Fat Loss Mistakes – 7 Ways People Mess Things Up and How You Can Avoid Sabotaging Your Fat Loss Progress
19 Dec
[Don't put your fat loss progress on lock down.]
The number one way to look better is to lose your excess body fat. Many people struggle to do this because they make the same mistakes time and time again. They look for a magic solution, for a magic pill, to give them that edge. The truth is that there is no snap-your-fingers solution to this. Move more and eat less – simple as that.
Now, if you know how to avoid the biggest mistakes folks make trying to get lean, fat loss will be a piece of cake.
Mistake #1 – Eating too much.
Plain and simple, you won’t get leaner, even if you exercise, if you also over eat. It’s a mistake to eat something planning to burn it off later.
Solution: You have to eat less, you know. If you are not sure whether to eat something and exercise it off later, just stop. It won’t work like this.
Mistake #2 – Going all out for a short while and then failing to continue.
Solution: It you’ve got to lose lots of weight, you won’t do it ultra fast. It’s best to plan something that allows you to sustain it for a long time, preferable for periods of at least 6-8 weeks at a time.
Mistake #3 – Consuming too many carbohydrates.
Solution: This is a surefire way to make it very hard for yourself to succeed. Of course, it is possible to do it like this. The thing is, after ingesting carbs, your body plain won’t be able to burn off blubber for the next couple of hours. Limit your carbohydrate consumption from processed foods if you want to get leaner. Avoid breads and sugars, for example.
Mistake #4 – Not training with weights or other methods of resistance
By just under consuming food, you may actually lose too much muscle. You will look and feel flabbier and softer, even at a lower body weight.
[A photo of a gorgeous girl on a beautiful beach makes for a nice motivation, no? Beats pics of people sweating on the treadmill for sure.]
Solution: Do some resistance training 2-3 times per week. Body weight workouts, such as push ups and squats, free weights such as dumbbells and barbells, resistance bands, isometrics – these all get the job done.
Mistake #5 – Controlling only the amount of carbohydrates and not the total amount of food consumed
Lots of people fail fat loss even on a low carb diet. Although they limit their carbohydrates, they eat too much food and fail to create a caloric deficit.
Solution: The number one rule of fat loss is to create a caloric deficit. Both diet and exercise work. It’s better to have both. Cutting down on carbohydrates does help, but is not essential. The main thing is to limit those calories.
Mistake #6 – Not training to lose weight
Solution: Building muscle and losing fat are different goals. You get leaner by exhausting your entire body – huffing and puffing as if you sprint for the bus. You can lose weight with sports that make you run and sprint – soccer and basketball for example. Sports that are conducted in segments or rounds also work – boxing, martial arts, jumping rope, and sprinting. Body weight circuits work the same way.
Mistake #7 – Training for muscle mass too much and for fat loss to little
This is prevalent among men. We go to the gym and we think we are still not big enough. The truth is, losing fat would make us look good – leaner and more muscular looking. Plus the proportions will be just right.
Solution: If you’ve got belly fat or love handles, your goal should be to get your body fat down so that you look good with your clothes off. Once you are at that body fat level, then you can switch to gradually getting more muscular, if you still desire that.
Images XirannisX en Off digitalsophia
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“Mistake #5 – Controlling only the amount of carbohydrates and not the total amount of food consumed ”
This one is HUGE. Things like nuts, nut butters and cheeses may be relatively low carb and healthy, but if you eat too much of them they are still jam packed with calories. I know I’m even guilty of this one myself occasionally (especially this time of year when it is cold out…
).
“Mistake #7 – Training for muscle mass too much and for fat loss to little”
In a seminar with Charles Poliquin, he said that he does not give carbs post-workout to guys at or above 10% body fat. That is what he considers a cut-off level to be considered lean for a male and to loosen up on the carb restrictions.
Great article!
Cheers,
Adam
Adam
thanks for your insights. For males I consider lean when you look good naked – when you don’t have love handles or flabby stomach. Usually below 9-12% BF.
Yavor
p.s. You’re lucky to have been able to visit a Poliquin seminar!
guys, why is it always carbs the evil of getting fat? i eat a lot of carbs and have 5% bodyfat. my training consists in strenght training 3 times a week. i´d like to see a article about fat consuption, because, carbs are not evil, fat is.
Great site and ho´s that awesome girl on that picture?? she´s soooooooo beatiful.
Rod,
Carbs are not evil. But notice that in the article I point out that it is tough to lose weight if you eat too much carbs. Once you hit your goal weight, maintain a caloric balance and eat what you want.
Cheers,
Yavor
P.s. the girl is mine so I won’t disclose her identity lol!!!
daaaaamn does she have a sister!??!?
Yup – a twin.
Lol!!!
how about low GI carbs like wholemeal bread and pasta? do they have same effect on fat burning?
thanks,
chica
Chica,
some people can get away with those – but they are lean to begin with. Eat those low GI carbs after a heavy workout only. Or maybe for breakfast.
Cheers,
Yavor
I just wanted to say thank you because you’ve motivated me to start to focus on getting my body fat down, I used a program from someone you have mentioned on your site Mark Mcmanus, TSPA. It helped me get my body fat down to around 11% but instead of continuing with it I decided on trying to bulk up with a high carb approach with too many calories and you can guess what happened, I feel like I’m back where I started before my cut. It was advice given to me on forums, people saying you need to eat some sandwhiches dude and put some muscle on before you cut again, my own fualt for listening. I dont have a great deal of muscle but the fact that I still have fat to lose always makes it harder to bulk as I have that nagging voice telling me ‘you could get your body fat lower you know’. I’ll strat tommorrw and my next bulk will be clean.
Whats you thoughts on working out calories for cutting and for adding muscle?
Thanks
John,
if it ain’t broken, why fix it. My suggestion would be to follow the approach that got you leaner initially. So just clean up with the TSPA approach. As far as muscle goes – you need to move respectable weights for respectable/noticeable muscle.
But – if you eliminate the excess fat around your waist, you will look instantly better proportioned. Then, focus on building muscle by getting stronger in the 8-12 rep range. My point is – stay decent looking year round, even if you don’t have ‘enough’ muscle (in your eyes) you will look good naked and in clothes. Training, progressive overload and eventually getting to the bigger weights are what is going to make you muscular. Calories are only important in as much as you have enough energy to surpass the #s in your previous workout.
Cheers,
Yavor
Hi,
Sorry, I noticed this post is from awhile ago, but wanted to ask a couple of questions..
What percentage BF is considered lean for a woman? My body fat scales say I’m 25%, which sounds huge, I know! Most people who look at me would be surprised. I’m 161cm tall and weigh 58-59kg. ANy tips for how to get there other than the above?
I also want to build strength without bulk. I know everyone says that its hard for women to build bulk, but I disagree. It depends on your body type, as well as your history of training. By this last bit, I mean, for example, I did gymnastics in my teenage years (13-15yrs) at only a low level, and I seem to maintain quite a toned look with little effort, particularly in the arms/back. Maybe to do with the high amount of natural HGH present in adolescence? I can do full pushups and one full pullup, but most people seem to expect me to be able to do more when they look at me. I’m all show and no go!! LOL So should I be aimimg for very heavy weights at low reps? Or rep range 8-12? Sets? I’m currently doing about 2-3 hour long kickboxing/X-training classes (more body weight conditioning than weight work), running 1-2 per week, 30-60min, a 20-30 min stair session a week (high intensity), maybe a spin class once a week. And just starting (today) PT for 30min twice a week, although these sound like they’re going to be body weight type circuits with high intensity cardio bursts throughout, for a couple of minutes each.
Very interested advice/comments/anything!
Thanks
Anna
Anna,
your BF% is about average for a woman. For awoman to be super-lean, she would be around 12-13 % (lower than that begins to interfere with estrogen production and your period may stopuntil you reach higher BF levels. So around 14-16% is what I consider lean for a woman. again – it depends – you may need to go to 12-13% or, this low may be too low for you. Because of your gymnastics background you have acquired upper body strength. Hence the ‘toned’ look and the puishups/pullup.
Sets and reps with weight training – focus on low reps (3-5) and low sets (2-3 sets) so you don’t build any additional muscle – it isn’t what you need. When doing circuits – do around 10 reps per set.
As far as your training – you are training quite a lot as it is. What you need is to focus on nutrition. At your height 58kg is just too much (I don’t wanna insult you but help yuo look hot
) So you need top find a way that lets you eat below your maintainance level for a while until you cut those kgs down.
In order to lose weight you need to eat below your maintainance calories. This means eating not just below what you currently eat, but actually bellow the level of calories that your body needs just to maintina itself. One of the best podcasts you can listen to regarding eating to lose weight is here: http://blog.adonislifestyle.com/how-many-calories-do-you-need-to-lose-weight/
Remember -your key to success lies in nutrition – not more exercise or a magic set/rep combo. Hope that helps. Let me know if you have other questions.
Yavor
Thanks for your imput- will take it on board. I’ll prol aim for 18% to start with (baby steps!) and see how it goes. With maintaining lean mass of around 43-44kg, that means aiming for around 51-52kg or about 6-7kg fat loss. I’ll have to eat around 1000cal a day, maybe with some ESE fasts thrown in- not easy, but greatness is not come by easily either LOL! Thanks again- wish me luck!!
Anna,
My recommendations:
- shoot for a body weight goal (instead of a BF goal). As long as you train with weights or bodyweight, etc, You will maintain enough lean tissue, so a BF goal is just confusing. Check with the scale and the mirror.
), then 52 and finally 50-51…
- chunk the goal up – for example first try to reach 56kg (and appreciate it when you get there), then shoot for 54kg (and cheer yourself up, etc
- ESE fasts thrown in will def help, especially if you happen to eat too much on one of the days.
- gradually decrease the calories – don’t jump to super low right away
- a final ‘mindset’ tip – remember, you are NOT your body. You are awesome as you are
Good luck!