GIVE UP: EATING ABOVE MAINTENANCE

 

WHY? Because you have to. Look, I know it’s obvious, but when I ask people who are cutting how many calories they’re on, most of the time I get, “Uh, I dunno”.

Yeah, good luck with that. Even if you are eating clean. Fact is, most people are eating more than they think. Consider this…

You can’t just scoop out food and eat it. You need a good set of kitchen scales (UK link), weigh your food and get precise! This is powerful because when you do, you can have real certainty that you ARE getting shredded with no guesswork. No more need to wonder why you didn’t lose any fat this week.

By the way, I know this can be a pain in the butt and a tedious task, especially if you are new to it – that’s why I offer a service where I will do all the tough ground work for you.

You probably don’t know how many calories you need, or how many grams of protein, carbs or fat you need (based on your personal stats)…BUT I DO. Then I can take these numbers and create an exact meal plan for you to hit those numbers spot on! You’ll know what foods to eat and even when to eat them. All you have to do…is do it. No thinking involved. If you’d like me to take care of this for you, see the Get Me Shredded option on my Coaching Page here.