Here is the secret to losing fat on your stomach and legs. There is no Secret. That doesn’t mean that it is not frustrating. However, it is impossible to win a game, when you don’t know the rules. There are a few very simple and important things that prevent us from achieving this goal.
Nutrition (80%) + Exercise/Training (20%) = Results
That means that exercising is the easy part. Nutrition on the other hand is down right confusing for most, because we never learned; and we have no frame of reference about good foods, the right kinds of food, how much or how little that we need to eat. Therefore, we end up either over eating or underfed both of which don’t give us the look that we want; and make use carry fat in areas that we do not want.
Most people know they need to work hard. The harder part is eating enough food, and the kinds of fuel that is going to fuel your workouts and help you build muscle. Odds are you have experienced the frustration associated with working your butt off and not making a lot of progress. Remember the key is maximizing your metabolism. The most overlooked element of your success is consistency. The trap of yo, yo dieting, short cuts and impatience leads to a whole heck of a lot more misery, than consistent, slower progress ever has. You didn't wake up one day and struggle with your body composition, and you definitely won't achieve the opposite either.
This is going to be a process and a lifestyle change and trying to be perfect tomorrow in your nutrition, exercise and food choices is a recipe for failure. On Top of this, there is a bunch of garbage shortcut being sold to you in an attempt to con you out of your money. When those things don’t work, you feel like something must be wrong with you. Well nothing is wrong with you. Losing body fat is an art that is mastered by few. Stubborn areas, that seem to hold onto fat do exist. But typically that has to do with the important role that fat plays in our body. Fat is an organ that produces hormones and insulates us. Men tend to carry extra fat on there stomach and for women stomach, hips and thighs. Congrats! You are humans.
But this is also very important to understand. If these areas are vital, then its likely that our body isn’t going to give it up easily, or at least not willingly if you are going to extremes to “lose weight” . Therefore, you have to coax it out. And you do this by building muscle, eating enough to fuel our body and being consistent. Which is the exact opposite of everything you have been sold: Cardio, extremely low calorie intakes, six weeks to six pack.
The result of Cardio and extremely low calorie intakes is burn out, mental fatigue, slower metabolism, muscle loss, and stubborn body fat stays in the areas we want to change the most. Although the scale goes down, the fat doesn’t come off. That is because the weight you are losing isn’t body fat. The weight you are losing is water and muscle and a tiny bit of body fat. Now we are feel depleted, not fit, still fat and when I can’t handle the frustration and the deprivation anymore, I go back to eating like I used to and exercising less and this time even more fat comes back.
Although there are more than two, these are what we would consider to be the most common.
I can lose fat by targeting a specific area...WRONG! A prime example would include abdominal exercises. I am pretty sure we can all attest to doing copious ab exercises and getting strong and feeling our stomachs get a little firmer, but never seeing a glimpse of a six pack. I hate to break it to you, but this is never going to work. It literally does not work for anyone. I wish that it was that easy. Fatloss is systemic, meaning it comes of the body as a whole and those stubborn areas are always the last to go. You can’t accelerate fat loss. :( But if you are consistent, then you will consistently make progress.
Well not quite...For some reason we think that more is better. But to what extreme? If moving more and eating less is good for me, then excessive amounts of move and eating practically nothing must be great for me. Wrong! Remember, it's about coaxing the fat out, and your body isn’t willing to give up that fat easy. Therefore, the only “weight” you are losing is water and muscle. And the compounding effect of losing muscle is making your problem even worse, because muscle controls your metabolism. And the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn.
Protein helps your body build muscle, aids in recovery, speeds up your metabolism because it requires more calories to digest, Carbs give you energy to train hard and build muscle, fat makes you feel full and supports your hormones, fiber helps your system run smooth and increases your fullness, and micronutrients (vitamins & minerals) are essential components to make all your metabolic processes work as efficiently as possible. This tool will also tell you how much protein carbs and fats you should eat per day - https://tdeecalculator.net/
Use the Rule of 80/20: Meaning, that as long as 80% of my calories are coming from micronutrient-dense whole foods like veggies, fruits, meat, eggs, dairy, grains, potatoes, & starches. Then it's okay for 20% to come from less nutritious food. But I can’t over eat my calories because I need to maintain a calorie deficit.
Focus your Training Program routine on getting stronger and building lean muscle. Limit your cardio. But keep alittle bit of daily acitivty to burn a few extra calories and improve your body's ability to use nutrients.
I Hope this helps! Please let me know if you have more questions.
In Strength,Coach Samson Jagoras