For those of you who have not followed my fat loss journey, I have now lost and kept off 130 lbs over what's close to 12 years. I have chronicled the loss extensively here on Elitefts. To find those specific to my weight loss journey look for the coaching blogs titled Operation Be Less Fat.
During this weight loss evolution, I have learned a thing or two, or evidently five according to the name of this post. These are things most people will not want to hear. Losing weight and more specifically fat is not easy. I have lost and kept off my weight where 95% of most diets fail. Taking stock in the points below will help you as they helped me.
1 - YOU PROBABLY NEED TO LOSE MORE WEIGHT THAN YOU THINK
At my heaviest I was 328.5 lbs. I was quite certain I was going to be shredded at 275. Yeah, not even close. "Come on, my chest sticks out further than my belly, I'm not that fat." If you have ever thought this, you're fatter than you think. Don't set a number in your head which might only lead to disappointment. Just plan on losing until you reach what you are looking for.
2 - CHEAT MEALS ARE A PITFALL
Seriously, haven't the last couple of years, or even worse, decades, consisted of enough cheat meals. You wouldn't deload your training once a week, so why would you do it to your diet. The law of thermogenesis still applies. Yes, there can be hormonal and psychological benefits to cheat meals, but that doesn't mean you need one every week. It's actually been about one year since my last all out cheat meal, and that includes holidays.
3 - FAT LOSS IS GOING TO TAKE LONGER THAN YOU ANTICIPATE
I never really had a problem with this one. I was in it for the long haul. However, most of the people who have reached out to me are in some kind of hurry. Everyone gets excited about their initial weight loss which turns out to be just a lot of water. If you are looking to strip off solely fat, that takes time. I went slower than most and averaged only about one pound a month. That's a bit extreme, but I also don't have a lot of loose skin where I know many who have lost over 100 lbs do.
4 - YOU CAN'T EXERCISE IT OFF
If you have a fair amount of weight to lose, you are most likely not going to be able to exercise it all off. I hate to tell you, but the time spent resistance training is not burning a lot of calories either. One of the most disheartening things I ever felt was when I started running and saw relatively how few calories it burns. Half an hour burned 300 calories, that's about as much as a bagel. In other words, let your diet dictate your fat loss,
5 - YOUR DIET IS NOT SPECIAL
No matter what the latest trends on Instagram or blurb you read from your Google feed, there are no special diets. I get it. Even I was hoodwinked into thinking Intermittent fasting was somehow lengthening my life. There are many studies that show the benefits of fasting are equal to other calorie deficit plans. Choose whatever plan you think you can stay on for over a year because that's the one that will work. Adherence is key, not the approach.
