EVEN THOUGH YOU’LL SEE REMARKABLE WEIGHT LOSS RESULTS BY SIMPLY FOLLOWING the exercise portion of Sleekify, weight loss—like I mentioned earlier in this book—is a three-part plan.
A lot of people try the “exercise-only” approach to losing body fat, believing that the more they work out, the safer they are when it comes to eating whatever they want and sacrificing as little as possible in their diets. That sort of wishful thinking isn’t how a boxer prepares for a fight or a model prepares for a show, and it’s definitely not how you should prepare your body in order to become Sleekified.
Making the right changes to your diet is an essential part of the Sleekify program, since it accelerates how quickly you shed fat and show off that leaner, defined physique underneath—a body you’ve worked hard for and are proud of.
I’m the same weight today that I was twenty-five years ago, despite being twice as old and no longer fighting professionally. The reason: Beyond staying active, I still put as much thought into what I put in my body now as I did back then.
Every day, you have a variety of nutritional decisions in front of you—decisions that determine if you will fail or succeed with Sleekify. Make enough poor choices and you could easily undo what my program can help you achieve. However, make enough right choices and you’ll quickly strip away even more fat, develop more lean muscle, and reset the rate at which you burn calories so you look even fitter and sleeker. After all, no one drops weight faster than a boxer in training.
It’s important to respect food, but many people do exactly the opposite.
I treat food as fuel. I know that when I wake up in the morning, I’ll be teaching five to six sessions that day that will be physically demanding, so I make sure I give my body what it needs in order to survive and achieve for that day—and nothing more. And when I’m not teaching, my appetite adjusts accordingly.
If everything you eat, every bite you take, fulfills that purpose, then you’re on the right track. But if any single bite you consume is for other reasons—such as out of boredom, to satisfy an emotional need, as a reward, or because you’re accustomed to cleaning your plate instead of wasting food—then you’re most likely consuming excess calories that your body doesn’t really need.
If food is fuel, then what you end up doing is flooding your tank. There needs to be balance in your diet and a purpose behind each meal. That’s why I recommend eating only between 1,200 calories (for women) and 1,500 calories (for men) daily while following the Sleekify program. Sticking with these guidelines, you’ll be fueling up with only enough calories to match your energy needs for the program—and not a calorie more.
However, I realize that adhering to a diet of this size—especially since I’m not aware of how many calories you’re currently eating—may be intense for some. If you feel that may be the case, then I need you to be aware of a few important things.
One, these guidelines are a target range that I’m hoping you’ll hit, but I can’t be there with you to make sure that you do. Ideally, for maximum results, this is the range to stick with, but the Sleekify high-intensity exercise program is so effective at burning calories that even if you find yourself eating more calories than expected, you’re guaranteed to see amazing results.
Two, once you’ve reached your fitness goals, know that you’ll be able to reintroduce more calories back into your diet on a regular basis, which I’ll show you how to do in a later chapter. If you keep in mind that the calorie change you’re about to embark on is temporary, it may help you find the strength to stick with it for the short term.
I’ve always been a “calories in–calories out” kind of person. But I also know that eating a few hundred calories’ worth of lean meat, fruits, and vegetables affects the body far differently than eating a few hundred calories worth of candy, white bread, and soda.
Your body processes different foods in different ways, and the more unnatural, heavily processed—or as I like to say, “man-u-fractured”—a food is, the more devoid it is of nutrients, fiber, and other things that satiate your hunger, heal your body, and feed your muscles. These types of foods may technically be fuel because they can provide energy, but they’re like fuel with sand mixed in. They simply sit in the body.
Instead, stick with clean foods that are packed with more nutrients for the body to process. I have my clients try to eat food that’s as natural as possible with either no preservatives or as few as possible. Basically: If it doesn’t grow naturally from the ground or above it, stay away from it. That means eliminating all processed, refined foods (such as bagels, pretzels, processed rice, and pasta), refined sugar, sodas, fruit beverages, cakes, cookies, and alcohol from your diet.
Mind you, this is what I would consider a dream scenario, and I understand that being able to eat nothing but all-natural foods is a matter of convenience as well as affordability. That said, if you don’t have the option of eating all-natural foods all the time, just know that this workout is so effective, it actually helps with your body’s processing and digesting of whatever food you do consume.
To maximize how efficiently your body processes your food, break up your daily caloric intake into smaller, more frequent portions throughout the day. This is a smart strategy for several reasons:
Larger meals raise your blood sugar levels, which can trigger an increase in the release of insulin within your bloodstream. Unfortunately, your body’s response to all that extra insulin is to immediately store a greater portion of the calories you’re eating as body fat.
When you eat five or six smaller meals and space them two to three hours apart, your body maintains a steady blood sugar level throughout the day, minimizing how much insulin your body releases so you don’t store as many excess calories as fat.
It also provides your body with a steady stream of fuel that prevents you from bingeing—plus, your body burns a certain amount of calories just to digest food. By eating more often, you’ll boost your metabolism more often just to process your food, so you’ll burn off more fat and reveal more muscle.
Most people eat the bulk of their daily calories in the evenings, around 5 to 7 P.M.—the exact time when they typically begin to relax and engage in less activity before eventually falling asleep. The problem is you’re not really doing anything to burn off the calories you’ve just eaten when you consume them later in the day. In other words, you’re fueling up your body when you’ve already reached the finish line—you’re flooding your engine.
For me, I do a great deal of my work in the morning. So between 2 and 3 P.M.—around the time the average person may reach for a snack to satisfy themselves between lunch and dinner—I actually need more calories so I have enough energy to teach several classes between 6 and 9 P.M. Eating my largest meal between 2 and 4 P.M. works for my clients and me—and here’s why.
In the morning, your metabolism is at its fastest, while in the evenings, your metabolism is at its slowest. Because of this, some people believe you should eat the bulk of your calories in the morning, then taper them off by eating less throughout the day to stay in line with your metabolism. This can leave you feeling sluggish as the day goes on, with less energy to devote to working out later (especially if the only time you have to exercise is in the evenings).
Eating on more of a bell curve—less in the morning, more in the midafternoon, then less at night—ensures that you’ll always have energy to exercise without overfilling your tank with excess calories it has no choice but to store as fat while you sleep.
Sipping water throughout the day—especially before, during, and after every meal—can leave you feeling more satiated (so you’re less hungry) and helps your body process food faster as it absorbs even more nutrients from the foods you’re eating. Being dehydrated can have the opposite effect, which can lower your work tolerance considerably, causing you to put less effort into the Sleekify exercise program, or worse, possibly quit from feeling too tired or weak.
Plain water is my main drink. I might have vegetable juice once in a while, and if I have orange juice (which I’m prone to do because I tend to lean toward the sweet things), I always cut it with seltzer water. But I take in only about a liter of water a day (roughly 33 ounces)—and that’s being active. That’s also about half of what’s typically recommended by nutritionists, who believe 64 ounces is the minimum one should drink each day. But what I’ve noticed with people who want that “performance body” but can never achieve it is that their bodies tend to hold on to water.
I know you might think: “Wait a minute! I can’t even drink water?” But as a boxer, when it’s necessary to make weight in a month, or even with the women I train for the Victoria’s Secret show, it’s important to cut back on water intake. It’s a change that will allow you to see more muscular definition under your skin.
If you’re worried about not getting enough fluids, remember that your body draws a large percentage of its water from the foods that you eat. The reason most people tend to be dehydrated is that the majority of their diet is processed foods, many of which are devoid of water. Because you’ll be eating nothing but natural foods, such as fruits and water-laden vegetables, your body will already be taking in an adequate amount of water from your diet alone.
When you do drink, avoid any beverages with calories—including alcohol—and drink only water, plain tea (iced or hot), or plain coffee. That goes for diet and sugar-free drinks as well, since many contain artificial sweeteners and chemicals that can cause water retention. Finally, if water seems “tasteless” to you, try adding an all-natural flavoring, such as a squirt of lemon or lime juice or even a simple mint leaf.
Eggs are one of my favorite foods and a staple in my diet, but when I eat them is entirely up to my body. I never feel as if I have to eat specific foods at specific times throughout the day, such as having eggs for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch, and a salad for dinner. Instead, I let my body decide what it wants, when it wants it, so long as what it wants stays true to the amount of calories per day that I’m allowed to eat. That’s why with Sleekify, I may offer guidance on how many calories and what types of foods you should eat, but when you decide to eat them is up to you.
That preconditioning to eat certain foods at certain times is something our parents (who may have meant well) and society have taught us, but I’ve never felt the need to eat as we’ve been programmed to do. So long as you’re giving your body what it needs, keeping your calorie limit at the right level, and choosing all-natural foods, don’t worry about what everyone else is eating. Instead, focus on what your body needs and wants each day.
Whenever possible, try to have every meal be a combination of complex carbohydrates, protein, and healthy fats. To be more specific, each meal should be a mix of:
• A low-glycemic and/or complex carbohydrate (from fruits, veggies, and select grains, such as oats, brown rice, or quinoa)
• A high-quality protein (from low-fat meats, dairy products, or combining grains and legumes)
• Some form of healthy fats (from seeds, nuts, oils, or any type of fatty fish)
The reason: These three nutrients are broken down at different speeds by your body. By eating a mix in each meal, you’ll give your body a sustained even flow of energy that will surprisingly leave you feeling fuller—oftentimes, you’ll feel fuller than if you had consumed more calories of unhealthier foods that weren’t a blend (which is how most people eat). This mix also makes you less likely to see a spike in your blood sugar levels, so your body will be less likely to store excess calories in your system as fat.
• Any type of lean meat or low-fat dairy product, including (but not limited to): chicken breast, cottage cheese, egg whites, any type of fish (Atlantic cod, flounder, grouper, haddock, halibut, sea bass, and trout, for example), pork (lean), protein powder, red meat (lean), skim milk, turkey breast, and yogurt.
• Any type of vegetable, including (but not limited to): asparagus, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, cucumber, edamame, eggplant, green beans, kale, lettuce, mushrooms, onions, peppers, spinach, squash, and tomatoes.
• Any type of whole fruit, including (but not limited to): apples, apricots, bananas, blackberries, blueberries, cantaloupe, cherries, dates, figs, grapes, grapefruits, green apples, guava, kiwis, mangos, melon, oranges, papayas, peaches, pears, pineapples, plums, pomegranates, raspberries, strawberries, tangerines, and watermelon.
• Any type of bean or whole grain, including (but not limited to): black beans, brown rice, cannellini beans, chickpeas, kidney beans, lentils, lima beans, pinto beans, quinoa, steel-cut oats, whole-wheat bread, and wild rice.
• Any type of nut, seed, or fatty fish, including (but not limited to): almonds, avocados, Brazil nuts, cashews, flaxseed oil, hazelnuts, olive oil, olives, peanuts, pecans, pine nuts, pumpkin seeds, salmon, sunflower seeds, tuna, and walnuts.
Because I don’t believe in eating by the rules—meaning, eating certain types of foods at certain times of the day—neither should you. However, I also realize that some people may feel more comfortable eating that way. That said, here are a few recommendations on just a few types of 250- to 350-calorie meals you can create using a mix of my Sleekify-approved foods:
• 1 serving of Greek yogurt with a small handful of raspberries and ½ whole-wheat bagel (300 calories)
• An egg-white omelet (made with 4 egg whites), one handful of spinach, ½ tomato (chopped), one handful of chopped onion, and 1 oz. goat or feta cheese (250 calories)
• 1 protein shake (one scoop) using ½ cup soy milk and ½ banana (275 calories)
• ¼ cup steel-cut oatmeal with strawberries and 4 egg whites (250 calories)
• 1 protein shake (one scoop) using water and 1 tbsp. all-natural peanut butter (200 calories)
• An egg-white omelet (made with 3 egg whites) with ½ cup chopped veggies, ½ grapefruit, and 1 cup skim milk (225 calories)
• 4 oz. nonfat cottage cheese, ½ cup pineapple chunks, and 10 to 12 almonds (225 calories)
• 3 oz. chicken breast with a slice of low-fat Swiss cheese, 1 slice of avocado, and 1 slice of tomato—all wrapped in a large piece of dark-leaf lettuce (250 calories)
• 1 can of tuna (low-sodium and packed in water) mixed with 1 cucumber (diced) stuffed in a whole-wheat pita (300 calories)
• 4 oz. sliced beef tenderloin, 2 cups mixed greens, and 1 tsp. olive oil (275 calories)
• 1 protein smoothie—mix one semi-frozen bag of fruit, 8 oz. nonfat Greek yogurt, and a dozen almonds (275 calories)
• ¼ cup steel-cut oats mixed with ½ pear (sliced in chunks), ½ oz. chopped almonds, and ½ tbsp. raw honey (300 calories)
• ½ cup vegetarian chili topped with 1 oz. grated cheddar cheese (250 calories)
• Salmon and avocado sushi roll (300 calories)
• 4 oz. baked trout, ⅓ cup quinoa, and ½ cup green beans (275 calories)
• 4 oz. sirloin round steak on a bed of arugula, 1 chopped tomato, and 1 tbsp. sunflower seeds (300 calories)
• 3 oz. chicken breast (grilled), ½ cup brown rice, and 1 cup steamed broccoli (300 calories)
• 3 oz. thinly sliced rib steak, 1 oz. mozzarella cheese, and 1 tomato sliced, drizzled with 1 tsp. olive oil and 1 tsp. balsamic vinegar (250 calories)
• 4 oz. roasted pork tenderloin served with ⅓ cup long-grain rice and 4 oz. asparagus (275 calories)
• 3 oz. broiled tuna, one medium-sized sweet potato, and ⅓ cup snow peas (250 calories)
• ½ cup black beans mixed with ⅓ cup brown rice and ½ cup chopped vegetables—bell peppers, onions, and tomatoes (250 calories)
• 1 medium-sized apple, 8–10 raw walnuts, and 3 egg whites (275 calories)
• 1 cup sliced peppers, celery, and baby carrots, 2 egg whites, and 2 tbsp. hummus (200 calories)
• 4 large stalks of celery topped with 2 tbsp. all-natural peanut butter (250 calories)
• 1 cup edamame and a piece of whole-grain toast (275 calories)
• 1 stick of string cheese, 1 orange, and 1 tbsp. pumpkin seeds (200 calories)
• 1½ cups air-popped popcorn and 1 tbsp. cashews (225 calories)
• ¾ cup grapes, ½ cup almond milk, and 1 oz. peanuts (275 calories)
AERO-TIP—Stay within your comfort zone. Spinach may be healthy for you and a great water-laden, low-calorie vegetable, but it’s helpful to your body only if it can make it past your mouth. Instead of forcing yourself to eat every type of healthier fare, don’t be afraid to stick with the few foods you know you’ll eat, even if that ends up being a limited few.
AERO-TIP—Know what 100 looks like. The next time you’re eating, measure out exactly 100 calories of whatever natural food you’re about to eat, then write down that size—or take a quick picture of it on your phone. Having a visual reference of what 100 calories physically looks like of the types of foods you’ll be eating often can give you a rough idea of how much you’re consuming during each meal.
AERO-TIP—Charge up before you sweat it out. If you’re not caffeine-sensitive, try taking 100–150 milligrams of caffeine—the amount you get from a large cup of plain coffee—sixty minutes prior to your workout. The extra caffeine will help mobilize the free fatty acids in your blood, causing your body to use more fat as fuel instead of glycogen (the stored carbohydrates in your body that your body relies on for energy). The end result: You’ll burn more fat, plus have more glycogen to use for longer, stronger workouts.