This is your guideline for losing body fat and having an overall terrific body composition.
Use the “order of importance” as an outline that you can go back to and reference if you have questions about certain things in the program. These will be detailed below.
- Calorie Deficit: Burning more calories than you consume.
- Solid Protein Intake: Needed for muscle retention while in a caloric deficit.
- Balanced Macronutrient Split: a mix of fat, carbs, and protein is good for overall body composition, satiation, energy and more.
- Consistency: Staying consistent with your daily deficit, nutrition and the entire program
- Rest and Recovery
- Exercise and Training: This aids in muscle retention when you’re restricting calories and creates additional caloric burn.
- Food Selection: White versus wheat bread. Seitan versus tofu? Oil versus butter. Processed food versus healthy choices.
- Meal Timing:​ Can I eat after 10pm without gaining extra weight? (yes)​
1. Calorie Deficit
This is the one major requirement for body fat loss. It’s not up for debate nor discussion. You won’t lose body fat without it. Plain and simple.
Taking in more energy (food) than your body burns will not allow for fat loss. This is why you must eat less than you burn and allow your body to access its energy stores, which begins with glycogen (or stored carbs) and then your fat cells. If you eat over the amount of food that your body requires for energy use, (go into a caloric surplus) the body no longer needs the energy right then and will save it for later which means stores it as fat.
So you need to burn that extra food and storage or restrict the amount you take in so that you do not exceed what’s needed for energy. This is where caloric restriction and efficient exercise comes in. Consuming less fuel than you need (without starving yourself) is how to optimally lose body fat.
We have the caloric calculations figured out for you. You’ll lose fat and retain your current muscle, which is key. You don’t want to just “lose weight” because that can include losing muscle. That would leave you with a thin frame when the fat loss occurs. You want that muscle retention for a curvy physique after removing body fat.
This is what women worry about most, losing the curves they already have. It is extremely important that you understand to not starve yourself or try to lose weight as fast as possible. This will result in you losing the very curves you want to maintain and build.​
2. Protein Intake
Protein is the building block for maintaining and gaining muscle. Gaining is what we’re after. There’s an ongoing debate on how protein is needed for both retention and gain. We’ll tell you exactly how much you should be taking in, but for those of you who are interested in the specifics. I have found you can go as low as 0.5g of protein per pound of bodyweight and as much as 1g per pound of body weight. If you stay in this range (and it’s a fairly big range), you shouldn’t have to worry about losing muscle.
For this program, we will consume about 0.5 to 0.8 grams of protein per pound of current body weight daily. Unless you’re on the upper end of being overweight, +220lbs, there’s no reason that you need to be consuming 200 grams of protein. You’ll go with .7 grams of your LEAN bodyweight.
3. Balanced Macronutrient Split
Protein, carbs and fat, consumed in a certain percentage. The calculator will give you the proper breakdown of each macro needed for the program.
4. Consistency
The best programs in the world for fat loss will never work if you don’t implement it on a consistent basis. You have to follow your nutrition and workout protocols to get the most effective fat loss results. Following the plan for two weeks, then stopping for a couple of weeks, restarting again, and so on is not the way to reach your fat loss goal and you know this. Set things in place, work hard, focus and do it consistently to achieve your fat loss & curves! Take some time to figure out why you haven’t stayed consistent in the past. Be proactive about stopping those things early.​
5. Rest and Recovery
Proper rest and time away from resistance training are going to help you tremendously​. If you don’t let your body repair itself, you’re spinning your wheels. Overtraining and not resting properly can be detrimental to progress on any program. Fat Loss & Curves (FLC) is designed for efficient recovery time by rest days. Follow the workout regimen, along with at least 7-8 hours of sleep every night.
6. Exercise and Training
The goal is to build your curves while losing fat, so in order to actually build them, weight training is a must. So even if you can’t get to a Gym…you can get to Amazon. We’ll let you know what you’ll need.​
7. Food Selection
This is last on the list because it’s not necessarily what types of food you eat; it’s how much food you eat each day.
If you like white bread instead of wheat bread, that’s fine. If you enjoy processed foods, fast food, or sugar, that’s fine as well. Again, keeping in your daily caloric deficit far outweighs which foods you’re consuming. Now, overeating any food will cause body fat gain, no matter what. You can eat the most “wholesome” foods, the “healthiest” foods, the “cleanest” foods known to man. But if you exceed your energy requirement, you’ll eventually gain body fat.
My recommendation would be to follow the “80/20 rule”: Eat 80 percent of your calories from natural, wholesome food sources and the remaining 20 percent from foods that you really enjoy and could be processed or fast. This will keep you satisfied and content while in a deficit, while at the same time provide a solid, healthy base.
Eating small indulgences daily is a good idea to keep you satisfied and not feel like you are “dieting.” Because this isn’t dieting — it’s a lifestyle!
8. Meal Timing
Essentially, you can eat at any time of the day, so long as you stay in your caloric intake and macro split. That’s a big myth. Eating after a certain time may make you appear a bit bloated in the morning but it’s not fat and it doesn’t affect your actual Goals.​ You can eat whenever, focus on sticking to your caloric deficit.
However, if you want to lose the optimal amount of body fat in the fastest and most efficient way, I’d suggest giving this a bit of thought. Try not to overthink this one, select the best times throughout the day that what works best for your schedule​