Build Your Healthy, No-Hassle Lifestyle

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Hey, Brothers,

Building a healthy lifestyle can be a challenge for busy guys like us as we juggle priorities at home and on the job. Social media tells us we must spend hours in the gym building big muscles. But, there’s more to being fit and healthy than muscles. 

In today’s newsletter, I’m going to show you how you can build a healthy and sustainable lifestyle without resorting to crazy diets or grueling workouts. It’s a simple 90-day plan that will help you lose weight, get fit, and stay fit for the rest of your life - whether you need to lose 10 pounds or a hundred pounds. 

And, did I mention that you can do all of this in as little as 30 minutes a day!

Let’s get into it!

Habits Over Hustle 

 The best way to create permanent changes in your fitness isn’t more hustle! 

The best, most scientifically-proven way to make permanent changes to any part of your life, including fitness, is to make small, sustainable changes that you can keep doing every day.

It’s not hustle, it’s habits!

James Clear, author of the best-selling book Atomic Habits, says this about hustle: 

Hustle is about working harder in the moment; habits are about working smarter for life. Clear urges you to invest in habits and systems for results that last.

Start with Identity

At the risk of sounding just a bit woo-woo, we need to spend a moment talking about the power of identity in creating new habits. The fastest way to develop a helpful new habit is to link it with how you see yourself. For example, to begin building a healthier lifestyle, you might say:

I’m a guy who works on my fitness every day.

As you put a small new habit to work every day, coupled with this new view of how you see yourself, small, sustainable changes will begin to take hold. 

The goal of the upcoming plan is to create a system of these small, smart daily habits. This system of smart habits will lead you to the healthy lifestyle you’re seeking. 

This is the smarter, not harder way to achieve the desired result. I know this works, because it helped me lose 70 pounds more than 10 years ago. And, the same system has helped me stay fit ever since!

The ThriveLife 90-Day Plan

The practice of building new habits is fundamentally an act of changing our minds in order to incorporate new daily actions. Scientific studies suggest that it takes an average of 66 days to develop a new habit. This can vary based on the individual person or the complexity of the task. So, I’ve structured this plan over 90 days to allow for individual differences. However, you will likely see results much sooner! 

(The plan also includes links to supporting resources so you can learn more where appropriate.)

Phase 1 (Days 1 - 30) 

Phase 1 is about beginning a new set of healthy daily behaviors by replacing some unhealthy ones. Begin with these four practices:

Identity Shift: suggest a new fitness-related aspect to your identity, such as: “I’m a guy who works on my fitness every day.”  Write this down and review it daily.

Begin a Daily Weigh-In Ritual: what gets measured gets managed! (And what doesn’t get measured doesn’t get managed!) Do it the same way, at the same time every day (hence ritual). I suggest early morning, before food or drink. There is powerful psychology in this practice. Read more about daily weigh-in rituals here.

Start Walking: 15-30 minutes every day at a comfortable pace. 

Improve Your Nutrition: We’ll focus on this a lot in the 90 days. Because your weight loss battle will be won in the kitchen, not the gym. For now, begin by deleting sugar from your diet and replacing it with an artificial sweetener. Choose diet sodas going forward. 

Phase 2 (Days 31 - 60)

Phase 2 builds on your success of Phase 1 and adds additional layers of healthy actions to your efforts. We focus on simple, but dramatic changes in your nutrition that will fuel your weight loss. Make these adjustments:

Identity Shift #2: tweak your identity shift with a new, more focused  fitness-related aspect, such as: “I fuel and train my body for fitness every day.”  Write this down and review it daily.

Continue Your Daily Weigh-In Ritual: keep up the good work. Consider graphing the results to show your weight-loss curve. There is power in reviewing this curve daily!

Keep Walking: Set a goal of at least 30 minutes every day at Zone 2 pace. This is 60-70% of your max heart rate. Walking at this pace is our most powerful way to lose body fat!

Further Improve Your Nutrition: In this phase, we want to eliminate as many Red Zone foods (high-glycemic index) as possible. This includes the following: sugar, white flour, white rice, white potatoes, corn, and high-fructose corn syrup. I call this exiting the Red Zone. Replace Red Zone calories with protein from lean meats, fish and poultry. Also, avoid hunger by choosing to eat well at meal-time, and choosing healthier snacks when necessary. Read more about the ThriveLife approach to nutrition here and here.

Add this new element:

Move Hourly: Get five minutes of movement (walking) every hour you are awake. This small movement stimulates your metabolism, increasing your daily calorie burn. This is also a great way to counteract the negative consequences of sitting!

Phase 3 (Days 61 - 90)

Phase 3 is about fine-tuning your approach to your specific needs and preferences. Experiment as needed to find what works best for you. Make these adjustments:

Identity Shift #3: Tweak your identity shift with a more all-encompassing perspective, such as “I’m living a fit and healthy life.” Use this identity shift as a lens to view decisions: Does this enhance or detract from my healthy life? Review it daily.

Continue Your Daily Weigh-In Ritual: Keep up your good work here. Review your graph often. After all…what gets measured gets managed. 

Keep Walking: Consider setting a daily step goal of at least 7,000 -10,000 steps a day. (Consider using a step-counter such as an Apple Watch or Fitbit.) Get as much Zone 2 cardio as your schedule will allow (preferably 30 minutes+).

Fine-Tune Your Nutrition: In Phase 3, the goals are to stay out of the Red Zone and to eliminate as many ultra-processed foods as possible. The rule of thumb for healthy nutrition is to focus on simple, single-ingredient foods at least 90% of the time. Think: farm-raised foods instead of factory-made foods.

Move Hourly: Keep moving hourly. Consider taking short leisurely walks after mealtime. This helps with digestion and reducing the effects of blood sugar spikes after eating. 

Follow this simple plan to build your healthy new lifestyle:

• In 30 days, you’ll be on your way.

• In 60 days, you’ll have your smart daily habits dialed in.

• In 90 days, you’ll have your healthy new lifestyle locked in!

Welcome to your ThriveLife!

When you’re ready for a real and sustainable fitness transformation, here are three ways I can help you:

#1 - Sign up for this newsletter. Every week, you’ll receive tested, actionable tips and strategies to help you build your own customized version of the ThriveLife that fits your needs, preferences, and personal style. And, it’s free!

#2 - For a Do-It-Yourself approach to the ThriveLife, download your free copy of my new ebook: 6 Smart Moves To Your ThriveLife. Just click the button below.

#3 - When you’re ready to join a community of other busy 50+ Guys building their ThriveLives together, check out my new ThriveLife Transformation course. The ThriveLife Transformation guides you through a 30-day transformation process which includes online video training and daily support and assistance through our online community. Join alone or bring your friends. To learn more about the ThriveLife Transformation, click the button below.

Do You Know Somebody?

Do you know a 50+ Guy who’s struggling with their weight and fitness?

Please consider sharing this information with them. Just forward your copy of this email to them. Or, give them a free copy of my 6 Smart Moves ebook!

It might change their life!

(And remember, this works for Under-50 Guys, too!)

Thanks for reading this week.

I write this newsletter to make a positive impact on the lives of 50+ Guys and their families. If you found this information useful, please consider subscribing to receive new editions each week.

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