Welcome to the Simple guild to losing fat. Notice I didn’t say easy, because as anyone who has tried to lose fat can attest, there is nothing easy about it, but it can be less daunting if you know the science behind it and how to work around the sticking points you have.
Let’s start with the basics, what is a calorie? Well a calorie is nothing more than a unit used to measure energy. In this case, how many calories are in one pound of fat? Around 3500 calories. That means you either need to be in a surplus of 3500 calories to gain one pound, or you need to be in a deficit of 3500 calories to lose a pound (of fat). In order to lose fat - because that is what we are talking about here - you first must know what your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is; that is the number of calories you need to be you as you are right now. If you don’t know this number, which is based on a combination of total body weight, fat mass, lean mass, age, gender, and daily lifestyle, then how can you ever tell if you are truly in a deficit or a surplus. I will go over that in a future seminar we will be holding here at The Spot. Let me just say, that in my vast experience helping hundreds of people on their fat loss journey, almost everyone I have worked with has been vastly under eating, which is actually causing them to NOT lose fat or even weight…
So, let’s get to it then. There is one thing you need to know about fat loss; you need to be in a consistent calorie deficit in order to lose fat, but here is where it gets tricky. If you are in too much of a deficit, more than 25% of your BMR, you are likely not going to lose fat, but you will lose muscle, decrease your bone density, and leave you susceptible to illness. How do we safely go into a calorie deficit:
Increase your NEAT; Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis. This is the amount of activity you do that isn’t directly thought of as exercise such as taking the stairs at work, do walking meetings instead sit downs, parking father away from you destination (store, work, doctor’s office, etc.), doing more house work, yard work, play activities. If you increase your NEAT by just 100 calories a day, you will be able to lose 1 pound a month. Now, I know 1 pound a month doesn’t seem like a lot, but that’s 12 pounds a year just by taking the stairs every chance you can at work each day.
Next is to increase your EAT; Exercise Activity Thermogenesis. Obviously this is the amount of calories burned while exercising. If you currently workout for 45 minutes, just increase it to 60. If you are doing 3 classes a week, go to four or five classes or add in two days of specific cardio training. If you are already maxed out on the number of classes, workouts and cardio sessions you could possibly do (sarcasm), then push yourself harder to get more calories burned during that class. Let’s break that down, 1 extra class and one 3 mile run a week would equate to one more pound burned every 5 weeks which equates to 11 more pounds lost in a year.
After you’ve increased the NEAT and EAT calorie deficits, it’s finally time to go into Calorie Restriction. We don’t want or need to go overboard here, just 300-500 calories a day based on what your BMR is. For example, if your BMR is calculated at 2000 calories a day, then we would begin by reducing it by 20% (max) which would yield a 400 calorie deficit. Assuming you stay at this deficit, that would bring about a pound loss every 9 days or 3.5 pounds a month. That means you could then expect another 42 pound loss over the course of the year!
Sounds great doesn’t it - 65 pounds in one year! If only it worked that way right. With all this being said, you need to know that fat loss is never linear. Some weeks you drop, some you don’t, and there is always the law of diminishing returns; your body will make adjustments to your consistent caloric intake, amount you workout, how much cardio you do and become more efficient in energy expenditure and calorie storing, meaning - you can’t be on a “diet” year round. You will have days you miss your workout or binge eat at a party. We all need a vacation which means not being on point or getting 5 workouts in during that week. But the point of this article is to show that little changes consistently, over time, can result is some pretty significant losses. If you are interested in learning more about your individual BMR and how you can simplify your fat loss efforts, you can email me at Nate@thespotathletics.com