8 Essentials for Fat Loss
8 essential items for fat loss
There is more than one way to skin a cat! When looking to reduce your body fat you have probably been told at least 101 different ways to do it, each one being sold to you as being more effective the the last. As a research-based Personal Trainer I have read the literature and tried many of them. Here are my 8 essential items that must be looked at if you want to reduce your body fat.
Calories
From a physics point of view you must burn more calories than you ingest (putting you in a calorie deficit) to reduce your weight. In an equation that looks like this:
Calories in - Calories out = Body Weight
However this does not cleanly covert from theory into practice because the human body is a major influencing factor that can distort this equation. An example of this is a reduction in calorie intake can reduce your physical activity (which in turn reduces your calories out) leading to no change in bodyweight. Furthermore a reduction in bodyweight does not necessarily mean a reduction in body fat, you can lose weight through multiple forms such as a reduction in muscle mass. Therefore a simple reduction in calories ingested will not guarantee a reduction in body fat (which is why I have 7 more essential items that should be covered to optimise fat loss).
If you are looking to simply reduce your body fat I would suggest setting your daily target at 85% (slower but more manageable change) or 80% (faster but harder to maintain change) of your maintenance calories (the number of calories you need to ingest on average per day to maintain your current bodyweight) whilst managing the remaining 7 essential items for fat loss.
Macro Nutrients
The human body does not react the same way to 100 calories of carbohydrates as it does to 100 calories of protein (further evidence that only creating a calories defect does not guarantee fat loss). The topic of optimal macronutrient split is very mixed within the research yet there is one theory that is shown to constantly work, that theory is a high intake of protein.
Protein is used by the body primarily to build and repair tissues. It is difficult for the body to convert protein into usable energy or store it as fat. Furthermore most protein sources come with a high satiety level meaning after eating it you feel fuller for longer than when ingesting carbohydrate or fats.
The combination of the above facts makes protein an ideal macronutrient when looking to reduce body fat. After extensive reading into amounts of protein ingestion for fat loss I would suggest you should eat between 1.7-2g per kg of your bodyweight to optimise fat loss and maintain muscle mass.
5 a day
Consuming 5 fruit or vegetables a day is an absolute minimum to keep your body healthy whilst reducing body fat. There are loads of benefits of eating a variety of fruit and vegetables but the main one for me is how it prevents you from getting ill. Too often people work hard on both their exercise and nutrition (bar the fruit and veg) and start seeing results then BOOM, they get a cold for 2 weeks meaning they start eating poorly and not exercising. Consequently much of their hard earned improvements are lost. DO NOT let this happen to you.
An easy way to hit 5 fruit or veg is as follows:
5 cherry tomatoes with breakfast
Mixed salad with lunch
Peas with dinner
Apple and satsuma for a snack during the day
Steps
Walking is an effective way to burn calories yet not stress the body or cause a reduction in muscle mass. Most national health bodies recommend a minimum of 10,000 steps a day which should be an achievable number with an extra bit of effort (on average most people complete ~ 7,000 steps a day). Completing an extra 3,000 steps a day will burn an extra ~ 150 calories a day which equates to 1050 calories a week. Additionally walking has numerous other health benefits such as increasing mobility, reducing stress (another essential item for fat loss) and improving heart health.
I am fortunate enough to have an active job whereas I know most people spend a lot of time sitting in front of a computer or in a car or train. Here are 3 quick and easy ways to increase your number of steps:
1 - do a brisk 15 minute walk in the morning before work or one after work.
2 - never take the escalator or lift, always take the stairs.
3 - walk on your lunch break - the chances are you have been sat for 4 hours already so walk to get your food or walk whilst eating your food.
Exercise
Exercise is a great way to increase your calorie expenditure which again comes with multiple health benefits. As with nutrition your body will respond very differently to different forms, intensities and lengths of exercise. Again the research on what frequency intensity, time and type of exercise is optimal for fat loss is mixed (it is very difficult to compare many studies because exercise is not the only influencing factor in the reduction of body fat). The strategy I have found to be most strongly support and most effective with my clients is a mixture of resistance training and high intensity interval training.
Resistance training burns calories whilst helping maintain or even improve muscle mass. The most time efficient programmes are often a combination fo compound movements such as Squats, Deadlifts, Bench Press and Chin Ups. High intensity interval training is also a very effective and time efficient method to burn calories. This can be almost anything that gets the heart racing and for my clients it often involves boxing, sled pushes and battle ropes.
In the perfect world I would suggest you do 1 hour a day everyday however this is not realistic for most. Consequently I would suggest a minimum of 3 x 1 hour sessions per week (each session combining resistance and high intensity interval training) if you want to see any reduction in body fat.
Sleep
I have previously covered what happens during sleep and how this benefits the body in an earlier blog Sleep tight - why is sleep important?
In summary sleep is important for hormonal control and physical recovery. For those looking to reduce their body fat I would recommend a minimum of seven hours a night.
Water
Your body is ~ 60% water and when you increase your exercise you will increase your water loss, therefore it is only sensible that you increase your water intake to compensate this. That said, increasing your water intake can also aid fat loss through the following mechanisms:
> Improved energy levels which means more activity, by extension this mean more calories out.
> Decreased hunger - water can help suppress hunger which will help keep calories in lower.
> Removal of toxins - toxins are often stored in fat cells to prevent them from harming other parts of the body. When you exercise these toxins can be released back into the blood stream where the majority are either passed out (if water and fibre consumption is adequate) or put back into a fat cell (if water and fibre consumption is NOT adequate) preventing the reduction of body fat.
> Boosts immunity - as mentioned before colds can really mess up your gains.
> Improved mood which means you are more likely to exercise and not make excuses to skip training.
To get ensure you are drinking enough water I would recommend taking a glass of water to bed with you which you can drink (the whole thing) as soon as you wake. Additionally always carry a water bottle with you wherever you go meaning you can constantly sip away.
Stress
Stress can come in many forms yet it will influence the majority of people the same way. When the body is stressed (this can from an emotional, physical or mental source) cortisol is released. Cortisol will reduce your blood sugar levels (via an increase in insulin) which leads to cravings of sugary and/or fatty foods. Furthermore cortisol has been linked to reducing the effectiveness of recovery during sleep (which we know is important for fat loss) whilst also directly affecting your muscles ability to recovery/adapt/grow from exercise.
It is very easy for me to just say don’t get so stressed but that very rarely helps. I have found all my clients manage and relief their stress in their own way. Some relieve their stress through yoga, others through cleaning (this is definitely not me) and some through walking. For me mixed martial arts is how I relieve my stress, during this time I am focused entirely on the job at hand which prevents me from being distracted by any other thoughts, additionally it pushes me physically and I love it. The important message is that you must find your own way of relieving stress and make sure you commit time to do whatever this activity may be.
So there you have it! My 8 essential items that must be considered and managed if you are wanting to optimise your fat loss. I hope you enjoyed the read and if you have any questions about any of the items please do not hesitate to get in touch.