Fat Loss Tips Part 1: Proper Preparation

(Artwork by Frank Frazetta)

So many people jump into a diet or cut before properly preparing their bodies for it.

By doing the 6 things I’m sharing with you today, you can properly prepare your body to lose weight and thus maximize your fat loss results.

1) Retain Muscle

So you want to lose weight, but not just weight in general, you want to lose fat.

That means you need to preserve your muscle to ensure the weight you lose is from fat not muscle.

Do this by eating a diet high in protein (25-30% Calories from protein) and by utilizing progressive overload in strength training. So keep up those heavy compound lifts!

Also the more muscle you have the more Calories you burn, so building muscle pre-cut means you will be able to eat more while losing weight!

2) Get Enough Sleep (8hrs is good for most)

Without adequate sleep your hunger hormone ghrelin increases and your satiation hormone leptin decreases. More hunger and less satiation equals a hard time losing fat.

Also sleep is crucial for repairing your body, thus is important for training recovery and progress.

3) De-Stress

Stress raises the hormone cortisol which puts your body in a sympathetic (fight or flight) state. Basically your body thinks it’s in danger. While this can initially decrease hunger, chronic stress can lead to overeating to prepare for a perceived danger or survival situation.

Stress can also trigger emotional eating and poor food choices. And stress depletes the body of nutrients. So get your stress under control.

4) Fix Your Metabolism

If your body is used to running on glucose from sugar and refined carbs, then your fat burning systems are a little rusty. A low carb or keto diet can be a powerful tool to teach your body to burn stored body fat for energy again. Whatever you do, definitely cut refined grains and sugar out!

Cutting out vegetable oils is also essential to burn fat. Since vegetable oils are so toxic to the body (due to the oxidative damage they cause) your body doesn’t like burning stored vegetable oils. Burning those causes more oxidative stress.

Therefore it’s crucial to cut these out. With time your body will naturally detox from these toxic fats and learn to burn body fat again.

5) Discover Maintenance Calories

If you will be tracking Calories or Macros in your cut (which I recommend if this is a last 10lbs kind of cut, or if you’re an athlete), then find your maintenance Calories. You can use an online calculator and then track your food and weight to adjust accordingly.

6) Measure Your Starting Place

It’s hard to know if you’re making progress without measuring. Right before your cut, measure your weight, your waist, hips, chest, and anything else you want. Also take a before picture in minimal clothing. And if you gave access, measure your body fat.

After you prepare your body to lose fat, it’s time to start your cut. For strategies to lose fat, check out my article: Fat Loss Tips Part 2: Strategies to Lose Fat.