Damn Ripped!
Losing Fat is not easy, it is particularly a tedious task, and whoever tells you otherwise is lying. It takes commitment, hard work, and, for many if not all, a complete lifestyle makeover.
If you’ve come here looking for quick fixes or a “Lose-10-kgs-in-10-days” kind of promise, then you’ve come to the wrong place. But if you want an insider’s guide on how to lose fat, keep reading.
First things first, Losing fat and Losing weight are not the same, there’s a considerable difference between them. For more information please read this article, Weight loss vs Fat loss.
Although the former is a lot tougher than the latter, it isn’t impossible. But do you know what’s absolutely impossible? Spot Reduction. There aren’t any specific methods, diets or exercises to lose fat in a targeted area, it just doesn’t work that way. You need to reduce your overall body fat percentage to get rid of that belly fat you’ve been carrying around all your life. You best fill up your elbow grease because you’re gonna need a lot of it.
Follow these steps to have a successful fat loss journey.
1. Calculate your Weight loss Calories using the TDEE Calculator. The Daily Calories you obtain in the calculator is the amount of Calories you need to consume on a daily basis to lose weight.
Hint: Choose 20% in the calculator. Because if you eat a deficit of 30% or more, you risk losing muscle mass or worse getting metabolically adapted (means your weight loss will stall).
2. Calculate your Macronutrient requirements using the Macro Calculator. And don’t fail to hit your target daily especially your Protein requirement, because the most fundamental aspect and in preserving muscle mass is taking enough protein. You wouldn’t want to sacrifice your muscles for a grilled chicken, would you?
3. Check the Nutritional information on every food you eat, if you prepare your own food start weighing every ingredient using a kitchen scale. Here’s how to read Food labels.
Hint: If you don’t plan on investing in a Kitchen Scale, I can guarantee 100% that you are destined to fail.
4. Log the foods(everything that goes into your mouth) in a website like FitDay/MyFitnesspal and track the calories to make sure you are not exceeding your deficit calories. Here’s how to use Myfitnesspal.
Hint: Never use the calculators in those websites to calculate your Total Calorie Requirements as they won’t take your exercise intensity into account.
5. Join a gym and start working out by lifting weights(strength training), because Strength Training will signal your body that you will be needing the muscles to do the lifting which in turn minimizes muscles from being burned for energy. So taking the muscles out of the equation your body will have no other option but to burn fat for energy, thereby ensuring maximum fat loss. Strength Training also keeps you motivated and stick to your diet. You can do cardio to speed up fat loss but without strength training, cardio will only cause rapid muscle loss. So it’s best to avoid cardio during the initial stages of fat loss.
These are some good beginner’s workout programs, choose the one you like:
My personal favorite is Stronglifts 5×5 , it’s absolutely brilliant for beginners. Whatever question you may have, the answer is right there in their website, they also have apps for iPhone and android.
If you are an intermediate or pro-lifter then you might want to try a more advanced program like Layne Norton’s PHAT (Power Hypertrophy Adaptive Training).
NOTE: This step is absolutely mandatory to preserve muscle mass.
6. If you are still not experiencing weight loss or if your weight loss has plateaued then I strongly suggest you to read this article, Help! My weight loss has hit a plateau. This article explains in detail about the various reasons that might cause your weight to stall or even go up.
7. And remember you are not different because unless you suffer from Hypothyroidism you belong to the vast majority of people who are trying to lose fat. So go start working your ass off in a gym right now, if you want to see yourself thinner down the lane.
These are the only steps you need to follow to have a successful weight loss journey. You will inevitably lose fat if you follow the above steps(including the links attached) to perfection.
But a word of caution, If you are a believer of all those typical nonsense like
- Eat 6 – 8 meals a day.
- Drink green tea to burn fat.
- Do 100 ab crunches daily to lose belly fat.
- Eat this miracle fruit to scorch fat.
- Cut down all sugars and carbs to lose fat.
then you can very well kiss goodbye to your fitness goal.
If you have any more questions or doubts please feel free to post a comment at the bottom and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Disclaimer: It is impossible to lose fat without experiencing minor muscle loss, Strength Training will only help you minimize muscle loss and there is absolutely no way you can build muscle during cutting phase(losing fat). Your body can only be in one state at a time, i.e., It can either be in Anabolic State which is gaining something, in this case: building muscle or Catabolic State which is losing something, in this case: burning fat.
Update 1: It seems Losing Fat and Building Muscle at the same time is possible after all. According to a research done by Menno Henselmans it is evident that one can lose fat and gain muscle simultaneously. Please refer to this article for more information regarding the same – Lose Fat and Build Muscle Simultaneously.
