If you only take a few things away from this post, let them be that: carbs are not bad, fat is not bad, you can’t spot-reduce fat, and if you aren’t in a caloric deficit you won’t lose weight. I just summed up this entire post there. I’m going to expand on a few of these in the first two paragraphs.
NOW let’s get into this, shall we? #1 thing I think that any fitness professional has been asked is, “I just want to lose this belly fat.” If they say they can make you lose JUST belly fat. RUNAWAY!!! Where we store fat and in what order on our body fat gets stored, is all genetic based. Thank mom and dad for that one haha For most people the belly comes last or near the end so if that’s your #1 goal to lose belly fat, keep pushing you’ll get there!
Carbs are not bad. Carbohydrates for most people’s bodies are the favored fuel source. These are fruits, vegetables, rice, pasta, sugars, etc… Also don’t cut out fruit because of the sugar, many of our body’s key vitamins come from fruit. A big reason some people will see a large drop on the scale when cutting carbohydrates out at first is that for every 1g of carbohydrate it carries 1-3g of water. So if a person typically intakes 300g of carbohydrates a day, that’s upwards of 900g of water as well!!!
One other point before I get into the actual, “How To”. Diet hopping. Or simply not sticking to a plan for longer than 3 weeks. Jumping from paleo to Atkins to keto to whole 30 to carnivore to juicing to whatever! Look, you’re not going to see any significant change without sticking to the plan. Also, in general, a person won’t succeed unless they make it a lifestyle change. The word diet infers that it’s going to end at some point (3,6,12 weeks), but we want to see change LONG TERM! Make it a lifestyle change, not just a get fit quick fix.
Now the one thing any of those diets above have in common is that they all create a caloric deficit somehow. Paleo-limits processed foods, Keto-ditches the carbs, Atkins- low carbs. You see the point. I believe in consuming MOSTLY whole and minimally processed foods, then actually creating the caloric deficit with said food, but without eliminating and demonizing any type of food.
How to do this. Pretty easy. Find your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure), just google TDEE calculator and there will be an endless amount. Start with a moderate deficit, subtract 300-500 calories from it and there’s your starting point…for calories. Let’s figure out your macros or macronutrients. Protein and carbohydrates have 4calories per gram, fats have 9calories per gram.
Protein is where you always want to start, if you’re just overweight, about 20-30lbs. To lose weight, 1.8-2.7g/kg of body weight is good, this is considering you’re weight training. If you’re obese, go off of lean body mass if able to or the amount of protein your goal body weight is. Slightly higher protein intake is sometimes better because you’ll be at a lower risk for muscle loss and more satiated.
Carbohydrates and fats are more manipulative because everyone’s body is different. Nutrition isn’t one size fits all. I recommend clients start at 20% of their daily calories coming from fat and the rest being carbs after finding protein. Manipulate these and play with the numbers over time, like I said everyone is different.
Example: 200lb. Male that needs 2,500 calories to lose weight. Lifts weights 4x/week. Wants to lose 30lbs.
Protein- 200lb./2.2= 90.91kg x 2=180g of protein. 30% of 2,500
Fats- 2500x.2(20%)=500/9(calories per gram of fat)= 55g of fat. 20% of 2,500
Carbohydrates- 315g. 50% of calories. This is what was leftover after protein and carbohydrates.
Some things to remember:
This is not the “Golden calculation or amount”, this was an example.
Slow and steady wins the race, 1-2lbs a week!
Resistance train! This will keep the muscle you have and in the end have the toned shredded look everyone wants.
YOU NEED TO BE IN A CALORIC DEFICIT! Keep protein intake higher to preserve muscle. Play with different ratios of carbs and fats, if you can adhere to it, you’ll see results! Adherence is the biggest factor. If you have further questions, drop them below!
If you’re able to watch the video below, it is great! It’s pretty dry but very educational. If you have an hour and want to learn, check it out!
https://www.nsca.com/education/videos/facts-and-fallacies-of-fat-loss/