2 Reminders When Training For Fat Loss
Since summer is around the corner may of our goals tend to focus around what we are going to look like, specifically in less clothing. When it comes to losing body fat “eat less, move more” does tend to work, but only for a certain period of time. You will see results at first, but to prevent that “soft” feeling that can happen when we start to train this way there are 2 habits that will help us…
The first one is to continue doing strength training. If you’re at the point you’re trying to lose body fat, this is assuming you have already been exercising. If you were lifting weights before and want to show off the muscle you’ve built, you don’t want to stop using it. Our muscles grow and adapt to the stress we put on them, so once we remove that stress, our muscles won’t need to be as strong. It’s the combination of strength training WITH cardio and proper diet that gives us a more “dense” physique. Don’t get me wrong, you still want to change the plan too! This doesn’t mean you should keep doing exactly what you were doing before.. but don’t ditch the weights for running or hiit circuits altogether. Try to increase the amount of cardio you do in a week rather than on a daily basis to start so you’re not feeling bombarded with so much to do. If you used to do none try starting with 20 minutes for the week breaking it up however is best for you. There will be days that life gets in the way and we cannot get our workout in, whether it be a time restriction, how we’re feeling etc… so shortening the amount of weight training we do to also do cardio is okay, or maybe you combine the 2 and do a circuit that way. It’s easy to “fall off the wagon” when we are starting something new and want to go back to what we are comfortable with, but trust the process and remember you have to make a change to see a change. If you are just starting and your goal is fat loss, the same still applies.
My second tip would be to make sure you are getting adequate protein. This tip is more for beginners, but can also have meaning to those currently exercising! To at least maintain our current lean body mass we want to consume around 0.8-1g per kg bodyweight per day. There are not a lot of actual human studies on this matter, but the fact of the matter is it’s what our muscles are made of. When we wear them down on a regular basis and need them to compensate, we need protein. When we are eating less but using them the same amount (if not more depending on how you change your plan), they need this replenishment. The body will use protein as fuel if there are not enough stores of fat and/or carbs, so when we are consuming less of these the chance of this process happening is higher. Having adequate amounts of protein in our diet will help maintain the muscles we have created or are working towards as well as help prevent our bodies from using it all as fuel when we are in a caloric deficit, however a balanced amount of carbs fats and protein is the best approach. It usually helps us feel more satiated too!
Seeing what people post on social media and other platforms can be repetitive and lack individualized needs. What someone eats in a day is not necessarily what you or I should also be eating in a day, we have no idea what else they did that day to make them eat that amount or why they ate the foods they chose specifically. Did they work out that day? Do they have the same goals as you? Do they have food intolerances or allergies? Is their metabolism different? Do they do as much activity as you? There is too many variables to just be copying someone else. To fix this problem of course I would recommend hiring a Personal Trainer to help you do so and figure out what’s best for you :). However if this is not an option for you, try to look at what your specific needs are and try to tailor what you do towards that. Exercise and nutrition. Once you figure out your specific needs (what your goals are, what you need to change, etc..) do some research on what to do to work on these areas specifically (not just on social media) and how to make it individualized. When we are in a fat loss phase we can tend to lose lean body mass so training as compound and heavy as possible will still be key. Every plan needs exercise’s that work for that person as well as nutritional guidelines.
Hope that helps!
Robyn