Fat loss is a goal that millions of people want to achieve.
There’s a reason the gyms get so crowded every year in January but return to normal levels by March. People just cannot figure out how to do it for the long term!
The amount of information on the topic is staggering. Unfortunately, the majority of what gets in front of people who want to lose fat is either completely wrong, misinformed, over complicated, or contradicted by guidance from somewhere else!
Some will say that you need to cut out carbs (might work, but carbs are not the reason you gained fat or cannot lose it)
Other will say that eating fat is bad and makes you gain fat. Others say you need to eat fat to lose fat!
Here’s a list of things the media, doctors, personal trainers, people in the gym etc. say are things that cause fat storage (they’re all wrong by the way):
- Carbs
- Fat – or saturated fat – (in foods)
- Sugar
- Genetics
- Eating at certain times of the day/night
- Fast Food
- Gluten
- Dairy
- Junk food
- Alcohol (yes even alcohol is not the reason you gained weight!)
- Spiking your blood sugar too much
- Not being a vegan
- Not enough exercise (yes, even this is not the real reason people are fat)
- Trans-fats, saturated fats and any other type of fats
- Beige carbs, white carbs, fast carbs or any other type of carbs
- Eating too quickly
- Not drinking enough water
- Too much stress
- Not enough sleep
The list goes on and I’m sure it will continue to grow.
Let me state again that NONE of the things above are the reason why you gained weight, failed to lose it, or why it is predicted that 50% of British people will be classified as obese by 2045.
Here it is: The ONLY reason fat gain occurs
Are you ready for it?
You’re eating too much food.
Yes, it’s really that simple.
You might not believe this, but it’s true.
“But how come so and so eats more food than me and isn’t overweight?”
Answer: We’re all different.
Ok, let’s explain it a bit:
What causes weight gain?
We need to talk about calories.
Forget whatever you have heard, or think you know about calories. This is the only thing that matters:
A calorie is a unit of energy.
Just like a centimetre is a unit of length.
To be more specific, a calorie is the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of 1 litre of water by 1 °C.
Calories are not things that are in foods, or things that you burn. You consume and burn energy. Certain foods contain a certain amount of
energy. You perform activities that require a certain amount of energy. Calories are just the units by which that energy can be measured.
What is an undeniable fact, that is not even up for debate amongst proper scientists, is that if you consume less energy than you expend, your body will have to turn to its body fat stores to make up the shortfall. This is regardless of what type of foods provided that energy.
The reverse is also true. If you consume more energy than you expend, the additional energy is converted to fat. This is regardless of what type of foods provided that energy.
This makes the business of fat loss rather easy
Consume less energy than you expend and you’ll lose weight.
Consume more energy than you expend and you’ll gain weight.
This is regardless of what the food is! Whether it is “clean” or “dirty”, “good” or “bad”, Professor Mark Haub tested this theory by eating nothing but junk food whilst staying below his maintenance. He lost a lot of weight. Obviously the food has very little nutritional value so this isn’t a good long term diet!
I’ve also tested this theory by losing weight recently whilst still enjoying ice cream, chocolate, biscuits, cake etc. I tracked my calorie intake and stayed well below my maintenance. About 80% of the calories I ate were from “good” foods, and 20% whatever I wanted.
Here’s my results (took me 2 and a half months):
Before:
After:
How Can You Have Similar Fat Loss Success?
In order to consume fewer calories than you expend and lose fat, you need to know what both those numbers are!
- How many calories you are consuming
- How many calories you are expending (how many calories it takes to maintain your body weight and activity)
But how to find those numbers? Find out on the next page: Fat Loss Part Two: How to figure out how many calories you are eating.