My Top 3 Tips for Fat Loss 2/84

Hey all, I wanted to continue this marathon with my Top 3 fat loss tips. I know nutrition was the top voted category from my poll but I need to get these big ideas out there before we can start on specifics. These are all geared towards nutrition but encompass a little bit more.

Let's be real here; weight loss is tough, it is by no means and easy process for most people and I'm sure 90% of people reading this have tried to lose weight at one point and given up. In fact, I've heard some crazy statistic like 90% of people will never even reach their fitness goal. I think that is absolutely crazy and I want to help as many of those people as possible. Everyone deserves to have the health and body that they really want. That being said, here are some of my top fat loss tips.

NOTE: I am not a Doctor of Nutrition, Registered Dietitian, or certified Nutritionist and none of my post will try to diagnose or treat any disease or illnesses. But, nutrition is a huge part of any fitness journey and I have spent a TON of my own free time learning from the smartest people I can to be able to bring quality information to my clients. I spend almost all the time I can learning from people like Dr. Mike Israetel, Nick Shaw, Danny Lennon, Dr. John Berardi, Jason Ferruggia, Dr. Andy Galpin, Kenny Kane, Brian Mackenzie, Chris Dufey, and tons more via, books, postcast, articles, and videos. I do this so that I cant help you sort through the BS and figure out what both science and experience are saying. I may not have the piece of paper that says I'm qualified, but I promise this information will help if you trust me.

Anywaaaaay, now that that's is out of the way I want to start with this tip...

1. Losing weight is going to be uncomfortable, at least a little bit.

Yes, you're going to be hungry and that's Ok. But I want you to realize that the feeling of hunger, although it may be intense at times, really does not last that long. It's usually about 30-60 minutes and it's gone, and gone for a while. Once you understand that mental struggle and realize that there is a light at the end of the hunger tunnel, it'll make it 100% easier to not eat that unhealthy snack you're craving. Also in the realm of being uncomfortable, you're going to have to make some sacrifices if you really want to make a change. I'll get into that more in a later post.

2. Learn to properly track food to build lifelong habits

One of the worst things you can do when starting a weight loss journey is to immediately cut out a ton of calories. What I recommend is that you figure out how many calories you're already eating first by tracking the food you eat on a normal day. From that point, you only need to cut out a few hundred calories a day to make a difference. If you're currently eating 2,000 calories a day then immediately cut to 1,200, you're going to have a bad time. Not only will you be super hungry and uncomfortable all of the time, you're also more likely too fall off the wagon. Especially after the initial progress comes to a halt. The other problem with this is that now there is nowhere left to go. If you go too low right off the bat then there is no way to continue cutting calories out as you plateau, your progress will stall, and you will quit. A better way to go is to use something like the strategy that I picked up from Dr. John Berardi, founder of the massive company Precision Nutrition. That strategy looks like this...

Step 1: Track food as you eat currently
Step 2; Focus on only hitting desired calories, don't worry about macros
Step 3: Focus on hitting calories and protein.
Step 4: Hit goals for calories, protein, and carbs
Step : Hit goals for calories and all macros.

Each step can take from a couple days to a week and the goal is to slowly work in and build good habits instead of jumping in full bore and getting overwhelmed. Also, the end goal is to not NEED to track food, but to understand macros and portion size so that you can have a healthy relationship with food forever.

3. Maintenance phases are a MUST!

This is all of my clients least favorite part of weight loss. The maintenance phase is an absolutely integral part of any weight loss that I learned about from Dr. Mike Israetel and his also massive company Renaissance Periodization. This phase consists of around 3 months of maintaining the same body weight after a period of weight loss. Typically, after you have been losing for 3 months or lost 10% of your body weight you need to do a maintenance phase to be able to continue weight loss in the future. The basic rational is this: you're body currently has a set weight that it wants to be at, and when you try to change that weight it tries really hard to bring you back. The more weight you lose, the harder your body tries to prevent further loss. This is why some people lose a lot of weight initially but cant seem to get those last few pounds off. This is also, I assume, part of the reason why you hear about people losing 100 pounds then gaining it all back.

Here's what the maintenance phase does; it resets your body's weight set point. It gives your body time to catch up and realize that your new weight is where it wants to be. Once that new set point is set, you can begin losing weight at full effect once again. I get it, it's hard to see all the progress just to be told that you have to stop losing weight for a while. but the end result will absolutely be worth it. Plus, you're building healthy habits that will lead to long term, sustainable weight loss so that you can be healthy forever without worrying about gaining it all back. Short term sacrifice for long term success.

So in recap.

1. Losing weight is going to be uncomfortable, at least a little bit.

2. Learn to properly track food to build lifelong habits.

3. Maintenance phases are a MUST!

If you take these tips to heart and really spend time on them, I know that you're weight loss journey is going to be that much more successful. Also, remember that this is just the beginning and that I have 21 more posts about nutrition on the way. If you have ideas about what nutrition posts I should make then leave them in the comments. I know I'm going to need help with ideas. 

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See you tomorrow!