Meet Dr. Cliff. He’s a 43-year-old veterinarian, and father of 3 kids. On June 17, he came to me with a deadline. In 7 weeks, he was going on to Jamaica to film a veterinarian TV show. And he wanted to look good with his shirt off. Really good. No pressure.

In those 7 short weeks, we did some pretty good work, and in that time, he:

• Lost 3% body fat
• Lost 7 lbs of fat
• Added half a pound of lean tissue
• Lost 4 cm off his waist

But words don’t do it justice. Here are his before and after pictures:

In this article, we’ll outline:

• The 3 different exercise programs he used over this period of time, as well as the rationale behind them.
• The 2 different nutrition plans that he used over this period of time, and the rationale behind those too
• Any stumbling blocks along the way.

But before we do, here’s a video of Cliff explaining his own results and transformation in a nutshell.

And heck, if you’re on a tight deadline (you have a wedding, a vacation, a photoshoot, etc.), and want a similar transformation, you can see if you qualify to work with us by filling out this form.

The Assessment

As I say in what seems like every article, “if you’re not assessing, you are guessing.” So we did a comprehensive assessment of Cliff before he started. This included the full, 321-symptom questionnaire, as well as biosignature profile (that’s correlating the location of body fat to your hormonal profile).

Here were our findings from the assessment (on June 17, 2016):

• He stored the most body fat in his love handles (23 mm)
• His second highest area was a tie between his stomach and upper back (17 mm)
• His waist circumference was 88.5 cm (34.8 inches).
• A few minor symptoms of blood sugar dysregulation
• Low testosterone, for which he was taking testosterone replacement therapy.
• Injured right shoulder, but doesn’t really limit what he could do.

We had our work cut out for us, so it was time to get to work.

The Exercise Program: Phase 1

Days 1 and 4

Perform the following exercises for 5 sets of 4-6 reps, in a superset format:

A1) Deadlifts

A2) Bench press

B1) Back squats

B2) Weighted pullups

C1) Barbell overhead press

C2) Barbell bent-over row

D1) Hanging leg raises

Day 2 and 5

Perform the following exercises for 4 sets of 8-12 reps, in a superset format:

A1) Good mornings

A2) Dumbbell bench press

B1) Step-ups

B2) Chinups (underhand grip)

C1) Dumbbell overhead press (neutral grip)

C2) One-arm bent over rows

D1) Hanging knee raises

Days 3 and 6

Perform the following exercises for 3 sets of 15-20 reps, staying 5-8 reps away from failure. Circuit format:

One-legged deadlifts

Lat pulldowns

Lateral raises

Reverse lunges

Seated rows

Pushups (or decline pushups)

Cardio (ideally, morning)

Days 1 and 4

Long-duration, fast walk for 60 minutes

Days 2 and 5

Steady state cardio for 30-45 minutes

Days 3 and 6

Intervals:

One minute hard, 1.5-2 minutes easy, for 6-8 repeats.

So notice that he was exercising 6 days per week, twice per day. Cardio in the mornings, and strength training in the afternoons.

I want to point out a few things:

• Notice that he had 3 different strength training workouts on this program: a low-repetition workout (4-6 repetitions per set), a medium-repetition workout (8-12), and a high-repetition workout (15-20). Why did we do it this way? Because to use the exact same exercises for the exact same repetition scheme would burn the body out very quickly, and can create some joint problems (like tendinitis). Changing up the exercises and repetition schemes like this prevents this.

Additionally, using low repetitions is neurologically-demanding. In other words, since the repetitions are low, the weight is heavy, so you really have to psych yourself up to do it. On the other hand, using high repetitions, is not neurologically demanding, and acts more as active recovery from the low, and moderate-repetition days.

• We also had Cliff doing 3 different cardio workouts: a high-intensity workout (that’s the interval day), a moderate-intensity workout (that’s the steady state for 30-45 minutes), and the low-intensity workout (which is just a walk for 60 minutes). As I outline in my article, called “Fat Burning is a 3-Step Process”, this was to target all 3 steps.

The Nutrition: Phase 1

We had Cliff start out with a fairly sensible nutrition plan:

• 2 servings of fish or seafood with each meal (he doesn’t eat meat, or else it would have been included)
• Non-starchy vegetables: unlimited, but at least half of the plate
• Starches (like rice, potatoes, etc.): about one third of the plate.
• Each meal contained healthy fats, like olives, olive oil, avocado, nuts, etc.

The Results…

 …sucked! 😉

As you know, we measure our clients every 2 weeks. And the 2-week results were disappointing. In 2 weeks (on July 4, 2016):

• There was no change in the fat on the love handles
• The upper back dropped by only half a millimeter
• The stomach fat dropped by only 1 millimeter
• The waist circumference didn’t change

And this really highlights the value of regular measurements. It allows us to compare intended results to actual results. On paper, the exercise, and nutrition plan that he was following for 2 weeks should have produced much greater changes than it did. When we took actual measurements, we saw that the reality didn’t match the theory. But if we had not done measurements, we would have simply assumed that everything is working, because 2 weeks is too short to see a change with the eye. Without measurements, we would have stuck with this program (that didn’t work) for much longer, before figuring out that there’s not much of a difference.

So it was time for a course correction.

The Exercise Program: Phase 2

In phase 2, the program from phase 1 stayed the same, with a few changes:

• We dropped the medium-rep (8-12) strength training day, and replaced those strength training workouts with intervals. Cliff was to do 12-15 intervals of 15 seconds, resting 60-90 seconds in between intervals. So now, instead of doing 6 strength training workouts, and 6 cardio workouts, he was doing 4 strength training workouts, and 8 cardio workouts per week.
• The day where Cliff was doing intervals for 1 minute hard, 1.5-2 minutes easy was changed to 2 minutes hard, 2 minutes easy.

The Nutrition

The nutrition stayed more or less the same, with a few minor changes:

• He added daily dandelion tea
• He cut out coffee
• No fruit (just bananas)
• No gluten (wheat, rye and barley)
• No nightshade vegetables (tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, eggplants, etc.)

Despite all the “no’s”, the calories over this 2 week period were very similar to the previous 2-week period.

The Results

MUCH better this time around. Now, 2 weeks after his last measurements, here’s what we saw (this is on July 18):

• Chest fat (man boobs) dropped by 3 millimeters. Awesome!
• Love handle fat dropped by 4 mm
• Upper back fat dropped by 1 mm
• Stomach fat dropped by 1.5 mm
• Waist circumference dropped by 2 cm

But the progress was short-lived, because at the following 2-week measurements (August 1), Cliff had plateaued again. Damn, his body adapts quickly.

Here were his relevant measurements:

• Upper back fat hasn’t moved
• Stomach fat dropped by half a millimeter
• Fat over the ribs dropped by half a millimeter
• No change in waist circumference
• The only area that dropped reasonably well during this time was the love handle. About 1.5 mm.

This was already August 1 and Cliff was leaving to Jamaica on August 12. So his last measurements would be on August 11. It was time for drastic measures…

The Exercise Program: Phase 3

Day 1

Perform the following exercises for 4-5 sets of 6-8 reps, in a superset format:

A1) Sumo deadlifts

A2) Incline bench press (15 degrees)

B1) Front squats

B2) Weighted pullups – neutral grip

C1) Barbell push press

C2) Seated rows – wide grip

D1) Hanging leg raises

Day 2

Perform the following exercises for 4-5 sets of 6-8 reps, in a superset format:

A1) Good mornings

A2) 1-handed pushups

B1) Weighted reverse lunges

B2) Lat pulldowns

C1) 1-arm dumbbell overhead press (neutral grip)

C2) Face pulls

D1) Ab wheel

Cardio (on non-weight training days)

Moderate-pace walk, for 30-60 minutes

Let me point out a few differences between this program and the previous 2 programs:

• Instead of doing 12 workouts per week, he was now only doing 6.
• He no longer had high-rep days, or very-low rep days. He now had 6-8 rep days.
• No more interval training, or moderate intensity cardio. Only low-intensity cardio at this point.

Does this seem counter-intuitive? As he gets closer to his deadline his exercise gets easier, as opposed to harder? Elementary, my dear Watson.

Once you read the next section on nutrition, you’ll understand why his exercise went in this direction.

But basically, there are 2 different approaches to fat loss: eat more, exercise more. And eat less, exercise less. Since in programs 1 and 2, Cliff was exercising 12 times per week, he needed to eat enough to fuel his activity, and prevent muscle loss, but he needed to eat a small enough amount to still lose body fat.

With the approach in these last 10 days, Cliff was eating very little food. Probably around 1100-1300 calories per day. With this little food, doing a lot of exercise, especially high-intensity exercise can do damage. Namely, it can slow down the metabolism. So if he’s eating less, he also needs to exercise less.

Nutrition

Here was Cliff’s nutrition plan for the next 10 days (August 1-August 11):

Don’t eat food!

Haha just kidding. But only kind of.

OK, for real:

• Cliff was to eat 220-240 grams of protein on the days that he did weight training, and 180-190 grams of protein on the days when he didn’t do strength training.
• No starches or fruits
• No nuts and seeds
• Salt your food for the first 8 days, and then, no salting your food
• No cheat meals
• As many non-starchy vegetables (like cucumbers, lettuce, celery, spinach, broccoli, etc.) as he wanted.

I’m mean, aren’t I? 😉

But here’s the rationale for all this.

The most glaring thing about his nutrition in these 10 days is the sheer quantity of protein. 220-240 grams is a LOT of protein. To give you an idea of how much that is: half a fillet of salmon contains about 40 grams of protein. So… you get the idea.

Why the emphasis on protein and not carbohydrates or fats (because let’s face it: this is really a low-carb, low-fat, high-protein diet)? For two reasons:

1. Of the 3 macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins and fat), protein has the highest satiety factor. In other words, it’s the most filling. So what’s the best way to feel more or less full when eating such low calories? To eat lots of protein.
2. To preserve muscle mass. Our goal was not to lose weight. Our goal was to lose fat. We don’t want to lose muscle. Protein preserves muscle better than carbohydrate and fat. Since there’s little carbohydrates and fat on this diet, the body will burn more protein that it would if he was consuming adequate amounts of carbohydrates and fat (carbohydrates and fats have a “protein-sparing” effect). We need to accommodate for that.

Another glaring recommendation on this diet is the recommendation to actually salt his food. Wait! What??? Salt his food? Isn’t salt the devil, and causes high blood pressure??? In excess, it might. But when calories go that low, along with them, come a bunch of other nutrients too. Among those nutrients, sodium. And what do we need sodium for? Proper water balance within the body, as well as for a healthy nervous system. Low sodium, and you start to get dizzy, have low energy, and you can’t think properly. Hence the recommendation to salt his food.

The Results

So after this drastic change in exercise and nutrition, how were the results in only 10 days? Pretty darn good!

• The fat on his ribs fell another millimeter
• The fat on Cliff’s stomach fell another 2.5 millimeters
• His waist circumference fell another 2 centimeters.

And what about the overall fat loss, from the very beginning (June 17) to the very end (August 11)?

	June 17	August 11
Pecs (chest)	9 mm	6 mm
Upper back	17 mm	15 mm
Ribs	16.5 mm	13 mm
Love handle	23 mm	17.5 mm
Stomach	17 mm	11.5 mm
Waist circumference	88.5 cm (34.8 inches)	84.5 (33.3 inches)

But hey, measurements are one thing… the TV camera, and the viewers don’t see measurements. They see a live person, so more important than measurements is the bottom line: how did Cliff look before and after? If you haven’t already, check out the pictures:

But This Isn’t Sustainable…

…I can hear you thinking. And you’re correct. This kind of nutrition is not sustainable. It’s not intended to be. Weight maintenance should only be a goal if your starting weight/body fat level was unhealthy to begin with. Cliff’s body fat and weight, on the other hand wasn’t so high that it was unhealthy. He was already quite healthy to begin with. So will he go back to his starting weight and body fat level? Maybe. But that’s not such a bad thing. Cosmetically, it might be. But from a health perspective, no.

And given that the goal here was short-term (look good on TV with his shirt off for a few weeks), this approach was justified.

So if you have your own deadline, and you want a transformation similar to or better than that of Cliff, fill out this questionnaire to see if you qualify to work with us.