I have great memories of University. My days were filled with the perfect balance of hanging out in residence, having coffees with my buddies in the University center, going to classes and having the ability to workout WHENEVER I wanted.

Interestingly, even though I was in the gym almost every single day (I also worked in the gym as a supervisor) I never competed in any bodybuilding shows.

For me, the summer was my ‘ON’ season.

I would spend all fall and winter trying to put on muscle, and then starting in about March I would go on a strict diet to get lean for the summer.

I would always follow the 6 meals per day approach to trying to lose weight.

I would start my day with oatmeal and egg whites, 3 hours later I would have a protein shake and some fruit, 3 hours after that I would have chicken, rice and broccoli. Three hours later I would have another protein shake, then do my workout.

After my workout I would have a post-workout shake. Then finally before bed, I would have either another chicken breast or scrambled egg whites with veggies. I did this for the better part of my time in University.

I would spend every Sunday doing my shopping and cooking.

When I had long classes I would measure out my protein powder into a zip-lock bag and pack it along with a shaker cup.

And you know what? It worked just fine. As long as I was cutting my calories back I lost weight.

Luckily, now I know that I really didn’t have to do all that work.  Yep, now I don’t like 6 meals per day.. and I have some very good reasons that I want to share with you.

You may feel like you NEED to eat 6 times per day to lose weight, but I assure you this isn’t true.

Get the whole story about why I am no longer a fan of the 6 meals per day approach ==> Eat Stop Eat vs.  6 Meals per Day

So by now, you’ve probably heard of P90X.

You know… that workout routine you can do at home..the one that EVERYBODY is following (at least, that’s what it seems like looking at all those FaceBook updates).

So here’s my thing…

1) It seems like a good workout for a beginner, or someone who’s been off for a while.

2) the main complaint I see people making…the diet and supplement plan are too complicated.

The solution?

Eat Stop Eat

(Obviously)

Eat Stop Eat can fit into any diet… In fact, I like to think of it as a way to make any diet or exercise program better.

…after all, I don’t tell you what to eat, just what NOT to eat 😉

So if you are trying P90X, and want to give up because you don’t like the diet, do me (and you) a favor, try Eat Stop Eat with P90X first.

I suggested this idea on twitter today and this is what I was told

“I have done ESE and P90X together and it is like pouring gasoline on fat and lighting it with a match- 207lbs to 181 since Mar 1st”

“I’m doing just that. Just completed week 10 of P90X. Down 23 lbs fat since Jan 3rd.”

(seems like a bunch of people are waaaay ahead of me)

The reality is Eat Stop Eat can work with almost any properly designed training program to help you lose weight while also getting in shape.

And while P90x and Insanity are a little to intense for my likings (I’m a good old fashion lift weights kinda guy) lots of people do like them.

Start with the diet –> Eat Stop Eat, then experiment with different workouts until you find one that give you the results you want.

“What should  I say when people disapprove of my fasting?”

It’s a question I get on a daily basis.

Now, the old me would have advised to explain all the wonderful benefits of fasting. To defend your choice with the examples of fasting all throughout history, from all different parts of the world.

But that’s not my answer anymore.

My answer is that you shouldn’t care.

At all.

You are doing this for you, not for them.

Because getting that extra fat off of your body makes you feel awesome.

And you know that most of the nutrition rules everyone else blindly follows are mostly useless (or at least their effectiveness is greatly exaggerated).

The point is that you have to OWN your goals.

If your goal is to lose weight then you really have to ignore everyone who is trying to steer you off track, by questioning your methods.

If something is working for you then you don’t need to defend it, especially to negative people who are simply trying to rain on your success, or your choice to be different.

So when it comes to weight loss and how you eat, remember, it’s your goals, your choices and your approval that you should worry about, not the goals, choices and approvals of anyone else.

So when people ask you why you are fasting, just answer

“because it’s awesome”.