7 DEADLY SINS OF FAT LOSS
Some of this material you may have heard me mention before, but I consider it key to achieving fat
loss goals! You will find the ‘7 DEADLY SINS OF FAT LOSS’ section at the top, see how many or few (as
the case may be) you were committing and then you will find the ‘7 SOLUTIONS’ section below that.
I hope you enjoy!!
The following are the 7 deadly sins of fat loss that my personal training clients often come to me
with during our initial consultation, and we then seek to banish them for good, with great results! In
fact, when all of these cardinal fat loss hindering mistakes are booted out, clients are dropping fat
and weight faster and more effectively than they have ever managed before, during any of the many
fad diets and many ‘off the shelf’ workout programs they have been given or tried out in the past.
So have a read!
1. Eating Refined Carbohydrates
We all need carbohydrate (carbs) in our diet, that’s fact. However, what we don’t need is the wrong
form of carbohydrate. Eating carbohydrates that have been refined, such as white pasta, bread, rice,
sugar, sweets, cakes, biscuits and all that other nasty sweet stuff, is quite possibly the biggest fat loss
mistake that people can make. Sugars, and sugary foods, are addictive to say the least. You eat it,
you want more, you want more, and you often eat that too! By eating these types of carbs, your
body’s response is to hit back with a huge influx of insulin, which ends up making your body store
fat. Not only that, but although your energy levels may initially be elevated, shortly after, you will
end up on a downer and with reduced energy levels. The way forward is getting your carbs from
fresh, natural sources, such as fruit and vegetables, which as well as giving you a much steadier
supply of energy, will also fill you up with the vitamins necessary to ‘unlock’ the energy within your
foods, as well as boosting immune function and improving your general health.
2. Eating Processed Foods
They’re convenient, their ‘tasty’ (debatable), they’re quick, they’re easy, they’re
effortless………….they’re also so full of junk that every time you eat them you are literally filling your
body with chemicals and empty calories, and inviting your body to store excess fat. By eating these
types of foods, from canned tomatoes through to a full on microwavable curry, you’re voluntarily
increasing your body fat and the level of toxins within your body, and decreasing your body’s ability
to work as it’s supposed to. If you’re ‘trying’ to lose fat, but still eating packaged and processed
foods (yes - even low fat, no fat, low salt, weight watchers, healthy living and all that), you are
condemning yourself to failure. If you eat fresh, natural foods, you really can’t go wrong, so enough
with the microwave, and get your steamer, oven and grill working, and start eating natural. You’ll be
AMAZED at how much of a difference it makes just replacing everything packaged with fresh stuff.
3. Doing Your 100 Sit Ups A Day
Yes that’s right, many people I meet often tell me that their fat loss attempts to date have involved
doing plenty of sit ups every morning and every night. Well this is a very quick and simple mistake
for me to discuss. Doing lots of sit ups will not get you a skinny, toned waist!!!!! If it could, then a
third of the population would have great abs, not a BMI that categorises them as obese. The idea of
doing loads of sit ups to nuke your belly fat is called spot reducing, which doesn’t, has never, and will
never work to reduce body fat. It’s not possible to work one part of your body and burn only the fat
from that area. It just doesn’t go like that. The body takes fat from where it wants to. All that doing
excessive sit ups does generally, is give people a bad back and poor posture. This is characterised by
a rounded posture of the upper back known as kyphosis. If you want great abs, you need to be able
to see them, so they key is to get rid of the fat that surrounds them (acting on the advice you are
reading right now will help you!). You’re far better off doing full body training to reduce fat. The
more muscles you work, the more calories you’ll burn. Fact!
4. Steady State Cardio
Yes, this may well work for a while, and I’ve nothing against steady state cardio! However, if you’re
training for efficient fat loss, it’s not the way to go. Many people, as well as banging out sit ups by
the hundred, also have previously spend an hour or so walking on a treadmill, cycling on a stationary
bike, or plodding up and down on a stepper. Funny thing is, they all say it bores the hell out of them
and they don’t get results after the first couple of weeks. So why continue doing it?!
Alwyn Cosgrove, from Results Fitness in the USA, wrote a fantastic article named The HIERACHY of
Fat Loss and stated this;
‘Interval training is like putting your savings into a high return investment account. Low
intensity aerobics is like hiding it under your mattress. Both will work, but the return you get
is radically different’
Cardio training for fat loss is all about hitting out the interval work. Through using interval training
as opposed to steady state cardio, you will burn more ‘free’ calories throughout the day, due to the
effect the interval work has on your metabolism (you can elevate it for up to around 38hrs after
training
1
). So, by putting in a 20-30 minute bout of interval work, you will burn plenty more
calories than an hours steady workout, in half (or less) the time. Efficient, effective, and much more
fun!
5. Lack Of Resistance Training
‘I want to burn fat not get big muscles’. ‘ I don’t have time’. ‘I don’t like the gym’.
Just 3 of the primary reasons I hear for why people don’t do resistance training. The exclusion of
resistance training one is the biggest mistakes people make with their fitness programs. I’ll put it
very simply for you though: If you want to lose fat, you need to build some muscle! Now ladies, it’s
not to say that you need to get huge, and get biceps like Swartzenegger (in fact, you won’t be able to
due to the hormonal differences with men and women), so don’t worry about that. You may
remember I touched on this during an article I wrote ‘ Why Women need to use Resistance Training’.
Now this article should have been titled ‘Why MEN & Women need to use Resistance Training’!!!
The underlying fact, is that muscles crave energy, and so the more muscle you have, the more
energy they need to work, so the more calories they will burn. So, by building some lean mass
(muscle) you will increase your metabolic rate, and burn more calories even when you sleep. As for
having to use a gym, absolutely no need. Your body is the only equipment you need, and that’s a
fact. In terms of time, you don’t need much. 20 minutes, 3-5 times per week is which I use with lots
of my personal training clients here in Launceston, Cornwall and the results are immense!
6. Not Eating Enough Protein
This is related to the above. When I have looked at a client’s food diary prior to our personal training
commencing, the thing that ALWAYS sticks out is the lack of dietary protein. People only ever seem
to eat it in their evening meal. Big mistake! Your body needs protein to rebuild your muscles bigger
and stronger after work. By effectively starving your body of this vital nutrient, you are reducing its
ability to create the lean tissue necessary to boost your metabolism and increase your fat burning
potential. Try to get some form of protein in with every meal, but be aware that there are complete
(such as in meat, fish, eggs) and incomplete (such as in bread, pasta, pulses) proteins. Go for things
like organic beef, fish, chicken, turkey, whole nuts, seeds and organic eggs as your protein sources.
7. No direction
This is without doubt, the biggest one. So many people spend far too much time saying they are
going to kick start their fat loss mission, but never get round to it, or go at it half assed. In my
experience, the key to fat loss success (and success in general) is having a clear, determined and
measurable goal, that is both achievable and challenging. If you have no direction, you won’t get
anywhere. So know what it is you want to achieve, and actually be willing to go for it, pedal to the
metal. None of this ‘I’ll start on Monday’ nonsense, start today, start now, and start achieving. If you
truly want to be a size smaller so you can wear what you want to, and feel comfortable in it, then
you will be willing to work for it. Remember, the journey of 1000 miles starts with a single step, so
take the first step today by setting yourself a goal.
7 SOLUTIONS TO HELP KICK THE 7 DEADLY SINS OF FAT LOSS IN TO TOUCH...........
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Drink approximately 1 litre of water per 50lbs of body weight. So if you are 176lbs (12st
6lbs)- you need to drink 3.48 litres of water per day.
You may want to supplement your diet with a high quality and dosage of DHEA
omega 3 fish oil. These will help to fire up your metabolism as well as providing support at
a cellular level. Research suggests that a prolonged period of supplementation can have a big
effect on viscreal fat, particularly of the abdominal region (2). You have heard about the
insulin response you body creates after poor food choices and high levels of stress, these
(DHEA omega 3 fish oils) are particularly good at suppressing this insulin response effect.
Try to eat red onions (ideally raw) in a salad. This will stimulate the liver and other antiinflammatory reponses.
Add plenty of broccoli, kale, cabbage and turnip to your diet.
If you like spicy food, try adding chilli's to curries, obviously avoid the jar sauces that tend
to be very high in sugar!!! Spicy food will really rev up your metabolism.
Take a handful of seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, pine nuts, sesame, flax) with you to work as
these will have a big anti oxidising effect on the body and particularly helpful if you
are exercising up to 5-7 times per week.
Eat plenty of the super foods that are high in antioxidants.
1. Blackcurrants
2. Radishes
3. Sweet Potato
4.Spring Greens
5. Papaya
6.Curly Kale
7. Banana’s
8.Apples
9. Kiwis
10. Dried Apricots (Try To Get Them Unsulphurised)
I hope all this helps you in your quest for good health and function.
Matt
REFERENCES
1. Schuenke MD, Mikat RP, McBride JM. Effect of an acute period of resistance
exercise on excess post-exercise oxygen consumption: implications for body mass
management.
Eur J Appl Physiol. 2002 Mar; 86(5):411-7. Epub 2002 Jan 29.
2. Effect of Weight Loss and Lifestyle Changes on Vascular Inflammatory Markers in
Obese Women .A Randomized Trial .
Katherine Esposito, MD; Alessandro Pontillo, MD; Carmen Di Palo; Giovanni
Giugliano, MD; Mariangela Masella, MD; Raffaele Marfella, MD, PhD; Dario
Giugliano, MD, PhD . JAMA. 2003;289:1799-1804.