Today’s post is about something many of us encounter: failure in a fat loss program, or any program for that matter. Let’s face it, fat burning is hard work. Sure, the process looks easy on paper, but during the days and weeks of actually practicing a healthier lifestyle, it can become quite a struggle to lose fat. Fat loss often requires the changing of many lifelong habits - certainly not an easy undertaking.

We like to convince ourselves that starting to exercise will solve our problem, or that taking a special supplement will help us reach our goals, or skipping the potato chips, or the McDonald’s parfait, the list goes on. When it comes to fat loss, many people are guilty of setting up unrealistic expectations - and I can’t blame them. We are bombarded with the message that fat loss is easy by all of the various weight loss marketing schemes that promise ridiculous results based on false evidence.

Many different factors have to come together for fat loss to take place, and sometimes someone will have some of the factors in place, yet have forgotten others. Some people will start exercising with such intensity that they are shocked that their weight remains the same - yet they haven’t taken into account that their diet must change also. Others may start a complete nutritional rehaul, and yet won’t manage their stress, which competes with the body’s ability to adapt and maintain homeostasis.

If you have struggled to reach your fat loss goals, it may be time to take a different approach to reaching your goals. Fat loss is a predictable process of deliberate trial and error. It sounds like an oxymoron, but it’s true. The fat loss research community has an exact understanding of what needs to happen to shed bodyfat, and we know that it takes some estimation and trial and error to make this work for each individual. Fat loss will always occur if there are certain things at work:

1) a caloric deficit. In other words, you’re consuming less calories than you are using during the day.
2) a progressive, challenging resistance training program
3) a progressive, challenging cardiovascular training program
4) adequate rest, recovery, and stress management

If these things are in place, and performed appropriately, fat loss is guaranteed. So, you now know exactly what you need in your lifestyle to burn fat! You are completely equipped with the baseline knowledge of what is necessary for fat loss progress. This means that if you are having trouble losing bodyfat, then one of the four factors above is either missing or not be utilized correctly.

So, you can effectively narrow down the criteria and figure out what may be preventing your progress. You can ask yourself:

“am I positive that I have been in a caloric deficit?”

“do I have trouble sleeping at night? do I eat good post-workout nutrition? do I allow just enough rest days in my training program? do I get sick frequently that sets me back in my training a few days? am I always stressed out about something?”

If fat loss is not occurring, or you are experiencing a plateau, these types of self-analysis questions are perfect for figuring out what needs to be done. One of the biggest mistakes I see when people get frustrated with poor fat loss results is assuming that they are a special case. That somehow they are genetically destined to remain overweight. To this, I say nonsense. The formula is above, and it works for everyone when applied properly.

If you find out that you’re not in a caloric deficit, then that is a pretty simple (but not always easy) one to fix - just eat less than you have been.

If you realize that your strength training hasn’t been challenging enough, and that you haven’t been getting stronger - do some research on designing an effective fat loss program, get a book, or hire a fitness professional to help you setup a program.

No matter what is hanging you up, you are equipped to do whatever is necessary to lose fat. All you need to do is accept that you DO know what is best, that you DO know exactly what you need to do next. You certainly know that something needs to change - doing the same thing will only lead to diminishing returns and continually stalled progress.

Don’t ever allow yourself to think that you can’t do something - the minute you surrender your mind is the minute you’ve lost all hope of achieving your goals.

To your health and success,

John Sifferman, NSCA-CPT

P.S. If you’ve ever experienced a fat loss plateau, or difficulty achieving your goals - we would love to hear about how you overcame those trials. Please comment below.

Perhaps you’ve heard about the recent story of a man losing over 80 pounds eating nothing but McDonald’s fast food. Sounds crazy, right?

Chris Coleson, whose story was recently featured on Good Morning America, lost over 80 pounds and 14 inches off of his waist in 6 months time - consuming all of his calories exclusively from the McDonald’s menu. This has left a lot of people, and even fitness professionals, quite baffled. Everyone knows that food from McDonald’s isn’t exactly the cream of the crop - it’s calorie-packed, nutrient-empty, and very convenient.

If you have watched the Morgan Spurlock documentary, Supersize Me, then you probably have an idea of what a “McDiet” is capable of. In case you missed this movie, Spurlock ate nothing but McDonald’s food for one month’s time, and ended up gaining 25 pounds and a host of health problems.

Just a personal note - since watching Supersize Me in 2004, I have only eaten fast food once in four years: a crispy chicken sandwich from Wendy’s. Yep, it had that much of an impact on me!

So, everyone is wondering how Coleson was able to lose weight on fast food. It’s simple really - the same way that everyone loses weight. Coleson isn’t “in” on a special McDiet secret, he has simply applied a universal principle to his lifestyle - resulting in 80+ pounds lost and a much healthier lifestyle. Coleson used the fat loss principle of “energy balance.”

For energy balance in the body to exist, we must consume as many calories as we burn. If we want a negative energy balance (weight loss), then we need to burn more calories than we consume (or consume less calories than we burn; a slight difference in application).

Negative Energy Balance = (calories consumed < calories burned) = weight loss

Essentially, we need a CALORIC DEFICIT.

If you look at the GMA story, Coleson was only eating about 1400 calories a day (down from 5000+ calories a day before starting the diet, think that’ll make much of a difference?!?) - a starvation-level diet for his bodyweight. You may be thinking, “but aren’t starvation diets bad?” And you’re right to assume so - yet starvation diets do result in predictable WEIGHT loss. But there’s a catch!

When eating a starvation diet, the body is desperate for nutrition. If you aren’t consuming enough food to sustain your health, then your body will find its fuel elsewhere. This is a case when our body will actually catabolize, or eat, your muscles for energy. You can imagine how much this screws things up - effectively damaging your metabolism.

While a starvation diet will help someone lose WEIGHT, it will be at the expense of their health - namely, their metabolism and their muscles. Chris Coleson lost over 80 pounds, yes, but I bet that wasn’t all weight from bodyfat.

It’s also important to look into all of the details of Coleson’s transformation. It turns out he was usually eating salad’s, with sometimes a hamburger patty on top. So, it’s not like he was eating a Big Mac every day. He also said that he avoided fries like the plague.

Not only did Coleson adjust his eating habits, he also started exercising regularly and keeping a journal of his progress - neither of which he was doing before.

While I am very happy for Chris Coleson for achieving such amazing results, I think there is a lesson here. The goal of weight loss is a little too broad. Those of us who are looking to lose weight, should adjust our focus a little bit. What we truly need is to lose FAT, and hold onto our precious muscles which largely regulate our metabolism. The more lean muscle we have, the stronger our metabolism will be, and the more calories we will burn naturally - at all times of day. For fat loss to be truly effective and long-lasting, we need to make it into a lifestyle.

If we adjust our focus from “weight loss” to “fat loss,” and utilize the most effective fat loss principle of negative energy balance as is taught in Tom Venuto’s Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle program, we will predictably lose fat, and most importantly, our health will be so much better off.

To your health and success,

John Sifferman, NSCA-CPT

P.S. If you would like a lifestyle program geared to metabolism-boosting, fat loss goals, then check out www.burnthefat.com

P.P.S. If you’d like to read the official story on Chris Coleson, click here: