Wrapping Up and the Most Important Takeaways

Episode #10 of the course Fat loss for fitness enthusiasts by Theo Brenner-Roach

Here we are at the final lesson of the course.

I hope you’re excited; you now have all the tools you need to make fat loss work for you.

You’ve learned what the calories and macronutrients are and how the energy balance interacts with weight manipulation. You’ve seen how to calculate, adjust, and track your fat loss calories. You’ve also discovered how to use goal setting and mindset to ensure that you reach your goals.

To help you get the most out of the course, here are a few of the key takeaways.

1. A calorie deficit is key but not the only consideration for fat loss.

Whatever diet you may choose to follow, the key to successful weight loss is being in a calorie deficit—that is, eating fewer calories than you burn on a daily basis, for a prolonged period of time.

However, it’s not just as simple as that. To maximize fat loss and minimize muscle, which is important for those involved in fitness, you need to lose weight within the optimal range of 1-2 lbs (0.5-1 kg) per week.

Additionally, there are several steps you can take to encourage the preservation of muscle mass and strength, not to mention the role of macronutrients in improving body composition.

The bottom line is, a calorie deficit is the catalyst for weight loss, and it will not occur without taking into account your rate of loss, your macronutrient ratios, and the action you take on a daily or weekly basis when it comes to how you will look when you have lost the desired body fat.

2. You must track your progress.

It’s so important that you track your progress when losing weight for fitness.

Losing too much weight too quickly will drastically increase the chances of you also losing muscle mass, which means you’ll find it much more difficult to achieve that “lean” aesthetic that is so coveted.

Additionally, if you lose weight too slowly, it will increase the chances of you becoming frustrated with your progress and either giving up or resorting to crash diets in an attempt to get the results you desire.

By tracking your progress, you can ensure that you are losing weight at the optimal rate and maximizing the chances that it is fat being lost. There are a number of ways to track your progress, but the most essential are scale weight and waist circumference.

3. Understand that fitness is a journey, not a destination.

We’ve spoken about the idea of fitness being a journey a few times throughout the course, and this is because it’s so important.

You will spend the vast majority of your time transitioning from one state to another (i.e. overweight to lean), so you must learn to accept yourself as you are in the here and now. If you can do this, you will learn to enjoy each day, safe in the knowledge you are working toward your goal.

Doing this will also help negate the feeling that if you can just reach your goal, everything will be different and that everything wrong will be right. Inevitably, whenever you reach your “destination,” you will want to set a new goal or a new “destination,” and you’ll go back into the journey stage.

Fitness provides numerous benefits, ranging from improved strength and aesthetics to better body confidence, but it is not a cure-all. If you cannot enjoy the journey, you’ll always struggle to stick to your plan.

Summing Up

Now we’ve come to the end of the course. What action will you take? Will you put into practice what you’ve learned and go on to achieve the results that you’ve only dreamed about until now?

I hope you do, and I wish you the best of luck on your fitness journey.

Theo

Recommended book

Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It by Gary Taubes