4 THINGS THAT DON’T MATTER FOR FAT LOSS

It seems that fat loss talk has gotten more chatter over the past few months. Maybe it’s because a new fad diet seems to come out way too often and we are getting inundated with advice, social media, friends opinions, internet opinions, “keto is good” “Keto is bad” its SO overwhelming and it leaves us more confused than EVER.

With clients asking me almost daily my opinion and take on something new that they’re doing in order to lose body fat, I want to take the time to talk about some things that just don’t matter AS much when you’re trying to lose fat. These are some ‘small rock’ things that in the long run, will not have a drastic effect on your body.

I hear people all the time ask ‘what MORE can I be doing to improve my health, diet and fat loss” and this question is fine, but the BETTER question would be “ what can I NOT focus on/stop worrying about to make fat loss or my fitness journey a little easier.” We need to find ways to cut out some of the crap and realize that these ‘small rocks’ just don’t really matter. In order to make things simpler, lets just get back to the basics!

The less ‘stuff’ you have to focus on in your journey, the more you can focus on the stuff that really matter. Its not about

  • No carbs
  • No food after 8pm
  • No fats after your workout
  • Intermittent fasting
  • Gluten free foods (when you don’t have to be gluten free)
  • Eating 6 small meals a day
  • No time for snickers bars or other treats

This is not LIFE and following these rigid rules won’t necessarily lead to a golden path to fat loss. Sure some of these above mentioned things can help someone with fat loss for the short term, but if you’re doing something that you can’t do the rest of your life. It just won’t work.

#1 MEAL FREQUENCY

Back when I was competing and when I first started getting really focused on lifting, eating 6 small meals a day was all the rage. I am sure that you’ve heard this tactic in order to lose body fat at one time or another, in fact its probably the most common heard point on this list. It was once assumed that one must eat every 2-3 hours to ‘keep metabolism going’ throughout the day and to prevent the body from going into starvation mode. Now, I want to preface this by saying that I am not at all suggesting that eating 6 small meals is ‘bad’ or that you won’t lose body fat by doing so, but what I am saying is that you don’t HAVE to follow this way of eating in order to lose body fat. What matters the most is calories in vs calories out over the course of the day and week.

The other myth here is that when you eat smaller meals throughout the day, your body burns more calories through the thermic effect of food and while you absolutely DO burn calories during the digestion process, it really doesn’t matter if its 3 meals or 6.

For example if JIMMY and JOHNNY both are trying to lose weight at 2,100 calories. If the TEF from meals is 10%.

JIMMY= 6 meals a day, that’s 35 calories/meal (6×35=210)

JOHNNY= 3 meals a day, thats 70 calories/meal (3×70=210)

You can see here that at the end of the day, they both burn THE SAME amount of calories through the thermic effect of food. (TEF)

#2 EXERCISE (specifically cardio)

Of course exercise is good for you and we need it in our lives. But when I am talking about exercise, I am really focusing here on cardio. I had a point in my life where I was spending 60 minutes, 5-6 days a week doing cardio and I had was the highest body fat percentage to date. Cardio is a tool, it can help and its nice to have, but in no way is it necessary for fat loss to occur. It is not only not essential, but too much of it can be detrimental for you reaching your goals. Too much cardio can increase cortisol, increase inflammation and also cause crazy hunger which will then force your body to eat more. Too much cardio can inhibits your body’s ability to process sugar. If sugar isn’t processed properly, you gain weight. Instead, focus on 3 days a week of strength training and when you perform cardio think HIGH intensity, SHORT duration. Incorporate yoga and leisure walking to reduce stress and clear your mind!

#3 EATING CLEAN

Of course, I am always going to advocate for whole, unprocessed foods so don’t think I am trying to get you to go eat those pop-tarts, BUT just because you eat 100% ‘clean’ (whatever that means) doesn’t equate 100% to the fact that you will drop body fat. There are plenty of clean foods that are super high fat and calorie so eating too many of them will still not be in your best interest. Those Acai bowls? Usually they pack over 600 calories, 50g of sugar and fat and super high in carbo hydrate—none of which is a ‘bad’ thing, but if you think that eating an acai bowl everyday will help you lose weight rather than eating a bowl of rice crispies with 2% milk (about 250 calories, half the sugar and fat) you may be surprised. Be mindful of the choices you make even when something is ‘clean’. Its all about calories in vs calories out.

 

#4 EATING BREAKFAST:

This ties in with point #1, but again somewhere down the road we were taught to believe that breakfast is the “most important meal of day” and skipping it would crash your metabolism, drop your blood sugar to unhealthy levels, and that your body would cannibalize itself, go into starvation mode, and affect your thyroid health.

Skipping breakfast does not automatically increase your risk of weight gain. Nor do people who eat breakfast end up losing weight more quickly than those who don’t. If breakfast isn’t your thing, or you don’t get hungry until later in the morning or day, you can totally skip the morning meal and just stick with coffee and/or water . This will NOT make or break your progress.

When you wake, your body is in a fasted stake hence the word BREAK-FAST

benefits to skipping breakfast: your cells become more efficient at using glucose (carbs, sugar) and converting it into potential energy. Fat loss is all about calories in and calories out, so just because you don’t eat breakfast doesn’t mean you will under eat, in fact it usually means that your other meals are a bit heftier in size

 

If you want to see this on a video, CLICK HERE TO VIEW ON MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL!

 

XO, Naomi