I hate BS.
Especially the BS health and fitness companies, trainers, and influencers sell you to make fat loss seem like a leisurely stroll in the park.
Search deep beneath the miasmic haze of fat loss marketing and you’ll uncover a world of ‘airy-fairy’ fat loss advice that is setting you up for failure.
It’s no wonder you always end up falling short of your aspirations.
‘Fat loss is easy’ they say. ‘Lose 10lbs in 2 weeks’ they claim. ‘Eat pizza, chips, and beer and still lose fat’ they entice you with.
It’s mostly BS.
And while Women’s Health, Victoria with 200,000 followers from Instagram, and your friends aren’t nice enough to tell you this kind of stuff, I’m going to share with you some cold hard fat loss truths.
Buckle up kids, this could get messy…
1. Fat Loss Is Hard
Whoever said fat loss was easy deserves a slap round the face. Because it’s not.
The struggles, mental battles, and physical exertions you’ll have to plough into trying to shed a few pounds can sometimes feel like you’re climbing Everest with an overweight elephant strapped to your back.
So while you expect to ‘blast, blitz, and melt’ the fat right off you with consummate ease, don’t be surprised to run headfirst into a few rather hard obstacles.
Fat loss isn’t the trouble-free, painless challenge we’re all sold the dream of. Hell no. Sometimes it can be one of the most gruelling, frustrating, processes you’ll ever undertake.
So before you embark on your latest fat loss expedition don’t expect to find things as easy as they’ve been made out to be.
Prepare for disappointment, exasperation, and constant feelings of packing it all in. You’re going to be hungry, you’re going to be sore, you’re going to be fed up, and you’re going to get annoyed when things don’t quite go the way you want them to.
That’s not to say you’ll never reach your goal – there are hundreds of thousands of amazing transformations out there – but embrace this mindset from the off and you’ll find things slightly easier when shit hits the fan.
2. Exercise Is Largely Irrelevant When It Comes To Fat Loss
Ever heard the saying ‘you can’t out train a bad diet’? Well as cliché as it sounds, it’s true.
And while exercise companies, personal trainers, and gyms don’t want you to stop using their services, they’ll never admit exercise doesn’t play as big of a part in the fat loss equation as many think.
Not only does exercise account for only a minor portion of your total daily energy expenditure (the amount of calories you burn throughout the day) but spending an hour in the gym to burn a measly 300 calories can easily be eclipsed with that coffee and post workout muffin you wolf down straight after leaving the gym.
It is incredibly challenging to create a significant enough calorie deficit to initiate fat loss through just exercise. The key is to let your nutrition handle the ‘fat burning’ side of things.
Now before you rip up your gym membership and embark on a 6 month Netflix binge because Daniel Harrod told you to stop exercising, I want you to hold your horses.
While exercise isn’t as directly beneficial for fat loss as people think, it can still play a huge role in determining how you maintain that desired fat loss.
The main goal of your exercise programme should be to build and preserve as much muscle mass as possible. While this won’t directly lead to fat loss, it will preserve your metabolic rate, increase your metabolism (slightly), and allow for progress to continue when things start to plateau.
Add in the undeniable health benefits exercise also provides and you can see exercise can still play a role in your fat loss journey. It’s just not as big as it’s constantly made out to be.
I’d still advise plumping for 3-4 strength based sessions per week in order to maximise those fat loss results. Just don’t expect to turn up to the gym and the weight to drop off because you spent half an hour on the treadmill.
3. Calories Count
You know those dastardly things called calories? Yeah, they count.
Whether you track them, ignore them, get them from just protein and fats, or pretend they’re tiny creatures that live under your bed and sew your clothes a little bit tighter every night, they count.
The ‘calories in vs calories out’ equation essentially means that the energy going into your body minus the energy that comes out will equal a change in the body’s energy stores.
It’s a law. You can’t argue with it. So don’t.
Whatever dieting approach you assume – whether it’s the ketogenic diet, intermittent fasting, low fat, or paleo – you’re still adhering to the ‘CICO’ rule.
You don’t have to count them, scrutinise them, or even care about them, but you’re still going to be following this particular law of thermodynamics, whether you like it or not.
So if you’re not losing fat you’re not in a calorie deficit. It’s that simple.
You can exclaim to the world you have a slow metabolism, you’ve been given crappy genetics, you have an underactive thyroid, or not all calories are created equal, but if you’re not in a calorie deficit you’re not going to be losing body fat.
Creating that energy deficit – whether that’s from reducing carbs, fats, protein, or alcohol – is the single most important thing when it comes to shedding fat. Make it happen.
4. You Won’t Be Able To Eat Pizza, Ice-Cream, And Whatever You Want All The Time
Can you lose fat just eating pizza, ice-cream, and whatever you want? Yes.
Is this realistically going to work in the long-term? No.
As long as you’re in a calorie deficit (expending more energy than you’re consuming) you’ll lose body fat. So yes, the more chance you give yourself of consuming foods you actually enjoy having, the better set you’ll be to adhere to your fat loss programme.
Now the pizza and alcohol-based problems start to arise when people assume they can ditch the ‘healthy’ foods for all the foods they want. In come all the hyper-palatable, junky foods that people assume they can have become some snarky Instagram guru told them they could eat whatever they want and because of #macros.
Eating whatever you want doesn’t work for two reasons:
1. Consuming all those hyper-palatable foods causes you to eat more. The Bliss Point (the optimum make up of sugar, salt, and fat in certain foods) means it’s harder to satiate yourself and before you know it you’re well over your calorie budget and it’s only 4pm.
2. Your body still requires healthy, nutritious foods to function properly and while the idea of sitting on your arse consuming homemade protein cupcakes seems like a nice idea, your body won’t take too kindly to the notion when it can’t function properly.
So here’s the truth:
While the idea of losing fat while still eating pizza and cookies is possible and seems like a cute idea, in reality it just isn’t going to work.
You’re going to have to ditch some of those delicious, mouth-watering treats that taste so damn good if you ever want to flaunt a figure that isn’t four clothes sizes over the norm.
Yes you can still incorporate some of these foods into your diet, but don’t buy into the idea that fat loss will happen while still wolfing down a crap-tonne of junk food.
5. You’re Going To Have To Sacrifice A Lot
The idea of twenty minute workouts, junk-fuelled meals, and producing Instagram-worthy transformation photos with minimal effort is beautiful. It’s what keeps people coming back for more.
The idea of sticking to the same routine, doing the same things as you’ve always done, and failing to make any sort of change to your life and still seeing results is nothing but a big ol’ fat health and fitness a lie.
If you finally want to battle the bulge you’re going to have to make sacrifices.
No more take-aways when the last thing you want to do is prepare, cook, and eat a protein and vegetable-rich meal.
No more sacking off the gym for a four-hour Netflix binge because the idea of squatting again makes you want to hack your legs off with a saw.
No more #balance and no more #moderation.
The person you want to be – the one with the abs, thigh gap, and well-received Instagram selfies – has to do the things the current you won’t currently do.
You’re going to have to say no to the occasional office drinks when everyone else is going out, you’re going to have to miss the football to go to the gym, and you’re going to have to forgo a few of the comfortable habits that have slithered their way into your lifestyle over the years.
You’ve got the body you current have because you’ve failed to make certain sacrifices. In order to improve, you’re going to have to buckle up and get stuck into surrendering a few of those behaviours.
6. The Bits You Want To Look Good Aren’t Going To Look Good
The abs, love handles, and bum you want to transform into something out of a fitness model catalogue are never going to a) lose the body fat first and b) look the way you want them to look.
Not only is fat loss is a painstakingly slow process but it’s almost impossible to carve a physique to look like the one you’ve got in your head.
No amount of sit-ups will ‘melt’ the fat from your belly, no amount of donkey-kick back’s will shape a Kim Kardashian-esque booty, and no ungodly amount of tricep pulldowns will diminish those ever-growing bingo wings.
Stay patient and accept that you’ll probably never stand in front of the mirror and be happy.
There’ll always be something you want to change, improve, or get rid of. And the sooner you can embrace this fact, the better chance you’ll have of sticking with the process and continuing to make progress; as opposed to giving up after two weeks when your thighs don’t look the way you want them to look.
7. There’s No One, Single Answer To Your Fat Loss Problems
You can buy all the diet books out there, read every blog post published, and scour every YouTube video searching high and low for that one solution to your problems, but sorry, you’re just not going to find it.
There isn’t one magic diet that’s better than the rest. There isn’t one enchanted superfood that’s going to boost your metabolism and melt the fat away. There isn’t one charmed exercise routine that’s going to spur fat loss into action and trump all the rest.
There isn’t one single answer to your fat loss problems.
So it’s time to stop looking for it and start taking action. Whichever method you choose, the trick is to start now.
All that time telling everyone that ‘nothing has worked for you’ and how you’ve ‘tried everything’ is wasted time.
Pick a dieting method and a fat loss exercise programme, stick to it for a prolonged period of time, and stop searching for the next best thing, because someone from work said they lost twenty pounds in two minutes attempting this new cauliflower diet.
This Article Was Too Long And I Didn’t Read It; Can You Summarise It Please
1. Fat Loss Is Hard – Prepare for disappointment, exasperation, and constant feelings of packing it all in. You’re going to be hungry, you’re going to be sore, you’re going to be fed up, and you’re going to get annoyed when things don’t quite go the way you want them to.
2. Exercise Is Largely Irrelevant When It Comes To Fat Loss – It is incredibly challenging to create a significant enough calorie deficit to initiate fat loss through just exercise. The key is to let your nutrition handle the ‘fat burning’ side of things.
3. Calories Count – Whatever dieting approach you assume – whether it’s the ketogenic diet, intermittent fasting, low fat, or paleo – you’re still adhering to the ‘CICO’ rule.
You don’t have to count them, scrutinise them, or even care about them, but you’re still going to be following this particular law of thermodynamics, whether you like it or not.
4. You Won’t Be Able To Eat Pizza, Ice-Cream, And Whatever You Want All The Time – While the idea of losing fat while still eating pizza and cookies is possible and seems like a cute idea, in reality it just isn’t going to work.
You’re going to have to ditch some of those delicious, mouth-watering treats that taste so damn good if you ever want to flaunt a figure that isn’t four clothes sizes over the norm.
5. You’re Going To Have To Sacrifice A Lot – You’ve got the body you current have because you’ve failed to make certain sacrifices. In order to improve, you’re going to have to buckle up and get stuck into surrendering a few of those behaviours.
6. The Bits You Want To Look Good Aren’t Going To Look Good – There’ll always be something you want to change, improve, or get rid of. And the sooner you can embrace this fact, the better chance you’ll have of sticking with the process and continuing to make progress.
7. There’s No, One Single Answer To Your Fat Loss Problems – Pick a dieting method and a fat loss exercise programme, stick to it for a prolonged period of time, and stop searching for the next best thing, because someone from work said they lost twenty pounds in two minutes attempting this new cauliflower diet.
How To Win At Fat Loss
Download my FREE eBook on How To Win At Fat Loss and you’ll learn…
- Why everyone usually fails when it comes to trying to shed body fat
- Why you should be lifting weights
- Why calories are so important
- Why weighing yourself is a no-no
- Why mastering nutritional habits are the key to success
All so you can…
- Finally stop failing and start winning at fat loss
- Finally shed inches, drop dress sizes, and actually see a change for once
- Finally transform your body and mind so you’re not constantly battling those dieting demons
- Finally figure out how to lose the fat, keep it off, and flaunt the figure you’ve always dreamt of displaying