|
Fat Loss Nutrition and Training
Progression
The first thing that I see when
someone is embarking on a little fat loss journey is to be in too much of
a hurry. Everybody wants fat loss yesterday and seem to forget that it
often took them years to get in whatever shape they’re in so it won’t
take 12 weeks to get out of it. They will often try and go from no
exercise to excessive, repetitive and injury inducing exercise and also
go from sir sugar-a-lot to as little calories as they can find, both very
much extremes in any case let alone for one out of shape and with very
ordinary and “addictive” food issues.
The reason I’ve put this
together is that we have numerous, no, a plethora of posts on fat loss.
It’s the number 1 fitness goal by far and the fact that we are
facing an obesity epidemic, it doesn’t seem that we are going about
it the right way. In fact it seems we’re going backwards.
What I’ve put together
here is a little progression to go by during your leaning periods. Where
you start depends on where you are though.
Step 1 – The Starting Point
The starting point can easily
be found without having to know anything about your metabolic rate,
calories in or calories out. All you need to is this equation:
Bodyweight in Pounds x 15
Using me as an example that
would be 166pds x 15 = 2490
* I am not a big fan of calorie
counting “forever” but initially, if you can get your head
around it or have a solid knowledge and ability with sort of thing,
you’ll end up knowing exactly how much you eat without ever
counting again. My big gripe with this is that a lot of people focus too
much on the numbers and they end up neglecting their diet somewhat and
especially their training. Yes 80% of your fat loss will come from what
you do nutritionally but you also need to train pretty bloody hard doing
the right things.
Step 2 – Dividing Up Your
Nutrients
We all know that there are
protein, fats and carbohydrates and we are always asking how to divide
them up. First up divide them up evenly:
Protein 33% or 822cals or 205g
(4cals/g)
Carbs 33% or 822cals or 205g
(4cals/g)
Fats 33% or 822cals or 91g
(9cals/g)
*Again using me as an example.
Step 3 – What’s
Next?
Basic Calorie Total? Check
Nutrient Breakdown? Check
It will not delve too deeply
into calorie counting, timing etc as you can find that information here.
Simply make your diet with the
timing and choices from the link above, matching up with your starting
point figure. You’ve got to crawl before you can walk or in this
case, eat the right foods at the right times before deciding whether you
need to cut any calories or not.
Step 4 – Exercise
Now that out food is right,
this should have you feeling better and hopefully dropping a little
excess on it’s own but we need the second part of the equation
– training. As I’ve state many times, full body routines is
the most efficient way to go fat loss wise as they use a lot of muscles
and burn a tonne of calories in a quick space of time while also bumping
up your metabolism for up to 38hrs after the initial training session!
Bodybuilding splits don’t do this. Sure they induce a lot of
fatigue but so does aerobics, so we know that they both aren’t the
best options. High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) also has this same
effect so again, it’s far superior for fat loss then aerobics
and/or steady state type training.
Step 5 – Putting It All
Together
Remember, the starting point
outlined below is for one who is basically just starting out in the
fitness game. Their only source of exercise was going to the fridge for
another soda and there only was dietary attempt was to have the diet coke
with their double quarter pounder meal from Maccadee’s. This is
very much a long term, slow and sustainable fat loss plan.
1 – Bodyweight in pounds
x 15
2 – Divide that number
into 33% each for carbs, fats and protein.
At this point you may find that
the number of calories required looks like an awful lot. Don’t
worry, simply build up to it over a number of weeks so maybe start with 3
meals a day for 1 week and increase 1 meal each week so at week 6
you’re up to 6 meals a day. This isn’t a race.
3 – Activity
If you aren’t keen on the
exercise front straight off the bat then as stated simply changing your
eating habits should drop some pounds off the scale wt. It’s always
a great idea to get moving somehow though so either:
• Start Walking
• Increase Accidental
Exercise (walk to the shops, work etc)
This will again have you using
more calories.
As you go along and your food
is looking good, you’re keeping those carbs down to the times where
you need them, protein is being eaten at every meal. Now a lot of people
will simply opt to lower calories down from here which is a big no go as
you’ve only just gotten your body comfortable with this new regime.
No, now is the time to bring in some calorie expenditure in the form of
exercise.
4 - Training
In the article link above there
is a Fat Loss Hierarchy which I strongly suggest you follow with each
mode of activity being added in once fat loss has stalled with no change
for 2 full weeks. It would also be a good idea to alternate changes in
diet and changes in activity instead of a lot of changes from 1 of them.
If you cut calories down in 1 foul swoop then you risk under-eating and
if you increase exercise the same way you risk over-exercising
(overtraining).
This ‘leaves you with
somewhere to go” making you still have plenty of options whereas to
continue to make progress with your fat loss. If you all of a sudden drop
all carbs as in an Atkins diet type of situation then what do you do next
nutritionally? You’ve essentially left yourself “nowhere to
go” which leads to crazy ideas such as twice daily cardio and
marathon weight training sessions, both a sure fire way to increase
cortisol (a fat storing hormone) through the roof.
A lot exercise after a lay off
is also a sure fire way to get you some niggling overuse injuries. The
body needs time to condition itself for exercise so a slow approach is
safe as well as sound.
Step 5 – Making Continued
Progress
So again we have a solid food
plan in place, we have started at the base of the Fat Loss Hierarchy (3
full body resistance workouts a week) and slowly but surely, the weight
continues to drop.
From this point it’s
imply a case of adding in activity and monitoring your diet.
As stated, changes are only
made as fat loss stalls for 2 full weeks. Here is a sample 3 month
period:
• Weeks 1 – 2:
Determine your starting point and nutrient breakdown.
• Weeks 3 – 4:
Perform 3 full body type resistance training sessions lasting 30 –
60mins each (starting at 40mins, gradually increase he length of the
sessions as you go).
• Weeks 5 – 6:
Perform 3 full body type resistance training sessions lasting 40 –
60mins each (starting at 40mins, gradually increase he length of the
sessions as you go).
• Weeks 7 – 8:
Perform 3 full body type resistance training sessions lasting 50 - 60mins
each
• Weeks 9 – 10:
Perform 3 full body type resistance training sessions lasting 60mins
each. Fat loss has stalled for 2 weeks so something needs to change. I
recommend increasing activity before altering calories so…
• Weeks 11 – 12:
Perform 3 full body type resistance training sessions lasting 60mins each
and 1 HIIT session x 10 – 15mins.
Basically increase activity a
little, then when fat loss stalls, alter your diet a little
Step 6 – Altering Diet
Starving yourself is
counter-productive. As soon as you do this your metabolism drops and your
fat loss efforts will be in vain. Here’s a little food nutrition
progression to use:
1 – Decrease carb
cal’s 10%, but make up those calories up evenly by increasing
protein and fat calories.
2 – Decrease carbs again
by 10% and replace those calories evenly with protein and fat
By this point you should be
most of the way through the Fat Loss Hierarchy so you must be doing full
body weight training sessions 3/week, HIIT x 2 week and a mix of aerobic
interval and steady state work for recovery and extra calories use
purposes. It is only now that I’d have you start decreasing
calories but only if needed. You should now have a pretty thorough grasp
of where your calories are coming and what food contains what calories
(what, how many etc), so working this out shouldn’t cause any problems
3 – Decrease total
calories to 14 calories per pound of bodyweight evenly from each
nutrient.
4 – Decrease calories to
13 calories per pound of bodyweight evenly from each nutrient.
5 – Decrease calories to
12 calories per pound of bodyweight evenly from each nutrient.
I would not go any lower then
this calorie wise. If fat loss is still not where you want it to be then
you need to look at outside “stressors” such as work, family,
relationships, finance etc.
The only time I’d go
lower is basically if you’re going for a single digit body fat %
for 1 reason or another where you may cycle calories, carbs or both.
You may not need to use all
these steps nor want to but it serves a guide as a way to somewhat
periodise your fat loss plan to ensure constant progress without having
it take over your life completely.
|