Fat Loss Outside the Gym

For those who participate in a regular exercise program, fat loss comes pretty easily when the exercise program is combined with a calorie deficit. People who seek to lose fat through caloric deficit alone find that journey becomes slower and easier. Those who attempt to lose fat without exercise and/or caloric deficit find fat loss is impossible. Fat loss does not happen without a caloric deficit whether it is created through exercise and/or diet. Whether or not a person chooses to use exercise as tool is personal choice. For fastest results I would recommend making that choice in favor of exercise.

When people consider exercise, most are lucky if they can make time for an hour per session three or four times per week. There are 168 hours in a day; 168 in a week. So if a person can consistently hit fours a week that leaves 164 hours that most people do not think about as opportunities to increase caloric deficit. That is a mistake. So let’s talk about correcting that mistake.

1.       Create a Caloric Deficit: this should be a no brainer after the intro. Exercise and don’t eat less; eat less and don’t exercise; do both at once or focus one. It does not matter which approach is used. Failing to create a caloric deficit is the first step in failing to lose fat.

2.       Track Nutrition: it is impossible to create a caloric deficit if a person has no clue how many calories are being consumed. A food journal is a simple way to stay honest and accurately understand how much food is being consumed. Calorie counters lose more fat and find more success.

3.       Eat Protein: eat it at every meal and eat it first. High protein diets create faster fat loss. Shoot for about 30% of total calories from meat.

4.       Eat Real Food: supplements are highly overrated. Supplements can be an effective way to fill in gaps of a nutritional program. Supplements should never be the entirety of the program or used in place of real food. Supplements are supplemental; a tool to aid in improving an already solid nutrition program of real food.

5.       Set a Step goal: Get a pedometer and set a goal of hitting a certain number of steps every day. Start with 10,000 steps a day. For most people that equates about four miles of walking. Do this on its own or in addition to an exercise program. Walking more is an easy way to burn more calories and increase caloric deficit. Walk the dog every day, park at the far end of the parking lot, hide the TV remote. More steps create faster fat loss.

6.       Get active with the kids: it is summer time and if you are one of the fortunate who can spend the summer at home with kids do something simple; play. Go hiking, swimming, take a sports lesson together. Find physically active opportunities to do things with the kids. A summer spent watching TV and playing video games is a wasted summer for parent and child.

7.       Mow the Neighbor’s Lawn: when was the last time that you performed an act of kindness for someone else without expecting anything in return? Here is a simple way to do just that while having the benefit of burning some more calories and increasing that caloric deficit. If not this, odds are that your neighbor or someone else you know could use a hand with some task. Kindness for someone else that benefits you is a win for everyone. 

      Losing body fat absolutely requires creating a caloric deficit. There is no way around that. However, with a little thought and creativity, it does not mean spending a lot of time in the gym. Find means for increasing activity that involve other people will only make the process more enjoyable and worthwhile.

      Bonus tip: sleep more. People who average 7-9 hours of sleep per night have an easier time losing weight than people who lose sleep less than 7 hours per night.