Slimming down without shortcuts, prescription medication, or going carb-free is hard. But, with a smarter approach to nutrition—embracing foods that reduce bloating—it isn’t impossible.
You’ll need to reduce your body fat to 12 percent or for your abs to start showing. This takes an iron will and a near-superhuman level of dedication. As Joseph Boyce, a senior associate at PwC, found out, it also requires a lot of know-how. After trying to get in shape for ages, Boyce finally admitted defeat, calling in Robert Utley, founder of Real Body Performance, for help.
At first, Joe was baffled by Utley’s unorthodox approach to banishing bloat. Then he started seeing results. Not only did he get lean, but he felt better and more energized than ever. He has now transformed his diet for good.
“Joe came to me feeling deflated with how he looked,” says Utley. “His diet was all wrong. The first step was to feed him more food, not only so he could put on size, but so that his body could get used to proper nutrients, meaning: lean proteins, easily digestible carbohydrates, and good healthy fats.”
Like changing the oil in a car, Boyce’s training started to run much more smoothly after the transition. Once he was comfortable working out powered by good food instead of junk, Utley was confident they could work towards a successful cut.
“This is the longest stage in a body recomposition, and we slowly chip away foods, gradually increasing cardio in order to start losing fat,” Utley explains.
“The key is to make nice slow changes to allow the body to work efficiently. Rushing a fat loss process will make the body come to a grinding halt as the client burns out,” Utley adds. “Not only that, but the client will feel terrible, perform poorly, and ultimately fail in their fat loss journey.”
The focus, then, was on not only stripping fat and water weight, but actually letting Boyce’s body feel its best—a good deal of which came down to choosing debloating foods that would aid fat-loss, fuel him properly, and help expose the progress he’d already made.
“I’m 29 now and started the process of getting in shape when I was 27. I’d been very athletic and very skinny when I was younger and wanted to put on size. The trouble was that I was eating all of the wrong things—pasta dishes, energy drinks, pastries—thinking it would help me get the body I wanted. But I wasn’t seeing results.
“It came from a real lack of understanding about nutrition, and it took Rob to point out that I was actually undernourished and that I wasn’t eating the appropriate foods to meet my goals in the gym.
“I wanted to lose weight, and thought that it was ludicrous that Rob wanted me to eat more to begin with. Obviously the normal conception is ‘eat less.’ Rob got rid of the crap stuff and saturated nonsense and focused on lean proteins, good fats, and digestible carbs. Once my body got used to that routine, we could start stripping away and getting me into a deficit. If I’d gone straight from bad food to a deficit I definitely wouldn’t have been able to sustain it.
“Obviously it was a long process, and it was hard, but Rob knew what my body needed. The foods that he introduced me to were quite shocking; Cocoa Krispies on a diet, I thought was insane. But when you have no carbs, having chocolatey cereal is actually a nice break.
“I learned a lot about my body in the process, especially when it came to debloating foods. Brown rice and cow’s milk blow me up and make me feel lethargic. Switching those out to things like Basmati rice and unsweetened almond milk was a game changer. It’s more easily digestible and easier on the GI tract. Within a week of switching to them it had made a tremendous difference, not just in terms of removing the bloating, but increasing my energy levels, too—to the point where I then decided to do a food tolerance test and discovered I have an intolerance for certain foods.
“The final thing that really helped with the debloating, and helped me look as lean as I wanted was drinking five or six liters of water a day. Previously I’d drink half a liter, or a liter max per day. Again, it was difficult at first, but after a few weeks I had no issues at all and just generally felt much better.”
For Boyce, exploring debloating foods was a journey of discovery. He not only achieved his goal of getting shredded, he also unlocked more energy and learned what foods work best with his body. This is what an average day of eating now looks like for him.
Breakfast: Shake
Whey isolate, unsweetened almond milk, frozen berries
Meal 2
Chicken breast, tortilla wrap, green salad or Mediterranean vegetable
Meal 3
Low sugar yogurt, flavoring drops, peanut butter
or
4 eggs, 4 rations of turkey bacon, choice of veg
Pre workout
Whey isolate, unsweetened almond milk, Cocoa Krispies or Frosted Flakes
Meal 4
Lean mince or fish, Basmati rice, broccoli
You can follow the above on your own mission to debloat, but it’s worth remembering that all bodies—and all fitness plans—are different. Instead, consider experimenting with the foods below, and maybe even discussing them with your physical trainer to see how much of a difference they can make.
Cocoa Krispies
“I like to really fire up the body with a nice simple sugar that’s easy to digest and really spikes your metabolism and energy level for a short period of time,” says Utley. “This produces shockingly effective results when used post workout in a no or low carb day. Although, it only works if you’re in a deficit.”
Broccoli
“Yes it’s full of nutrients and vitamins, but broccoli eaten before the rest of your meal has been scientifically proven to lower insulin response to food, keeping you in a much deeper fat burning state,” says Utley. “Over a prolonged period, it has a significant impact on extra pounds lost.”
Avocado and Dark Chocolate
“Fats are good, including avocados, but also very dark, 80-90 percent [Cocoa] chocolate—even in a deficit,” says Utley. “Good fats will not only boost your function, but will also slow down digestion so you can absorb your nutrients properly, leading to less bloating and discomfort.”
Basmati Rice
“For years it’s been all about brown rice, but I’ve found that, for me, Basmati rice digests more efficiently, causing far less gastric issues,” says Utley. “Most importantly, I think that brown rice tastes awful and basmati tastes amazing!”
Alternative Milks
“Alternative milk options are a brilliant way to debloat, especially if you’re intolerant to dairy,” says Utley. “I stick with unsweetened almond milk and unsweetened oat milk, both of which are lower in sugar and calories than cow milk.”
This story originally appeared on British GQ.