Rapid but sustained weight loss
- 1 month, 1 stone, 1 concerted effort
Let’s find out what it takes to get there. If we assume 30 days for a month, then we need to lose about 5 pounds every 10 days (about 2 kg or 15 pounds in 30 days, or 0.5 pounds / day or more than 3 pounds per week).
I’m going to take an imaginary man and woman and give you some figures, showing you how to do it for yourself if you are different from my examples.
If we assume that there are about 3,500 calories in a pound of fat, then you need to create a deficit of at least 11,500 calories per week, if you want to cut those 3 pounds (3,500 x 14 pounds = 49,000 calories).
If we then divide it into each day, it is a daily deficit of approximately 1600 calories.
Now, let’s find out how much energy it costs to keep living:
I will take 3 men and 3 women.
Male 1
- 70 kg -11 ° 0.3 lb – 154.3 lb
- Energy Cals (Range) 1,918 – 3,036
Male 2
- 80 kg – 12 ° 8.4 lb – 176.4 lb
- Energy Cals (Range) 2,038 – 3,226
Man 3
- 90 kg – 14 ° 2.4 lb – 198.4 lb
- Energy Cals (Range) 2,158 – 3,416
Woman 1
- 60 kg – 9 ° 6.3 lb – 132.3 lb
- Energy Cals (Range) 1,598 – 2,531
Woman 2
- 70 kg -11 ° 0.3 lb – 154.3 lb
- Energy Cals (Range) – 1,718 – 2,721
Woman 3
- 80 kg – 12 ° 8.4 lb – 176.4 lb
- Energy Cals (Range) – 1,838 – 2,911
Notes: The ranges shown for daily caloric expenditure depend on activity level, from sedentary (think of an office worker who drives to work and does not exercise or does very little) to very active (someone who has a job that involves multiple hours of manual labor per day). day, or exercise for more than 90 minutes at high intensity / consistently high heart rate every day).
These imaginary figures are based on someone who is approximately 170cm tall, in his 30s and is used for illustrative purposes only, the principles behind the practices here are valid, you just need to customize the practices to your situation. These are estimates only and will vary from person to person, to find out more precisely, you need to get your own starting figures. You can do this using the calculators found at caloriesperhour.com. Use the BMR and RMR calculations for a rough starting point, then use the practices here to modify the figures based on real-world results.
So you can see that for a 60kg woman, who is only slightly active or sedentary, this would basically mean not eating at all, for about a month!
For whom is this? However, the thing is, a 60kg woman doesn’t need to lose 14lbs (about 6kg) or more than 10% of her body weight, so we’re not really serving this person. What we should be looking at is the upper end of the scale. That’s where the big weight loss numbers really come in handy.
If, for example, we look at the 90 kg man, even a sedentary individual could reduce more than 1000 calories from his daily intake, provided he does so with the right foods. I’ll get to that in a moment.
First, let’s take a brief look at the 3 factors that will make this massive calorie reduction possible.
- Intermittent fasting
- Eat high in protein, low in fat, low in carbohydrates.
- Do only high intensity weights and very low intensity cardio.
Now let’s expand each of them so you can create your own plan.
1: intermittent fasting
Intermittent fasting (the Leangains version) is a simple method of fueling the body. You divide the day into two phases, a feeding phase and a non-feeding phase. The feeding phase lasts around 8 hours, so the fasting phase lasts around 16 hours. This does not mean that you eat for the entire 8 hour block!
There are two key aspects of IF that make it work for you when it comes to massive weight loss.
1: Each day is physiologically divided into two distinct phases, each of which supports your fat loss goal. These two phases are the anabolic or tissue building phase and a fat burning or energy breakdown phase.
2: Using IF makes it much easier to cut calories than traditional diets.
I don’t need to go into any more details about the IF lifestyle, because you can read the two posts on my website (address at the bottom, look for the intermittent fasting category for ‘Intermittent Fasting Results and Guide’ and ‘Intermittent Fasting Training fat loss’) that tell the full story, suffice it to say that if you want your weight loss to be as painless and effective as possible, you should probably do some kind of IF.
2: Eat high protein, low fat, low carb
In his excellent set of articles on designing a diet to lose fat, Lyle MacDonald talks about setting things up from scratch, rather than from the top. What what? Well what we’ve done here is start with a weight loss goal, which is the end point or higher, and we’ve worked it backwards to figure out what we need to do. In those articles, Lyle takes a slightly different approach and finds out what he needs physiologically, and then puts those numbers on a diet, to see what comes out in the end. Here, we’re going to use part of that approach (setting your protein intake) to give you a starting point for determining your foods.
How much food do you need?
Or more specifically, how much protein should you aim for at each meal? Well, we can give two answers to that question, the best answer is the one that makes you feel calmer. The quick answer is “many”. The more specific answer is elaborated as follows; Start at a level of about 1g / lb of body weight and divide between your two to three meals, then adjust for lean tissue and strength drops and hunger / satiety levels. So if you notice that your strength is decreasing and your muscle is leaving your body, you need to add more protein, and if you are hungry between meals or not satisfied with a meal, add more protein!
What foods can I eat?
I have put together a list of foods that will work while eating for massive fat loss. You can download it from my website, via the link at the bottom. One thing I constantly encounter is a complete lack of hunger and feelings of deprivation when following this type of diet, and this should come as no surprise given the wide variety of foods on offer here. One thing you will notice is the complete lack of liquid food / meal replacement powders / protein drinks. This is deliberate; they do not provide satiety or satisfaction, and they do not offer many opportunities for long-term adherence to the diet. As Martin Berkhan says, “don’t drink your calories.”
Why high protein, low fat and low carbohydrates?
A couple of reasons; 1, you want to keep calories as low as possible, as easily as possible. 2, Protein plus lots of bulky but low-carb foods provide the easiest way to feel full, satisfied, and happy by cutting calories.
3: Do only high intensity weights and very low intensity cardio
Each of the three components of this weight loss plan is equally important, so you better find a way to include this part! Ask yourself if the whole plan is worth jeopardizing by missing a few simple exercises.
Why start with a statement like that?
Because it is too easy for many people to go back to the old ways of “exercising to lose weight”.
What you NEED to do is heavy weights, with low repetitions and with movements as big as possible. Remember, heavy weights are totally specific to each individual, and the actual number / weight is irrelevant, the important thing is that you lift at YOUR capacity and learn to lift fully at your capacity. For those of you who have barely lifted weights before, that means learning what a max effort lift feels like and expecting that max to rise quickly as you learn how to get more and more out of yourself.
The best thing about this program is that it is really simple. Take the following exercises and rotate them:
- Squatting
- Dumbbell press, bench press, or bodyweight dips
- Dumbbell or barbell shoulder press
- Lat pulldown, pullup, seated or incline row on barbell / dumbbell row
- Dead weight.
Your rotation is simple: do 3 weeks of 5 sets of 4-6 reps (5×5 style routine) and then 3 weeks of 3 sets of 9-12 reps (3×10 style routine). Every time you hit the upper rep range, you increase the weight. Only after 10 to 14 weeks do you need to rest (but if you’ve already been exercising consistently for more than 12 weeks, you should take a full week of rest at this time, unless your goal is within 12 weeks of Limit date). at the beginning of your program, in which case, rest at the end of that!)
If you don’t know how to do these exercises, you can get instructions from a competent trainer (you can find out if they are good by observing how they move you, and focus on the exercises in your learning, if they are successful). to do their exercises like the ones done in the instructional videos, you can be sure they know what they are doing), or you can check out the large number of videos on YouTube and discover your own way.