Weight Loss without the BS.

This chick gets it.

Weight loss is without a doubt the most confusing area of the Fitness World. This is true for a number of reasons. These include the fact that, quite frankly, most of what people are being told on Television and even on popular fitness websites (which will remain unnamed) isn't true.


Magic pills, powders, 8 meals a day. They are very good at convincing us that all this is legit.

You'll recall from my previous article on Calories that there are three basic Macronutrients from which we get our daily caloric intake.

When a person is at a point in which they are burning fewer calories than they are consuming within any given 24 hour period, they are in what is known as a Caloric Surplus. Regardless of whether these calories are spaced out over 5 meals, or two giant meals a person in this state will gain weight.

With regards to weight loss, this person would want to either increase their activity level (thereby burning more calories), decrease the amount of calories they consume or both.

Somewhere during the process of this change in habits, this person will reach a point where they are burning exactly as many calories as they consume.

This point is known as homeostasis. A quick note on this: Homeostasis is not a bad thing, nor is it something we should be afraid of. Once a person has accomplished their ideal body, or even their temporary goals, losing more weight will not be desirable. This should be stressed for The Ladies, nobody likes a stick figure despite what Hollywood would like you to think.

But we're not trying to stay the same, we're trying to lose weight.

If we want to lose weight, we are after a Caloric Defecit. This is a point at which we are burning more calories than we consume, and thereby burning stores of Body Fat.

I recognize that this is something that most of you already know (many even know it but deny it). 

For you guys and gals, I want to explain that it's important to define things so we have a definitive place to turn if things aren't going our way.

So let's examine how we as Humans burn our Calories:

70% of a Persons calories will be burned during the day by our bodies without our help. The body will burn them to digest, to produce hormones, to fuel our organs and a litany of other tasks. 

20% of a Physically Fit Adult's calories are burned during day to day tasks. From walking to the car, to climbing stairs; all of these factor in here. This is where exercise is an absolute game changer. In the case of a Sedentary Adult, this number is usually closer to 8% or even less. 

6-10% of a Persons calories are burned through a process known as the Thermic Effect of Food. Different foods have different thermic values, and require more energy for the body to digest. I will go more in depth on Thermogenisis in a subsequent article.

These numbers represent what's known as Total Energy Expenditure (but the cool kids call it T.E.E). This is the total amount of calories burned during any given 24 hour period.

So:

In the case of a Sedentary Adult, let's suppose he/she is burning 70%+8%+6%. This person has burned 84% of the calories they consumed that day, and they will gain weight.

If this person increases their activity level to 25% as opposed to 8% they will lose weight. It is literally that simple. If, in addition to increasing their activity level they opt to decrease the total amount of calories they consume within a day, they will lose weight faster.

Some guidelines for weight loss:

Sweat your ass off. 35 minutes cardiovascular exercise daily (if you aren't breaking a sweat you're doing it wrong!)
This exercise can come in the form of Power Walking, Jumping Jacks, Plyometrics or even walking the dog (he's getting ancy).

Drink lots of water. I'm a freak, and I am also a Cardio Junkie, so I regularly drink 2 gallons of water a day. For those of us who aren't so freakish, I'll put it to you like this (gross alert) you want your urine to be straw colored or lighter. Replacing soft drinks with ice water, or water with lemon, for some people can shave off hundreds and hundreds of calories a day. I had a client with a powerful lemonade addiction who consumed 750/cal daily just from drinking lemonade. You can see how this adds up.

Sleep like crazy. 8 hours nightly. During sleep our bodily systems still need to function. This means that our bodies are doing us a huge favor by burning calories in a fasted state. Getting enough sleep cannot be stressed enough.

Cliff Notes:

Eat less, exercise more and you'll lose weight and accomplish your goals. I promise you that.

Next up: More exercises that can be performed at home with Resistance Bands. 

Cheers,
John.

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