Hi OwnPace Family,

Hope you have enjoyed and found value in the first 4 weeks of the transformation challenge.

Now, welcome to week 5 of your transformation, we are about to kick things into higher gear. This is where you find out if you are willing to actually do what it takes to lose fat and transform your body for the better. This is a very important phase of the program because nothing else works if we don’t understand and apply this principle.

Remember in week one when I said there is no magic, well lets really look at what it takes to lose weight and this is not a secret either, everyone knows it.

To lose weight, you have to be in a state of sustained caloric deficit. And yes, physical activity such as working out plays its role, but when it comes to weight loss, nothing happens if you are not in a sustained caloric deficit. That is why a lot of people get frustrated when trying to lose weight. I hear it all the time, “I eat pretty good”, “I workout 3-4 times a week” but I’m not losing any weight. The answer is very simple, you are not in a caloric deficit so you will not be losing any weight.

Ok ok, what is a caloric deficit? It simply means to lose weight you have to eat fewer calories than you burn each day. And if you are not in this state for a sustained period of time, meaning not just one day, you will not be losing any weight, even if you workout everyday.

To lose weight initially, the emphasis has to be on reducing caloric intake rather than increasing physical activity. That’s why with my clients that train with me 2 – 3 days a week is all we need.

So now, how do we get into a state of sustained caloric deficit? We need a structured eating plan to make sure you consume fewer calories than you burn.

The first path we are going to take is a pretty hard one that will definitely put anybody in a caloric deficit and then in the following weeks we’ll scale it back.

Please keep an eye out for the next post for details; it should be up by tomorrow morning.