How To Increase Quality of Life (and Torch Body Fat)

Okay…torching body fat sounds dramatic. But it is the starting point for most men in Argent Alpha. But is torching body fat really the goal? Or…is it a positive byproduct of changing your mindset? Read on to learn our POV.

The purpose of Argent Alpha is to help men live better, longer. A quick review of our framework:

The Big 5 a/k/a the Foundational Items:

1. Mindset
2. Sleep
3. Nutrition
4. Fitness
5. Hydration

We believe that by maintaining a healthy body composition of 12% to 18% body fat, men minimize many of the downstream health issues associated with 20%+ body fat % such as heart disease, diabetes, arthritis and hypertension, to name a few.

The goal is to stay in the “optimal” range for the rest of your life and avoid the steady decline experienced by most men:

Over the coming weeks we will be diving into the details of the Big 5 of Argent Alpha. With commitment, consistency and some time, all men can get their body composition under 20% and enjoy the benefits that come from that (too many to list but a few include increased strength, energy, confidence, and a belief that the best is yet to come).

Each one of the Big 5 is an industry unto itself so our goal is to simplify each of them and make them actionable.

Mindset — The Starting Point of Argent Alpha

The self improvement market is a $10 Billion+ market and growing. For our purposes, we are carving out a segment from the market — Mindset — and applying the Pareto principle to it. Here is where we landed:

Mindset = two main components:

1. Future Self
2. Intention

Future Self is defining who you want to be at some point in the future and living your life in a manner that is consistent with that definition, thereby turning your present self into your future self. In order to do this, you need to identify in detail how your future self lives…their habits, their processes, their values. The key is to get super detailed in how you see that person…you…living your life in the future and then start doing the “things” that person does. How do you do that?

According to James Clear, “the key to building lasting habits is focusing on creating a new identity first. Your current behaviors are simply a reflection of your current identity. What you do now is a mirror image of the type of person you believe that you are (either consciously or subconsciously).”

Argent Alpha’s purpose is to help men live better, longer. We start by addressing body composition to create a foundation of health. For most men, this means they need to drop body fat…sometimes a lot.

A common first step is to set a goal or outcome such as “I will lose 30 lbs of fat by July 1, 2022” and then move onto a process which will help achieve that outcome. This process would include creating habits and systems designed to move you towards your goal. Examples would include walking 10,000 steps a day, lifting weights 3x a week, reducing calories and eating only whole foods.

So a goal is what you get and a process is what you do. The missing piece is what you believe and that is the most powerful part of creating lasting change: Creating a new identity.

Per Clear, “many people begin the process of changing their habits by focusing on what they want to achieve. This leads us to outcome-based habits. The alternative is to build identity-based habits. With this approach, we start by focusing on who we wish to become.” This is where Future Self comes in. One of the best places to start thinking about your Future Self is Dr. Benjamin Hardy’s free course.

Focusing on WHO you want to become is more powerful than focusing on WHAT you want to achieve (if you want to deep dive more into this concept, James Clear’s book Atomic Habits is gold).

So while the example above of losing 30 lbs by July 1, 2022 is a great goal and the process of walking 10,000 steps per day, lifting weights 3x a week, reducing calories and eating only whole foods is a great process that will likely make progress towards that goal, it is focused on WHAT that person wants to achieve.

An alternative:

1. Decide the type of person you want to be.

2. Prove it to yourself with small wins.

Back to our example. Want to lose 30 lbs by July 1? Become the type of person who sleeps, eats and moves like an athlete.

Small win: Go to bed early, get up early, go for a walk and then eat whole foods for breakfast (nothing processed or from a bag).

The second part of mindset is Intention. We keep this simple and boil it down to two key processes:

1. Morning Routine
2. Evening Routine

Google “morning routine” and you’ll find a lot of resources on it. We keep it simple and follow the work of two people: Hal Elrod’s The Miracle Morning and Benjamin Hardy’s routines.

The common theme with both of the approaches offered by Elrod and Hardy is using intention to your advantage. With your goals, processes and future self identity in mind, plan your day and then execute your plan.

There is something magical about putting pen to paper so buy a journal (my personal favorite) specifically for this purpose and commit to the process. It can take as little as 5 minutes twice a day and dramatically shift your days from reacting to everything to putting your focus into what you have prioritized. It’s like paying yourself first before you let the world take over your schedule.

Morning Routine — how to get started

I can tell you from experience that it is easy to overthink a morning routine. I’m tinkering with a different name for the morning routine and I personally call mine “Win The Day”. Here is a quick and dirty framework (get your pen and paper ready):

1. Write the date and time at the top
2. Write down the top 3 things that you need to accomplish today to stay consistent with your future self identity.
3. Schedule them in your calendar.
4. Do at least one of the top 3 things now…put some points on the board.
5. Pick one time in your life where you were winning at something — write it down and savor the feeling. Be grateful it happened.

That’s it. Five minutes…tops.

Evening Routine — how to get started

John Madsen calls this part of the day the Victory Lap and if you generally followed your morning routine (your Win The Day plan), it will be exactly that. Here are the basics:

1. Review your top 3 from this morning and score yourself.
2. Write down all the wins from the day, big and small
3. Write down 1–3 things that could have gone better.
4. Write down tomorrow’s top 3.
5. Pick one thing that happened today that you are thankful for.

Thank you to Hal Elrod and Benjamin Hardy for their original work in this area.

So the key to torching body fat? Define your future self, set daily intentions and the goals and processes will follow resulting in improved body composition, and a better, longer life.

If you are a Man over 50, appreciate accountability, and want learn how we are getting results, contact us to learn more. Next up: Sleep quality and why we prioritize it as a key to improving health and longevity.