How to lose weight - the RIGHT way!

As a PT I get asked all the time what you should be eating or doing to lose fat, stay lean and gain muscle. People seem to think dropping to 1000 calories a day is the answer (I was once this person) or severely dropping down your carbs, fat and sugar intake.

The formula for fat loss is:

Fat Loss = TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) > Caloric Intake

What most people associate fat loss with is having a lower caloric intake, while almost ignoring the first part of the equation. Let's look at the components of your Total Daily Energy Expenditure:

• BMR (Basal Metabolic rate) - amount of energy your body needs to maintain its most basic functions, such as breathing

• NEAT (Non-exercise activity thermogenesis) - energy your body uses from non-exercise activity such as walking, fidgeting, moving around etc

• TEF (Thermic effect of food) - amount of energy your body needs to digest and process foods that you eat

• EAT (Exercise activity thermogenesis) - energy used from exercise and physical activity, such as weight lifting, cardio, sports etc

Your BMR will account for around 60-75% of your TDEE, while your TEF accounts for roughly 10%. The most variable component (the component which we as humans can change the most) is our EAT & NEAT, i.e., the amount of physical exercise we choose to do or not do. Depending on how active we are, our EAT + NEAT can contribute to the remaining 15-30% of our TDEE.

Let me tell you what I do. I've reduced my calories only by about 250-500 per day. I'm currently on around 2,500-2,750kcal, which isn't really me restricting myself to food (my current TDEE is around 3,000kcal). It's a maintainable calorie deficit for me, key word being maintainable. If you're planning to stay lean based on your diet then you've gotta be prepared to keep that diet for the rest of your life, so 1000 calories a day is not realistic. I keep my meals as balanced as possible, meaning I try to have all macros on my place. Protein, wholemeal carbs and healthy fats. I eat fruit daily for my sugars. I reduce my carb portion by maybe 1/3 and add in more veg to get a balance, and I STILL eat fast food every 2/3 days. I don't have a "cheat day" or "cheat meal" once a week, I eat a cheat meal when I have the craving. Most importantly, I've drastically increased my activity levels in the gym. I train around 2-2.5hrs a day, 6 days a week, the first 30 mins being intense cardio and plyometrics, then the rest focusing on mainly compound movements (I do push, pull, legs twice a week, so plenty of compound movements). Adding to that, I join in on all my cardio-based classes I teach, which means I'm doing roundabout 5+ hours of cardio, plus around 12 hours of weight training weekly. I end up burning between 500-1000 calories on most training day which contributes to my EAT, not to mention the additional calories I'll burn throughout the day from my NEAT.

The more muscle you build = the more fat you burn at rest. Compound lifts are effective for building muscle to burn more fat. If you're on a calorie restrictive diet, you're not only lowering your energy levels to complete these lifts but your body also burns less calories throughout the day and stores more fat for vital energy sources (which is why you'll lose weight to a certain point then stay stagnant for a while) To summarise: 1) stay in a realistic calorie deficit 2) clean up and balance your diet 3) increase your activity level

Good luck on your fat loss journey!

If you have any questions, send an e-mail to MOB FIT at mobfituk@outlook.com