10 tips to make weight loss more successful

I work with all types of clients with different goals. However my niche is building muscle, general strength, and fat loss.
As a bodybuilder, I go through many diet cycles of bulking/muscle growth phases (eating in a calculated surplus, with an optimal macronutrient split to optimize muscle growth. Along with it does come some fat accumulation) and cutting/fat loss phases (eating in a deficit. Again, with optimal macro split, to minimize muscle loss).  

As a powerlifter, I use the above cycles to power up for peak strength gains, and cut down to make weight on competition day.

You get good at it. Really really good at it. It becomes a skill. The more you do it, the better you get, especially when it's time to lose the fat, which no one truly loves to do. 

I have a lot of little things I use along they way, however here are my biggest tips to help you be successful. For me, these are non negotiables when in a cutting (fat loss) phase. 

(Cutting phase)                                                     (Bulking Phase)

1. Get 7-9 hours of quality sleep per night – Sleep may be the most important habit of all
 to help you lose weight. The more quality sleep you get, the easier it is to control hunger the
 next day and the more energy you have to exercise. Lack of sleep can cause increased hunger, muscle loss, and suboptimal recovery from your workouts. Get to bed on time. 

2. Log your food intake in a journal, or app for at least 3 days – When you track your eating habits with a food journal, or a calorie tracking app, like Yazio, even for a few days, it will be an eye-opening experience that can increase your body awareness and help you change your habits. You will learn how many calories you are eating each day, and also the calories in the foods you normally eat. Understanding your current habits will make changing them much more manageable, and can help you keep weight off long-term. Don't guesstimate these portions. Measure them by weight (volume isn't very accurate) 
Don't forget to include all those licks, tastes, and bites.
The purpose of this isn't to force an obsession with food, it's to bring an awareness to what you THINK you are eating vs. what you are actually consuming. The majority of people underestimate what they are eating, and overestimate their daily activity. 
From there you can begin to track your food to assure you're in a deficit, which you will need to do CONSISTANTLY for results. Your weekends, your random bites of food, your off plan meals, alcoholic drinks, you may not count them, but your body still does. The hard reality is, you'll need to be consistent the majority of the time. You need to be in an overall calorie deficit for the week/month etc. I don't make rules, science does :P  

3. Don't eat back calories burned - I see this all too often. People eating back the calories their treadmill or fit bit says they burned. Trackers are NOT accurate. Exercise also actually doesn't burn a ton of calories. Planned exercise is only about 5% of your total daily calorie expenditure. 
Not only that, but this habit often fosters a bad relationship with food, as you feel the need to burn off those calories you consumed, or exercise becomes a means of rewarding yourself. Exercise needs to be for better mobility and health, etc., not as a means of earning your food. 

4. Replace processed foods with whole foods – Obesity has many causes, but the root cause is arguably the rise of processed foods. Food that is processed, like cereal, cake, donuts, and french fries to name a few, provide significant calories without filling you up or providing much nutrition. Even worse, your hunger levels can increase shortly after eating these foods, causing a vicious cycle of weight gain. Eating foods in their natural state, or as close to their natural state as possible like apples, fish, lettuce, yams, eggs, etc. will help fill you up and stabilize your energy levels, so that you maintain that calorie deficit.

5. Eat protein with every meal – A high protein diet helps you lose weight!  Foods and meals that are high in protein help fill you up without providing too many calories. While 1 gram of fat has 9 calories, 1 gram of protein and carbs has only 4. That’s not to say dietary fat is bad, it’s just that protein, especially lean protein sources, will help satisfy your hunger more. Protein also has a higher thermic effect (Takes more calories to digest) Approx 20-30% of the protein calories consumed are burned just digesting it. Protein also helps to build that desired muscle most people are looking for.

6. Drink 8-12 cups of water per day –  Staying hydrated can help increase satiety, especially if you drink a cup of water before each meal. Don't hydrate yourself with empty calories from things like orange juice and soda etc. Pure water is the best option. (Flavour it with lemon juice or a natural flavour enhancer like Stur, if you wish to make it more interesting) 

7. Follow a nutrition plan and meal prep – Eating similar foods helps you to have that food on hand all the time, and stay consistent (Meal prep the meat and carbs, veggies etc). Invest in different spice mixes and low calorie sauces and salsas to make your food taste different.  It doesn't have to be boring. You can get creative and not need high fat, and high sugar to flavour your food. Choose foods like lean cuts of meats, sweet potatoes, brown rice, and fibrous vegetables that fill you up without providing too many calories so that you hit your target calorie intake each day. 
Eating similar also helps you to find any calorie discrepancies if things are not working out as planned. 
Plans made by a nutrition professional can help you optimize your macronutritent intake for the best results. 

8. Follow a strength training plan, with a touch of cardio in your week – Grabbing random things off of youtube and tick tok are great if your only goal is to move, however if your goal is more than movement, you're going to have to have a well made program by a reputable trainer. Building muscle will help you with strength, give you a faster metabolism, help to regulate blood sugar, etc.  You can start with as little as 3x a week. It doesn't have to be over the top.

9. Have some fun foods daily and don't make your calorie deficit too big- I am a big lover of flexible dieting. Nothing is going to send you into a binge quicker than restriction. That's why fad diets just don't work long term. You can only restrict for so long before you break. With my clients, I always program some discretionary calories to fit in their favourite foods like ice cream, chocolate, cookies DAILY. Every single day. All foods can fit, even in a fat loss stage. My fellow competitors look a me like I have 2 heads when I tell them I ate cookies every day during bodybuilding prep (with the exception of the last 2-3 weeks of the diet). It works because it's sustainable. 
When it comes to a calorie deficit, BIGGER is not better. First, very low calorie diets (1200 is not enough, ladies!!) will be hard to stick to and probably end up in a binge and restrict eating cycle. 2nd, in a fat loss stage you want to minimize muscle loss. Fast fat loss diets not only make you lose fat, but muscle mass as well. You don't want that! Losing muscle effects your metabolism, blood sugar, mobility, strength, etc. Don't do this. 

10. Be patient – You may have come across this article because you are dying to lose your belly fat fast, but the truth is that losing weight – especially only fat – does not happen overnight. While you can lose 10 pounds in one day simply by dehydrating yourself, it will be almost entirely water weight.   Just because you want to lose weight faster, doesn’t mean you should, or you will. Be patient, follow your plan, and the excess weight will come off. The faster you try to make it go, the harder you'll have to restrict. You might win in the short term, but you'll bounce back into old habits HARD and probably with even more gain than what you started with. 

In conclusion, Get really good at the basics and the rest falls into place. I have many mindset and diet tricks up my sleeve yet and I share my own experiences and knowledge with my clients personally. 

Need help and don't know where to start? 
I'm here for you! 
I do 1 on 1 in person as well as coach remotely via my personal app. I can work with you from anywhere in the world. Visit www.thelionsdenfitness.ca for my current programs. 
Check it out, and let's get started today!