4 Lean Lifestyle Hacks
Get fitter faster with this definitive guide to hacking your lifestyle
Your lifestyle can be characterised as everything you do outside of your workouts
If you work out three times a week, but your lifestyle isn't in alignment with your goals, then you can't ever hope to reach your fitness or fat loss goal
Think about it. Three workouts = 3 hours a week
That leaves 165 hours a week to potentially screw it all up!
Consider this post your go-to guide to getting the absolute most out of your life, fitness and health
Let's go
1. The Social Hack
Weekend warriors, social drinkers and foodies, listen up
I'm going to show you how you can drink daily, eat out multiple times a week and even forget a whole Saturday night and still get leaner
But you probably won't like it
You see, if you're slightly overweight, or you'd like to lose a few pounds, you need to understand that something in your life has to give
You have to make some form of sacrifice to get where you want to be
This could mean less TV and more squats
Or it could mean less food to substitute more booze
Let me show you what I mean
I have a couple that I've trained for around 18 months now, they both live pretty hectic lives looking after their children and booming careers
They're also socialites. Every weekend they'll either be attending a dinner party or hosting one themselves
These evenings are logically rife with delicious food in generous quantities and good wine
Which also makes it slightly challenging for my clients to lose weight
You see the problem is never the food or wine, but the quantity. I mean of course, they're going to consume more than if they were at home on their own!
So there are three solutions I can see to solve this problem;
They can exercise more the following days
They can restrict what they eat that night
They can restrict what they eat the day leading to the party
Just so you get the idea. If my clients had a respectable 3 wines at the party, they'd both need to run for at least 90 minutes the following day to burn off these wines. Not very realistic.
And I don't know about you but I couldn't think of anything worse than going to a dinner party to be the one drinking tap water and turning down the roast potatoes and cheesecake because I'd hit my calorie requirement? Not very fun.
So that leaves us with the most effective and realistic approach. For my clients to acknowledge that they'll be overconsuming in the evening and to limit their intake throughout the day
And this is exactly what I recommend you guys do too. If you know you're going out for a meal in the evening, or boozing it up with a few old friends then your goal is to reduce your portions in the day
This will leave you with a buffer in the evening
It's no different to having a financial budget. If you know you're saving for a holiday, you logically want to reign in your spending a bit right?
Stick to high-fibre veggies, water and protein through the day and you'll probably find you're not even too hungry either
So that's your social hack. You know have three ways to be super social and not put on weight!
These are also the only ways to solve this problem. No pill, shake, juice or tea can supplement the simple logic of "too many calories = weight gain"
2. The Exercise Hack - How To Automate Your Exercise Consistency
I've mentioned before in previous posts that the biggest reason people don't ever get results is simply lack of consistency
You could have the best program in the world, but if you're not consistent with it then there's not a lot of good that plan can do for you
A crappy plan done often is better than a good plan never used
So you need to automate your exercise. It needs to become a weekly task that's no different to you doing the food shop, going to work or brushing your teeth
There are two ways to automate your exercise results;
Write it in your diary
Start a class or hire a coach to keep you accountable
Humans are creatures of habits. You, perhaps unknowingly will have various things that you do every single day which are habits
It could be that you tune in to the same radio station on the way to work. That you have the same steak dinner every Friday or the way you dry yourself after a bath
That's right. The way you use a towel is a habit. (and I don't mean because you use a towel after every bath, but because you'll use it the same way. Head, arms, body and then legs is mine)
So it's really important that you integrate exercise into your week and force it to stick
Writing it down in your diary and turning a Monday into a "training day" is your goal
Secondly, and by far the most effective way is to start a class or hire a coach
Classes run at the same time, multiple times a week. I run my Primal Bootcamps at 7am Monday, Wednesday & Friday, which means that my clients just need to remember to set their alarms that much earlier on those days
Exercise very quickly becomes a habit because the classes are consistent and repetitive. All they need to do is show up!
And to really up my clients game they'll receive "where are you messages?" when they haven't made it class
Accountability and consistency under one roof
3. The Diet Hack
Believe it or not your diet's an easy fix
You probably already have a day of the week when you do your food shop. Mine's a Monday and I have a notification ping up on my Smartphone at 2pm reminding me
Now you pick.
If you're planning to eat 5+ fruit and veg a day but your trolley only contains three then.. good luck
The same rules apply if you're trying to up your protein. If you've only got a packet of chicken breast and mince in your basket to last you and your family a week, then you're kinda screwed
You need to plan, at least a little
What I'd recommend is finding 20 or so recipes yourself and your family love that are healthy and don't take too long
If you need any ideas, I post three recipes a week on Facebook & Instagram that are designed to do just that
These are your 20 foundation recipes. If you're not sure what to cook, just refer to the list and add the ingredients to your trolley
When I walk into Aldi once a week, I have 3 new recipes on my phone which I refer to. I then grab all the other normal bits like fruit, cereal, canned goods etc etc - I don't bother with a list
I also grab three mini-chocolate trifles and a pizza. These are my current "cheat meals" and I eat these whenever I fancy in the week
(9/10 they're gone by Tuesday)
Your Diet Hack List
Automate your shop
Make a list of 20 foundation recipes
Plan and make sure your trolley contains everything you need
4. The Sleep Hack
Sleep is a problem for a lot of people. Especially those who experience regular stress
Although this won't help you deal with any external stress in your lives, these few bullet points are techniques I always use with myself and clients that seem to work an absolute treat
[Read Next: 8 Benefits of a good nights' sleep]
1. Sleep is a habit
Aim to go to bed at the same time every day
2. Screen light plays havoc on the body as it's reaction is "light = awake"
The simple act of not looking at a screen 30 minutes before bed will do wonders. I wonder how many people will struggle to be away from their phones for so long!
3. Drink a non-caffeinated tea before bed
It honestly doesn't matter what the tea is, just make sure you only drink that tea just before bed
This simple hack will tell the body that "herbal tea = sleep time" - It's just a habit hack to tell the body it's nun-nights
4. STOP DRINKING CAFFEINE PASSED 4pm
Sorry I shouted.
I was actually shouting at myself
I used to think this was kinda rubbish. I mean how can a coffee still keep me awake 7 hours after drinking it?
Last time I did this I was staring at the roof of my bedroom with my eyes glued open for 2 hours straight
I wouldn't recommend it
Sleep Hack Conclusion
You need to tell your brain it's bedtime. The combination of a consistent bedtime, your herbal tea and even just getting into your PJs just before bed is enough to tell the brain it's shut off time
Limit your caffeine consumption and screen time and you're well on your way to an automated sleep pattern
I know it's simple and you've probably heard it all before, but that right there is a tried and tested system
It won't happen straight away, but the more you focus on creating a sleeping habit the quicker you'll get there
Conclusion
Your lifestyle is who you are. It's what you do and how you live
To be healthy and live a leaner life you have to automate it to get the results you want
These 4 simple hacks will make a huge impact on your life if you're willing to put in the time and effort necessary to create change
It doesn't happen overnight
If it did then we wouldn't have an ever-increasing obesity rate in the UK
Follow these steps, create the habits, automate your health and you'll never have to worry about your waistline again
Thanks for reading,
P.s If you haven't downloaded my Free Strong from Home training program then you're really missing out! This gem has already helped 80+ busy parents start getting leaner and stronger from their living rooms. Grab yours below
