by Joel Marion – CISSN, NSCA-CPT
A pound of fat is 3,500 calories.
So, to lose 10 pounds of pure fat, you need to create a 35,000 calorie deficit.
(please realize that 10 pounds of *fat loss* will probably equate to somewhere between 15 and 20 pounds of actual “wt loss” due to the simultaneous water loss that occurs any time you lose fat).
So, a 35,000 calorie deficit, huh? That’s easy. In fact, if you didn’t eat anything for 15 days, combined with exercise, you’d probably burn even more than that and finish up absolutely ripped after only 2 weeks of sacrifice, right?
WRONG.
Your body does *not* like long-term, drastic reductions in calorie intake and simply responds by 1) shutting down metabolism and 2) holding on to body fat, both as a starvation protection mechanism. Therefore, should you ever decide to try something akin to the above, you’d only end up wasting a heck of a lot of time and sacrifice for some pretty crappy results.
In fact, you’d probably end up looking “sick” and still fat. Probably *not* the look you’re going for…
Simply put, creating massive calorie deficits (by not eating, or eating very little) does NOT work for optimal fat loss and physique transformation, and those looking for a quick fix all too often fall victim to trying something so silly in attempt to wake up next week with the body of their dreams.
Bottom line: your body is smarter than these elementary methods, and will very quickly put the breaks on your fat burning efforts in favor of protecting you from starving to death.
So does that mean that the “slow and steady” road is the only path to fat loss, or that rapid fat loss is a dead dream?
Nope! It just requires “smarter” methods that keep you one step ahead of your body, always in “good standing”, instead of repeatedly aggravating it by denying it the nutrients and energy it needs to function.
So how can we be smart about rapid fat loss?
Well, there are a number of ways (that when combined in the most strategic fashion can equate to some incredibly fast fat loss results), but one of the pieces of the puzzle is to create a massive calorie deficit that *actually works* because it’s timed appropriately in conjunction with a time in which your body is very receptive to fat burning.
If you’ve read any of my past writings then you know that I’m a strong believer in utilizing Cheat Days to upregulate metabolism and important fat burning hormones, particularly leptin, while dieting. After all, it only takes one day of overfeeding or “cheating” to bring these hormones back to baseline and put the body back into an optimized fat burning state (while it takes about a week for them to substantially drop off again).
The end result is greater net fat loss week after week while still being able to enjoy your favorite foods on a regular basis. I’ll take that deal.
Given that information, let me ask you a question:
When do you think might be the ideal time to introduce a massive calorie deficit to a diet cycle in order to burn the most fat?
I’ll let you think about that for a minute…
Okay, got your answer?
Well, if you said after a Cheat Day, then you are 100% correct! Fact is, after a Cheat Day, your body is *massively* primed to burn fat. Leptin levels are at their peak, in addition to other important fat burning hormones, and your body is READY and WILLING to use fat for energy.
So, it’s after a high calorie day that you’ll want to create a massive calorie deficit via:
1. minimal calorie intake (i.e. strategic fasting)
2. massive energy expenditure through optimized exercise
Essentially, you’re creating a huge calorie deficit (through both diet and exercise) on a day in which your body is extremely primed to burn those calories as fat AND when metabolism is at its highest point.
Make sense?
The truth is, through proper timing and proper strategy, you really CAN burn a pound of pure fat (and lose even more on the scale) in one day, without silly fat loss gimmicks or fads.
The secret, my friends, is all in the strategy.