Time

Time

Let’s talk about time.

Time can be your best friend or your worst enemy. 

When it comes to fat loss, muscle building, strength and endurance, I think we can all agree that time is needed to help you reach your goals.

Now, I would be lying if I said that I was training everyday and eating clean all the time.

However, what I do have is a good base of acceptable nutrition and an active lifestyle.

With me having this base in place, it stops me from going backwards, I’m not necessarily pushing forward all the time, but I don’t do going backwards.

Let me tell you about my base, this is not what I recommend as optimal, its just the minimum I’ll do on any given week, you need to have a minimum of what you will allow yourself to get away with!:

Water 1.5 Ltr (at least)

Protein intake at least 1.5 gram per 1 kg of body weight, but I always nail this and some

Two muscle developing sessions per week (at least)

If you have something like this in place it allows you to only have good weeks and great weeks and even on your worst weeks you’ll still be on track.

"What diet do you recommend for fat loss? Should I go low carb?"

What diet do you recommend for fat loss?

Q&A

"What diet do you recommend for fat loss? Should I go low carb?"

KEY POINTS

- The best diet is the diet you can maintain long term
- Calories are more important than carbohydrate intake
- Reducing your carbohydrates can be a very effective way of putting you in a slight caloric deficit
- Very low carbohydrate diets are not ideal for muscle building or high performance training
- I'm all for reduced carbohydrate diets for fat loss, they can be very effective and sustainable
- I'll say it again "The best diet is the diet you can maintain long term"

Weight loss vs fat loss

Weight loss vs fat loss

Now this post will be long, but if you bear with it then you’ll be all the wiser at the end.

I feel like this is a topic where people generally fail to get it right, and getting this right is one of the keys to sustainable results.

Let me explain why, you see WEIGHT loss is simple, you just need to look at one simple variable……the calories. The First Law of Thermodynamics (energy balance), basically states that in a closed system, energy can neither be created or destroyed, only transformed or transferred (calories in vs calories out). So, if you want to gain weight you eat more (increase the energy input) and if you want to lose weight then you do the opposite (reduce the energy input)….. simple.

There are very few other factors to take into consideration.

Now that’s cleared up, lets talk about FAT loss.

Fat loss is what is says on the tin, you’re trying to burn fat, not muscle tissue, not water, you’re primarily targeting the fat.

You still need to address The first Law of Thermodynamics , but you have also need to retain muscle tissue. Now, the main way you do this is by stimulating the muscle by putting plenty of mechanical tension through the full range of motion (lifting heavy weights and no half squatting). Making sure the calories don’t go too low, because if they do your body will be forced to breakdown muscle to be used as energy. Then we have to look at protein intake (protein helps build and recover muscle), so you need plenty in order to preserve muscle tissue.

So, why is fat loss the key to sustainable results?

When you do it the healthy and right way you’ll feel better, look better, have more energy and you’ll have a good amount of muscle with a low amount of fat AKA shredded. The more muscle tissue you have the faster your metabolic rate, therefore, the easier it will be to retain your results.

Now, I spent about 45 minutes looking for a decent picture for this post, but I couldn’t find anything. So here is a picture of a pea with a smile…..

Muscle building and fat loss goals?.....Here is the truth!

Muscle building and fat loss goals?.....Here is the truth!

Muscle building and fat loss goals?

Sick of the conflicting information on social media?

You need to watch this video!

“What do I need to do to lose fat?"

“What do I need to do to lose fat?
I don’t eat much or eat bad food, but I still don’t seem to lose any body fat!”

- Are you currently following a nutrition plan?

- Any foods in your diet making you feel lethargic?

- How active are you (including your job)?

- How many times a week are you training?

- How many of those sessions are you actually training?

- What are your weekends like?

- How many calories are you consuming each day?

Smaller or more athletic

Smaller or more athletic?

This is a question I often ask clients when they are on a fat loss journey.

Smaller/skinny guide:
-Eat less calories
-Do a lot of training which burns a lot of calories
-Train frequently 4-8 times per week
-Eat majority of your carbohydrates around training days

Athletic/toned guide:
-Control calories (enough to optimise muscle development and recovery)
-Focus on building muscle in the gym
-With your cardio you need to focus on developing performance (aerobic capacity, lactate threshold, max heart rate etc), not just burning calories
-Train like an athlete (train hard, track progress and strive to get better and better)

Far be it for me to tell people how they should look or strive to look. However training to look like an athlete is a lot healthier, rewarding and results in a lot more sustainable physique due to the increase in muscle tissue.

Now I didn’t want to put a picture of a skinny girl vs an athletic girl on this post, I believe Facebook already has plenty of half-naked fitness professional. So here is a picture of a kitten instead, everyone likes kittens.