One of the most common questions that I asked is “how do I lose weight?” Well, losing weight is less important than reducing body fat. In fact, due to the fact that muscle weighs a lot more than fat, it is possible to drop significant amounts of body fat without changing weight on the scales. This happens do to an exchange of fat for muscle that occurs when you start training. So reduction in weight is not a very good measure of progress, but reduction in body fat is.
There are some really easy ways to measure reductions in body fat. The simplest one is to take girth measurements using a tape measure and note reductions in key areas as you reduce body fat. Measure your waistline at your belly button, your hips at the widest part, your thighs 9cms above your knee cap, bicep at the widest part, and chest at the highest point under your armpits (above your nipple line). Use these as benchmark measures and periodically re-measure to see improvements. Ideally you will see waist and hips reduce, while biceps, thighs and chest increase or stay the same. In reality, what you are measuring is how much you have changed where it really matters … the fit of your clothes. Dropping sizes is the clearest indicator that you are dropping body fat.
So now that you know how to measure your progress, how do you actually bring about a change? Here are 5 steps for fat loss that we know work, providing you are consistent and put in the effort:-
- Reduce your carb intake to about 40%, increase your protein
intake to 30%, ensure your (good) fat intake is 30%
- Remove the following things from your diet (this is your NO
list):-
- NO Bread
- NO Potatoes or Starchy vegetables
- NO Softdrink (includes anything that is low/no sugar, eg Coke Zero etc, if it comes in a can do not drink it)
- NO High GI or sports drinks (eg fruit juice, powerade, cordial)
- NO Alcohol
- NO Fried Food
- NO Sugar
- NO Pasta or noodles
- NO White rice
- NO Saturated fat
- NO Icecream
- NO rice cakes, crackers or biscuits
- NO energy drinks
- Get 8 hours of sleep, drink a lot of water, eat every 3 hours, eat a solid
breakfast, eat a small to moderate amount of protein at every meal, prepare your
meals in advance (don’t be caught hungry at the shops) and reduce
coffee/tea/processed foods
- Make most of your diet consist of (the YES list):-
- Lean Meat (PROTEIN)
- Lean Poultry - preferably free range organic (PROTEIN)
- Fish (Tuna, Salmon, Reef & Deep Sea) (PROTEIN)
- Eggs (PROTEIN)
- Non-starchy vegetables (CARB) … lots of green stuff!
- Low GI fruit (CARB)
- Nuts & Seeds (including macadamia’s & almonds) (FAT)
- Brown rice (CARB) … in small doses!
- Pita bread (CARB)
- Good Fats (olive oil, avacado, mono-unsaturated) (FAT)
- Yogurt (CARB + PROTEIN)
- Olives (FAT)
- Train CrossFit 5 times a week and give each session everything you’ve got! Make sure that you have a good mix of strength and metcon sessions.
Giving up things on the NO list is hard. It requires a sacrifice and effort on your part. But it is worth it to have a healthy body and to be able fit into clothes that you want to wear. If you already have your body composition under control, well done, BUT there is still no excuse. Adopting the above formula will push your body to the next level.
No doubt there are plenty of things on your BUT list … “but, I really enjoy a beer at the end of the day” … “but I don’t like eating vegetables” … ” but … but … but”. The reality is that if the BUTs are powerful enough to stop you, then you are not serious anyway. That is a choice for you to make. All I am asking you to do is be honest with yourself.
Still not sold? Here is a challenge … take your measurements and follow the above 5 steps for 3 weeks. Be disciplined and don’t cheat. After 3 weeks, re-measure and see what has happened. 3 weeks is not long. If you want more info about how to implement the above changes feel free to drop me an email or see me at training. Once you have given the basic 5 steps a red hot poke, I will provide more info on how to properly tune your diet.
- Matt Swift
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