A Better Way to Cut Fat

A Better Way to Cut Fat

Last year I had a post on the basics of cutting fat. I still believe that most of that post holds true. However, since last year I have progressed in my understanding of cutting fat. Some of that new understanding is based the work I've done with my coach and some of it is based on my own research. But all of it consists of what I have personally tried. Read on to find out more.

Losing weight is really just a matter of making [calories in] - [calories out] < 0. However, that's not quite as simple as it sounds since you probably want to ensure that the weight you are losing is fat (as opposed to muscle) and [calories out] can (and does) fluctuate. Below are some things that I have found that help you to burn fat and maintain your hard earned muscle in the process.

Spend Time Building Your Metabolism Up

If you are used to eating 2000kcal/day then cutting calories to lose weight is going to be really hard and really painful. But imagine if you were used to eating 4000kcal/day. You might be able to lose weight by eating 3000kcal/day. Doesn't that sound much better than starving yourself to lose weight?

So how can you get used to eating more calories? The answer is by eating more calories. Over the course of months (maybe even a year if your intake is really low), you should slowly and methodically increase your calories to allow your body to adapt to a higher intake. Carbohydrates are the key here. I know it sounds weird, but increasing your carbs can actually help to increase your metabolism.

Lift Weights

This may seem like I am stating the obvious, but if you want to lose fat instead of muscle then you have to lift weights. And you have to lift with the same intensity in order to maintain the muscle. Less intensity and less strength will equal less muscle, especially on a calorie deficit. Losing muscle also has the added side effect of further lowering your metabolism so that fat loss becomes even more difficult to achieve.

Increase Your Protein

You may think that your protein intake is already high. But losing weight by cutting fat carries with it higher protein demands than building muscle. When you lose weight, your body is literally eating itself for energy. You have to give it reasons to eat fat instead of muscle/tissue. Those reasons are increased protein intake and weight lifting.

Protein also has an added benefit of helping you burn more through what's known as the thermic effect of food (TEF). TEF basically means that it takes more work for your body to process protein as energy than, say carbohydrates, or fat for that matter.

Supplement with Cardio

If you want to decrease your net calories in order to lose fat then you can either adjust your diet or increase your metabolism. The only thing that's really going to have an immediate impact in terms of raising your metabolism is cardio. And if you want to maximize the calories you burn during cardio then you want high intensity interval training (HIIT). HIIT allows you to burn more over a shorter period of time and it can actually help you to maintain muscle too, according to some recent research.

Have a Re-Feed Day

Just like your body can adapt to increased calorie consumption, it can (and will) adapt to a lower caloric intake. This means the longer you diet, the slower your metabolism will get. Have you ever noticed how easy it is to lose weight the first week or two of a new diet. But after a month or two shedding even a lb seems like an impossible task? That's because your metabolism slows during a diet. Don't worry, it's a natural side effect. However, to guard against this natural but unfortunate side effect you can inject one or two re-feed days per week.

So, what is a re-feed day? Well, a re-feed day is basically a well structured cheat day. The goal of the re-feed day should be to bring your carbohydrates back up to normal (non fat cutting diet) levels. If you are a leaner person and you can handily lose the weight you want then 2 re-feed days per week might be appropriate. If you have a little more fat or you have a harder time losing weight then one re-feed day per week might be what you need.

Posted by Clayton Long