BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO FAT LOSS

The hardest part of the fat loss process is believing that this time will be different. But, it can be if you’re willing to remove the usual complications associated with weight loss and commit to a different approach. 

The key to building an effective fat loss plan is knowing where to start, building a plan that is sustainable (think easy over restrictive), and having guardrails to help you stay on track. Since the rise of powerful social media influencers and the rise of the internet we have been fed a steady diet of misinformation about what your body needs in order to look its best. Where Do I Start With Fat Loss?

All (and I do mean all) successful fat loss diets and programs have one thing in common: they are sustainable. 

No one diet is best for fat loss. And, that’s maybe the hardest idea to accept because of diet culture. It is a gross overstatement to say that avoiding any one food is “all it takes” to lose fat. No matter what dietary strategy you choose (low-carb, counting macros and calories, etc.) or workout plan you follow, you can’t escape the physics of fat loss. To lose fat, youneed to consume fewer calories than your body burns every day. This is called a “calorie deficit.” Because you’re eating fewer calories than you need, your body will burn stored fat for energy. This is how fat loss happens. 

Here’s another way to think of it: Your body needs a certain number of calories just to handle its daily functioning, such as keeping your heart beating, fueling your brain, powering digestion, and helping you move around.  

This is called your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE). When you think of your metabolism, this is what we’re talking about. 

You can create a calorie deficit a few different ways, but it’s most efficient to do with a combination of diet and exercise. And, we’ll show you exactly how to make that happen.

The truth is, there are only 3 fat loss rules that matter. Focus on these 3 rules (and you don’t have to be perfect) and you will lose fat. 

Want a personalized fat loss plan? Our coaches can create a plan for you. Find out more here.

Rule #1: Adjust Your Diet

Fat loss doesn’t have to be painfully hard, but it does require changes that result in you eating few enough calories so your body can burn fat. 

While many diets will suggest there’s another barrier — whether it’s carbohydrates and insulin, or gluten and inflammation, or lectins and toxins — science has shown over and over again that you need a caloric deficit to lose weight.

Your belly comes from eating too many unused calories. If you overeat, you’ll store fat, regardless of what foods those calories come from. Now, that’s not to say some people don’t need to avoid certain foods or ingredients due to food allergies, but the truth is most people are overreacting and cutting foods from their diet because they’ve been tricked into believing these “bad foods” are a health problem. They’re not.

Now you might be thinking, “But, everyone says that if I just remove carbs I’ll lose weight.”

Researchers have examined that exact thing. One study in particular compared carbohydrate intake ranging anywhere from 4 to 45% of total calories in low carb diets, and fat content at 30 percent or lower in low-fat diets

Here’s what the researchers found:

1. Low-fat diets were slightly more effective at lowering total cholesterol and LDL.

2. Low-carb diets were more effective at increasing HDL and decreasing triglycerides

3. Neither diet was more effective than the other at reducing bodyweight, waist girth, blood pressure, glucose, and insulin levels.

This overall lack of differential effects led the authors to conclude that both low-carb and low-fat diets are viable options for reducing weight.

We need to stop trying to blame individual foods. They are not the problem. Certain tactics — like eating fruits and vegetables — might help with weight loss and maintenance. But, at the end of the day, controlling weight gain is more about total calorie balance than any particular food. If you can make that your focus, you will go a long way towards ending the vicious cycle of going on (and off) diets. Rule #2: Prioritize Strength Training

You’ve probably heard that you can’t “out-train” (or out-cardio) your diet, right? 

And that’s true. How much you eat will dictate the majority of your fat loss efforts, no matter how hard you work in the gym.  Here’s why: When you’re eating in a calorie deficit, your body has to find energy somewhere. Ideally, you want your body to pull this energy from your fat stores. 

But, your body can also break down existing muscle for energy depending on how you’re training. 

And that’s no good because when you start to lose hard-earned muscle, your body will begin burning less and less calories each day. This makes it harder for you to keep losing fat. 

That’s why “weight loss” shouldn’t be your goal. The goal is to reduce your body fat while keeping (or even increasing) the amount of muscle you have.

And the best way to do that is by training hard during your diet. This signals your body to hold on for dear life to that muscle — because it needs it. 

When you add resistance training to your routine, it can speed up the weight loss process by making your muscles more efficient fat-burning furnaces. Rule #3: Don’t Underestimate Sleep

Chances are, you’re not sleeping enough. Here’s why that’s a big problem. Not sleeping enough can make you hungrier, desire bigger portions, and crave higher-calorie foods. Sleeping less than six hours triggers the area of your brain that increases your need for food while also depletion leptin and stimulating ghrelin (hormones that help control or stimulate your appetite).

If that’s not enough, sleep loss also creates an internal battle that makes it feel almost impossible to lose fat.

When you don’t sleep enough, your cortisol levels rise. This is the stress hormone that is frequently associated with fat gain. Cortisol also activates reward centers in your brain that make you want food. A combination of high ghrelin and cortisol shut down the areas of your brain that leave you feeling satisfied after a meal, meaning you feel hungry all the time—even if you just ate a big meal. When you’re sleepy (as little as 1-2 hours of missed sleep), you’re much more likely to eat foods you would typically be able to resist. The bottom line: Not enough sleep means you’re likely to feel hungry, reach for bigger portions, and desire every type of food that is bad for you—and you don’t have the proper brain functioning to tell yourself, no! I hate running. What about cardio? 

Cardio is not the key to fat loss. 

But, a little bit of cardio can give you a little extra edge needed to tip the scales in your favor simply because it’s helping create a calorie deficit. 

Here’s what we suggest: Start with 1-2 low-intensity (easy movement with your heart rate staying below 120bpm) sessions per week. 

You don’t need to log excess hours on the treadmill. You can use any piece of equipment you like, or even go on a nice long walk. 

The Final Word: How Much Fat Loss Is Too Much?

When losing fat, do not focus on eating as little as humanly possible on a diet. 

Restriction not only encourages a bad relationship with food and poor health, but it can make it much harder to lose fat.

When calories are super low for an extended period of time, your body will compensate. 

You’ll feel more tired, weaker in your training, a drop in sex drive, and an increase in mood swings increase. Hormones sound the alarm and tell your body to conserve energy, and your metabolic rate will drop to save energy for vital functions. 

This is why crash dieting can be so deceiving. After your initial weight loss, your progress will stop and it can be hard to jump-start the process. The only way to get the scale moving again is to drop calories even more. But, if you are already low on calories there isn’t much room to go down and you are backed into a corner. 

And, if you do manage to drop more calories, you will get more tired, weaker from muscle loss, and dieting is going to suck. Ultimately, you will yo-yo right back up and be more frustrated than before. 

The solution: Eat as much as possible to keep the scale going down, and then make small adjustments when it stalls. 

Your Next Steps

We’ve provided you with all of the tools to help you lose weight if that’s your goal. Remember, fat loss should be a health goal, but not a means to an end. Obsessing over weight or appearance is a slippery slope that can be mentally draining. So, don’t buy-in to diet obsession. Instead, gain control by making small changes that put you in power of how you feel, exercise, and eat.