In the morning, if I’m feeling a little reflective, I’ll hike up to the top of Runyon Canyon and enjoy the vantage point.
I’ve been in Los Angeles for the last two weeks…. My Road to Ripped cohost, Christopher Walker, and I, decided to rent a place in Los Angeles for a month to work on projects and of course, finally meet in person. So far the trip has been an absolute blast. We’ve recorded tons of RTR episodes, hit muscle ups at the beach, drank plenty of two buck chuck (Trader Joe’s infamous two dollar wine) and discussed our goals and aspirations.
We’ve also been fortunate enough to meet with some very influential people here! Not to mention, we’ve had a few celebrity run ins, including Zooey Deschanel, Mark Wahlberg and a very strange Andy Dick. But if you listen to the podcast, you already know that!
Oh and the best part is, we still have two weeks left! For these next two weeks I’m planning on getting a more complete taste of the LA nightlife, but that’s neither her nor there….. What I really want to share with you today is how I’ve been eating out nearly every meal while getting sharper and more chiseled. I really want you to nail this strategy down, that way there are no excuses between you and your dream physique and staying lean year round will be effortless.
Below is a pic of me I snapped the other day, demonstrating a slight decrease in body fat. Pecs are square, arm veins are prominent, abs chiseled and the v cut is showing nicely. A perfect level of leanness to maintain year round!
What you must understand is that there will never be perfect circumstances
Sure, when you’re living at home and you have the luxury to cook all of your meals, getting lean can be quite simple. You can very accurately track your calorie and macronutrient intake. Additionally, you have access to the gym whenever you want…. However, sometimes life can get super busy… There are going to be times when you won’t be able to track your nutritional intake to the tee…. When you will be dining out, ordering in, grabbing fast food or eating home cooked meals with the company of friends.
The fact of the matter is that you don’t need to be able to perfectly track your calorie and macronutrient intake to drop fat and get lean. Sure, it helps, especially when starting out. But the end goal should be to lessen your reliance on such things and to learn to eat in accordance with your energy demands.. This way, maintaining a low body fat is second nature… And thus your body fat goals don’t have to be compromised when travelling, eating out and enjoying your life. Now in this article I will be sharing simple strategies to abide by so that you can stay within the ballpark of your daily calorie and macronutrient goals.
This Is The Kinobody Guide To Getting Lean While Eating Out
In my kinobody warrior shredding course, I lay out a brutally effective nutrition plan to lean down to a low body fat while building strength and muscle density. This nutrition plan works extraordinarily well even if you’re going to be eating out and/or traveling while cutting. The basis of the plan is that you will be skipping breakfast each morning and drinking water and black coffee only. By fasting in the morning, you ramp up your fat burning machinery and improve insulin sensitivity in the muscles, allowing you to better direct nutrients into your muscle stores when you do feast.
You should then be eating two big meals per day – a big lunch and a big dinner. These two meals should be high in protein and moderate in fats and carbs. As well, I recommend a small late night meal before bed consisting of low fat cottage cheese or scrambled eggs/whites.
Why Is This Program So Effective?
a) It is super filling! When you skip breakfast you give yourself more room to eat later in the day. Most of us deeply want to be able to eat lots of food at night. It’s our primitive urge. Once you adapt to fasting, you feel incredible and focused during the fast and you are able to revel in amazing meals each and every day. This is while being in a calorie deficit and burning fat and gaining strength from training.
b) It’s extremely simple! I work with and coach some of the busiest people – doctors, military personnel, investment bankers, business owners, actors, models….. There is no way that they would be able to eat 5-6 perfectly balanced meals each day. It just wouldn’t happen. Eating two big meals per day fits perfectly with their lifestyle and allows them more flexibility if they have to eat out.
c) It allows for enjoyment! This eating structure is designed to make it super simple to support your calorie and macronutrient needs. This means that by following this eating plan it will be extremely hard to overshoot over your calorie intake. As well, the meal plan is designed to ensure ample amounts of protein to support satiety and muscle retention. Because of this, dropping fat while maintaining muscle will be effortless. Furthermore, many of my clients fit in ice-cream and alcohol a couple times per week while leaning down to signal digit body fat.
6 Strategies To Get Lean While You Enjoy Eating Out
Strategy #1 – You Should Know Your Calculated Nutrition Plan
First, it’s important that have tracked your nutrition intake while at home and that you know how many calories you should be taking in each day and the size and composition of those meals. This is what I call your calculated nutrition plan. For example, you might be consuming 1800 calories with three meals. A lunch and dinner consisting of 700-750 calories and a smaller meal with 300-400 calories. You should get a feel for the size of these meals and the amount of meat, fats and starches in each meal. You should also have an idea of how much protein you are taking in with each meal. For example, you might be getting 70g of protein with lunch and dinner and 40g in the smaller meal.
Strategy #2 – Stick To The Same Foods You Have Been Eating
When you have established your calculated nutrition plan, it’s really just a matter of trying to ball park it as close as possible when dining out. Ideally you should stick to similar foods that you have been accustomed to eating. This usually entails lunch and dinners consisting of meats, veggies and potatoes or rice.
Strategy #3 – Don’t Be Afraid To Double Up On The Protein
If you typically have a large serving of protein with lunch and dinner then you may have to double up on the protein when eating out. Many restaurants charge a trivial two dollars to double up on the protein. When it comes to hitting your fitness and physique goals, the extra couple bucks is definitely worth it. If you’re at a restaurant and you want a little extra meat with your entree, don’t be afraid to ask, usually they are more than accommodating.
Strategy #4 – Make Sure You Pick Your Protein Wisely
As a general rule go with leaner meats like chicken breast, fish, rotisserie chicken, steak or lamb. Avoid ribs, chicken wings, burgers and deep fried meats which tend to be exceptionally high in calories and fat.
Strategy #5 – Be Careful With The Portion Of Carbs
Watch the amount of carbs you’re getting with your meals. If you’re getting more carbs than you are used to, either ask for a half portion of carbs or divide the excess carbs off your plate to avoid the temptation of eating them. If you’re eating at a sit down restaurant that delivers bread to the table, ask them to take the bread away. It’s best not to have to deal with the temptation at all, if possible.
Strategy #6 – How To Handle Post Meal Hunger
If you’re tempted with desserts or still have the urge to eat more, even though you know that will likely mean going over your calories, then it’s important to know that the feeling of slight hunger will soon subside. A great trick is to have a cup of tea following a meal, which helps to signal fullness and curb appetite. Alternatively, a 15-20 minute walk after eating also does the trick. I’m not certain why this works, but this has been the case for me and many other people. My hypothesis is that walking after eating transitions your body out of the feasting mode and helps to down regulate your hunger hormones.
Bonus – This Is My Favorite Fast Food Restaurant
Eating chipotle with Road to Ripped cohost Christopher Walker
Chipotle is easily my favorite fast food restaurant! I can get epic, healthy, filling and delicious meals for $10-12. I usually order a buritto bowl with double chicken or steak, white rice, fajita veggies, pinto or black beans, cheese and guacamole. This meal tops out at around 900-1000 calories with a nice amount of proteins, fats and carbs. If you need to keep your calories lower you can ditch the cheese and guacamole and take in only 650-750 cals. Or you can ditch the guacamole and keep the cheese and take in 750-850 calories. There’s definitely a lot of leeway in terms of hitting different calorie levels.
Another decent option is subway. Usually I get the oven roasted chicken salad loaded with veggies, extra servings of chicken, plenty of cheese and guacamole and a low fat dressing. For a side of carbs I’ll grab a bag or two of their baked low fat chips. This usually ends up being around 900 calories with 80-100g of protein, that’s right, I get 3-4 servings of chicken breast.
This Is The Most Enjoyable Way To Get Lean
For my full blown course on getting chiseled and effortlessly staying lean while building an awesome physique, take a look at my new Kinobody Warrior Shredding Course. Interestingly enough, I’ve been getting a lot of incredible feedback on the missing chapter component of the course. This is the section that took me the longest to figure out. Before I was able to come to terms with the right outlook and psychology, I couldn’t help but sabotage my many efforts to getting lean. Now, staying lean has never been easier and more rewarding!
