It is my last month here in Brazil and I am into the business end of the working holiday as I am creating 3 different new on line features which will be awesome in helping people get results. I am also studying 2-3 hours a day and continue to work out every morning and night…busy days and full of all the things I love doing! 🙂
I had another couple of  emails looking for FAST results before Christmas. This is one subject that probably annoys me more than any other in the area of body transformations. I would say this photo sums up my answer –
Maybe you remember a conversation a had a few months back from a person I knew was losing ft nicely, he was a three stone down already (20kg).
Here is how the conversation went –
Person : “Ben, I need some help. I need to lose weight really fast and tone my legs. I am going on holiday in 3 weeks
Me – “Any fat loss issue is exercise x nutrition x consistency…..this will do it…”
Person – “ok, but is there anything else I can do to speed up the process, for faster results?”
Me – “All fat loss happens in some form because of nutrition x exercise x consistency. There is no way around this”
Person – “ok, but what about for fast results?”
Me – “Fast results???….who cares about that??…the reality is 95-99% never achieve their goals..I would worry more about achieving your goal per se over any random/self set time scale. But yes,there is a a quicker resolution – be better at nutrition…better at exercise and be more consistent!!”
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I am sure I could have worded it more easily but I knew this person had already lost a good amount of fat from doing exactly what was needed (nutrition x exercise x consistency).
I could have even jumped on the bandwagon and played along, I could have said  – “have a carrot a day because…..”, “do 15 of these exercises per day because”, “cut out ___ because”……… But I ain’t gonna sell the lie. The lie is that anyone who focuses on quick results gets real results.
I think the beast that is CT Fletcher can put it more bluntly than me (Warning – He Swears within the first 10 seconds) As he says “Don’t look for the easy way out….earn it!”
You may not want to hear this but the truth is the truth. Amazing results do not come fast. A random time allocation of getting in shape by June 20th means nothing. IF you achieve your goals you have beaten the odds and should be beyond proud of your achievement.
Whether it takes you 3, 6 or 1 2 months longer than your randomly set goal date is irrelevant. I know what you may be thinking – But what about specific goals, a certain achievements by a certain date – “1 stone by July 1st” I say how about commitment to your goals, I’d prefer you use this mantra –
“I will get to my goals and not stop until I do, however long or hard this journey may become”
Then if you want to get faster results you simply become more accurate in nutrition, do more accurate exercise sessions and raise the consistency level higher and higher. You may say but this is human nature to want the fast result. It may be, but it is ineffective, it is self defeating.
It also goes hand in hand with a horrendous ability to judge how long it takes to achieve your goal. Most people underestimate it by a long long way. Imagine thinking a 1 year effort should be done in 2 months. Come month 3 you will be demotivated even if you are ahead of the progress curve, simply because you horrendously misjudged the time it would take you. I know personally, I have demotivated myself a few times not by the actions I was doing nor the progress I was making, but simply because I had created an artificial goal that was just pulled out of a hat.
The irony is fast results are possible, but the process is not dramatic, it isn’t crazy and it isn’t different to what you have done already to produce results. If you are just starting out and have no process to fall back on which works then your goal is discovering this. Once known it is simply about putting in the work, not looking for cheap easy solutions.
November 13th (4/7 days measured)
This last week has been a mix of recovery days, fat loss nutrition protocol and then a return to muscle building protocols in and out of the gym.
Diet – Protein – 183g, Carbs – 329g, fat – 53g, calories – 2524, P:29  % C :52%  F: 19%
Exercise – 6 Weights session/ 1 Fitness / 2 stretch sessions and 2 off days
Weight – 72.3kg               Body fat – Not done (last time – 39.5mm*)
Supplements – None
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*This is my own 10 point self measurement system, it does not correlate to body fat scores. At a guess 40mm – 8%, 50mm – 9.5%, 60mm – 11%, 70mm – 12.5%. I do not take it everyday if looking to gain muscle or maintain as it puts me off wanting to eat more. If on fat loss phase I take it daily. Like any body fat measurement system, as you get to low body fat levels the number become less accurate or reliable.
Clapham – For Personal Training Clapham please  contact me. I am available for sessions in homes, private gyms or Clapham Common Personal Training