Fat Loss 101 - Here's What A Lot Of Trainers Don't Tell You
To lose fat and live a lean life you HAVE to have a basic understanding of how the body works and why we put on weight. Knowing this will always keep you in control of your waistline and stop you ever being fooled by any new fad-diet!
Believe it or not the science behind fat loss is actually ridiculously easy
In fact, the maths is so simple that most 7 years would grasp it
Unfortunately, most people either ignore these simple principles in the search for the next sexy diet or they've just been misled by copious supplement ads and money-grabbing influencers
A lot of the information I share in this post might be the polar opposite to what you've always thought
I'm hoping it will shed a light on the corrupt fitness industry, show you how easy fat loss really is and hopefully help stop you getting mislead in the future
HOW FAT LOSS WORKS
A calorie is a unit of energy
It's our equivalent to petrol or diesel
Our bodies burn calories to function on a daily basis
Easy
We all require a different amount of calories to live our lives. For example, bigger men logically require more energy than smaller women
The amount of calories that we need to remain at our current weight is referred to as our maintenance calories - For the average lady in the UK this is around 1500 calories and for a male 2000
Now. People put on weight when they consume more than their maintenance calories for a long period of time
I'm hoping you can easily see how people lose weight too?.. By eating below their calorie maintenance for a long period of time!
This is called a calorie deficit
[Figure out your daily calories here]
WHY THE FITNESS INDUSTRY IS SO CORRUPT
Fat loss is literally that easy! If you've put on a bit of weight or you're heavier than you want to be, the only reason for this is your over-consumption of food
The problem is what I've just shown you is pretty damn boring, it's not sexy. People want sexy
People want to be told the diet plan, supplement or herbal tea they're using is the "magic formula" to them losing weight
People love quick-fixes and quirky trends. They want to be sold the dream by the half-naked Instagram influencer with the ripped abs, huge bum and bronzed skin on a beach in Bali holding a coconut
They don't want to be told to "eat less than your calorie maintenance" by some trainer whose currently writing this in his pyjamas and slippers
That's not sexy.
Unfortunately, it's becoming a common trend in the online world for trainers and supplement ads to not tell you this simple calculation
If they can keep you naive, they can sell to you more effectively
They can hold onto the key that gets you results, which keeps you at arm's length and makes you a returning customer
Let me explain what I mean
A lady who found me on social media dropped me a message one day, it read "would you like me to send you some coffee?"
Of course I did. 2 weeks it arrived at my door
What I was hoping would be a good filter coffee, turned out to be instant, and not a brand I'd ever seen
The company was branded as the "perfect fat loss formula", just one of these magical coffees a day would turn my body into a fat loss machine
The package explained a 3 step plan that was going to double my metabolism and get me shredded - I could barely contain my excitement
Step 1: Add the sachet to a mug and add boiling water - "I've got this" I said to myself, psyching myself up for the big pour
Step 2: Stir in milk or soya - I whipped the milk out of the fridge and effortlessly poured just enough milk into the coffee so not to go too milky
Step 3: Skip breakfast - Apparently, it was best consumed on an empty stomach for "fat-burning" reasons
I, of course, threw the coffee down the drain at this point.
Want to know something about this coffee diet plan?
It would work.
But that has nothing to do with the coffee. In fact, you could substitute the coffee for a Tetley tea bag and still achieve the exact same results
The ONLY reason that plan would work (albeit) only a bit for most is because of Step 3: Skip breakfast
The coffee company is praying on you not realising this. Their whole business model revolves around keeping people naive
And what will happen? There will be a few people that due to their usual two croissant and a latte breakfast, will lose weight from this plan
So they'll claim the coffees magic and buy the next batch - After telling their friends and declaring on Facebook
So more vulnerable people sign up and the process continues
The fat loss coffee company sell a product that has no benefit to you what so ever, but because they get you to reduce your daily calories they can market it as "fat loss coffee" - that's scary
WHAT ALL EFFECTIVE DIET PLANS HAVE IN COMMON
Their ability to create a calorie deficit.
That's all.
People get so caught up with their nutrition beliefs that they almost adopt a "cult-like" attitude
People start blaming carbs for weight gain or pointing the finger at meats and dairy, fats and sugars
I think people like to blame instead of taking responsibility for their weight gain
It's a lot easier to say "I have a slow metabolism", "I must be in starvation mode" or "I have bad genetics" than to accept they've been overindulging
Any diet plan will work if the total daily calories create a calorie deficit
Let me give you an example, and let's see if you can work without for yourself
I have 2 clients Wendy and Mary
They both weigh 75kg and want to lose 5kg in the next 3 months
I work out that they need to be consuming 1500 calories on a daily basis and hand them an exercise plan to do three times a week
After reading through their various forms and understanding their nutrition likes and dislikes I decide to put them on two different diets, the Doughnut diet (a real diet) for Wendy and the Keto diet for Mary
I prescribe Wendy 4 doughnuts a day at 1500 calories - That's all she can eat every day for 3 months until she hits her goal weight
I give Mary a much more varied diet, of meats, fish, vegetables, fruits and nuts
BUT, because I'm a complete tool I accidentally send her a 2000 calorie day food plan instead!
At the end of the 3 months, both ladies come in to see me
Now imagine both ladies stuck to the food and training plan perfectly
Who would have lost the target weight?
Wendy who was living off doughnuts or Mary who had upped her vegetable count by 50%, consumed much more protein and had doubled her energy levels?
....
Wendy. Wendy would have lost the 5kg.
Mary, even though her diets nutrition had improved by 1000%, she would still weigh the same
So why is this?
It's simple. Because I accidentally sent Mary the 2000 calorie food plan
You ONLY ever lose weight when you are eating less than your maintenance number. Period.
Food quality is a completely different topic
I'm not saying to pie off good nutrition and live off doughnuts, I'm just letting you know a couple of reasons;
1. There is no perfect diet. So when you hear statements like "the only diet that works is Keto" - That's nonsense
Any diet will work if it causes you to create a calorie deficit
These statements will either come from people who have done the diet and it works for them or trainers, influencers etc etc who are trying to sell you something
2. Junk food doesn't make you fat - I tell you this to hopefully help change the way you look at food
A McDonalds burger doesn't cause weight gain - A surplus of calories will
So remove the guilt from your favourite foods. The 6 biscuits you have in front of the TV don't make you fat, but the 6 biscuits you had ON TOP of your 3 meals does
See the difference?
Allocate three main meals a day, anything on top of that (bar veg) will increase your chances of eating too much and therefore not losing weight!
HOW DOES EXERCISE FIT INTO ALL OF THIS?
Exercise is your tool to increase your energy output
I always think of it like a car. The more you drive it, accelerate and do doughnuts in the car park - the more calories you burn right?
The same rules apply to the human body
The more you move the more you burn
Exercise is a way to increase the amount of calories you are burning in a day. It is your second most effective tool to achieving your ideal body
Note that? The second most effective
I once had a client at my previous job in a gym who wanted to lose a fair amount of weight. She trained hard and lifted heavy 4-5 times a week, but she always struggled to lose weight
One Monday I asked her how her diet was and she said "good" - She continued to list a vast amount of vegetables and protein she'd eaten over the last few days
"And training?" I asked "good" she replied, "I trained 4 times last week and got a new squat personal best"
"Amazing!" I replied "So today's our weigh-in day, can you take your shoes off please and we'll take a look at how you're doing"
She jumped on the scales, asked me what it said (as she didn't like looking) and got instantly pissed off when I told her what it read
I'd be pissed off too! All that work and very little to show for it
Now I'll be honest, I don't think my client was always very honest with her food log
But it still highlighted one issue, she was consuming too much
When I ask my client's with the goal of losing weight how their diet is or if I'm reading through their food log, I don't pay a great amount of attention to what the food is, just the quantity of the food (at least to start with)
The bottom line is you can't out-exercise what you're putting in your mouth (unless you want to spend the majority of your day on a treadmill)
So your main concern is not the exercise plan you're currently on, but the QUANTITY of what you're putting in your mouth
CONCLUSION
Fat loss is easy, DO NOT let money-grabbers tell you otherwise
Most people in the fitness industry nowadays try to keep you naive and confuse you to get you to give them money - This is mostly people online, your local personal trainer most likely won't be like this!
Do not trust people who send you "fat loss" coffee in the post!
There is no best diet plan for fat loss, only your ability to stick to it and create a calorie deficit for a long period of time is important
Your priority is to create a calorie deficit above all else
You can't out-exercise what you put in your mouth
If you have any questions, I'm all ears - ben@primalpersonaltraining.co.uk
Thanks for reading,
P.s - I've put together a FREE training plan for you. It includes a 14-day killer workout plan, a meal-by-meal nutrition sheet and transformation video series! If you're looking to get leaner and stronger from your own living room and you struggle to find time to train, you're in luck! Download below.
