The Two Things Killing Your Summer Cut

Everyone wants abs by July. Then Friday night happens.

A few drinks turn into a pizza run. A “small snack” at 10 PM turns into 1,200 extra calories. Next thing you know, you’ve been “cutting” for six weeks and somehow put on weight.

Everything you do during the day is on point. Breakfast is clean, workouts are intense, lunch and dinner are dialed in, so why are you failing?

Here’s the truth: most summer cuts, or any cut for that matter don’t fail because of carbs, bad genetics, or not enough supplements.

They fail because of two things:

1. Late-night eating

2. Alcohol

That’s it. In our opinion these two habits are the reason most adults never get and stay below 12% body fat.  

I know from personal experience. With three kids (two teenagers) our house is full of cookies, ice cream, leftover candy from Easter, etc. We are good about keeping alcohol out of the house, but the cupboards are always full or junk food. 

I myself would be closer to 10% or below if I too avoided these habits. 

Late-Night Eating: The Silent Physique Killer

Most people are disciplined during the day. Eggs and protein for breakfast. Chicken and rice at lunch. Steak for dinner.

Then 8 PM hits. Now it’s handfuls of chips, peanut butter and chocolate chips, ice cream, cereal, or “healthy snacks” that somehow add up to another full meal.

The problem isn’t just the food. It’s that nighttime eating is usually mindless eating. Plus, it is out of sync with your body's circadian rhythm and the natural cycles of digestive enzymes. 

A few hundred extra calories every night can completely erase the deficit you created all day. Overload your body with sugar and force your body into night time fat storage mode.

The Fix

Set a hard cutoff time. Stop eating between 6 and 7 PM. It sounds hard, but this is where we find most people consume all of their bad calories for the day. Cut out the evening snacks and staying lean gets easy...fast. 

You don’t need a complicated diet strategy. You need boundaries. 

After dinner, create a strict routine that includes brushing your teeth early to create a mental block for yourself. If you need something, try a glass of sparkling water with fruit in it or hot herbal tea.  You can also go to bed earlier which has the added benefit of helping you optimize your hormones and recovery. 

Tea is especially underrated during a cut. Hot tea gives you something to sip on, helps reduce cravings, and creates a ritual that replaces nighttime snacking. My wife started this ritual a few years ago and it helped her quick drinking and snacking. 

I personally like to have some sleepy time tea with a few pine pollen capsules cracked open into it. It's delicious and really does kill cravings and help you relax before bed. 

Alcohol: Liquid Fat Gain

You can’t out-train nightly drinking. Weekend binges are even worse.

Alcohol is one of the fastest ways to destroy a calorie deficit while also crushing recovery, sleep quality, testosterone levels, and training performance. It also is the number one cause of beer munchies and late night ice cream runs. 

It you are going to drink everyday or hit the bars on Friday and Saturday night and crush 20+ drinks a weekend, I wouldn't even try cutting. You are simply wasting your time.

Most people simply and massively underestimate how many calories they drink. Alcohol is loaded. Even clear liquors still contain calories. Low calorie beers and seltzers do too. Even 1-2 a day can add up to a lot of empty calories. 

A few beers and cocktails can easily add:

• 1,000+ calories

• Late-night munchies

• Poor sleep and declining hormones

• Water retention

• Missed workouts the next morning

Even worse, alcohol lowers inhibitions. Nobody gets drunk and starts craving grilled chicken and asparagus. They order wings, burgers, nachos, and tacos. 

The Environment Always Wins

Here’s the biggest hack nobody wants to hear: Stop keeping junk food and alcohol in the house.

Willpower is overrated and most people have none. If cookies, chips, ice cream, and beer are sitting in your kitchen, eventually you’re going to eat and drink them—especially when cravings hit late at night. If it is not in the house, you can't eat/drink it. 

Successful cuts are often boring because successful people remove temptation before it becomes a problem. 

Make fat loss easier:

• Stop binge drinking. It seems fun, but robs your health and your finances

• Don’t stock alcohol at home (only buy what you need for a drink here and there)

• Limit drinking to eating out or 1 night at home a week

• Have tea and sparkling water ready

• Create friction between you and bad decisions

Summer Cuts Are Built at Night

Anybody can eat clean at noon. The real battle happens after dinner.

If you can control late-night snacking and eliminate alcohol intake, your body composition changes fast. Most people don’t realize how lean they could get just by eliminating empty calories from evenings and weekends.

Your cut isn't working because of a protein deficiency or too few workouts; it's the late-night BS. 

Want visible abs this summer? Become master of your domain and improve your evening habits. It's that easy.