I have an awesome diet hack for you today. Not only is it fun, it helps you burn body fat too. And it makes life much more convenient.

I’ve even used this before to really impress friends and family at thanksgiving.

If you’ve been following along closely, I’ve dropped little hints about it both here and here.

For me, this trick has been absolutely life changing. It got me to a lower body fat and reduced my stress. And I think everyone needs to hear about it.

Here’s that awesome diet hack:

The more you eat after a workout, the leaner you will be.

The one caveat? You have to be eating Real Food for this to work. Otherwise hyperpalatability will screw the whole thing up.

Why This is So Awesome

• You’ll lose body fat
• You’ll build muscle
• You’ll cook a lot less
• You’ll save lots of time

Why This Works So Well

Right after a workout your body is in an anabolic state, meaning it is intent on using incoming nutrients for muscle building. You are more insulin-sensitive, have increased muscle protein synthesis, and increased fat oxidation. Post-workout, most of what you eat will be going toward muscle growth and recovery.

If you’re eating Real Food, your body will naturally regulate your total calorie intake, so eating more after a workout means eating less the rest of the time.

It’s simple. This works so well because you’re eating most of your food when it will go to muscle, and eating less when it will go to fat.

This works for any type of exercise (even a crappy workout puts you in more of an anabolic state than couch-surfing does), but you’ll have the best results with smart workouts.

What About Rest Days?

If you’re not working out, eat your biggest meal after a fast. You won’t get quite the same benefits you do from post-workout meal timing, but it’s still better than nothing. If you’re not fasting, look into it.

Note: Fasting is for men only. If you’re a woman, you’ll do better with three meals most days (still no snacking).

The Evolutionary Perspective

For much of our species’ past, food was much harder to come by. The most accessible food often required climbing trees or digging holes, and animal products were mostly obtained through hunting.

If food is hard to get, you end up doing a lot of work right before you eat. Over time, we evolved to do very well with large meals following hard work.

What to Do

After your next workout, eat (a good post workout meal) as much as you can. It will be hard at first, but over time you’ll get better at eating more and more. And you’ll get leaner and more muscular. Sweet deal, right?

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