Since I am currently halfway through a weight cut myself, I wanted to share my favorite and least favorite ways to lose weight.

We all should know what weight loss is from last week's article but if you didn't read it, it's the process of losing weight or seeing the number on the scale go down. To lose 1 pound you need to expend 3500 calories less than you are intaking. Before you stop reading this and just think “Oh I can workout harder, faster, or longer” listen up. That’s the hard way of doing it.

When it comes to weight loss everyone and I mean everyone will give you their take on it. This is fine, but you need to remember that anything I suggest or anything someone else suggests may not work for you. Every person is different and that needs to be one of the only truths when it comes to weight loss.

To lose weight these are the 4 steps I bring myself and any client through. This is not always the path ( some athletes need to lose weight for an event so we speed the process up) but for the majority of people, it is.

Build strength/muscle

• If you want to lose weight, lose body fat, and get a “lean look” you need to build muscle first. You want there to be something under that fat to show. You don't want to cut and have nothing there! Secondly having 1lb of muscle on your body takes way more energy to maintain vs body fat. Its roughly 6 cals/hr for muscle vs 2 cals/hr for fat. That's a 4 cal difference per hour or 96 cals per day. This is why resistance training ( weight, bands ..etc) is critical to losing weight. You can change nothing about your diet but by adding 1lb of muscle you can burn an extra 100 cals per day. Seems like a no-brainer to me. This is the slowest but easiest way to lose weight

Slight calorie deficit

• If you are impatient and need to get results sooner a slight calorie deficit would be the way to go. A calorie deficit is taking in fewer calories than you normally take in. For most people, this can range from 250-500 cals pending on the severity of the deficit. The purpose of this is to have your body break down the extra body fat to be used as energy. This method is talked about a ton due to its efficacy but please note you will gain some weight back. If you lose 5lbs at the peak of the deficit and increase your cals a bit you might gain 1-2lbs. Overall it's a net loss of 3 lbs but understand it's not a straight line of progress.

Cardio

• I love using cardio for weight loss but only at the right times. People love using cardio as the first step but they always forget if you don't do cardio consistently, you cannot keep the caloric burn up. I like to reserve this as the last step for most. If the above two steps didn't get you to your goal then implementing cardio will get you over the hump. Reminder, cardio doesn't mean running, it can be increasing steps, jogging, biking, rowing… etc. It's going to be whatever you can do consistently on a weekly basis.

A slightly larger calorie deficit

• I reserve this large calorie deficit for athletes, people in weight-class sports, or people who need to be lean for an event. This larger calorie deficit will suck, you will be hungry a lot, you will have less energy, you will be moody and you might notice a drop in libido. All of this is normal and expected and it's why it's one of the last things I recommend people do before they lose weight. It's the drastic, short-term results option.

If you want to lose weight, you most likely want it to stick. So now that you know how I bring myself and others through weight loss, its time to make sure it sticks for you. Most decide they want to lose weight and immediately think “ I need to run more” or “I need to do more cardio”. While exercise is one option to increase calories, it is not always the most sustainable. When it comes to making any sustainable changes for humans, i always use these 4 steps to ensure people are happy, healthy, and on their way to crushing their goals.

Start small

• With any habit, you need to start small and stay small. The small changes are what cause the big changes you see in others. Any big change is just a build-up of small changes done over time.

Make it consistent

• To make a habit sustainable it needs to be done over a long period of time. You need to be able to eat this way or train this way consistently. That means you have a plan that you can still progress through even when life is so busy you feel like you're drowning.

Make it easy/ fun

• No change is easy but you can do things to make it easy. Its actually incredibly simple, just do things you like doing. If you hate running, don't start a running plan to lose weight. You'll be miserable and the emotional energy needed to buy in won't allow you to stick to it long term.

Trust the process

• While you may think it a slow daunting process, look at this weight loss journey in the scope of years. I want you to do this for a long time, not just 3 months. When you broaden that view and realize that you're doing this for you 10,15,20 years down the road, it'll completely change how you view the current day. As my favorite center once said “Trust the process”

So now you know how to lose weight and how to keep it off. If you found this helpful or you have any questions on this please reach out, i love being able to help in any way possible.

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