And no, this post has nothing to do with social distancing!!
This is a post I have been meaning to put together for a while and it is all to do with weight loss or more specifically fat loss. Hopefully this will provide a lot of you out there with a bit of guidance for starting that new health and fitness regimen in the New Year!
So, to maximise fat loss, there is a hierarchy of factors that we need to look at … the order of these may surprise some of you.
Calorie deficit –
There is no getting away from the fact that in order to lose weight (fat), we must be in a calorie deficit. Whichever diet we choose to follow – they ALL work on the same principle. We need to be consuming LESS calories than we are burning – so if it is CAVEMAN, PALEO, KETO, Weightwatchers or Slimming World – or just good old fashioned healthy eating – we need to be in a calorie deficit. Yes there are some other factors at play – such as the control of blood sugar levels to help prevent cravings, but the bottom line is we need to be taking in less calories than we are expending!
Also, when it comes to losing weight, the first thing people often think about is “How can I burn more calories?” People are missing the bigger, more impactful part of the equation … calories in.
It is actually easier to reduce our calorie intake to create a deficit rather than maximise the number of calories we can burn in a session. The question is then, do we need to track our calorie intake? Yes, we can do and you can do this via a number of Apps such as MyFitnessPal but this can be time consuming and often stressful for people.
Equally, we may not always be as accurate and as honest as we could be with our recording of what we eat. Often it may be sufficient to just look at our portion control, and also where we are consuming unnecessary calories – the ‘just the one’ mindset, where we have the odd biscuit here and there, or where we are drinking our calories through lattes or cappuccinos, or going overboard at the weekends! Consider this; do we need the garlic bread and / or breadsticks as well as the full bowl of pasta. Sometimes, just filling in a hand written food diary and / or even taking a picture of what you are eating will help you to keep a little bit more in control.
Getting enough protein –
This doesn’t mean you need to have a protein shake continually strapped to your hand, but you do need to ensure you consume sufficient protein to achieve your fat loss goals. But why protein?
It helps satisfy and saves calories. Protein helps you feel fuller for longer as it slows down digestion making us feel more satisfied with our meals.
It can help curb carb highs and lows. Pairing protein with carbohydrate rich foods helps slow down the absorption of sugar from the stomach into the blood stream, which may help prevent your blood sugar levels from sky rocketing … which can then plummet due to the body’s insulin response … which ultimately can lead to sugar cravings as the body’s sugar levels yo-yo!
It requires more of your body’s energy to breakdown protein-rich foods than it does to breakdown carbohydrates or fats – therefore you are actually burning more calories to digest protein than carbs or fats
It promotes muscle growth and repair – your protein needs increase, especially with training so it is important you are consuming enough protein so your muscles can use this macronutrient to repair and grow. Also not getting enough protein in your diet can result in your body utilising muscle for energy.
Here at onePT, we actually calculate how much protein we recommend for you based on your body mass (weight) and goals; and then aim to hit this target by breaking down your daily consumption into manageable 15 – 30 g portions. For example some protein yoghurts contain 15 g of protein where as a medium size chicken breast will provide 30 g of protein. Through our Member’s Handbook, provides a very useful guide to what a 30 g portion of protein actually looks like in picture form.
Strength training –
To help keep and build muscle even whilst in a calorie deficit, you need to strength train. You need to let your body know you need your muscle. A lot of our members have heard me talk about time under tension – i.e. the time the muscles are actually working.
To help build strength and grow muscle – the muscle needs to perform work! Work done = force x distance moved and the muscles will do more work the longer the time they are under tension. Consider doing 10 press-ups in 10 seconds.
Then perform them lowering for 2 seconds and lifting for 2 seconds. Doing them slower and under control means you have done more work! Remember the number of calories we burn in a day is directly proportional to the amount of muscle we have – more muscle … more calories burnt, even when we are rest!
Are we NEAT –
Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis – it is so under-rated. NEAT is all of the activity we do outside of structured workouts – which is most of your time by the way. So the moral of the story is … get your steps in! Aim for 8 – 12 k per day!
Sleep & Stress Management –
These 2 impact your ability to lose fat indirectly. They can increase cravings and hunger, decrease your ability to feel satisfied and can impede your judgement around food choices. Aim to get 7-9 hours of sleep per night. It may also be worth giving a Yoga class or Meditation sessions a go.
Weekends can often be a great time to de-stress – performing some active recovery sessions with the family such as going for a walk or a bike ride. Even just playing in the garden can help you with your NEAT as well as relax and unwind.
Cardio / Conditioning!
This may surprise a lot of you that cardio/conditioning training is at the bottom of the list! As far as fat loss goes – it is not in the top 3 big guns as detailed above, but it could be swapped for NEAT in fourth spot depending on your daily activity levels.
Yes, cardio / conditioning training can definitely help in fat loss but please remember too much cardio training can actually inhibit protein synthesis – the building of muscle – and also studies show that those people who just rely on cardio training for weight loss will also lose a significant amount of muscle tissue – and it is the muscle that actually burns the calories.
As eluded to above, by not having that piece of cake and a latte is perhaps an easier way of reducing our calorie intake than trying to burn 600 kcal in a HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) sessions. Don’t get me wrong, I am not knocking HIIT classes … and we love our Conditioning Sessions here onePT … but as our members know, we strongly recommend that people have a mix of sessions, so Strength, Conditioning, and then Strength & Conditioning classes.
Some of you reading this may question why we have introduced MyZone (Heart Rate Monitoring) to onePT? Because for me, MyZone promotes people working at the right intensity for their age / fitness level and also to get people working at the right level for the type of class or exercise session. MyZone is not there to encourage people to work at maximum intensity at every session.
For example in the Strength classes, we will be looking to work at 60-69% of max heart rate – in the Blue Zone, making sure people are getting that time under tension. For the higher intensity conditioning classes, then yes, we will be aiming for the yellow zone of 80-89% of maximum with perhaps a little bit of red (90% plus). For other sessions we will be looking the green zone of 70-79% of max – a moderate intensity conditioning type programme.
It is all about training smarter, not harder. Performing every session at max (or at eye balls out level as I call it), will just lead to overuse injuries, stress and exhaustion and we will probably just inhibit our health & fitness journey.
So if fat loss is your primary goal, aim for at least 2 whole body strength sessions per week, 1 may be a S & C session, and plenty of daily activity. If you like your HIIT sessions, then go for 1 -2 per week but remember STRENGTH is the key!
If anyone would like to ask any questions about the above BLOG, then please do not hesitate to get in touch by emailing [email protected], equally if you would like to find out how we can help change your life for the better, you can even book a Complimentary PT Session by following the link below
Complimentary PT Session | onePT
In movement, health and wellbeing
