The Fat Guy Project: The Real Real on How to Lose Weight
February 19, 2020
Now that I have discussed Where to Begin Your Weightloss Journey, let's go into how to actually lose weight. There are a lot of misconceptions with the process of losing weight, caused by a lot of fallacious statements that are grounded upon nothing but mere guesses online. But the simplest yet complex real way to lose weight is to use this pyramid right here as your basic guide;
If you happen to research weight loss a lot, you probably had came across a photo of this pyramid before,with all good reason, It has been and continues to be backed by multiple literature on the matter and the most straightforward way to actually lose weight, BUT have you ever asked why? Let me break it down for you little by little.
This is the most important and straightforward aspect of weight loss, is to be in a caloric deficit. This does not mean that you have to starve yourself and enter into all sorts of diet, because a diet simply will not work if you are not lowering your caloric intake, TRUST, I’ve given up on red meat, and rice for almost 7 years now, and yet I continued to be obese in the first 5 years, it was only until I discovered the importance of caloric deficit and counting calories.
Let’s go into the facts shall we,
- On average, a person consumes about 2,800-3,200 calories a day,
- Experts suggest that a healthy intake should be at 2,000-2,500 calories a day
- On average, a person burns 1,815-2,670 calories a day, depending on your level of daily activity (factors may include, walking to work, taking the stairs, standing up for hours on end, etc) Exercise removed from the equation.
- Studies also show that women burns more calories than men.
- Calories are simply a measure of energy, that a food contains and your body uses as energy throughout the day
To Illustrate; If for example, on a regular day, you only burn 1,900 calories, but you binge eat a lot, with a total calorie intake of 3,600, in this scenario you are in a CALORIC SURPLUS of 1,700 calories. This is bad if your goal is to lose weight or get rid of your body fat. Unused or excess calories (caloric surplus) turns into body fat thus making us gain more weight.
To lose weight or body fat you need to be in a caloric deficit, you can achieve this by controlling your caloric intake to be less than your caloric burn per day or simply losing more calories in a daily basis. Using the same example, Let’s say with resistance training, you lose around 2,700 calories per day, and you consume only 2,300 calories a day with proper diet, you’d be in a caloric deficit of 400 which will definitely help you eliminate more body fat. It is highly suggested by most studies, that you do not go beyond a 500 caloric deficit.
Now you might be asking how do I count my calories? the most accurate way is to use a food scale, but if like me you find it to be a bit of a hassle, I don't suggest it as strongly because of its weakness in accuracy but I use the MyFitnessPal app, they have a wide selection of food records including fast food items.
Protein is one of the most important macro-nutrients that our body needs with many benefits such as but not limited to, increase in muscle mass, stronger bones, lower blood pressure, repairs your body after injury and apparently WEIGHT LOSS, that’s right, WEIGHT LOSS. Multiple studies by Johnston, Veldhorst, and Weigle has concluded that protein has a THERMOGENIC EFFECT, which helps you boost your metabolism thus helping you burn more calories.
If you’re not familiar with the term, Termogenesis is the production of heat in the body that stimulates your metabolism causing it to burn more fat.
Not only that, studies by Leidy, Hoertel, Blom, and Batterham, have all concluded that protein reduces your appetite significantly, as it has a satiating effect that helps you feel more full because protein reduces your level of hunger hormone called, ghrelin.
So If you need to lose weight or belly fat, consider adding the proper amount of protein on your diet.
Resistance training is a form of exercise that improves muscular strength and endurance. During a resistance training workout, you move your limbs against resistance provided by your body weight, gravity, bands, weighted bars or dumbbells
Cardio has always been the go to tool for losing weight, and for good reasons, however recent studies have shown that fat loss is accelerated even further with resistance training
Studies by Lemmer, Greer, Melby, and Schuenke has shown that you burn more calories in the hours following a weight training session, compared to cardio because resistance training builds muscle, and muscle burns more calories at rest than some other tissues, including fat. Because of this, it is commonly said that building muscle is the key to increasing your resting metabolism.
Fixing your metabolism is one of the most important part of weight loss, as it is what drives fat loss. Many of us who is on the heavier side are suffering from a very low metabolism that makes us gain weight than those with a high metabolism. To explain further, Metabolism is a chemical reaction that catabolizes fat cells into energy, thus low metabolism has a slower catabolic effect or breakdown of fat cells.
If done properly with cardio you’d have the dual benefits of fat burn and muscle build up at the same time
Let’s lay down some literature first and then let’s discuss
- Most experts suggest at least 8.5-9 hours of sleep
- According to Cappuccio et al, People's sleep requirements vary, but, generally speaking, research has observed changes in weight when people get fewer than seven hours of sleep a night and found that short sleep duration increased the likelihood of obesity by 89% in children and 55% in adults
- Studies by Taheri and Hanlon found that people who are sleep-deprived report having an increased appetite because lack of sleep causes Ghrelin hormones to be released, it is the hormone that makes you feel hungry
- A study by Benedict found that your resting metabolism rate slows down with a lack of sleep
Sleep can do wonders with your weight loss, granted that it is done at an appropriate time. It is noteworthy however that this is supplementary to your diet and exercise (Weightloss-wise). You cannot lose weight just by sleeping in. But weightloss journey or not, a proper amount of sleep is definitely needed for ones well being.
You’re probably already familiar with Cardiovascular Exercises (or Cardio for short) as it is the most common type of exercise out there for people trying to lose weight, plus the simplicity and straightforwardness of this exercise makes it even more easier to do or follow, it can be as simple as walking, jogging, swimming, cycling, etc. There are even fitness classes for it such as the well known, Zumba Classes, Aerobics, etc.
Scientifically it simply means doing an activity with oxygen this requiring respiration or controlled breathing thus increases your heart rate, to that effect increases your thermogenesis, and as mentioned earlier in this article, thermogenesis = fat burn.
The reason why it is so far below the Weight loss Pyramid is because there are conflicting studies out there, claiming that it does not burn fat, it burns calories, the former being heavily disputed and the latter being undisputed.
Weighloss can easily be broken down into 3 main factors, Nutrients or your diet , Fixing your Metabolism, and Increase your activity levels. All of the items on the “Weightloss Pyramid” is aimed at doing all of those, and all is important, you cannot just go on a diet without exercise and expect drastic results, nor can exercise eliminate a bad diet. Sure to some a simple diet or just exercise might work but here at Sky’s Not the Limit: The Fat Guy Project, our goal is not to be aesthetically thinner but to be healthier, and we are aiming for a lasting result and not a temporary one. Remember that a pretty shell is nothing if the inside is rotten.
GRANTED LASTLY that all of these are done with consistency and discipline, you cannot expect results immediately as weightloss is not magic, like the many great things in life, it takes dedication and hardwork.
Disclaimer: All of the points laid down in this article are backed by actual scientific studies that I’ve came across at one point in my weightloss journey, and my personal experience in the matter as well as discussions with actual experts, I do not nor will I ever claim to be an expert on the matter, I’m just here sharing what I know and have learned over the past 4 years.
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