Fat Loss Basics
There are many different ways to go about fat loss, from the drastic cutting back of calories typically at the expense of muscle tissue, to increased cardio training, the use of thermogenic supplements, and low carb diets. Obviously the more time we have to achieve our fat loss goals the better as there is more likelihood of retaining more of that hard earned muscle tissue whilst also being able to avoid some of more hardcore and undesirable dieting tactics.
Late Spring, early Summer is the time of year when most people's goals turn from muscle and strength gain, towards focusing on getting lean and toned for summer. If you’ve followed a good diet and training routine and kept yourself relatively lean during winter than it may just be a simple adjustment of calorie intake or an increase in cardio that is required to get you into “beach” readiness. But if you’ve let your training and diet slip, or if your only just resuming training again after a winter hibernation, more drastic measures may be required.
Unfortunately there isn't a magic bullet for fatloss, nor are there any products that work effectively without exercise. However if you are training regularly, and are prepared to eat appropriately, there are a few ways to help enhance and accelerate the body's rate of fat burning. I’ll focus on some of the more proven and effective fatloss plans.
A little bit of Maths:
First a simple formula that can help you plan your diet and training:A simple formula for estimating how many calories you need to cut back on is that for every 3,500 calories that you don’t eat or that you burn up through exercise, you will lose 500g of fat. For example, to lose 500g of fat per week you would need to have a daily calorie deficit of 500 calories (500cals x 7 days = 3500 cals), which can be achieved in several ways.
This calorie deficit doesn't necessarily mean 500 calories off the levels of calories you are currently eating. This reduction should be off your maintenance level of calories - or the level of calories required so that you are neither gaining weight nor losing weight. This can be found out quite simply by keeping a food diary for a month or so and calculating the calories required to maintain your weight. A food diary is a vital component to any dieters success and makes it much simpler to measure what is working best for you. It is also a good way of keeping yourself on track as you are less likely to cheat on your diet when you are writing down everything that you are eating.
Another way you can also roughly work out your maintenance calorie intake is by multiplying your bodyweight (kg) by 20, and then multiply by your daily activity level of either
1.2-1.3 for Very Light (bed rest)
1.5-1.6 for Light (office work/watching TV)
1.6-1.7 for Moderate (some activity during day)
1.9-2.1 for Heavy (labor type work)
i.e. bodyweight 80kg x 20 x 1.6 = approx 2560 calories per day
Personally I recommend to use a food diary for at least a month, as this will give you a more exact amount of how many calories you require. It will also help show up any possible problems or areas for improvement in your diet, as well as providing a useful tool for looking back at further down the track.
Cutting Back on Calories:
This is the first choice for many as it seems the most obvious. A restriction in calories seems like a good idea as you will be burning more energy than you are taking in and therefore lose weight. Initially results may seem quite good as weightloss may come quite quickly. Unfortunately this will soon slow until you have to drop your calories even further to affect further weight loss. When you do eventually stop this type of dieting you soon realise that you may have lost weight but not the type of weight you were after. The body reacts to a drastic reduction in calories by effectively going into survival mode. This is where it tends to store whatever food you are eating as it thinks it will require it later on for fuel, and burns up your muscle tissue (protein) instead.Typical of many a crash dieter, the main weight lost is muscle tissue. This has a double edged effect as the more muscle tissue you have the higher your metabolic rate or the more calories your body burns. By losing muscle tissue you are lowering your metabolic rate - this causes the rebound effect that occurs when people finish dieting as they tend to resume their regular calorie intake and rapidly pack the weight on as they don’t require anywhere near as many calories.
Resistance Training and Aerobics:
To maintain a lean, toned physique, combining both resistance (weight) training and some form of aerobic/cardiovascular training is best. Resistance or weight training helps to increase your lean muscle mass, hence increasing your metabolic rate and making your body more efficient at burning calories and bodyfat. Aerobics - running, swimming, cycling etc - helps the body to burn calories during training whilst also offering the benefit of an increased metabolic rate for some time following the conclusion of the training. By increasing the amount or intensity of aerobic training you can effectively burn more calories and hence increase your calorie deficit.Thermogenics:
Thermogenics probably offer people the most common "quick fix" fatloss tool, effectively allowing the user to lose fat without having to change their diet or training. Thermogenic means heat producing or fat burning and thermogenic products are designed to increase the body’s core temperature, increase the metabolic rate, and accelerate calorie expenditure.The ECA Stack:
Traditionally thermogenic products followed the ECA stack - Ephedrine, Caffeine, Aspirin.
Ephedrine is a powerful thermogenic, and Central Nervous System (CNS) stimulator that can contribute to rapid fat loss. Unfortunately it has a few negative side effects, namely can cause heart palpitations, shaking, nervousness and anxiety, and as such is classified as prescription only medicine in NZ, and it has been recently reclassified in the USA.
Up until recently, thermogenics available in the States typically contained MaHuang (contains ephedrine), whilst products in New Zealand contain Citrus Aurantium (Synephrine). The ECA stack is becoming increasingly unpopular in the USA, due to the supposed side effects caused by Ephedrine, so many sports nutrition companies have ceased production of ephedra based supplements, instead focusing on producing effective ephedra-free fat loss supplements without any harmful side effects.
Citrus Aurantium
Citrus Aurantium is referred to as the “calmer cousin” of ephedrine as it offers similar thermogenic properties but without the effect on the CNS. Products should provide about 200-400mg of Citrus Aurantium standardized to 6%- 10% Synephrine - this will provide approx 20-40mg Synephrine. Products containing MaHuang will typically provide 20mg ephedrine.
Caffeine
Caffeine is typically added as when combined with ephedrine and synephrine, they work synergistically together to produce greater benefits than if each one were used separately. Caffeine also offers good thermogenic properties as well as stimulating adrenaline release. Guarana is often used instead of caffeine and this typically contains 22% caffeine. Around 200mg of caffeine is recommended for best results (a 10:1 ratio of caffeine to ephedrine/synephrine).
Aspirin
Aspirin is added as it helps thin the blood and can enhance the effects of thermogenics. Aspirin is commonly found in thermogenic products in the form of White Willow bark which contains salicylates (aspirin). Around 100mg of aspirin is recommended or 400mg White Willow bark standardized at 4:1.
Other common ingredients:
Along with these three ingredients, sports nutrition manufacturers will often combine other ingredients that can be of benefit whilst dieting. These typically include -
• Hydroxy Citric Acid (HCA) - Can also be called Garcinia Cambogia, HCA helps to suppress the appetite and helps with carbohydrate utilisation by inhibiting the conversion of carbs to fat. HCA is also marketed under the name Citrimax, which is a just a Trademark for one particular brand.
• L-Carnitine - An amino acid that transfers fatty acids across cell membranes into the mitochondria where they are used for energy. Basically L-Carnitine can mobilise bodyfat and help move it into the muscle cells to be burnt up as fuel. For best results the use of around 500mg-1000mg before training is recommended.
• Naringin - Naringin, or Grapefruit extract is often included as it helps to prolong and extend the thermogenic effect of caffeine.
• Green Tea Leaf Extract - Green Tea Leaf Extract helps to slow the absorption of carbohydrates, slowing the insulin response. This helps to prevent the sugar/energy spike common with high glycemic or sugary carbs, helping to prevent the storage of carbs as bodyfat. Green Tea also offers good antioxidant properties which can aid in recovery as well as containing a small amount of caffeine.
• Some other less common ingredients that can be included are:
Cayenne pepper - increases body temperature
Chromium - helps to stabilise blood sugar levels
L-Tyrosine - precursor to adrenaline, stimulates the release of stored bodyfat, elevates mood
Cycling Thermogenics:
When using thermogenics it is best to cycle them and only use them for periods of 2-4 weeks. This is to avoid becoming too reliant on them for you training as they can provide alot of extra energy. Often, after extended periods of use, training without them can seem quite difficult, due to the body’s energy levels returning to normal. It is best to use either an alternating day cycle (Mon, Wed, Fri), or a 2 day split cycle (Mon,Tue, Thur, Fri), so that you use them no more than 2 days in a row and no more than 4 days a week.Cutting back on Carbohydrates:
Limiting carbohydrate intake is one of the more popular ways at the moment to assist in losing fat. By cutting back on carbs the body has to utilise protein (muscle) and bodyfat for energy. By maintaining a high protein intake to spare the muscles from being used for fuel, one can effectively burn fat. Another benefit is that, with a reduced carb intake, there is less likelihood of the body storing the carbs you are eating as bodyfat.Typically most people will eat normal carbohydrate levels during the early part of the day, and then either reduce their carb intake or eliminate carbs altogether from 3pm onwards (the last 2-3 meals).
With reduced carb intake comes reduced energy levels. Depending on the extent of restriction, training can obviously begin to suffer. This will usually occur after 2-3 weeks and so it can be best to cycle in 2 week intervals of low carbs and then 2 weeks of maintenance carb intake, then resume the cycle if required. Using thermogenics can help provide the extra energy to train and increase the fatloss potential of a low carb diet and this can mean that carbs can be depleted for longer periods.
Eventually though, one can reach a state of overtraining. This is when you can begin to feel rundown and training starts to go downhill. At this point it is best to resume normal carb intake.
It is most important to ensure an adequate protein intake when restricting carbs, and often it may be that you have to increase your protein intake by 25-50% over normal levels to help maintain muscle. Using protein sparing supplements like HMB, Glutamine and methoxy and ecdysterone based products can also help ensure that you retain more muscle. As I said earlier the more muscle you can retain the higher your metabolic rate and so the quicker bodyfat can be burnt.
