You Cannot Outrun a Bad Diet

About five years ago, I was overweight.

Not severely, but I was definitely 22 lbs overweight.

Just like most people, I decided to lose weight.

So where did I start?
I started doing hella cardio.

And I’m not the type of person who goes on a 30-minute jog. Nope. I go hard.

I did 45 minutes of hardcore cardio on the treadmill, cranked to maximum incline, running 8-10 km per hour.

My calves were f*cking HUGE from it.

So, did I lose weight?
Yep.

But here’s the kicker—not only did that take a ton of time, but it also made me way hungrier than I should’ve been.

So, I ate more.

Despite that, I still lost weight.

But… I was tired all the damn time. I barely had energy to work out, and I felt completely depleted.

I managed to stick with that grind for months. And yep, I was lean.

Fast forward a year… After I got lean, I purposely gained a little weight again during the winter. Winters in the Netherlands can be pretty brutal (my Canadian readers are probably laughing at me right now).

When summer was nearing, I decided to get lean again. At first, I planned to do the same thing I did last time to lose the weight, but then I thought, Why not try something different?

Why not try going on a diet?

The reason was simple: I was way too busy to tack on 45 minutes of cardio to my workouts. Plus, I didn’t want my workouts to suffer because of excessive cardio.

I won’t go into all the details about my diet, but let me tell you this:

I lost a crap-ton of weight waaay faster than with cardio.

Oh, and instead of all that treadmill torture, I just upped my daily walking a bit. That’s it.

As a bonus, I felt better, had way more energy, and spent less time in the gym—which meant more time for other stuff.

Why is that?

Well, it’s way easier to decrease your calorie intake than to increase your calories burned.

Let me break it down:

Here’s how long it takes to burn 100 calories:

• Walking (3 mph): ~25 minutes

• Yoga: ~25 minutes

• Biking (10 mph): ~12 minutes

• Running (6 mph): ~10 minutes

• HIIT: ~6-10 minutes

And 100 calories? That’s like one can of soda.

By simply replacing one can of soda with water, you save yourself at least 10 minutes of cardio torture.

So, for anyone looking to lose weight in the new year:

Always, always start with diet and add cardio as a bonus.

And even then, I’d recommend just going for a walk instead.
Walking is chill, easy, and doesn’t make you feel like death.

That’s it for this email!

Hope you enjoy your New Year’s Eve.

I’ll be a good boy this evening and barely drink.

Why?
Because I want to create high-quality content for you all so you can kick off the new year with some solid fitness advice.

Have fun and stay safe around fireworks!
You’ll need all your fingers for lifting in the gym.

Kind regards,
Coach Loc