Shane’s Core Goal: Lose Visceral Fat & Reach a 32" Waist

The true target is not just a number on the scale. Your real goal is:

• Lose visceral fat from your midsection.
• Measure that loss by:
  • Overall weight loss, and
  • Reaching about a 32" waist at the navel.

What’s Around Your Midsection

• Subcutaneous fat: Fat under the skin, the stuff you can pinch.
• Visceral fat: Deeper fat packed around organs, pushes the belly out, and is more strongly tied to health risks.

The combo you’re about to run (Lion diet → Whole Foods + weekly fasts) is exactly the type of environment where visceral fat tends to drop:

• Consistent calorie deficit.
• Low refined carbs and sugar.
• Built-in fasting windows (Lion’s 1–2 meals/day, plus later weekly 36–40 hr fasts).

Weekly Waist Measurement (Core Metric)

Once per week, same conditions:

• Morning, after bathroom, before food or drink.
• Stand relaxed, don’t suck in your stomach.
• Measure at navel level with a soft tape.
• Write it down with the date.

Three Metrics to Track Together

• Scale: Morning weight (judge by weekly average, not day-to-day noise).
• Waist: Navel measurement once per week.
• Fit: Belt notch and how shirts/pants fit around your belly.

Even if the scale stalls for a week or two, a shrinking waist means visceral fat is coming down.

During the 3-Month Lion Phase

• Start: 210 lb, carrying weight in the midsection (exact waist TBD when you measure).
• First 4–6 weeks:
  • Big changes in bloat and visceral fat.
  • Possible waist drop: around 2–4 inches, even if the scale is “only” down 10–15 lb.
• By around April 1:
  • Realistic total loss: 15–25 lb on the scale from 210.
  • Waist likely down about 3–6 inches from wherever you started.

Example: if you began around a 40" waist, being somewhere in the 34–36" range by April is very plausible if Lion adherence is solid.

Post-April Whole Foods + Weekly Fasts

• Whole Foods only eating pattern.
• 1× weekly 36–40 hr fast.
• Slow, sustainable fat loss:
  • Continue trimming midsection steadily.
  • Use the weekly fast as a visceral fat tool and appetite/insulin reset.

Over a few more months, this phase is where you can ride the waist down from the mid-30s into your target 32".

170 lb is still a useful reference point, but the priority is:

• Primary target: 32" waist (visceral fat focus).
• Secondary: body weight number.

You might discover:

• At 175–178 lb, you’ve already hit a 32" waist and like how you look and feel ⇒ you’re effectively “done.”
• Or you hit 170 lb but still have a bigger waist than you want ⇒ you keep focusing on waist measurement, not chasing an even lower scale number.

During Lion (Jan → April)

• 1–2 meals/day, no grazing by default.
• Walk daily (even 20–30 minutes helps insulin sensitivity and belly fat patterns).
• Aim for 7–8 hours of sleep when possible (sleep heavily influences midsection fat storage).
• Don’t use “Lion is clean” as a license to massively overeat:
  • Eat to satisfied, not stuffed.

After April (Whole Foods + Weekly Fast)

• Keep refined carbs and sugar minimal. Most carbs from:
  • Fruit
  • Vegetables
  • Potatoes / sweet potatoes
  • Occasional whole grains if tolerated
• Make the weekly 36–40 hr fast standard unless health says otherwise.
• Use a simple rule:
  • Protein first at every meal to preserve muscle while belly fat drops.

Before Starting Lion

Do this once before the Lion phase begins:

• Morning weigh-in (after bathroom): record as “Lion Start Weight”.
• Measure waist at navel relaxed: record as “Lion Start Waist”.

Milestone Checkpoints

By April 1 (End of Lion Phase)

• Target weight zone: likely mid/high 180s.
• Target waist: around 3–6" smaller than your starting waist.
• Focus:
  • Looser belt notch.
  • Shirts less snug around the gut.

By June–July (Whole Foods + Weekly Fast)

• Continue a slow cut (≈ 1 lb/week is fine).
• Watch waist first, scale second.
• Goal: glide from wherever you land in April down to a 32" waist.