One of the primary reasons many people get into fitness or start using the gym is to lose weight. Another main reason is to improve their health, and these are, of course, highly correlated, depending on how much an individual needs to lose. If an individual is overweight, losing excess body fat should be the top priority for health and longevity, even before considering other areas of fitness like building muscle. Although we can achieve both simultaneously to some extent.

For individuals with a healthy body fat percentage, losing body fat is also a common goal. Many people, especially those interested in aesthetics, aim to achieve a certain level of leanness. Combining a low body fat percentage with adequate muscle mass results in that athletic look many are looking for. If our body fat is too high, the hard work we’ve put in at the gym to build muscle may not be as evident as it could be.

This guide is for individuals who want to improve their body composition, the amount of body fat they have compared to muscle. This means losing body fat while maintaining or building muscle, rather than simply losing weight. This involves setting up a sustainable fat loss diet which will also support performance in the gym and recovery from high-intensity activity such as the strength training we perform in the gym to maintain or build muscle.

The principles outlined in this guide have been successfully applied by countless individuals, including coaches and high-level physique athletes like bodybuilders. They are also evidence-based and supported by scientific research from the world of sports science. These principles can be used by fitness enthusiasts just looking to lose a little body fat and improve their overall health and self-confidence, as well as by serious lifters aiming to achieve high levels of leanness. Even individuals who are aiming for advanced levels of leanness for competition use these principles.

If you apply these principles consistently, you will lose body fat. The extent and precision to which you apply these principles will depend on the level of leanness you are looking to achieve. As your fat loss goals become more advanced, the more smaller details matter, as the process becomes exponentially more difficult. Whether you are aiming to lose a few pounds for health reasons or are looking to achieve a sub-10% body fat percentage, the fundamental principles required to lose body fat remain the same.

Most people have a basic understanding of energy balance. They know they need to consume fewer calories than they are burning over the day or week to lose weight and have heard the advice of eating less and moving more. Although this advice is vastly oversimplified and is not helpful for many people, especially those with body composition goals, there is a degree of truth to this statement. You may have even heard that calories do not matter, as long as you keep your insulin levels low. Real-world experience of coaches, fitness enthusiasts, and high-level physique athletes as well as scientific research shows this not to be true.

energy balance is still key

Although the calories in vs calories out model of energy balance is oversimplified, it still holds true. One potential problem with this model is that the calories in part of the equation will alter the calories out part of the equation, to different degrees depending on various factors. The metabolic rate of the body is affected by numerous factors, and the body will adapt to different environmental factors and conditions to try to maintain homeostasis.

An example of this is the body lowering its metabolic rate when we consume fewer calories, which then modifies the calories-out part of the equation. Consuming fewer calories can even change our subconscious behaviour in daily life, resulting in us moving less and therefore altering the amount of calories we burn. The types of food we consume will also affect the calories-out part of the equation, as different foods take more or less energy for the body to process. Certain foods will also have a positive effect on thyroid health and therefore metabolic rate and hormonal health in general, while other foods may have a detrimental effect.

With that said, the calories in vs calories out model of energy balance is the most accurate model we have at this time. Although it is oversimplified, using it leads to predictable and measurable results in terms of weight loss, or more importantly, fat loss when used correctly with activities such as strength training to maintain lean body mass such as muscle. The one caveat to this is that the calories in vs calories out model of energy balance will work well for metabolically healthy people. Individuals who are in poor metabolic health, and especially those with more serious health conditions, may need a different approach. This is beyond the scope of this fat loss guide.

estimating your TDEE

To set up an effective fat loss phase, we first need to work out our estimated Total Daily Energy Expenditure, also known as TDEE. This is the estimated number of calories our body uses each day and includes our basal metabolic rate, as well as calories burnt through general daily activity and any structured exercise we may perform, such as strength training and cardio. It also takes into account our age, sex, height, and weight to estimate TDEE. Your TDEE is also down as your maintenance calories, the approximate number of calories your body can maintain its current weight on.

You can use a simple TDEE calculator to estimate your maintenance calories. These calculators are fairly accurate and will get most people in the ballpark of where they need to be, although they may be a little off for some individuals. It does not matter if they are not 100% accurate; they simply give us a starting point from where we can adjust from. Adjusting our calories based on the real-world data we collect, such as trends in body weight, is a far more accurate way to establish the number of calories we should be consuming in a fat loss phase. This will also change over time.

creating a calorie deficit

Once we’ve determined our estimated maintenance calories (TDEE), we can use this figure to create a calorie deficit. This is also referred to as a negative energy expenditure. Maintaining a negative energy expenditure or calorie deficit over an extended period is required for fat loss. By doing so, the body is forced to draw upon its stored energy reserves, in the form of body fat, to make up for the shortfall in calories consumed from food.

Reducing calories by 15-25% of your maintenance calories is a good starting point. For simplicity, we usually recommend reducing calories by 300-500 below your maintenance level. You can then make adjustments to your calories by monitoring your rate of weight loss, depending on how quickly you would like to lose body fat. We will cover rates of weight loss as well as the pros and cons of losing weight at a quicker or slower rate later in this guide.

Macronutrients are the three primary food groups that comprise our daily calorie intake. These include proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. Our bodies require these nutrients in larger quantities, hence the term “macro,” as opposed to micronutrients, which we need in smaller amounts, such as vitamins and minerals. By hitting daily targets for protein, carbohydrates, and fats, we will be consuming a specific number of calories. This is because each macronutrient has a specific number of calories per gram. This makes the whole process of tracking our calories somewhat easier. We simply hit a target number of protein, carbohydrate, and fat grams each day.

Protein

Consuming enough protein throughout the day is crucial when aiming to achieve body composition goals such as building muscle and losing body fat. This is especially important during a fat loss phase, when there is a risk of losing muscle, unlike when we are at maintenance calories or are in a gaining phase. During a gaining phase, we can be more flexible with our calorie intake, and many people build muscle with less protein than is sometimes recommended. This is because they’re still creating an anabolic environment through training and consuming more calories.

The goal of a fat loss phase is to maintain as much muscle as possible, or even build muscle in certain situations. Strength training will send a strong signal to the body to hold onto muscle, while body fat is reduced by maintaining a calorie deficit and placing the body in a negative energy balance. Hitting our protein target for the day consistently is also important for our recovery from our strength training sessions, which will be somewhat reduced due to a reduced calorie intake.

The other main benefit of consuming sufficient protein during a fat loss phase is satiety. Consuming more protein, up to a point, will help with elevated levels of hunger, which will be present during a fat loss phase. With that said, it is important not to overconsume protein, as this will limit the amount of carbohydrates and fats you can consume, which will need to be somewhat reduced to keep calories low. Carbohydrates and fats will often need to be reduced to fairly low amounts depending on the level of leanest an individual is aiming for, so finding a good balance of all three macronutrients is vital.

The commonly recommended daily protein intake of 1 gram per pound of body weight is a solid and effective guideline. This recommendation has been validated by coaches, physique athletes, and is supported by research. While slightly higher intakes of around 1.2 to 1.5 grams per pound of body weight may offer some benefits, it is still important to consider the potential impact on carbohydrates and fats, as discussed earlier. Higher protein intake may be more suitable for larger or more advanced individuals who can still consume a decent amount of calories while maintaining a calorie deficit. These individuals have more calories to allocate to their macronutrients.

If an individual is overweight, it is best to set protein by target body weight or lean body mass. It is fairly difficult to get an accurate measurement for body fat percentage without spending a considerable amount of money on advanced testing; therefore, a simple estimation can be used by looking at photos online of different body fat percentages. The good news is that you do not need to establish your exact body fat percentage to estimate your lean body weight. An approximation will work perfectly fine. Another option is to use body fat callipers. This can be fairly accurate; however, the accuracy will depend on the competency and experience of the health or fitness professional performing the test.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are the body’s primary source of fuel for high-intensity activity such as strength training. They are vital for our performance in the gym as well as recovery from our training sessions. Carbohydrates are also important for metabolic and hormonal health, and are great at keeping stress hormones such as cortisol in check, which is especially useful during a fat loss phase when stress hormones will be elevated due to a lower calorie intake. Most people will see a reduction in thyroid hormone production in the long term when their carbohydrates are too low. Carbohydrates are also positively correlated with maintaining healthy testosterone levels in men, and hormonal health in general. They can also be beneficial for sleep quality.

The amount of carbohydrates consumed can be somewhat dependent on the individual; however, we believe that keeping at least a moderate amount of carbohydrates in the diet is beneficial for most people. Things to consider include the metabolic health of the individual, their age, their weight/body fat percentage, and the amount of activity an individual is performing outside of the gym, including sports and high-intensity cardio. Personal preference and how people feel on different amounts of carbohydrates should also be taken into consideration.

One way to determine the number of carbohydrates to start your fat loss phase with is to simply fill in the remaining calories with carbohydrates once you’ve calculated how many grams of fat you’ll be consuming. We prefer this method over using a percentage of your calories. For most people, this will result in between 40-50% of total calories being carbohydrates. If you were to consume more dietary fat during a fat loss phase, reducing carbohydrates to around 30% can be effective for some individuals. While 30% carbohydrates is not significantly low enough to impair performance and recovery for most people, we do see that most individuals benefit from slightly higher carbohydrate intake.

Fats

Dietary fat is an important macronutrient for hormonal health, and is a source of essential fatty acids that the body cannot make itself. It is also required to absorb important micronutrients such as the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. Dietary fat will also slow down the digestion of a meal, resulting in better blood sugar control and increasing the satiety of a meal. This is especially important during a fat loss phase where there will be a degree of hunger no matter how well we set up our diet.

Since dietary fat is the least important macronutrient in terms of performance in the gym and recovery from strength training, it makes sense to keep it fairly low during a fat loss phase. We will need to pull calories from somewhere to remain in a calorie deficit; therefore, maintaining a fairly low intake of dietary fat will allow us to consume more carbohydrates as well as protein. This is one reason the traditional high-carb, low-fat bodybuilding diet works so well and has been used for decades. The good news is that the essential functions of dietary fat can be maintained on a fairly low amount of dietary fat.

We recommend setting your fat intake at 15-25% of total calories. We find most people do best on 20-25%, however, dropping to 15% of total calories from dietary fat can work well for a short amount of time and may be required. This would be more applicable to individuals towards the end of a fat loss phase who are already lean and are aiming for advanced levels of leanness, around 10% or lower. For most people, we do not recommend going lower than 50g of fat per day for any length of time.

Working out your starting macronutrient targets for a fat loss phase will require a little math:

Once you have worked out your daily targets for protein, carbohydrates, and fats in grams, you can round these numbers up or down. This makes it simpler to decrease calories in set increments when you need to make an adjustment. Since your starting calories were only an estimate, it does not matter if your final calorie intake is slightly different from your initial calculation. You will be testing these numbers out and making adjustments based on real-world data such as trends in body weight anyway. These numbers are simply a starting point which may or may not be accurate.

As an example, you may have some numbers that look something like 160 grams of protein, 225 grams of carbohydrates, and 65 grams of fat. This would be just over 2100 calories, 2125 to be precise. We will show you how to make adjustments to your macronutrient targets based on your results later in this guide.

Now that we’ve set our starting macronutrient targets for a fat loss phase, we can begin building our diet by choosing the foods we’ll eat. The foods we select are crucial because they can make a fat loss phase easier or more challenging. Maintaining a calorie deficit for an extended period is essential for fat loss, so dietary adherence is important. This will become increasingly more difficult the longer we are dieting for and the leaner we become. A sustainable fat loss diet is necessary and is key to achieving our fat loss goals, especially if they are more advanced.

why Food Quality matters in a fat loss phase

Food quality matters at any time, and is crucial for our performance in the gym, recovery from training sessions, and our general health. This is even more important in a fat loss phase, as we will be consuming fewer calories and will therefore be taking in fewer micronutrients from our food. Eating nutrient-dense, minimally processed whole foods most of the time is important. It can even be beneficial to eat these types of foods all of the time during a fat loss phase. These types of foods will contain higher amounts of vitamins and minerals, more fibre, and will therefore be more satiating, which is especially important in a fat loss phase.

use foods that work well for you

It is important to choose foods that work well for you. Foods that you digest well and do not cause you bloating or other digestive issues will be best. If you are not digesting your food well, you are likely not absorbing all of the nutrients in your food, and things like energy and mood will be affected, and therefore stress. These will be elevated to some degree during a fat loss phase due to a reduced calorie intake from food, and will likely be more of an issue the longer you have been dieting for, and the lower your calories are. Minimizing this as much as possible is important.

Eating the foods you enjoy is also important and can make your fat loss diet more enjoyable. Eating foods simply because you believe they must be eaten, because someone has recommended them as the best, or because they are considered superfoods, is likely not a good idea, especially if you dislike these foods or have difficulty digesting them. Another important thing to understand is that there are no magical fat-burning foods, although there are foods that can make adherence to a calorie deficit easier and can therefore assist in fat loss indirectly.

Keep it simple

We find most people do best when they keep their fat loss diet simple. Although food variety is important to some degree, creating complex nutrition plans can cause more stress, and there is a greater likelihood of inaccurate food tracking, especially for beginners. It can also cause more decision fatigue each day, and therefore stress. We do not want to be thinking of what to eat when we are hungry, or having to prepare complex meals. When we are hungry, and possibly a little more stressed and tired, we can easily choose a quicker and easier option that may not be the best for our fat loss goals.

People who run successful fat loss phases, especially those getting to more advanced levels of leanness will usually eat the same meals daily or most days, and will have a few key foods that they base most of their meals around. They may have 3-4 or even less high quality protein sources, a few carbohydrate sources, and a few fat sources. Their meals are usually quick and simple to prepare, and they also enjoy eating them.

Setting a fat loss diet up in this way reduces decision fatigue and makes tracking and accountability far easier. Building simple habits, getting into a routine, and repeating the same things day in and day out works great during a fat loss phase. The fewer decisions and less mental energy required, the better.

High Volume Low calorie Foods

No matter how well we set up a fat loss diet, there will be some degree of hunger. This is normal and a good sign that we are actually in a calorie deficit. The level of hunger can be somewhat managed by our food choices and the size of our calorie deficit. As we get leaner, hunger levels will rise further because the body has less stored energy in the form of body fat, and therefore hunger hormones such as ghrelin rise as the body perceives this as a threat to survival and tries to get us to eat more. At this stage, we will also be eating fewer calories to continue losing body fat.

Managing hunger levels becomes extremely important, especially as we get leaner. Not being able to adhere to a calorie deficit is one of the primary reasons many people will fail to achieve advanced levels of leanness; they are simply unable to continue to diet for an extended period as they get leaner and have to consume fewer calories. Eating foods that are higher in volume and lower in calories can be a useful strategy for managing hunger levels. This will not result in no hunger at all; however, filling our stomachs up with high-volume, lower-calorie foods has been shown to be effective at managing hunger levels.

High volume low calorie foods include the non starchy vegetables which are high in fibre and low in calories. Fruit type vegetables such as peppers and cucumbers, and certain fruits such as water melons and berries are also great options due to their low calorie high water content. Leaner cuts of meat and high protein 0% fat dairy are also great options.

With that said, consuming excessive fibre from non-starchy vegetables can cause digestive issues, especially if they are undercooked and especially if they are raw. Most people do better when they cook their vegetables well, although some vegetables do not work well for some individuals even when cooked well, so it is important to choose the ones that work well for you. Too much fibre in general can also be problematic. Another point to understand is that we do not want to rely too much on non-starchy carbohydrates for our carbohydrate sources. Although these foods contain carbohydrates, they are not all utilised by the body.

We should still consume enough carbohydrates from starchy vegetables like potatoes and sweet potatoes, as well as clean sources of glucose like white rice and other grains if you tolerate them well. Carbohydrates from more energy-dense fruit sources should also be included. These foods provide the carbohydrates you need to fuel your training, aid in recovery, and help keep stress hormones like cortisol in check.

Here are some recomended high volume low calories foods:

flexible dieting

Over the past decade, flexible dieting has been popularized within the fitness industry. Flexible dieting simply means incorporating some flexibility into your nutrition plan and food choices. A commonly recommended guideline is to eat around 80% whole foods while leaving a small amount of room for more processed, less healthy foods. This approach works well because it ensures that we cover our nutritional needs with whole foods, providing us with the essential vitamins and minerals required for good health. Therefore, consuming some processed foods in moderation is unlikely to have a significant negative impact on our health.

Research has even shown that when calories and macronutrients are equated, eating a diet that contains a fairly large amount of processed foods compared to mainly whole foods makes little or no difference at all to fat loss. As long as a calorie deficit is in place and adequate protein is consumed. Although this is technically true, experience from coaches working with real people in the real world know that including more whole foods works best, and will lead to greater dietary adherence and therefore fat loss results for the majority of people.

With that said, some people do find flexible dieting to be useful in a fat loss phase, when done correctly. Some individuals find that including some of their favourite more processed foods each day or even a couple of times throughout the week can help with dietary adherence. On the other hand, this does not work well for everyone, and can lead some people to overeat or want more of this type of food. This can make adherence to a calorie deficit more difficult for these individuals and so may not be the best option for them. For these individuals, sticking to 100% whole foods works better, even if it’s only during a fat loss phase.

Whether a stricter or more flexible dieting approach is best depends on the individual. The approach that allows for the greatest dietary adherence is likely to be the most effective. If a more flexible approach is used, accountability and tracking of calories and macronutrients become even more important because there is a higher risk of overeating and consuming excess calories. Regardless of the approach, a calorie deficit is still necessary to achieve fat loss.

The way in which we structure our meals is important during a fat phase. Although our target number of macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates, fats) and therefore calories we consume each day and over the week will be the number one determining factor to whether we lose body fat, and at what rate, balancing our meals is still important. This can help with things such as satiety, blood sugar, and performance and recovery from our training sessions. It can also affect things such as mental focus depending on how we structure our meals.

base your meals around protein

Consuming adequate daily protein to protect against the increased risk of muscle loss during a fat loss phase is extremely important, as discussed previously. To achieve this, we will need to be consuming a decent amount of protein in each meal, and assuming most people will be eating 3-4 times per day, our meals will need to be based around protein. This will also result in multiple protein servings each day, and a rise in muscle protein synthesis at each meal, depending on the amount of protein we consume. This is likely beneficial to muscle growth over the long term, as discussed in our guide to building muscle, and therefore will also help us maintain muscle in a fat loss phase.

Consuming adequate protein with each meal will also help with satiety, as protein is satiating in general and will also slow down the digestion of a meal. Slowing down the digestion of a meal will result in a smaller blood sugar rise when we are consuming moderate or even high amount of carbohydrates in a meal, compared to if we had eaten the same amount of carbohydrates without protein. This will lead to a slow and steady energy release and will also help with mental clarity and focus.

The simplest way to distribute your protein over the day is to divide your protein intake between the number of meals you are consuming each day. This does not have to be exact; an approximation is fine. Most people will need to consume around 30-50 grams of protein in each meal, depending on their daily protein target and how many meals they are eating each day. This will also be sufficient to maximally stimulate muscle protein synthesis; however, this will depend on the size of the individual. Carbohydrate sources will also contain some protein and will contribute to the amount of protein in each meal.

Most people will need to choose lean protein sources to keep their dietary fat low enough to remain in a calorie deficit. This is assuming they are following a fairly low or moderate-fat diet. The size of the individual and therefore how many calories they can consume in a fat loss phase will also be a factor. Here are some recommended lean protein sources for a fat loss phase:

Carbohydrates

The balance of carbohydrates to protein and fats in each meal will be determined by the number of calories and therefore carbohydrates an individual is consuming during a fat loss phase, as well as their overall plan, and whether they are following a higher or lower carbohydrate diet. This will also change throughout a fat loss phase, as carbohydrates are the main source of calories that will need to be adjusted to continue to lose body fat, as well as dietary fat, to a lesser extent in most situations. Depending on the number of carbohydrates being consumed, there can also be some variation in the number of carbohydrates, depending on the meal.

The simplest way to distribute your carbohydrates throughout the day is to eat approximately the same amount of grams in each meal, by dividing your target daily intake by the number of meals you eat per day. We find this works well for smaller and less advanced individuals, who will be dieting on fewer calories and therefore fewer carbohydrates. They will likely also be eating fewer meals. This means that each meal will have a decent amount of carbohydrates; however, they will not be too high, which could impact things like blood sugar, although this will depend somewhat on the individual.

With that said, some people prefer to include more or less carbohydrates depending on the meal. For example, they may eat more carbohydrates around their training sessions, such as their pre- and post-workout meals. This can work well for individuals dieting on higher calories and carbohydrates, meaning they have more flexibility and more carbohydrates to allocate to different meals. For these individuals, eating too many carbohydrates at every meal may have detrimental effects on things such as focus and productivity, although this is not always the case, and this will depend on the type of carbohydrates consumed as well as the balance of the meal.

Eating too many carbohydrates in a meal can have a calming effect, and this can be a good thing at certain times. Many people find backloading a large number of their carbohydrates to their evening meal to be beneficial, especially when the majority of these carbohydrates come from starches, as this can help them wind down. A high-carb meal that makes you a little sleepy can be a good thing in the evening, but not so much during the day or before a training session.

The types of carbohydrates eaten will affect how most people feel from a meal, as well as the overall balance of a meal. For example, starches which are pure glucose, which will impact blood sugar far greater than other carbohydrate sources such as fruit. Although fruit is a simple carbohydrate, sucrose contains one fructose and one glucose molecule. Since fructose is mostly metabolised by the liver, it does not spike blood sugar as much as pure glucose. Fructose will also not stimulate insulin secretion as strongly as glucose, leading to a less pronounced blood sugar spike.

Therefore, using fruit as your carbohydrate source, or a combination of fruit and starches, compared to eating a meal that contains only starches (pure glucose), can work well. Some experimentation may be required to see what works best for the individual in terms of the amount of carbohydrates they consume in each meal and the ratio of carbohydrates to protein and fat. A good recommendation is to start with approximately the same number of carbohydrates in each meal, and then make small adjustments taking into account things such as how you feel in general, your energy levels, and your mental focus.

Some individuals find that consuming only fruit as their carbohydrate source is not as satiating. For these individuals, eating some starch as well as fruit in a meal can help with the satiety of a meal, which is important in a fat loss phase. This can be a very individual thing, and for some people it has the opposite effect, so some experimentation is likely needed.

Determining the amount of carbohydrates for your pre-workout meal that allows you to perform at your best during your training session is also important. Balance is key here; we want enough energy to maximize performance; however, we do not want to feel sluggish in the gym. More is not always best. Here are some general guidelines which work well for most people:

Fats

If you are following a low or moderate fat diet, especially during a fat loss phase, the amount of fat in each meal can remain relatively the same. Consuming some dietary fat with a meal will aid in digestion and along with protein will also slow down the digestion of a meal. Dietary fat is also satiating in itself. If you are consuming more calories especially if you are following a higher fat diet you may want to experiment with a little more or less fat depending on the meal, as with carbohydrates.

As fat can slow down digestion, it may be best to keep it a little lower in a pre-workout meal, so that you do not feel sluggish or heavy in your training sessions. This will depend on how close to your training session you eat. If you are eating 30 minutes to 1 hour before training, fat should probably be kept lower. If you are eating a couple of hours before training, you can include more fat. Some people will also keep dietary fat a little lower in their post-workout meal so that it is digested quicker to aid in recovery.

As a general guideline, most people will consume around 10-20 grams of fat in each meal during a fat loss phase. Larger individuals or those following a higher-fat diet may push this up to 25 or even 30 grams of fat in each meal. Meal frequency will also be a factor here. We do not recommend going lower than 10 grams of fat in a meal.

Fibre

Starchy carbohydrate sources such as root vegetables (potatoes/sweet potatoes/yams), oats, and other grains will contain fibre, as well as simple carbohydrates such as fruit. You can think of these carbohydrates as your energy carbohydrates as they are a dense source of carbohydrates and therefore energy. The other main source of fibre will come from non-starchy vegetables such as leafy greens and other types of vegetables. You can think of these as your fibrous source of carbohydrates. These are less dense sources of carbohydrates and although they contain some carbohydrates, they do not contain as many, and they are not all utilised by the body.

Consuming adequate fibre in each meal and over the day can help with satiety and is also important for health. With that said, overconsuming fibre can cause digestive issues for many people, so balance is key. A simple recommendation is to consume at least 10g of fibre per 1000 calories. You can experiment with slightly higher intake, although many people do better keeping fibre a little lower. For most people, 20-40 grams of fibre per day is the sweet spot.

Depending on the amount and types of carbohydrates you are consuming, you may wish to add a fibre source (non-starchy vegetable) to some or all of your meals. For example, if you are not consuming fruit with a meal containing starchy carbohydrates, it may be a good idea to include some non-starchy vegetables with the meal, especially if you are using a more processed grain such as white rice.

Meal frequency is the number of times you eat per day. Choosing the right meal frequency is important, as this can help with things such as adherence to a fat loss diet and how sustainable it is for your current lifestyle. It was once believed that eating multiple small meals per day is better for fat loss as it increases metabolic rate; however, research has indicated that this is not true. Although there is some truth to this, real-world experience from coaches, physique competitors, and general fitness enthusiasts who have reached decent or even advanced levels of leanness have also shown that this is not a necessity, although this method can still be used successfully.

Eating a meal will raise the metabolic rate a little due to the processes required for digestion, and so eating multiple meals per day makes sense to some degree; however, it is now understood that the biggest impact on metabolic rate will come from the overall number of calories you consume each day. Other things such as food quality and your overall metabolic health will also play a much greater role in your overall metabolic rate.

Metabobolic rate will adapt a little when we place ourselves in a calorie deficit in order to preserve energy, and this is something we cannot change. The degree of adaptation can depend on the individual as well as things such as the size of a calorie deficit and the amount of time we spend in it. This is one of the reasons we need to make adjustments to our calorie and macronutrient targets to continue to lose body fat.

As adherence to a fat loss diet and calorie deficit is crucial, it is important to choose a meal frequency that works well for you and is aligned with your current lifestyle. There is no point trying to eat 5 meals per day if realistically you can only eat high-quality meals that will support your fat loss goals 3 times per day.

We find that 3-4 meals per day is the sweet spot for most people during a fat loss phase. We recommend at least 3 meals per day during a fat loss phase as this allows for 3 protein servings per day, and will also make it easier for most people to hit their protein target for the day consistently. Eating three meals per day works great for females and smaller individuals in general as they will be consuming fewer calories; therefore, reducing meal frequency a little will allow their meals to be a little larger and more satisfying, although the time between meals will be longer.

For larger individuals, those who are more active, or individuals who can simply diet on more calories, 4 meals per day can work great. Of course, personal preference should also be taken into consideration. Some people prefer to eat smaller, more frequent meals throughout the day. The meal frequency that works for you and allows you to hit your calorie and macronutrient targets consistently will be best. Some experimentation may be required to find out your preferred meal frequency.

An eating strategy somewhat related to meal frequency is intermittent fasting. Intermittent fasting has become extremely popular in the last decade and uses an eating pattern that alternates between periods of fasting and periods of eating. Depending on the protocol you are using, this can involve eating 1-2 times per day, although this is not always the case. In terms of fat loss, the benefits of intermittent fasting are often misunderstood. Although intermittent fasting can be an effective strategy to use during a fat loss phase, it is no better or worse than a traditional eating schedule.

When our body is in a fasted state, the body will technically be burning more body fat for fuel; however, this does not mean we will necessarily lose more body fat. Fat burning and fat loss are two different things. We are always burning more or less body fat throughout the day depending on how far away from our previous meal we are. The determining factor behind whether we will lose body fat is energy balance and whether we have maintained a calorie deficit over a period of time. Therefore, when calories are equated, fat loss will be the same whether we are using intermittent fasting or not.

With that said, intermittent fasting can be a highly effective strategy to use during a fat loss phase. Some individuals will have more success losing body fat during a fat loss phase, as it allows them to simplify their nutrition by skipping one or more meals, usually breakfast. This can help them with adherence to a calorie deficit, and in doing so, can help them lose body fat. It can also be a great fit for the busy modern lifestyle, allowing people to simply skip breakfast when they may be in a rush in the morning, rather than making poorer breakfast choices or grabbing processed foods on the way to work.

There are also some potential downsides to intermittent fasting, and it may not be the best option for everyone. Intermittent fasting will place extra stress on the body, as stress hormones will be used to compensate for the lack of food, for example when we skip breakfast. Being in a calorie deficit is already an extra stress on the body, and the leaner you are and the lower your calories, the greater stress the body is under. Stress hormones such as cortisol will be further elevated, which may be detrimental to fat loss as well as maintaining muscle.

Adding this extra stress onto an individual who may already have a stressful lifestyle, and may not be in the best of health metabolically, may not be the best idea, especially when they can lose body fat without intermittent fasting. Whether to use intermittent fasting or not should probably be based on the individual. As a general rule, it is probably best used by younger individuals who do not have stressful lifestyles and are at a higher body fat percentage. Some coaches have also reported that it does not seem to work as well for women, possibly because of hormonal differences between males and females, although I have not seen this myself.

For individuals looking to use intermittent fasting for body composition goals, such as losing body fat while maintaining or even building muscle, we have our preferred method of using intermittent fasting. Some things we recommend include maintaining a meal frequency of 3 times per day and training within the eating window, rather than in a fasted state. We also recommend a more flexible approach to intermittent fasting based on how you are feeling compared to following a strict fasting and eating schedule. You can read our intermittent fasting 101 article to learn more and find out if intermittent fasting may or may not be right for you.

Following a pro-metabolic approach to nutrition as recommended by the bioenergetic model of health can be a great idea, and is something we recommend experimenting with. We find combining principles of the bioenergetic model of health with a macros-based approach to fat loss works great for many people. The bioenergetic model of health takes an all-encompassing and holistic approach to health and nutrition, and focuses on metabolic and hormonal health, mitigating stress, and the importance of the environment of the individual.

The degree to which you implement the principles of the bioenergetic model of health can be more or less, depending on how much you would like to learn and how far you want to go down the rabbit hole of this model of health. Starting with the basics is the best way to experiment with pro-metabolic eating and the bioenergetic model of health. This includes selecting foods which are easy to digest and have a net positive effect on metabolic health, and avoiding foods, at least in large amounts, that have a net negative effect on metabolic health. Some of these foods are often recommended as healthy food choices!

The bioenergetic model of health recognises the importance of all the food groups and does not recommend excluding whole food groups such as carbohydrates. In fact, it prioritises the right types of carbohydrates due to their positive effect on thyroid health and therefore metabolic and hormonal health, as well as the ability of carbohydrates to bring down stress of all types. In this way, it would be considered a high-carb or moderate-carb diet and therefore works great for people performing high-intensity activity such as strength training with the goal of building muscle.

You do not need to implement principles of the bioenergetic model of health to lose body fat. If you would like to learn more about pro-metabolic eating and the bioenergetic model of health, with some specific recommendations for using as part of a healthy and sustainable fitness lifestyle, you can check out our article and download our pro metabolic foods list.

Now that you have your initial macronutrient targets for a fat loss phase and you have your initial meal structure and meal frequency (this may change as you test things out), you will need to establish whether your starting macronutrient targets, and therefore calories, are accurate and have placed you in a negative energy balance or calorie deficit. This will be necessary in order to lose body fat. As discussed previously, your numbers may or may not be accurate for you, as the TDEE calculator was simply an estimate based on population averages.

It is now easier than ever to track our macronutrients, with many dedicated food tracking apps available. This is also known as tracking your macros. Popular food tracking apps include MyFitnessPal, MyNetDiary, and Chronometer. Some people find tracking their macronutrients an inconvenience and even stressful; however, it is a powerful tool that delivers predictable and measurable results when used correctly and in combination with collecting real-world data such as trends in body weight. There are also methods that make the process of tracking easier and simpler.

We do not necessarily need to track our macronutrients forever, and we can also lose body fat without tracking. With that said, learning this important skill is a great learning tool for beginners and will help them understand the three main food groups and the effect they have on things such as performance in the gym, recovery, and body composition. The skill of accurate food tracking is a useful tool in our toolbox and is one we can use or come back to in the future, even if we are not using it all of the time.

We recommend you use food tracking apps to plan your meals, entering the quantity of carbohydrates, protein, and fats for each meal so that your daily macronutrient targets are showing correctly, rather than simply tracking your food as you go and hoping your macronutrient targets are where they need to be at the end of the day. A little planning and work up front can make the process far easier, simpler, and less stressful.

If you are eating the same meals each day you do not necessarily need to track every day, as long as you are know your numbers and are weighing out your food. You can then check back using your app when you need to make adjustments or you would like to create some new meals. This is another advantage of eating the same or mostly the same meals each day during a fat loss phase.

Here are some recommendations and a simple system you can use for stress free food tracking:

Using a good tracking app is important. Some try to do too much; simple functionality is all you need. We find the ones that are simple to use and uncluttered are the best. We often recommend FitGenie. Although this app has a paid option, their free version is all you need. The good thing about FitGenie is that it allows you to set your daily macronutrient targets in grams manually, rather than a percentage of calories. This feature is not usually available unless you upgrade to a paid version on most apps.

Another great feature you get for free is the ability to see the macronutrient breakdown of each meal. Once again, most free apps do not allow you to do this, only showing your macronutrient intake for the whole day. You can also track your average body weight over time.

Now that you have your meals planned out, you can focus on hitting your daily macronutrient targets as accurately as possible for 2-3 weeks. This will allow you to establish whether your initial calorie calculations were correct and are placing you in a calorie deficit, based on your daily activity level as well as the structured exercise you perform, such as strength training and cardio. It is a good idea to track for 2-3 weeks to get an accurate measurement of what your body weight is doing. This will account for things such as changes in water weight, which will happen when consuming fewer calories and potentially different foods.

Collecting real-world data such as trends in body weight, and body part measurements along with tracking food intake accurately is what makes macronutrient tracking such an effective and powerful tool for fat loss. With these data points, we can make adjustments to our macronutrient targets as well as our activity level when needed. This results in predictable and measurable results in terms of fat loss.

bodyweight

Although a reduction in body weight is not always an indication that we are losing body fat, or that we are losing mostly body fat, it is still one of the most useful measurements we can use to track changes in body composition. It is also easily accessible to all. When following a well-set-up fat loss diet which includes adequate protein intake, as well as performing regular strength training to maintain or build muscle, a reduction in body weight can indicate that we are losing body fat or mostly body fat rather than body fat and muscle.

In order to get the most accurate and therefore useful bodyweight data, we need to be monitoring trends in bodyweight over time rather than looking at daily bodyweight measurements. The most accurate way to do this is to look at our average body weight over a period of time. This can help smooth out daily fluctuations in body weight, allowing us to collect more accurate bodyweight data. We can then make better decisions as to when an adjustment to our macronutrient targets should be made.

We recommend taking a 7-10 day average for body weight during a fat loss phase, and comparing this to the previous period to establish whether you are losing body weight at your target rate. When doing this, you will notice daily fluctuations in body weight, which is perfectly normal and can be influenced by factors such as water retention, hydration, food intake, bowel movements, and even stress. Weighing yourself daily can be a good habit to build and encourages consistency and accountability. It can also help some individuals understand how looking at trends in body weight over time can be useful and can help reduce the stress of daily fluctuations in body weight and help them make better decisions.

To get the most accurate measurements for your daily weigh-in, we recommend the following:

Waste Measurement

Taking regular waste measurements during a fat loss phase can be useful and can help us get a more accurate picture of changes in body composition when used in conjunction with changes in body weight. Although a reduction in body weight can be a good indication that we are losing body fat, especially when we are performing regular strength training, this is not always the case. There may be times when our body weight is not reducing or is only reducing slowly; however, we are still losing body fat.

This is known as body recomposition, and this is more likely to happen in certain situations, such as when a beginner starts to train for the first time, or for individuals returning from a long lay-off from the gym, who regain the previous muscle they had lost fairly quickly. In these situations, they may be losing body fat; however, the building or regaining of muscle results in their scale weight to remain relatively stable. Monitoring a measurement such as the waist in this situation and seeing it reduce over time would be a good indication that fat loss is occurring.

You can take a waste measurement every 2-4 weeks. We recommend you take waste measurements in the following way:

Photos

Taking regular photos can be a good way of accessing changes in body composition in terms of fat loss, even if we are not losing weight on the scale. It is possible to lower our body fat percentage if we are not losing body fat by increasing muscle, which can make us look leaner in photos. With that said, the quickest and most noticeable difference we will see when comparing photos will come from losing body fat, and this can be great for motivation during a fat loss phase, especially as things become a little harder as we get leaner.

If you are going to take regular progress photos, we recommend you take them every 2-4 weeks, as with your waist measurement. Photos can look vastly different depending on the environment they are taken in. Here are some basic guidelines for taking progress pictures:

Skinfold Measurement

Taking a simple skin fold measurement can be used during a fat loss phase, although it is not necessary, and the measurements discussed previously are more accessible. Cheap and simple body fat callipers such as Accu-measure are available, and although they are not professional-grade callipers, they do not need to be. You can use these types of callipers to take your own skin fold measurement at specific points on the body without the need for professional assistance.

You can use these types of callipers with a calculator to estimate your body fat percentage; however, they are likely not that accurate at estimating your true body fat percentage. The usefulness of these callipers comes from the skin fold thickness reading they give you. As long as it is reducing over time, you are likely losing body fat.

Professional Body fat Percentage testing

Using skin fold calliper testing can be fairly accurate; however, this will depend largely on the experience level and competency of the fitness professional performing the test. Getting the most accurate body fat percentage is fairly difficult without expensive testing such as DEXA scans, BOD pods, or hydrostatic weighing, which can be expensive. In reality, knowing your exact body fat percentage doesn’t matter that much, as long as we know we are losing body fat and in doing so improving our body composition over time.

By monitoring our body weight using a 7-10 day average and comparing it to the previous period, we can ensure we are losing weight at the correct rate. This will also indicate that the size of our calorie deficit is correct. Losing weight too quickly will indicate that our calorie deficit is too large. While this may seem like a good idea, and may even work well initially, this will likely be unsustainable. There is also a far greater risk of muscle loss, and things such as performance in the gym will also be affected. Not being able to train with a high level of intensity to maintain or build muscle is also problematic during a fat loss phase.

Aiming to lose a percentage of your body weight each week rather than a certain number of pounds is recommended as this takes into account your body weight, and therefore the amount of weight loss that is appropriate for you. For most people, losing around 1 percent of their body weight per week works great. This rate of weight loss is large enough to be measurable and is fast enough to see progress week to week, which is also great for motivation. Importantly, it is also sustainable, and the size of the calorie deficit which results in this rate of weight loss will allow you to maintain muscle and train hard in the gym.

Overweight individuals can lose weight a little faster if desired, although this is not necessary, and losing at a slower rate is still a good option. This is because overweight individuals have more stored energy in the form of body fat, and so losing at a quicker rate is likely not as stressful on the body. From a practical perspective, getting to a healthy body fat percentage will take longer for overweight individuals, and so losing at a faster rate can be a good idea. Body recomposition is also more likely for these individuals as they have more stored energy to make up for the shortfall in calories to build muscle.

At the other end of the spectrum, leaner individuals who do not have much body fat to lose may want to lose weight at a slower rate, as they will not have to spend as much time in a calorie deficit because they have less body fat to lose. Losing at a slower rate will also make it more likely that these individuals may build a little muscle in a fat loss phase, even past the beginner stage. Factors such as reduced hunger levels may also make this approach more sustainable for some individuals.

Individuals who have been dieting for some time and are getting to advanced levels of leanness such as 10% body fat and below may also want to slow down their rate of fat loss. This is because the body will perceive a calorie deficit as more of a threat when it has less stored energy in the form of body fat, and down-regulation of metabolic rate may be greater. There is also a far greater risk of losing muscle mass for leaner individuals and those on lower calories, so losing at a slower rate is likely a good idea.

Here are some general guidelines for rates of weight loss during a fat loss phase. Women can add around 5-8 percent onto their body fat percentage numbers (not their percentage of weight loss per week), due to the differences in the distribution of body fat between males and females.

Traditional fat loss phases lasting anywhere from 12-16 weeks or possibly longer, depending on the individual, work great. This slow and steady approach to fat loss using a moderate calorie deficit allows for a sustainable rate of fat loss and is also effective for maintaining or even building muscle in some situations. Another approach to fat loss, which can also be effective, is using more of an aggressive calorie deficit to lose body fat at a faster rate. This type of fat loss phase is sometimes referred to as a mini-cut and is best used in specific situations.

Traditional fat loss phases

Traditional fat loss phases as discussed so far in this guide are the foundation of healthy and sustainable fat loss phases, and will be required to achieve a lean physique as well as advanced levels of leanness. Here are some general guidelines for traditional fat loss phases:

Mini-cuts

Mini-cuts typically aim for a faster rate of fat loss and therefore use a more aggressive calorie deficit. They should be performed for a shorter period of time because there is more likelihood of metabolic adaptations by the body when using aggressive calorie deficits, and there is also a greater risk of muscle loss. They are also physiologically more difficult to maintain due to factors such as increased hunger levels and are more stressful on the body overall. Using them for a shorter period can negate some of these factors. The goal of a mini-cut is to get in and out of a calorie deficit as quickly as possible while losing the maximum amount of body fat.

One common way to utilise mini-cuts is to use them for a quick clean-up to prevent excessive body fat gain during a muscle-gaining phase. Dropping into a quick calorie deficit can help shed a bit of body fat that would have accumulated during a gaining phase when an individual was in a slight calorie surplus. This allows them to continue gaining weight without their body fat getting too high, which would then require a longer dieting phase to reduce.

To lose body fat, we need to create a calorie deficit or negative energy balance over an extended period. We do not need to maintain a calorie deficit every day of the week. As long as our average weekly calorie intake puts us in a negative energy balance, we will lose body fat. Understanding this allows us to increase our calorie intake to around maintenance calories once or twice per week, if desired. This is known as calorie cycling. Maintaining a calorie deficit for seven days per week would be defined as a straight calorie deficit.

There are pros and cons of maintaining a straight calorie deficit versus using calorie cycling, and as with many things in fitness, the one you use can be context dependent.

Straight Calorie deficit

A straight calorie deficit is the most common approach to fat loss, and it’s how most people think of dieting. Maintaining a calorie deficit for seven days a week is simple and effective, making it ideal for individuals with less experience in dieting or those with higher body fat percentages. For these individuals, maintaining a calorie deficit for seven days a week is less stressful on their bodies because they have more body fat. The rate of fat loss will also be quicker, which works well since they will need to lose more body fat.

Some benefits of a straight calorie deficit include:

Calorie cycling and refeed days

Calorie cycling involves raising calories to around maintenance calories once or twice per week. This is known as a refeed day. Calories are typically raised by increasing mostly carbohydrates, and this is often referred to as carb cycling, although they are not exactly the same. Increasing calories and carbohydrates can work well for leaner individuals who have been dieting for some time and may be on fairly low calories.

Refeed days can help replenish glycogen stores (stored glucose in muscle), which can help with performance and can also be helpful psychologically. Leaner individuals with more advanced fat loss goals who have been dieting for longer may have higher levels of psychological stress. Refeed days can help these individuals with dietary adherence, which becomes more difficult the more advanced their fat loss goals are. They can also help bring down stress hormones such as cortisol, which will be more elevated the longer someone has been dieting for, the lower their calories are, and the leaner they are.

Another advantage of refeed days is that they can be placed on or around challenging gym days, such as lower body training sessions. Alternatively, they can be placed around days you train muscle groups that you want to prioritize, such as underdeveloped muscle groups. Having some extra calories and carbohydrates around these training sessions can be beneficial for performance and recovery during a fat loss phase. Our preferred method of calorie cycling is the 5:2 calorie cycling method, which uses two back-to-back refeed days, and has some unique benefits compared to other calorie cycling protocols.

One potential downside of calorie cycling is that your average weekly calories will be a little higher because you are raising calories to around maintenance one or two days per week, which means your rate of weight loss will be a little slower compared to using a straight calorie deficit for 7 days per week. You could reduce your calories a little on your deficit days, so that your average calories for the week work out the same as a straight deficit. One potential issue with this is that your low days can become fairly restricted in terms of calories.

Some potential benefits and drawbacks of calorie cycling include:

Diet breaks are planned or auto-regulated periods within a fat loss phase where calories are raised to around maintenance calories or slightly higher. Diet breaks are not necessary during a fat loss phase; however, they can be useful in certain situations and can be beneficial for some individuals. Leaner individuals, who have been dieting for longer and are consuming fewer calories, will likely benefit more from diet breaks. Individuals who have more body fat to lose may also benefit from diet breaks, by breaking a fat loss phase into deficit and maintenance blocks, although this is not always necessary and will depend on the individual.

Diet breaks can provide a mental break from the monotony of dieting, which may help with dietary adherence, and can therefore help an individual achieve their fat loss goals. Physiological benefits of diet breaks include the reduction of fatigue and the replenishment of muscle glycogen. Raising calories to around maintenance for 1-2 weeks will be more beneficial in this regard compared to using refeed days once or twice per week. Implementing regular diet breaks can be beneficial to many people and can make a fat loss phase more enjoyable.

Here are some general guidelines for using diet breaks during a fat loss phase:

The real power behind tracking macronutrients lies in our ability to make adjustments based on real-world data, such as trends in body weight. This relatively simple process involves manipulating our macronutrient targets based on our current results. Typically, we adjust the energy macronutrients (carbohydrates and fats) depending on our goals. Our protein target will remain relatively the same, although it may be slightly adjusted in certain situations. During a fat loss phase, we will be reducing carbohydrates and/or dietary fat intake to reduce calories and continue losing body fat.

Choosing when to make adjustments to our macronutrient targets will be determined by whether we are losing weight at our target rate, for example, 1% bodyweight loss per week (using our average weekly weight and comparing it to the previous week). When collecting real-world data such as body weight, you will not always get a perfect 1% drop in body weight per week. As long as you are somewhere around this mark, assuming this is your target rate of fat loss per week, you are losing at the correct rate.

Some weeks your rate of weight loss may be a little lower, and some weeks it may be a little higher. This is perfectly fine and normal. If you are continuously losing under your target rate, for example, 0.5% bodyweight loss per week or lower for this example, then you can make an adjustment to your macronutrient targets. With that said, it is important not to make hasty decisions and adjust things too quickly, as this may result in you reducing calories when you do not need to. The goal for any fat loss phase is to keep calories as high as possible for as long as possible while still losing weight at your target rate.

As discussed earlier in this guide, scale weight is not always a perfect indication that we are losing body fat over a shorter period, such as 1-2 weeks, due to factors such as water retention. This can result in our scale weight staying relatively the same some weeks, even though we are still maintaining a calorie deficit and are likely losing body fat. A rise in the stress hormone cortisol is one of the primary reasons we may be holding onto some extra water weight, and this is more likely to happen the longer we have been dieting and the lower our calories are. Maintaining a calorie deficit is inherently stressful for the body.

With this in mind, you should always wait a further week if your average weekly body weight has not changed or is under your target rate of weight loss before making an adjustment to your macronutrients. If you are sure you are maintaining a calorie deficit due to things such as hunger levels or you simply know your numbers well from past experience and you feel you are holding water weight, you can even wait a further week to determine if you need to make an adjustment.

If you are at the beginning of a fat loss phase, and have estimated your starting macronutrient targets it may be a good idea to collect real world data for 3-4 weeks to determine if your macronutrient targets are correct or not. Here are some guidelines for making adjustments to your calories and macronutrients targets during a fat loss phase:

You will remember that when we set up our initial macronutrient targets, we recommended rounding macronutrients up or down. You do not need to do this; however, it can simplify the process of making adjustments to your macronutrient targets. Adjusting carbohydrates in 25-gram increments (100 calories) and fat in 5-gram increments (45 calories) can be a good idea. In the example below we make small adjustments of approximately 200-250 calories by reducing a combination of carbohydrates and fats.

Performing regular strength training during a fat loss phase is crucial to preserve muscle mass. Strength training sends a strong signal to the body, instructing it to retain muscle tissue during a calorie deficit. Muscle is a metabolically active tissue, requiring significant energy to maintain. Without a strong signal to preserve this tissue, the body has no reason to retain muscle when there are insufficient calories coming in from food. Maintaining a calorie deficit over a period of time without performing strength training will result in a large amount of weight loss coming from lean body tissue along with body fat.

Losing a large amount of muscle as well as body fat will result in a reduced metabolic rate, which can make it more difficult to lose weight in the future and more difficult to maintain a lean physique after a diet. From a purely aesthetic point of view, this is not a good situation to be in, as most people attempt to lose weight to look better and improve the way they feel about themselves. Losing a significant amount of muscle during a fat loss phase will simply result in someone looking like a smaller version of their previous selves, even though they have lost weight. In terms of body composition and how they look, there may be little difference.

The training that resulted in an individual building muscle will be effective at preserving muscle mass during a fat loss phase. The strength training performed during a calorie deficit should be solely focused on maintaining or building muscle rather than burning calories for fat loss. Although traditional hypertrophy workouts will burn some calories, the amount of calories used during a training session and throughout the week is fairly low. The vast majority of daily and weekly calories will be burnt through our everyday activity and even cardio sessions, to a greater degree than our strength training sessions. This is also the reason why a calorie deficit is mostly maintained by diet and a reduced calorie intake.

It is important that you follow a well-structured strength training program that is appropriate for your level of advancement and is also a good fit for your current lifestyle. Understanding and applying the fundamentals and being consistent over time is crucial in order to maintain or build muscle during a fat loss phase. Having a basic understanding of some important strength training principles such as volume, intensity, and frequency, and how to apply these to your training is also important.

Performing 3-4 strength training sessions per week using a low to moderate training volume is the sweet spot for most people during a fat loss phase. Performing high-quality sets working at the correct intensity level using the minimum effective volume you need in order to maintain or build muscle is a great way to train. This is even more important during a fat loss phase due to a reduced calorie intake which can affect performance, general energy levels, and recovery. You can check out our complete guide on how to build muscle to learn more.

Cardio is not necessary for losing body fat, and is not always required during a fat loss phase. With that said, it can be a useful tool, and it can be more or less beneficial depending on the individual. Cardio in itself will not lead to fat loss; however, it can assist in fat loss if it contributes to creating and maintaining a calorie deficit. In this way, it can allow a little more calories to be consumed, which can be beneficial. Smaller individuals, especially smaller females, may benefit more from this because creating a calorie deficit through food alone can result in a fairly low calorie intake for these individuals.

Larger individuals, typically men although not always, can often get to fairly low levels of body fat without performing cardio as they can maintain a calorie deficit while still consuming a decent amount of calories assuming they get in a sufficient amount of non-exercise daily activity such as walking. With that said, most men will need to perform at least some cardio if they are looking to achieve advanced levels of leanness, and this is why cardio has been used for decades in physique sports such as bodybuilding.

In terms of cardio, we have two main options. These are low to medium-intensity steady-state cardio and high-intensity cardio such as HIIT. There are pros and cons to using each type of cardio, and both can be good options if they are used the right way. Like many things in fitness, the situation and the individual should be taken into consideration when choosing which type of cardio to use and how to use it.

Low intensity steady state cardio

Lower intensity cardio is less stressful on the body and therefore does not impact recovery as much as performing high intensity cardio. This can make it a great option to use during a fat loss phase, as energy levels and recovery will already be somewhat affected due to a reduced calorie intake. Low intensity cardio is also less likely to interfere with our strength training performance, which is crucial during a fat loss phase to preserve muscle. The downside is that it does require a slightly longer time commitment each week compared to performing high-intensity cardio.

We recommend performing your low-intensity cardio at around zone 2. This means that you can hold a conversation without gasping for air; however, it should still be somewhat challenging, more so than taking a brisk walk, which would be around zone 1. You should be able to maintain this for around 24-45 minutes, depending on your fitness level. If you want to use heart rate to monitor your intensity, you can use 180 minus your age to get an approximation for your target heart rate. You can perform steady-state cardio at a higher intensity if desired; however, working at a higher intensity level may negate some of the benefits of low-intensity cardio in terms of recovery.

Low-intensity steady-state cardio does not burn a ton of calories, and the amount of calories burnt will make up a relatively small percentage of your overall weekly calories used for activity. This is why your overall diet will need to be set up correctly in order for steady-state cardio to assist in fat loss. Of course, performing more steady-state cardio and for longer will burn more calories; however, performing more and more cardio will have diminishing returns and is not something we would recommend.

Here are some general guidelines for using low intensity steady state cardio during a fat loss phase:

high intensity cardio

True high-intensity cardio involves nearly 100% or 100% effort for a short duration, usually 10-15 seconds. This means sprinting or almost sprinting at maximum effort for 10-15 seconds. If you can sustain this level of effort for more than 10-15 seconds, you’re not performing true high-intensity cardio. Therefore, your overall health and fitness should be considered when deciding whether high-intensity cardio is appropriate for you, as well as the equipment you use. The adaptations caused by high-intensity cardio are more similar to the adaptations caused by strength training, and therefore many strength-based athletes prefer to perform high-intensity cardio. It is also more time-efficient, meaning we can get a lot of work done in a short amount of time.

The downside to high-intensity cardio is that it will impact recovery significantly more than lower-intensity cardio, depending on how much you are performing. For this reason, more thought needs to be given to the amount of high-intensity cardio you perform each week and where you place your high-intensity cardio sessions in relation to your strength training sessions. With that said, we can receive the benefits of high-intensity cardio with a surprisingly small amount each week. Performing just 2-3 sessions of 10-15 minutes each week can be beneficial, and this will not impact recovery to any large degree for most people.

Here are some general guidelines for using high intensity cardio during a fat loss phase:

The recommendations above do not mean you should do 5 sessions of steady-state cardio and 3 sessions of high-intensity cardio per week. This would be too much for most people, especially during a fat loss phase. A more sensible cardio schedule might look something like 4 sessions of steady-state cardio if you were not performing any high-intensity cardio, or you might perform 3 high-intensity sessions if you were not performing any low-intensity cardio. A mixed approach might look something like 2 sessions of high-intensity cardio and 2-3 sessions of low-intensity cardio per week. Use common sense and pay attention to your recovery and how cardio impacts your strength training performance over multiple weeks.

Cardio for general health and fitness

Whether you need to perform cardio for fat loss or not is one consideration. The other is our overall health and fitness. It’s probably a good idea to perform some cardio each week to maintain a basic level of cardiovascular fitness for health reasons, especially as we age. Having a good level of cardiovascular fitness will also benefit our gym performance and likely aid in recovery. Since we can get a lot of health benefits out of performing a relatively low amount of weekly cardio, we recommend you perform some cardio each week, even if it is not required to lose body fat.

Our general daily activity will contribute significantly to the amount of calories we are burning each day and over the week. This is known as non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) and is the activity we perform outside of structured exercise such as strength training and cardio. Overall, the amount of calories we burn performing strength training and a moderate amount of cardio will not be huge. Therefore, maintaining a degree of daily activity throughout the majority of the hours we are not in the gym is a good idea.

This low-intensity activity can burn a significant amount of calories throughout the week and can help us maintain a calorie deficit more easily. We can potentially eat more calories for longer while losing body fat, depending on how active we are. The easiest way to increase our daily activity is by simply walking more. By consciously aiming to walk more, we can increase our daily activity, which will assist in fat loss.

It can be a good idea to track daily activity during a fat loss phase just as we would in other areas such as calorie and macronutrient intake and strength training progression. Aiming for around 10k steps per day is a good baseline to maintain at all times, and maintaining this or increasing it a little during a fat loss phase is a great idea and will make a fat loss phase somewhat easier. If you have a sedentary job, some conscious effort and habit building will be required to increase your daily activity and reach your daily step target. We recommend anywhere from 10k-15K steps per day during a fat loss phase.

Here are some strategies that can help you increase or maintain your daily step count:

It is important to pay close attention to important lifestyle factors such as sleep and stress during a fat loss phase. Using certain lifestyle strategies can improve sleep quality and reduce stress, which will make losing body fat and maintaining or building muscle easier. This will also help with things such as hunger levels, energy levels, and even mood, which can improve adherence to a calorie deficit.

Sleep

Getting consistent high-quality sleep is essential for our overall well-being and significantly impacts fitness goals like building muscle and losing body fat. It’s also crucial for our health and one of the most powerful levers we can pull. Sleep becomes even more important during a fat loss phase as the body is under increased stress. Energy levels and recovery may also be affected due to reduced calorie intake. Elevated cortisol levels can also affect sleep quality by making it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep.

Here are some useful strategies you can experiment with to try to improve sleep quality:

Stress

Although we cannot avoid stress altogether, mitigating as much of it as possible from areas of our lives that we have control over is a great idea. This is important at any time, and especially during a fat loss phase when we are under greater stress, both physiologically and psychologically. Reducing stress will make it easier to lose body fat and maintain muscle in a fat loss phase and will also improve our sleep quality, which is important as discussed previously.

Here are some strategies you can experiment with to reduce stress:

Fat loss is a relatively simple process, although it is not easy and will become exponentially more difficult the leaner we get and the more advanced our fat loss goals are. Adherence to a calorie deficit over time is crucial, and this is why our diet must be sustainable and aligned with our current lifestyle. Collecting accurate real-world data is also important as this allows us to make sensible decisions based on our current results and rate of progress. Avoiding over-exercising with excessive amounts of volume and cardio is also important during a fat loss phase, as well as addressing important lifestyle factors such as sleep quality and stress.