Jon Finkel is the author of The Three Dollar Scholar: Awesome
Advice for Acing Life’s Major Decisions and Mindless Debates.
I have written for Men’s Health magazine, Men’s Fitness magazine,
Maximum Fitness magazine, Muscle & Fitness magazine, Muscle
& Fitness Hers magazine and Muscle & Performance magazine. I
have written dozens and dozens of articles on every possible fitness goal imaginable, from specific goals like
getting thicker calves, to the all-powerful “lose X
amount of weight in X amount of days” articles. I have interviewed Olympic gold
medalists and hall of fame athletes in almost every sport, and in most cases, I
have interviewed their world-class trainers and nutritionists. I have visited
many of the top athletic training facilities in the country. I have spent 10
years writing about losing fat or gaining muscle in every conceivable
way, and I can tell you with absolute certainty that no matter what you’ve
heard or read or talked to your local Bally’s Fitness trainer about, achieving
your fitness goals doesn’t begin with diet or exercise or a fitness plan or a
DVD or a personal trainer. Getting in shape, whatever you define “shape” to be,
all comes down to one word: Habit
That’s the secret. If you have shitty eating habits, you’re probably fat. If you have shitty drinking habits, you’re probably fat. If you have shitty exercise habits, you’re probably fat. If you have shitty sleeping habits, you’re probably fat. If you have more than two of these shitty habits, you’re probably overweight. Three or more? Obese. If you have all of them, you might be morbidly obese.
Habit. Habit. Habit.
There’s no sense in lifting a single weight or walking a single mile if you haven’t evaluated the shitty habits you have that have made you into the fat version of yourself that you have become. Not being fat is all about breaking bad lifestyle habits and replacing them with good ones. There are no magical cures to your weight-loss dilemma. You won’t get thin overnight. In fact, you won’t get thin over a week’s worth of nights. But if you erase your bad habits, you will get thin. What follows is not an exercise plan or diet regimen. It’s not something to print out and take with you. It is simply an extremely easy way for you to get started in turning your health around. It costs nothing. In fact, it will probably save you money. Trust me. If you’ve never exercised or have spent most of your life 20 pounds overweight or more, following these easy steps to the letter will get you thinner over a fairly short amount of time. The good news is that you can literally start losing weight right now. Seriously. This very second you can start becoming less heavy. Ready? Let’s begin.
Month 1: For one month, eat exactly as you have been, but the only beverage you can consume is ice water. Ice water with breakfast. Ice water with lunch. Ice water with dinner. Ice water when you’re thirsty. Ice water before bed. The icier the better. No more coffee, sodas, fruit juices, energy drinks, sports drinks, etc… Simply ice water. This will literally cut thousands of empty calories out of your diet every week. You’ll also slowly flush out some of the toxins you’ve accumulated and give your body a chance to hydrate. Even if all you ever drink are diet sodas and zero-calorie Crystal Light drinks, this switch will be highly beneficial for you. Just remember, you must drink water, and there must be ice in it most of the time. That’s it. There’s all kinds of science behind why ice water is good for you and I won’t bore you with it here. But do not add zero-calorie sweeteners, either chemical or natural. Add nothing. If you do this, you will lose weight. Lots of it. After the first week of getting used to drinking water, chug one full glass of ice water before you begin any meal. It will fill up your stomach and you will eat less of whatever you’re going to eat.
Month 2: Continue drinking only ice water, but feel free to add a bag of green or black tea to the water for some flavor. Also, a squeeze of fresh lemon or lime or even orange is OK, too. A few slices of cucumber are surprisingly good in water as well. Now that you’ve proven to yourself that you can break your drinking habit on a day to day basis, it’s time to add a little physical element. Walk for 30 minutes every day. No exceptions. The 30 minutes don’t have to be continuous; could be 10 minutes after each meal, or it could be five minutes six different times a day. But you have to get it in. You can even pace around your family room during The Office if you want, but you have to keep moving. By finding those 30 minutes every day to walk, while drinking ice water with your meals, you have not only eliminated tens of thousands of empty calories from your diet, but you are now burning calories by getting your blood moving for an extra 30 minutes a day.
You can handle that for two months, can’t you?
Your habit is being fat... Be fat and own it." 
Month 3: Now that you’re used to
drinking water and walking a lot, it’s time to get semi-serious about your diet and exercise. Just kidding. It still stays
pretty easy. On the diet front, you may have read about this simple eating
trick before, but now you’re going to implement it: eliminate all white foods
from your diet except cauliflower. If you hate cauliflower, eliminate that,
too. No white rice, no pasta, no white breads, no white potatoes. Want a
potato? Have a sweet potato. Want some bread? Make it 100% whole grain. Eat
whatever you want, but just sub in whole grains and the ‘brown versions’ of the
foods you want for the white version you’ve been eating. Dying to have that
Whopper? Ask for it on the whole-wheat bun they use for the grilled chicken
sandwiches. It ain’t perfect, but it’s a start.
As for the walking, you need to start walking in five- or 10-minute blocks throughout the day to get to your 30 minutes. The difference is that you have to walk in intervals, which means you’ll be walking very fast for 30 seconds followed by 30 seconds of slow walking. Every minute you walk should be broken down in this way. The idea is to get your heart rate up just a little bit, then bring it down, then up again. Interval training has proven time and again to be the most efficient form of exercise there is. Keep drinking ice water with all of your meals. If you follow these steps, there is no way you will not have lost weight from the first day you started this program. Most likely, you’ll have lost somewhere in the double digits and all you did was make it a habit to drink water, eat whole grains and walk 30 minutes a day, with each minute broken down into intervals. Total cost: zero dollars. If all you did was continue this simple program for the rest of your life, you will have given your heart and your body a major shot in the arm.
If you can’t make these rudimentary changes over the course of three months, there’s no reason to buy the latest exercise program, book or diet plan because you’ll never do it anyway. Your habit is being fat and until you break it on your own, there’s nothing anyone else can do for you. Sorry, that’s the truth. Be fat and own it. Once you finish these three months, the choice is yours. You’ve seen what making minor changes over a relatively small amount of time can do for you. Are you ready for major changes? If you are, then go for it. There are hundreds of books and magazines out there to teach you how to train for a triathlon, learn to swim, bench press 200 pounds, whatever you want. This chapter was meant to get you started in the easiest way possible. The rest is up to you.
Finkel, Jon (2011-10-10). The Three Dollar Scholar - Awesome Advice for Acing Life's Major Decisions and Mindless Debates (Kindle Locations 711-717). Unknown. Kindle Edition.
As for the walking, you need to start walking in five- or 10-minute blocks throughout the day to get to your 30 minutes. The difference is that you have to walk in intervals, which means you’ll be walking very fast for 30 seconds followed by 30 seconds of slow walking. Every minute you walk should be broken down in this way. The idea is to get your heart rate up just a little bit, then bring it down, then up again. Interval training has proven time and again to be the most efficient form of exercise there is. Keep drinking ice water with all of your meals. If you follow these steps, there is no way you will not have lost weight from the first day you started this program. Most likely, you’ll have lost somewhere in the double digits and all you did was make it a habit to drink water, eat whole grains and walk 30 minutes a day, with each minute broken down into intervals. Total cost: zero dollars. If all you did was continue this simple program for the rest of your life, you will have given your heart and your body a major shot in the arm.
If you can’t make these rudimentary changes over the course of three months, there’s no reason to buy the latest exercise program, book or diet plan because you’ll never do it anyway. Your habit is being fat and until you break it on your own, there’s nothing anyone else can do for you. Sorry, that’s the truth. Be fat and own it. Once you finish these three months, the choice is yours. You’ve seen what making minor changes over a relatively small amount of time can do for you. Are you ready for major changes? If you are, then go for it. There are hundreds of books and magazines out there to teach you how to train for a triathlon, learn to swim, bench press 200 pounds, whatever you want. This chapter was meant to get you started in the easiest way possible. The rest is up to you.
Finkel, Jon (2011-10-10). The Three Dollar Scholar - Awesome Advice for Acing Life's Major Decisions and Mindless Debates (Kindle Locations 711-717). Unknown. Kindle Edition.
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