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David's Secret to Losing 72 Pounds in 8 Weeks

Posted by David Ford on April 18, 2019

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People have asked me a million times how I lost 72 pounds in 8 weeks. In hopes of helping others, here are the rules I followed to lose 72 pounds.   

Set an exact goal and write it down. 

Saying “I want to lose weight” is not a goal. It is a wish.  Writing down “72 pounds by March 21” is a specific goal.   Write whatever your specific goal is and put it in a specific spot that you can see every day.  Look at it every day.   Remember it every time you want to cheat. It’s only 8 weeks!

Prepare each and every meal before it is time to eat.

It’s just too hard to make meals while hungry and expect not to “pick”.  After your last meal on Sunday, prep all your meals for the week.  Every Sunday, Zhanna prepared 35 meals for me.  Each was in its own box and was ready for me every morning. I ate one first thing. I carried the other four with me all day so if I got tied up, I could eat at the exact time I needed to.  I can’t stress how valuable it was to have a meal ready before I needed it.  

Eat five meals a day at exact times.

I ate at 7, 10, 1, 4 and 7.  

Measure every single thing you put in your mouth.

For me, each meal was exactly 50 G protein, and between 300 and 350 calories for each meal.  

Know your daily calorie goal.

Mine was 1,500 for three days and 1800 the fourth day. I followed that cycle for 56 straight days. Is it obsessive? Yes.  Does it work? YES!!

Know everything you put into your mouth.

Everything counts. I ate nothing “diet”.  I drank no diet soda. Nothing. Beware of sauces.  Beware of sodium.  Beware of hidden oils.  

Use foods that have a large volume.

Tofu noodles, squash pasta, etc. These foods have a lot of volume and minimal calories.   

No alcohol.

It’s that simple. None. If you can’t abstain from drinking, don’t expect to reach your goal.   

Notice exercise is last.

Why? Because what you put in your mouth is more important than your exercise. You can reach your goal by changing your food alone (it will just take longer). You cannot reach your goal without perfect eating. You cannot run your way to weight loss without changing your eating. You cannot outrun a bad diet. It’s really that simple. That being said, here is what I did for workouts. I did a 45 minute bike ride first thing every morning. Then I lifted weights- one body part per day for about  30 minutes. Then I did another 45 minutes of cardio at the gym. Finally, after my last meal, I did a final 30 minute bike ride. This was in addition to any classes, or basketball or walks or anything else I did. In total, I did at least two hours of cardio every day for 56 straight days. My exercise calorie burn was a minimum of 2,000 calories a day.  My calories were running at a 2,000 calorie per day deficiency. That is 4,000 calories a day or 1.18 pounds a day, or 72 pounds in 56 days. Easy stuff. Its all about numbers.  

Have a support group and avoid anyone negative.

If you have any negative people in your life, avoid them at all cost. You have a goal. You have a plan. You have the desire.  Don’t let others drag you down. There are a lot of people who will boost you.  Find them. Surround yourself with them. Tell them your goal. The people at The Edge were great. They supported me every day. There were days I was dragging only to have some stranger come up and say, “you are doing great.” It was a huge help.  A huge lift. Sounds silly, but it was.  And it came from people I knew, and others I didn’t even know.  

Good luck.  You can do it!

 

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