Fat loss …. arguably the most common goal for our clients here at The Cut. This is possibly due to the lifestyles that are lived by the typical city worker which can lead to gaining body fat, such as sedentary office jobs, high amounts of stress, client entertaining involving meals out and lots of alcohol, lack of sleep therefore always tired and making poor food choices and so on…..sound familiar?
How does Fat loss work?
The good news is that it is simple, the bad news is that simple doesn’t alway mean easy to stick to. Fat-loss in basic terms happens when you are spending more energy (calories) than what you are consuming which is called a “calorie deficit”. So from that it is clear we can do one of two things to lose body fat, we can exercise more (use more calories) or consume less calories…easy right?
Where do People go wrong?
What you see all too often is individuals going too extreme with either exercising or attempting an aggressive calorie deficit. Relying on exercising more than 3-4 hours a week for most individuals is too much. If it doesn’t fit in with work and home life it can actually add more unnecessary stress.
The issue with an aggressive calorie deficit is that it’s not sustainable for most. You would end up always hungry and moody and your willpower would potentially be tested. We have found that with clients attempting an extreme calorie deficit, when they “fall off the wagon” they fall hard and binge on all the foods that they have been restricting themselves of, which are usually high in calories leaving them no longer in a calorie deficit (all that suffering for nothing).
Extreme calorie deficits and a high level of exercise can be utilised in the short term when you are approaching a big event or important date such as if you are about to get married or go on holiday for example, but generally we don’t adopt this approach
What is our approach?
Our approach to fat loss is case specific and our actions and changes will be in line with an individual’s progress. We know that we need to apply a calorie deficit, for some individuals this could be simply cleaning up their eating habits. We know that processed/fast/junk food is high in calories not always filling and may not be nutrient dense, so we substitute these food sources with healthier nutritious whole foods and then monitor progress from there.
Most clients are looking for sustainable results, so with that in mind we would try not to do something that we do not feel that they can maintain long term. With that being said logging food and counting calories on an app such as “Myfitnesspal” can be an educational process that helps you understand portioning. Here is a link to an article we wrote on nutrition protocols that we may adopt.
What is a Fat-loss workout?
We would never really term a workout a “Fat-loss workout” as mentioned earlier it is simply a case of “calories in vs calories out”. That being said some workouts would burn more calories than others.
We know that training big muscle groups requires more energy, so we take that into consideration with our programmes being based around big compound movements such as squat patterns, deadlift variations, chest press and rows. We generally train every major muscle group every workout so that muscle gets trained frequently enough to make progress. If individuals do lift weights 4x a week or more (our average client lifts weights 2 or 3 times a week) then we would look at different body part splits to allow for adequate rest and recovery.
Outside of sessions if time allows we may look at recommending cardio protocols assuming we feel this is a positive benefit and not an unnecessary stress. An easier additional energy expenditure would be to increase your N.E.A.T (non-exercise activity thermogenesis). N.E.A.T can be increased by upping your daily steps, taking the stairs where possible and standing instead of sitting.
What Foods Burn Fat?
None will be a net negative sum. If you do not have the basics in place of a calorie deficit and regular exercise but you are searching the internet for foods that burn fat I am afraid to say you are starting in the wrong place. Certain foods when consumed will help you stay fuller for longer and you will be able to consume plenty of them due to being low in calories, but none will do the work for you.
If you are ready to start your Fat-loss journey with us now then get in touch today.