10 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Got Fit

3 years ago, I thought I knew it all when it came to health, fitness, and nutrition.

I was sold on the idea of low-carb and low-calorie diets, thought cardio was the answer to my fat loss prayers and tried every single extreme trick in the book.

Well, through trial and (a lot of!) error, I realized that these weren’t the way to achieve my goals.

And through my own journey, and working with others, I found out the truth and put together the 10 things I wish I knew before I got fit.

Check out the video or read on to find out what lies, myths and misconceptions I fell prey to, so you can avoid making the same mistakes.

1. Muscle Burns Fat

Back in the day when I was 180 pounds and 24 + % body fat, I didn’t realize the importance of muscle.

I thought muscle was only for bodybuilders, and that if you wanted to get lean and drop pounds, you had to do cardio, cardio, cardio. All day, every day.

What a mistake that was.

I started weight training, built some lean muscle and the fat just fell off me.

Muscle increases your metabolic rate, meaning you burn more calories 24/7 –even while you’re sleeping!

2. Carbs Don’t Make You Fat

Good quality carbs are essential if you’re training hard and want to build a fit, strong, ripped physique.

It’s refined carbs –your white bread, your soda, and your candy –that make you fat.

You never have to completely cut your carbs –you simply have to pick the right types of carbs and cycle them.

3. The More Water the Better

This is so simple to do but so effective.

My general rule of thumb is ½ oz of water per pound of bodyweight, but more is better.

4. Metabolism Adapts

If you eat more, you burn more.

If you eat less, you burn less.

That’s because your metabolism adapts to what you give it, and is the reason why ultra-low calorie diets end up failing every time.

Your body has nothing to use for energy, and so tries to store everything that you eat, meaning your fat loss plateaus and becomes stagnate.

5. Cardio Isn’t the Most Effective Exercise for Fat Loss

Are you still pounding away on the treadmill for hours and hours in an effort to lose stubborn fat?

Are you making steady state cardio the mainstay of your routine?

I can guarantee that this is one of the reasons why you’re not making progress and getting the results you want.

Everybody (regardless of age, experience, and ability) is better served to make weight training or HIIT the focus of their program when it comes to getting lean, fit, and healthy.

6. Weight Training is Essential

Strength training is so incredibly underrated when it comes to changing your body.

Weight training absolutely has to be the foundation of your workouts. You don’t have to do bodybuilding-style workouts, but you should be striving to get stronger, be that with free-weights, incorporating weights and bodyweight moves into your HIIT workouts, or even with machines.

A good analogy of this is a sprinter vs. a marathon runner.

The sprinter does virtually no steady state work, and focuses on power, yet is jacked, ripped and lean.

The marathon runner only does cardio, and is skinny, weak and still, has some stubborn fat.

7. Fats Don’t Make You Fat

While the name might imply the opposite, fat isn’t the enemy.

Low-fat foods are actually a huge roadblock to your success, as they’re highly processed, contain nasty ingredients your body doesn’t like, and can seriously wreck your results.

Stick with natural fats like avocados, almonds and olive oil.

8. Consistency is Key

Don’t try to go all out, straight from the start.

Just pick a goal you can easily achieve, and stick with it from day one.

Even if that means you only commit to two 15-minute workouts each week, you’re far better off doing that, and making it a habit, then declaring you’re going to do an hour every day, then completely falling off the wagon by the start of your second week.

9. Goals

“A goal without a date is merely a wish.”

People never achieve anything without set, time-defined goals –so start making them.

Like point #8, making it attainable is crucial, so goals like –

• Make sure I get all my workouts in this week
• Avoid alcohol for the next 7 days
• Have 4 servings of vegetables every day for the next month

Work like a charm.

Even better are 30-day goals, such as –

• Lose 8 pounds
• Drop an inch from my waist
• Fit into my favorite suit again

10. Be Patient, Stay the Course and Let’s Get Fit Together

I cannot stress how important this is.

Patience is a virtue, and never more so than in fitness.

If it took you 5 years to put on excess weight, it won’t come off overnight. Sure, you can make quick progress, but try to keep the big picture in mind.

This runs into staying the course –nothing worth having comes easy, so be prepared to put the work in, enjoy the highs and ride out the lows.

And as for getting fit together?

Are you surrounding yourself with like-minded people who are also goal-driven?

Are you making fitness part of your life?

You know that I’m in your corner, cheering you on, but have you got these kinds of people around you too?

A great social support network can be the difference between failure and success. If you need extra support, head over to HIIT MAX™ ELITE, where you will find a community of people just like you who are there to support you, not to mention support directly from me and my team, with updated workout videos that are updated constantly, new recipes every month, complete training guides and much more!

For a more in-depth look at the 10 things I wish I knew before I got fit, check out the video –