Fat Loss, Simplified
You don’t want to lose weight.
You might think you do. But you don’t.
You actually want to lose fat.
”Weight loss” is too broad a term. You could stop drinking water for a day (a bad idea), and you’ll be a pound or so lighter.
But that’s just dehydration.
Or we could surgically remove a limb, and hey, you’ve lost 15 lb!
No.
We want fat loss. We want to lose fat and look more toned, more defined, or whatever the current fitness buzzword happens to be. Basically, we want our muscles to be more visible, our stomachs flatter, and our limbs less jiggly.
So, how do we do this? It's actually pretty simple…
Now, you might be thinking, “yeah, yeah, I already know what you’re gonna say: eat less, move more, right?”
Right, but also wrong.
Eat less, move more is a gross oversimplification. Because how you eat and how you move really matter.
It’s the difference between fast failure and slow success.
Oh, I forgot to mention: fat loss is slow. If you lose 0.5-1 lb of fat per week, you’re doing really well. Stupendously well.
Slow is a good thing. Because slow means sustainable. And sustainable means you’ll keep the fat off long-term.
So, let’s break this whole thing down into three categories.
1. Nutrition.
2. Training.
3. Recovery.
1. Nutrition
You gotta change how you eat.
I don’t care how hard you train, eating whatever you want isn’t gonna work.
Trust me, I've been there. And so have a lot of my clients.
There are three things to think about:
I. Calorie Deficit
Of all the advice I'm going to give in this article, this is the most important: you must consume fewer calories than you burn.
It doesn’t matter how “healthy” you eat; if you don’t figure out how to eat at a calorie deficit, nothing’s gonna change.
To figure out how many calories would put you at a calorie deficit, take your target weight in lbs and multiply by 12.
Wanna get down to 150? 150 x 12 = 1800 calories per day.
For full details of how and why this works, check out my free Weight Loss Calorie Calculator.
Now download MyFitnessPal and start tracking those calories.
II. 80% NUTRITIOUS food, 20% LESS NUTRITIOUS food
Get 80% of your calories from nutritious food. Nutritious food tends to be lower-calorie, which means you can eat more of it without taking a big calorie hit. It also keeps you feeling full, fuels exercise, and also helps you recover from exercise. Plus, eating lots of nutrients will make you feel like you have more energy day-to-day.
Here's a list (off the top of my head) of nutritious food:
meat (unprocessed)
fish
eggs
veggies (including frozen)
fruit (including frozen)
potato (any colour)
rice
olive oil
butter
coconut oil
oatmeal
peanut butter (as long as the ingredients list just says "peanuts” and “salt”)
If you’re still not sure whether a food is nutritious, ask a grandmother. Or leave a comment at the bottom of this article with your question.
Once you have the first 80% taken care of, you can get the remaining 20% of your calories from less nutritious food: pizza, fries, beer etc.
Less nutritious food keeps you sane and lets you be social while losing weight. Which is very important if you want to be successful long-term.
III. Protein with every meal
Protein is important. You’re gonna need it to help you recover from your new exercise regime (more on that below) and to keep appetite at bay.
You see, eating at a calorie deficit is going to lead to some hunger. Eating protein is going to minimise that hunger because protein is more satiating than carbs and fat.
Aim to eat 1g protein per lb target weight. So if you're aiming to get to 130 lb, eat 130 lb protein per day.
This probably sounds like a lot, and you’re not sure how you could get that much protein.
No worries. That’s why I wrote my blog post “How to Eat More Protein: 21 Tips, Tricks, and Recipes”.
2. Training
You might be surprised to hear where your training efforts should be focused...
I. Full Body Strength Training
Yes, strength training.
Lifting weights on the gym floor. Dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells, cables, and machines.
Most people neglect strength training when they start their weight loss journey, instead focusing on the treadmill or group fitness classes.
You might even think I’m full of sh*t, ignore this advice, and start doing a bunch of cardio.
That would be a giant mistake. Because relying on cardio alone while losing weight is going to lead to muscle loss as well as fat loss.
Your metabolism will slow down, you’ll lose strength, and you’ll have to eat fewer and fewer calories to maintain your weight loss.
And you won’t end up with the lean and defined body you want. Instead, you’ll look kinda skinny-fat.
But if you add strength training into your weekly routine, your body will “think” it needs to preserve all your muscle because it’s needed to pick up those heavy weights.
Your muscles will NOT get bigger; you need to eat at a calorie SURPLUS to build muscle. As we established earlier, you should be eating at a calorie DEFICIT now. At best, you’ll maybe gain a pound of muscle over the next few months as your body adapts to strength training.
So, if anyone reading this is worried about getting “bulky”, you need to stop. Until you can get over your fear, you're not going to get the body you want.
I recommend strength training 2-3x per week, training your full body every time. Forget the bulls**t “chest day”, “leg day”, “back day” approach to training. That’s for bodybuilding.
And we ain’t bodybuilding right now.
Make sure you workouts consist of:
Hip hinges (deadlift, hip thrust etc.)
Squats and lunges
Presses (bench press, push ups, shoulder press etc.)
Rows (cable row, pull ups, lat pulldown etc.)
Core work (planks, dead bugs, kettlebell carries etc.)
In fact, a super easy way of building a full-body workout would be to choose one exercise from each of the above 5 groups and perform 3 sets of 8 reps of each exercise, resting for 60-90 seconds in between each set.
This way of working out is more conducive to maintaining muscle while losing fat and building strength.
II. Cardio
I didn't say don't do cardio.
I said relying on cardio alone would be a mistake.
You still need to spend 30-60 minutes sweating and getting your heart rate up 1-3 times a week.
You could hit a couple of group fitness classes, jump on the elliptical, go for a run etc.
My current favourite form of cardio is setting the treadmill to the max incline, walking quickly enough to keep my heart rate between 130 and 140 beats per minute, and watching Netflix for an hour.
III. INCREASE N.E.A.T.
Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis.
This is a fancy way of describing activities that burn calories but aren't considered “exercise”.
You know…
Take the stairs instead of the elevator.
Walk to work. In fact, getting 7K steps per day is a good goal.
Spend time gardening.
Get a standing desk.
Clean the house.
Go for a hike.
The more you increase NEAT, the more calories you'll burn day-to-day.
3. Recovery
Don't neglect your need for recovery from workouts. Ignoring regenerative practices can lead to injuries and overtraining, forcing you to take time off the gym and putting a big dent in your progress.
I. SLEEP
First of all, start sleeping more.
I know you think you can get by on 5 hours, but it isn't enough. Think 7-9 hours instead.
Sleep is important for 3 reasons. First, it’s during sleep that you recover from exercise. If you don’t sleep enough, you’ll stop seeing progress.
Second, sleep deprivation can actually lead to hunger: levels of the hormone that makes you hungrier go up, and levels of the hormone that makes you feel full go down.
You're more likely to overeat when you're sleep-deprived.
And third: injuries usually occur in a state of sleep deprivation. Every injury I've ever sustained in the gym happened after a poor night's sleep.
Check out my Instagram post “12 Ways to Improve Your Sleep” for tips.
II. HYDRATION
Stay hydrated. Aim for 2-4 L of water per day (nearer 2 L if you're a small person, nearer 4 if you're a bigger person). Your gym performance will improve, therefore burning more calories. Plus you're less likely to injure yourself.
And you’ll be able to control hunger better if you're drinking lots of water.
III. MEDITATIVE PRACTICE
Here are a few examples of meditative practices: a light yoga class, mindfulness, foam rolling, an easy hike, stretching, sitting in the stream room or sauna, and massage. Things that keep you in the present and make you feel good.
Do some kind of meditative practice every day. First, it can help with recovery from exercise, allowing you to keep coming back to the gym and burning those calories.
Second, it will help you keep stress levels under control. This is especially important if you're prone to stress-eating.
Third, it helps you develop a positive attitude towards fitness. If you're at the very beginning of your weight loss journey, you probably aren't going to have too much fun when you work out. This will change with time, but you're less likely to quit if there are at least a couple of fitness-related habits that you actually enjoy.
And who doesn't enjoy a nice massage?