People ask me how to lose fat more quickly.
But many people ignore the one element that MUST happen for fat loss to occur. So I want
to emphasize this to you:
The only way you can ever lose fat is: consume fewer calories than your body expends.
If you are not losing weight, then you are consuming more calories than you are expending.
In case you missed it, I’ll repeat:
If you are not losing weight, then you are consuming more calories than you are expending.
Now, read the following closely. If you are not losing weight, then there is a 100% chance that you are consuming more calories than you are expending.
It seems obvious, doesn’t it?
Let’s play detective …
Here’s an actual conversation I’ve had 50+ times with 50+ different people. See if you can spot anything that may be restraining this person from attaining his desires.
Someone: “I just can’t seem to lose any weight. What can I do?”
Me: “First, how have you been eating?”
Someone: “I eat very healthy. My diet is good.”
Me: “I’m sure you do, but you might be…” (cut off)
Someone: “I know how to eat healthy. I worked with a nutritionist once. This morning I ate low-fat organic waffles with fresh strawberries from the farmer’s market and orange juice from orange trees in South America that have a naturally-occurring fat-burning compound that also gives me better skin. I had a free-range grilled chicken sandwich for lunch. See? I took all of the diet advice of my psychic, my chiropractor, and a nutritionist who has consulted fifteen world leaders and who is smarter than
Garry Kasparov. I’m proud of my diet and I refuse to discuss it because I know that I’m eating right. I know the problem is my exercise routine.”
Me: “Well, if you…” (cut off)
Someone: “My diet is right for me and we don’t need to discuss it.”
As you read that, could you identify anything askew in this person’s assessment, given his goals?
Sometimes I feel frustrated when I try to help people.
No matter what “healthy” foods you eat, if you don’t consume fewer calories than you expend, you will never lose weight.
By eating high-quality foods you may feel more energetic and more satiated. You might even eat fewer calories without realizing it. Or you might not.
Weight loss is simple: calories in minus calories out equals how many calories are stored or burned.
Exercise, especially resistance training, can speed up fat loss in a couple of ways, but only if this condition is met: calories in < calories out. Now, the following is what I used to think... If I consumed the same number of calories and expended more calories, by doing more activity, that should work, too. In practice, however, this often does not work. There are reasons for this, which we can discuss another time; I want to get to what is useful for you. For now, consider that in practice, the most effective approach for most people might be to eat fewer calories. Burning calories through activity fails for many people in the short-term. It fails for almost all people in the long-term. And even if you were able to work off all excess calories you ate, both eating excess calories and increasing your activity are stresses on your body. These stresses may accelerate the aging process if they are unnecessary. Let's focus on HOW you can eat fewer calories, so you can start right now. If you eat a proper balance of food at each meal (adequate protein, lots of vegetables and fruits, and adequate healthy fats), you will feel more satiated as you fuel your body and brain to run better. Most people experience fewer cravings eating this way. Many will eat fewer calories without realizing it, and they might lose weight as a result. Others improve their results the most by monitoring their food and caloric intake, writing it down, and reporting it to someone. If you try eating more balanced meals and don’t experience weight loss, you may want to try monitor your eating in this way. I like to keep a food journal a couple of times per year, filling it out every day for a few weeks. When I haven't seen a clear accounting of what I'm eating for a while, I drift slowly away from eating what is the optimal fuel for my body. Whenever I bring my eating back up from where it's slipped to, and get it to optimal, I feel amazing, and I have more focus and energy. I feel a noticeable quality of life difference between eating 85% and 95% of optimal. We have a simple food diary that we offer to our clients receiving personal training in our Los Angeles gym. It allows them to track calories they consume each meal and each day. It also allows for recording ratios of nutrients, so we can help to fine-tune the optimal balance.
Our food diary even includes a way to monitor and curtail stress eating.
If you don’t have our food diary, you can simply write in a blank notebook the time and content of each meal and snack. If you’re a client at our LA gym, email me now and I’ll send you a PDF diary page. And I’ll be happy to show you how to use it.
For guidance on getting the optimal dietary balance I mentioned above, I recommend a book called A Week in the Zone, by Barry Sears.
One other tip: eat often, and never starve yourself–not even for a short length of time.
You can accelerate your results by eating small amounts all day long, consuming something at least once every 4-5 hours . See A Week in the Zone for tips on how to do this, as well.
If you restrict your calories but don’t exercise properly, you’ll lose muscle tissue. You won’t become lean and defined. Your metabolism will slow, and you’ll gain weight more easily in the future.
Resistance-based exercise helps you burn fat and stay lean.
If you are too busy for that, we can show you how to accomplish what you need in just 20 minutes per week.
You can read about how to qualify for a one-on-one introductory workout with us at Myogenics fitness gym in Los Angeles. Just scroll down to the section called “The Next Step.”
It’s your life. Can you afford to put this off another month? Or, gulp, another year? I encourage you to do something today.
And I’ll talk to you again soon.
To health and life,
Chad