Setting Up A Successful Fat Loss Phase

This is a very generic approach, when I'm working closely with a client we spend a lot of time planning how best to achieve the goal and set a realistic time frame. We also monitor and adapt each week.

Be Strategic

A Fat Loss phase should have a defined period of time. I prefer 12-16 weeks, regardless of whether the goal for that time period has been achieved or not.

A fat loss phase is by definition tough and you don't want to spend most of the year there! If you haven't achieved your goal within 4 months then it's time to go back up to maintenance in my opinion. There are certain exceptions like those who are under medical supervision because their weight is a serious health concern.

Determine Your Maintenance Calories

I've written a post about how to do this here How To Determine Your Maintenance Calories

Setting Your Calorie Deficit

You should NOT live most of your life in a calorie deficit! Maintenance is life!

The goal for a deficit is to eat as much as possible whilst still averaging a Fat Loss of 0.5kg per week. We DO NOT set the deficit as high as possible and hope you can keep it going!

In my opinion this is where most people go wrong, they set too big a calorie deficit and it's too tough to adhere to sensibly and sustainably and they don't achieve their goal. I see it all the time.

The reason working out your Maintenance Calories comes first is so that we can set a sensible and sustainable deficit and really set you up for success.

First step is to set a 10% reduction from your Maintenance Calories. I know most people straight away go to 500 calories from your food but for the majority of people this is too much to start with.

So, if your Maintenance is 2,000 Calories, let's start at 1,800 and see how your fat loss goes and more importantly, how do you feel! This is the exact approach I take personally.

Any number below your True Maintenance Calories will be a deficit, let's find a place where you feel good and you are steadily losing body fat.

So now what do you do? You do your best to stay at that number for a minimum of 2 weeks before you change anything! Your body will start adapting but sometimes it takes time, so be patient! 

DO NOT continually drop your calories at this point because you are impatient to see results or you have no idea what is working!

Activity

Your calorie deficit can be derived from a reduction in calories, a "sensible" increase in activity or both. My general advice is to do a combination because obviously I want everyone to be active for all the health benefits.

I encourage everyone to average a minimum of 7,000 steps per week. If you have good energy levels in a deficit you could increase this to a maximum of 12,000. 

If you dramatically increase your activity levels whilst decreasing the amount you eat, expect to feel extremely fatigued and start to find it difficult to adhere to your calorie deficit.

If you are doing at least 3 structured workouts a week and averaging at least 7,000 steps a week, that is more than enough to both keep you healthy and ensure you lose body fat at a sensible rate. More does not always = better, it usually means you need to eat more!

Lifting Weights

None of my clients enter a Fat Loss phase without lifting weights. Muscle must be protected when calories are lower. So if you are not lifting weights and you want to lose body fat, then one of the best things you can do for your health is to start lifting as heavy as you can, even if that's at home initially.

One of the most important times to resistance train is when you are in a fat loss phase. You need to protect the lean muscle on your body at all costs or you come out of the fat loss phase with less muscle, skin that's loose and a body shape that can ultimately look and feel worse than when you started.

Food Quality

It's obviously important to quantify that the quality of what you eat, of course, matters but so does sticking to your calorie deficit. I'm afraid energy balance is King in a fat loss phase.

So, make sure to increase your food volume by increasing the amount of fruit and vegetables you eat, if you know you currently don't eat enough. Aim to eat at least 2 portions of vegetables with every meal and add in a couple of portions of fruit. Not only will it improve the quality of your meals but the increased volume seriously helps to keep you fuller.

Protein, a very important aspect of your fat loss phase is to ensure you are eating at least 100g of Protein per day. As an example 100g of Raw Chicken is about 30g Protein. I have lots of ideas if you find it difficult to eat enough protein, please just ask.

Not only does eating enough protein in a calorie deficit mean you can protect your body from using your precious lean muscle but it will keep you fuller for longer. Protein is the most satiating of all the macro nutrients (Protein, Fat, Carbohydrate).

Sustainability

If you set your calories too low, this fat loss phase is potentially going to get very rough which can lead to an inevitable under eat - over eat pattern. If this is you, I am giving you permission to eat a bit more each day than you currently are. You do not have to have lots of days where you need to over eat to compensate for serious under eating.

Graph from Renaissance Periodisation

If your weekends look like the graph above, it's time to revisit your numbers so you can make the progress you need to achieve your goal.

Preoccupation with food. If your every waking moment is consumed by this, you are not eating enough or your food choices may be sub optimal so you are never really satiated. Ensure you are eating enough protein and lots of fruit and vegetables.

When you eat too little in a fat loss phase everything in life can feel horrendous. It does not have to be like this! Staying in a more modest deficit than you originally planned and feeling just some slight hunger before meals or almost no hunger at all is a great place to be in a fat loss phase.

If you can't adhere to your calorie deficit for 3-4 months, it's simply not sustainable and you need to reach out to someone for some support or make the decision that the cost v benefit of a fat loss phase is just not worth it. Either is perfectly fine, life is for living fully.

Keys To Success

Conduct your Fat Loss Phase in a Sustainable and Responsible manner and respect your wonderful body.

Think LONG TERM, do not rush! If you need multiple phases of fat loss and maintenance, that's normal, trust me. You just keep going through these cycles until you look and feel your absolute best!

Your starting calories have to be high enough to allow you to very gradually drop them. As you get leaner and weigh less your calories will probably need to drop so starting at 1,200 calories means the only way is down and life will feel pretty horrendous there! You are also at a much higher risk to develop a horrible relationship with food and your body.

As an example my clients never go below 1,600 calories, ever! It's just not necessary if you start with a good healthy metabolism out of a maintenance phase.

My last piece of advice is if your fat loss phase has been going on for more than 4 months and you are not making progress, please come out of it and bring yourself back up to Maintenance. 

There are lots of reasons your calorie deficit has stopped working (mainly due to adherence) and it's honestly time to give your mind and body a rest. Try again in 6 months if you really want to x