You're about to see the beauty of the Energy Balance Principle -- combined with the many tactics and strategies you'll find here in your membership. You're about to create your own personal, unique strategy for success. It can be amazingly flexible... you can include a lot of variety... and still lose weight.

Many people try to avoid thinking about calories and nutrition and keep hoping for miracle solutions -- when the truth is you have all you need for a personal, extremely effective weight loss strategy if you rely on science: laws of physics, biology and psychology. There are many ways to achieve a calorie reduction in ways that are very doable for YOU.

You can use these tactics for weight maintenance or weight loss (whether gradual weight loss, moderate or quicker weight loss... depending on tactics chosen).

How it Works

It's pretty simple: Every time you use a weight loss tactic on any particular day, you make more progress and lose a little more weight or reduce fat gain. We call those "Weight Loss Days". You get to choose how frequently you do them, how you do them, and to what extent. Over any given period of time (a week, a few weeks, a month, etc), if your net calorie intake is a calorie deficit, you'll lose weight. If you "break even" on calories then you'll maintain weight. (You don't have to count calories, but many people find it helpful: see Calories as budget.)

In general...

The greater your calorie deficit, the more you lose
The more Weight Loss Days you create, the more you lose.

Simple, right?

For any SINGLE Weight Loss Day, you could do any of the following...

High Weight Loss Tactics	Other Weight Loss Tactics
Fasting 24 hrs (Intermittent Fasting) Eat only the "Free" Weight Loss Foods Use the Uniformity Method Eat only Ultimate Magic Meals (vs regular Magic Meals) Follow the Fast Fat Loss Blueprint program for the day Follow the Accelerated Weight Loss Protocol for the day Limit the day to 500 total calories	Fast 16-20 hrs (Intermittent Fasting) Eat only Magic Meals for all meals Use the Uniformity Method Eliminate all carbs (ketogenic) Other ideas on the Strategies Master List page

Frequency of Weight Loss Days

The more Weight Loss Days you have, the better your results. But the beauty of this system is that YOU get to decide what works with your schedule, personality and goals.

You could do them:

One day per week
2 days in a row
3 days in a row
Alternating days
Every weekday, taking weekends off
Every day

Obviously the first option above is more of a weight maintenance approach, and as you increase the frequency of Weight Loss Days, the more it becomes a weight loss approach.

Note: There is some research that indicates our bodies monitor calorie intake over a rolling 3-day period. So for example if you eat less for a day or two, you'll typically eat more the next day or two to make up for it -- often without realizing it.

So if you are not getting the results you want with single Weight Loss Days, you might try doing three (3) Weight Loss Days in a row, followed by a break. As always with flexible dieting, how often you do this "3-Day Diet" is a personal decision based on your life, schedule and what you want to achieve.

Taking Breaks and Eating More

The more weight you are losing, or the more restrictive you have chosen to eat on a daily basis, the more you'll need to consider Diet Vacation principles. Breaks can be for metabolic reasons or psychological reasons or both. Calorie Cycling (see below) naturally incorporates breaks.

Exercise

The more you cut calories, the LESS you can exercise without stalling your weight loss. See Exercise Recommendations.

Add These For a Boost

There are many lifestyle or habit-related tactics that are recommended no matter what you do. You can use them as "add ons" to your routine to boost your results and help create long-term success. See the list on the Strategies Master List page.

Weekly Calorie Cycling ("Zig Zag" Your Calories)

One approach to Flexible Weight Loss is to create some kind of weekly pattern. This is also called "Calorie Cycling". The idea is that you are alternating eating fewer calories with eating normal calories. This naturally builds in breaks. Your total calories over the week determines your result -- if you end up with a calorie deficit, you should lose weight. If you "break even" then you maintain your weight. Either way is great depending on your goal.

You have to experiment to see what works best for you. You may need more breaks or less breaks. Some tactics will work better for you than others.

Examples:

Every day is a Weight Loss Day, except take one day a week off, to eat whatever you want (yes, anything)*.
Every day is a Weight Loss Day, except take weekends off (e.g., 5 Weight Loss Days, 2 days eating whatever you want)*
Every day is a Weight Loss Day, except eat a Flex Meal every other day; or restrict the Flex Meal to just 2 times a week
Alternate Weight Loss Days with normal days
3 continuous Weight Loss Days, 3 continuous days regular eating, 1 day eating anything you want*

* Note: "Whatever you want" typically means just that; anything goes. However, to minimize potential negatives, all you have to do is prepare a Magic Meal, and then eat all that other food you're wanting on top of that.