The Big Difference Between Weight Loss and Fat Loss: Part Three

Part Three: What to Do, How to Do it and Why.

The advice I’m going to pass on to you here is explained more in depth in my two books, Eat Smart, Eat Often and Eat Small (the S.O.S. book) and the Start Right book. Combined, these two books tell all, will set you on the right path and keep you there forever. Anyone serious about shedding body fat and at the same time preserving their muscle should read them both.

Here it all is in a nutshell:

In order to be consuming the correct amount of daily calories to realize a one to two pound body fat loss per week, you need to use the formula in the S.O.S. book. It’s simply science, it’s proven and it works. Then, you need to divide your total daily calories up into the correct proportion of protein, carbohydrates and fats.  Then you will break up the totals into five or six meals that you will consume daily. If done properly, this will ensure that you are consuming the correct amount of total daily calories that will put you in a 500 calorie deficit per day, which will translate into a total of 3500 calories per week, (500 calories per day x 7 days per week) which is the total number of calories in one pound of body fat. It’s safe, healthy, doable and most of all sustainable.

Some may think that a one pound loss of body fat per week is not fast enough, but just think of it in terms of months or even a year. That’s 26 pounds over 6 months or 52 pounds of body fat over a year. In addition, when you do things to cause a very fast reduction in body weight, which in most cases are the things we have already discussed in Part Two of this series, there will be an even quicker rebound when you stop doing what you’ve done and likely end up ever heavier than before you started. That’s a consequence of not doing it correctly. The sustainability is fully dependent on how you achieved the body fat loss in the first place. That’s why most people regain the weight. The slower it comes off, the more likely it will stay off. Understand that.

As I mentioned in the Part Two of this series, there is one other component that is crucial to the success of your journey to eliminate for good your unwanted body fat and look good in the end, and if you haven’t figured it out by now, it’s STRENGTH TRAINING. It is a scientifically proven fact that if you use a reduction of calories only to lose body fat, up to 27% of that weight loss can come from muscle. The only way to ensure that doesn’t happen is to do effective strength training. Period.

Read those last few sentences again and believe it!

That 26 pounds could actually be 19 pounds of body fat loss and 7 pounds of muscle loss and that 52 pounds could actually be 38 pounds of body fat loss and 14 pounds of muscle loss. Think about it.

People tend to make most things more difficult than they actually are. These guidelines are simple and make a lot of sense once you understand how the body works and why. Today, unlike decades ago, lack of proper nutrition and lack of hard work are being ranked the number one and number two contributing factors in ill health. It’s the truth.

In closing, I hope you enjoyed the series, have learned something that may help you or someone you know in your health journeys and remember, we are always here in the gym to help, so ask for it if you need it so you can get the most benefit out of your membership and the most unwanted fat out of your body the smart way.

Good luck and thank you for your continued support. I’m truly grateful for your patronage.

Gino