Losing body fat, getting into shape,
getting 'dem summer shedz' is hard. Then why are people making more difficult
than it already is? It seems that many people are stuck in the mind frame that
the more 'hardcore' their nutrition is and the more 'hardcore' their training is
the better results they will get. I can assure you now that this isn't the
case. With people living busier lifestyles in this day and age the general
public need to be as flexible as they can be with their lifestyle. Let me
explain the stories of two different people.
Meet Dave:
Dave's 35. Dave's a banker, meaning
he lives a busy lifestyle. He has a wife, child and a dog called Carlos. Dave’s
decided that he's fed up looking in the mirror and wants to do something about
it. With the goal being fat loss he joins the gym. He trains 3 times a week,
eats 2,250 calories a day made up of 200g protein, 250g carbs and 50g of fat.
Whilst at the gym he performs 20 minutes of HIIT (High Intensity Interval
Training) one day, 8 minutes of Tabita on another day and 30 minutes of LISS
(Low Intensity Steady State). He's a flexible dieter, meaning he tracks his food
on a daily basis. He's pretty forgetful, and sometimes forgets to prepare lunch
for the day ahead. Luckily for him there's a Subway around the corner. He pops
in during his dinner break, grabs a bite to eat and fit it into his macros.
Over the course of 8 weeks Dave has
shed 24 pounds. He's very happy with this result. His old jeans now fit him
again and he's beginning to see the outline of his abdominals. Dave will
continue to use flexible dieting; eating the foods he loves whilst fitting them
into his macros. Some days he doesn't even track his macros. He's been doing it
for so long he can now eyeball his food servings. Good on you Dave!
Meet Malcolm:
Malcolm's 20 years and he bloody loves
squatting! He's a student. The only commitment Malcolm has is his 6pm-11pm job
in Tesco down the road, where he works twice a week. He's also fed up of
looking in the mirror and wants to do something about it and like Dave fat loss
is the overall goal. Like Dave, he eats 2,250 calories a day, made up of 200g
protein, 250g carbs and 50g of fat. He does 3 cardiovascular sessions a week,
made up of 3, 40 minute LISS sessions. He follows a strict 'clean foods' only
diet plan, where he eats the same meals all week, split into 6 small meals
across the day to keep his 'metabolism burning'. He spends 2 hours in the
kitchen every Sunday and Wednesday night preparing foods for the week ahead.
He's also pretty forgetful, meaning he forgets his lunch box at home some days
when he's at university. He's that hungry he can't wait until he gets home,
therefore he eats whatever's going in the cafeteria, goes over his caloric goal
for the day, stresses all day about it and promises himself that the ‘diet’
starts again tomorrow.! Over the course of 8 weeks he also sheds 24 pounds!
He's very happy with his, but he's always craving chocolates, ice cream and
pizza. At the end of the 8 weeks he goes on a binge, eating all of the foods
he's craved, massively going over his caloric target whilst at the same time re-bounding
some weight. After doing this he feels guilty for a few hours and promises
himself that the 'diet' starts again tomorrow.
If you had to follow Dave's or
Malcolm's 8 week progress, who's would you choose? Let’s conclude:
1. They both eat the exact same
amount of calories a day, made up of the same macros. Unlike Malcolm who
follows a 'diet plan' and eats 7 small meals a day, Dave can eat whatever he
wants as long as he hits his total calorie and macro targets. This can be done
in 2 massive meals or 6 smaller meals, it depends how he feels. Eating smaller
meals a day does NOT keep your 'metabolism burning'. If you’re preparing 7
meals a day to achieve this then you may be wasting your time. There’s nothing
wrong with eating 7 small meals a day. Maybe you have a small appetite. But to
claim that doing this keeps the ‘metabilism burning’ isn’t backed up by any
scientific data. Berkhan [1] claims that increasing meal frequency does not
appear to favourably change body composition. Think of the bigger picture.
Hitting your overall caloric and macronutrient target for the day is far more
important than the total number of meals being consumed. Individual personal
preference is also important on the total number of meals consumed per day.
2. They both train 3 times a week.
Minus warm ups and cool downs Dave's total actual workout time is 58 minutes. Malcolm
however (minus warm ups and cool downs) total workout time is 2 hours a week.
Baring in mind they both lost the same amount of weight that's an extra hour of
working out! There are other alternatives for repetitive LISS training. Tabita,
HIIT and metabolic circuits can be performed in less time and provide similar
results or in some cases, better results. These claims are backed up by
Aragon[2], where he states ‘in long-term studies, both linear
high-intensity and HIIT training is superior to lower intensities on the whole
for maintaining and/or increasing cardiovascular fitness & lean mass, and
are at least as effective, and according to some research, far better at
reducing body fat’.
3.
And finally, number 3 and this is my favourite....sustainability! Upon completion of the 8 week progress Dave
continues to use flexible dieting, whilst Malcolm binges on foods that he has
been craving throughout the 8 weeks. He re-bounds some weight after these
binges, feels guilty and quite frankly he's sick and tired of eating the same
foods over and over again. He could have simply factored these foods into his
nutrition, rather than binge. That's why flexible dieting triumphs and other
form of dieting. How many times have you heard ‘oh I went on the X diet and now
I’ve stopped I’ve put it all back on’. McDonald [3] backs this up in his book
by stating ‘the body is really good at storing incoming calories as fat after a
diet and if you return to old eating habits, you can just watch the pounds come
flying back on’. You shouldn't have to cut out the foods you love from your
nutrition just for the sake of becoming lean. We're all human; we all get
cravings but why use these cravings in a negative manner and go over your
caloric target when you could have simply fitted them into your macros? There’s
definitely nothing wrong with eating ‘clean’ foods. When fat loss is the goal
70-80% of your nutrition will come from ‘clean’ foods.
So there it is. Don't make fat loss
harder than what it needs to be. Fit everything from your nutrition to your
training into your lifestyle. 'Hardcore' is not always better. Oh, and for the
record I used to be Malcolm. Life is so much better being Dave.
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For online coaching enquiries please
contact: dan@flexiblefitnessonline.co.uk
1. [Berkhan, 2011] http://www.leangains.com/2011/04/critique-of-issn-position-stand-on-meal.html?m=1
2. [Aragon, 2006] Myths Under The
Microscopes Part 1: The Low Intensity fat Burning Zone
3. [McDonald, 2005] A Guide To
Flexible Dieting: How being Less Strict With Your Diet Can Make It Work Better
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