During my interview with Steve Kamb of Nerd Fitness on last week’s podcast, he was asked by yours truly to develop a workout program for Eventualists everywhere. Man, did he deliver – and as eventually as possible. Good on him.
So – without further fanfare because I didn’t write it – is The Eventualist Workout.
THE EVENTUALIST WORKOUT (courtesy of Nerd Fitness)
Alright, so you’ve made the decision that you want to get in shape…eventually.
Good for you. Find out what you want to look like eventually, and how much you’d like to weigh one day. Write down your goals (lose 30 pounds, have 6-pack abs, run a marathon), and then I want you do to absolutely nothing. Take the day off, you’ve earned it! However, I do want you to think of one specific change you’ll make TOMORROW to get in shape. If you’re used to doing absolutely nothing, decide to get up 20 minutes earlier tomorrow morning and go for a walk around your neighborhood.
Diet
Your diet and what you eat will be responsible for 80% of your success or failure when it comes to getting in shape. Next time you go to the grocery store, keep buying whatever you normally buy. And then eat that for a week. Did you lose weight? No, hmmm…then we should probably change something. How about you make a pledge for the NEXT time you go shopping to buy one extra healthy thing and one less junk food item: wheat bread instead of white bread, grilled chicken instead of fried chicken, water instead soda. If you make one change a week to your diet, eventually you’ll get to where you want to be. Depending on how drastic those changes are, you can get to that goal weight pretty quickly if you stick with it.
Here are the basics for your Eventualist diet:
Protein: chicken, fish, lean ground beef, eggs, almonds, peanuts, legumes, low fat milk, cottage cheese. Eat this stuff, and eat it in every meal.
Good carbs: vegetables, fruits, brown rice, oatmeal, whole grains, yams, sweet potatoes.
Examples: Grilled chicken and rice, eggs and wheat toast, grilled salmon and asparagus, Cheerios and low-fat milk. Keep it simple and keep it healthy!
Some other tips:
- Liquid calories add up quickly. If you normally drink 2 cokes a day and cut them from your diet completely, you can lose 20 pounds in a year from this one change.
- Figure out how many calories you eat in a day. Starting tomorrow, find a way to eat 500 calories less a day, and you’ll lose a pound a week!
- Eat breakfast tomorrow morning, and donuts and muffins don’t count. Eggs, oatmeal, fruit, granola, and/or yogurt.
- Cut fast food from your diet whenever possible: bring your lunch to work!
Exercise
We’ve already established that your diet is 80% of the battle. Here’s the other 20%. Get up and do something! We’ve already established that you’re not going to do a single thing today, and that’s fine. But have a specific plan in place for what you’re going to do tomorrow. If you did 10 pushups yesterday, go for 11 tomorrow. And then 12 pushups two days after that. If you can walk a mile in 20 minutes, try to walk it in 19 minutes the next day. Add 20 minutes in your schedule somewhere (and I know you have 20 minutes), and alternate between strength training and cardiovascular work each day).
Here’s a sample Eventualist exercise program:
- Sunday: Do Nothing
- Monday: Push ups, lunges, and bodyweight squats
- Tuesday: Walk your dog for 20 minutes
- Wednesday: Push ups with your feet up on your bed, pull ups on your kid’s jungle gym, bodyweight squats
- Thursday: Jump rope for 20 minutes
- Friday: Push ups, lunges (with your hands behind your head), bodyweight squats.
- Saturday: Wrestle with your kids in the back yard.
Depending on how hard you push yourself on each of these days, you’ll see varying degrees of eventual success.
Most importantly, find a way to improve yourself tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that. If you change one small thing a day, eventually you’ll be in shape!
(You can download a PDF of The Eventualist Workout here.)
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I like this. The 500 calories a day is fantastic advice and not so hard to do, in my opinion, as the pushs up with your feet on the bed!
) I also like the one thing a day. Every little bit matters. Thanks for the post!
Getting in shape involves three things (on top of a positive mental outlook) in this order:
1. Eating right
2. Lifting weights
3. Cardio
Making progress on your physique requires focus, discipline, and time.
More info:
Lean Lifters
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