4 Key Components In Loosing Body Fat
“While we all wish that body fat is going to just drip off us as soon as we begin a training regime or healthier diet, realistically, there’s a little more to the body fat-loss equation.”
While we all wish that body fat is going to just drip off us as soon as we begin a training regime or healthier diet, realistically, there’s a little more to the body fat-loss equation.
There are four key components that can really make a difference in your fat-loss efforts. They are:
1: Muscle mass
2: Diet
3: Training consistency
4: Stress management
Let’s learn a little more about each:
Muscle mass:
Imagine your muscles are actually fat-burning fires. The more fire you have, the more you burn. It's a pretty simple concept. The more muscle mass you have, the more energy you burn, even while resting.
By building your muscle mass, you're building a faster metabolism!
Diet:
You can't out-train a poor diet. Even if you have huge muscles ;)
When it comes to lowering your body fat, you must be in a caloric deficit.
Crash dieting, however, is not a sustainable approach, and can actually cause weight gain over time. The best approach is in adopting healthy meal habits which have you eating a balanced amount of macro-nutrients.
Don't know what a macronutrient is or where to begin? Head to my 4-week nutrition program (it's all included in your Workin' With Stef membership).
Training Consistency:
Consistency is arguably the most important component when working to accomplish goals, in or out of the gym. Without consistency the body has a harder time adapting, and forming habits may be more challenging.
When training consistently, the amount of stress on the body is gradually increased over time, leading to increased strength and performance. This is why I always recommend upping your weights or pushing yourself at an appropriate level that is challenging for you.
So how constantly should you train? I always recommend at least three times a week for good results.
Stress Management:
Yep, that's right. Managing your stress is a vital step in lowering your body fat.
It may sound surprising, but stress actually plays a large role in your waistline and how easily you can lose weight. Multiple studies show how stress and lack of sleep can lead to an increase in your cortisol levels (the stress hormone). Having higher levels of cortisol in your body can cause you to feel hungrier, and to crave foods that have a lot of calories.
Higher cortisol levels can also cause people to build up fat around their bellies.
Learning to reduce stress through exercise and meditation—while also being more mindful about food—can have a large impact on your well-being and help you keep weight off in the long term.
In addition to the above, I believe that one of the most important factors, when it comes to dropping a dress size or two, is that you don’t take an “all or nothing” approach. On the contrary, small gains, day by day, a little at a time, add up to big returns quite quickly. It’s super important not to be disheartened by seemingly “slow” progress. Slow and steady is often the best kind.
Need some guidance with your nutrition?
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