It all starts with the mind.

Visualize the person you want to become. Picture yourself very lean, walking on the beach and receiving all those compliments for your hard work. Feed your subconscious mind with those images day and night. Whether you believe in the power of visualization or not, this law really works. It’s up to you to decide if you are going to use the most powerful tool in the universe. I personally use visualization in all areas of my life, personal and professional. Just the fact that I am sitting here and writing this article is a result of applying this law.

One of my favorite quotes is from Arnold Schwarzenegger: “You can have the best ship or plane in the world, but if the captain doesn’t know where to go it will just drift around and never get anywhere.” In order to hit a target you first need to have one. Create your goals and write them down on a piece of paper. Only then can you really engage your subconscious mind. Most of the people who are successful today have their goals written down. Always set a deadline for your goals. This will keep you focused.

There is a very important question you have to answer as well: Why are you doing this? Your why has to be strong enough to wake you up and push you when you feel like giving up on your goals.

This is one of the most important things for fat loss. Your body needs 7-9 hours of sleep for optimal hormonal balance. And when I say sleep, I mean quality sleep. Here are few tips to help you sleep better:

• Allow at least 3 hours from the time you had a dinner before going to bed
• Don’t look at any screens (TV, laptop, smartphones) 2-3 hours before bed
• Listen to an audio book or read
• Make sure the room is dark
• Different forms of magnesium will help promote sleep
• Set the thermostat for 68-70 °F degrees (20 °C), the perfect sleeping temperature.

Never snack after dinner. You need to allow 11-12 hours without food from your dinner to your breakfast the next day. This follows the natural cycle of a hormone called leptin which is the most powerful fat storage hormone.

The first thing to put in your body in the morning should be water. Start your day with the juice of half a lemon and a pinch of sea salt in a cup of warm water to help detox your liver and prepare your stomach for digestion. Then, throughout the day, aim to get around 2-3 liters of water. Juice, coffee and sodas are NOT water. Many times, we confuse the feeling of hunger with the feeling of thirst and we give our body food when what it really needs is water

I love the look on people’s faces when I tell them that they need to cut out or drastically down on carbohydrates. “But I need my oatmeal in the morning!” is a common response. The answer is actually, no, you don’t need the oatmeal unless you’re an athlete expending mass amounts of calories and requiring more fuel for performance. Carbs are the only non-essential nutrient, meaning your body will be totally fine without them. Once you cut the carbs and lose the fat you want, you can slowly re-introduce them in moderate quantities.

I want to share an interesting study that was done in the University of Michigan. This is for all of you cereal lovers. Rats were divided into two groups. One group was fed cereal and the other was fed the box of the cereal (yes, the cardboard box.) The group that ate the cereal died first. I will let you draw your own conclusions here. Think about that next time you have cereal for breakfast. A low-carb breakfast is a much better way to start the day. It will energize you and you will avoid that sleepy feeling you have after eating oatmeal.

I wish I could tell you that there is shortcut or magic pill for getting lean. There is only ONE way to get results which is work, hard work. For fat loss, you should train 4 to 6 times a week for the best results. And don’t worry if you can train only 2 or 3 times – it’s still better than 0.

The best way to lose fat is to build muscle. You need weight training in order to succeed. This is like investing. You want to see the results for the long term. Make the weights your best friends. Free weights are superior to machines. Focus on exercises that give you the most bang for your buck like squats, deadlifts, pullups, bench presses and rows. Make sure you find a quality instructor to show you proper form as they are very complex exercises. Cardio when done in the right way will help as well.

The scale is not always the best way to figure out if what you’re doing is working. Have your body fat percentage checked once a week and take pictures to track your progress. It’s a great motivation tool when you see the numbers moving in the direction you want!

There are many factors that can affect the fat loss, but these 7 laws are what I’ve found to be the most effective. Stay tuned for more details! I will be going more in-depth on each one in future posts. Assuming you do not have any major medical conditions that might require special consideration, I’m confident these laws will help you achieve your fat loss goals.

One thing to keep in mind is that everyone is different, so having an individual assessment conducted by a qualified professional including medical history, nutrition, lifestyle and exercise evaluation will help maximize and fast-track your results.

Please feel free to contact us. We provide personal training and fitness chef services (we cook for you) in the Washington DC area. Worldwide online coaching is available as well.

Get lean,

Coach Dimitar Pavlov