Fat loss is simple once you do the right things the right way. People complain about diets not working ad exercising not being effective at burning enough calories. Many wine that fat and weight gain is permanent. They believe that a person who's been fat all his/her life can't lose large amounts of fat and keep it off.
Nonsense.
photo credit: vramak
Fat loss is all about thinking conceptually and seeing the big picture of what you have to do. This big picture is derived from the principals of fat loss (refer to fitness principles article) and then putting those principles to action. There are really just two main truths to digest. All of the viable and effective training and dieting strategies fit within these two truths; the devil is in the details:
1) must have the correct information to lose fat
2) taking action with an honest effort and being consistent in following through a proper fat loss program
Consider this scenario,
100 people attempts to lose weight permanently. 95 will fail and only 5 will succeed. Does that mean only those 5 are special, got lucky, or genetically gifted to manipulate body mass? No, not necessarily. These 5 people simple just did the correct things. They did the correct things right. The other 95 didn't. Many of you are inclined to assume that, if something didn't work for most people, it won't work for you. Well, if everyone else was doing the wrong things, it's a no-brainer that it didn't work in the first place and results will not come. If all 95 people did the right things or copied the approach of the 5 that succeeded, they'd experience similar results.
To lose fat, you have to do the right things, and then do those right things correctly. So what are the principles of fat loss?
There are 3 main principles with its sub-factors:
1) Nutrition
2) Exercise
3) Rest and Recovery
Nutrition
First, you would need a calorie deficit to lose weight. This is energy balance. To lose weight, you will need to take in less calories than you expend on a daily basis. On the contrary, to gain weight, you will need to eat more calories than you normally expend on a given day. This equation below explains this concept of energy balance well,
Calories Intake - Calories Expenditure = Total Calories
As you see, calories intake is the amount of calories you consume every day. It's how much food you eat. Calories expenditure is the amount of calories you burn or use throughout the day through activity and rest. Even when you're doing nothing you're still burning calories (to digest food, heart beating, nerves firing, breathing, etc). This is called the basal metabolic rate. So you're constantly burning calories every day.
The total calories will have to be negative for you to lose weight. That is, you will need to either eat less and/or exercise more (raise activity/expenditure level). A combination of eating less, but just slightly less, and exercising more will be best.
Here's a simple calorie deficit formula you can use to start planning your diet.
For males, 16 X current BW (body weight)= maintenance calorie requirement (MCR), then subtract 400 calories below MCR to find calorie deficit requirement to lose fat.
For females, 14 X BW = MCR, then MCR - 400 calories
So there are 2 ways to achieve calorie deficit; create energy deficit through increased activity and/or decrease calories. Do both for purposes of maximizing fat loss and weight loss.
After you've calculated the amount of calories needed to create a negative energy balance to lose fat, be careful not to reduce calories too much as you go through your fat loss program. Don't drop calories below 1,400 for females and 1,600 for males to avoid starvation mode. In starvation mode your metabolism dips to below your regular normal levels.
Metabolism then slows and you burn less calories and fat since the body will try to preserve whatever fat you have on as much as possible. The body is made to preserve body fat in times of stress, trouble, and harsh circumstances. Keep away from starvation mode by eating more, not less.
Eat a balanced diet with the macronutrient ratios of either 40/40/20 or 50/30/20 carbs, protein, fats ratio, spread out over 5-6 meals per day. Or at least a minimum of 4 meals a day. Eat smaller but more frequent meals to keep metabolism high. This increases the thermic effect of food so you'll burn even more calories.
Water is thermogenic so drink plenty of it. It aids in digestion.
Supplementation (why are they called supplements?)
If you're low on budget, then forget about supplements for now. Supplements are called supplements because they supplement a well planned and well laid out diet, not supplement it directly. Pills and diet drinks can only get you so far if you don't eat real and whole foods. Most supplements don't work anyway.
Exercise
For exercising aimed at fat loss, do a combination of free weight strength training with barbells and dumbbells and mix of low to moderate cardio and high intensity cardio (see HIIT interval article)
Strength training and weight lifting preserves strength andbuilds muscle mass, maintains metabolic rate since muscles burn more calories. Muscle mass requires more energy to maintain. It is "energy expensive." If you build muscle, then your metabolism will rise and you will burn more calories at rest. The result is more fat loss.
Weight lifting also increases myogenic tone so you'll look leaner and "toned." For the ladies you will actually look slimmer. For guys you willlook like you're in shape with a more muscular and defined body.
The combination of full body strength training and cardiovascular workouts with distance work will result in a fit, strong, and healthy body. You're not just after fat loss as an entire goal. You're entering into a fitness lifestyle where you will be able to keep the fat pounds away for the rest of your life as long as you maintain being active and eating healthily. The results are compounded when you take all of these fat loss principles to heart. You'll get stronger and be able to lift more, run longer and faster, and work out more intensely and longer. This leads to faster and more efficient fat loss. Your fat loss efforts are multiplied.
Rest and Recovery
Get lots of sleep. Sleeping is the most effortless of a proper training program and the easiest but most of us just casn't seem to get enough sleep, only because we make it so. Sleep has to be a priority so make it one. Body composition changes occur most during sleep. Fat loss and muscle gain occurs most during sleep.
At least 6 hours, 8 hours is best for most people. While efforts in the gym and kitchen are noted, now you have to complete the puzzle and fit the pieces together by sleeping.
These are the 3 factors that will have the most direct effect on your fat loss efforts and results. Apply these 3 basic fundamental principles into your fat loss program and expect to see double the results you're getting.
Train Hard. Train Safely. Train Smart.
If you have any questions or comments, don't hesitate to leave a comment below or email me at ZQH245@gmail.com or ZQH250@gmail.com
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