Four Steps To Fat Loss

How do you lose fat?

Probably one of the most popular topics and yet still so misunderstand.

Let's be real... there is a lot of crap on the Internet and social media these days. These products and BS methods being promoted are just clouding our belief that there must be some magical secret to lose fat FAST.

I'm sorry to tell you this... there really isn't. 

As amazing as it would be... there are no secrets. There are no magical teas, coffees, wraps or food that is going to speed up the fat loss process. So if you are scrolling through IG and you come across a post of a mind-blowing fat loss transformation or a product that helps you drop fat overnight, please do not be fooled. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Just like everything else in life, results don't happen over night. You don't just start walking when you are a baby, you learn over time. Just like you don't just start driving a car, you learn over time. You don't just get a degree, buy a house or get that job promotion over night. All of these things take hard work, patience and time.

Fat loss is no different.

Having said that, there are 4 steps I want to discuss today that will help you speed up the process so you aren't spinning your wheels year after year.

As you may know, yoyo dieting is a major issue and is definitely one of the reasons why people struggle to lose weight and actually keep it off. But if you are strategic and follow through on the following 4 steps, you can break that cycle and actually sustain your fat loss results over time.

Let's get into these 4 steps.

1. Prime your metabolic rate

What the heck does that mean?

Essentially, we want to take care of our metabolism before entering a fat loss stage by strategically eating more food over time. Before you freak out at the idea of eating more food, hear me out.

This is the most underrated step of them all. Those who are constantly yoyo dieting are likely still in a caloric deficit when they aren't dieting without even realizing it. Overtime, this really starts to have negative effects on your metabolism, making it more and more difficult to actually lose weight each time you go to diet. 

A lot of people think they need to consume 1,200 calories a day when they aren't dieting and they are consistently eating this amount of food for an extended period of time. I don't know why, but everyone seems to believe that the magical number of calories you should be consuming regularly is 1,200 for the rest of your life.

Not true at all. If you would like to learn more about your maintenance calories, check out this post right here.

What often happens here is that those who consume this little of food over a period of time start to experience these negative metabolic adaptations I mentioned previously. This is where your body adapts to the need to consume 1,200 calories a day just to maintain weight. This means that you would have to consume an even lower amount of calories just to lose weight. Can you imagine eating only 900 calories a day to achieve your weight loss goals? I can tell you that in my experience that this is just not sustainable and 99% of people can't adhere to this. And because of that, we get wrapped in our heads that we are a failure, when in actuality, we really aren't when 99% of people can’t do it either. 

It's unnecessary suffering to be honest.

So if you aren't dieting but plan to in the future for maybe a wedding, vacation or a photo shoot... it's so important to take the time period before dieting just as seriously by priming your metabolic rate. This is where you implement what is known as a reverse diet so you can speed up your metabolism prior to the fat loss stage.

Yes, you need to eat more food to speed up your metabolism. Now don't freak out at the thought of eating more food, thinking you are going to gain weight. If you take what you are eating right now and slowly add more food over time (I honestly recommend a 2-5% increase in your fats and carbs every 2 weeks) your body can adapt and change where these incremental changes become your new maintenance calories. Just like you adapted your body to maintain weight consuming 1200 calories a day, you can adapt it to maintain weight consuming 1,600, 1,800, maybe 2,000 or closer to 3,000?

Yep. I have seen it!

I haven't dieted in 2 years and since then; I have been making these calorie increases slowly. I am now maintaining weight eating 2,500 calories a day.

Why do we want to do this? Well over time, it allows you to not suffer as much when you go to diet again. You may find that you can lose weight eating the 1,200 calories a day, maybe 1600 or 1,800. Can you imagine if you were able to lose weight eating 1,800 calories a day versus the torturous 900 calories a day?

Seems like a no brainer to me.

Last thing I want to add is that everyone is different, so don't get hung up on the numbers. It's about getting your metabolism to a healthy state so you can eliminate unnecessary suffering during the dieting phase in the future.

So take this step seriously.


2. Drive a caloric deficit

Ok, it's time to stop this belief that there are magical foods that are going to help you achieve your fat loss goals.

There just isn't.

You can eat clean, eat organic, be a vegan, count your macros or try gluten free.. it doesn't matter.

It's about finding a nutrition plan that you can stick to and actually enjoy. Not everything needs to be hardcore. Focus more on what’s sustainable here

I have found flexible dieting to be the most sustainable approach for me and all my clients. But it comes down to what works best for you and your schedule, not what so and so is doing or what the latest fad is. What works for me, may not work for you.

Regardless of the plan and food choices you make, the only way to lose weight is by eating less consistently over time.

The timeframe varies for each person, so stay consistent with your caloric deficit 


3. Adherence and consistency

Once you are in a caloric deficit, adhering to your program over a consistent period of time is key. This is where most people get lost or start to fall off track.

The latest fad may be out or maybe your friend is crushing it on a different program. But we have to stop jumping from program to program because it's what everyone else is doing

Pick a program that you can stick to 6 months from now, 1 year from now, 5 years from now. I get it, there are SO many options out there and SO much information -- how do you know what program to do? Well I will say this: it's not the latest and greatest. The program you should be on is one you can STICK to for the rest of your life!

Remember, adherence is key!

4. Patience

I know I know... the most basic and overrated tip out there! But if you are shaking your head right now thinking, "yea yea yea, I know I need to be patient. That's common sense." Remember that common sense isn't always common PRACTICE.

Make an effort to practice and implement patience. It's not easy to be patient. But it's a skill worth possessing. So make a valid effort to focus on being a more patient person -- in all areas of your life. If you can focus on being patient when you are driving in traffic, waiting in line at the grocery store, waiting for your piece of equipment at the gym, that's just going to transfer into being patient when it comes to your fat loss goals

And lastly... ask yourself this:

How long have you spent getting yourself to the point where you DON'T want to be? Under that it's not going to change overnight. 

Be patient my friends

Hope this was helpful!

- Krysten