Hey, hi, hello, my name is Ryan Kassim and I am your Online Health and Wellness Coach. I am here to guide you on a majestic and noble ride..I made that sound classier than this article will actually be..BUT..nonetheless, welcome. Today, I am taking you on The Beginners Guide To Weight Loss.
Now let me preface this. This is really a guide on how to lose fat..which is really what you want, weight has little significance when it comes to fat loss..for realz, but it is useful data.
Phewf, i’m really glad we cleared that up. Now, let’s dive into this shall we?
You may be asking, “Ryan, why is this a beginners guide to fat loss? I’ve been trying to lose fat for years, i’m not a beginner”..well that’s exactly why. From my experience of coaching clients, most people try to start at the expert level of losing fat/weight, but they skip over the essentials.
So buckle up your seatbelt, order me a pizza..just for me, cheese please, and get ready to learn the essentials of fat loss.
THE ESSENTIALS
This is the part in the article where I outline what we’re going to be talking about, high school essay style:
- Form Your Goals/Find Your Why
- Choose Your Diet Preference
- Calculate Your Baseline Fat Loss Calories
- How To Track Calories
- Choose A Realistic Workout Program
- Track Your Results
- Get Started
FORM YOUR GOALS/FIND YOUR WHY
There is a reason this is the first essential..it’s fucking important. Your goals and your why dictate if you will continue when you feel like quitting or if you’ll say “fuck it, we’ll do this next year.”
Your goals and your why should be very clear cut. What’s your goal? To lose fat? Okay, let’s dive into that a little more. Do you have a performance goal? Pull-ups, mile run time, etc. Do you have a time period in which you’d like to accomplish this goal? 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, etc. Do you have a pair of jeans you want to fit into? The more specific you can get the better.
Example: Sally wants to lose fat, her timeline is 9 months from today. To track her progress she will be weighing herself everyday, measurements, progress photos, and judge how she feels overall. While trying to lose fat she will be strength training and doing some group classes during the week. At the end of 9 months she wants to do a body weight pull-up. She bought a dress that she wants to fit into at the end of the 9 months to provide her with more incentive.
Remember, your goals and your why will help you when you want to give up. Write them down on paper, put them somewhere where you can see them everyday, sound cliche? Yep, but it fucking works, so set yourself up to succeed.
CHOOSE YOUR DIET PREFERENCE
Your diet preference. I really don’t care what diet you choose: Keto, Atkins, Weight Watchers, IIFYM, Vegan..they all work..seriously, they do. However, they will not work if you find yourself struggling to sustain it or restrict the foods that you enjoy.
How to choose:
This is the part where you have to do some research, that’s right, you have to do some work. You have to do some research because I can’t tell you which diet is the “best”. The “best” diet is the one that you can sustain, that you can enjoy, that does not require you to rip your own teeth out.
Example: Johnny wants to start a new diet. Johnny loves carbs, pizza, and football. Johnny heard that the keto diet will help him lose weight and fast, however, Johnny read that the keto diet is less than 100 grams of carbs per day..Johnny doesn’t like that. Johnny looked into vegan, however, he learned that he wouldn’t be able to eat cheese..Johnny does not like that. Johnny decided to not restrict his foods and track his calories, that way he can eat a balanced lifestyle while still enjoying wings during football season. Johnny chose this diet preference because it was the most sustainable for him.
List of popular diet preferences:
- Paleo
- Vegan
- Atkins
- Vegetarian
- Gluten Free
- Whole 30
- Ketogenic
- IIFYM
- etc.
This is a list of the most popular diets, you can research them to see which you can resonate with, but, it is not required that you follow any of these diets to lose fat/weight.
CALCULATE YOUR BASELINE FAT LOSS CALORIES
Okay, this is super duper important. This is the section where I teach you how to calculate your calories.
First, let’s figure out your maintenance calories:
Start by multiplying your body weight by 14 to 16. This will give an estimate to your maintenance calories, aka the amount of calories your body needs to maintain its current weight.
Once you get that number, you can then subtract 300 to 500 from that number to get your caloric deficit calories. Caloric deficit = eating less calories than your body needs to maintain its weight. A Caloric Deficit aka the only way to lose fat/weight.
This equation will only give you a baseline for your calorie intake, adjust your calories based on how your body responds. Less calories if your weight does not trend down, more calories if you are losing weight too rapidly, no adjustments if you are on track.
Example: Timmy weighs 165 lbs.
Maintenance Calories
165*14= 2,310 or 165*16=2640
Deficit Calories
2,310 – 300 =2,010
*The greater the deficit = the more aggressive of a weight loss, however, more aggressive does not mean more effective. Too aggressive can affect hormone production and metabolic rate. This shit isn’t a race Seabiscuit, have patience grasshopper.
HOW TO TRACK YOUR CALORIES
Now before you say, “There is no way I am tracking my calories, that is so tedious.”, shut ya butt.
If you have never tracked your calories before I strongly suggest you do.
It is not a forever thing, by any means, but intuitively knowing how many calories you are eating is a skill.
So, do me a favor, track your calories for at least 30 days. If after 30 days you no longer wish to track, that’s okay. At the very least, after 30 days you will have a better understanding of how much you are consuming.
How to track:
I have my clients track their calories using MyFitnessPal, a food diary app on your phone, if you find another one you like, go for it.
Weigh your food using a food scale, yep, weigh that shit. Input your food portion into the app.
Use measuring utensils: Cups, tablespoons, teaspoons, use them to measure your food, especially homemade food.
CHOOSING A REALISTIC WORKOUT PROGRAM
Johnny’s Ripped Abs 12 weeks of SHREDDDDING..take it easy. If you’re new to this, or even if you’re not, choose a program that is realistic to your life. Find a program that will work for your schedule.
Too many people try to jump into the deep end without knowing if they can even swim. Ease into this shit.
You don’t need to do the 6 day a week workout program that GUARANTEES RESULTS..all workout programs work..for real.
Align your goals with your workout program. Want a bigger booty? Find a program that places emphasis on das booty. Want bigger arms? Chest? Find a program that places emphasis on that..but make sure it works for you.
If you can only dedicate 3 days a week to the gym, then that 6 day program isn’t going to work for you.
What to look for in a program:
- Fits your goals/needs
- Works with your schedule
- Realistic Time Frame
- Challenging, but possible
Pro Tip: STICK TO THE PROGRAM. Don’t hop around from program to program. You will get better results when you complete a program from START to FINISH. Trust me, just ask teenage angst Ryan.
TRACK YOUR RESULTS
Tracking your results is necessary when making adjustments to your workouts and your nutrition.
What do you need to track? Good Question.
Weight: Weighing yourself is helpful data that can give you an idea of where your weight is fluctuating. However, the scale is a fickle bitch, so keep your emotions out of it, and use it for its data only. Weigh yourself every day, not once a week, every day. You will see that your weight will be higher some days, lower the other, and the same. Take the average after each week, and compare your weeks at the end of the month to see how your body is trending.
*Even if your weight does not change it does not mean you’re not losing fat, thats where the other measures of progress come in.
Measurements: Measure your body once a month or every 4-6 weeks to see where your body is losing/gaining inches.
Measure: Neck, Chest, Shoulders, Biceps, Waist, Hips, Thighs, Calves.
Progress Photos: Take a photo of yourself facing the camera, from the side, and from behind.
Progress photos can show you that you are still progressing when the scale and measurements say otherwise.
Take progress photos once a month or every 4-6 weeks.
*Feel free to smile.
How you feel: How you feel is important. If you feel good, have more energy, have confidence…then that is fucking amazing, and what it’s all about.
GET STARTED
I should tell you..this shit isn’t going to be easy. You are going to get frustrated. You are going to feel discouraged, disappointed, feel like you’re not making enough progress..that’s okay, it’s normal.
The truth is, this shit takes time. You’re not going to hit your goal in a week..a month, maybe not even a year.
The sooner you switch your mindset from short term to long term, the more appreciative you will be of your progress.
Remember, this is a lifestyle change and consistency beats the all or nothing mindset ANY DAY.
Someone who works out 3 days a week and hits their nutrition goals 80% of the time will see more results than someone who works out 7 days one week and zero the next.
Finally, it is time to get started. This might seem like the “easiest” step, but I really want you to put this into perspective..you are fucking amazing. The simple fact that you WANT to have a positive impact on your health.. is amazing. I don’t care if this is the 709th time you’ve started something..this time is different.
This is the first time you have set yourself up to succeed, like really really succeed.
You have written down your goals.
You have chosen a diet preference that not only fits your lifestyle, but that you will actually enjoy.
You have calculated the amount of calories you need to consume daily to lose fat.
You found a workout program that fits your needs and schedule.
You have done more work than I did my last semester in college ????.
What i’m basically saying is YOU CAN’T FUCK THIS UP.
You can’t, honest. It’s okay if you don’t eat according to plan, or miss a few workouts, as long as you don’t give up, as long as you don’t quit, you will never fail.
