12 Week Fitness Model Fat Loss: What The Leanest People In The World Do.
One of the things the leanest people in the world do is they measure/monitor their weight and body fat on a weekly basis.
The reason they do that is so they can see how their nutrition and exercise routine is working or not working. With the data that they collect, they can then make adjustments and not get to far behind.
The leanest people in the world know if you don’t measure what you’re doing or how you’re progressing it’s hard to make educated adjustments to your nutrition and exercise routine. It would be like like building a lego set without the directions…you would just kind of wing it without a plan/strategy and hope for the best.
Now, full disclose, some people in the fitness world believe that measuring these metrics on a weekly basis is to much. I obviously disagree, I’d rather measure on a weekly basis so I know what’s going on, that way if something isn’t quite right I can make an adjust before I go to far off track. I highly suggest you do the same thing ;-).
I suggest you use a scale to measure your body weight and body fat calipers to measure your body fat. You can buy both on Amazon. I assume you know what a scale is so I won’t create a link but I suggest you buy this Body Fat Caliper, click here. Or copy and paste this link, https://www.amazon.com/AccuFitness-AM99-Accu-Measure-Body-Caliper/dp/B000QURRUK .
Side note, if you are 30% body fat or over a body fat caliper won’t work, you will need to just focus on the scale.
These are some things you need to be aware of when you’re measuring your body weight and fat on a weekly basis.
First, you need to be aware of what your lean body mass (LBM) is doing.
When you first start out, it’s normal to lose a lot of scale weight that appears to be lean body mass at the beginning. This is NORMAL, this mainly happens because you are losing water weight. Most of the time when people start a new healthy habit or new weight loss plan they lose anywhere from 3 to 5 lbs of water weight at the beginning. That being said, with 35+ year old women who have never really ever workouted before they seem to stay the same weight and sometimes even gain a 2- 3 pounds before they start to lose body weight and body fat. This mainly has to do with their hormones and the fact that their bodies simply resist any change. These kind of people need to grind it out! Don’t be short sighted! Focus on the long game!
Another item you need to be aware of that will miss with your measurements is the amount of carbs and/or sodium you consume. If you are eating less carbs then normal and than the day before you measure you eat a lot of carbs you will likely “gain” (water weight) 3 to 5 pounds. The same thing will happen if you consume a lot of sodium and/or are dehydrated.
If this is you, do not freak out, this weight gain of 3 to 5 lbs just reflects the amount of glycogen and water in your muscles.
Second, you are going to lose some lean body weight :-(.
This stinks on soooo many levels and I have written and spoke to these issues countless of times…but it is what it is. That being said, it should be SMALL DROPS over time. Small drops of LBM over time is somewhat normal and should be expected as you lean out. When you’re trying to get lean as possible, most people…including yours truly, will lose some lean body mass.
The exception to this rule is if you are brand new to working out with weights/resistance training. If you have never worked out with weights before and you’re a quick responder to weight training, you may actually lose body fat and gain lean body mass, which is EPIC…but rare.
Now, if week after week you keep losing lean body mass then something’s wrong! You need to look at your data and make adjustments to your nutrition most likely. Chances are you are not eating enough protein or not eating enough calories. In my experience, 9 times out 10, people aren’t eating enough protein. So, if you’re losing more lean body mass than fat on your weekly check-ins, your nutrition is probably off and you need to tighten up and focus. You’re probably not consuming enough calories in the form of protein, nor are you probably consuming quality calories (too many starchy carbs).
Third, losing body weight and body fat is rarely a linear process.
You will go up, you will go down. Keep your eye on the prize and remember that you are looking for a slow downward trend, kind of like the stock market, not a straight arrow down.
Rarely, in my experience have I seen anyone consistently lose fat and in a straight linear fashion. It is much more common to lose .5% percentage of fat one week, and then .3% the next week, then .4% the following week, then nothing the week after, etc… The point is, you’re looking for a trend over time. It’s not going to be linear, but over the extent of 12 weeks or 16 weeks or whatever your time frame is you’re going to look for a downward trend in both weight loss and body fat.
Fourth, to be successful you’re going to have to have faith, your going to have to be persistent, your going to have to be focused on the fundamentals of your nutrition and your exercise routine.
You need to have the mindset that you’re playing for the long game. You need to think about it as a long term investment, remember we aren’t looking for the next fad diet where you lose a whole bunch of lean muscle and your body fat pretty much stays the same. We’re looking for sustained fat loss over an extended period of time, which will keep your metabolism high so that you don’t have suffer from a relapse.
Fifth, you need to try to remove your emotions from this as much as possible. You’re going to have highs when you lose weight and you keep lean body mass. Likewise, you’re going to feel stoked and excited, the next week you come in and nothing has changed you’re going to be depressed. That’s why it is wise to keep your emotions out of it! You’re looking for a trend over time. If you hit a plateau look at the data and make adjustments. That’s why you track your data, so that you can make wise decisions regarding your nutrition and your training when you hit a sticking point.
Sixth, every week you need to review your data. You’re going to need to go and reconcile what occurred and see what you did in regards to your training and your nutrition. Did you lose body fat? Did you lose to much lean body mass? Did you gain lean body mass and lose fat? Did you gain both lean body mass and body fat?
If you didn’t change and it’s only been a week and the three weeks before you’ve been losing weight and retaining a decent amount of lean body mass don’t freak out continue as is. However if this is the second week in a row where you stalled, you need to look back and ask yourself some hard questions.
Did you really log all your food? Have you been accurate with the way you’ve been logging your food or are you just guessing? So many times when I talk to clients and really get down to the nitty-gritty of why they’ve plateaued it’s because they aren’t logging the alcohol they’re consuming, they’re not logging the bites of ice cream that they’re having, they’re not documenting the condiments they’re putting on their food, etc.
The closer you get to becoming really lean the more these little things are going to make a difference and impede you from getting to where you want to be. Maybe you haven’t been training as harder or as often as you know you should be to continue to lose. You need to use your weekly check-ups as opportunities to reflect on what you’ve done and to get unstuck.
Hope that helps!
Now go be awesome!
KELLEN LAKE – Are you up to it?
PS – Want help? Want a done for you Weekly Check in Sheet that will calculate your Lean Body Mass, Body fat %? Send me your details and I can hook you up :-).
