Losing fat is hard: mentally & physically.

Hunger, at some point, is inevitable.

The more effective you are at dealing with this rise in hunger, the more effective you are likely to be.

In this article, I am to break down the strategies available to you to

Related: Macronutrient Basics: Understanding Carbs, Fats, and Protein

How fat loss works

Before diving into the tips, it’s worth understanding how fat loss works so you understand the mechanism through which these tips will benefit you.

In order to lose weight of any kind, you must consume less calories than your body burns each day. [2]

• A calorie is a unit of measurement for energy, the same way an inch is a unit of measurement for distance.

For instance, if your body burned 2500 calories in a day, you’d need to eat less than 2500 calories to lose weight.

However, losing weight of any kind isn’t a great goal. Losing fat specifically is a better goal.

To do this, two further conditions are required:

1. You must perform regular strength training

2. You must eat sufficient protein (discussed as one of the tips)

The tips outlined in this article are designed to be ones that will tip this scale of energy balance more in your favor with lesser increases in hunger; therefore making you more effective in your fat loss endeavors.

How to implement these tips

I would NOT recommend you try to incorporate all 8 of these tips into your day-to-day at once.

That’s a recipe for disaster, and doing so very difficult to sustain.

Rather, I recommend you practice the following strategy:

• Identify one of these tips that you feel you are not currently doing sufficiently

• Spend 1-2 weeks integrating it as a daily habit

• ONLY once you feel you are performing the habit on auto-pilot should you seek to incorporate another.

The difference is that this is how you build a lifestyle, not how you lose weight quickly just to regain it.

 

#1: Eat as much lean protein as you can

A protein source is a “lean” protein source if it does not have a high fat or carbohydrate content as well.

Some examples are chicken breast, white fish, shell fish, pork loin, lean beef, etc.

Why does this help? Two ways:

The first being that protein tends to be much more filling than carbohydrates and fats, and therefore making it easier to eat less food.

The second reason is because one of our goals in weight loss is to minimize the percent of weight lost that is muscle and maximize the percent of weight lost that is fat. Eating more protein will increase the rate of muscle building in your body, thereby making your body hold onto more muscle and burn more fat.

In general, whether you are trying to put on weight or lose weight, you should be eating around 1.6 grams of protein for every kilogram that you weigh. [1]

To find this, simply divide your bodyweight by 2.2 and multiply that number by 1.6.

For example, a 200-pound person’s body weight in kilograms is 91 (divided by 2.2). If we multiply that number by 1.6 we get 144.

As a result, this person should aim to eat 144 grams of protein per day. In a fat loss phase though, it is helpful to eat more than this amount to really capitalize on protein’s satiating effect.

Related: What’s the Best Type of Protein Powder?

 

#2: Eat plenty of fiber

Fiber also plays a similar role as eating plenty of protein in the sense that it is very filling for few calories.

For instance, 300 calories of oatmeal will leave you much fuller than 300 calories of an Eggo waffle. The primary reason for this is the difference in fiber content.

Some examples of high fiber foods include oatmeal, potatoes, whole wheat bread, fruits and vegetables, quinoa, lentils, etc.

The RDA for daily fiber intake is 14 grams for every 1,000 calories that you eat. However, a good rule of thumb is to eat 25 grams per day if you are a woman and 38 grams per day if you are a man.

 

#3: Eat lots of fruits and vegetables

You shouldn’t need me to tell you that eating fruits and vegetables is healthy.

In the context of weight loss, they are helpful because they have practically no calories most of the time.

For example, two cups of strawberries have only 100 calories and two cups of strawberries is definitely a good amount of food. Two cups of broccoli have only 60 calories.

They have such low-calorie contents because they are practically only made up of water, fiber, and vitamins and minerals.

However certain fruits and vegetables have higher sugar or fat contents, so eating a ton of them could cause some trouble. Some examples of this are avocado, bananas, and dried fruits. The dried fruits are the worst because when the water content is removed to make them dried, they are left being pure sugar, essentially.

 

#4: Limit how much oil you use in your cooking

Oils in cooking tend to be some of the sneakiest of calories that can sabotage a diet.

All oils are pure fat, which make them good for non-stick purposes but that also means they are pure calories. For example, one tablespoon of olive oil has 120 calories and most people tend to use more than one tablespoon when eyeballing their cooking.

One way to avoid using too much are to measure out how much oil you’re using by pouring it into a tablespoon before putting it on your pan. Another way is to use a spray version of your preferred oil, which will normally allow you to get an even coat on your pan without using a ton.

Related: How to Meal Prep the Easy Way

 

#5: Avoid liquid calories

Liquids tend to be much less filling than solids.

For example, if you were hungry and drank a cup of orange juice, you would have added 110 calories to your day while feeling no less hungry.

Some other common culprits of liquid calories are soda, sweet tea, and coffee creamers.

A better idea would be to opt for diet soda, unsweet tea or tea sweetened with a low-calorie sweetener such as stevia, and to drink black coffee or find low-calorie coffee creamers.

 

#6: Try to allocate most of your food to earlier in the day

The intermittent fasters of the world have it backwards.

Foods tend to be more satiating when eaten in the morning than when eaten at night.

In the research, subjects who allocate bigger meals to the morning tend to spontaneously eat less calories throughout the entire day than those who allocate bigger meals to the evening. [3]

One of the reasons this happens is that there is a greater suppression of ghrelin (the hunger hormone) when a food is eaten in the morning than when eaten at night.

#7: Chew your food as thoroughly as you can and eat your meals slowly

One of the mechanisms that which the hormone that makes us feel full (leptin) is released is by the actual act of eating.

The more you chew, the more this hormone will kick in and make you feel full.

So, if you chew your food as much as you can and eat your meal slowly, you give leptin the time it needs to have its effect and you might even end up feeling full while you are eating.

#8: Move as much as possible as often as possible

Quite literally, the only real way to “boost your metabolism” is to move more.

It’s the only component of your metabolism you have any control over.

Some ways this can be done are the following:

• Plan a 10-15 minute walk for the morning, afternoon, and evening

• Park farther away when you go to the store

• Take the stairs instead of the elevator

• etc.

#9: Focus on your sleep like your life depends on it (it does)

People tend to gloss over this, but it makes a bigger difference than almost anything else.

The research clearly shows that poor sleep leads to increased hunger, [4] as well as worsened body composition results. [5]

In general, good sleep looks like:

• 7-9 hours in duration

• Regular sleep/wake cycle (go to bed and wake up at around the same time everyday)

Conclusion

There is far more nuance than each of these tips deserves, and how one person implements these might look different compared to how another person implements them.

If you ever want help formulating an effective & efficient plan, consider applying for 1:1 coaching with me.

Nonetheless, hopefully this list gives you a decent idea of what to focus on for effective fat loss.