Non-exercise activity thermogenesis. What a mouthful. From here on, referred to as NEAT.

NEAT is all the stuff you do outside of the gym that still burns calories. Doing the laundry? That’s pretty NEAT. (I’m sorry.) Walking the dog? NEAT. The list goes on, but basically any movement can be considered NEAT.

Does NEAT help with fat loss though?

Absolutely. The more ya move, the more calories you burn.

Fat loss is all about energy balance.

ENERGY (calories) IN (consumed) < ENERGY (calories) OUT (burned) = fat loss

Incorporating more NEAT is just another way to tip the scales more in the favor of ENERGY OUT.

Why Fat Loss Stalls

In my work as a personal trainer, I’ve actually found that setting a daily NEAT goal is key to helping clients lose fat.

You see, your body really doesn’t want to lose fat. So when you go into a calorie deficit, your body has a few tricks to help hold onto fat.

Basal metabolic rate drops. Your metabolism slows, the body burns fewer calories.

This is a topic for another blog. For more on how to diet correctly:

What's The Best Diet For Cutting To Single Digit Body Fat 

Seven Diet & Nutrition Tips For Fitness & Health

Your body actually restricts the amount of energy you expend through NEAT. Without even being aware of it, you start moving a lot less. Fewer subconscious “fidgeting” type movements. Less NEAT.

This is why fat loss often stalls, even though it seems like you’re doing everything right.

This is where a daily NEAT goal comes in handy. Forcing yourself to move more than you would regularly helps counteract the subconscious reduction in movement you experience when dieting.

How Much NEAT Should You Do?

A great way to estimate NEAT is by setting a step goal. Get an activity tracker like Apple Watch or Fitbit. Or just use an app on your phone.

If you don’t move a lot, a good place to start is by setting a goal in the 6,000-8,000 steps per day range. You want your step goal to be something that’s doable, but definitely makes you move more than normal.

Eventually ramping up to the 10,000-12,000 steps/day range is manageable for most.

Definitely focus on NEAT if you’re trying to lose body fat. It’s key to making consistent progress.

Both guys and girls want abs they can actually see.

Ok, or at least be able to see the outline of 'em right?

Why is this so hard?

Is it harder for women to get visible abs?

For most, yes.

Before we dive into WHY getting abs can be so frustratingly hard for women...

Let’s clear up some way too common myths about getting abs:

You don’t get abs by doing thousands of crunches.

You don’t get abs by doing hours of cardio.

You get abs through:

Calorie deficit (very important)

+

Training abs properly (less important)

+

Patience (so very important)

For more on how to diet AND train to get amazing abs, check out this blog.

So anyways, what makes all this harder for women than men?

Essential Fat

To function properly, we need a certain amount of “essential fat”. Essential fat is necessary for our bodies to function normally. Women require more essential fat than men, both for proper hormonal function and as a stockpile of energy in the event of pregnancy. (1)

Normal body function can be disrupted when dropping below 15% for women, and below 5% for men. For optimal health, body fat ranges of 18-30% are recommended for women and 15-25% for men.

So, women naturally hold onto more body fat than men. They need more, just to function properly. Getting visible abs requires reducing body fat to very low levels. See the issue here?

For women, dieting down to extremely low levels of body fat can often lead to a variety of hormonal issues, such as loss of a normal menstrual cycle.

Harder To Build Muscle

The more muscle you have, the faster your metabolism will be.

The faster your metabolism is, the easier it is to get lean.

The leaner you are, the more your abs will show.

Basically: more muscle = easier to see abs.

Certain hormones are crucial to muscle growth. The especially famous hormone testosterone is one of the primary drivers of muscle growth.

Women (usually) have drastically lower levels of the hormone testosterone than men, which makes building the same amount of muscle as men harder.

What’s A Girl To Do?

So, maybe a bit harder for women to get their abs to show up. But, it’s definitely still doable.

Action steps:

Train your abs with resistance. This will grow your ab muscles thicker, making them visible at higher body fat percentages. For a full ab training program, again check out: How Do I Get Rock Hard Abs?

Women have been told that super high-rep, light weight, pink dumbbell isolation work is the way to get toned. This is the furthest thing from the truth.Focus on getting stronger at compound movements in primarily the 5-15 rep range.

Women’s drastically higher estrogen levels are actually super helpful for muscle recovery/preventing muscle loss. This means women can handle more training volume (sets X reps X weight) than men. Full body training sessions are usually the way to go.

Sources

1. https://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article%20folder/underbodycomp.html

Calves. They’re frustratingly hard to grow. Many a dude has been made fun of for having a jacked upper body paired with puny calves. Thousands of dollars spent on sweat pants and crew socks to cover your calves, but you can’t hide your shame.

I know the feeling all too well.

But anyways...

Why do so many of us have small calves? Is it ENTIRELY genetics, or is calf growth possible?

Well, genetics do play a BIG role in how much calf growth your capable of. You probably already know if you have good calf genetics or not. If not, you’re probably never going to have HUGE calves.

The good news: calf growth IS POSSIBLE, even with bad genetics.

It really comes down to putting in the work, and training ‘em consistently and correctly. Apply the following:

Frequency

Frequency is important to bringing up ANY lagging muscle group. Calves aren’t any different.

Your calves already do a LOT throughout the day. They’re one of the primary muscles holding you upright when you walk. Since they already do so much throughout the day, growing your calves is going to take a significant amount of volume (volume = sets X reps X weight).

If you have weak calves like me, you need to be training them AT LEAST 3x/week to see any type of change.

If you’re truly dedicated to growing impressive calves, train ‘em for 10-15 minutes, 4-5x/week. 

Range of motion & Control

I often see dudes pumping out hundreds of reps per set on the seated calf raise. Short range of motion, super quick reps.

There’s a few issues here:

Problem #1: Your calves need to be trained through the full range of motion.

Think about it.

Every time you take a step, you’re essentially doing a (very short range of motion) calf raise. So your calves are already EXTREMELY adapted to doing short range of motion reps.

Focus on training them through the FULL range of motion. All the way down, all the way up. Every single rep.

Problem #2: If you’re rushing through reps and basically dropping the weight from the top of reps, a lot of the work being done is the stretch reflex of the achilles tendon bouncing the weight back up from the bottom of the rep. We’re trying to train the calf muscles, NOT the achilles tendon. That’s why no one will remember your calves.

Train with slow, controlled reps. Pause at the bottom of EVERY rep and feel the calf stretch. This eliminate the achilles stretch reflex. Pause at the top of EVERY rep and contract the muscle as hard as you can.

Are you sick of wearing sweat pants and jeans all summer? Apply the above. I promise better days are ahead.

As a personal trainer, I get asked CONSTANTLY:

“How do I get rid of my flabby arms?”

People suffering from arm flab are also usually devoting an entire day of training to strictly arms. If you don’t like how any area looks, focusing on training that area lots should help, right?

Well, not really in this case. The reason your arms are flabby ISN’T because they’re not muscular enough.

Your arms are flabby because you’re carrying too much body fat.

We can’t “spot reduce” body fat. You can train areas where you want to lose body fat (common mistakes: flabby arms obviously, training abs lots to try to get a leaner midsection), but you can’t control where you lose body fat from.

Endless arm exercises won’t do anything to get rid of the layer of flab on your arms. It’ll just build bigger muscles underneath the fat.

So, we need to focus on getting rid of body fat.

How Do We Lose Body Fat?

Losing body fat requires one thing: calorie deficit. More calories burned than consumed.

Don’t know how to set up a calorie deficit? Check out this blog: How do I get rock hard abs?

Calorie deficit is the biggest key. Training CORRECTLY also makes a huge difference.

The more muscle you have, the faster your metabolism will be. The faster your metabolism is, the more calories your body will burn through in a day.

So, a faster metabolism makes it MUCH easier to create a calorie deficit, and in turn LOSE THE ARM FLAB.

Training For A Faster Metabolism

Muscle tissue takes calories to maintain/build. The more muscle tissue you have, the more calories it takes to maintain. This is how resistance training increases metabolic rate.

So, since larger muscles groups (i.e. legs, back) have much more muscle tissue than smaller muscles groups (i.e. the muscles of the arm: biceps, triceps); training/growing the larger muscle groups will have a much greater effect on increasing metabolism than training the smaller muscle groups.

Training the larger muscle groups will also take more energy expenditure, which leads to a greater caloric deficit.

So, to get rid of flabby arms: the focus of your training should be working as many muscle groups as possible during your training sessions.

Use one of the following training splits:

*(Exercise listed are examples of effective movements to incorporate. Feel free to substitute what works for you.)

Full Body (3 days/week)

Monday: Barbell squats, barbell hip thrusts, dumbbell rows, bench press.

Wednesday: Deadlift, walking lunge, barbell overhead press, chin-ups.

Friday: Bulgarian split squats, Romanian deadlifts, incline press, t-bar rows.

Other days: Rest.

OR

Upper/Lower (4 days/week)

Monday: Lower body. Front squat, hip thrust, leg press.

Tuesday: Upper body. Barbell row, incline press, Chin-up, Arnold press.

Thursday: Lower body. Deadlift, Bulgarian split squat, reverse lunge.

Friday: Upper body. Dumbbell row, dips, lat-pulldown, barbell overhead press.

Both of the above training splits allow you to train the ENTIRE BODY at least twice per week, while also allowing adequate time for recovery, AND for you to have a life outside the gym.

Since you’re going to be training lots of different muscle groups during each training session, make your workouts as quick and efficient as possible by focusing on multi-joint movements. Multi-joint movements are movements that get multiple joint and muscle groups involved at once.

What makes multi-joint movements more effective?

Compare: chin up vs. bicep curl.

When we perform a bicep curl, the relatively small muscle of the bicep is doing the majority of the work. Not a lot of “bang for your buck” with this movement.

VS.

When we do a chin-up, not only are the muscles of the back and core working, but the biceps are working extremely hard as well. We’re working the biceps just like with the curls, but training lots of other muscles as well.

Cut the arm flab out of your life for good. Focus on a calorie deficit and training the entire body, not just the arms.

Wanna hear something depressing?

Genetics are the BIGGEST DETERMINING FACTOR in how much muscle you can build.

Genetics play a HUGE role in our physical attributes. Elite athletes aren’t just elite because of their hard work and dedication in the gym. They also have elite genetics.

Same for that insanely jacked dude in the gym.

Looking extraordinarily, unnaturally muscular requires one of two things: incredible genetics OR some form of unnatural enhancement.

Social media and bodybuilding magazines also skew our image of what the common man or woman should look like. We forget to consider that we’re looking at the very best lighting and angles, with the athlete pictured usually at a very unmaintainable level of shreddedness. 

We beat ourselves up constantly because we don’t look like the social media stars and bodybuilders, even though 99% of the time, THAT’S NOT HOW THEY LOOK EITHER!

If you have great muscle building genetics, you probably already know. You’ll have been naturally more muscular and stronger than most your entire life.

So, if you don’t have great genetics, looking like Arnold is probably out of reach. Most of the top tier bodybuilders are a combination of already elite genetics, combined with a cocktail of drugs to aid muscle building, AND years of consistent training.

BUT, don’t let this kill your motivation. EVERYONE is capable of building a great physique.

Being less genetically-gifted just means you’ll have to focus more on having your training, nutrition, etc. on point. 

And while the ceiling for the amount of muscle you can build with poor genetics is a bit lower, everyone can build great looking, muscular physique to be proud of with the right amount of work. 

Realizing your muscle building genetics might not be great? Pour all your energy into these three areas:

1. Proper programming: finding a great program and sticking to it is crucial. DON’T constantly switch programs. This is a surefire way to stay mediocre.

There are tons of solid programs out there. Just look for: Full body, upper/lower, or push/pull/lower variations. 

Your program should have you touching on every muscle group at least twice a week.

An emphasis should be put on multi-joint movements. 

Some form of periodization or progression is necessary. Periodization is simply a way of organizing your training to ensure long-term progress will be made, while avoiding plateaus. There are TONS of good forms of periodization: linear, undulating, block, etc. Just make sure you have a plan.

2. Nutrition: Make sure your eating habits align with your goals.

If you want to cut body fat, you need a calorie deficit. (For more on the best diet for cutting, read my blog: HOW DO I GET ROCK HARD ABS?)

If you’re focusing on building muscle, make sure you’re in a calorie surplus. (To learn the best diet for bulking, read my blog: WHAT’S THE BEST DIET FOR BULKING?)

3. Manage stress: This is an oft neglected area.

Stress comes in lots of forms: not enough sleep, too few calories, working out too hard/too much training volume, mental stress from work, etc.

Despite all these variables seeming somewhat unrelated, they all can be considered different forms of stress. Some stress is necessary for your body to grow. Too much of ANY of these stressors leads to stagnation in the gym.

Manage your different stressors. Get 7+ hours of sleep a night. Follow a well-programmed training routine (figure out how much/often you should train with my blog: HOW OFTEN SHOULD I GO TO THE GYM?), meditate, eat.

Genetics are extremely important. BUT, do the above CONSISTENTLY, and over time ANYONE can build a great physique.

How can I lose a large amount of weight/fat in a very short time period? 

As a personal trainer, I’ve been asked different variations of this question HUNDREDS of times.

Most people don’t like my answer…

A well-balanced diet, that allows a calorie deficit and doesn’t make you feel awful. Don’t try to entirely eliminate anything. If you want to keep the weight off long term, you shouldn’t be losing weight all that rapidly (1-2 lbs/week TOPS).

But wait, not KETO?

Isn’t the secret to weight loss intermittent fasting?

Nah. All diets that WORK operate on the same principle: calorie deficit. I’ve already beat this horse to death.

Healthy, SUSTAINABLE fat loss isn’t extremely fast, and can take quite a long time.

Play the Long Game

Crash dieting is wildly unhealthy, exceptionally miserable, and DOESN’T USUALLY WORK for long.

Now, obviously short term, you can get results from starving yourself. Eating less than 1000 calories a day, and 7 days/week of intense workouts will lead to lots of weight loss very quickly, for a few weeks. The issue is, your body is an adaptation machine.

After a few weeks, your body gets used to the low calories and intense workouts. This caloric intake/exercise level become your body’s new baseline. To continue to change from this point, you’ll need to cut calories even lower, and exercise EVEN MORE.

Continuously adding more exercise and eating fewer calories is only sustainable for so long before most fall of the wagon completely, well short of their weight loss goals. Those that do hit their goals following a regimen like this find themselves in a deep hole of their own digging.

Once you’ve hit your weight loss goal, you want to be able to stop dieting right?

The issue is, by the time your goals are achieved, your body’s set point for calories is so low, and set point for exercise is so high, that eating over 1000 calories in a day, or exercising 5 days a week instead of 7, causes large amount of weight gain.

Eating that little and working out that much simply isn’t sustainable for the rest of your life.

This is why so many crash dieters constantly bounce between skinny and fat, and why the “Biggest Loser” gets lawsuits filed against it. (For real, check out this study on the “Biggest Loser” contestants weight gain post show: )

Do yourself a favor, play the long game when it comes to weight loss. Take a few extra months to spend the rest of your life lean and healthy, and not vice versa.

Step 1: Create a calorie deficit

This is necessary to lose weight/fat. Consistently being in a deficit should be your biggest focus throughout the weight loss process. Food tracking apps such as MyFitnessPal are EXTREMELY helpful for this process. 

One pound of body fat is equal to 3,500 calories. 

To lose one pound of body fat, you need to eat 3,500 calories less than your maintenance calories. 

If you eat 500 calories less than your maintenance calories every day for 7 days, you should have lost about a pound of fat. (500 x 7 = 3,500)

If you don’t know your maintenance calories, use this calculator.

Start by trying to average 3,500 calories below maintenance levels every week. Looking at calories as a weekly total instead of a daily total allows you more flexibility for social events and such. Having days of higher and lower calorie intake (as opposed to 500 calories deficit every day) is also thought to keep your metabolism running faster, longer.

This should lead to you losing 1-2 lbs/week.

If you’re consistently losing more than 2 lbs per week, eat more. Losing weight too rapidly probably means your not eating enough. This leads to a dramatically slowed metabolism, muscle loss, and eventually GAINING THE WEIGHT BACK.

If, after two weeks of being in a calorie deficit, you’ve lost 1-2 lbs, or your body measurements have decreased, don’t change anything, you’re on the right track.

If weight isn’t changing, but you’re noticeably leaner or body measurements have decreased, DON’T reduce calories.

If your weight and body measurements stayed the same, reduce weekly calories by 3-5%.

If you gained weight, reduce weekly calories by 5-10%.

Calories OUT > Calories IN = Calorie Deficit

Step 2: Eat Adequate Protein

Focus on getting adequate protein. Protein is muscle sparing, meaning consuming more allows you to hold onto hard earned muscle while shedding fat. Maintaining more muscle mass also helps keep your metabolism faster. 

Everyone’s nutrient needs are different, but a good target to aim for in a cutting phase is: .8-1 gram of protein per lb of bodyweight, per day. (If you weigh 200 lbs, eat 160-200 grams of protein per day). 

Step 3: Take Diet Breaks

If you’ve been eating in a calorie deficit, over time your body will adapt to the lower calories by slowing the metabolism, which in turn slows down fat loss. 

If, despite being in a considerable calorie deficit for at least 4 weeks, your fat loss has come to a grinding halt, or if you’ve been dieting 10+ weeks, it’s probably time for a diet break.

Diet breaks give your body several days of higher-than-usual calories. The increased calories, although not enough to cause much fat gain, send the body the signal that it is once again in a well fed state, and can increase the metabolic rate to match the increased calories. 

It’s also a wonderful mental break, and allows you to hold on to more muscle as you continue with the fat loss process. 

For more in depth information on diet breaks, check out this article by Lyle McDonald. 

General outline of a diet break: take your calories back to maintenance levels, or even a slight surplus (within a few hundred calories of maintenance levels). 1-2 weeks should be sufficient for most of the positive changes that accompany a diet break to occur: hormones that get out of whack due to dieting return to normal, you’ll feel mentally rejuvenated, physically stronger, and your metabolism will be FASTER, leading to quicker fat loss.

Sensationalist headlines about red meat are EVERYWHERE, proclaiming it’s cancerous effects. Is red meat REALLY that bad?

Dead Meat?
There have been many, many correlative studies showing an association between higher meat consumption and higher risk of cancer mortality. Despite these studies being correlative (correlation does NOT equal causation), this is still more than a little concerning, given the sheer volume of studies that have made the meat-cancer association.

Let’s look at a MASSIVE study (131,342 participants) published in 2016 titled: “Association of Animal and Plant Protein Intake With All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality”. The study concludes that high animal protein intake is associated with a higher mortality rate AND a higher cancer mortality rate. (1) It’s easy to look at a study like this and concur that eating meat is going to give you cancer.

However, looking deeper, the study reveals that the meat consumption and increased cancer risk pattern ONLY holds up for participants with at least one other factor associated with an unhealthy lifestyle (i.e. obesity, smoking, sedentary lifestyle). Meat consumers WITHOUT any unhealthy lifestyle factors DID NOT have a higher mortality or cancer mortality rate.

(For more on this topic, check out this podcast by Rhonda Patrick, which I pulled heavily from: https://www.acast.com/foundmyfitness/does-meat-consumption-cause-cancer )

IGF-1 and Cancer

IGF-1 and Cancer

Insulin like growth factor 1 or IGF-1 is a hormone that stimulates cell growth. It is a huge part of brain development and bone and muscle growth, especially from conception through adolescence. 

Meat is very protein rich. The amino acids found in proteins directly affect/increase our IGF-1 levels. In extremely simplified terms, the anabolic signals from high circulating levels of IGF-1 promote cell growth, even that of cancer cells. So higher intake of amino acid rich meat leads to higher levels of IGF-1. High levels of IGF-1 may increase cancer risk. This is backed by numerous studies. (2)(10)(11) 

So lowering IGF-1 should drop my mortality risk significantly? 

Not so fast. Although there are potential dangers to excessively high levels of IGF-1, LOW IGF-1 is potentially just as dangerous. Studies show both high AND low levels of IGF-1 increase the risk of all cause mortality. (3) Low IGF-1 is also linked to increased inflammation, cerebrovascular diseases like Alzheimer's and Dementia, and many other potential negatives. (4)(5)(6) 

IGF-1 is crucial for building muscle, bone health and density, cognitive function, and a host of other important functions. (7)(8)(9)

In short, both low AND high levels of IGF-1 can pose health risks. If you’re concerned about any of the potential health detriments listed above, those in the midrange for IGF-1 levels seem to be at the least risk.

Longevity

So, there doesn’t seem to be a direct link between red meat and cancer. However, excessive amounts of IGF-1 (which can come from too much meat) has been linked to higher cancer risk.

On the other hand, there many negatives to low levels of IGF-1 and under consuming protein.

As with most things, finding a balance seems to be the key. Red meat in moderation has lots of health benefits. And it’s delicious! There are some potential health ramifications to eating TOO MUCH (you probably don’t need it EVERY day), but there are also potential detriments to completely eliminating it. Balance.

Optimal health is never going to feel or look “extreme”.

Being extremely muscular, for example, is going to require lots and lots of IGF-1 boosting amino acids over the years. Someone in a state of optimal health probably isn’t going to look extremely shredded, or overly muscular.

Be aware that taking things to the extremes with your body is POTENTIALLY sacrificing a bit of longevity, and sometimes that’s ok. Weigh out what's most important to you.

Sources:

(1)  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27479196

(2)  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15562834

(3)  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21795450]

(4)  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2492581/

(5)  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3543345/

(6)  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4013812/

(7)  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1187088/

(8)  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC151128/

(9)  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10022403?dopt=Abstract&holding=npg

(10) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7619109

(11) https://academic.oup.com/jnci/article/90/12/911/961570

Don’t Punish Yourself

 The occasional diet slip up happens. You made a mistake. When an unhealthy meal or binge happens, it’s extremely easy to feel ashamed, disappointed, and angry with yourself.

The anger and disappointment often lead to “punishing” ourselves with grueling bouts of exercise and severely restricted calories. This punishment leaves our bodies constantly feeling awful.

So awful that we eventually say “screw it” and once again resort to poor food choices and binge eating. And the cycle repeats itself.

The key to breaking the “binge, punish, repeat” cycle is accepting that you made a mistake, and realizing it’s now in the past. Don’t judge yourself for it. Don’t use workouts or starvation to punish yourself. Accept your mistake, forgive yourself for it, and get back on track with your next meal.

Protein In Moderation

Protein is the most glorified macronutrient, and for good reason.

Protein and the accompanying amino acids it supplies are essential to a variety of bodily processes like: building muscle, bone health, and producing hormones and antibodies, just to name a few. If you under consume protein, looking AND feeling healthy will be extremely difficult.

However, the fitness industry’s recent obsession with protein has lead to OVERCONSUMPTION becoming an issue. “Fitness experts” and supplement companies push the average gym goer to eat SICKENING amounts of protein, often recommending up to 2 grams/lb of bodyweight.

For a 200 lb man, that’s a daunting 400 grams of protein PER DAY!

These insanely high recommendations are great for selling supplements, but studies show that when it comes to protein, consuming .6-.9 grams/lb of bodyweight is PLENTY for muscle building AND staying healthy. (1)(2)(3)(4)

Consuming adequate protein (.6-.9 grams/lb of bodyweight) is crucial to building muscle. Beyond that, eating more protein DOES NOT lead to more muscle growth.

In The Name Of Love

Before eating, take a few moments to ask yourself: 

Why am I eating this? Is it because I truly love my body, and want to give it what needs to feel its absolute healthiest and best?

Eat from a place of love for your body. Focus on giving it what it needs for nourishment, and to feel healthy and strong.

Creating this sense of awareness with your meals naturally pushes you towards healthy, nutrient dense foods.

Calorie Deficit Over Everything

There’s constantly a hot new diet trend that has everyone buzzing. Currently: the ketogenic diet and intermittent fasting, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with these.

If eating mostly fat makes you feel good, then stick with it! If you feel better skipping breakfast, more power to you.

The thing is, we tend to associate fat loss with specific “diets”, not with the ONE underlying principle all successful diets operate on: Creating a calorie deficit.

If you’re losing fat, it’s simply because you’ve created a negative energy balance or a CALORIE DEFICIT. This simply means your body is burning more calorie than it’s taking in. 

Not very sexy right? Keto, intermittent fasting, South Beach Diet, etc... It all sounds sexy and magical. Sexy magic diets are easy to market and sell. However, underneath the layers of hype, any diet that WORKS is due to a calorie deficit.

There’s no magical attribute to any diet that will lead to fat loss. Different diets are simply different ways of creating a negative energy balance.

By all means, if a certain style of eating makes you feel good, follow it! Just understand there’s no need to overcomplicate things. To lose weight: More calories out than in. To gain weight/muscle: more calories in than out.

Eat When It's Convenient

You’ve probably heard that to lose fat, you need to eat every few hours because it speeds up your metabolism. Although not true, it’s a great way to sell more protein powders and meal replacement shakes!

Backers of this myth often cite something called “the thermic effect of food” or TEF. When we eat food, our bodies require energy to digest and turn it into fuel. When you use this extra energy to convert food to fuel, your body burns more calories than it normally would- this is TEF.

So eating six small meals a day would mean your metabolism is constantly running at a high rate due to TEF right?

TEF is equal to about 10% of calories consumed, no matter meal size. If you eat five meals in a day, at 500 calories each, the TEF of each meal is 50 calories. After five meals, your total TEF is 250 calories. However, if you only ate one massive 2500 calorie meal, the TEF is still 10% of 2500, or STILL 250 calories.

So, it literally makes no difference for your metabolism whether you eat one or six meals a day.

Don’t Be Afraid To Take A Diet Break

The body adapts to all things.

If you’ve been eating in a calorie deficit, over time your body will adapt to the lower calories by slowing the metabolism, which in turn slows down fat loss.

You can only stay in a calorie deficit so long before fat loss slows significantly.

If, despite being in a considerable calorie deficit for at least 4 weeks, your fat loss has come to a grinding halt, it’s probably time for a diet break. Diet breaks help negate this by giving the body several days of higher calories. The increased calories, although not enough to cause much fat gain, send the body the signal that it is once again in a well-fed state, and can increase the metabolic rate to match the increased calories.

It’s also a wonderful mental break and allows you to hold on to more muscle as you continue with the fat loss process.

Don’t Put The Cart Before The Horse

It’s easy to get caught up in minor details while forgetting to focus on the things that REALLY make a difference.

Before you worry about minuscule things; sodium intake, fat loss supplements, etc. make sure you’ve mastered the BIG THINGS, such as a sustained calorie deficit and consistent resistance training.