Relax. I'm gonna make it easy for you.

That’s 115,924 different ways to lose weight, burn fat and let those long-lost abs finally see the light of day.

I find that amusing because there are only TWO diet strategies that work.

In this article, I’ll reveal the only two diet strategies that actually work – and how to pick the right to help you achieve your weight loss goals.

It’s Your Choice: Eat Without Cheating? Or Cheat Without Eating?

Losing weight is simple – you just need to burn more calories than you consume over a consistent period of time.

Notice I said “simple”, not “easy.”

Because we’re basically hard-wired to overeat. This presents a challenging dilemma. If we’re hard-wired to over-eat… yet we need to “under-eat” in order to lose body fat… how do make that happen?

The first method I call…

“Eat Without Cheating”

By this I mean eating “anciently.” In other words, just eat the kinds of foods your ancestors would have eaten thousands and thousands of years ago. Basically, meat, eggs, chicken, nuts, vegetables and a bit of fruit.

When you eat in this manner, it’s more difficult to overeat because these foods are naturally filling.

Now this method works like gangbusters for many people. Because there’s very little thought involved … and you don’t have to be hungry.

It’s a simple matter of eating as much as you want of the acceptable foods, and eating NONE of the forbidden modern foods like cakes, candies, grains, cereals, etc.

But let’s be honest: What if you simply don’t have the willpower necessary to swear off ice cream, cake, candy, etc? Then what?

Luckily, there’s another strategy.

I call it…

“Cheat But Don’t Eat”

Again, remember what we have to do to lose weight: We have to eat fewer calories than we burn each day.

So how can you do that while still enjoying high-calories snacks, like pizza and cake?

The solution is to shrink your window of eating.

If you eat junk food all day long, you’ll get fat.

But if you give yourself only a short window of time, you can eat ALMOST whatever you want and still lose fat.

For example…. if you skip breakfast, skip lunch and eat only two meals at night… well you don’t have to eat perfectly clean at night and you’ll still lose weight.

Sure, you’ll be hungry during the day. But as time goes on, the daytime hunger will fade into the background and you’ll find it’s a small price to pay for the reward of eating almost whatever you want at night.

The Promised Land: Eat And Cheat?

If someone has absolutely no willpower at all, then simply switching back and forth between these methods can work well.

Feel like eating during the day? Then stick to the approved foods. (Meat, eggs, veggies, etc.)

Feel like eating junk food and desserts? Then abstain from food during the day and eat what you want at night.

Sounds simple but this approach works like magic for fat loss.

For more proven fat loss strategies, check out my book How To Build A Classic Physique.

This type of transformation is common place in Hollywood.

Almost everyone involved in the fitness industry gets the following question almost daily:

“Hey, how did [insert actor's name here] get so [jacked, ripped, huge] for [insert movie name here.]”

A few years back, I was getting questions about Ed Norton in American History X. Then I got questions about the actors in the movie “300.”
Then questions came pouring in about Christian Bale in Batman and Hugh Jackman in X-Men. Then Ryan Reynolds in some horror movie, and lately it’s questions about Captain America and Ryan Gosling in some new romantic comedy.

Thankfully, I stumbled upon an excellent article from the Washington Times that perfectly explains exactly how these actors get in such incredible shape.

Give it a read:

Big Hollywood

Matt Marshall
Author of “How To Build A Classic Physique”

Me performing "the human flag."

In this month’s Classic Physique Newsletter, I’m showing you six forgotten exercises from long ago.

Most of these exercises have never been seen before.

And that’s a shame — because these exercises have the capability to transform your physique in just a few weeks.

Remember: If you’ve already ordered my book “How To Build A Classic Physique” than you get the monthly Classic Physique newsletter free. So keep your eyes peeled.

If you haven’t ordered, you’re almost out of time. This issue goes to the printer in less than 48 hours so you have until MIDNIGHT December 31st to order. If you wait until 2012 you’ll miss out on this month’s newsletter.

Place your order here.

2012 is lurking.

If you want 2012 to be better than 2011, if you’re ready to finally step up and get in the best shape of your life… then you’re going to love this.

Not only am I going to show you the most foolproof method for adding muscle, burning fat and getting the body of your dreams… I’m also going to PAY YOU to get in shape!

Full details here:

The Classic Physique Contest

Just a quick note:

I’m putting the finishing touches on the first ever Classic Physique Contest.

Full details tomorrow so check your email.

Lately, I’ve been getting quite a few emails from people explaining the reason they don’t work out is a lack of time.

I get it. My schedule doesn’t have any blank spots either.

But I ALWAYS make time to work out. Here’s why:

A few years back, someone asked billionaire mogul Richard Branson how to be more productive. Branson answered “work out” and explained that exercising actually gave him 4 EXTRA hours of productivity each day.

He wasn’t the only successful person to make such a statement. Abraham Lincoln once said, “If given 6 hours to chop down a tree, I’ll spend the first 4 hours sharpening the axe.”

Working out is like sharpening the axe. Spending an hour in the gym makes you a better and more productive person during the other 23 hours of the day.

Proper training makes you leaner, healthier and stronger. Which in turn makes you a better dad, a better employee, a better husband and a better human being.

Your mind and body function together as one unit. And while you can certainly complete basic mental tasks even if your body is in poor health, to truly optimize your potential both your mind AND your body must be sharp.

So if you say you don’t have time to work out, what you’re REALLY saying is you don’t have time to be a better dad, a better employee, a better husband or a better human being.

It doesn’t take much. You’ve got 168 hours in a week. And you can see great results by training just 2-3 hours a week. 3 hours out of 168 is just 1.78% of your time each week. But if you’ll take 1.78% of your time to “sharpen the axe” you’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish with the remaining 98.22% of your time.

Matt Marshall
Author of “How To Build A Classic Physique”

P.S. If you liked this post, please share it. If this post pissed you off, well you probably needed to hear it.

Most doctors still believe that squats are bad for you knees, whole grains make you healthy and eating red meat is bad for your cholesterol levels.

Well, maybe the last point will finally change.

A new research study shows that participants who ate beef every day actually LOWERED their bad cholesterol.

Sounds crazy, right?

Well, it wasn’t crazy for the old-time lifters. They ate high-fat diets (including plenty of beef)and THRIVED.

There’s actually quite a bit of “old-time wisdom” that most people would find rather controversial. Yet those that know about these old-time secrets usually possess lean, muscular physiques and a clean bill of health to boot.

So if you’ve haven’t gotten on board with the “classic” lifestyle, maybe it’s time to start.

How To Build A Classic Physique

I have a crystal ball.

And thanks to my magic crystal ball, I can tell whether you’ll make amazing progress in 2012… or whether you’ll end up wasting the year.

I don’t know you personally. I don’t know if you’re reading this in the morning, at lunch or at night. I don’t know your goals, your injuries or your personal information.

But I can accurately PREDICT what’s going to happen in 2012 for you.

And it’s all based on your answer to the following question:

Will you compete?

You see, something amazing happens you sign up (and pay up) to compete. For one, you’ve now got a deadline. You know without a shadow of a doubt that you’ve got to be ready to go on a certain date and a certain time. Deadlines make goals happen.

You’ve also now got a purpose. A clearly defined goal. This will prevent you from attempting to accomplish too many things at once. For example, if you are scheduled to compete in a powerlifting competition in the 168-pound weight class and you currently weigh 185 pounds, well then you know you need to lose weight and you won’t be tempted to switch gears and try to gain weight until after you’ve accomplished your first goal.

Finally, competing helps you accomplish goals faster. For some reason, competing seems to compress the amount of time it takes to accomplish a goal. It makes your training (both before AND after) the competition more effective. A few years back I competed in my first powerlifting meet. I made a ton of progress before the meet. But oddly enough I made even more progress in the months AFTER the meet.

It doesn’t matter what you compete in. Just compete. Sign up for something: a powerlifting meet, an olympic lifting meet, a bodybuilding contest, an MMA fight, a 5k, an arm-wrestling contest. It doesn’t matter. Pick SOMETHING, sign up and compete.

You’ll thank me.

Matt Marshall
Author of How To Build A Classic Physique

This is a weird tip.

But if you really want to get in top shape, I think you should “work out” every single day.

That’s right — no days off.

Have I lost my mind? Well… maybe. I’ll let you be the judge but first let me explain.

I am NOT suggesting you do heavy squats 7 days a week. Nothing like that.

But I AM suggesting you find a way to do SOMETHING every single day.

Some days, I do real workouts. You know, lifting weights, bodyweight exercise, sprints, etc.

Other days, I do some really simple stuff. Maybe a couple ab wheel roll-outs. Maybe some stretches. Or maybe just going for a nice walk.

Now I could do all that stuff on the same day. I would lift weights, finished up with ab wheel roll outs and sprints, stretch and then go for a walk.

Then I could take the next day “off” and do absolutely nothing.

But I’ve discovered when I have a complete “rest day” I end up eating junk food even though I know I shouldn’t. But when I have a plan to do something — even if it’s just a couple light stretches… I make better food choices.

If you think about it, we’re not really designed for complete rest days. Our ancient ancestors wouldn’t have sat on their butts for 24 hours straight waiting for the next “work out.”

So it doesn’t make much sense for us to do that either.

If you know what kind of foods you should be eating… but you’re having a problem putting the plan into action, try scheduling some kind of activity (a workout, stretching, a couple simple body weight movements, or even a walk) every single day. I bet you’ll naturally end up eating better and naturally end up with a better body.

Matt Marshall
Author of How To Build A Classic Physique

This is a dangerous time. It’s Friday, December 9th.

There is a LOT of time between this moment and January 2nd. You could make huge strength gains, strip off gobs of body fat, add slabs of muscle… or you could do nothing.

Most people will do nothing. Most people will actually backslide between now and January 2nd.

Apparently there’s an unwritten rule that says “no one should make any progress in December.”

Screw that. Why wait until January 2nd?

Why wait until tomorrow?

THERE IS NO TOMORROW!
There Is No Tomorrow

There is only right now.

Matt Marshall
Author of How To Build A Classic Physique