7 Golden Rules I Used to Get Under 10% Bodyfat

Summary

The speaker shares seven key changes that helped them achieve significant fat loss and better overall health. These include shifting focus from calorie counting to nutrient density, embracing cardio, viewing fats as vital nutrients rather than fuel, avoiding social media comparisons, addressing boredom-driven hunger, accepting veggie starches, and reconsidering insulin's role in metabolism. By adopting these sustainable habits, the speaker reports effortlessly reaching under 10% body fat. The advice centers on practical, balanced approaches to diet and exercise, emphasizing personal well-being over rigid tracking or extreme restrictions.

Takeaways

• 🍎 I stopped obsessively counting calories and focused more on nutrient-dense foods, leading to better satiety and energy levels.
• 🏃‍♂️ Embracing cardio, such as running and hiking, helped me get leaner and improve muscle recovery, rather than fearing it would harm my muscle gains.
• 🥑 I stopped viewing fat as merely a fuel source and began seeing it as a vital nutrient with different types serving different purposes.
• 💡 I stopped trying to imitate what every fitness influencer does and focused on what works best for me personally.
• 🤔 I realized that hunger is often psychological rather than physiological and learned to differentiate between actual hunger and boredom.
• 🥕 I stopped fearing starchy vegetables, realizing they provide important micronutrients and energy.
• 💉 I stopped demonizing insulin spikes, recognizing that insulin is essential for growth and repair, and focused on bringing insulin levels down after a spike.
• 🌱 I tracked my protein intake more carefully than calories, ensuring I get enough for muscle maintenance and recovery.
• 💪 Cardiovascular fitness, particularly improving VO2 max, not only helps with fat loss but also supports muscle growth and overall health.
• 😌 I adopted healthier lifestyle habits like better sleep, lower stress, and balanced nutrition to manage my body's response to insulin and maintain fat loss effortlessly.

Q & A

Why did the speaker stop counting calories so meticulously?

The speaker stopped counting calories like a maniac because focusing on nutrient density and satiety had a greater impact on their fat loss. By prioritizing wholesome foods, they felt more energetic and less stressed, which led to better results.

What is the speaker's current approach to tracking nutrients?

The speaker now only tracks protein intake, as they find it crucial to ensure they're getting enough. They focus on whole foods and don't worry as much about total calorie count.

How did changing the speaker's perspective on cardio impact their fat loss and muscle growth?

When the speaker stopped believing that cardio would kill their muscle gains, they embraced activities like running, hiking, and HIIT. This not only helped them burn more fat but also improved their muscle definition and overall performance in the gym.

What did the speaker realize about fat as a nutrient versus a fuel source?

The speaker stopped thinking of fat primarily as a fuel source and instead views it as an essential nutrient. They emphasize the different nutritional values of various fats rather than consuming fat simply to burn fat.

Why does the speaker believe it’s important not to imitate everything seen on social media?

The speaker argues that trying to follow too many different experts’ approaches leads to confusion and stress. Instead, they recommend finding what works for the individual and adopting principles from others rather than copying entire lifestyles.

How did fasting change the speaker's understanding of hunger?

Fasting taught the speaker that much of what they thought was hunger was actually boredom. They learned that their body has efficient mechanisms to fuel itself, and occupying their mind or drinking water often reduced perceived hunger.

What changed the speaker's view on starchy vegetables?

The speaker used to avoid starchy vegetables but now recognizes their importance for nutrient density, vitamins, and minerals. They realized that occasional starchy carbs can actually boost energy and focus.

What is the speaker's current view on insulin?

The speaker no longer sees insulin spikes as inherently bad. They emphasize that it’s chronic hyperinsulinemia that is problematic. Insulin spikes are necessary for metabolism, and the goal should be to return insulin levels to normal after a spike through healthy habits.

How does the speaker manage insulin levels post-spike?

The speaker manages insulin levels by maintaining a healthy lifestyle, consuming protein and fiber, doing high-intensity exercise, reducing stress, and ensuring adequate sleep.

What is the key message the speaker emphasizes about personalizing fat loss strategies?

The speaker highlights the importance of personalizing fat loss strategies by experimenting and finding what works best for the individual. Instead of rigidly following others, they encourage people to adopt ideas that fit their personal needs and lifestyle.

Outlines

00:00

🧘‍♂️ Focusing on Nutrient Density Over Calorie Counting

The speaker emphasizes how they stopped obsessively counting calories and shifted focus toward the nutrient density of foods. They still acknowledge the importance of energy balance but highlight that focusing on whole, nutrient-dense foods improved satiety and energy. This change led to a more active lifestyle, better calorie expenditure, and improved overall happiness. While tracking protein intake remains important, religious calorie counting is deemed unnecessary.

05:01

🏃‍♂️ Embracing Cardio Without Fear of Losing Muscle

The speaker discusses how letting go of the fear that cardio would kill muscle gains resulted in better fat loss and overall well-being. By enjoying activities like running, high-intensity interval training (HIIT), biking, and hiking, they not only burned fat but also experienced improved recovery, muscle appearance, and workout volume. Embracing cardio also supports longevity and cardiovascular health, enhancing performance in strength training.

10:02

🥑 Rethinking Fat as a Vital Nutrient, Not Just Fuel

The speaker explains their shift from viewing fat merely as a fuel source to seeing it as a vital nutrient. They caution against the misconception that consuming fat directly leads to burning fat and stress the importance of understanding different types of fats, such as polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, each with distinct nutritional benefits. Consuming fats should be focused on their nutritional value, not just their caloric content.

🌍 Supporting Local Farmers: House of Macadamia Nuts

Here, the speaker promotes their sponsor, House of Macadamia, a company that grows and processes macadamia nuts in South Africa. They highlight the freshness, affordability, and sustainability of the product, while also offering viewers a discount and a free box of Namibian sea salt macadamia nuts as part of the promotion. The speaker encourages supporting the local farmers and communities involved in production.

🤯 Avoiding Social Media Paralysis by Doing What Works for You

The speaker shares how they stopped trying to replicate every fitness and health practice from social media influencers, such as Peter Attia, Andrew Huberman, or Joe Rogan. They advise against getting overwhelmed by trying to do what everyone else does and instead recommend focusing on what works individually for one's own fitness and nutrition. The key takeaway is to adapt principles from others, but ultimately build a personalized routine.

🧠 Recognizing the Difference Between Hunger and Boredom

The speaker describes how they learned to differentiate between true hunger and boredom, largely through the practice of fasting. They suggest that hunger can often be psychological rather than physiological, and encourage people to try distracting themselves, like going for a walk, to see if the feeling of hunger subsides. This practice helps manage unnecessary eating and supports fat loss by controlling food intake better.

🥕 Understanding the Importance of Starchy Vegetables

Initially worried about consuming even starchy vegetables during a low-carb diet, the speaker eventually realized the importance of these vegetables for their nutrient density. They explain how consuming small amounts of starchy vegetables like butternut squash provides essential vitamins and minerals, which improved their overall health and energy. This shift contributed to a more balanced and sustainable approach to low-carb eating.

💉 Recognizing the Importance of Insulin for Health

In this section, the speaker addresses the misconception that insulin is inherently harmful. While hyperinsulinemia (chronically high insulin) is problematic, normal insulin spikes are crucial for cellular metabolism, growth, and repair. The key point is that insulin spikes themselves aren’t harmful—what matters is ensuring insulin levels return to normal afterward through healthy lifestyle choices like exercise, good sleep, and proper nutrition.

Keywords

💡Calorie counting

The process of meticulously tracking the number of calories consumed through food. In the video, the speaker explains that while tracking calories is important for understanding energy balance, obsessively counting them can lead to unnecessary stress. Instead, the focus should be on nutrient density and satiety for better fat loss results.

💡Nutrient density

The measure of the number of essential nutrients in a food relative to its calorie content. The speaker emphasizes the importance of focusing on nutrient-dense foods, which provide high levels of vitamins, minerals, and other vital nutrients, rather than solely tracking calories. This shift improved the speaker’s satiety and energy levels.

💡Cardio

Cardiovascular exercise, which improves heart and lung function. The speaker highlights that embracing cardio, such as running and hiking, helped them lose fat and improve overall muscle tone. Instead of fearing cardio for muscle loss, they found it enhanced their recovery and workout performance.

💡Fat as a nutrient

Viewing dietary fat as an essential nutrient rather than just a fuel source. The speaker explains the misconception of eating fat to burn fat and stresses the importance of consuming different types of fats, like polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, for their nutritional benefits rather than simply for energy.

💡Social media influence

The impact of social media trends and influencers on personal health and fitness decisions. The speaker talks about the negative psychological effects of trying to mimic what influencers like Peter Attia or Andrew Huberman do. They advocate for focusing on what works best for you personally, rather than following every trend.

💡Hunger vs. boredom

The confusion between feeling physical hunger and experiencing hunger due to boredom or habit. The speaker shares how fasting helped them distinguish between true hunger and psychological hunger, suggesting that many hunger cues might just be a result of boredom.

💡Starchy vegetables

Vegetables high in carbohydrates, such as butternut squash and potatoes. Initially, the speaker avoided these foods during a low-carb phase but later realized their nutritional value, especially for providing essential vitamins, minerals, and fiber. This change allowed them to eat a more balanced diet while still achieving fat loss.

💡Insulin spikes

The rapid rise in insulin levels after consuming food, particularly carbohydrates. The speaker discusses how they stopped fearing insulin spikes, explaining that insulin is necessary for muscle growth, repair, and energy regulation. The key is not avoiding insulin altogether but ensuring it returns to normal levels after a spike.

💡Fasting

The practice of abstaining from food for a period, which the speaker suggests can help reset one's perception of hunger. They argue that fasting helps them better manage hunger and realize that they aren't truly starving when they feel hungry, which has helped in fat loss.

💡VO2 max

A measure of the maximum amount of oxygen an individual can utilize during intense exercise. The speaker notes that improving VO2 max through cardio not only helps with fat loss and overall fitness but also has benefits for muscle recovery and longevity.

Highlights

Stopped counting calories like a maniac and focused on nutrient-dense foods for better satiety and energy.

Shifted focus from calorie counting to protein tracking to ensure adequate intake for fat loss and muscle preservation.

Embraced cardio activities like running, sprinting, and biking, realizing they help burn fat and improve muscle definition.

Stopped seeing fat as just fuel and started viewing it as a vital nutrient with distinct health benefits depending on the type.

Learned that fats should not be generalized, as different types (polyunsaturated, monounsaturated, saturated) have different nutritional values.

Stopped comparing personal fitness journey to others on social media, recognizing that different methods work for different people.

Stopped confusing hunger with boredom, realizing that staying occupied often reduces the sensation of hunger.

Stopped fearing starchy vegetables like butternut squash, recognizing their nutrient density and role in energy balance.

Accepted that insulin spikes are not inherently bad; they are essential for metabolism, growth, and repair.

Focused on lowering insulin levels after spikes through good lifestyle habits like protein intake, fiber, and exercise.

Incorporated fasting to better understand the psychological aspects of hunger, and realized hunger can often be psychological.

Stopped worrying about muscle loss from cardio, recognizing that cardio aids recovery and enhances overall fitness.

Realized that hyperinsulinemia (chronically high insulin levels) is the real issue, not insulin spikes themselves.

Learned that good sleep, stress management, and consistent exercise are essential in managing insulin levels and overall health.

Focused on nutrient-dense, wholesome foods such as good fruits, proteins, meats, dairy, and vegetables to sustain fat loss.

Transcripts

here's seven things that I stopped doing

that ended up helping me lose a lot more

body fat and get where I wanted to be in

terms of my fat loss some of them you've

probably heard before but it never hurts

to hear them again and understand a

different perspective so I encourage you

to listen to each one and understand the

takeaways out of this now the first one

is I stopped counting calories like a

maniac I still keep track I still

believe that thermodynamics is important

I believe in energy balance don't get me

wrong but when I stopped focusing on

every calorie and I focused on nutrient

density a lot of things happened I

focused on the nutrition that was in my

food and I focused on the actual satiety

effect of the nutrition that was in my

food so rather than counting every

calorie and maybe having a little bit of

junk here and there and just making sure

that I was you know getting the exact

amount of what I needed I focused on

wholesome food and that led me to focus

on satiety and consequently it made me

focus on activity because I had more

energy so then I could focus on my

calories out because I had the energy

and I had the clarity and I had the

ability to perform but I also focused on

my happiness versus focusing on every

little number personally I feel like

religiously tracking ends up setting you

up for a lot of distress I feel like

it's important to understand where

you're at but I feel like tracking is

most important to understand where your

protein is I feel like that's the only

reason I would track these days not to

necessarily see where my calories are

I'm just not that worried about it I'm

more concerned with how much protein am

I getting because that can be a little

bit tricky sometimes you don't realize

you're getting enough sometimes you know

you think you got enough but you just

you're 50 grams shy that's the only

reason I see the track so I focus on

Wholesome foods good fruits good

proteins good meats good Dairy good

veggies you name it the next one is I

stopped thinking that cardio would kill

my gains truly like when I stopped

thinking that cardio was the enemy and I

doubled down on what I enjoy which is

running which is high intensity interval

training which is sprinting which is

biking which is lots of hiking and

Wrecking those kinds of things make me

happy but those kinds of things also

burn a heck of a lot of fat without me

even thinking about it if I go out and I

enjoy my run or I enjoy a hike with the

family and I don't subconsciously limit

my ability to do that because I think

it's going to burn up muscle it's

amazing how much leaner I get but also

how much more muscular I look as a

result not to mention the literature is

quite strong supporting VO2 max for

longevity but also VO2 max for muscle

cardio in general for muscle because of

angiogenesis a strong heart you name it

as a matter of fact I think it improves

my lifting it changed how I looked at

things I had better recovery in between

sets so my workout volume increased the

moment that I shifted that way of

thinking and I stopped alienating cardio

and I embraced it I got way leaner and

felt a lot better this next one's going

to ruffle some feathers but you have to

hear me out on it because it's not just

taking a face value I stopped thinking

of fat as fuel and I started thinking of

fat as a vital nutrient

I think a big mistake that we make

especially people that have come out of

the lower carb Community is to think of

fat as a fuel source it certainly is our

body will tap into our own fat as a fuel

source via beta oxidation a number of

different pathways

but eating fat to burn fat is misleading

the more fat you eat you don't just burn

more magically the more fat you eat the

more calories you consume but also the

more fat you potentially store if you're

not utilizing it

so do I think that you should reduce

your fat intake not necessarily not at

all really I think that you should view

fats as a nutrient and stop bucketing

fats as just general fat and think of

fats for what they are different

nutritional values with different fats

okay polyunsaturated fats from things

like fish oil super high up on the list

are completely different than say a

maristic acid saturated fat whereas like

a steric acid saturated fat is a little

bit higher right they all are different

and I encourage people to do their

research on what kind of fats they're

consuming you hear me talk about

monounsaturated fats like olive oil like

avocado oil like macadamia nut oil all

the time that's because I don't look at

fats as a fuel source I look at fats as

a source of nutrition and for if you're

interested I put a link down below for a

free box of namibians sea salt and

macadamia nuts and 20 percent off

whatever you want to get from House of

macadamia literally a bunch of macadamia

nuts free and 20 off whatever you want

from them so House of macadamias is a

sponsor on this channel so House of

macadamia grows their macadamia nuts in

South Africa and then they're harvested

about an hour's drive from where they're

processed so everything is super close

proximity so you're getting freshness

and you're getting tremendous taste but

you're also supporting the farmers and

you're supporting the local communities

there which is one of the reasons why

they can get the prices down so low it's

going to be one of the most affordable

kinds of macadamia nuts you can find if

not the cheapest honestly I've looked

around so that link is down below saves

you 20 off and using that special link

gets you a free box of namibian sea salt

macadamia nuts this is a very important

one I really hope that you're still with

me on this video okay because I think

this is going to resonate with a lot of

people and I have to kind of be

realistic I see a lot of people

developing real deep psychological

issues as a result of social media so

what I stopped doing is I stopped trying

to do things that people on social media

were doing it's one thing to get an idea

it's another thing to get analysis

paralysis because Peter attia does one

thing Andrew huberman does another thing

Rhonda Patrick does another thing Joe

Rogan does another thing Mike mussel

does another thing and this is not on

anything bad on any of them I actually

like all these people they're all in my

circle

but the point is is that when you start

trying to do everything that everyone is

doing you're going to drive yourself

utterly nuts it would literally get to a

point where I would get to the gym and I

would think okay I want to try this

because Peter was talking about it but I

want to do this because Andrew was

talking about and I would end up in this

point where like I would be thinking so

much just get in the gym and get it done

and do what works for you and some of

the Special Operations people that I've

worked with over the years have taught

me really important things and some of

that is just it's okay to do you what

works for you as a stimulus as a workout

as nutrition is concerned is totally

cool just because it works for someone

else it does not mean it's going to work

for you so adopt principles from people

but don't try to live each other's

lifestyle don't try to live my lifestyle

trust me you don't want to be me you

want to take bits and pieces that you

can learn from me but look around at

other people and just get little bits

and pieces so you develop you this is a

huge one number five I stopped confusing

hunger with boredom and I stopped

thinking that I was hungry just because

my brain was telling me I was hungry and

I learned a lot of this through fasting

now I know that some of you don't like

fasting and some of you love it

the bottom line is that I think it's

great and one of the things that it has

taught me is that when I get hungry I'm

not really starving

hunger is complicated and we've only

scratched the very very surface of it to

understand what is actually driving

hunger and I would put money on the fact

that it's arguably a lot more

psychological than it is physiological

our bodies have pretty amazing

mechanisms to keep us fueled whether

it's body fat on hand whether it's

gluconeogenesis from you know stored fat

or stored protein or whatever we need to

convert into glucose bottom line is our

bodies are efficient and they are much

more intelligent than we might give them

credit for in our own experiences in our

psychological Realm so when I learned

that well shoot I could go 48 hours

without food not saying you have to do

this I realize that that hunger that I

thought I had was probably just boredom

and having a little bit of water seemed

to just nullify the issue altogether so

if you're not fasting how do you take

this as advice well try doing something

when you get hungry try going for a walk

try just doing something to occupy your

mind and see if the hunger goes away if

that walk is legitimately difficult

because you're hungry then you know

you're actually hungry if that task is

legitimately difficult then you're

probably actually hungry but if doing

that task just gets your mind off of

eating and you feel great trust me it's

only going to help you get leaner and

get the body you want number six is I

stopped thinking that veggie starches

were a problem

when I first was doing a low carb

protocol maybe 12 12 years ago or so I

really was concerned with all kinds of

vegetables even starchy vegetable

especially starchy vegetables but even

like cruciferous vegetables that's like

every single carbohydrate was going to

be a problem but I really developed an

issue with things like butternut squash

or with other starchy vegetables that

might have a few carbs in them I saw

them as problematic I saw them as sugar

and when I realized that a lot of these

starchy vegetables in small amounts were

tremendous sources of vitamins minerals

fiber things that I needed for well what

was the first thing that I talked about

nutrition density I realized that these

were very important parts of that and I

was lacking micronutrients I was lacking

minerals and just the nutrient density

that I needed to really get where I

wanted to go so even though I was still

doing low carb I stopped worrying about

the occasional starchy carb because a

lot of times it gave me the focus and

the energy to burn right through them in

the first place and end up right back

where I wanted to be anyway but just in

a more pleasant fashion number seven is

one of the biggest ones and it's such a

controversial piece it's controversial

because you have two sides of this

entire nutrition equation fighting over

this when in reality we all should just

agree no matter what side of the coin

you're on whether you're a low carb

person whether you're a High car person

it doesn't matter and that's the fact

that I stopped thinking that insulin was

the bad guy

and this might sound totally foreign

because I've literally done videos

talking about how hyperinsulinemia is a

problem

hyperinsulinemia is a problem having

chronically high levels of insulin

chronically High fasting insulin is an

issue a serious issue okay but having

insulin in the first place is not a

problem

having an insulin spike is one of the

most important things that you need for

cellular metabolism for growth for

repair for energy if we are always in an

effort to avoid foods that Spike insulin

like we're not living our life and we're

not giving our bodies one of the most

important peptide hormones that they

need to literally survive

when you have protein you spike insulin

so I don't care whether you never touch

a carb again if you're fearing insulin

you're fearing life

so we need to stop the demonization of

that so all those years that I spent

thinking about how to avoid massive

insulin spikes when I should have been

thinking how do I get the insulin back

down after I have the spike because the

insulin Spike isn't the problem it's

when it stays high that it's the problem

so instead of thinking about that I

thought okay my insulin spiked how do I

get it back down through healthy

lifestyle through good protein

consumption through fiber consumption

through high intensity interval training

through various forms of activity

through lower stress through good sleep

all the boring stuff that nobody wants

to hear

so I'm sure I could think of more but

these seven things that I stopped doing

made it so that I seamlessly

effortlessly got under 10 body fat I'll

see you tomorrow