After reading this short post you will be able to burn more fat than the average person by simply using these 5 powerful keys for faster fat loss!

One of my favorite strategies for many things in life is the KISS principle, Keep It Simple Stupid!

Weight loss seems so complicated but it’s really not!  Sure there are tons of advanced strategies mixed in with gimmicks that look like strategies but the truth is losing body fat is a science and it’s pretty clear cut.

Let’s use the KISS principle here to simplify fat loss and get the scale moving as quickly as possible.

Here are five simple but powerful keys to burn fat faster and put things in perspective for you.

1. Law Of Thermodynamics. Fancy word huh!  This is the scientific way of saying that there are 3,500 calories in ONE pound of body fat and in order to lose one pound you need to be in a caloric deficit of 3,500 calories.

Let’s do a quick example with some round numbers to KISS.  If you eat 2,000 calories per day and burn 2,500 calories per day doing things like exercise, brushing your hair, chasing your dog, sleeping, eating, and the big one pushing the buttons on the remote control the that means you will be in a caloric deficit of 500 calories every day.  After seven days you will in the hole 3,500 calories and TADA you burned one pound of fat.

If you want to burn 2 pounds of “pure fat” per week you need to be in the hole by 1,000 calories per day.  It’s definitely possible to lose 3 or more pounds per week if you’ve got more to lose but the lighter you are the less likely that is.

The key to remember is this…quantity matters.  You do have to eat less to lose weight and you must also burn more.  The more active you are the more you burn and the faster you will get there.

PLEASE DO NOT STARVE YOURSELF!  This is a big mistake!  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard someone say “then I just won’t eat, or I’ll just eat once a day”.  Big no no.

This will damage your metabolism and make it even harder to lose weight in the long term plus you will feel like crap all the time!

You can calculate your BMR (basil metabolic rate) and this will give you a ballpark baseline of how many calories you burn at rest every day not taking into account exercise and pushing the channel up button on the tv remote.

BMR = (your weight – body fat in lbs) divided by 2.205 x 30.5

Here is an example of my BMR:

First calculate how many pounds of fat you have and keep in mind this is never going to be zero because then you would be dead.

205 lbs x .08 percent body fat = 16.4 pounds of fat.

BMR = (205 -16.4) / 2.205 x 30.5

BMR = 2,608 calories burned at rest every day!

Start with this number and make adjustments as needed if you’re not losing fast enough.

2. You are what you eat! So you’ve heard the saying you are what you eat.  Does that mean if I eat a pretzel I’ll be a pretzel?  Um based on my lack of flexibility I seriously doubt it.  There is some truth to this thought.  Everyday your body is taking the food you eat and doing something with it. It’s going to be used as energy, used to repair, used to perform daily functions, and the stuff that’s not used is stored as fat.  So does the type of foods you eat matter or can I just eat less and lose weight?

If you eat power foods, foods that fuel your body, lean foods like grilled chicken, healthy foods full of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants,  foods that boost energy and foods that help you metabolize fat then you will soon be a lean, fit, high octane, energy filled fat burning machine!

On the other hand if you eat foods with lots of sugar, saturated fat, calorie dense foods, and foods that slow you down and cause weight gain then you will be tired, slow, fat, and feel like garbage all the time so the saying garbage in garbage out is true and in a sense you do become what you eat.

The answer is yes it does matter what you eat.  The foods you eat directly affects your hormones, blood sugar levels, workout recovery, brain power and so much more.

Make sure you choose high quality foods, fresh foods, natural and organic if possible.  Avoid sugar and processed starchy carbohydrates.  Stick with the lean proteins, healthy fats, lots of veggies, especially the green ones, and a few servings of fruit per day.

Let me put it this way…have you ever watched an amazing athlete on TV like a triathlete doing the swim, bike, run, for mile after mile with a ripped body full of muscles.  Maybe you’ve seen a swimmer like Phelps at the Olympics and thought that was amazing and admired these great athletes for their amazing performance.

Well it’s a fact that if you want to feel like an athlete, have that kind of energy and body you need to eat like one.  The drive-thru is not going to get you there!

3. Thermic Effect & Nutrient Timing. Ok how many times have you heard the saying “eat 5 small meals a day” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard this recycled information.  So is it true, should you eat smaller meals all day long?

Let me put it this way.  In all my years of nutritional coaching I’d say that about 80 percent of the clients I talk to are eating 2 maybe 3 times a day when starting out.  The common breakfast, lunch, and dinner is great but what happens when you go six maybe seven hours with no food?

C.R.A.S.H. You hit the wall that’s what happens.  Here is what most people’s meal timing looks like.  Eat breakfast somewhere around 7am.  Eat lunch around 1:00 and then get home for a late dinner around 7 or 7:30 pm.  That is six or seven hours between meals.

Is that bad?  Yes, but why?  First you will “bonk” (new term I learned from cyclist meaning to hit the wall).  Your energy will fade and fade fast.  What about for weight loss?

There is something called the Thermic Effect of Food (TEF) which is approximately a 10 percent spike in your metabolism every time you eat for the purpose of digestion.  When you eat your body increases energy expenditure during the digestion process so if you eat more frequently you spike your metabolism more often.

The key is to eat less, I’m going to say that again, eat less.  You can’t eat the same three meals and then add two more meals per day then you’ll gain weight.

Eating 3 meals and 2 snacks a day is a great place to start out.  This will also increase the likelihood of using that smaller meal as energy verses storing it as fat.  This is one of the main benefits of nutrient timing being more frequent with smaller portions.

So here’s a short summary of a few benefits to eating less but more frequently.

Hotter Metabolism (TEF)

Stable Energy Level All Day

Burn Calories (energy) Instead of Storing Them As FAT

Control Hormones Especially Insulin

Better Performance During Workouts Or Chasing the Kids Around The House!

4. Workout Frequency and 5.  Rest. I’m combining the last two keys together because they tie in perfectly.

Ok so this is a very, very, very popular question that I get a lot.  It normally goes something like this “so how many times a week should I workout for best results?”.  Ummmm that is a million dollar question that depends on a few major factors.

How in shape are you now?

Are you sore all week?

What type of workout are we talking about?

How long are you workout out for?

Are you under a ton of stress?

Do you feel tired all the time?

Does your body ache all the time?

Are you not losing weight?

How often do you turn the TV remote by more than 5 channels. LOL.

There are a lot of variables so let me simplify this with a few good tips.  Obviously more is better up to a point.  The more you move the more calories you burn the more weight you lose.  Example biggest loser!

But…

You can over train, meaning workout too much.  Let me stop here for a sec and say that most people don’t over train when it comes to weight loss so before you think “Oh no!  I better back off to 2 days a week because I don’t want to over train” I wouldn’t worry to much about it.

As a rule of thumb if you are really sore then rest.  Try to have a minimum of one day a week of pure rest and if you need more than have 2 days of rest.

Mix your workout intensity up.  For example, most our clients who come to our high intensity fat incinerating boot camps go about 3 days a week so they are burning 500 – 1200 calories per workout.  I know WoW, it’s pretty insane!  Or beast! (new word).

I tell them to do an additional two days a week on top of that with something light like walking, jogging, cycling, swimming, or flipping the remote control on the TV for over 100 reps.  Sorry I don’t know why I’m stuck on that idea I guess I’m still burned by my cable provider and how slow the dvr is so I can’t flip as fast as I want to. I did check the batteries it’s not that, the box is slooooow, flip…wait…flip…wait…urrr.  I like to watch two sports at the same time.  Anyway…

So the key is to have about 3ish high intensity days, 2ish low intensity days, and 1-2 full rest days.  This is a great place to start.  Make sure you pay close attention to your body, soreness, aches, and add more rest as needed to recover.

One day is better than none.  Two is better than one.  Three is better than two.  Four is better that three and Five is great with 2 of those being lower intensity days.  Stay moving.

Here would be an example schedule for our campers.

Monday: Boot Camp “wow I feel great”

Tuesday: Boot Camp “crap I’m sore and tired”

Wednesday” Bike Ride Medium Pace 30 minutes.  “Awe feeling good”

Thursday: Boot Camp “I’m conquering the world baby!”

Friday: Rest “I feel like sleeping in today, tell my boss I’m sick”

Saturday: Jog 20 minutes “Yes, great way to start my day feeling good”

Sunday: Rest “Hallelujah I did it and I can’t believe tomorrows Monday again!”

See!  Fat loss is not that complicated.  It just takes some planning, discipline, and fortitude.

I’ve seen thousands of pounds fly off my amazing clients over the years and I can tell you the one thing that separates the Losers (meaning those that lose weight and keep it off) from the Non-losers or Gainers, is this…drum roll please….

Is the “4D”s.  Yes, the D’s meaning

Desire, must be strong.

Discipline,  gota have it.

Determination, everyone faces setbacks if you’re determined you’ll find a way to get back on track and…

Diligence meaning you’re not going to stop until you get there.  “Winners Never Quit and Quitters Never Win!” -Vince Lombardi

If you’ve never been to our crazy fun indoor fat burning fitness boot camps then click here for a trial but be very careful we have the most addicting fitness program that may cause rapid body transformation and positive changes in your life!  Enter at your own risk!

If you liked this post share it or like it below!