Fab 50: The 50 Best Fat Loss Tips
1. Lift heavy weights. Lifting heavy weights doesn’t make you bulky, cupcakes do. By
going heavy, you will spike your metabolism for much longer than you would doing
steady-state cardio. Plus, having more lean muscle will cause your body to burn more
calories when you are away from the gym.
2. One. Change. At. A. Time. Changing multiple habits in your life simultaneously is a
recipe for failure. Studies show that people that made one change at a time were 5080% successful, whereas people that tried to make three or more changes at once failed
almost 100% of the time. Pick one change and don’t change something else until the
first change has become a habit. Start easy and progress to more difficult changes. 1
3. Chart your chow. A recent study showed that people that kept a food journal lost twice
as much weight as those that did not. The simple task of keeping daily food journal
helps to create awareness about what and how much we eat. The one I use is
myfitnesspal.com. It’s free and once you’re comfortable using the app it won't take you
more than three minutes per day. 2
4. Do multi-joint movements. Isolation exercises like biceps curls, lateral raises, and leg
extensions have their place but not for someone seeking fat loss.
5. Put away the pink dumbbells. The biggest myth in the fitness industry is that doing
high repetitions of exercises will somehow “shape” a muscle. It doesn’t work like that.
No matter how low or high your body fat, you won’t look healthy and fit without welltrained muscle. Well-training muscle comes from lifting challenging weights.
6. Eat breakfast. Breakfast at noon doesn’t count. Try to eat within 30 minutes of waking
up. Be sure to include high quality protein and vegetables. Eating breakfast will help
you feel full throughout the morning and ward off cravings for carbohydrate-laden foods
later in the day.
7. Mix up the cardio. When your cardio always consists of 30 minutes on the elliptical at
Fab 50: The 50 Best Fat Loss Tips
the same intensity, your body will become efficient at that type of cardio. This is great if
you want to compete in an elliptical competition, but not great if you want to lose fat.
Keep the body guessing for your cardio workouts. Good options include jump rope,
burpees, battling ropes, or stair running.
8. Be realistic. If you have four holiday parties in the next two weeks, it may be unrealistic
to swear-off dessert. You’ll most likely cave and end up eating more than you would
have eaten in the first place. A realistic goal would be having only one dessert at each
party.
9. Tell others about your goals. Whether via social media or in-person, tell many people
about your new fat-loss endeavor – preferably without being annoying. The more people
that know about your goal, the less likely you’ll be to back out when things get tough.
10. Do intervals. Interval training is a fast, effective way to burn calories and keep your
metabolism revving throughout the day. Try a 1:2 work to rest ratio. For example, 30
seconds of intense biking, followed by a minute of easy spinning.
11. Eat protein. Especially after a workout. Your body uses more calories to digest a gram
of protein than a gram of fat or carbohydrates. The best sources of protein are dairy
products, fish, eggs, lean ground beef, lean turkey, beans, nuts, soybeans, and chicken
breasts or tenderloins.
12. Put yourself in a calorie deficit. If you want to lose weight, you have to be eating
fewer calories than you are burning. The best way to track this is with the use of a food
journal app like myfitnesspal.com (see Tip #3 above). A deficit of 500-1000 calories per
day is optimal for healthy weight loss.
13. Don’t severely restrict your calories. I put this immediately after #11 on purpose.
Being in a calorie deficit doesn’t mean you starve yourself. I have seen too many
people, especially women, severely restrict their calories. This works in the short term
for weight-loss. Long-term, it leads to decreased muscle-mass, over-eating, and a
Fab 50: The 50 Best Fat Loss Tips
critically reduced metabolism.
14. Eat vegetables. I’m sure you’ve heard this one. But, it’s too important to leave it
unsaid. Vegetables have nutrients, fiber, protein, and complex carbs. They promote
satiety. Find ways to incorporate veggies into every meal. Try spinach and onions with
your eggs in the morning or make enough steamed broccoli so you have a few days of
leftovers.
15. Eat fiber. Fiber not only makes you feel fuller longer, but it also helps to flush out your
digestive tract, facilitating healthy digestion. The best sources of fiber are legumes,
nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains (try to go with whole grain, not multigrain).
16. Eat dark chocolate. When you feel the need to have something sweet, reach for the
dark chocolate. Milk and white chocolate have a lot of added sugar, milk, and calories.
Plus, the health benefits of dark chocolate, like lowered blood pressure, are nullified by
the presence of milk. Look for the dark chocolate with 65% cocoa content or higher and
just have 1-2 squares.
17. Don’t dwell on what the scale says. Although the scale can be a good measure of
progress, it’s often misleading. It doesn't factor in your body fat percentage or the
amount of water you are retaining throughout the day. Try taking circumference
measurements, body fat percentage, or my personal favorite: noticing how your clothes
are fitting.
18. Know why you want to lose weight. Knowing why you are working out is essential.
Not just the superficial reason like wanting to look or feel better, get down to the real,
root motivator. Things like not wanting to die or get diabetes, wanting your spouse to
find you more attractive, or to have the confidence to ask out the cute guy/girl that works
at the coffee shop. Think through why you want to lose the weight and how you plan to
maintain it once you get there.
Fab 50: The 50 Best Fat Loss Tips
19. Develop lifelong healthy habits. Exercise has to become a regular part of your life, for
the rest of your life– not just until you reach your goals. We’re talking at least 3x/week.
It can’t be a 90-day weight-loss workout plan or an 8-day juice diet. Those never work
long-term. You’ve got to make changes and be determined to stick with them for good.
20. Don’t eat out of a bag or box. When you eat out of bag or box it is hard to gauge how
much you are eating. It’s even worse when you’re doing something else like watching
TV or facebooking while eating out of a bag, as you’ll be unaware of how much you are
putting into your body. If you feel the need to have a something snacky, put it in a small
bowl or on a small plate.
21. Have a healthy diet mentality. The human mind is very powerful. Telling yourself and
others that you don’t like veggies and chicken breasts makes it much harder to eat
veggies and chicken breast. Try telling yourself that you like the taste of nutritionally
dense foods and watch what happens. Trust me.
22. Stick to the plan...90% of the time. Come up with healthy meals that are reasonable
for your life and stick to them 90% of the time. You don’t have to eat perfect 100% of the
time. Parties, stressful days, dates, and events make it difficult to eat healthy all the
time. Instead of stressing yourself out and feeling deprived, enjoy the meal and stick to
small portions.
23. Eat every two or three hours. Studies have shown that it doesn’t matter when you eat
your calories throughout the day, just how much you eat. However, eating snacks
throughout the day helps to prevent overconsumption later in the day. For example: 10
almonds and ½ cup of raspberries; an apple & two tbsp. almond butter or peanut butter;
carrots and ¼ cup of hummus.
24. Eat carbs around your workouts. When you consume carbs around your workouts,
the carbs will be used as energy instead of being stored as fat. Fruits and veggies are
excluded from this.
Fab 50: The 50 Best Fat Loss Tips
25. Eat healthy fats daily. Eating food with fats will not make you fat. Over-consuming food
is what makes you fat. Healthy fats play a vital role in your health and digestion. Great
sources of healthy fats include avocado, salmon, olive oil, eggs, fish, and almonds.
26. Limit liquid calories. 400 calories from liquid isn’t as filling as 400 calories of solid
food. Most calorically-laden drinks are full of sugar and artificial additives. You’re better
off sticking with water. You can try adding fresh fruit like lemon, lime, or strawberries to
add some flavor.
27. Whole foods >>> supplements. We should be able to get all of the nutrients and
energy we need from our diet. Eating an orange to get your vitamin C, for example, is
better than popping a couple of Vitamin C pills.
28. Preparation is key. Plan your meals at the beginning of the week. This does two
things for you. First, it will prevent you from buying things you don’t need. Second, you
will be more inclined to make healthy meals after a long day when they are already
planned out.
29. Eat a variety of foods. Eating healthily need not be boring and bland. It should be
exciting and tasty. If you stick to the same thing all the time, you could be missing out
on major nutrients not included in your staple foods. Branch out and try something new
every week. You’ll never know if you like it, until you try it.
30. Don’t grocery shop on an empty stomach. Eat a small snack before you go. You’ll
buy less and buy smarter. It will be better for your waistline and your wallet.
31. Shop on the perimeter of the grocery store. Most stores keep their produce, dairy,
meats, and healthy items around the perimeter of the store. The inside aisles tend to
have items with much higher sugar content and unnecessary additives.
32. Develop staple meals. Find 4-5 healthy, easy meals that you can always fall back on
when you don’t feel like cooking. They should be simple, contain lean protein and
veggies, and be cost-effective. During busy weeks, make these meals to lower your
Fab 50: The 50 Best Fat Loss Tips
stress.
33. Drink smoothies. Add protein powder, a veggie (spinach or kale), almond or soy milk,
and some type of frozen fruit. These are great for when you’re on the go and don’t have
time to sit and eat a healthy meal. Check out this article for more info.
34. Don’t make alcohol a daily thing. It has no nutritional value and a high caloric content.
Reserve alcohol for special occasions.
35. Front-load calories in the morning if you tend to overeat at night. If you don’t get
enough calories during the day and you come home ravenous in the evening, you are
more likely to binge or overeat. Eating a large breakfast with complex carbs, protein,
and veggies will set you up for a day of healthy eating.
36. No cheat days. Having a planned cheat day leads to overeating. Plus, cheat days
show that you’re viewing your newfound healthy habits as a diet. This doesn't mean you
can’t enjoy the foods you love, but you shouldn’t have a planned day to eat terribly.
37. Eat in, not out. Eating out is convenient, fun and social. You can’t escape life, but you
can choose to make your meals most of the time. Make eating out a special occasion
instead of a daily occurrence.
38. Eat high-quality grains. Gluten-free diets are trendy right now, but that doesn’t make
complex carbs any less important. Very few people are truly gluten-intolerant. Glutenfree products often have more additives and sugar than products containing gluten.
39. Don’t put too much faith in organic. Organic is great. But organic butter has just as
much fat as non-organic. People mistakenly assume that organic equates to fat-loss.
An organic calorie is the same as a non-organic calorie when it comes to losing body fat.
40. Do circuits. When you combine 3-6 exercises without resting in between, it creates a
spike in your metabolism. Try alternating between upper and lower body exercises.
41. Expect to fail sometimes. Having a bad day or a bad meal is ok; it’s going to happen.
The key is to get back on the proverbial horse.
Fab 50: The 50 Best Fat Loss Tips
42. Practice mindfulness. Become aware of how emotions affect you. Realize the
emotions are real, but they do not have to control you. Choose to react in a positive
way. If you practice this enough, it will become a habit.
43. Chill. Learning how to rest well is crucial for fat-loss success. Being well rested
ensures you have great workouts and keep stress levels low. This means you need to
do things that help you relax each day. It can be anything from reading to taking a bath
to meditating or going to for a leisurely walk.
44. Avoid the comparison trap. There will always be someone
leaner/smaller/tighter/harder, so you will never win. And even if you did “win,” you would
only realize that it’s not fulfilling. Your goal is to be the best version of yourself.
Constantly better yourself without worrying about what others are doing.
45. Fake it ‘til you make it. It’s okay to go through the motions. There will be days when
the last thing you want to do is go to the gym. Go. Push through your workout and get
through all of your sets and reps. You’ll feel much better afterwards. A huge secret to
success in fat-loss is continuity. You can’t have continuity in your workouts if you only
workout when you feel motivated.
46. Don’t overdo ab exercises. “Spot-burning,” or the theory that you can burn fat in
specific areas by working the muscles in that area, is a myth. You can burn fat in the
abdominal region by lifting heavy weights and eating right. The abdominal muscles
need just as much time to recover as any other muscle in the body, so don’t train them
more than every other day.
47. Eat more fish. Aim to eat fish twice per week. If that isn’t realistic, take a fish oil
supplement to ensure you’re getting Omega-3 fatty acids. Fish oil has been shown to
help reduce body fat. 3
48. Stay fad-free. There will always be someone claiming that food X should be eliminated
from everyone’s diet if they want to lose fat. This isn’t realistic; nor is it effective.
Fab 50: The 50 Best Fat Loss Tips
Moderation is the key to consistency.
49. Read the ingredient list. If it has 50 ingredients, it’s probably not the best option. Try
sticking to less processed products with fewer ingredients.
50. Keep healthier foods at eye level in the fridge. When you open up the fridge for a
snack or to cook a meal, you are more likely to go with what you see first. If you see
fruits and vegetables first, you’ll eat those. Out of sight, out of mind.
Bonus: Don’t follow the media’s advice on food. I constantly see the media misconstruing
and over-exaggerating study findings on everything from white rice to red meat. The more
attention they get, the more money they make. They don’t write articles about “the best foods to
destroy belly fat” because they have the answers. They write those article because it’s what
people want to read. There are no short-cuts. Find trusted sources for information, like
eatpraysweat.com ;) and stick with those!
References
1. Babauta, Leo. The Power of Less: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the
Essential-- in Business and in Life. New York: Hyperion, 2009. Web.
2. Kaiser Permanente. "Keeping A Food Diary Doubles Diet Weight Loss, Study Suggests."
ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 8 July 2008.
<www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080708080738.htm>.
3. "Anti-obesity Research Exercises the Good Oil." Anti-obesity Research
Excercises the Good Oil. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2014.