7 Renegade Rules for Fat Loss

You never know where you’re going to find useful, practical advice for improving your life. Surprisingly, some of the same techniques that can help you become more successful in business can help you get fitter, leaner, and healthier.

You see, I try to read a book per week – and I recently picked up Rules for Renegades by Christine Comaford-Lynch. Despite the fact that the book is geared toward entrepreneurs, I discovered, in its pages, lots of wisdom for people who want to lose weight. For example, I found that I could adapt Christine’s “10 Renegade Rules for Success” to work for fat loss as well.

Let me show you how I did it with Christine’s top five Renegade Rules. (You’ll have to pick up her book to learn the other five.)

Christine’s Renegade Rule #1: Take responsibility.

We all need to take full responsibility for the things that happen in our lives. And that includes how big our bellies are.

Only you are in control of what you eat. Only you are in control of your workouts. Only you are in control of whether or not you get out of bed 45 minutes earlier each day to do your resistance and interval training.

Once you accept responsibility, the rest is easy. When you know that only you are in control of how many calories come in each day, and how many calories are burned, you can take the right actions to help yourself burn fat.

Christine’s Renegade Rule #2: Solicit support.

I can’t agree with Christine enough on this one. I was one of the first fat-loss experts to talk about the importance of social support in reaching health and fitness goals – and I’ve mentioned it many times in ETR.

So get a nutrition buddy at work, a workout buddy at the gym, and lots and lots of positive people supporting you in your fat-loss efforts. The more people you have on your side, the better.

Thanks to the Internet, putting together a support group is easier than ever. With the ETR Health Forum or my Turbulence Training membership site, you’ll be able to connect with other men and women all around the world who share the same goals as you do.

Your social support group will inspire you when you are feeling down or when you’ve had a bad day. Plus, they will hold you accountable and encourage you to get back on track if you stray from your diet. They won’t accept any of your excuses!

Christine’s Renegade Rule #3: Toss toxicity.

You not only have to build a strong support group, you also have to spend less time with people who undermine your efforts. If your workmates bring in doughnuts every day, for example, you must make sure they understand that you’ll have no part of it. Take a stand. Take responsibility for your actions, and tell them you’re not interested.

Toss the toxicity out of your kitchen, too. No more chips, soda, candy, or processed foods of any kind. Get rid of it! Say goodbye to temptation, because even fitness pros can’t keep their hands out of the cookie jar if it’s there (and full of soft, chewy, chocolate chip cookies).

Christine’s Renegade Rule #4: Persevere.

Too many folks give up just before they succeed. You’ve got to force yourself to keep going. That’s what separates the winners from the folks who never manage to burn their belly fat. After all, it’s not called “stubborn fat” without good reason.

There will be tough times, make no mistake about it. But perseverance is what separates the mediums from the XXLs… the 40-inch waists from the 32s… the sweatshirted folks on the beach from those walking around in skimpy bathing suits.

Which group do you want to be in?

Christine’s Renegade Rule #5: Pay attention.

There’s no way to know how well you’re doing with your fitness goals unless you are measuring the results. Successful businesspeople track and test everything they do, and you should be doing the same. Track your nutrition. Write down what you eat at each meal. Record your workouts.

Review your workouts and diet frequently to identify what is working. That way, you can always come back to successful programs in the future when you are struggling.

Along with social support, tracking your progress might be one of the most overlooked aspects of fat loss success. Track and test your habits and get to know your body.

Follow the above five rules, and you’ll soon see a big difference in the way you look. But you can get results even faster and with less workout time by following two more rules – my own Renegade Rules for Fat Loss.

Craig Ballantyne’s Renegade Rule #6: Try for a personal best with every workout.

Why should you care about performance when all you want to do is lose inches? Because constantly improving your performance will help you improve your fitness, and the fitter you get, the more fat you will burn.

And you don’t have to be breaking records. Just try for a little more every time you exercise. If you do 10 push-ups today, aim for 12 next time you work out. If you do 30 squats today, try for 35 next time or the time after that.

Craig Ballantyne’s Renegade Rule #7: Perform CRUNCH-FREE workouts for maximum results in minimum time.

You never have to do another crunch again, even if you want a flat stomach or six-pack abs. Crunches are not an efficient exercise, and don’t burn a lot of calories. So scrap them from your workout program and spend your “crunch time” on calorie-burning, fat-blasting interval training instead.

There you have it: 7 Renegade Rules for Fat Loss that will practically guarantee your success.

[Ed. Note: You CAN get the body you’ve always wanted. And Craig’s 7 Renegade Rules for Fat Loss can help. If you want to go a step further, Craig has developed a workout system that can help you build muscle and burn fat. Get the details here.

As Craig mentioned, social support is a big part of sticking to your fitness plan.]