The Rules of the Ripped

Men like rules. Rules are what make things interesting. After all, how much fun would it be if you had endless downs to reach the goal line, if the strike zone were an infinite expanse, or if the only time you got called for a double dribble was when you stopped to gawk at a cheerleader? Not very. Rules are what make the game. Rules are how you know who's winning and who's losing.

That's why I created the Rules of the Ripped, pulled straight from my new book, The Men's Health Diet. Once you have a few basic guidelines—incredibly effective, incredibly easy to remember and follow—you can't help but start to see results. And the closer you stick to them, the faster you'll reach your ideal physique.

Seven simple rules. Consider them pledges—pledges to yourself. And you're going to be amazed by just how easy they are to follow. But more amazingly, once you know them, you'll realize that sticking to them every single day isn't even necessary. They're laws, sure, but so is the speed limit. And when's the last time you drove all the way to Grandma's house going 55.

Why the Rules of the Ripped Will Work for You

As I said at the beginning of this book, there's a war going on inside your body, a war between fat and muscle. But in this eternal battle, fat has the advantage. And for that, you can blame Mother Nature.

When humans first evolved, starvation and deprivation were always threats. So our bodies learned to store fat in flush times and burn fewer calories when calories aren't easy to come by—similar to bears preparing for hibernation.

The problem is that today we no longer have to scratch our way across the savannah looking for grubs to eat. Now we're surrounded by grub to eat, stacked on 18-foot-high shelves at the local discount store. And yet, strangely, we still put our bodies in starvation mode more than we might expect. We skip breakfast to race to our jobs. We work long days, breaking to eat only when our bellies rumble. Sometimes, we even go on diets, trying to earn some sort of karmic merit badge by depriving ourselves.

But every time you skip a meal or feel a hunger pang? Your primitive mammalian body feels it, too, and says, "Uh-oh. The big animal isn't getting enough food. Better shuttle some of those Doritos down to the gut region, just in case there's a famine on the horizon."

Literally, every time you let yourself grow hungry, you're telling your body to store fat. That's why each of the Rules of the Ripped is designed to keep you eating—a lot. To melt away fat and build new muscle, you'll need to pack your day with nutrient-rich foods that are both filling and delicious. As you'll discover, all of the guidelines in the Men's Health Nutrition System are about eating more food, not depriving yourself of food. Your goal is to pack your body with so much good nutrition that it forgets about the junk calories out there and instead starts to build and maintain new muscle and shed flab.

Plus, as you follow the Rules of the Ripped, you'll discover that when you eat is almost as important as what you eat. As you begin to work with your body's natural metabolic clock, you'll be shocked to discover how easy it is to lose weight with the Men's Health Nutrition System and how fast our plan begins to take effect. In fact, these rules are as flexible as a Vegas showgirl and so simple that even an outlaw can live by them.