Last week, I started my January 2016 journey of using Release The Beast: Conquer Mental, Physical & Diet Challenges To Unleash The Champion Inside! to get towards my personal fitness goals. In last week’s post, Overcoming Ghosts Of The Past With Release The Beast, I confronted my past. This week, I utilized the book’s Section Two and Release The Beast Workbook in coming up with a plan. Here’s my takeaway from each Release The Beast chapter.
Chapter 4: Set A Realistic Goal
My goal is to lose 15 pounds of fat. I was tempted to make a realistic goal of losing a pound a week. Rereading this chapter made me aware that was too ambitious of a goal. The reality is that I can only control what goes in my mouth, NOT how my body will react to eating.
My realistic goal is to be at least 80% compliant with my eating for the entire month of January. So that means out of 100 meals this month, 80 of them will be healthy and fit my meal plan.
I normally strive to be 90% or better. Due to the past difficulties I have had during this time of year, I didn’t want to be too restrictive. That means I don’t have to be perfect ever single week. I will look at the month in total.
Given how close to 90% compliant I’ve been during these past few months (holidays excluded), this is a good step in the right direction. It will force me to eat right but not feel super restrained from an occasional splurge.
Chapter 5: Chase The Dream
The reason I go to the gym so much and eat the way I eat is because I want to develop a consistent jaw-dropping body. I want to that guy at the beach that makes the ladies fall in love and the other guys jealous. That look involves a rock hard flat stomach, muscular arms, big legs, a square chest, and big back! This may sound vain, but that’s why I do what I do. It’s exactly why I eat the way I eat.
Realistic Goal: 80% Compliant with my diet for the entire month
Dream: Develop a jaw-dropping body
This chapter tells me that I should go in 3 month intervals for my realistic goals. So for the next three months I will be trying to maintain an 80% compliant diet.
Chapter 6: Pick A Diet
After reviewing this chapter and seeing the 7 fundamentals, I’ve determined that the current program I was on is still good enough to become my primary diet. The diet contains: Vegetables, real food, food variety, lifestyle support, meal frequency, and calorie control with a macronutrient ratio set by me.
My primary diet is a form of Intermittent Fasting. My meal schedule looks something like this:
Workout Day Meal Plan
6:10 AM Pre-Workout nutrition if necessary (BCAAs)
6:30 AM Gym
7:30 AM Post-Workout nutrition (1 piece of fruit OR BCAAs)
12:00 PM Lunch: Lots of vegetables. Equal ratio of protein/carbohydrates
6:30 PM Dinner: Big meal of protein/carbohydrates/vegetables. Remaining calories for day. Majority of carbohydrates are eaten at this time.
Non-Workout Day Meal Plan
12:00 PM Lunch: Lots of vegetables with protein. Maybe a piece of fruit
6:30 PM Dinner: Big meal of protein/carbohydrates/vegetables. Remaining calories for day. Majority of carbohydrates are eaten at this time.
Calorie Control
Starting off with approx.. 1926 calories/day. I don’t expect to be perfect EVERY day. To give myself some leeway, my plan is to make sure I average less than 2500 calories for the entire week.
40/40/20 Macronutrient Ratio
40% Protein
40% Carbohydrates
20% Fats
Those calories break down to:
- 193 grams Protein
- 193 grams Carbohydrates
- 43 grams Fat
Food Variety
Vegetables: Mostly green! All other colors welcomed as well
Fruit: any
Protein sources: Lean meats, beans (meatless days)
Carbohydrate sources: white rice, white potatoes, sweet potatoes, and winter squashes
Fat sources: Byproduct of lean meat sources. I use coconut & olive oil for cooking, but only in small amounts. I do not add excess fats to my diet.
Note: Once a week my wife and I will normally have a meatless day. On those days, the macronutrient ratios shift due to eating a plant based diet.
Secondary diet plan
I will use a flexible 3-5 meals a day plan. Carbohydrates will be primary allowed only around workout times. Majority of meals are protein/veggies.
Chapter 7: Pick A Training Plan
Bodybuilding training is my primary form of training. For the next 4 weeks I’ll be doing the following type of workout
Day 1 Push
Day 2 Pull
Day 3 Rest
Day 4 Push
Day 5 Pull
Day 6 Rest
Day 7 Rest
3 x a week I will add 10 minutes of random cardio at the end of the workout.
If I see my weight loss progression slow down, I will start adding more 30-45 minute steady state cardio such as walking 2-4x a week.
Chapter 8: Why
This chapter is another very personal chapter. Each person that reads this will come away with a totally different answer to the question:
Why am I doing this?
Not too many people actually think about the real reasons behind their training and diet plans. The fact that this question is asked AFTER you picked your diet and training program makes you re-evaluate your those choices.
So why is Michael V. Moore doing this?
I want readers to know that I feel their pain! I want all my clients to see what happens when you bust your butt and put your best effort into getting into shape. I want to prove to myself (and readers/clients) that I know how to develop dream bodies!
As vain as it sounds, I know that clients expect their coaches & trainers to have awesome physiques as well. By having that jaw-dropping physique, I feel that my readers/clients will listen to what I have to say. It’s sad but I feel it’s true.
Outside of just my physical appearance, I choose this lifestyle because I’ve never felt healthier then when I’m eating right and working out. I want to be healthy enough to keep up with my future kids and grandkids. I don’t want to be paying thousands of dollars for health insurance. I want to insure my health NOW with a healthy lifestyle!
Chapter 9: Commitment
As requested in the book, I have placed my commitment inside the Release The Beast Facebook group. Join the group if you are ready to make the commitment for yourself as well!
So there’s my plan! There’s no backing down! I have put my business out there and laid the keys to my future success for everyone to see. Stop by next week as I continue following Release The Beast to conquer my past demons and get towards my dream!
See ya next time!
