If your body fat is over 21%+ this article is for you.
In this stage, you really need to focus on diet and enhancing your metabolism and understand how your body functions.
Most people are stuck in their body fat % simply because their approach starts in the wrong direction.
Mistakes to Avoid | Fat Plateau | Time Frame | Diets Don’t Matter | Fat Vs Carbs | Conclusion
Here are some few mistakes what most amateurs do to lose body fat %:
- Starting with a strict diet that doesn’t suit your lifestyle.
- Copy-pasting other diet plans without understanding your metabolism.
- Applying for gym subscription too early and thus leads to no commitment.
- Missing out on performing resistance training or doing it completely wrong.
- Having unrealistic expectations due to exceptional cases posting fast ways on youtube videos or Instagram before and after photos. Thus, leaving everything and jumping to their advice or tips. Which leads to diet hopping and can get you to know where.
- Failing to read label information accurately can cause you to consume unwanted calories and unhealthy ingredients.
Here is the thing that will piss you off, which I tried.
You can do over 1000 crunches and even spend tons of time working out; the muscle creation is actually happening. However, it is trapped under a layer of fat.
After 12 weeks of workout, your looks will be the same and most likely your body fat will be stagnant at 21%.
In most cases this is the reason:
Here are also other reasons why you are stuck with your fats:
So here is a dynamic plan that will get your shredded!
Get your pen and paper ready and follow this fat burning guide.
1- Expected Time Frame
I would advise before getting too excited on what to do it is vital to have an equation to follow.
For example, let’s assume you are 200 lbs (100kgs), if you are at 21% of body fat this means:
- 21 kg (42 lbs) of body fat.
- 79 (158 lbs) kg body weight, which includes ( lean mass, organs, skin, bones and water).
The Goal:
To Drop 21% of body fat to 10% body fat.
Which is translated to:
- You will need to lose 11% of body fat or 11 kgs (22 lbs) of fats.
- Every 1 Kg (2 lbs) of fat = 7,800 calories.
Required:
You will need to consume less 7,800 calories in order to drop 1% of body fat.
It’s very much painful if you decided to do this in one week. Which means you will be a calorie deficit for over 1,000 calories per day. You can calculate here the required calories you should consume based on your age, height, weight, and lifestyle.
You’ll just be annoyed, and you’ll drop the whole idea after a couple of days.
The realistic approach is: To drop .5 kgs ( 1 lb) per week, this equals 3,500 calories. This will require you to make a calorie deficit of 500 calories per day.
And the thing is 500 calories is EXTREMELY EASY to start with.
Here is a sample menu of what a healthy calorie deficit usually look like: (Don’t freak out, you don’t really have to follow the same)
From my experience, most of you will put themselves on a strict calorie deficit for 4 – 5 days, and once the weekend arrives, everything falls apart.
Do remember that, the goal is 1 lb of fat per week which mean 3,500.
So lets say today you consumed 3000 calories and you were supposed to go for 2500. That’s an extra 500.
In this case, you’ll have to subtract it from the rest of the week.
If I usually consume 2500 per day ( to maintain weight), this means 17,500 calories.
If I went on 500 calorie deficit each day, 2000 per day (to lose weight), this means 14,000 calories.
So always have the mindset based on per week.
The hardest week is the first week!
2- Counting Calories (And Diets Don’t Matter)
As for the diet, I keep saying a million times in every single post that it really doesn’t matter at all… here is why:
It all boils down to caloric deficit.
I firmly believe that “Calories in versus Calories out” is KING. Caloric deficits are why most people will lose weight on any diet whether it’s the celery diet or any diet. That is for damn sure.
All you need to do is observe the number of calories you consume on a daily basis.
But not everything is danddy right?
A few weeks back I got this message:
Whenever I cut, I end up binging after a week of about 15-20% of a calorie cut. I just now ate a 1.5 quart of ice cream in one sitting. it’s bad. I do not know how to cut without binging! I eat my protein and everything. any help? (btw I’m a major sugar addict)
Here are solid tips I use everyday restrict my calories while still enjoying food:
Plan A: If I have a busy schedule and I can’t work out and always come home very tired. I stick to eat less and suppress appetite approach.
Plan B: Some weeks I have lots of spare time so I stick with eat more & exercise more approach.
Plan A: Eat less & suppress appetite approach
1- I minimize processed foods and focus on whole foods, something like Kale, Avocados and Chia seeds. All loaded with high proteins and fiber content. foods higher in fiber and protein have been shown to suppress appetite and keep you fuller for longer periods of time.
2- Usually when you eat less, your metabolic rate becomes lazy. Thus, I usually spice things up with capsaicin (1).
There is an effective supplement on the market based on Capsaicin called (SlimKick), read more about it here.
It comes with two bottles one for the morning (Contains Capsaicin) & the other bottle is for night time to stop your binging & curb appetite.
3- Staying away from sugar-based beverages made a significant difference in my appetite. You’ll be surprised when I tell you that, fruit juices appear innocent, but they also contain natural sugars (2).
It doesn’t matter fresh juice or cold-pressed all will lead to the same hunger-bangs. Although natural juices have some nutritional value, it doesn’t have the fiber of the fruit that assists in making your stomach full. To cut it short, I would rather eat an apple rather than drinking an apple juice.
4- I usually time my meals based on my work schedule. And I got it down to into 4-6 meals a day to keep me from getting hungry and go for a juicy burger. Actually, this method helps to spur protein synthesis—the pathway your body uses to make new muscle tissue—every few hours.
5- My best pal in this journey is proteins and I try to be creative. For example, instead of a usual bread sandwich, I use lettuce as bread and add whatever meat I prefer. I also mix, my diet so, for example, I ate this in the evening (you’ll notice mainly protein):
But for breakfast and afternoon, I would focus on minor carbs & alot fats to fuel me up and give me swift energy to focus on my tasks:
Half an everything bagel, avocado, and egg. Good balance of carb/fat/protein plan
To be realistic: Usually, I stick with 2-3 meals and whenever I’m hungry I have my protein shake with me in the office fridge.
However, I’m strict on the type of protein I use, I would recommend Whey Protein Isolate.
Plan B: Eat more & exercise more approach
1- When it comes to fat burning workout, the king is HIIT Aka high-intensity interval training, forget about cardio, it is too slow and will not give you fast results. And what’s more interesting I do all of this in my living room!
HIIT examples are:
- Butt Kicks
- Burpees
- Mountain Climbers
- Forearm Plank
You can see the visuals here of each training.
2- I focus on foods that turn my body into a fat burning machine (meaning that skyrockets my metabolism). Here are few examples of what I mean:
- Greek Yogurt: high-protein dairy products can boost fat loss, protect muscle during weight loss and help you feel full and satisfied.
- Nuts: are high in antioxidants, protein, fibre and healthy fats, and research shows they significantly improve body composition.
- Broccoli: Some would say Yuck, but hear this, Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower help the body clear excess oestrogen, a hormone that promotes fat storage.
3- Insulin increase is the worst. Insulin shunts sugar to fat. This makes fat. To put it simply, more insulin, more fat (3).
Your body cells get glucose from the bloodstream due to the insulin hormone. It tells your cells to use it as energy or store it as fat.
Without insulin, cells will literally starve to death.
However, while it is essential to have enough insulin, too much insulin is bad.
That’s because, in addition to allowing glucose to enter cells, insulin also stimulates the synthesis of fat and prevents fat from breaking down.
So how do you increase insulin?
The main trigger is carbs, and it releases insulin in abundance if you eat consecutive meals of carbs. Although, protein also stimulates insulin but very much less compared to carbs.
That’s why if you noticed many people talk about low carb diet as a fantastic plan to reduce insulin and lose fat.
I usually avoid insulin spikes in the lunch and evening time. This makes a major difference in accelerating my fat loss.
Restricting yourself from carbs completely ain’t a good idea and it will backfire. Thus, I would recommend to still enjoy carbs in the morning or preworkout.
And whenever you eat more focus on proteins from different sources.
- lean meat, poultry and fish.
- eggs.
- dairy products like milk, yogurt and cheese.
- seeds and nuts.
- beans and legumes (such as lentils and chickpeas)
- soy products like tofu.
3) Your body has two main fuels: glucose (sugar) or fat.
If you have noticed by now, I find sugar as an enemy to losing body fat. If you are dead serious about getting your body fat to 10% sugar has to be restricted and conditional. And if you want to fasten the process I would definitely tell you to cut it completely from your diet (this is impossible in most cases) so let’s be moderate.
Now, without glucose (carbs) in your diet, you most definitely will feel fatigued.
This when the importance of fat-based diet kicks in!
Most of the time when I eat pure protein in lunch (example grilled chicken breast) I still don’t feel energized and bit drowsy.
Eating a high-fat diet teaches your body to burn fat instead of sugar. It also keeps you satisfied which prevents cravings. However, this is conditional on the quality of fats you are consuming for example NOT (peanut butter or vegetable oil) (4).
That being said EAT A LOT OF FAT. Not all fats are created equal.
There are three (well, four) macronutrients in the foods you eat. Here’s what they are and what they do:
Carbohydrates:
1g = 4 calories
It’s much preferable and easier for your body to burn carbs than anything else. To the body, it’s easy to burn and quick to digest.
The interesting part is that your body can live without carbs.
Although, they are a great power source to boost your body. You still don’t need them to be healthy and energetic.
There is a debate about whether complex carbs are better than simple carbs. But either way, it’s still carbs and your body can live without it.
What about Fiber?
I count fiber as 0 calories, eat as much fiber as you want.
Protein:
1g = 4 calories
Protein is the foundation of everything in your body. And not just muscles. It’s for enzymes, organs, hair, fingernails, hormones and much more.
You can’t live without protein, it is used for energy and as a building block to your cells. And guess what, it’s very unlikely you can get fat from protein.
Fats:
1g = 9 calories
Fats are a sort of “space-optimized energy storage,” meaning that they’ve got alot more calories per gram than carbs or protein. It’s very efficient– As a comparison, 1g of gasoline has about 10 calories. For this reason, it’s kind of like your caloric “savings account.” We’ll talk more about that in a moment.
The other thing that many don’t realize is that fats are essential. Cell walls, neural sheaths, hormones… All made from fats. If you eliminated fats from your diet, you would get quite sick.
Bottom Line: You can’t live without protein and fats in your diet. But you can live healthy without carbs.
Why Should You Eat Fats & gradually decrease carbs?
Your body is an efficient machine that looks for ways to act fast and not disturb your overall functions. Carbs to your body is you like pocket money to you, you can easily spend it. However, fats to your body are like the savings account in your bank, you will only spend from it when you really want to and don’t have pocket money.
Going back to nutrition talk, your body will think twice about burning fats if it has easy access to carbs.
And the best way to burn fats is, by teaching your body to burn fats!
Am I oversimplifying it? Not REALLY! This is how simple it is!
If you think that’s too much it’s alright you still will lose fat but much slower than expected.
Your fats were not build up in one night, it took months. And it takes quite a while if you want to burn your fats.
However, there are initial signals that you are losing fats, and you can easily see this after 8 weeks!
You’ll notice semi-looking abs started to accentuate and pop. I wouldn’t say ripped but you will see some progress in your body shape.
To Conclude:
Start gradually by replacing rice, potatoes, and pasta with Ground flaxseed, Tuna, Tofu, Chia seeds & Lean grass-fed beef.
You can easily google, high-fat foods and you’ll find tons of options to pick from.
Remember, healthy doesn’t mean good. Avoid most fruits & juices and focus on fiber-based food. As I mentioned it is Carbs but we can’t really digest it and makes us FULL.
So eat as much broccoli, spinach, celery, lettuce, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower etc.
I’m not promoting to STOP eating carbs completely. But make sure to have the carb meals in the morning or pre-workout and rest of the day focus on protein and fat-based foods.
Also, I have had great results with this cutting stack; this is only recommended if you hit the gym and follow (Eat more, exercise more plan).
If you follow, the guidelines I’ve mentioned you’ll surely reach 10% of body fat and do ask me if you have any questions on my Instagram or Facebook.
The post How Do I Shred From 21%+ Body Fat To 10% Body Fat? appeared first on MeVolv.
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