FLOOR 1: FOOD • Step 1: Weigh and log everything you eat. Don't change anything yet. Just see the truth. • Step 2: Hit your protein every day. • Step 3: Drop your calories a little. Not a lot. A small drop. • Step 4: When the scale stops for 2 weeks, drop a little more. FLOOR 2: LIFTING Lifting tells your body to keep muscle while you lose fat. • Step 1: Lift 3 days a week. • Step 2: Add weight or reps every week. • Step 3: Add a 4th day when you're ready. FLOOR 3: RECOVERY Sleep and water. • Step 1: Get 7 hours of sleep. • Step 2: Drink water all day. [MATTHEW: your water target.] • Step 3: Same bedtime every night. Here's why this floor matters. One study took people on the same diet. One group slept 8 and a half hours. The other slept 5 and a half. The short sleepers lost way less fat. And more muscle. Same food. Worse sleep. Worse result. FLOOR 4: MOVEMENT Daily steps. • Step 1: Find your current step count. • Step 2: Add 1,000 steps a day. • Step 3: When the scale stops, add another 1,000. FLOOR 5: CARDIO Last floor. On purpose. Most people start here. That's why they run out of stairs. • Step 1: Add one cardio session a week. • Step 2: Add a second. • Step 3: Make the sessions a little longer.