3 AUDIOBOOK COLLECTIONS

6 BOOK COLLECTIONS
 THE BARE TRUTH
CONFESSIONS OF A PERSONAL
TRAINER

By

D AVE SMITH

www.makeyourbodywork.com
INTRODUCTION
In 2013 my career as a personal trainer seemed to be
taking off. My schedule was booked full of amazing
clients, I had a large readership on my blog, and I had
just won a prestigious award, being named “Canada’s
Top Fitness Professional” by CanFitPro. However, I
didn’t feel like much of a success. In fact, my passion
for fitness had been dying for some time.

When I became a personal trainer in 2001 I thought I

had found my dream job. I personally loved exercising
and aiming for new fitness goals, so the idea that I
could make a career from helping others do the same
sounded perfect. I was enthusiastic and knew that I
was going to change people’s lives through fitness!

Over the course of several years however, my eyes

were opened to the realities of being a personal
trainer. The amazing results I thought I was going to
provide to my clients weren’t materializing . No matter
how hard they worked, and no matter how much
guidance I offered, “life-changing” results remained
elusive.

I began to doubt the value of the services I was

providing.

Maybe I just wasn’t a very good

personal trainer?
I also had a difficult time being honest with my clients

How can I sell personal training

services to someone when I
know she isn’t going to see the
changes she wants?

I didn’t have much confidence in my expertise and felt

very much like a fraud. In fact, there were many times
when I considered a career change, one that would
take me away from fitness altogether.

I’m happy to say that I didn’t give up on my career at

that low point. Instead, I began looking for answers
outside of the fitness community. My wife, a clinical
counsellor, became one of the most important
coaches I could have asked for. She taught me about
the psychology of behavior change and helped me
understand how to use these concepts in my work. I
consulted with other counselling and psychology
experts and began to redefine my beliefs about how
fitness can be done successfully.

As I learned more about the psychological component

of getting in shape (and staying in shape), and as I
began applying these ideas, my clients began
experiencing better results. For the first time in years I
didn’t feel like a helpless personal trainer who was
just hoping for the best. My excitement surrounding
fitness began to return.

It took time to redevelop my approach to personal

training, but I did find a formula that provides my
clients with fantastic results. It is based in self-
reflection, honesty, planning, teamwork, and
accountability. It’s simple but also requires some hard
work.

Are you interested?

This book is broken into three sections and each

offers unique value. Part 1 dives much deeper into my
failures as a personal trainer, what I learned from
these failures, and how the entire experience led me
to a better approach to fitness. It’s my story.

Part 2 is all about you. In this section I will help you

discover what you really want and what you’re willing
to do to achieve it. You will begin to set your
expectations and will start preparing for the process of
changing your lifestyle.

Then in Part 3 you will learn the specifics of the

program that I now use with my clients. While there is
nothing magical about this program, it is structured
differently than many others.

You won’t have to eat strange foods, buy any

products from me, or follow some crazy exercise
routine. The “bare truth” of the program actually
comes from its focus on simple strategies that make
behavior change more doable and sustainable.

I would love to hear from you as you adopt the plan

you’re about learn. Feel free to ask questions, talk
about your challenges, and share your successes. I
look forward to hearing your story,

www.makeyourbodywork.com
LEGAL NOTES
Copyright © 2015 by Dave Smith.

All rights reserved.

This book or any portion thereof may not be

reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever
without the express written permission of the
publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a
book review.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction

Part 1: My Story, My Confessions

Chapter 1. Fat Legs, Skinny Arms

Chapter 2. Feeling Like A Phony

Chapter 3. I’m Not A “Sinker”

Part 2: Your Story, Your Success

Chapter 4. What Do You Really Want?

Chapter 5. Barriers You’re About To Face

Chapter 6. I Need You For 4 Weeks

Chapter 7. Planning For Success

Chapter 8. Staying Accountable

Part 3: Creating Your Program

Chapter 9. Hydration

Chapter 10. Six Days of Exercise

Chapter 11. Your 5-Day Eating Plan

Chapter 12. Creating Your 5-Day Meals

Chapter 13. Cheat Day

Chapter 14. Fast Day

Chapter 15. Putting It All Together

Additional Resources

Questions and Answers

Appendix A. Planning and Tracking Template

Appendix B. Healthy Foods List

Appendix C. Sample Meals

About The Author

Part 1:
My Story, My Confessions
CHAPTER 1 – FAT LEGS, S KINNY
ARMS
When I was 7 years old my mom bought me a new
pair of shorts that I absolutely loved. They were royal
blue (my favourite colour) and they had red, yellow,
and white racing stripes circling around the bottom of
each leg. They were so cool and I was excited to
wear them to school.

The next morning I put on my new shorts to go along

with my favourite Bart Simpson t-shirt. In retrospect
I’m pretty sure the two didn’t match at all, but when
you’re a 7-year old boy creating a matching ensemble
isn’t top priority. I left the house feeling confident and
looking good.

Arriving at school before the classroom opened, I

headed straight for the playground to show off my
new shorts. Brandon, a classmate of mine, was
already at the playground and he piped up as soon as
he saw me coming,

Nice shorts. They make your

legs look so fat!
I was not an overweight kid at all and I certainly didn’t
have fat legs, but Brandon’s comment destroyed my
confidence that day. I didn’t say or do anything in the
moment – it seemed easier to pretend I didn’t hear
what he had said. When I got home I went to my room
and cried. Those stupid blue shorts made my legs
look fat.

This was my first experience with negative feelings

about my body. It wasn’t that big of a deal (although I
didn’t wear those blue shorts again), but it was
meaningful enough that almost 30 years later I can
still remember the pain I felt. Feeling self-conscious
about my body wasn’t fun.

MY SKINNY A RMS
A decade after the blue-shorts incident I had no more
worries about fat legs. I had the exact opposite
problem in fact – I was 18 years old, 6-feet tall, and I
weighed about 140lbs. I was a string bean.

I knew I was really skinny but it didn’t bother me for

the most part. I was good at sports, got good grades,
and was the president of the high school students’
council. These things gave me a good self-confidence
despite being such a beanpole.

One of my jobs as student president was to emcee

school assemblies. I really liked this job because it
gave me a chance to be in front of an audience and to
hopefully get the attention of some of my female
classmates. It was my time to shine!

After one assembly I was walking back to science

class and was feeling pretty good about my
performance as emcee. I had engaged the crowd and
my jokes made people laugh – things went well.

Nadia, a girl in my science class, found me in the hall

and started walking with me back to class.

“Dave, you know what I noticed when you were on

stage in that assembly?”

This is exactly what I was hoping for! I was pretty sure

Nadia was going to mention how funny I was, or how
cool I appeared in front of such a big crowd.

“What’s that?” I replied.

“You’ve got REALLY skinny arms. I think they’re

skinnier than mine.”

(For the record, this was worse than Brandon’s “fat

legs” comment).

Of course I didn’t let on that Nadia’s comment was

just about the worst thing she could have said. I
laughed it off and pretended that I didn’t care. I did
care though. I was embarrassed knowing that
everyone else in that audience had been staring at
my skinny arms. They were likely laughing at me, not
my funny jokes! I instantly hated my skinny arms.
HITTING THE G YM
One day after the “skinny arms” comment I got my
first gym membership. I didn’t know anything about
working out but I was pretty sure that lifting weights
was the only way I’d build man-sized arms.

I remember going into the gym for the very first time.
Everyone there looked like they knew exactly what
they were doing. They were all wearing the right
clothes – I’m talking real workout clothes, not the
basketball shorts and t-shirt I was wearing! Some of
the guys even carried around little notebooks that
they would write stuff in. What were they writing? I
wanted to know their secret messages.

People moved around the gym with purpose and

nobody looked as lost as I felt. I could feel the others
sizing me up, and I knew that they kne w I was a first-
timer.

My first workout lasted about 8 minutes. I did a couple

of biceps curls (I had seen guys with big arms doing
those on TV), did maybe 12 push-ups, and then left
as quickly as I could. Maybe skinny arms aren’t that
bad after all?

Instead of going back to the gym that week I decided

to do some research. What would it take to change
my body? How could I do it as quickly as possible?

Keep in mind that this was all taking place in the late
1990’s so the Internet wasn’t a go-to resource like it is
today. I actually went to the library (yes, the library!)
and began reading about bodybuilding in various
books and magazines. I learned how to put together a
workout program that consisted of more than just
biceps curls and push-ups. I read about protein
supplements and other foods that would help me build
muscle faster. I also discovered stories of other
skinny guys who morphed into muscle-bound men
after finding the right formula of exercise and nutrition.

The following week I went back to the gym and this

time I had a plan. I even bought a little notebook from
the dollar store so that I could carry around my own
magic muscle-building formula and track my results.

I was still the scrawniest, weakest guy there but I was

determined to change that no matter how out of place
I felt at first.

When I wasn’t at the gym I was studying everything I

could get my hands on related to exercise, fitness,
and nutrition. The interconnected systems of the
body, how they worked, and how they could be
changed was so fascinating. I couldn’t get enough.

Three months after my exercise love affair began, I

had gained about 20lbs of muscle and my arms
weren’t that skinny anymore. Even more empowering
was the knowledge I had acquired along the way. My
body wasn’t set in stone. I had the power to transform
it with a little hard work and dedication. What a
feeling!
A DREAM J OB AWAIT S
In September I went to uni versity to study Marketing
and Business. I was excited to meet new friends and
to experience university life, but I was really excited
about the university’s athletic complex located just a
block from my residence.

Most of my free time that year was spent playing

sports, weight training, or studying more about the
science of fitness. I loved my Business classes, but
my passion was exercise and fitness.

It was during my second year at university when I saw

a poster in the athletic complex advertising an
upcoming personal training certification course. The
course was 40 hours long and was followed by a set
of 2 exams. Passing both would certify me as a
personal trainer - I could actually make a living by
helping people exercise!

I paid my $400 and registered for the course that day.

Hello dream job!

All my fitness studying and research came in handy –

The certification course was a piece of cake and I
passed both exams with flying colours. Soon after I
began training a few clients, something I considered
mostly a hobby that I could enjoy while finishing my
education and then exploring careers in Marketing.

It wasn’t just a hobby for long though. While I worked

a corporate Marketing job, I had a hard time focusing
on my tasks and responsibilities. I wanted to be a
good employee but my heart just wasn’t in it.

With a small client base already established, I

launched my first personal training company in 2006. I
was ready to change the world by helping others find
their own passion for health and fitness. I was going
to teach people how they could morph their body (by
shedding fat or gaining muscle) just like I had done for
myself. All of the knowledge and personal experience
I had been accumulating for the past several years
was going to change people’s lives!

CHAPTER 1 QUESTIONS
1. Can you think of a specific instance that made
you self-conscious of your body?
2. How did you respond in that instance? What
did you do about it?
CHAPTER 2 – FEELING LIKE A P HONY
A few years into my personal training career I begin
working with a client who was excited to make some
big changes. Sarah was 34 years old and was tired of
not feeling good about the way she looked. Her story
was a common one: Three kids, a hectic schedule,
and very little “me time” had taken a toll on her once-
attractive body.

During our exercise sessions we would talk a lot

about how she felt about herself and about the
feelings she wished she had. It was heart breaking to
hear Sarah speak about the chore of looking at
herself in the mirror. She often said things like, “I don’t
think I actually look like that…who I see in the mirror
is so old and tired. I hate it.”

Sarah, like many clients I worked with, realized that

her physical appearance and lack of physical fitness
were taking a psychological and social toll that
compounded her problems. Feeling “fat” made her
self-conscious to get involved in activities that were
physically demanding. Going for a bike ride with other
parents in her neighborhood was a stressful thought.
She would be “the worst one” out there would feel so
embarrassed if she couldn’t keep up.

Sarah also shied away from doing social things that

required her to get dressed up. She didn’t feel
comfortable wearing fitted clothing and often found
herself declining social invitations as a result.
Events like her husband’s Christmas work party were
the worst. She was expected to be there and there
was a “dress code” that was socially acceptable.
Sarah would go, but the entire process was so
stressful and she felt uncomfortable the whole time.

I felt like everyone there was

just thinking about how much
weight I had gained over the
years. It was embarrassing.

Sarah’s weight was also causing issues in her

marriage. She had become very sensitive to anything
her husband said about her appearance, finding it
impossible to believe that his compliments such as
“You look so pretty today!” carried any truth.

He’s just saying that to make

me feel good. I appreciate that
he does it, but it’s hard to accept
the compliment when I know it’s
not true. I know it makes him
feel bad in the end because his
positive comments usually just
 upset me. I wish I could believe
him.

Being overweight was a burden that spilled over into

all parts of her life and that is why Sarah had come to
see me. She had decided it was time for a change
and I was going to help her do it!

W HERE A RE T HE RESULT S ?
Sarah and I started training together twice per week.
Every Tuesday and Thursday morning she would
meet me at the gym at 7am for an hour of exercise.
We had good chemistry and had a fun time during our
training sessions.

At first even the simplest exercises were a real

challenge for Sarah. We’d practice squatting,
bending, twisting, and pushing – all movements that
she hadn’t done in a long time. There was a lot of
sweat, a lot of muscle pain, and the odd expletive
directed at me (in jest I think).

It was amazing to see Sarah’s improvement over the

course of our first 8 weeks working together. She was
stronger, more mobile, and was feeling great. I was
so excited for her and was thrilled to be part of this
life-changing process.
There was just one problem: Sarah’s weight barely
budged after all her hard work. She was discouraged.
I was embarrassed (wasn’t I supposed to be the
expert?). Both of us were frustrated.

“Shouldn’t I be seeing some improvements by now?

Am I doing something wrong?” Sarah asked.

Unfortunately I didn’t have a good answer for her.

It was this discouraging experience with Sarah, and

many other similar experiences, that served as my
wake-up call. I couldn’t deal with her disappointment
and I certainly didn’t want to repeat the
discouragement I felt in letting her down.

I was supposed to be the fitness expert but I felt like a

phony. I wanted to help Sarah change her life but I
wasn’t able to deliver.

A BROKEN EQUATION
I became a personal trainer because I loved
exercising. I chose it as a full-time career because I
knew that I could parlay my exercise enthusiasm to
help others who were struggling with their fitness.

At least that’s what I had thought.

Sarah was one of many clients who I couldn’t help. I

tried, and they sure tried, but it was much harder to
help someone change their body than I ever
expected.
After about 10 years of helping clients achieve very
mediocre results, a lot of my enthusiasm about health
and fitness had started to wane. Despite all my
experience and education, most of my clients were
like Sarah – They were getting in better shape, but
the goal of losing significant weight wasn’t be
attained.

Subjectively, the training I did with my clients was

working. Many did feel much better physically and
many could see that the shape of their body had
changed, but the objective goal of moving the needle
on the scale wasn’t happening.

I responded to their disappointment by studying

harder. I read books, searched advice from other
trainers, and attended all sorts of seminars in hopes
of finding a solution. There were many “answers” to
be had…

“You need to create cutting-edge fitness plans”

“You must motivate your clients to work harder”

“Just pass along this useful nutrition advice”

I tried all sorts of approaches but only saw mixed

results. Rarely did my clients achieve their weight-loss
goals, and when they did, rarely did it last.

I started to doubt everything I had been learning

about weight-loss. To me, the fitness equation had
always looked like this:
 Regular Exercise + Healthy Eating = Fitness

But this equation wasn’t working. What am I missing?

PREACHING A LIE
Ironically, as more and more doubts crept into my
head, I simultaneously started achieving more and
more recognition for my work in the fitness industry.

I began receiving invitations to present at various

corporate functions as an “expert” in healthy living. I
also took jobs instructing other personal trainers - I
was supposed to impart my “wisdom” about how to be
a success.

The biggest acclaim came when I was nominated for

and won the award as “Canada’s Top Fitness
Professional” in 2013. This was such an honour and
was I was very flattered to even be considered for
such a prestigious award. It was gratifying to know
that others recognized and appreciated the work I
was doing to promote fitness and healthy living.

All of this career success felt great in one sense, but it

also left me feeling like even more of a phony. I didn’t
have the answers that people were looking for, and I
felt very dishonest preachi ng principles that I knew
didn’t work as well as I described.
This was my lowest point as a personal trainer and I
started to wonder if I should begin looking for another
career path.

I H ATED W EIGH -IN D AYS

Despite my internal career struggles, I put on a happy
face and tried to serve my clients as best I could.

There were still many things I still loved about being a

personal trainer: I enjoyed getting to know my clients,
seeing their excitement when they mastered a new
exercise, and helping them move pain-free. But there
was one thing I particularly dreaded about my job and
that was the weigh-in day.

At a conference I heard a fitness expert preach to a

group of personal trainers:

If you’re not assessing, then

you’re just guessing.

His point was that as personal trainers we needed to

regularly measure our clients’ progress, otherwise it
would be impossible to know if they were actually
improving.
I took this advice to heart and began assessing my
clients every few weeks. One of the assessments was
a simple weigh-in and this was always the one I (and
likely my clients) feared the most.

You see, other assessments have some “wiggle

room” – Holding a “better” plank is a matter of
interpretation, and being able to do a few more
pushups can be influenced by numerous factors on
any given day. Those types of fitness assessment
aren’t black and white.

Stepping on the scale however, can seem very black

and white. It also happens to be the unit of measure
that most people use to determine their progress.
Improvements in other areas of fitness (e.g. strength,
cardiovascular endurance, body shape, etc.) are often
secondary thoughts – People want to know what they
weigh and how much weight they have lost.

After weeks of intense workouts my clients had every

right to expect to see their weight drop. They were
paying good money to work with me and I was
supposed to be really good at my job. Let’s see the
results!

Early on I expected to see big changes for every

client on weigh-in day, but I soon realized that wasn’t
happening. A pound was lost here and there but
rarely were there any monumental changes.

Uh-oh. How do I keep explaining these disappointing

results?
E XPLANATIONS AND DISBELIEF
Perhaps the worst part of weigh-in days was seeing
the expression on a client’s face when he or she
didn’t lose any weight at all. It was crushing and I felt
as though I needed to soften the blow:

It’s not all about the numbers on

the scale. You’re in much better
shape than you were last time
we measured.

That was a common line I used to help a disappointed

client see the bright side. There was certainly truth in
that statement, but I knew it was a weak consolation
prize.

Obviously there were many variables that would

impact my client’s weight aside from the workouts we
had done together. What was she eating? Was he
exercising on his own? Did she drink enough water?
Did he get enough sleep or take time to de-stress?

When we would talk about these other “homework”

assignments I would usually get one of two
responses:
Response #1: “I am doing all of those things”

These clients would tell me that they ate perfectly,

exercised daily, and pretty much lived the ideal
healthy life that I had prescribed.

These instances were tricky. If my client really was

doing all of these healthy behaviours then weight-loss
should be no problem. Something didn’t add up.

Often I would suggest we use a food or exercise

journal “just to be sure” these items were really on-
track. But, even with those tools in place there still
seemed to be a gap between what my clients
reported they were doing and what was actually being
done.

Cognitive Dissonance is a psychological phenomenon

that may explain what was happening.

Cognitive dissonance is the

discomfort experienced by an
individual who holds two
contradictory beliefs, ideas, or
values at the same time.
It can also occur when someone is confronted by new
information that conflicts with existing beliefs, ideas,
or values that they hold to be true.

We all have certain beliefs about ourselves. If one of

those beliefs says, “I eat well and exercise regularly”
then it can be uncomfortable if we encounter evidence
that suggests otherwise.

For example, when I asked a client about his diet, it

would be difficult for him to quickly retrieve instances
when he made unhealthy food choices – This would
conflict with his self-concept of being a “healthy
eater”.

The same goes for exercise. It is comfortable, and

therefore more likely, to remember all the exercise we
did do versus the workouts we skipped.

While I don’t think that my clients intentionally lied to

me about their health choices, I confess that I do think
they were only telling part of the story. This gap
between perception and reality makes it very hard to
achieve and sustain weight-loss results.

Response #2: “I couldn’t do that because…”

The other response I got from clients who weren’t

losing weight was some sort of rationale as to why my
expectations just weren’t possible. These clients were
usually “too busy” to follow through with the actions
we agreed were necessary for weight-loss, although
other reasons did come up occasionally:

“I don’t like eating healthy food”

“I hate going to the gym”

“I can’t cook”

These clients suffer from a sort of Self-Fulfilling

Prophecy that prevents them from adopting a
healthier lifestyle.

A self-fulfilling prophecy is a
prediction that causes itself to
become true due to positive
feedback between belief and
behavior.

Let’s look at an example:

Dwayne was another client of mine. He has a high-

powered (and high-stress) job as Vice President at a
technology company. His days are filled with
meetings, deadlines, and work emergencies that
require his attention. There is a lot of stress
associated with his work and he has little time for
exercise or preparing healthy meals.
When working with Dwayne he was adamant that
they only time he could devote to his fitness came in
the form of two workout sessions with me each week.
He would often say things like, “There is no way I can
squeeze in another workout tomorrow. Work is going
to be crazy.”

I don’t doubt for a second that Dwayne has very busy

days at work, but it was the way he viewed his
situation that made it impossible to lose weight, not
the actual busyness of his life.

Using statements like “There is no way…” when

discussing exercise or other healthy behaviours
became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Dwayne perceived it
as impossible for him to adopt new ways of living and
therefore he never changed.

I don’t really blame Dwayne either. Oftentimes the life

patterns we develop become so entrenched that it is
nearly impossible to see another way. If you believe
that you are too busy to exercise, and if you believe
this for long enough, then it will likely become true.
Your life will be built in such a way that you have no
room for exercise.

The same goes for healthy eating. If you believe that

preparing healthy meals is beyond your culinary
abilities then you will establish strong habits of eating
unhealthy convenience foods.

It’s much like Henry Ford’s famous quote:

 Whether you think you can,
or you think you can't - You're
right.

I don’t think my clients who fell into this category were

making excuses. I believe they were convinced that
certain variables in life were just stacked against
them. Unfortunately, that belief makes it so, and
achieving weight-loss becomes nearly impossible.

E VERY D AY W AS A MONDAY
If you’ve ever worked a job that you didn’t like you can
probably remember having a “case of the Monday’s”.
It’s that feeling you get on Monday, knowing that the
weekend is over and you have to do something that
you don’t really enjoy.

Being a personal trainer started to give me a strong

case of the Monday’s.

It didn’t feel good going to work every day, spending

time with some really great clients, all the while
knowing that most of them would never obtain the
results they wanted. I knew that there were
psychological factors that needed to be addressed,
but I didn’t know how to approach these issues. I felt
helpless.
Even worse was the fact that my livelihood depended
on my clients sticking with me. I had financial
incentives to keep selling them packages of training
sessions even though I didn’t really think I could help
them.

I wanted my sales pitch to sound like this:

“Janet, I really enjoy working with you and think you’re

doing great in your workouts. You are getting stronger
and are in much better shape than you were a few
months ago.

I know you really want to lose weight but I can’t

promise that’s going to happen. I hope you do (I really
hope you do!) but there are factors out of my control
that prevent me from promising you will lose any
weight at all.

I’d love it if you’d keep training with me, but I just want
to be honest about the results you are going to get.”

I actually think some of my clients would have stayed

with me if I told them this (like I said, I had some really
amazing clients!), but it just didn’t feel good to offer
such a wishy-washy service.

I wanted to do things differently. I wanted to be a

more effective coach, one who could honestly tell
clients something like this:

“Janet, I know losing weight is difficult but we are

going to do it together. I’ve got a plan that will work for
you even though there are going to be challenges
along the way. Stick with me and I promise you will
reach your goal.”

I needed to change my approach as a personal

trainer if I was ever going to be able to make a
promise like this. I just didn’t know what I needed to
change.

CHAPTER 2 QUESTIONS
1. When have you felt like a “phony”? How did
you reconcile that feeling or help yourself feel
more authentic?
2. Can you see examples of Cognitive
Dissonance and/or the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
at work in your life? What impact are they
having?
CHAPTER 3 – I’M NOT A “SINKER”
I have always thought triathletes are really
impressive. They have to find a unique balance of
skill, strength, endurance and mental toughness. I
wanted to be a triathlete.

There was only one little problem: Triathlons include a

swim, a bike, and then a run. I could bike and run but
I could barely swim a lap in a pool let alone hundreds
of meters in a lake.

No problem, right? Just start swimming.

I bought a pass to my local pool and a really fast-

looking Speedo (no joke – I thought a tighter bathing
suit would help me improve more quickly) and I
started swimming.

At first I swam once per week, but I didn’t really get

any better. I could swim a lap or two and then was
completely out of breath. So, I started swimming three
times per week. Practice makes perfect!

It didn’t.

No matter how hard I swam, I wasn’t getting any

faster and I couldn’t swim much further. I began
swimming 5 times each week and knew that I was
bound to figure it out sooner than later.

Nope. I was still exhausted after just a few minutes in

the pool and my aspirations of becoming a triathlete
began to fade.
After swimming five times per week and seeing no
progress I was on the verge of quitting. I was
frustrated and felt like I was wasting my time. Maybe I
was just a “sinker”? Maybe I wasn’t built to swim?

Fortunately I didn’t quit. Instead, I learned a lesson.

During one of my swim sessions an off-duty lifeguard

approached me while I was catching my breath (likely
after swimming just 2 or 3 agonizing laps!)

“Are you interested in few tips on how you can

improve your technique?” she asked.

I was thrilled. After all, I certainly couldn’t get any

worse!

She gave me a couple simple things to think about

while I swam the rest of my laps. Her advice wasn’t
easy – in fact, I do think I got a little bit slower while I
tried to change my technique - but the next time I
went swimming things started to click. I was still dying
by the end of a few laps but it did feel a bit easier. The
next time got easier too. And so did the time after
that.

Within a month I was swimming 60 laps without much

trouble. I wasn’t a “sinker” at all! I just needed to be
pointed in the right direction.

FINDING A N EW PAT H
The vast majority of my clients wanted to lose weight.
How could I help ensure this would happen? I needed
to find a new direction.

I started studying other personal trainers and

examining businesses that operate in the health and
fitness industry. One thing became very apparent:
Most of them were really good at selling hopes and
dreams, but very bad at following with actual results.

Consumers spend billions of

dollars per year in an effort to
lose weight, but at the same
time obesity rates around the
world have doubled in the past
30 years.

People are spending more and more on fitness, and

are getting more and more out of shape at the same
time. The available weight-loss and fitness “solutions”
simply aren’t working and I wasn’t satisfied being part
of this game.

Fortunately I had an unfair advantage over every

other personal trainer out there – I was married to
Cassie!
My wife is a gifted clinical counsellor who spends
much of her time helping clients make positive life
changes. Often she helps them change in areas that I
wanted to help my clients - She teaches her clients
how to overcome psychological barriers such as
Cognitive Dissonance and the Self-Fulfilling
Prophecy?

She also helps clients who are struggling with anxiety,

loneliness, depression, and many other psychological
issues that seemingly have little to do with fitness.
While their issues may be different, every client
Cassie works with has one thing in common with each
of my clients: They all want to change.

Cass and I spent a lot of time talking about the

approaches she uses in her clinical work and howthey
are very applicable to fitness. One idea called the
Transtheoretical Model (or the Stages of Change)
seemed especially relevant.

The Transtheoretical Model of

behavior change assesses an
individual's readiness to act on
a new healthier behavior, and
provides strategies, or
processes of change to guide
the individual through the stages
 of change to Action and
Maintenance.

Simply put, this model shows how a person moves

from a place of not wanting to change at all
(Precontemplation), to considering and learning about
change (Contemplation), then preparing for change
(Preparation), adopting new changes (Action), and
finally being able to maintain those positive changes
over time (Maintenance). The diagram below shows
how these stages interact.

Knowing about these stages instantly helped me

improve the service I offered new clients. Being able
to identify which stage they were in enabled me to
develop a plan that corresponded to their stage and
their specific needs.
For example, Becky came to meet me on the
recommendation of her friend, whom I had worked
with for several years. Becky was overweight and
voiced a desire to lose 30lbs that year. She told me
about her diet and that she knew it needed to be
fixed. She also admitted that she didn’t exercise at all,
but that she understood exercise would be needed in
order for her to reach her 30lb goal.

What stage do you thi nk Becky was in?

She was preparing herself to take action – She was in

the third stage of the model.

The old version of myself would have put together an

amazing workout plan for Becky to follow. I would
have booked her in for a training session that week –
“We’ve got no time to lose!”

Now I knew better. Becky wasn’t ready to take serious

action, but she was ready to start talking about some
baby-steps that would put her on the right path
towards reaching her goal. If I had given her a full-
blown fitness and nutrition program to follow there is a
slim chance she would have made through the first
month. A client like Becky needed to be coached into
the Action stage of change.

This was a massive turning point in my career.

Understanding the psychological needs of my clients
made it so much easier to help them develop a plan
that felt within reach. I started to feel enthusiastic
about fitness again and was excited to learn more.
With Cass’s help I started building a new fitness
program based on the Stages of Change as well as a
number of other powerful coaching concepts. We
spent a lot of time discussing motivation and the
power of working with others. Cass also taught me
about the process of effective goal-setting. Sure,
everyone talks about the importance of setting goals,
but I wanted to know why some people achieve theirs
while others give up so quickly.

The psychology of behavior change became the

backbone of my approach to fitness. Yes, I still taught
many of the same exercise and nutritional concepts I
had for years, but the delivery was different. My new
approach was much more adaptable and much more
defined by accountability and motivation, two things
that I had been missing all these years (despite the
fact that I thought I had been an expert in both!)

In this book I am going to teach you the most

important lessons I have learned about making
positive life changes. Specifically, you are going to
learn that the process of losing weight is simple, but
challenging. It’s more than just “eat less, exercise
more” – It requires introspection, honestly, planning,
and working with others in your life.

After reading this book you will have an action plan

and will be able to confidently make the right choices
that do provide results. You will be able to lose weight
and keep it off for a lifetime.
DO YOU THINK YOU ’RE A “S INKER ”?
I almost gave up when I was trying to learn to swim. I
wrote myself off as a “sinker” and figured that I was
just going to have to live with that truth.

Maybe you’ve had a similar experience with losing

weight? You’ve tried really hard without making any
progress and you’ve started thinking, “I guess I’m just
not meant to lose weight” or “Maybe this is just the
body I’m stuck with?”

Those types of thoughts are not true.

Yes, everyone is born with a different body shape and

size – Not everyone is going to be a 6-foot tall rail-thin
model. BUT, everyone can dramatically change the
way his or her body looks and feels by adopting the
set of healthy living practices I’m going to outline in
the coming pages.

As I found when learning to swim, trying harder at

implementing a broken system or technique wasn’t
going to make me a better swimmer and it’s not going
to help you lose weight and keep it off. Having the
right direction is critical.

Each month I host accountability groups (called the

“10 in 4” Challenge) that help people make positive
life changes and help them lose weight in the
process. The participants are shaping their lives
based on the principles you are about to learn in this
book and their changes have been remarkable. Here
are just a few of their comments:
Umm…it’s quite extraordinary,
but I’m do wn 7lbs. Four after the
first week and an additional 3
since Sunday…I’m just really
happy to have some movement
on the scale since the small
tweaks I’ve made over the last
few years have had no effect. -
Julie

Dave! I’ve lost 10lbs! I’m

amazed and so thrilled! I wore
pants to dinner last night that I
hadn’t worn in nearly a year and
they didn’t fit! I wore them
anyway but they were so big in
the waist that they also became
too long. -Caroline
What I consider my biggest
accomplishment is losing 23lbs
over the past 9 weeks. Finding
accountability has been the
most helpful part. –Donna

My results have been really

good – I’m do wn 12.5lbs and I
feel better than I have in a really
long time. The best part is how
much I’ve been able to change
my eating. This is simple and is
something I will be able to keep
doing. -James

I’m down 8.5-9lbs and am just

about at my pre-baby weight,
which was about 5lbs heavier
than usual anyway. My original
weight is in sight now! I’ve
certainly learned a lot about
food as it relates to my needs. -
Sarah
 A girl at work just got her diet
pills and a couple others just
finished their “cleanse”. I’m just
glad I’m doing something
normal and sustainable. -Keely

Many of these people once thought they were

“sinkers” too. But, just like when I couldn’t swim, it
wasn’t about a lack of ability or determination. They
were able to make tremendous life changes and lose
significant amounts weight once they were pointed in
the right direction.

You’re not a “sinker”…nobody is.

CHAPTER 3 QUESTIONS
1. Take another look at the Stages of Change
diagram in this chapter and the brief
descriptions of each stage. When it comes to
your fitness, which stage do you think you’re
currently in?
2. Have you ever started to believe that you’re
just a “sinker”? Do you think there is any truth
in that?
Part 2:
Your Story, Your Success
CHAPTER 4 – W HAT DO Y OU REALLY
WANT?
Earlier this year I attended a conference for
entrepreneurs and the keynote speaker was someone
who I was really looking forward to hearing from. He
had a reputation of being very motivating and
apparently had a way of challenging his audience to
take action.

The speaker came onto stage:

You are all full of shit.

He repeated it – “You are all full of shit.” As you can

imagine, there were a few awkward chuckles in the
audience but most of were a little stunned by his less
than warm introduction.

“Who does this guy think he is?” is what I was

thinking, and I’m sure I wasn’t alone.

Without any explanation of his “full of shit” statement,

the speaker began to talk about his personal fitness
goals. He admitted that long hours spent running his
own business had taken their toll. He made little time
for exercise and ate on the road often. His lifestyle
caught up with him and he was 55 pounds heavier
than he wanted to be.

He told us that he knew he needed to make a change

when his belly became the same size and shape of
his pregnant wife’s! He joined a gym and hired a
personal trainer.

He then recounted a story that many of us in the

audience could surely relate to. He started going to
the gym 4 days per week. He cut out a lot of junk food
from his diet and was very motivated to do whatever it
would take to shed those 55lbs.

After a few weeks however, work began to get hectic

and it was harder and harder to pull himself out of bed
early enough in the morning to make it to the gym.
Stress led to snacking, and snacking led to a little
weight gain, not the weight-loss he was aiming for.

He relayed a conversation he had with his personal

trainer:

Him: “It’s just so hard to get here every day when I’m
dealing with all this stuff at work.”

Trainer: “Do you really want to lose those 55lbs?”

Him: “Yes! I will do whatever it takes!”

Trainer: “You’re full of shit.”

This story got a less-awkward chuckle from the

audience. Maybe this guy isn’t so bad after all (since
he’s “full of shit” too).
The point of his story was clear: He said that he
wanted to lose 55lbs and he even declared that he
would be willing to do anything to reach that goal. But,
those were just words. He really was full of shit
because he prioritized his work over the healthy
choices required to lose weight.

He challenged the audience in a similar way.

Is your business not performing

as you’d like? You have to ask
yourself if you’re really willing to
make the sacrifices needed to
get it where you want it to be.
What do you really want?

What do YOU really want?

IS IT W ORTH IT ?
I recently read a interesting article that discussed the
sacrifices required to have 6-pack abs. It was written
by a woman who was in great shape but who had
never been able to get the defined abs she wanted.
So, she made it her mission to get a 6-pack and she
decided to chronicle her journey.
She talked about the regimented exercise routine she
followed, and she discussed all the foods she cut out
of her diet (goodbye chocolate!). Her progress was
slow and painful, but even though she wanted to quit
many times, she stayed on-track until she got her first
6-pack stomach.

That wasn’t the point of her story though. Yes, she

was proud of what she had accomplished but her
message was a little surprising. When asked if all the
sacrifice was worth it she quickly responded, “Not a
chance!”

Giving up foods she loved and spending all that extra

time in the gym was NOT worth the reward of having
great abs. After accomplishing her goal she reverted
back to a more “normal” routine, one that still kept her
fit but was much less stringent and much less life-
defining.

Think about your fitness goals. Do you have a number

that you’d like to see on the scale? Or maybe there’s
something that you’d like to change about your
physical appearance? Maybe you’d like to be able to
do something athletic that you’ve never done before?

What are you willing to do in order to reach that goal?

You are going to have to give up a lot in order to be

successful. Are you ready to make those sacrifices?

I know it sounds intuitive to say that improving your

fitness will take sacrifice. Of course it will. But,
knowing this intuitively and owning it for yourself are
two very different things.

I think you’d agree that it’s hard to lose weight if you

eat desserts every day. Donuts, cookies, candy,
chocolate, cake, ice cream, and other similar treats
are not weight-loss foods. You know that.

But, what happens when you’re at work and someone

brings in a batch of homemade chocolate chip
cookies? Are you willing to sacrifice the enjoyment of
eating those cookies in order to stay on the path that
leads to your goal?

When you go out for dinner with your friends, are you
willing to pass on that glass of wine or beer that
everyone else is enjoying? Is the sacrifice in the
moment worth the satisfaction you are going to get
several weeks or months in the future?

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not doubting your intentions

or your resolve. I’m simply asking legitimate questions
that I hope you’ll consider.

In theory most of us would say that the long-term

benefit of reaching a fitness goal far outweighs the
short-term enjoyment of cheating on the action plan.
However, the short-term enjoyment is very real AND
it’s immediately available. This instant gratification is
powerful and shouldn’t be overlooked.

SHORT-T ERM V ERSUS L ONG-T ERM R EWARDS

The fact is, there are real benefits to saying YES to
that chocolate chip cookie your co-worker offers.
There are social benefits of connecting with others
who are also eating the cookies, plus there is a
physiological reward that comes from eating
something sweet. That cookie will make you feel good
– Your stress will seem lessened, your energy will
peak, and you will feel happier. Those feelings all
have real value and shouldn’t be minimized.

In contrast, saying NO to short-term pleasures can

have many costs. You may find yourself in awkward
social interactions when you are the only one who
isn’t partaking in the food or drinks. Also, you are
passing up on opportunities to put yourself in a better
mood. Avoiding a cookie may actually make you feel
a little extra stress in the moment, or it might make
you feel a little more tired. Again, those are real
feelings and they are powerful.

This is one of the reasons why weight-loss is so

elusive. It requires commitment to a long-term reward
while sacrificing many immediate rewards that feel so
good. The long-term reward is mysterious – When will
it happen? How will it feel? Will I actually get there?
Whereas the short-term rewards are concrete – That
cookie will taste great right now!

Before you decide to take up the program I outline in

the coming pages, I want you to think about the short-
term rewards you enjoy each day. What would
happen if you gave those up? Is achieving your long-
term goal worth the sacrifice?
Unlike the woman who wanted to get 6-pack abs, I’m
not going to ask you to make any insurmountable
changes to the way you live. But, I am going to ask
you to make some changes that are uncomfortable at
first.

In the next chapter we examine some of the barriers

to change that you will likely experience. If you are
ready to break through those barriers then join me. I
fully expect you’ll find that the long-term reward your
earn is far more valuable than the sacrifices required
to attain it.

CHAPTER 4 QUESTIONS
1. What do you really want? (i.e. what is the
specific goal you would like to achieve?)
2. What rewards would you get if you reached
your goal? (i.e. how would your life improve?)
3. Are there things in your life that you would
NOT give up in order to achieve that goal?
CHAPTER 5 - BARRIERS YOU’RE
ABOUT TO FACE
This book is all about making positive changes. The
plan I am going to lay out is simple, and if you follow it
I am confident you will be successful. There is a
“BUT” however…

Change is never easy. Change requires work, it often

comes with a little pain, and there are certainly going
to be some roadblocks along the way that can stifle
your plans if you’re not prepared.

I want to take a look at just a few of the most common

barriers to success that my clients face. You may
relate to these or you may be able to identify others
that you know will be challenging during your change
process. The key is to recognize your own set of
barriers and prepare to deal with them.

Change is always hard, and that’s what makes it so

satisfying once it’s been achieved.

THE ST RENGTH OF P EER P RESSURE

Amber was a recent client of mine who had been
dieting on and off for about 6 months but had never
been able to get into a groove that worked.

She was about to be the maid of honour in her best

friend’s wedding and had 6 weeks to lose about
15lbs. She was motivated and had a defined goal
(a.k.a. the “perfect client” to work with!)

Amber joined one of my “10 in 4” Challenge groups

and began applying the principles you’re going to
learn about in this book. Her first week went really
well and she lost 3lbs right away. She was ecstatic
and I was so happy for her.

The second week wasn’t so hot. She lost a pound but

reported to the group that she had been “cheating” on
her eating plan. I was surprised:

“What’s going on Amber? Was it just a tough week or

did something else happen?”

She began to explain that her husband wasn’t really

on board with her weight-loss plan. It wasn’t that he
didn’t want her to lose weight, but he wasn’t ready to
support the changes that she needed to make in
order to be successful.

Amber described how he would munch on junky

snacks in front of her, and would nag her to join him
on the couch, watching TV and eating away
(something they used to do together). Eventually she
began to cave.

“What a jerk!” (you might be thinking)

But her husband’s behavior is actually quite typical. I

often hear about spouses, co-workers, friends,
parents, or children who aren’t supportive, and are
often downright destructive when a client is trying
hard to make positive change.

In most cases these people aren’t intentionally acting

out a plan of sabotage – They just don’t know how to
accept change, even if the change isn’t directly their
own.

You might not think that anyone in your life would

drag you down like this, but you may be surprised.
Even if it’s not blatant, you will likely encounter others
who offer you food or ask you to do things that are
part of your old lifestyle, not the new one you’re
creating.

How are you going to react? What will you say or do

when this peer pressure arises?

Peer Pressure is often associated with childhood –

Kids try to influence others to do what they’re doing,
even if they know it’s not good. Guess what? Adults
peer pressure each other all the time too!

The social pressure you’ll face when you begin to

develop your new lifestyle is one of the major barriers
that can set you back or even cause you to quite
altogether. That’s why it’s important to start thinking
about how you’ll handle those situations and how
you’ll deal with the people who aren’t helping you
change.

OLD H ABIT S DIE HARD

Another barrier you’ll face is your own lifestyle the
habits you may have been building up for many years.
These habits can be broken but it will take some work
and will take time.

Do you eat something salty before bed each night?

Does a meal not seem complete without something

sweet at the end?

Do you have favourite TV shows that you watch every

evening?

Does time surfing the Internet not seem complete

without something to munch on?

Our brains are pretty amazing. They learn to do things

without thinking so that we can multitask and so that
we can function without having to think about each
little decision.

This is a great thing at times - Just imagine having to

consciously decide to put one foot in front of the other
when going for a walk…you’d never get anywhere.
Other times it becomes a real hindrance. Have you
ever eaten a bag of chips without realizing what just
happened?

As you begin to establish your new lifestyle, you are

going to bump up against your brain and the old
habits it has programmed over the years.

Re-programming your brain takes conscious

decisions and this seems like a lot of effort at first.
Know that it will get easier and that your new ways of
living will eventually become the habits your brain
carries out without any thought at all. Just be
prepared for the initial fight that comes with the re-
programming process.

CRAVINGS AND W IT HDRAWAL

Years ago I suffered a pretty horrific knee injury while
playing basketball and I had to undergo reconstructive
surgery. During recovery the doctor prescribed
painkillers that I was supposed to take daily for a
number of weeks.

One day shortly after the surgery, my knee seemed to

be feeling better and I decided to skip my morning
round of painkillers. Within a few hours I developed
the most dreadful headache I had ever experienced.
My head pounded, my eyeballs hurt, and all I could do
was lie on the bed with a pillow over my head.

I had developed an addiction and was suffering from

withdrawal.

There’s a good chance your body is addicted to some

foods that are preventing you from losing weight.
Sugar is the most-likely culprit. Refined grains are
another.

When you begin to clean up your diet your body may

not like what’s happening. You might go through
withdrawal symptoms that aren’t fun – Irritability,
fatigue, headaches, and muscle pains are a few of the
symptoms my clients have experienced in the past.

Want some good news? The withdrawal process is a

quick one. It usually takes less than a week before
your body learns that those harmful foods are no
longer part of your life, and your body will begin to
thrive off the healthier foods you are feeding it.

Want some more good news? Eventually your body

will forget about those foods you once loved so much.
Your cravings will lessen or disappear altogether and
you will feel better than you ever remember.

Be prepared though – the initial cravings will be

strong and the withdrawal symptoms can be nasty. I
promise it’s all short-term pain that you’re exchanging
for a lifetime of feeling great!

CHAPTER 5 QUESTIONS
1. What people or social situations will tempt you
to revert back to old habits that you’re trying to
break? How will you deal with those situations?
2. What is one habit that you are most excited to
break free from?
3. What food do you find yourself craving most
often? How would your life improve if that
craving were gone?
CHAPTER 6 - I NEED Y OU FOR 4
WEEKS
Maxwell Maltz, a plastic surgeon in the 1950s, noticed
something interesting with many of his patients.
Those who had facial reconstruction seemed to take
about 21 days to get accustomed to seeing their new
face in the mirror. The same was true for patients who
had to have an amputation performed – They
reported sensing their “phantom limb” for about 21
days after the surgery.

Maltz believed that this 21-day adjustment period

could be translated into other parts of life. He began
to test his theory on himself – How long would it take
him to adjust to new habits or patterns in his own life?
Well, it took about 21 days!

Maxwell concluded,

These, and many other

commonly observed
phenomena tend to show that it
requires a minimum of about 21
days for an old mental image to
dissolve and a new one to jell.
His conclusion has caught on with many self-help
gurus who have continued to preach the message of
21-day transformations. There’s just one little
problem: Maltz concluded, “…that it requires a
minimum of about 21 days…” to create a new habit.
He doesn’t say that 21 days is the magic number, or
that all old habits can be broken in just 3 weeks.

HOW LONG DO N EW H ABIT S REALLY T AKE T O

BUILD ?
While Maltz’s theory wasn’t really substantiated in
scientific research, it did spark a lot of interest in the
subject of habit formation and behavioural change.

Many studies have since been conducted to

determine exactly how long it does take to break old
habits and form new ones. One of the most
recognized studies was performed by Phillippa Lally,
a scientist at University College London, in 2009.

Lally studied 96 participants over a 12-week period.

Each participant chose a new habit that they wanted
to form (e.g. exercising for a set period of time,
drinking a bottle of water with their lunch, eating
vegetables with their dinner, etc.) and reported each
day whether they were able to do it.

The participants were also asked about how

“automatic” the behavior felt each day. Was it still a
conscious decision or was it becoming routine?
How long did it take for the behaviours to become
habitual?

On average it took 66 days! (Far longer than Maltz’s

21-day theory)

W HY I’M O NLY ASKING FOR 4 W EEKS

If it takes 66 days to really form a new habit then why
am I telling you that I need you for 4 weeks?

While I agree that 4 weeks might not be long enough

to break all of your old habits and truly embrace a
new, healthier lifestyle, I also know that 66 days is a
really long time. Effective goal setting must be rooted
in high achieve-ability.

If I asked you to eat only broccoli for one single day,

could you do it? Yes, of course you could – It’s just
one day! But what would happen if I asked you to ea t
just broccoli for an entire week? (Don’t worry – I won’t
ask you to do that!) Chances are you wouldn’t last
long, or you might not even take up the challenge.

Goals are most effective when they are relatively

short and are highly-achievable. If you decide to take
up the program that I lay out in this book then I ask for
a 4-week commitment in return. Some of the changes
you’ll be making are going to be tough at first, but you
can relax a bit, knowing that it’s just for 4 weeks.
“So I just have to follow your advice for 4 weeks and
then I can go back to my old habits?”

That’s not the point either. You see, if you can commit
to 4 weeks of cleaner, healthier living as outlined in
the following pages, then I am convinced you are
going to love the way you look and feel MORE than
you love your old, unhealthy habits.

Your old habits may not be broken in 4 weeks, but

you will have seen the light at the end of the tunnel
and I am confident that you will want to keep moving
towards it.

Most clients I take through this program find it pretty

challenging in the first week. The second week gets
easier, and so does the third. By week #4 new habits
are starting to form and most people don’t want to go
back. They worked too hard and have seen too much
progress to give up.

Can you give me 4 weeks? If you answered YES then

I believe you will also make it to 66 days (and far
beyond!)

CHAPTER 6 QUESTIONS
1. Can you honestly say that you’re ready to give
me 4 weeks in exchange for a life-changing
experience?
2. Picture yourself 4 weeks from now – What will
you look like? How will you feel? Where will
you be headed in life?
CHAPTER 7 - PLANNING FOR
S UCCESS
I spend a lot of time talking with people who are in the
Contemplation stage of change (see Chapter 3 if you
want a refresher on all of the stages). These people
have decided that they do want to make a change,
but they’re not sure how to do it or how to begin.

People in this stage are often looking for practical

steps that will help them get started so they will
sometimes ask questions like this:

“What’s the one thing I can do that will make the

biggest difference?”

My answer is always the same: The most important

thing you can do to lose weight is making time to plan.
I’ll say that again,

Planning is the most important

part of the weight-loss process.

A few years ago I was asked to speak at a corporate

event in the city where I live. The audience was small
(maybe 100 people) and was made up of mostly
business executives who spend the majority of their
time sitting in meetings and i n their offices. I was
asked to talk to them about healthy living and work-
life balance – No problem.

The talk was only supposed to last about 30 minutes

and the topic was something I knew inside and out. I
was confident that I could deliver an engaging
message in my sleep so I didn’t take too much time to
prepare.

A day or two before the event I ran through some

ideas in my head. I had a couple stories I wanted to
tell, a few stats and research studies I’d touch on, and
a joke or two that would keep the audience
entertained.

On the day of the event I was running behind

schedule, and by the time I arrived the group had
finished their meal and was waiting for my
presentation. Maybe it was my tardiness that threw
me off, or maybe it was the audience, or the venue. I
just know that I stood up on stage behind the podium
and I didn’t feel comfortable at all. My confidence
disappeared and my mind went blank.

I forgot the story I wanted to open with, and the my

statistics all began to jumble together. I opened with a
joke about being late – It wasn’t funny and few people
laughed. I could feel the sweat start running down the
inside of my shirt.

This was going to be a long 30 minutes!

I went into that situation thinking that I had planned for

it. I knew what I wanted to say – it was all in my head.
But, when it came time to perform, my plan went out
the window. I bombed that speech.

If you don’t take time to make a detailed plan, your

weight-loss goals are going to bomb too.

W HAT GOES INTO Y OUR PLAN

Your plan is your roadmap for the following week. It
will make all of your daily decisions easier because
you have pre-decided what you want to do and where
you want to end up that week.

There are at least 3 things that need to go into your

plan: (Note: we will cover each of these items in the
upcoming chapters. For now, just focus on the
general items your plan needs to include)

#1. Water – How much water are you going to drink

each day?

#2. Exercise – What exercise are you going to do

and when will you get it done each day?

#3. Food – What are your 3 main meals of the day

going to include? What snacks are you going to
prepare?

I say that your plan needs to include “at least” these 3

things. Some clients like to include other items as well
(e.g. bedtime, social events, etc.) – Feel free to add
any other categories you like, but just be certain to
include the 3 I’ve outlined above.
IMAGINE YOUR LIF E ON A P LAN
Next I want you to imagine how different your days
will look when you have this plan written out and
ready to follow. Your day might unfold like this:

You wake up in the morning and roll out of bed.

Instead of grabbing a bagel on the way out the door
you open the fridge and find all the ingredients for
your green smoothie. In 5 minutes your new breakfast
is ready to go and you’re taking the kids to school on
your way to work.

It’s mid-morning and you can feel a little hunger in

your stomach. A co-worker brought cookies to the
staff room but you pass on them because you have a
container of chopped veggies at your desk (yeah,
cookies would taste great but you know they aren’t
what you really want to eat!)

Lunchtime rolls around - You’d normally slip out to the

local sandwich shop for a bite to eat, but instead you
put on some confortable shoes (you packed them this
morning) and head out for a 30-minute walk. When
you get back to the office you feel energized and look
forward to enjoying the homemade chili you prepared
on the weekend. It’s waiting for you in a Tupperware
container and comes with a side of salad with
balsamic dressing, both of which you made last night.

Sitting on your desk is your water bottle. It’s halfway

empty and you know you are going to drink the rest
before your workday is done – That will put you on-
track to easily get all your water in for the day. This is
easy!

Your afternoon seems to fly by (maybe it’s the

exercise you got at lunch) and soon you’re on the way
home. It’s nice knowing that your fridge has the
ingredients you need for Rainbow Raw Pad Thai
(that’s in your plan for dinner – no guessing or last-
minute scrambling).

It doesn’t take much time to prepare dinner because

you already have the recipe and ingredients ready to
go. It’s a meal you’ve never tried before – it tastes
great and even the kids don’t mind it!

After dinner you take your son to hockey practice and

bring your water bottle, which you filled up when you
got home because you know you have one more
bottle to drink today.

Back at home the kids get ready for bed and you
head to the kitchen. Looking at the plan for tomorrow
you see what foods need to be prepped and you open
the fridge to find all the necessary items (you did
grocery shopping on the weekend with your plan in-
hand so you know it’s all there).

Time to relax before bed. You look at your plan one

last time and feel a sense of satisfaction as you check
off all of your items.

Water – check!
Exercise – check!

Food – check, check, and check!

Sounds pretty great. Maybe it sounds a little too good

to be true? Well, it might not be so smooth at first, but
as we’ve discussed, you are dedicating 4 weeks to
this process. After 4 weeks of planning and using that
plan on a daily basis, it will become very natural and
eventually habitual.

Much of the daily stress you face each day is due to a

lack of planning. By putting your water, exercise, and
meals into a concrete plan, you reduce the ambiguity
of your day and free your mind from having to
problem-solve as you go.

As an added bonus, your plan will help you overcome

temptations. When someone unexpectedly brings
treats to work or to your house, it’s really hard to say
no if you’re stomach is growling from hunger. It is
much easier to pass on the treats when you have
eaten a good meal and have snacks prepared, ready
to be eaten.

The same goes for exercise. Most of us would like to

exercise regularly, but life is just “too busy”. Truthfully,
life is only too busy when exercise isn’t part of your
plan. Once you schedule exercise into your day and
treat is as an appointment (which is why I ask you to
plan the type of exercise and the time it will get done),
the likelihood of actually doing it skyrockets.
W HEN T O MAKE YOUR PLAN
In the “10 in 4” Challenge we always set Sundays at
9pm as a “due date” for plans for the upcoming week.
Your due date doesn’t have to be on Sunday but
there should be a day and time when you commit to
having it done.

Personally, I like Sundays as the deadline because it

will force you to plan on the weekend, which gives
you an opportunity to buy groceries and do some food
prep for the week.

You might choose to buy groceries on Saturday and

then prepare some of your food (e.g. cut up veggies,
put a meal in the slow cooker, thaw ingredients from
the freezer, etc.) on Sunday. By Sunday night you will
have a very clear picture as to what your upcoming
week will look like. It’s a very satisfying feeling.

A S AMPLE PLAN
On the next page you will find a sample plan that I
use with my clients. You will also find a blank planning
sheet just like this one in Appendix A that you can use
to create your own weekly plans.

Don’t get caught up in the details of this sample plan

as we will cover those in the upcoming chapters. For
now just notice how this plan is set up. The 3
categories (water, exercise, and food) are clearly laid
out and there is a place to check off the items that you
accomplish you each day. We’ll return to these
checks when we discuss accountability in the next
chapter.

This plan is simple, it includes just enough detail but

not too much, and it provides all the guidance you
need to make the healthy choices you want to make.
I don’t exaggerate when I say planning is the most
critical aspect of your weight-loss success. Taking the
time to craft your plan will instantly pay dividends and
will become the backbone of your fitness success.

CHAPTER 7 QUESTIONS
1. How will planning change the way your week
plays out?
2. How will you feel when you have your plan
completed and have your food prepped for the
week?
3. What day and time will your plan be finished?
CHAPTER 8 - STAYING
ACCOUNTABLE
Imagine announcing to thousands of people every
time you ate something, including what you were
eating and how much. What do you think would
happen to your diet?

That’s exactly what my blogger friend decided to do

this year. Mona has been frustrated with her slow but
steady weight gain over the past 5 years and she
decided to do something about it. This was going to
be the year that she got back to her healthy weight.

Mona had tried a couple diets and fitness plans over

the years but she self-admittedly had trouble with
staying motivated. For a couple weeks things wo uld
be great, but a slip-up here and there would quickly
send her plans into a downward spiral. This time she
was going to take a very different approach.

She wrote a blog post outlining her fitness goal for the
year – “I am going to lose 70lbs!”

That was a turning point. In telling her readers exactly

what she was planning to accomplish, Mona had
created an accountability group for herself. She now
had thousands of readers who would be asking about
her progress on pretty much a daily basis. Choosing
to give up would not only be disappointing herself, but
also all those followers who would be tracking with
her.
Mona lost 70lbs in just more than 10 months.

Ask her if it was easy and the answer will be a point

blank “No way”, but she was able to do it. Mona will
tell of bumps along the way (fighting food cravings,
skipping exercise, poor eating choices while
travelling, etc.) but she will also say that quitting was
not an option.

I wanted to lose the weight for

myself, but I also wanted to do it
for everyone who was following
along with me. I knew several
people who had set similar
goals after reading about mine –
I didn’t want to let them down.

I DON ’T H AVE A NY F OLLOWERS

So maybe you don’t have thousands of people
reading your blog posts each week. That’s okay –
You do have people in your life who will happily be
your accountability partners.

Telling even a couple people about your goals and

how you intend to reach those goals will be the
difference between a short-lived health kick and a
long-term lifestyle restructuring. Here’s how to get
started:

#1. Pick 2 Accountability Buddies – I always

recommend having at least 2 people on your team.
Ideally these will be people who you talk with on a
daily or at least a weekly basis (i.e. phone, text
message, Facebook, email, etc.)

Choose these people wisely. As we discussed in

Chapter 5, some people will actually try to sabotage
your fitness plans. You obviously don’t want these
people acting as your accountability buddies.

Who in your life would genuinely want to see you

succeed?

Who would get real happiness in seeing you lose

weight and adopt a healthier lifestyle?

#2. Be Specific With Your Plans – Telling your

buddies that you “want to lose weight” isn’t all that
helpful. That’s a very ambiguous goal that will be
tough for them to follow up on.

Instead, try to be as specific as possible in terms of

your goal AND your plans on how you will get there.

For example, you could say something like this:

 I have a wedding to attend on
May 10th and I really want to feel
good about how I look that day.
My goal is to lose 15lbs by then.

To accomplish that goal I will go

to the gym 3 times per week
and will walk for 30 minutes on
days I don’t go to the gym.

I’ll also keep a food journal that

shows everything I eat. I want to
use this food journal to help me
eliminate the snacks I eat every
night before I go to bed.

Notice how specific the goal is and how actionable the

plans are. This makes it much easier for your
accountability buddies to follow up with your progress.
They can easily ask questions about your exercise,
your food journal, your progress in cutting out
nighttime snacks, and how close you are to achieving
your weight-loss goal.

#3. Be Specific In Your Request – It can be

uncomfortable for buddies to ask about your weight-
loss. The topic of “weight” is personal and oftentimes
people will be afraid to offend, so they choose to
avoid the topic altogether.

That’s why you need to be very specific in what you’re

asking your buddies to do. Here’s a good example:

Can we have a 10-minute

phone conversation every
Wednesday at noon? I would
like you to call me and ask me if
I did my exercise for that week.

I’ll send you a copy of my food

journal via email on Tuesday so
that you can see what I’ve been
eating. If you see nighttime
snacks in there (and yes, I’ll be
honest in my food journal!) then
let’s talk about it on Wednesday.
I know snacking is a weakness
of mine so I would really
appreciate you keeping me
accountable to my plan.

There is real accountability in that request. Think

about how motivating it could be to have a friend call
you each week to chat about your progress.
Think about how supportive it would feel to have
someone willing to chat about your ups and downs
and how you can improve from week to week.

Having a caring and dedicated accountability team is

crucial for your success. Very few people accomplish
long-term weight-loss if they try to do it based solely
on their own willpower. We all need the help of others.

B EST P RACTICES FOR ACCOUNTABILITY

In the weight-loss groups I run, we check in with each
other every single day. Participants are required to
report to their groups with 4 pieces of information:

1. Did you drink your required water for the day?

2. Did you get your planned exercise done?
3. Did you eat according to your plan?
4. If anything fell off-track, how will you fix it
tomorrow?

You don’t have to ask your own accountability

buddies for daily check-ins, BUT the more frequently
you check in, the more accountability you will be
creating. I recommend scheduling your check-ins at
least once per week.

You might find that check-ins are really “official” at

first but then lose focus over time. It’s easy to turn
your check-ins into chitchat with your accountability
buddies. Don’t let this happen!
That’s why participants in “10 in 4” have those 4
questions to answer each day. They know exactly
what is required and then they can chat about
whatever they want after they’ve met their check-in
requirements.

When establishing your check-in appointments, be

sure to have an agenda. If your accountability buddy
is going to ask you about your exercise, be prepared
to tell him or her specifically what happened that
day/week AND how you are going to fix any bumps
that may have occurred along the way.

The same goes for eating. It’s easy to say, “my diet
was okay this week but I’ll try harder next week.”

A vague conversation like this is NOT helpful. Be

prepared to talk about specifics with your buddies.

If you’re not sure what those specifics should look

like, don’t worry. In the upcoming chapters we are
going to be covering all of the exact elements I teach
participants in the “10 in 4” groups. You can follow
these exact guidelines to establish your own check-in
agenda.

CHAPTER 8 QUESTIONS
1. Who are your accountability buddies going to
be?
2. How and when will you check in with them?
3. What are some items that you know you need
to be accountable for? (e.g. exercise, eating
healthy meals, avoiding certain foods, etc.)
Part 3:
Creating Your Program
CHAPTER 9 - HYDRATION
When I was a kid, maybe 10 years old, I remember
my best friend’s mom drinking a lot of water. She
carried a plastic cup around the house with her and
was constantly guzzling water through a straw. I didn’t
understand why she was so thirsty all the time.

My mom explained that this woman was on a special

diet to help her lose weight. She had to drink 5 litres
of water every day, and if she did then she would get
skinny.

Sounded simple to me. But would that actually work?

Does drinking water really help people lose weight?

DRINKING W AT ER T O LOSE W EIGHT

The human body is made up of 60-70% water. The
fluids in your body aid in essential processes such as
digestion, vitamin absorption, circulation, creation of
saliva, transportation of nutrients, and maintenance of
body temperature.

While drinking enough water is obviously important,

research consistently shows that most of us are
chronically dehydrated. People simply don’t consume
enough water to be healthy, let alone to effectively
lose weight.

It is generally well known that water is an essential

component to proper body function, but it is
sometimes less clear is how it might support weight
loss. Here I would like to look at some of the roles
water plays managing weight, and answer the
question: Can you really drink water to lose weight?

THE ROLE OF W AT ER IN M ANAGING YOUR W EIGHT

A recent study at the University of North Carolina
found that obese dieters who drank two cups of
water before each meal lost an average of five
pounds more than dieters who did not drink the water.
The water-drinkers also kept more of the weight off a
year later.

According to Barry Popkin, Director of the

Interdisciplinary Obesity Program at the University of
North Carolina:

Water consumption might spark

the body to produce more heat,
boosting metabolism and
burning more calories. Or,
drinking more water might
simply make people less likely
to drink a lot of high-calorie
sugar-filled beverages
It is not yet known whether water works by filling you
up, boosting your metabolism, or simply by taking the
place of sugar-laden drinks such as soda and juice.
Regardless of the reason, simply drinking water can
be key in helping you manage cravings, reduce
hunger, and ultimately losing unwanted weight.

THE P ROBLEM WITH OTHER B EVERAGES

Perhaps one of the best pieces of advice when you’re
trying to lose weight is to stop drinking pop, fruit juice,
sports drinks, and other sugary beverages. These
products, along with many other processed and pre-
packaged foods, contain high-fructose corn syrup
(HFCS).

Fructose has a pervasive negative influence on your

health. When you consume too much fructose, the
liver can’t keep up. It begins making fats from the
fructose and sending them off into the bloodstream
as triglycerides. Over time this process increases your
risk of heart disease, suppresses hormones that
signal “fullness”, perpetuates hunger and cravings,
and increases risk of type 2 diabetes.

Along with other health risks, regular consumption of

fructose is sure to make you gain weight. According to
Professor Bart Hoebel of Princeton University, the
results of a recent study show that rats drinking
fructose at levels well below those in soda “[became]
obese – every single one, across the board.” He adds
that even when rats were fed a high-fat diet, they did
not all gain the same amount extra weight.

Fructose not only makes you gain weight faster than

many other food ingredients, but it also aids in the
production of adipose fat, a particularly harmful kind
of body fat. Adipose fat collects in your abdominal
regions and is linked to heart disease risk. This alone
is reason enough to avoid soda and other sugary
drinks altogether.

The health risks listed above only highlight how

important it is for water to be your beverage of choice,
especially if you are trying to lose weight. It’s not that
water has some sort of magical weight-loss property
that melts away fat, but it does help us reduce our
calorie intake, it helps us stay hydrated, and it allows
our body to function optimally.

HOW MUCH WAT ER SHOULD YOU DRINK ?

The guidelines I propose for your water consumption

are pretty straightforward:

Women should drink a minimum of 2L each day and

add 250ml for every 20 minutes they exercise.

Men should be drinking a minimum of 2.5L each day

and then add the additional 250ml for every 20
minutes of exercise.
I also want to offer a strong suggestion when it comes
to how you drink your water:

Find a large pitcher that can hold at least your

minimum daily water requirement (i.e. 2 or 2.5L). Fill
this each day and draw all of your water from it. You
can fill smaller bottles if you like, but be sure to fill
them from this larger pitcher.

Why should you do this?

Without a single pitcher it can become very tough to

keep track of your true water consumption. It’s easy to
fill a small bottle, drink a little, and then refill it. How
much did you actually drink?

When you exercise you can fill secondary bottle that

meets your exercise requirements (i.e. 250ml for
every 20 minutes of exercise). This ensures that your
exercise water is accounted for in addition to your
baseline water.

This all might seem nit-picky, but it’s quite possible

that drinking glasses (or small bottles) of water here
and there could leave you far below your minimum
daily requirement. As we just discussed, this can
leave you dehydrated and rob your body from the
ability to lose weight.

CHAPTER 9 QUESTIONS
1. How much water do you think you drink each
day? How does this change on days you
exercise?
2. Do you have a pitcher that can hold your daily
minimum requirement? (If not, go get one!)
CHAPTER 10 - SIX DAYS OF
EXERCISE
Earlier in this book I told the story of my client named
Sarah. She added a lot of exercise to her weekly
routine and still didn’t lose the weight she was hoping
to. So, if exercise isn’t the path to weight-loss then
why is “Six Days of Exercise” a component of this
program?

Great question – Here’s my 2-part answer:

#1. Losing Weight Isn’t Everything – While this

book is mostly about losing weight, there is a bigger
goal that I hope you aim for. I want you to live a
healthier life, and a healthy life includes physical
exercise.

I don’t think I need to preach the health be nefits of

exercise. You likely know that it improves the strength
of your heart, helps prevent disease, and enables
your muscles and joints to work as they are meant to.
Yes, “Use it or lose it” is a true statement.

There are many skinny people out there who are very
unhealthy. You are not going to be one of those
people! Exercise provides your body with muscle tone
and an aesthetically appealing shape.

A client recently passed along a great saying:

 The size of your body is built in
the kitchen. The shape of your
body is built in the gym.

You can lose weight with a good clean eating

program (and I’m about to take you through one in the
upcoming chapters), but using your body for exercise
is what will give your body a strong, lean shape.

#2. Exercise Can Help Your Lose Weight – There is

an amazing video I’ve posted on my blog several
times that shows a fitness challenge between two
friends. One is going to run on a treadmill for 3
minutes, trying to burn as many calories as he can.
The other is going to eat a pizza and wash it down
with a root beer, aiming to consume as many calories
as he can.

Guess who wins?

The runner burns about 40 calories in 3 minutes (and

he is working very hard!), while the eater consumes
over 800 calories!

The point is simple: Exercise will never, ever be able

to keep up with a bad diet.

Most people would be able to draw this conclusion on

their own, however many still leave the gym with the
attitude that, “I really worked hard in there. I deserve a
reward…time for pizza and a glass of wine!”

If you have that attitude then exercise will NEVER

help you lose weight. Your diet will always outpace
the work you’re putting in.

That being said, if you are able to develop a healthy

diet (and you will have all the tools to do so once
you’ve read this book), then exercise can help you get
faster, more dramatic results.

You will burn more calories during a workout than you

would sitting on your couch. Go for it! You will help
speed up your metabolism so that your body burns
more calories even when you’re not exercising. Do it!
And, you will feel better about the way you look when
you are exercising regularly. That’s worth it!

THE I DEAL E XERCISE P LAN

The exercise plan I have for you is really simple. Here
are you guidelines:

 Exercise 6 days per week

 Exercise for 30 minutes each day
 Your “day off” corresponds to a fast in your diet
(more on this in Chapter 14)
 You can choose any type of exercise you want
 Your exercise must go into your weekly plan
(see Chapter 5 for a refresher on Planning)
  When planning, you must include the time you
will exercise – Treat it like an appointment that
can’t be broken
 Your accountability buddies should know your
exact exercise plan for the week (see Chapter
8 for more on Accountability)

CHOOSING Y OUR EXERCISE TYPE

I meant it when I said that you can choose any type of
exercise you want. You can walk, run, lift weights,
bike, swim, dance, do a step class, rock climb, play
soccer, or do anything else that gets you up and
moving for at least 30 minutes.

I want you to choose activities that you like to do. I

could prescribe a specific workout schedule for yo u
that would be super-effective, but chances are you
wouldn’t like it that much and therefore you won’t do it
for long.

Don’t be offended. The same goes for me. I love

exercising…when I can run, swim, bike, or do circuits
in the gym. Tell me to start taking step classes 3
times per week and I’ll hate my life! (Okay, that’s a
little extreme – but I likely won’t last on the program
for very long)

I firmly believe that everyone likes exercise once they

find the right type.
Years ago my mom decided to start exercising. I was
surprised by this decision since I had never seen her
exercise before, and was pretty sure she didn’t even
like exercise at all. I’ll admit that I doubted her and
thought this was going to be a short-lived adventure.

To my mom’s credit she found a type of exercise that

she actually enjoyed doing. She bought an
inexpensive treadmill and started walking on it each
night while listening to her favourite records. No,
that’s not a typo – she actually pulled out a record
player and listened to records!

It doesn’t matter what exercise you choose as long as

you enjoy it and can commit to doing it.

Take a look at Appendix A and you’ll see a section for

your daily exercise. What do you want to do for 30
minutes and when are you going to do it?

HOW HARD S HOULD YOU B E W ORKING ?

Again, the intensity of your workouts is really up to
you. Working harder is better only until it starts to
make you dread your exercise.

The most important part of your exercise plan is your

compliance. You must enjoy the type of exercise and
be able to do it at an intensity that sits well with you.

I like to offer the following chart of Perceived Exertion

as a guide for choosing the right intensity.
If you’re new to exercise then you might want to aim
for somewhere in the 4-6 range, while a 7-8 is more
appropriate for those who have been exercising
regularly for quite some time.

Obviously you will enjoy greater health benefits and

more calorie-burning from exercising more intensely,
but the main goal is just to get moving six days per
week. Focus on building s strong exercise habit.
CHAPTER 10 QUESTIONS
1. What type of exercise would you like to do?
2. When will you do it each day?
3. Can you foresee anything that might come in
the way of your exercise? If so, how will you
deal with this obstacle?
CHAPTER 11 - Y OUR 5-DAY EATING
PLAN
When I was a kid I hated vegetables, especially green
ones. Beans? No thanks. Broccoli? Not a chance.
Spinach? Save it for Popeye!

I can clearly remember shuffling peas around my

dinner plate, hoping that if I move them enough
maybe they’d somehow disappear. They didn’t.

Thankfully, my taste buds have evolved over the

years and I really like most vegetables nowadays (I’m
still working on beets). But “liking” something doesn’t
necessarily mean it becomes a daily food choice. It is
always going to be easier to grab a bowl of cereal
than it is to prepare a spinach salad.

When it comes to losing weight, convenience cannot

be priority number one. Yes, there are a lot of healthy
meals that are super-easy to prepare, but even these
are going to seem like a bit more work than the ready-
made meals you can buy in the grocery store.

Now’s a good time to ask yourself, “Do I really want to

lose weight?”

A “YES” means that you’re ready to change your

eating habits even though it’s going to require more
work, especially in the beginning.

A “YES” means that you realize your eating choices

are the most important factor that determine whether
or not you are actually going to lose weight and keep
it off.

A “YES” means that you are ready to adopt the 5-Day

Eating Plan that I will lay out for you right now.

W HY J UST 5 D AYS ?
Remember when we talked about goal-setting in
Chapter 6 and I asked you if you could go a whole
day with just eating broccoli? (I still think you could do
it!)

One day seemed doable but a whole week or month

would be almost impossible. That’s the main reason
we are going to practice clean eating for 5 days. It will
have a tremendous impact on your weight and overall
health, AND it’s doable.

What will your eating plan look like for the other 2
days each week? That’s coming up shortly.

YOUR GOAL FOR 5 D AYS

This 5-day eating plan has one goal: Feed your body
with the most nutritious food possible. You aren’t
going to count calories or assign any points. You are
simply going to construct meals that consist of highly
nutritious foods that will allow your body to thrive.

Which foods are most nutritious?

The easiest way to answer that question is by looking
at the “new” food pyramid.

THE N EW FOOD PYRAMID

You’re likely familiar with some version of a food
pyramid. Usually it places an emphasis on grains as
well as fruits and vegetables. Next there will be some
dairy, then meat products, and finally fats or oils.

While there are some positive aspects of this setup,

the traditional food pyramid is NOT designed for
proper weight management and I don’t believe it
outlines and ideal eating plan.

Below is the food pyramid that I believe will lead you

to significant, sustainable weight-loss:
There are some important things to notice and learn
about this revised food pyramid:

#1. Fruits and Vegetables Are Different – Most food

guides place a high importance on eating “fruits and
vegetables” each day. It’s almost as though the two
are interchangeable – Eat an apple OR eat some
asparagus…it’s all the same.

Well, it’s not.

Vegetables offer significantly different nutritional value

than fruit – Here are just a few examples:
I could go on but I think the point is pretty clear. Fruits
and vegetables are NOT created equal, and in many
cases vegetables are much more densely packed
with the important nutritional components that our
bodies need in order to thrive.

Am I saying fruits are bad? Not at all. In fact, some

fruits offer health benefits beyond what even
vegetables can offer. For example,

In this case it’s a fruit (i.e. apricots) that offer the most
nutritional bang for your buck, however this instance
is more of an exception than a rule. When it comes to
nutritional value, vegetables win out far more often
than not.

Aside from nutritional content, sugar is another key

reason why fruits and vegetables are not on par.

As you’re likely aware, sugar has been declared

enemy #1 when it comes to healthy eating, especially
if you are watching your weight. It likely won’t surprise
you to see how sugary fruits are when compared to
vegetables:

You do not need a dietary source of sugar (there is no

daily requirement you need to consume through
food), so there is no reason to eat much sugar at all.

Again, I’m not declaring a war on fruit – I am simply

pointing out that fruit is often lower in nutritional value
than vegetables AND it comes with a higher sugar
count (and therefore is usually higher in calories).
#2. Some Foods Are Missing – During your 5 days
of clean eating there are certain foods that are “off
limits”. These include:

 Sugar (including natural and artificial

sweeteners)
 Processed Foods (most foods that come in a
box, can, or package)
 Dairy
 Alcohol
 Glutinous Grains

These foods are generally very low in nutritional

value. Eating them simply adds calories (often LOTS
of calories) to your diet without offering much in
return.

Some of these “off limits” foods (i.e. dairy and

glutinous grains) can also negatively affect your
digestive system. An inhibited digestive system can
lead to increased eating, decreased ability to absorb
nutrients, and ultimately weight gain.

Here are some common foods that will be off limits for
5 days each week:

 Bread
 Most pastas
 Cereal
 Milk and Cheese
 Sugar/honey added to your coffee or tea
 Crackers
 Most baked goods (e.g. cookies)
  Granola bars (or other similar processed
snacks)
 Canned soup and stew

This list is not at all exhaustive. When choosing foods

to put in your 5-day plan, you can ask these
questions:

Is this s weetened?

Was this made in a factory?

Is this the most nutritious food I can choose?

At first it will be a conscious effort to ask these

questions, but soon you will do it without thinking. You
will just know which foods fuel your body optimally
and which are just filler.

Right now you might be asking, “What can I eat?” –

Let’s take a look at the many nutritious options you
have to choose from for these 5 days…

#3. There Are LOTS of Foods To Choose From –

The following chart includes foods from each step in
our new pyramid that you can add to your 5-day
eating plan. There are a lot of goodies in here, and
likely some new ones that you’ve never tried before.

You can reference this chart in Appendix B as well.

In the next chapter we will discuss how you can begin
assembling amazing meals for your 5-day eating plan
using the foods in this chart.

For now it’s just important to familiarize yourself with

each step in the pyramid and the foods associated
with each step.

#4. There Are 2 Recommended Supplements –

Most people have deficiencies in their diet even if they
are conscious about eating well. Vitamin and mineral
deficiencies can play a huge role in unnatural food
cravings, a slowed metabolism, imbalanced hormone
production, and ultimately weight gain. It’s important
to minimize those deficiencies as much as possible.
Supplements should be treated as just that – They
are intended to “supplement” your good diet. They
never replace vegetables or other whole foods that
included in the food pyramid.

In this program I recommend just two supplements

that will remedy the most common nutrient
deficiencies:

 A multivitamin
 An omega-3 supplement

There are many good multivitamins in the market

today. The Dieticians of Canada provide this excellent
multivitamin guide that will help you find an
appropriate choice.

As for omega-3 supplements, it’s important to read

the labels. Look for one that offers at least 600mg of
DHA (Docosahexaenoic acid) to ensure that you’re
getting an adequate daily dose.

CHAPTER 11 QUESTIONS
1. Quiz: Are fruits and vegetables the same? Why
or why not?
2. Quiz: What are the 5 “off limits” foods?
3. What will be the most challenging part of
adopting this 5-day eating plan?
4. What do you have to look forward to when you
begin eating according to this 5-day plan?
CHAPTER 12 - CREATING YOUR 5-
DAY MEALS
Tim Grover is one of the most prolific personal
trainers in professional sports. He trained Michael
Jordan throughout his career and continues to work
with many top athletes.

Tim talks a lot about his professional athlete clients

who can’t lose weight. Sounds strange, right? If your
job is being an athlete, shedding a few pounds should
be easy!

When Tim begins working with an athlete who needs

to drop some fat, he starts by asking about the
athlete’s diet. According to Tim, the client will almost
always say that he “eats really healthy”, but Tim isn’t
convinced.

One common problem Tim comes across is

misconceptions about serving sizes and how too
much of a “good thing” can actually become
problematic. For example, some of his athletes love
their smoothies. They pile in berries, pineapple, fruit
juices, honey, and all sorts of other “healthy”
ingredients.

Tim says that some of these guys are eating more

sugar in one smoothie than they should eat in an
entire day. Good luck losing weight on that diet!
What foods go into your meals is very important, but
so are the proportions of those foods and the overall
portion sizes.

This chapter will outline exactly how you can build

perfect meals for your 5-day plan.

CREATING PERFECT W EIGHT-LOSS MEALS

In the Chapter 11 we looked at a new food pyramid
that had it’s steps in the following order of priority:

1. Non-Starchy Vegetables
2. High-Protein Foods
3. Fruit, Starchy Vegetables, Grains, Beans and
Lentils
4. Healthy Fats
5. Supplements

Then we looked at a chart that laid out all sorts of

great choices for each of these food categories. You
can reference this chart in Appendix B.

The next obvious question is, “How much of each

food category should I be eating in my meals?”

There are many ways to measure food portion sizes,

but I like to use the “hand portion sizing” developed by
Dr. John Berardi and his team at Precision Nutrition in
Toronto, Ontario.

I’ve heard Dr. Berardi say, “You won’t always have a

measuring cup with you, but you always have your
hands” as a reason why this method is so practical
and effective.

We’ll start with Portion Sizing for Women:

During 5 days of your week you will plan 3 meals per

day. Each of those meals will include foods from
every category on the food pyramid (except
supplements, which can be taken any time you
choose).

Non-Starchy Vegetables – The portion size should

be the size of your closed fist.

High-Protein Foods – Your portion should be the

size of your open palm.
Fruit, Starchy Vegetables, Grains, Beans and
Lentils – Use a cupped hand to measure this portion
size. For grains (e.g. rice) this will be the size once
they are cooked.
Healthy Fats – Use the size of your thumb to
measure your fat portions. For oils or dressings, know
that a tablespoon is about the size of a thumb.

Now let’s look at Portion Sizing for Men:

Basically we are just going to double the portions we

just outlined for women.
PUTTING A M EAL TOGETHER
Creating meals using the “hand portion sizes” is quite
easy. As an example, let’s say you’re making a stir-
fry…

Take some broccoli and cauliflower that make up

about the size of your closed fist (or 2 closed fists for
men). Add a little more since the veggies will shrink
when you cook them.

Next, get a large chicken breast and compare it to the

size of your open palm. You might end up using half
of it so you can save the other half for another meal.

The stir-fry can go on a bed of brown rice. Rice

expands to about twice its uncooked size, so keep
that in mind when you’re taking a “cupped hand”
portion size.
Cut up your ingredients and cook it as you normally
would. Add your spices and then sprinkle some
slivered almonds (a thumb-sized portion) on top.

Voila! You have a meal that is perfectly balanced and

sized appropriately!

Other “meat and potatoes” meals are much easier

since the foods stay separated on your plate. It’s
really easy to see the portion sizes.

Some recipes call for many ingredients to be mixed

together during preparation. With these “one pot
meals” it’s important to be mindful of the overall
portion sizes you are using and how many meals the
recipe is creating.

For example, if you were to make a sweet potato

lasagna, you could get a sense as to how many
meals the entire lasagna would provide (let’s say 4
meals). Then look at the ingredients and ensure that
there are 4 meals worth of veggies, protein foods, etc.

It takes a little thinking at first but becomes quite

intuitive and easy with a little practice.

MODIFYING Y OUR H AND PORTIONS

“My hands are really small! I’m going to starve!”

The great thing about using your hands to portion

your foods is the fact that hands are generally sized
according to your whole body. Bigger people have
bigger hands, and these people should be eating a bit
more food.

However, do keep in mind that this is your starting

place. If you practice this portioning system for 2
weeks and find that you are always hungry, increase
you portions a little. Or, maybe you will choose to add
a forth meal in your day.

Just be sure to give this system a fair chance before

making any major adjustments. Three days likely isn’t
enough to let your body adjust to new foods and new
portion sizes. I always recommend waiting at least a
week before adjusting.

Know that this system ensures that you are eating

really, really nutritious food at each meal. Your body
craves nutrients and that is what you are going to be
giving it.

RULES FOR SNACKING

We’ve covered the basics for preparing meals to be
used in your 5-day meal plan, but what about snacks?

This one is VERY simple:

Your snacks are made up of vegetables only and you

can eat as much of them as you like! You can eat raw
veggies, cooked veggies, vegetables that are pureed
into a soup, or any other way you want to eat them.
Just be sure that your snacks are only vegetables.
Why just veggies?

As we discussed in Chapter 11, vegetables are

unique in that they are densely packed with nutrients
while also being relatively low in calories. In other
words, snacking on veggies allows you to feed your
body what it wants (i.e. nutrients) without you having
to worry about over-eating or taking in too many
calories. Eat up!

H AVE QUESTIONS ?
Creating meals for your 5-day plan is often a little
overwhelming at first and you’ll likely have some
questions. Be sure to check out Questions and
Answers at the end of this book. These are the most
frequently asked questions that participants in my “10
in 4” groups have asked.

I suspect most (if not all) of your questions will be

answered in that list. If not, feel free to visit
www.makeyourbodywork.com to learn more about
living a healthy lifestyle and to find my contact
information. I’d be happy to help.

CHAPTER 12 QUESTIONS
1. Do you have a favourite meal that fits with the
portion sizes discussed in this chapter? If not,
how could you adjust the recipe to make it fit?
2. What veggie-only snack will you enjoy eating?
Can you think of (or find) two others?
CHAPTER 13 - CHEAT DAY
I have food cravings most days but people often don’t
believe me when I say that.

“You probably eat perfectly all the time,” they’ll tell

me. Nope - I crave fatty foods. I love pizza, greasy
burgers, and peanut butter.

A while ago my wife was searching our kitchen for a

jar of peanut butter and asked me if I knew where it
was. When I told her I had eaten it she was a little
surprised.

“We had two full jars last week. You ate both of
them?”

I had been on a peanut butter bender. Most days I

would sit down at my computer to read sports news
and would grab a couple of bananas and the jar of PB
on the way. Without realizing it, I was eating three,
four, or even five bananas drowned in peanut butter.
And when the bananas were gone I’d sometimes eat
PB straight from the jar by the spoonful.

I decided to go cold turkey and stop eating peanut

butter altogether.

The first day was fine. My willpower was strong. Day

two was good as well – no peanut butter. By day
three I started having little PB cravings, and by the
end of the week I was back eating peanut butter!
THE P SYCHOLOGY OF C HEAT D AY
I suspect you’ve gone through similar attempts to
clean up your eating. Swearing off foods you love,
only to find yourself eating them as soon as your
willpower gives out.

This is why I’m not going to ask you to give up any of

the foods you love. The mental (and physical) effort
required to resist eating those foods far outweighs the
value of cutting them out of your life.

For five days each week I am asking you to eat

according to the plan we laid out in Chapters 11 and
12. During those days, there are off-limits foods that
you will avoid, and there are guidelines directing how
much food you should eat.

On the sixth day of your weekly plan I want you to

enjoy any foods you like to eat. You can forget the
rules for one day and simply eat whatever you want.

Having this cheat day is a psychological tool that will

help make your 5-day eating plan more doable.
Knowing that you can “save up” any indulgent foods
for cheat day becomes a built-in reward for following
your plan the previous five days.

The cheat day also acts as a reminder that it’s okay to

indulge occasionally. There is no reason to feel bad
about the things you eat that day because you know
that it’s only 1/7th of your week – You can let your
guard down and just enjoy food that day. No guilt.
I wasn’t able to swear off peanut butter for life, but I
could certainly do it for five days, especially knowing
that my cheat day could be filled with as much peanut
butter as I want!

THE P HYSIOLOGY OF C HEAT D AY

Cheat day is more than a psychological coping
mechanism. There are physiological benefits of eating
extra calories on a regular basis. In fact, doing so
actually teaches your body to burn more calories.

Yes, eat more calories, burn more calories…Here’s

how it works:

Your thyroid is a gland located in your neck that has

great control over your body’s metabolism. A low-
functioning thyroid gland causes a depressed
metabolism, and a depressed metabolism leads to fat
storage. This is obviously something you want to
avoid. What causes it to slow down in the first place?

Often your thyroid will slow down if you are eating too
few calories on a consistent basis.

“What?” you may be asking. “I thought I was

supposed to eat less in order to lose weight? Now
you’re telling me eating less will make me fat?”

Eating less (i.e. creating a calorie deficit) can lead to

fat-loss for a short period of time, but if your body
becomes accustomed to eating less food then it will
make some adjustments. Your body is designed to
survive so it will do its best to conserve calories if it
senses that food may be scarce.

One course of action your body can take is to limit the

product of two hormones (T3 and T4) that direct the
functioning of your thyroid. Less T3/T4 causes your
thyroid to begin slowing down, which then reduces the
speed of your metabolism.

In other words, eating too little sends your body into

“conservation mode” for survival. It will actually slow
down your metabolism to avoid using up precious
calories. This will put the brakes on your weight-loss.

Adding a weekly cheat day can offset this unwanted

effect. One day of extra calorie intake is enough to
stimulate T3/T4 production, thereby preventing your
thyroid from slowing down. The added calories on
your cheat day give your body a signal that
“conservation mode” isn’t necessary – You are not
short on food and therefore do not need to store
calories as fat.

In short, eating more calories one day per week

allows your body to burn more calories during the rest
of the week. This is a good thing!

SOCIAL EAT ING ON C HEAT D AY

Your cheat day can be scheduled for any day of the
week you choose. This allows you to schedule it for
those days when you know it will be difficult to follow
your 5-day eating plan.

For example, imagine you have a party with your

coworkers on a Thursday evening. There will be lots
of food and alcohol and you don’t want to feel guilty
about joining in.

Schedule your cheat day for Thursday and then you

can enjoy the party guilt-free. This simply means that
the preceding five days will ones that you eat
according to your 5-day eating plan (review Chapter
11 and 12 if you need a refresher).

Yes, you only have one cheat day per week. Knowing
this will help you make wise choices. “Do I really want
to eat this pizza right now OR would I rather save my
cheat day for that dinner party I’m going to
tomorrow?”

Scheduling your cheat day will become an exercise in

prioritizing and will help you evaluate when it’s really
worth it to indulge in treat foods and drinks.

CHEAT DAY VS. DAILY CHEAT S

Oftentimes clients ask why we don’t just have “little
cheats” each day instead of one entire day set aside
for indulging. There are two reasons:

First, those “little cheats” add up much more quickly

than most people realize. Like I was doing with my
peanut butter and banana meals, it’s too easy to say,
“I’ll have just one ______” and end up eating two or
three before you know it. Mindless snacking is a
dangerous way to eat because of how quickly the
calories can pile up.

Second, losing weight (and maintaining a healthy

weight) requires healthy habit-building. If you choose
to indulge in a few treats each day, what habit are you
establishing? Is that a habit you really want to
strengthen?

Using one scheduled cheat day promotes healthy

eating habits for the majority of your week. It also
helps reinforce mindful eating (the opposite of
mindless snacking) because five days of meals are
completely planned ahead of time.

I know it might feel nice to say, “I’ll just cut back on

the treats I eat each day”, but I promise that this is not
an effective strategy to lose weight.

You will find much more success establishing a set

plan and following it week after week until your new
way of eating becomes an ingrained habit.

W ON ’T I RUIN M Y PROGRESS ?
After working hard to follow your 5-day eating plan, it
can seem a little scary to throw all rules out the
window for a day. Many participants in my “10 in 4”
groups have this fear: “I don’t want to lose all the
progress I’ve made!”

Fortunately, one cheat day is not going to undo your

progress.

You’ve likely heard that a pound of fat is created from

3,500 calories. So, even if your cheat day got really
wild and crazy, you’d have to eat 3,500 calories
MORE than you burn off just to gain a si ngle pound
that day. Good luck with that!

As you begin following this plan you will also notice

some changes in how your body reacts to cheat
foods. Most of my clients report feeling unwell after
they cheat too hard, and soon their cheat days tame
down because they don’t have the same cravings
they once experienced.

You do not have to worry about ruining your progress

with one cheat day per week.

TRACKING YOUR C HEAT D AY

There is no planning required for cheat day – You can
literally eat whatever you want. But, there is one
caveat: You must record everything you eat and drink
on your cheat day and then share this with your
accountability buddies.

This record keeping process is another exercise in

mindful eating. Even on cheat day (when “anything
goes”) it is good practice to be aware of what you are
eating.

This cheat day food log can also be very motivating to

look back on after a few weeks or months. You will
likely see a stark change in your cheat day eating
patterns as your body develops new food cravings
and you become accustomed to healthier eating
habits.

CHAPTER 13 QUESTIONS
1. What foods will you “save” for cheat day?
2. What social events do you attend that would be
helpful to have on your cheat day? If there are
many, think about which ones you would
prioritize – How are you going to use your
weekly cheat day?
CHAPTER 14 – F AST DAY
What do you think of when you hear the term
“fasting”? For many people, fasting sounds like a
painful process of starving oneself for much longer
than anyone should actually go without eating.

The truth is, we all fast every single day. Say you
finish dinner at 7pm, go to bed at 11pm and sleep for
eight hours. When you wake up you’ve already fasted
for 12 hours. If you don’t eat breakfast first thing in the
morning (or don’t eat breakfast at all) then your fast
can easily stretch to 15 hours or more without much
thought.

If you really want to lose weight, I recommend you try

a 24-hour fast, once per week for four consecutive
weeks.

Note: Breast-feeding moms are the exception. See

the Questions and Answers at the end of this book for
more details.

THE B ENEFIT S OF F ASTING

Regular short-term fasting (a.k.a. Intermittent Fasting
or IF) offers many physiological and psychological
benefits that can lead to improved weight-loss and
better overall health.
1. Learn to Manage Hunger – Can you remember a
time when you were “starving to death”? You’ve likely
even used that phrase (I know I have), but the reality
is that very few of us actually know what it feels like to
be really hungry.

Because we rarely experience true hunger, it’s hard

for us to separate instances when our body needs
food versus times when we’re just ready to eat.
Intermittent Fasting (IF) teaches us how to manage
true hunger and helps us respond more appropriately
to moderate hunger signs.

For example, it’s common to feel a little hungry mid-

morning, especially if breakfast consisted of low-
nutrient food, and a common response is to instantly
search for something (anything will do) to make that
hunger feeling go away as quickly as possible.

This response to hunger leads many people to eat

sweets or fatty foods even though their body doesn’t
actually need a rush of sugar and calories. It is more
a psychological food craving than a physiological
need.

Having practiced IF, these situations may be

approached much differently. That mid-morning
tummy rumble is distinctly different than the hunger
experienced after a day of not eating. A tummy
rumble no longer needs to be instantly quieted – It
becomes okay to feel a little hunger, knowing that a
quality meal will be coming shortly.
2. Provide Digestive Recuperation – When does
your digestive system get time off? Likely never. Your
digestive system is constantly working to process the
food you eat, and this process requires a continual
supply of energy and blood flow.

Taking a day off eating provides an opportunity for

your digestive organs to rest. Energy can be diverted
elsewhere, and your body can “detox” naturally (no
supplements or foot baths needed!)

3. Emphasize a Day of Rest – In Chapter 10 we

discussed a plan for six days of exercise per week.
The exercise day off corresponds to your fast day.

Since you will be taking in no calories on fast day, it’s

important that you don’t put too much physical strain
on your body. Your fast day becomes a day of forced
“slowing down”.

I know this will make many of you busybodies feel

uneasy (I can relate), but your fast day can still be full
of activity – It just requires a shift in the types of
activity you choose.

Reading, stretching, watching a movie, meditating, or

even napping are activities that you may allow
yourself on a fast day that you would otherwise pass
on.
4. Offset a Cheat Day Calorie Influx – Even though
you cannot ruin your progress by having a weekly
cheat day, this fast day does provide an opportunity to
offset the additional calories you may have taken in
the previous day.

This is another reason why cheat day choices should

carry no guilt. Your body will be in a calorie deficit
during your fast, and will therefore use up some of
those additional cheat day calories.

5. Gain Space for Planning – Have you ever thought

about how much of your life is taken up by food?
Preparing and eating meals can take up several hours
each day. When practicing IF you will suddenly gain
all those hours - What are you going to do with them?

I suggest you use a little of this “found” time to plan

your upcoming week. What will your exercise look
like? What meals will you be including in your plan?
What shopping needs to be done?

It’s easy to say, “I don’t have time to plan each week”,

but with a regular fast you will be gaining time to get
this important task done.

HOW TO C ARRY O UT YOUR F AST

While there are many ways to practice Intermittent
Fasting, I like to keep things very simple:

 You will not take in any calories for 24 hours

 You can drink calorie-free drinks (e.g. tea)
 Your fast will immediately follow your cheat day
 No exercise will be done on your fast day
 Try it for at least 4 consecutive weeks

Fasting is not for everyone, but I think most people

will really enjoy the process if they give it a chance. I
know I was terrified by the idea of going without food
for 24 hours until I actually tried it. Now I enjoy the
permission to slow down on fast days and I
appreciate the extra time I have to do things I
normally wouldn’t.

I think you may have a similar experience and I

expect your weight-loss results will take off in the
process.

CHAPTER 14 QUESTIONS
1. What benefit of intermittent fasting do you think
would be most significant for you?
2. What will you do with the extra hours you “find”
when you don’t have to worry about food for a
whole day?
CHAPTER 15 – P UTTING IT ALL
TOGETHER
We have covered a lot of material in this book so I
want to offer a summary that will help you create
practical first steps and then get started.

Let’s begin by taking another look at the planning and

tracking sheet I showed you in Chapter 7.
This should make a lot more sense now and can act
as a guide for your first week on the program.

 You can see that this participant has selected

Friday as her cheat day (indicated by the
dashed box around that day of the week)
 No eating plans were set for cheat day but the
participant did record what she ate that day
 A Friday cheat day means that Saturday is
automatically scheduled as a fast day (she
fasted from 7:30pm on Friday until 6pm on
Saturday – almost 24 hours)
 Notice that there is no exercise scheduled for
fast day – It’s a day to rest and recover!
 Water, exercise, and meals were pre-planned
for each day of the week
 She indicated whether or not she followed
through with her plans on each day using a
check or “X”
 Some notes at the bottom explain what
happened on the days that fell off plan and
how to improve the following week

A ST EP-B Y-ST EP A PPROACH

Now that the planning process is clearer, let’s look at
all the steps involved in this program. I have indicated
which chapter you can reference if you are unsure
about how to approach any of these steps:

Step 1 – Choose 2 accountability buddies (Chapter 8)

Step 2 – Print your planning and tracking sheet
(Appendix A)

Step 3 – Choose your cheat day (Chapter 13)

Step 4 – Schedule your fast day (Chapter 14)

Step 5 – Find appropriate meals for the 5 other days

of the week (Chapter 11 and 12) and schedule them
into your planning sheet

Step 6 – Schedule the type of exercise you will do

each day and the time you will do it (Chapter 10)

I have loads of free home workouts available at

www.makeyourbodywork.com if you need help.

Step 7 – Calculate how much water you will need to

drink each day. Add it to your plan (Chapter 9)

Step 8 – Send your plan to your accountability

buddies and schedule a check-in time (Chapter 8)

Step 9 – Buy groceries to cover all of your planned

meals and snacks for the upcoming week (Chapter 11
and 12)

Step 10 – Prepare some of your food ahead of time

(e.g. cut up veggies, cook and freeze a few meals,
thaw ingredients you will need to use, etc.)

My most successful “10 in 4” clients use one day per

week to prepare most of their food. This makes the
rest of the week much less rushed and much more
stress-free!
Once you have followed these 10 steps you are ready
to begin your first week on the program. Remember,
you will face barriers along the way (Chapter 5), but
those will become less and less with each passing
week.

I am asking that you commit to this process for 4 full

weeks (Chapter 6) so that you can see some amazing
changes in the way you look and feel AND so that you
give your body a fair chance to overcome deeply
rooted habits that you are trying to change.

N EED SOME HELP ?

While this program is very simple, it is not easy,
especially during the first few weeks when you may
be making a number of lifestyle changes.

If you have any questions, please visit

www.makeyourbodywork.com and feel free to contact
me directly.

Also, if you feel that you would benefit from working

alongside others who are following this program, you
may want to consider joining one of my upcoming “10
in 4” groups (Please visit www.10in4.com)

Each month I work with “10 in 4” participants as they

implement the strategies you read about in this book.
Our goal is to lose 10lbs in 4 weeks (hence “10 in 4”)
and the vast majority of participants surpass this goal.
Working with other participants in a “10 in 4” group is
a very effective way to kick off your own lifestyle shift.
After four weeks in the group I guarantee you will be
very prepared to continue strengthening your new
habits and building on your success.

Congrats! You are now pointed in the right direction

and can begin your new weight-loss lifestyle. Again, I
would love to hear from you along the way and am
excited to hear about the amazing results you achieve
by following this program.

CHAPTER 15 QUESTIONS
1. Do any of the 10 steps seem confusing? If so,
what can you do to clarify that step?
2. Do any of the steps seem difficult to carry out?
If so, what makes that step difficult and how
can it be made more approachable?
3. Which step are you most excited to tackle?
Additional Resources
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Q: I don’t kno w if I can give up some of the foods on
the “off limits” list. Is it okay if I reduce them, not
completely cut them out?

A: Keep in mind that you have a “cheat day” each

week, so you can still eat your favourite foods once
per week. It is however very important that you stick
to only those foods included in the program’s eating
guide for the remaining days of the week.

Q: I’m a horrible cook! What am I going to do?

A: Don’t worry – You don’t have to be a good cook to

make this work. The key is to find a small collection of
go-to meals that you enjoy and that fit within the
guidelines laid out in this book.

You will find a few examples in Appendix C to help

get you started.

Q: What about condiments, dressings, and spices?

A: Spices are fair game – Many are actually quite

beneficial (bring on the turmeric!) so use them
however you like. Salad dressings count as a fat (i.e.
1tbsp = 1 “thumb”), and like condiments, they just
have to follow our “off limits” list. No pre-packaged
foods, no sugar.
Q: I’m a vegetarian/vegan – How can I get my “palms”
of protein?

A: Just be sure to find some sort of protein source

that you can eat at each meal (e.g. tofu, tempeh, a
supplement, etc.).

Beans and lentils are also high in protein but do come

with a much higher calorie and carbohydrate count,
so it’s not recommended that they be your go-to
protein source for most meals. You will be fine using
them as your protein source for 1 meal per day at
most.

Q: I am going out to a restaurant – What do I do?

A: Use your “cheat day” wisely! You can also check

out the restaurant menu ahead of time and choose a
meal that meets our guidelines.

Q: I’m allergic/sensitive to certain foods – What

should I do?

A: Don’t include them in your plan! There are

thousands of meal options you can easily create with
the wide range of foods included in this program. It
will just take a little bit of planning to get started.
Q: Where can I find meals that will fit with this
program?

A: Ah, the beauty of the Internet! While I do not

endorse all of the principles of the Paleo Diet, I do find
it offers a good starting place since it is rooted in
whole food eating. Try searching for “Paleo meals”
and you will find loads of great resources. Here’s one
to start with: Mark’s Daily Apple.

Q: Is all dairy really off limits?

A: Yes…almost. One serving of all-natural (no sugars

or sweeteners) Greek yogurt is allowed per day
(measure it as you would a protein). The bacteria
culture in yogurt aids in digestion, and Greek yogurt is
high in protein, which is helpful in planning breakfast
meals.

Q. I love dried fruit – Can I still eat it?

A: YES…but at a reduced serving size. Since it has

no water content, dried fruit is much higher in sugar
and calories than fresh fruit, therefore we count dried
fruit as double (i.e. 1 “palm” of dried fruit = 2 “palms”
of fresh fruit)

Q: What about coffee?

A: Coffee is allowed as long as it follows our eating
guidelines – No dairy, no sugar. As a milk or cream
replacement, you can try unsweetened almond milk.

Q: Where does almond milk fit in the pyramid?

Look at the nutritional label for unsweetened almond

milk and you’ll see that it’s very low in calories. Feel
free to have a serving or two each day (e.g. for
making smoothies) without counting it towards any of
the servings from the pyramid.

Q: Is my cheat day/fast 1 day of the week or any 24-

hour period?

A: Your cheat/fast day are 24-hour periods. So, if you

start your cheat day at 6pm on Thursday, it will
continue until 6pm on Friday. Then your fast will
immediately start on Friday at 6pm and continue until
Saturday at 6pm.

Q: Speaking of fasts – Aren’t they bad for you?

A: No way! We fast all the time and just don’t label it

as such. Think about eating dinner at 6pm and then
skipping breakfast the next morning. You might be
doing an 18-hour fast without knowing it.
Q: I’ve heard the ____ diet is great. Should I try it?

A: There is no diet plan that will work perfectly for

everyone. We are all different and therefore require
different quantities and combinations of food. Will a
certain diet work for you? Maybe. But, instead of
looking at “diets”, I would recommend just planning
your meals to include the most nutritious food that
makes your body feel good and function well.

Sounds familiar? Yeah, that’s what we’re doing in this

program!

Q: I have another question about food – How do I get

an answer?

A: Visit www.makeyourbodywork.com and you will

find my contact information. I would be happy to help.

Q: I am injured – How should I exercise?

A: Please check with your doctor to find a safe way to

get your exercise done. The key is to get moving each
day – There are always ways to accomplish that.

Q: 6 days of weekly exercise is too much for me.

What should I do?
A: Examine your meaning of the word “exercise”.
Instead of meaning “lifting weights” or “running on a
treadmill”, try to think of it as moving your body. How
can you intentionally move your body every day? The
simplest is walking – I think you can walk 6 days per
week!

Q: I’m nursing my baby – Should I really fast for a

whole day?

A: Fasting for a day is much less taxing on your body

than you might think, but should be done carefully by
breast-feeding moms. If you find it to be too much for
your body then you can eat as per our normal eating
guidelines.

Do keep in mind that the fast is helpful in cleansing

after our “cheat day” so it would be wise to avoid
over-indulging on “cheat day” if you decide not to
follow it with a fast.

Q: What if I mess up?

A: Nobody lives perfectly “healthy” life all day, every

day. Either during the next 4 weeks or afterwards you
will “mess up” – We all do. The most important thing
is to acknowledge that it happened and figure out
what you could do next time to stay on track.
Q: Isn’t 4 weeks too short-term to be “healthy”?

A: Our goal it to begin building good habits. Even if a

few of them stick beyond the 4-week program then
you are moving in the right direction for the long-term.

Q: I still have another question – What can I do?

A: Visit www.makeyourbodywork.com and you will

find my contact information. I would be happy to help.
APPENDIX A – PLANNING AND
TRACKING TEMPLATE
APPENDIX B – HEALTHY F OODS LIST
The following foods can be used to create your 5-day
meal plan.
APPENDIX C – S AMPLE MEALS
You’ll notice that there is no set meal plan for this
program – This is very intentional.

A meal plan I create isn’t as good for you as a meal

plan that you create yourself. I want you to find meals
that meet this program’s guidelines AND that you
really enjoy eating.

I do want to show you a few sample meals that

perfectly fit the program. These are ones I like to eat –
Maybe you’ll want to try them or maybe you’ll fi nd
very different meals that work better for you.
BREAKF AST - QUINOA V EGETABLE SCRAMBLE

Ingredients:

 1/2 cup water

 1/4 cup quinoa
 1 tsp olive oil
 1 cup mushrooms, chopped
 1/2 cup asparagus, chopped
 1/2 cup bell pepper, chopped
 2/3 cup spinach, chopped
 1/2 cup sweet tomatoes, cut in half
 10 egg whites
 salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Add the water to a small pot. Bring to a boil and add

the quinoa. Bring back to a boil and then cook on
medium for 12 minutes or until water is dissolved.
Remove from heat and let it sit for 15 minutes.

In a large sauce pan add the olive oil over medium

heat. Add the mushrooms, asparagus, bell pepper
and spinach. Saute for 10 minutes.

Push the vegetables to one side of the pan and add

the egg whites.

Cook the egg whites and scramble them with a

spatula.

Mix the eggs with the vegetables and add the

tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper.

Spoon the quinoa into egg and vegetable mixture.

(You may not use all the quinoa.)

Serve while warm.

LUNCH – S ALMON AND M IXED G REENS

Ingredients:

 8 cups mixed baby greens/baby spinach

 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
 1 Tbsp olive oil
 1 tsp walnut oil
 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
 1/4 tsp sea salt
 3/4 lb salmon fillet
 1 Tbsp lemon juice

*Notice that these ingredients do not cover the third

step of the food pyramid (i.e. starchy veggies, grains,
fruits, beans/lentils). Simply add a fruit as your
dessert and you have a perfect meal.
Directions:

Wash and spin the greens until very dry.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the

walnuts and toast for 1 minute. Remove the walnuts
from the skillet and set aside.

Heat ½ tablespoon of the olive oil in the skillet over

medium heat. Add half of the greens and cook gently
for up to 1 minute. Place the greens in a medium
salad bowl. Repeat with the remaining olive oil and
greens. Toss the warmed greens with the walnut oil,
balsamic vinegar, and salt.

Place an oven rack approximately 8" from the broiler

element. Preheat the broiler on high. Place the
salmon skin side down in an ovenproof dish. Coat the
fish's surface with the lemon juice. Broil until the fish
is just cooked, 8 to 10 minutes, depending on
thickness.

Cut the fish into 4 servings and place on top of the

greens.
DINNER – P ALEO C HICKEN C URRY

Ingredients:

 6 boneless chicken thighs, diced

 1 yellow onion, chopped
 1 cup (237 mL) canned pumpkin puree
 2 medium zucchini, sliced
 2 cups button mushrooms, sliced
 1/4 cup (118 mL) water
 2 Tablespoons (30 g) ghee or coconut oil
 1/2 Tablespoon (3 g) turmeric
 1/2 Tablespoon (3 g) paprika
 1 teaspoon (0.6 g) red pepper flakes
 1 teaspoon (2 g) cumin
 4 cups baby spinach
Directions:

In a large saucepan over high heat, melt the ghee.

Add the onion and spices and sauté.

Add the chicken and cook until the sides have just
turned white.

Turn down the heat to low and add the pureed

pumpkin and water. Stir until combined and then
cover and allow to simmer for 15 minutes.

At the 10 minute mark, add the zucchini and

mushrooms.

Serve on a bed of baby spinach leaves.

SNACK – C ARROT F RIES

Ingredients:

 1 pound fresh carrots, cut into fries

 2 tsp olive oil
 1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

Place carrots in a baking pan.

Drizzle with oil (to prevent burning) and sprinkle with

salt; toss to coat.

Bake, uncovered, at 450° for 10-12 minutes or until

crisp-tender.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dave Smith has been a personal
trainer for over a decade and was
named Canada’s Top Fitness
Professional in 2013 by CanFitPro,
the certifying body for personal
trainers in Canada!

Dave has a wealth of experience

and has spent much time working with a wide range
of clients that includes beginners, competitive
athletes, new mothers, senior populations, and
everyone in between.

He completed his degree in Business at Wilfrid

Laurier University, then went on to study health and
exercise at Pensacola Christian College in Florida,
and finally earned his degree in Education from the
University of Western Ontario.

Continuing to hone his skills as a personal trainer,

Dave has completed many courses in assessment,
nutrition, and functional exercise.

Find out more at www.makeyourbodywork.com

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