Hey FitFam!! I wanted to share a simple way to look at the priorities of fat-loss. These are the things that affect your results and if you dial them in they can help you get to your goals quicker.
It’s built like a staircase because one builds off another. Identify which steps you’ve mastered and which one you need to work on next. Again, start with the first steps and move on the last steps.
#1) Protein Is King
It’s the most thermogenic food and it keeps you full. Most people are drastically under-eating protein which is why this is the first step for most clients. Concentrating on adding protein at each meal and having a protein shake daily helps you to reach your daily protein target.
#2) Calorie Deficit
That’s fancy trainer talk for eating less calories than your body needs. That’s why doing an InBody scan is so valuable, it tells you how many calories your body needs and eating below that number will ensure you lose fat. We push clients to this step second because just eating more protein typically will make you full and you won’t overeat. But if you are hitting your protein target, make sure you are in a calorie deficit by tracking food intake.
#3) 10,000 Steps
You’ve probably heard you need to aim for 10,000 steps per day. That’s what researchers have found to be the baseline of daily movement for the human body. But all the commuting to work and desk jobs have stopped us from achieving that. So, we have to make a conscious effort to walk. You will be surprised how much it stimulates faster results and you DO NOT have to do a second workout. Just one intense workout and 10,000 steps works magic for fat-loss.
#4) Sleep
Why is sleep important for fat-loss? It’s when our body is restored from all the stress it’s been under all day. Our hormones get balanced out, our muscles recover and we wake up the next day full of energy after a good night’s sleep. Getting 7-9 hours as an adult is vital for fat-loss.
#5) Water
We need to drink 1/2 your bodyweight in water daily. Most people are so busy with a go-go-go lifestyle that they can be dehydrated and not give their body enough water to carry out body functions. One of the biggest being metabolic function.
That’s more and more steps we can add from this image but these are the core 5 that most people struggle to achieve consistently outside of their workouts.