The Badass Body Diet: The Breakthrough Diet and Workout for a Tight Booty, Sexy Abs, and Lean Legs (35 page)

RECRUIT A BUDDY

They’re better together—exercise and healthy eating, that is. Do the Badass plan with a buddy, neighbor, family member, partner—anyone who’s motivated to do it and has a schedule similar enough to yours that you can get together regularly and support each other.

Having a buddy—for the diet, the workout, or both—can lead to better results. A lot of research has shown that people are very successful when using a buddy system while getting in shape. If you schedule workout times, you’re less likely to back out if you know you’ll be letting someone else down. When one of you feels like vegging on the couch, the other partner can motivate you to head to the gym or stick to the plan. That’s the power of accountability.

Make the partnership fun, too. Be competitive, for example, if that’s your thing. One good way to keep each other fired up is to stage a fitness challenge to see who can do the most reps or rounds. Maybe the loser has to buy a can of protein powder for the winner or pay the winner five bucks.

Share inspirational quotes or recipes with each other. Go to restaurants together and help each other select healthy menu items. If one of you has a “down” day and wants to slack off, the other should be there for encouragement to pick you up and keep you going.

Involve your whole family, including your kids. Family mealtime is a great opportunity to improve your family’s diet and help get everyone to a healthier place in life. Studies show that family meals help people better control their portions, eat more nutritious meals, and strengthen the family bond. Along those lines, start promoting family activities, such as bike rides, swimming, hiking, camping, skiing, and other sports.

What evolves is a support group for each family member. If the shared plan encourages better eating and more physical activity, each member is more likely to stay engaged. These shared moments can instill healthy habits in your family for years to come.

A guy between 5´6˝ and 5´9˝ eats between 11 and 15 bricks a day.

A guy between 5´10˝ and 5´11˝ eats between 14 and 21 bricks a day.

A guy 6´ or taller eats between 16 and 25 bricks a day.

A guy between 5´6˝ and 5´9˝ eats between 13 and 18 bricks a day.

A guy between 5´10˝ and 5´11˝ eats between 15 and 22 bricks a day.

A guy 6´ or taller eats between 17 and 26 bricks a day.

A guy between 5´6˝ and 5´9˝ eats between 14 and 19 bricks a day.

A guy between 5´10˝ and 5´11˝ eats between 16 and 21 bricks a day.

A guy 6´ or taller eats between 21 and 28 bricks a day.

What about the Minimalist plan for guys? That’s easy: When serving up his plate at meals, give him between 25 and 50 percent more food that you put on your plate.

WORK ON REWARD

I’m a huge fan of rewarding yourself for success with diet and exercise, and here’s why. The challenge with changing to a healthier diet and a more active lifestyle is that the fitness rewards don’t come fast enough for most of us. We need short-term rewards to keep us going. There’s no better way to fuel motivation than immediate gratification.

If you’ve stuck with it, even for a week, treat yourself to something you’ve wanted, like that handbag, new running shorts, a visit to a day spa, or some other non-food-related reward that you can enjoy
now
. Whatever your rewards are, keep them in sight and focus on the prize. And guilt free!

BANISH STRESS EATING

One of the big derailing factors I see happen to a lot in people is stress. Mental and emotional overload have a way of sending us straight back into fattening snack or couch mode. Here’s some good news: By learning better ways to react when you’re stressed, you can stop any weight gain that’s caused by emotional eating and stay on the healthy straight and narrow.

• Get moving to ease stress. Exercise churns out feel-good endorphins that neutralize stress, along the way making you feel better physically and emotionally and helping you burn fat. Another technique that can mediate stress eating is yoga, one of my favorite activities. It’s known to lower stress so that you aren’t always diving into a gallon of ice cream for relief. Yoga has a world of other benefits too, such as strength, flexibility, and antiaging.

• Identify whether you’re truly hungry or desiring to eat for emotional reasons. When you’re tempted to binge, ask yourself why. Are you truly hungry or simply super stressed out? If it’s stress doing the tempting, find another activity such as exercise, taking a walk, calling a friend, or going to a movie to take your mind off things.

• Eat on a regular schedule. This means having your meals and snacks at fairly fixed times. Doing so can help you break the habit of impulse eating. Don’t skip meals to save calories, either. This can lead to hunger later in the day, and the temptation to overeat.

• Avoid temptation. Remove all high-calorie junk foods from your kitchen. When unhealthy food is out of sight, it’s out of mind.

• Rearrange your life. Consider whether you might be overcommitted on your job and in your day-to-day activities. Try to put more balance in your life so that you have time for pleasure, relaxation, and spiritual fulfillment—all life choices that will counteract the negative effects of stress.

• Get enough rest. If you’re really stressed out, get more rest, take naps, and have a good night’s sleep. During rest (including sleep), your body is actually very busy. It works on healing injuries and infections. It flushes your body of toxins and waste products. It replenishes fuel in your muscles. And it dissipates stress.

• Talk it out. You may just want to pour your heart out to a friend. Just talking to someone you trust can make you feel much better. Seek help from a mental health counselor if your stress won’t let up, or you can’t control your eating by yourself.

MAINTAIN A TRUE BADASS ATTITUDE

I’m not talking about about being mean or nasty—far from it. Let me elaborate. We’ve talked a lot about booty in this book, but now I want to talk about another kind of booty—the one that is defined as treasure.

Our bodies hold the treasure of life inside of them, life that we have been given. Our bodies are good and should be treated with honor every day that we are alive. To do that, I believe you have to focus on five key habits. They’re simple things, but they’re incredibly powerful. If you work at them daily, they can change the precious treasure that is your life. Like anything, it just takes some practice and some belief. Here they are:

1. SET BIG GOALS, THEN BREAK THEM DOWN.

I never aim low. If you want to achieve big things in this life, I believe you have to set major long-term goals that push your limits and really stretch your abilities. Running a 5K might be your big goal right now, or maybe it’s to add 50 pounds to your squat. It doesn’t matter. Set the bar high, then break it down into small, attainable goals that you can work on every day. Don’t focus on the end result. Great long runs begin with mastery of single foot strikes. If you want to squat big, it starts by adding just a few pounds. If you want to lose 20 pounds, it starts with a few lost pounds each week and healthy eating a day at a time. Take these small steps, relentlessly, one foot in front of the other, every day, and your goal will be within reach before you know it.

2. ALWAYS TRY NEW THINGS.

I’m sure you’re familiar with the maxim “If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep getting what you’ve always gotten.” It makes perfect sense; why do so many people keep expecting their life or body to change when they’re so resistant to new experiences and experiments?

Make a habit out of saying yes more often, no matter how anxious, frightened, or resistant you might feel at first. You’ll discover that sometimes the things you didn’t believe you would enjoy become some of your new favorite activities. You’ll never know unless you try.

I used to be afraid to try new things because I feared I would fail. I figured that if I didn’t try anything, then I could never fail.

How wrong I was. Had I not tried CrossFit, I would have stayed in bad shape and in a life rut, physically and mentally. Had I not tried NASCAR, you probably never would have heard of me.

It’s okay to let yourself fail too. We learn more from failing than we do from succeeding. As Thomas Edison said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

There’s no failure—except in not trying.

3. DO GOOD WITHOUT EXPECTING ANYTHING IN RETURN.

I’m talking about the “smile stuff.” Open the door for someone, smile as they pass by (for no reason other than to pass on a smile), or tell a sales associate’s manager how nice an employee was to you. When you start a project or a venture, don’t think about the money you could make from it. Instead, focus on maximizing the value you can provide to other people.

Selfless acts like these are highly rewarding. So give more often. The more you do it, the more you’ll focus on what matters most: the effort, the daily work, and the additional opportunities for good that it all creates. You’ll see, you’ll start reaching the big goals more often the more good that you do. It’s simple and extremely rewarding.

Always act with the purest of motives, and never expect great things to come your way because you did something good. Do good just for the sake of doing good.

4. LEARN TO PUT YOURSELF FIRST, SOMETIMES.

You have to give to others, but there must be limits. Too much giving without regard to your health can drain you, and that’s not good for anyone in your life, especially you.

Be selfish with some of your time. You don’t have to go missing in action; just make sure to schedule personal hours on your calendar to read or enjoy a new pastime you’ve discovered lately. In any case, it’s okay to be selfish sometimes. Place more focus on rejuvenation and you’ll be happier and more effective during the day. Your family, your kids, whoever—they’ll understand. In fact, they’ll be glad you took the personal time to take care of yourself.

5. PURGE NEGATIVITY FROM YOUR LIFE.

There’s no way around it. You must surround yourself with positivity if you want to accomplish great things. There can be no room in your life for negativity.

I realize more and more that our outlook, our attitude, what we think, and the words we speak influence everything around us. That’s why I refuse to say bad things about other people, because negativity only breeds more negativity, diluting the quality of my thoughts, and consequently the quality of my life. I find positive, uplifting people to befriend, and I look for the good, rather than the bad, in people and situations.

Always remember how powerful it is to be positive. Pay attention to your thoughts. Watch the words you use, and notice how you say them. Stay focused on the positives, and allow that awesome attitude to bring you health, peace, joy, and fulfillment.

There’s nothing standing in your way of a better life, apart from yourself. Build great habits and create the life you want. It’s your decision.

And that, my friends, is the bottom line. See you in the sunshine!

Stay Relentless!

Christmas

Acknowledgments

A simple
thank-you
cannot convey the gratitude I have for the collective team that helped me in my journey that led me to this place today. This book wouldn’t be possible without them:

My agents, Abbey MacDonald and Steve Troha, who are more than agents—they’re warriors! Their belief in my work amazes me.

My coauthor, Maggie Greenwood-Robinson, was incredible to work with. Her creativity is priceless!

The incredible team at William Morrow/HarperCollins who saw the potential in this book, and in me.

All of the fans who wrote to me asking for advice and trusting in my words. Keep the course and stay relentless!

Most of all, my mother, who always believed in me no matter where I was in life.

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