Keto – You do not need to be in a keto state to lose fat, do you really think if you ate only 4 bananas a day (500 calories) you wouldn’t lose weight because you are not in keto?
Not Eating at Night – You can eat anytime of the day, every year millions of Muslims lose weight during Ramadan when they only eat at night time. If the food amount stays the same it does not matter what time you eat it.
Cut Out Your Favourite Foods – You can eat your favourite foods and still lose weight. The key is ensuring you do not go crazy on them so the energy balance equation still holds true.
Eat Only Salad – There is more to life than salad, in fact, most people who eat only salad while trying to lose fat end up eating so little food they get crushed by the wave of their metabolism and end up binge eating.
Eat Vegetables & Low Calorie Foods – You do not necessarily have to eat low calorie foods or vegetables. It is about getting the energy balance right which can still be done with higher calorie foods as long as you are aware of overall intake.
Intermittent Fasting – There is no magic in not eating during a certain part of the day. You can lose fat eating every three hours or avoiding food for sixteen hours. It is a personal choice and not something you have to do.
Carb Cycling – You can lose fat with carbs in the diet, without them in your diet (keto) or by cycling them in and out. You do not need to do it though.
Nutrient Timing – You can eat anytime you like as long as you have a negative energy balance to lose body fat.
Eat Clean – No Junk Food – You do not have to eat clean foods, cut out wheat or stop junk food to lose fat. You just need to ensure that the higher calorie foods that come with these foods do not disrupt your calorie deficit.
No Sugar – You can lose fat with sugar in the diet just like you can lose fat with carbohydrates. All carbs turn into sugar the moment you digest it anyhow. People were losing fat way before everyone became scared of sugar.
Fat Burners – You do not need to take a fat burner, they barely make a dent on your metabolic rate and even if they do, they usually increase your hunger by the same amount. This means you are in the same situation as before. The more serious fat burners that some bodybuilders use are the ones that kill people. These have serious consequences! You do not need fat burners to lose fat.
Believe in Results – You do not need to believe in results or success. You just need to do the actions that create change.
Body Type Based Nutrition – You do not have to follow a specific nutrition plan because of your body type. Regardless of what any test may say you can work around it and lose body fat if you get the energy balance right. For example, you take a test that says you need to eat lots of animal protein yet you are vegan…. Relax! You can still lose body fat without eating meat. The more a plan is tailored to your body the easier it is. However, I would suggest listening to how your body reacts for this feedback over some random report.
Cortisol – Your Cortisol issues are not preventing you from losing body fat. I used to test people’s adrenal function. It was always those with lowest Cortisol levels who had the most body fat and not the other way round. Cortisol is slow to change its basic pattern and cannot explain why you lose fat one week and not the next, or vice versa.
Hormones – Your hormones are not preventing you losing fat. They can influence you in others areas such as desire to eat or strength of metabolism as discussed before. However, if you set the energy balance to create a deficit you will lose fat.
Go Hard With Hiit – People were losing body fat way before Hiit was even invented. You do not have to do it!
Fat Loss Cardio Zone – You can lose fat doing Hiit, which is way above the fat loss burning zone, or by walking slowly which is below it. You do not need the fat loss cardio zone.
Fasted Cardio – It does not matter what time you eat or exercise, it is the balance of energy that determines results.
EPOC – You do not need to worry about increasing EPOC, the extra energy burnt after exercise. You can lose fat by walking and modifying food if you wanted to which has no EPOC.
Micronutrients – You can lose fat without adequate vitamin or mineral intake. This is what happens in a famine. Optimising health and losing body fat is not the same thing. Ideally you would meet all your nutrient needs of course.
Set Points – The various set point theories suggest as your body fat gets to a certain low level it increases hunger and decreases metabolism making it harder or impossible to lose more body fat.
Personally, I believe the set point theory can be almost entirely explained using a psychological basis and as a hangover from the fat loss process rather than some deeper physiological issue within the body. It is an interesting debate when discussing bodybuilders nearing shows with super low levels of body fat but the argument for set points at higher more normal body fat ranges is unconvincing. You are not trapped by your physiology. You can lose body fat.
Eat less and less – You do not need to keep trying to reduce your food intake further and further. You just need to set the food intake level against your movement so you can lose fat. This should be done in a sustainable way which may mean regular fat loss breaks.
Move More and More – You do not need to keep increasing how much you move. You are trying to create a calorie deficit you can sustain. So, you need to move the appropriate amount to create the deficit based on your food intake.
Eat Nothing to Maintain Your Results – You do not need to eat tiny amounts of food to maintain your goal body fat. This is a fallacy, assuming you are breaking even now before you start the process then all of the bad behaviours you are currently doing can also be done to maintain your body fat levels when you reach your goal.
While your metabolic rate may drop if you lose a lot of weight, it is usually fairly small differences, e.g. 100 or 200 calories less / day. Some of this is because you weigh less so you use less energy during movement as you are lighter. It is important you understand the fat loss protocol you use is not the maintenance plan. You can eat more and move less to break even. Sustaining your results is significantly easier than you imagine. You do not need to be a saint.
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