Fat loss has grown into quite a monster with so many plans and fads on the go it is almost impossible to nail down the basics. We’d like to rein things back in a little bit and give some useful advice for long term successful fat loss.
We’re going to try and make this simple. Getting fat is all about bad habits, getting leaner is all about good habits.
Yes, we’re going to keep it that simple.
The bad habits are pretty obvious and usually involve sugar, sitting on your ass, drinking copious amounts of alcohol, being stressed out, not sleeping or a combination of all of the above.
But we’re going to focus on the positive.
If you know the good habits you can implement them into your daily life and start working towards a leaner version of yourself. Is it really that simple? No, but if you're going to make a good start then you've come to the right place.
1. Masticate
No Willis, we didn’t say masturbate although that no doubt burns calories, we said masticate. In essence, chew your food. Digestion is a key area for fat loss and ensuring your body receives the nutrients you eat with good digestion will go a long way towards keeping you satiated and full of energy, which will curb cravings, hunger and you reaching for that third packet of crisps.
Crisps by the way are a no go zone in case you didn’t already know that.
When you sit down to eat, and you should always sit down to eat, ideally at a table with a cool breeze and birdsong beside a waterfall, take a moment to relax your breathing and prepare your body. Completely over chew your first two mouthfuls, turn them to liquid. Your digestion starts here in the mouth, as your saliva is full of enzymes that will start to breakdown food. Those first two chews also send messages to your digestive system that food is on its way.
Take your time, put your knife and fork down in between mouthfuls, you are not a human JCB. If you’re fortunate enough to have company then engage in a little chitter chatter between mouthfuls. Make time for eating your food and you’ll digest it properly, your body will thank you.
2. Eat Nutrient Dense Food
We mentioned crisps above, or potato chips if you’re American. They’re a classic food product that we tend to over eat. One is never enough and you can eat and eat and eat them.
Why?
In your brain there is a region of the hypothalamus called the appestat. It’s responsible for controlling your appetite and telling you when you’re full. Food scientists are masters at chemically manipulating your appestat to keep you eating and craving more, because the more you eat, the more you buy.
The appestat is always asking, “where are the nutrients? Give me nutrients and I’ll tell you you’re full.” It’s looking for a profile of 51 different nutrients and food scientists will selectively take these out and add in different ones.
The answer, eat real nutrient dense food! Organic, local seasonal fresh fruit and veg, organic outdoor reared free range meat, wild fish, wild game, free range organic eggs etc.
Make these foods the focus point of your nutrition.
3. Hydration
Hydration is a sensitive area. Too much and you will flush your body, not enough and many metabolic functions are hindered. This can be tough when you’re always exercising and sweating. A good way to estimate your daily fluid intake is the following method:
You should be drinking water every 2 hours when not exercising. During exercise you need to be topping up the fluid levels every 10-20 mins. During intense exercise it’s important to develop a fixed drinking schedule: for every litre of water lost per hour you need to be drinking 2 pints of water, obviously spreading this out by drinking smaller amounts every 10-20 mins. The difficulty is knowing how much fluid you as an individual, lose every hour;
1 litre of water weighs approximately 2 pounds and 1 pint of water weighs approx 1 pound.
- Make a note of the time just before you start training.
- Write down your body weight in pounds (this should be nude weight, but as little clothing as possible will suffice).
- Continue with your normal exercise routine, but keep a note of how much water you consume during this time.
- Immediately after exercise, strip down to a bare minimum and dry yourself off. Weigh yourself again and make a note of body weight in pounds.
- Make a note of the current time.
- Calculate fluid lost by subtracting ending weight from beginning weight.
- Calculate exercise time by subtracting ending time from beginning time.
- The amount of extra fluid you should be consuming, on top of the amount you previously recorded, should be 1 pint (16 ounces) for every pound lost during exercise. This should be consumed in 10-20 min increments.
Freshly squeezed lemon juice with water, green tea and other herbals teas such as tulsi, ginger and chamomile are all great sources of fluid with added benefits that should be consumed throughout the day.
4. Plan
Don’t leave nutrition to chance and don’t assume you’ll have access to something nutritious to eat. If you’re going out for the day, take lunch and snacks with you to ensure you don’t fall prey to fast food. Plan your food for the week, cook in bulk so you can save time but always have fresh fruit and vegetables in your kitchen. Plan in your cheat meal or treat for the week.
Outside of that cheat meal you have no room or license to make bad choices. Let’s say, you by chance find yourself in your favourite restaurant and you’ve already had your cheat meal, you pick the cleanest thing on the menu, not your favourite triple BBQ burger! Even if that means ordering off menu and asking the waiter for a certain dish that meets your requirements. There is no compromise with this, make the right choice!
5. Learn to cook
If you can’t cook you might as well fuck it off now. Being able to use various kitchen appliances and hit the timings necessary for a well-put together meal is essential in your fight against the flab. The more enthusiastic you are about cooking, the less likely you are to rely on other people such as McCains, McDonalds and the dirty donner kebab shop down the road.
Herbs, spices and Monkey Coconut Oil are your best weapons for making fresh food taste great. Dressings and marinades with lemon juice and garlic bases will also bring flavour and added health benefits. There’s a massive range of simple recipes on our facebook page to get your teeth into.
Fat loss is harder for some than it is for others but by doing the right things and making the right choices, everyone can make progress in the right direction. It’s important that you switch off from all the quick fixes and BS. The magic pill does not exist, If you really are at a loss on what to eat and how to eat and what some more detailed no nonsense advice then grab a copy of our Ebook: A Monkey Guide to Diet & Supplementation.