The 2nd most common question I get asked...

Once people know what I do for a living, the immediate question I always get asked is...

"How do I lose this" (*usually pointing to a belly or bingo wings)

The standard answer that everyone believes to be true is to “eat less and move more”, but unfortunately, it’s not that simple anymore.

When we lived a natural lifestyle, and everything else was as it should be, then yes, eating less and moving more would have been all it would take to lose some excess weight and be healthy. 

A simple calorie deficit. 

That said, if we were living a natural lifestyle we wouldn’t have any excess weight to lose – there’s a lesson there!

These days there’s a LOT more that needs to be done to ensure health as well as weight loss.

For starters, focussing on “weight” isn’t the way to go. It means very little by itself.

ALWAYS measure body fat percentage alongside weight, otherwise you’ve got no idea what it is you’re weighing.

It’s body fat we want to lose, not weight.

The trick is to make sure that the “weight” you’re losing is coming from excess body fat and not muscle tissue, and for that, you need a bit more than a simple calorie deficit.

Eating junk ‘as long as you’re within your calorie target’ is not a good way to go. (So curly wurly’s and jelly aren’t good just because they’re “low points!”)

Neither is “Dieting” without strength training.

Those are two sure-fire ways to make sure you keep hold of body fat and lose muscle (and the strength that comes with it). Your “weight” might go down, but you’ll still look (and feel) soft with no definition. Certainly not “toned”.

On top of that, because weight loss doesn’t automatically equal health, there are other factors you need to consider to ensure better health alongside your fat loss.

Rest, recovery, sleep, hydration, daily activity levels, stress management, macro- and micro-nutrients, breathing and other lifestyle factors should all be taken into account and optimised.

Here are my top 5 tips for healthy fat loss:

1.     Strength Train – You won’t get big and bulky, but you’ll maintain muscle tissue and strength. Don’t avoid the weights in favour of cardio.

2.     Focus on Body Fat Percentage, not weight – As I mentioned above, this is what you really want to lose, not weight. So unless you’re measuring your body fat, you’ve got no idea if you’re making progress or not.

3.     Create a reasonable, but not excessive calorie deficit – A few hundred calories a day below your Total Daily Energy Expenditure [TDEE] (you can find a calculator online to find this out) is enough. Any more and you risk losing more muscle and less body fat.

4.     Sleep well – Create a sleep routine that gets you 7-9 hours of quality sleep per night.

5.     Hydrate – Make sure you’re fully hydrated with water!

 

There are plenty of other things you can (and should) do, but these will get you started and it’s a lot better than just “eating less and moving more!”

Remember, if you focus on “weight” loss, your health will likely suffer, but if you focus on health, you’ll lose “weight” (bodyfat) along the way.

I cover everything you need to do in order to drop body fat whilst improving health at www.MoveBetter.Club check it out for more details.

 

 

Mark