Making wholesale nutritional changes all at once is rarely successful, but fortunately you don't need to do that to make a lasting change.
Each week, I offer a different nutritional challenge that you can try to incorporate into your lifestyle for seven days. If you like it, keep it up. If not, try the next one.
If you're feeling particularly ambitious, start adding the habits together and see how they help you improve your fat loss goals. But remember, the key to fat loss success is consistency, so don't overwhelm yourself.
For those who complete several of the challenges and see a change, send us your before and after photos!
See last week's challenge about eating a king's breakfast here.
Week Seven Challenge: Eliminate Alcohol, Juice and Soda
This may be a little ironic coming from the guy who first challenged you to start your day with a “morning margarita” – which I hope you are still doing by the way.
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But it’s time we cut all beverages that cause fat accumulation, and, yes, that includes alcohol. Alcohol may not technically contain carbs, but it elevates blood sugar faster than any carb ever could and causes nearly instant fat retention. This should not come as a shock to any of us. We nickname chubby stomachs “beer belies” for a reason!
And this is why, as much as you might not want to hear it, the time has come to eliminate its consumption. Fruit juices, sodas, and energy drinks also fall into that category so lets cut those as well – for at least a week.
If you need a little extra motivation, think of it this way: drinking one cocktail is on par with eating a serving of French fries, and who are we kidding, how many of us stop at one serving of French fries? Drinking one glass of wine is similar to eating a half doughnut — but who eats half a doughnut? You get the point.
So I challenge you to eliminate all beverages that increase fat accumulation for seven days. This includes all forms of alcohol, juice, soda, energy and sports drinks. Instead, stick to water, tea and coffee.
Good luck!
Dusten Nelson is a Chicago-based strength coach, nutritional expert and practitioner of Chinese medicine. Follow him on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, and check out his website. You can email Nelson at info@DustenNelson.com.
Nelson is currently training Chicago filmmaker Kenneth Yoder to compete in a 100-day bodybuilding challenge. See the original story here.
