People too often focus on the number they see on the scale. They weigh themselves every morning & become obsessed with decreasing that number. Our society is all about the quick fix nowadays; magic pills & fad diets, pretty much the quickest way to their “beach body”. So what they do is dangerously decrease their caloric intake to shed those pounds as fast as possible. What they don’t realize is what they are actually doing to their body will be counterproductive in the long run. Losing weight doesn’t just mean losing fat it can also mean losing muscle, glycogen, & water. Why does this happen when we just want to lose fat!?

• When you severely limit caloric intake your body goes into starvation mode & actually burns more lean body mass (muscle tissue) than fat. This happens because fat yields more energy than carbohydrates or protein; your body is smart & wants to save as much energy as possible when it is not properly fueled.
• When you begin you may lose weight quickly but the majority will be water that was stored with carbohydrates; you will quickly deplete carbohydrate stores (glycogen) since you are not replenishing them with proper nutrients. Once this happens you will begin to break down muscle.
• If you are not fueling properly you are not getting sufficient amounts of the vitamins & minerals you body needs to carry out metabolic processes which can lead to deficiencies.
• The first thing people think to do is skip breakfast & “hold out” until lunch. When you do this you tend to mindlessly snack, make poor food choices later in the day, & you will have a lack of energy throughout the day.
• People always think cardio is the best mode of exercise for losing weight but it can actually being another muscle burning activity. Your body becomes more efficient overtime, it adapts. You actually burn less calories the more you run (same goes for other modes of cardio)

The real way to sustainably lose fat is through proper nutrition through clean eating, strength training, & good overall lifestyle choices..

• Clean eating refers to making the majority of your diet whole foods (one ingredient foods) that are nutrient dense as opposed to processed foods that are energy dense (lots of calories not a lot of nutritional value)
• 40-40-20 rule (this will vary based on your goals & what your workout plan looks like) 40% of your diet protein, 40% carbohydrates, 20% fat.
• Strength training! Building muscle is important when trying to lose body fat. In the long run having more muscle will allow you to eat more & become leaner. Muscle burns more than fat! Its science, you can’t argue with that.
• Pre & Post nutrition is very important when optimizing performance in the gym & your body composition.
• Proper sleep patterns are another area people tend to overlook but this is huge so your body can recover properly & “reboot” itself

In the end losing fat comes down to burning more calories than you are taking in. You do need to have a caloric deficit but you need to realize there is a right way & a wrong way to do that. There is no magic pill that will do this for you, it will take hard work & dedication but I can guarantee that doing it the right way will get you where you want to be faster than trying all the fad diets out there. If you want a lean toned body you need to eat clean & bust your butt in the gym!