The Fundamentals of Weight Loss
Let's paint a scene, maybe you're taking your first step into the gym or maybe you're weighing your food for the first time. Perhaps you heard you need to run to lose weight or you need to lift weights everyday to see results.
Follow this diet
Don’t eat that, eat this instead
Do this workout because it burns the most calories
Weigh out everything you eat to the very last milligram
Don’t drink alcohol
Don’t ever eat out
These are just some of the general “rules” you’ll see out there. But because of how social media allows literally anyone to slap “nutritionist”, “coach”, or “MD” in their username, we are now seeing even more outlandish prerequisites to losing weight.
Avoid red meat, only eat vegetables
Don’t eat vegetables, only eat meat
Avoid carbohydrates like the plague
Avoid fats like the plague
Avoid eating fruit cause fructose
Drink this smoothie or tea to “detoxify” your body and flush out belly fat
Perform this high intensity workout to enter “fat burning mode”
Now pair these with the initial “rules of thumb” and you now have a recipe for mass confusion on how to even get started with a weight loss journey. You feel like it’s not even worth it and give up before really getting started.
If you identify with what was stated above, this article is for you. And I got good news.
You don’t need to restrict carbs or fats
You don’t have to really avoid any food group, unless you're allergic, which in that case, duh
You don’t have to skip out on birthdays or vacations
You don’t actually need some strict diet
And for the smoothie detoxes out there. Literally just a scam. Same with fat burners and carb blockers. There is NO magic secret to fat loss.
What there is however, is a simple list of practices you can do to not only guarantee natural weight loss, but once mastered, keeping the weight off shouldn’t be a problem!
In fact, this article will also act as a blueprint you can use as a reference to kickstart your weight loss journey!
#1 UNDERSTANDING CALORIES
Calories are simply energy we get from food and we require a certain amount to maintain our bodyweight. We’ll call this maintenance calories.
If we consume more than what's needed for maintenance, overtime we'll gain weight.
If we consume less than what's needed for maintenance, overtime we'll lose weight.
And body fat is simply just excess energy that was consumed over a long period of time.
Think of this this way:
Picture a small campfire. In order to keep the flames going, you have to consistently feed the fire wood. If you decrease the amount of wood you feed it, the fire won’t be as strong and become smaller. If you increase the amount of wood, the fire will get bigger and stronger.
But if you constantly add more and more wood, not allowing the previous pieces to burn, what’s going to happen is that the fire will keep burning.
But now there’s just a bunch of extra wood on top.
If we now slow the rate that we add wood, eventually the fire will catch up and start eating away at that extra wood.
Same thing with calories
If you want to find out how many calories you need just to maintain, legion athletics has a total daily energy expenditure or TDEE calculator which in my opinion, is pretty darn solid. Mindpump also has one which is also pretty accurate.
Note that all calculators are not 100% accurate. The best way to discover your maintenance calories are as follows:
Track your food for 1 week with the goal of maintaining your weight. Eat as you normally do, just track it.
Weigh yourself at a specific time both at the start of the week and at the end of the week.
If you can manage your weight within a 3 pound range, take the total calories for each day and find the average. That will be your more accurate answer.
Before we move on, it's also Important to understand that different foods have different calories. Remember calories are essential to life, it's important that even with the goal of weight loss, we don't cut back too much.
Any food we consume comes paired with 3 possible macro nutrients:
Carbohydrates
Fat
Protein
Each "macro" contains different amounts of calories.
Carbohydrates = 4 cals per gram
Protein = 4 cals per gram
Fat = 9 cals per gram
Neither fat, carbs, or protein are bad, they all have their functions and neither should be completely avoided.
There are some negative views on carbs and fats in the media portraying both as things you should either avoid or limit.
Carbs and fats will not make you gain weight, chronic overconsumption of calories will.
For weight loss, we need to be in a calorie deficit, meaning we are taking in less energy than what’s required to maintain our weight. Luckily this article will show you how to naturally achieve said deficit without needing to track everything you stuff your face with in an app.
#2 Prioritizing Whole Foods
Making sure the majority of your calories comes from minimally processed, single ingredient foods does a few things.
1st, it’s really hard to overeat whole foods. The average large bag of potato chips contains 5 potatoes. I could smash a large bag of sour cream & onion chips and still be hungry afterwards. Now imagine trying to eat 5 boiled potatoes. Almost impossible for most people.
This is due to palate fatigue. Processed foods usually have multiple tastes and textures. Chips are usually salty and sometimes sweet, crunchy and sometimes wavy. This makes it more entertaining for the brain and can lead to us overconsuming without realizing it.
Whole foods such as vegetables and fruit contain fiber which helps maintain blood sugar, leading to less cravings. Fiber also suppresses appetite meaning, you can stay full for longer.
Whole foods usually contain way more micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals that help you move pain free, improve digestion leading to less bloating, improve brain performance leading to improved mood, memory and focus, and reduce sweet cravings.
Foods like fruits and vegetables are naturally low in calories, meaning you can eat larger volumes of food while also taking in less calories.
When it comes to identifying what whole foods are, we can categorize food into three subclasses.
Whole food = A single ingredient food item that is as close to its natural counterpart as possible (meat, dairy, potatoes, fruit, veggies, nuts, seeds, lentils).
Processed food = A food item that has additional ingredients to either increase shelf life or improve the taste (canned vegetables, dried fruit, beef jerky, protein bars/powders).
Ultra processed food = A food item with extensive ingredient lists to both increase shelf life and taste. These usually come with lots of added sugars, oils, sodium, and preservatives. (ice cream, fast food, TV dinners, candy, soda).
While there is nothing wrong with having the occasional glass of wine or birthday cake, we want to make sure that we are consuming mostly minimally processed foods that are hard to overeat.
#3 HIT YOUR PROTEIN AND FIBER
Protein and fiber both are interesting nutrients.
Fiber helps suppress appetite by taking longer to digest. Fibrous vegetables also help improve overall gut health which although is a newer field, positive gut health is linked to weight management.
As for protein, protein is what’s known as an “essential nutrient”, meaning you have to have some in order to stay alive. In the context of weight loss though, protein is important because it has what’s called a “muscle sparing” effect. This means when we consume the right amount everyday, our bodies will hold onto muscle.
The reason muscle is important for fat loss is because muscle tissue is “metabolically active”. This just means our bodies burn more calories at rest with muscle than compared to if we had less muscle.
Protein sources include:
Meat, fish, eggs, dairy, tofu, tempeh, chickpeas, protein powders, beans, pea protein, buckwheat, seitan, and soy protein.
For Protein intake, 0.8 - 1.2 grams per pound of bodyweight is the recommended range for optimal muscle building/sustaining. You can go beyond this range, but the major issue with higher protein intake is that some may experience digestive upset due to protein taking the longest to digest amongst the three macronutrients. If you encounter minor bloating, stomach aches, or gas while on the higher end, simply reduce your intake.
And this topic beautifully segways into our next practice.
#4 Resistance Training for Strength and Muscle
In order to build and maintain muscle, which helps us burn additional calories, some form of resistance training is required.
And what's nice is that you don't even need to have a gym membership to build muscle. Resistance training is simply a form of exercise where an outside force is placed against a specific muscle.
This could be with weights, or it could be with body weight. And if body weight becomes too easy, throw on a backpack with some books to increase the challenge.
Whether you're exercising at home or in a gym, it's important that you really challenge yourself. The process of building muscle comes through adaptation. When the body gets sent a signal that it needs to change to meet the demands of a new environment or stress (such as strength training), it will change by developing bigger and stronger muscles.
This means you need to push yourself to almost failure in each working set. Let's say I'm performing 3 sets for my chest with a bench press. In order for those 3 sets to really count, I need to make sure I'm pushing myself to the point that by the end of each set, I should be able to say to myself "I could've maybe done 1-3 more reps if I truly pushed it".
And what's also important is that you treat rest just like the workout itself. Remember, it's outside the gym when we're sleeping, eating good food, and allowing our bodies to heal when we see adaptation. 24-48 hours is an ideal rest period.
For the workouts themselves, ideally 2-4 workouts per week should be optimal for the majority of people. If you're a beginner, I'd recommend starting off with 2 sessions per week, hitting the entire body.
• A 2x per week routine could be full body
• A 3x per week routine can either be a full body or a an upper lower full body
• A 4x per week can be a upper lower routine.
#5 Cardio For Heart Health
Let me start saying cardio or cardiovascular exercise is one of the BEST things you can do for your body, your heart, and overall long term health. That being said, a common trap many people fall into when starting their weight loss journey is to overly rely on cardio to burn as many calories as possible. Now pair that with eating too little calories, this now leads to both mental and physical burnout and/or binge eating.
Little fact, the heart is just a muscle as a bicep or your chest. If I want to get strong with my pull ups, I need both a strong back and strong biceps. The heart is the same, if I want low risk for cardiovascular disease and the longest possible life, I need to challenge my heart. Unfortunately, I cannot do bicep curls with my heart which sucks, cause that would be really cool.
Cardio exercise is like strength training for the heart.
The reason why I'm not suggesting using higher intensity cardio such as running solely for fat loss is because it's easy to become obsessive and many often use it as a means of punishment when they eat something they "shouldn't have".
It can easily become an abusive relationship.
Cardio should be reserved for being healthy, having good energy, improving your mood, and helping you improve your strength training. If you have a sports specific goal such as training for a marathon, then cardio should be used to help aid that.
But it should never be thought of as a punishment.
When it comes to what type of cardio burns calories, is sustainable, and cannot lead to burnout, in my opinion, I'm a huge proponent of walking.
Yes, walking.
Don't underestimate it, although you will burn more calories in 15 minutes of sprinting compared to walking for the same time, unlike sprinting, walking is sustainable for long periods. This means long term, you will burn more calories without even realizing it!
Low level intensity cardio such as walking falls into a category called Non-Exercise-Activity-Thermogenesis or NEAT. This simply just means any physical activity that is not exercise focused.
Things like:
Walking
Doing chores
Walking up stairs
Walking the dog
Tensing to your garden
Playing with your kids
Fidgeting with your hands or legs
Low level cardio such as the one's stated above can contribute to between 15-30% of your total daily calories burned! That's HUGE.
For context, if I normally burn 2,000 calories daily, 300-600 of those calories are coming from some of the aforementioned. So throwing in a couple of walks here and there will have big impacts long term!
#5 TAKEAWAY
Higher intensity cardio such as running or sprinting should be used in moderation to improve heart health, mental health, and improve sports performance. 2-3 higher intensity cardio sessions per week should be plenty for most people.
Low level cardio such as walking is more sustainable and will not lead to physical burnout.
Cardio in of itself should not be treated as a punishment for eating something off plan. All you have to do is simply return to your normal routine if you do.
#6 Realistic Expectations
Let me paint a picture, it's December and you're excited about when the new year starts and how you're going to completely change your lifestyle. You're gonna workout 6 days per week, you're gonna be super disciplined with your diet, and you're not going to make any mistakes.
Sound familiar?
Unfortunately this is often the mindset for millions of people every year. They're sick of where they're at and want to immediately change everything. They want fast results.
What is fortunate is that if you identify with this, you're not alone. And what's great is that there is a better approach.
Many people start the new year off with a gym membership with a super complex routine and diet plan. 1-3 months into it, they realize, "wow, this kinda sucks", then they either quit altogether and/or rebound with binge eating and neglecting their physical health.
But I'll tell you right now, the right approach is not that sexy. It doesn’t require you to leave the gym feeling like you just went to war. That should NEVER be the result of a workout. The best approach is usually the longer one, remember, this isn’t a 9 week bootcamp, this is your whole life.
Do you want to lose 50 pounds and only keep it off for the summer before gaining it back, or do you want to keep those 50 pounds off forever without feeling restricted? I personally choose the latter.
For some, it may take a couple months to lose 30-50 pounds, while others may take a couple years! This is because there are tons of lifestyle changes that are required to maintain a vast weight loss. Some people are ready for it, while others may not be. That’s okay, always meet yourself where you are at!
Write down where you're at currently.
How many days are you exercising? If none at all, what's a number of sessions per week you can maintain 100% consistency?
How's your diet, are you eating mostly processed foods, are you lacking in protein and/or fiber? Do you not get enough fruits? Are you over stimulated with caffeine all the time?
How's your sleep? How many hours are you getting? Is there anything keeping you from getting more? Do you wake up feeling groggy? Are you on your phone all night?
After writing down where you're at now, write a realistic plan with simple, minor changes that are sustainable. Overtime, add on to the list.
This could be starting to shut off my screen time 30 minutes earlier than normal because I tend to wake up feeling groggy.
Or this could be me adding in fiber rich vegetables because my bowel movements are inconsistent.
It can even be me adding in a 10 minute walk every other day because I normally don't get many steps as a whole.
Setting small, yet achievable goals is the key to long term success. Not only because it's doable, but because it promotes a constant state of winning.
#6 Takeaway
Don't throw the kitchen sink at yourself because you want fast results.
True results come from long term consistency.
Setting small, yet achievable goals is the secret to long term success with any goal.
Be realistic with yourself, you didn't gain 50 pounds in one week, so it ain't gonna come off in one week.
It can take multiple weeks to see even the smallest physical changes. In the meantime, look for mental changes. Improved mental health can occur just after 1-2 sessions!
#7 MINIMIZE DISTRACTED EATING
Imagine after a long hard week at work, you decide you want to spend your Friday night with a bag of popcorn and your favorite movie. You're looking forward to the popcorn as it's your favorite snack and you don't have it often. You cook the popcorn, start the movie and by the middle of the film, you reach down and see there's no more popcorn left. How could that be?
You don't even remember tasting the popcorn, yet the whole bag disappeared! This is because you were so distracted by the TV that you didn't even acknowledge your favorite snack. This is super common today, TV dinners, screens at the dining table, or even TVs at restaurants can distract us to the point where we'll consume far more calories than we even realize.
Put the screens away and actually socialize with your family at dinner. Most importantly, being present with your food can allow you to actually eat less calories! This is because the body has its own way of letting you know enough is enough. By being distracted, your essentially high jacking any kind of satiety signal, thus leading to excess calories consumed. A Meta Analysis from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that attentive eating is likely to influence overall food intake.
Focus on the food currently inside your mouth, not the next bite.
Take plenty of bites, don’t scarf down as much as possible.
Remember that chewing is part of the digestion process!
Final Conclusion
You don't need an overly restrictive diet or "magical juice cleanse" to lose weight. And you certainly don't need to kill yourself in the gym or with cardio to see good progress.
Identify where you're at right now, and make small adjustments.
Focus on lifting weights and getting enough protein to build muscle.
Make the majority of your calories come from whole foods.
Minimize distracted eating.
Prioritize sleep just as much as your workouts.
Use cardio to strengthen your heart. Throw in extra walks while listening to an audiobook or bond with a friend or loved one.
Have realistic goals and expectations. You're not always going to be in a motivated state. Think ahead of time and ask yourself "what can I stick to even at my lowest mindset"?
Focusing on those few things alone will make losing weight so much easier and less stressful for you.
And if accountability is something you need, I'm always here for you! I will have a future article talking about the importance of having a community, so stay tuned!
I hope this article really helps you out and if you know someone who can benefit from reading this, feel free to share.
Talk soon!
-Randy
