Podcast Transcription: 587: How to Lose 20 Pounds Before Summer (Even if You Are Over 40)

Ted Ryce: Are you looking to get in shape for summer? Well, guess what? It takes months to get yourself into the right condition, to lose the amount of fat that you want, to build the amount of muscle that you want so that you look and feel your best during all those summer gatherings.  

And so, what we're going to dive into today is a step -by -step plan for making that happen. In other words, I'm not going to be talking about the theory as much as I'm going to give you a step -by -step guide to follow and implement so that you get the results that you want.  

So, if that's what you're interested in, you're in the right place, let's get rolling. What is up my friend? Welcome to the Legendary Life podcast. I'm your host, Ted Ryce, health expert and coach to executives, entrepreneurs and other high performing professionals. We produce this show for two reasons. 

Number one, I want to bring you the best information on fat loss and long -term health optimization on the internet, as well as for those of you who are looking to fast track the success with your health you'll know who to hire to help get you there.  

So, let's dive right in losing weight and getting in shape, generally speaking, it takes time. It takes longer than you want. So, if you're aiming to lose 20 pounds, and I don't mean follow some crash diet where you lose 10 pounds of water and maybe 10 pounds of fat, but something that is going to get you looking and feeling your best and that's sustainable after summer comes around, you're going to have to take a different approach.  

So, I'm going to strip away all the fluff and focus on actionable steps that you can take to reach that goal. So, remember, it can be a bit challenging, so I want you to commit. 

And also I'm going to be telling you what to do during this episode. So if you need to pause the episode to go and do something, that's fine. Do it, but take action on what I'm going to share with you today, because I promise you, if you do, you will be in a great place with your health and fitness looking and feeling good.  

And certainly let's say 10, 15, or even 20 pounds down by the time summer rolls around. So let's dive in. Part one is diet. And again, this isn't going to be about theory, but I want you to understand why we're focusing on diet. The big mistake that people make is thinking that they're going to burn off all the fat in the gym. Ain't going to happen. You don't burn that much. I don't care how intense you work out or... 

If you're going to a class like Orange Theory and they're trying to quantify your calories, you just don't burn that much energy or that many calories with exercise. So just, if that's an idea you have in your head, throw it away because what you need to focus on is your diet. It is your blueprint for success. And that's going to be part one. So step one is embrace technology for accountability. 

What do I mean by that? Well, I want you to start by downloading MyFitnessPal. For those of you who don't have MyFitnessPal on your phone, pause this now and download it. For those of you who already have it, well, time to figure out what your password is because you probably forgot it.  

So get that squared away. Now when you have MyFitnessPal on your phone, I want you to do two things. Number one, I want you to move the app to your homepage so you don't have to go scrolling through the pages of apps that you have on your phone. I want it front and center and I want you to upgrade to premium. Yes, getting in shape and doing it well and it either is going to cost you money or it's going to cost you frustration and time. So you get to choose premium is the way because it's going to allow us to set specific goals. 

So once you've done that, we're going to move to step two, customize your nutrition goals. So what we're going to do, we're going to rely on a simple equation that's going to help you with figuring out how many calories you're going to eat. And we're going to do it based on your weight. So what I want you to do first is just to fill out all the necessary stuff with your weight on my fitness pal. 

Make sure you have everything typed in. And what's going to happen is MyFitnessPal is going to, it's going to tell you to eat a bunch more calories than you probably should be eating if you want to lose fat. And it's also going to keep your protein really low. So just get into MyFitnessPal. Now you're going to get to the point where you're going to set your own calories. So here's how we're going to do this. We're going to use something called the Henry equation. And, 

If you're in between 31 years old and 60 years old, this is what is going to work for you. Now, if you're under 31 or if you're over 60, if you're 61 and over, you're going to Google the Henry equation and figure this out for yourself. Most of the clients we work with are in between 31 and 60.  

So what I want you to do is this. This is going to be really simple, but it's going to involve, some mass. So I want you to break out your calculator. You can pause, break out your calculator on your phone. I got mine out right now. And we're going to figure out how many calories we're going to eat to lose fat. So what you're going to do on your calculator is you're going to figure out what your weight is, right? You should know that.  

And if you don't go away yourself and make sure you're weighing in the morning, right? It's okay if you're listening to this, you're like, Oh man, I already ate breakfast and lunch. And so it's going to be a few pounds higher. That's okay. You can always start now and then go back and redo the calories if you're, you know, if you were significantly heavier. So what are you going to do? You're going to take your weight. So I'm going to use my weight as an example. So I'm about 185 pounds. So I type in 185 on the calculator. 

Now what I'm going to do, I'm going to turn that into kilograms because if you're in the United States, we don't play well with the rest of the world. We don't use the metric system, in other words. So we're going to convert our weight in pounds into kilograms. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to take 185, which is my weight in pounds, and I'm going to multiply it by 2 .2. That's going to give me, I'm sorry, divide by 2 .2. So 185 divided by 2 .2 is 84. So I'm 84 kilograms. So now what I want you to do, now that you have that number, your weight in kilograms, I want you to multiply it by 14 .2. 

So you're going to multiply your weight in kilograms by 14 .2. And so that gives me 1 ,192 .8. And what we're also going to do is we're going to add 593. So we're going to add 593. And so for me, it gives me 1 ,785 calories which by the way is interesting because that is exactly what I had to bring my calories down to to get lean. When I was tracking my calories recently, I had to be at actually 1800. So I want to say something really fast and then we're going to move on. The Henry equation is an equation that is designed to figure out your basal metabolic rate. But it's also a great place to start if you're trying to figure out, okay, what should my calories be to lose fat? This is something, this is what I do with my clients after they do my phase one program. 

This is what I do with my clients. So if this seems low to you, I want you to ignore all the other people telling you, oh, that's too low, you got to be behind, no. Follow my instructions, I promise you it'll work. Now, of course, I'm asking you to trust me, but if you've seen the types of results I get with my clients, that should at least get you to the point where, hey, you're going to give this a try. So now we have our calories. The next thing we're going to do is we're going to set our protein. So what I want you to do is I want you to figure out where you are.  

So you're either normal weight, or your, let's say overweight, overweight slash obese. If you're normal weight, what you're going to do is you're going to use a gram per pound of body weight. So for me, I'm going to use 185. That's going to be the amount of grams I shoot for the grams of protein that I shoot for every day. 

So if you're normal weight, you're going to do that. Now, if you're overweight or obese, what I want you to do is I just want you to think about what was the time when you were in your best shape ever? How much did you weigh? As an adult, of course. And you can use that number. So maybe that was 150 or 120 or 200 or whatever it is, your best weight ever, and that's the number that you're going to use for your protein. 

Now the next thing that you're going to do is you're going to set your carbs and fat. Now here's the thing. Just use the remaining budget and assign carbs and fat. You can do it equally. Okay. Because here's the thing. People will tell you that it really matters how many carbs you eat. Typically people, and when I say people, I mean, you know, people posing as experts. People typically don't say, oh, it matters how much fat you eat.  

And the truth is this carbs and fat, it really doesn't play a role in fat loss. It plays a role in maybe your preference of foods, and certainly satiety. Some people prefer to eat more fat, some people prefer to eat more carbs. But it really doesn't matter that much. So just divide the remaining calories as you want. And try to be balanced about it. I do it, I would recommend that you do it half and half half the calories for fat, half the calories for carbs roughly, but again, it really doesn't matter.  

And we're not going to be tracking where you're going to track your foods. But you're not going to pay that much attention. What do I mean by that? You're going to focus on total calories, you're going to focus on protein, but you're not going to worry about Oh my gosh, I didn't eat enough fat and I went over on my carbs doesn't matter. When my clients do that. I'm like, Okay, cool. How many calories did you eat? How much protein did you eat? 

If you're on track with those, then it really doesn't matter about the carbs and the fat. 

So step number three is choose your foods wisely. 

So step number three is choose your foods wisely. And I want to tell you a little secret. Cowries in, cowries out is the mechanism by which weight loss or fat loss happens. 

But the way that we make sure that we can eat the amount of calories that we're supposed to for fat loss and not go over is eating foods that help you stay full. So here's what I want you to do. I want you to go and Google satiety index. And I want you to study the satiety index. And I want you to make sure that you're choosing foods that have the highest satiety. And if you're looking at the satiety index right now, you'll see that boiled potatoes score higher than every other food when it comes to satiety. 

 And I want you to think about that for a second. How many boiled potatoes can you eat? Not many, because they're not that delicious. But if you take a baked potato and then you stuff it full of sour cream, butter, and bacon, not only does it increase the amount of calories, but also increases the amount of reward you get from eating that food. And it might make it harder to stay on track.  

So we're going to choose foods from that satiety list. Now, I don't want you to choose any foods that you don't normally, or let's say that you don't like. It's not important that you don't have to suffer with this. You don't have to eat foods that you don't like. You don't have to eat salads.  

You don't have to do anything except choose the foods that you're already eating and make sure that most of the foods that you eat, let's say 80 to 90%, come from the satiety list here, the satiety index list. These foods are going to keep you fuller for longer and make it easier to stick to your calorie budget because that's what this is. You're trying to put yourself on a budget.  

So step number four, I got news for you. The scale doesn't lie. However, I don't want you to obsess about it either.  

So the scale, look even if you're quite lean, you're still going to be losing around half a pound to one pound a week. And people say terrible things about the scale and that it's not good and, you know, say all these things about the scale and look, it's not perfect. And certainly I've had clients who had gained muscle and lost fat at the same time the number on the scale didn't move and that could happen to you. However, 

You'll know because your body's going to look and feel different. So the scale is not a perfect tool, but it's a good tool and you have easy access to it. So unless you want to get a, you know, expensive Dexamachine and put it in your home, because by the way, those scales that tell you your body fat percentage are way off, like don't even use them. They're so inaccurate, don't even use them. 

Just weigh yourself. But I want you to focus, and I want you to weigh yourself daily, but I want you to focus on the weekly average to track progress because you'll probably notice your weight jumps around. And that's normal. Totally normal for that to happen. Just make sure you're weighing yourself at the same time, under the same conditions, but you definitely want to make sure that you're weighing yourself every day. Okay, you miss a day? Okay, no problem. 

Do it the next day or, ooh, I forgot to weigh myself. I just had a giant breakfast. Okay. Weigh yourself again, but shoot for daily weigh -ins. And this is what we're going to do. Don't pay attention to the daily fluctuations. 

I want you to pay attention to the weekly average. So track your progress weekly and if you're going down every week, then you're on the right track. However, let's say that your weight doesn't change for two weeks. Here's what you need to do. Number one, you have to ask yourself, are you stalled out or are you putting on muscle and gaining muscle and losing fat at the same time, right? 

So that's what you got to ask yourself. And if you're stalled out and you really don't feel that much of a difference in your body, then what I want you to do is tweak your calories or increase your activity level. So you would tweak your calories by subtracting 100.  

You can start with that. Or you can increase your activity level because unlike what people say, it isn't 90 % nutrition, 10 % exercise, it is a combination of both and it depends on the person. In general, it's easier to eat 100 calories less than it is to burn 100 calories with exercise, especially with our busy lifestyles, but I'll let you decide. So just to recap, that was part number one, diet. 

And the four steps were step one, embrace technology for accountability. In other words, download MyFitnessBallot, upgrade to premium. Step number two, customize your nutrition goals. So set your calories based on the Henry equation, set your protein based on your body weight or your ideal body weight if you're obese, and set your carbs and fat to whatever the calories are left. And it really doesn't matter, don't obsess about it. 

Step number three, choose wisely. Choose your foods wisely. So get that satiety index and study it. Don't just glance at it once or twice. Study it, come back to it. And make sure that you're choosing foods that are higher in satiety but also foods that you're already eating. And step four is to weigh yourself daily but don't obsess about the daily fluctuations. Look at the weekly average. That's going to be your progress. 

And if you stay plateaued for two weeks, then something needs to change. Part two is exercise. Now, again, I want to emphasize that losing those 20 pounds, especially fat, isn't just about diet, it's about diet and exercise. And I'll talk about that in a second. But losing weight is all about diet. So people get confused because it's like, well, the weight loss, fat loss, it's the same thing, or is it different? And here's what happens. We know that, let's say you're a person who you're like, I'm just going to do the diet part. Okay, here's the thing, roughly about 25 % of what you lose.  

So let's say you lose 10 pounds, roughly 25%, so that'll be two and a half pounds will be lean mass. So that's a bit of a problem. It's not terrible, but it's not ideal either. So what we want is to lose zero lean mass and 100 % fat. And how do you do that? Well, you exercise. So let's get into it. Step number one, define your exercise parameters. So what we need to figure out here is how often can you realistically exercise? And then how long for each of those sessions? So ask yourself, what is the minimum and maximum days you can dedicate to exercise? 

Some people might say, well, in a perfect world, I'd be doing seven days a week. It's like, yeah, but who lives in that world? None of us. So what is the minimum? And it could be three, it could be two, it could be four, but take that minimum and go for that. Then ask yourself the same question. Well, what's the, in a perfect world, how much time can you spend for each workout? And then what's more realistic? And that might be, well, in a perfect world, it would be like, you know, 90 minutes each session. But realistically, it might be 30, so I want you to start with a lower number. And you can always build up, which is step number two. Start small and build up. So begin with the minimum days in duration. And because here's what we're doing, we need to optimize for consistency. 

Think about this, let's say there's three months until summer, 12 weeks. 

It won't matter. The thing that's going to matter the most is what is the total of time, total amount of time that you spent exercising during those 12 weeks. For example, let's say you're like, Oh, I'm going to work out, you know, five days a week and I'm going to work out for an hour every day. But half of the weeks you ended up saying to yourself, Oh, you know, I don't have an hour or so. I'm not going to go to the gym today. 

You know what, I can't do my five day workout split, so I'm just going to take this week off, because I can't do it perfectly. This is where the perfect, where perfect becomes the enemy of good. And you're screwing yourself over, because the number one thing here is consistency. So what we want is if we're starting small, let's say 30 minutes, three times a week. 

We want to make sure that you hit that for, let's say, almost all the weeks, or ideally all the weeks. We want you to be consistent. 

So start small and then if you feel, you know what I could do more, I'm being quite consistent with this three day a week, 30 minute plan, then you add there, but at least prove to yourself for let's say three, four weeks that you can stick with what the minimum is. Step number three, resistance training is your friend. 

So don't over complicate this. Whatever the time is, the number of days, minimum number of days and duration you have to exercise, prioritize lifting weights. Now I don't care if you're lifting actual dumbbells or barbells or kettlebells or resistance training or body weight exercises, anything like that, but I want it to be resistance training. Why?  

Because is resistance training will maintain your muscle mass and build more muscle. Cardio is not going to do that or it actually will if you're completely out of shape, pathetically out of shape. Yeah, you can burn muscle by going for, I mean, I'm sorry, build muscle by going for walks or pedaling on the bike. But you have to be pathetically out of shape for that. And that's the good news about being pathetically out of shape. 

But if you're already somewhat active, just you're not as consistent with it, what you want to do is you want to prioritize lifting. Or maybe you're very active, but you've mostly been doing cardio. Well, that's the problem. I love cardio. I'm more of a cardio person than I am a weights person, actually more of a sport. I like to get my cardio by doing sports like jujitsu. But it really is resistance training that is going to change your body.  

So make sure you prioritize that don't know how to do it, okay, you know, get a personal trainer, you know, download a workout. I share stuff on social media all the time, on Twitter, you know, sample workouts, sample exercises, but just do something. Step number four, keep moving. So one of the things that happens to people is that they start to dial in their diet, which will create most of the results. And then they start exercising, which is fantastic. But I want you to also pay attention to your step goal. So what I want you to do, I personally use a wearable device, I use an Oura Ring, and I track my steps. And I set a daily step goal for myself. It's actually a bit different since I'm recovering from stem cell treatments.  

So my step count has been pretty bad for the past month, actually. But typically I would get at least 7 ,000 to 10 ,000 steps every single day. Now you don't have to get that, but you want to at least shoot for a minimum of 5 ,000. A minimum of 5 ,000. And if you're not doing that, well, you're sedentary and you should expect health issues. But... 

It will also help you standardize this whole process. Sorry, I was going off on a tangent there. I want to keep it relevant to losing weight, but you want to set this step goal. Set it for at least 5 ,000 and start to build from there. And again, get a wearable device, a Fitbit, use an Apple Watch, whatever it is, you probably already have a wearable, just use it. Step number five, adjust as needed. 

So if you bit off more than you can chew and consistency is a struggle, I want you to scale back. Keep in mind, the goal is to be consistent. The goal here is sustainable progress, not burnout. So scale back. When you have more time, scale it up. It's okay to be flexible, but just be consistent and do something, okay? 

So just to recap, part number two is exercise. It is less important than diet for, and not important at all for weight loss, but it's important for health and it's important for fat loss. Why is it important for fat loss versus weight loss? What happens if you only cut your calories but don't do exercise? Do you remember the percentage of muscle that you might lose? 25%. 

So step one, define your exercise parameters. Figure out how many days a week you're going to do, how much time for each session. Step number two, start small and build up. Step number three, prioritize resistance training. Step four, set a step goal. Step five, adjust as needed. Again, you got to be flexible. Now I'm going to talk about a few bonus, let's say steps. So part three is going to be lifestyle. 

And I want to say this, I'm going to talk about sleep, stress, hydration, and social support. But I want to tell you, you could sleep like crap. You could be super stressed. You could not drink the water, the amount of water that you should, and you can have absolutely no friends at all, and you will still lose fat. However, it'll be harder. So sleep, sleep is crucial. Why? Two reasons.  

Number one, poor sleep can sabotage your diet by increasing cravings. And we know that people on a diet who are sleeping poorly tend to lose more muscle. So tend to lose more muscle. 

And that's the study I'm thinking of. One group slept eight hours, the other slept five. I forget exactly how much muscle it was but it's something that you want to pay attention to. But I really think that the bigger issue is the increasing cravings. I slept pretty poorly the other night, happens to the best of us, and guess what? I overate, I had some cravings and indulged them. 

So dial in your sleep, making sure you're getting at least six and a half and better to get seven, seven and a half hours of sleep. Stress. So one of the issues is that people use food and alcohol to manage their stress. Oh God, I'm so stressed out, let me have a drink. Oh, it's been a stressful day at work, let me have a drink. Or let's go out to eat, it's been a stressful day. 

It's okay to do a little bit of that, but if you're using food and alcohol to manage your stress and that's your only method of managing stress, it's going to be a problem. And isn't it funny, I tell people to get, I had a client of mine tell me, oh, you know, I feel like a massage is such a luxury. It's like, okay, cool, how many times do you go out to eat per week? Oh, you know, a couple. So. 

Going out to eat is not a luxury, but a massage is. It's just a societal backwards bullshit thing that we do where we put more, we'll go spend a couple hundred bucks on dinner a few times a week or more, 500, a thousand, whatever level you're playing at and whatever restaurants you're going to.  

But, you know, oh, a massage? I had a friend of mine, just really quick, he wouldn't pay for an MRI because his insurance hadn't kicked in but he regularly drops $500 for dinner, right? Won't think twice about it. Isn't that funny? Someone who can afford to drop $500 for dinner has an issue paying $500 for an MRI. I think it's super funny. It's just, you know, and no judgments here. It's just, we have to keep our BS meters working well because we'll start to make the, and I do this too, by the way. 

We start to tell ourselves these stories. Like I'll tell you one quick one for me. I'll spend money on clothes, but on like other things, I'll have issues, right? But if I spend 300 bucks or 500 bucks on a jacket, I'm okay. But if it's like, oh my gosh, I have to pay a hundred dollars for something else. I can't think of an example right now. I get stressed out about it.  

And that's a mindset issue and potentially a cultural issue slash habit issue as well. So again, pay money to reduce your stress. Or you can download a stress app, a meditation app or something like that, but I really recommend that you go get acupuncture, go to a meditation class, do a yoga class, get a massage, do a flotation tank. 

Invest in your health whenever you feel like you're stressed out. You can always turn it around if you're willing to do the right thing So let's talk about hydration drinking water. You could be totally dehydrated. It's not going to stop you from losing fat, but Drink enough water does a couple things. It's going to aid in exercise performance. It's going to help manage your hunger and So drink enough water 

I'm not going to get into the details of what that is. If you have yellow, dark yellow pee, you need to go drink water. If it's more light, light yellow, then you're probably okay. Right. And starting with water in the morning is a great thing. Have water before coffee, social support. Listen, a big issue is that we don't communicate our goals with our friends or family.  

So the right support can really help a lot. Share your goals with your friends and family. Tell them, hey, listen, I'm going to cut back, I'm doing this thing. I want to get in shape by summer. I want to lose 20 pounds in the next few months here. Talk with them. You know, if you have a, let's say a ritual where you and your wife or you and your husband share a bottle of wine, you know, a few times a night, have that conversation. 

Hey, listen, I really want to get in better shape. I love you so much. I care about our family. I really want to take my health more seriously. I'm not feeling my best because of where my weight is and the implications for my health. So I would really love your support. I need your help. People love to help. Definitely don't say, Hey, listen, I'm tired of you getting me fat. You know, you just like to eat junk and get drunk and it's terrible. 

And you're making me fat by your bad choices. Don't lead with the good, ask for help. People love to help, but hate to be told what to do. So that is it for lifestyle, just to go over it. Sleep is number one. Poor sleep can sabotage your diet by increasing cravings and reducing or increasing muscle loss. Stress causes emotional eating and also affects your performance in exercise as well. 

Hydration, again, you can be totally dehydrated and lose fat. It's not going to stop you. However, being dehydrated is going to affect your exercise performance and it's going to help you manage your hunger better. Just by activating stretch receptors in your stomach. Social support, you're not alone. Ask your friends and family for help. Communicate it in the proper way.  

I think you'll be surprised at how people want to help you. And so that is it. So we had part one diet, part two exercise, part three lifestyle is the three part blueprint to your success. Again, if you can only focus on one of these focus on the diet. If you can only focus on two diet and exercise, but if you can do all three, you're going to get the best results. And 

Of course, if you're looking for help, I've been helping clients for 25 years for a quarter of a century now. I've been helping clients lose fat and get into the best shape of their life. And guess what? I've never been better at my craft and helping clients achieve transformations that they never even thought were possible sometimes. So if you are a high performer, if you're an executive entrepreneur, et cetera, 

 Looking for a lot of success with your health and you want to cut down the time and frustration to achieve your health goals to lose fat in time for summer and all that other good stuff. What I want you to do book a call with me. So you go to legendary life podcast .com slash apply.  

That's legendary life podcast .com slash apply. Book a call with me there. If you're interested in getting into the best shape of your life without the frustration and in the fastest time possible. That's it for me. Hope you enjoyed this and did it work for you. I would love to hear from you as well. Reach out to me on Twitter or of course you can always email me at ted at legendary life podcast .com. That's it. Have a great one and looking forward to speaking to you soon.