Are you tired of the same old weight loss battle?
You’re motivated and want to change but nothing seems to work?
You aren’t alone.
Millions of people start diets every single day.
Only a handful see results.
So whats going on? Whats the answer?
For most, it’s simply the wrong approach. They get caught up in the latest gimmick or celebrity endorsed diet but haven’t the stuff that’s always worked.
The basics. The stuff that actually works.
In this blog post im going to show how successful fat loss happens. You’ll see where you’ve gone wrong in the past and most importantly, what steps to take from today to get results.
So what have we been told about fat loss?
• Heavily restricted meal plans
• Ongoing hunger throughout the day
• Hours spent exercising
• A feeling of low energy
Fact is, fat loss doesn’t have to be any of this. You can lose fat, enjoy yourself, and feel good all at the same time. You can even do it while including all your favorite foods.
What does it take to get results?
4 Essential Ingredients of a Body Transformation
- Understand Your Daily Energy Requirements
- Eat a Balanced Diet and Track Your Food Intake
- Lift Weights for the Fastest Results
- Set Realistic Goals and Work Hard to Achieve Them
Get all of these in order and you’ll be seeing results in no time.
Let’s go over each of these steps right now so that you can apply them to your own situation.
Step 1: Understand Your Daily Energy Requirements
To lose fat, you need to consume fewer calories than you burn.
It’s called a calorie deficit and means your body needs to find energy from somewhere other than the food you eat that day.
That’s when it turns to stored fat for energy.
To get into this deficit then, you need to know two things:
1. How many calories you are eating
2. How many calories you are burning off
You’ll never know the true calories you burn each day, so we make estimates and adjustments based on progress and energy levels.
As a base guide for losing fat, multiply your bodyweight in pounds by 10 to 13 to get your required daily calorie intake. (10 if you’re sedentary, and up to 13 if you’re highly active, training for 60-90 minutes plus per day.)
Now let’s talk about the foods you need to eat.
Step 2: Eating A Balanced Diet and Track Your Food Intake
We use two different ways to manage food portions. We prefer clients to track food for a few reasons but if that’s not working, step 2 below works well too.
1. Track your food intake using MyFitnessPal (or similar)
2. Estimate your calorie intake using portion size approximations
Tracking your food gives you more food options and certainty of results because your able to hit specific nutritional goals like calories, protein, carb and fat goals.
If your brand new to fitness and want a simple solution, a portioning system like the below works well too.
Protein:
One serving of protein, which is around 100-150 calories should be about the size of the palm of your hand. Good protein choices include foods like chicken breast, turkey breast, lean steak, fish and seafood, along with eggs and low fat dairy products. Protein is a must to provide your body with the raw materials it needs to repair damaged tissues and help you build more lean muscle mass.
Complex Carbohydrates:
One serving of complex carbohydrates, which is again around 100-120 calories, should be about the same size as one cupped hand. Try and focus on those that are as naturally occurring as possible to maximize your nutrition. This includes foods like brown rice, quinoa, oats, sweet potatoes, and beans. These are high energy foods that will supply you with the fuel you need to get through intense workout sessions as well as day to day activities.
Vegetables:
One serving of vegetables is also about the size of one cupped hand and will provide anywhere from 10-20 calories. Vegetables are so low in calories that they are highly encouraged on a fat loss plan. Especially those that are green-colored as they are so dense in nutrients, hunger-busting fiber, as well as disease fighting antioxidants.
Fats:
Healthy fats are a must in any good diet plan as they stabilize blood sugar levels, provide important vitamins to your body, and help keep your brain healthy.
One serving of fat is about the same size as your thumb and should come from healthy sources like nuts and nut butter, olive oil, coconut oil, seeds, and avocados. You can also find healthy fats in fatty varieties of fish, so these should be included regularly as well.
Fruits:
Finally, fruits are Mother Nature’s candy and should be included in every diet in moderation as well. 2-3 pieces of fruit per day is a great goal and one serving is about the size of a fist. Fruits typically contain around 50-80 calories per serving, so are a great low-calorie and nutrient dense way to satisfy your sweet tooth.
They are loaded with antioxidants, which are key for warding off disease and keeping you feeling your best.
As you create your diet, you’ll want to make sure that you are getting a balanced approach, consuming lean protein with each meal and snack you eat along with a serving or two of vegetables and some complex carbohydrates or fruit and/or healthy fats as well.
How many servings you eat per day will depend on your target calorie intake, but you should always strive for balance.
And remember, being flexible is key. If you have a food craving that won’t let up, treat yourself on occasion. That’s fine as long as the rest of the time, you are eating as you should.
It’s all about moderation. If you feel too restricted on your diet, you’ll just give up on your plan. Instead, strive for balance. Eat healthy, nutrient dense foods 90% of the time and 10% of the time allow for some fun.
As you track your calorie intake or servings, remember that you are trying to aim for the target number of calories that you found in step one.
Now let’s talk exercise.
Step 3: Lift Weights
Lifting weights lets you burn calories during training but also for up to 24 hours afterwards.
When fat loss is you goal, it just makes sense to lift weights.
With cardio, while you may burn calories when exercising..as soon as step off the treadmill, the calorie burning comes to a stop.
With resistance training however, it’s much different. You’ll burn calories during the workout and then because the workout is so intense, continue to burn calories for hours after its completed.
It’s the only form of exercise that will completely change your body. While cardio training may help you get a little smaller, you’ll just become a smaller version of yourself. With resistance training however, you will add more shape to your physique, gaining the muscle tone and definition that you are after.
You’ll also gain great functional strength, which will help make completing everyday lifestyle activities that much easier.
When doing your resistance training exercises, you want to really focus on pushing yourself to see how much you can lift. Test your limits. It’s the best way to make ongoing progress.
And, on top of that, make sure that your workout keeps changing. Your body will adapt quickly to whatever exercise you are doing, so if you aren’t continuously changing things around, you’ll eventually hit a progress plateau and stop seeing results.
In addition to resistance training, if you do want to include some cardiovascular training, focus on an interval training program. Interval training involves brief periods of all out exercise with active rest periods added in between.
This form of cardio training is far superior in terms of increasing your resting metabolic rate and enhancing your overall fat burning potential. Plus, it takes far less time to do with the average session only lasting around 15-20 minutes.
You’ll be in and out of the gym in no time – and seeing great results.
Overall, there is no need to spend hours and hours in the gym in order to see great fat loss results.
Most people will be able to see excellent success with three, 30-45 minute resistance training workouts per week and another 1-2, 20 minute interval cardio workouts. If you place close attention to your resistance plan, you may not even need those cardio workouts.
Step 4: Set Realistic Goals and Work Hard to Achieve Them
Finally, the last step to see success with weight loss is to strive to reach a realistic goal. You want to go in with proper expectations or you may find yourself getting discouraged early on, wanting to toss in the towel.
Unrealistic expectations are also what sets you up to fall for those quick-fix approaches as well, where you want to jump on the latest diet that is going to promise you fast results.
Instead, adopt a lifestyle change mindset. Know that you are making positive changes that you can stick with forever and hold yourself accountable. Each day you move one step in the right direction leading the lifestyle that you want to live.
When you stop viewing this as a program that you can’t wait to get off and instead, view it as a new way of life, you’ll be less likely to use extreme approaches that won’t deliver.
Instead, you’ll use approaches that you can maintain for the long haul, building good habits that will stick with you for years to come. When you do that, you’ll not only have a better chance of losing weight in the first place, but keeping it off for good.
So there you have the five steps you need to take to succeed with weight loss. Don’t put getting started off one day longer. Take action and begin today. If you do, a slimmer you awaits tomorrow.
