1: You’re dismissing the importance of overall calories in search of a quick-fix diet with a sexy name.
As obvious as it becomes once you’re following the right crowd of experts in the fitness industry, the simplicity of getting into a caloric deficit for fat loss really feels like a tabloid’s best-kept secret.
But to be fair, the marketing for these diets like keto and carnivore and even the IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros) movement is so good that most well-intentioned people fall prey to the quick-fix claims of “shedding 16 pounds of body fat in one week by switching to the (fill in the blank) diet!”
That’s just not how it works.
But, I promised myself I’d keep this blog short and sweet: Your fat loss results depend almost solely on your ability to eat a little bit less than you currently need while supplementing that lowered food intake with strategic training and exercise to expedite the process.
Let me encourage you to quit diet-hopping and become a student of energy - a student of calories and how those calories (both consumed and burned) dictate whether or not you lose the body fat you want to.
2: You don’t realize how important eating an adequate amount of protein is for maintaining muscle mass while losing fat.
This one speaks for itself, and there’s no use beating a dead horse because that’s a terrible expression in the first place.
Looking back on my own dieting history, I bet there were seasons of life when I was eating less than 50g of protein per day while trying to “get huge” because I thought training was all that mattered.
And although your training is certainly the most important aspect of improving your body composition, your nutrition is extremely important as well - particularly when it comes to protein.
Nowadays, I eat about 150g of plant protein per day, and that makes a big difference for someone trying to optimize their body composition.
Some of my favorite sources are soy milk, Ezekiel bread, chickpea pasta, tofu, tempeh, seitan, plant-based protein powders, and hemp seeds.
If you need guidance on figuring out your own protein needs, click here.
3: You think that carbs “make you fat.”
Carbs don’t make you fat. Too many calories relative to your current metabolic needs make you “fat.”
Eating too many carbs can certainly make you “fat,” but carbs are not an evil fat-gaining entity all by themselves.
You could “get fat” eating nut butters or guzzling beer just as easily.
4: You think that lemon juice “makes you skinny.”
Lemon juice doesn't make you skinny, but if you trade your typical breakfast sandwich and choco-mocha-frappa-latte with 27 pumps of honey and a tower of whipped cream from Starbucks for a glass of tap water with lemon juice (all else being equal), you just might lose some body fat.
Why?
Well, you’d be consuming way fewer calories in that scenario.
Again, your ability to stay in a caloric deficit matters most when it comes to losing body fat, which means your attention to your overall caloric intake is paramount.
Yes, I said paramount.
Lemon juice may have some unique health benefits, but the only “fat-burning power” it has in its superhero repertoire is the fact that it’s essentially zero-calorie.
5: You think that intermittent fasting was invented by magical fat loss leprechauns.
I definitely like intermittent fasting as a fat loss strategy, but I’ve personally not seen any super compelling evidence that something on a Disney level of magical is happening when you skip breakfast.
Does it help a lot of people get into a caloric deficit? Totally.
Have tons of people had fat loss success incorporating intermittent fasting? Absolutely.
Have I personally had success with it in the past? Yes!
Is there even some emerging research on the potential benefits of extended longevity? Apparently!
But it isn’t magical in the sense that it’s automatic.
You can absolutely out-eat your restricted eating window by smashing pizza and beer.
Intermittent fasting worked for me because it more easily allowed me to eat within an overall caloric deficit.
6: You’re unaware that walking can get you shredded.
Setting a step goal is probably the second most powerful bit of methodology you could apply to a fat loss goal.
And yes, I would rank walking above actually lifting heavy weights in the gym. Do I have your attention now?
Better yet, walking can be done doing everyday life tasks like parking farther away from your destination on purpose, taking the stairs, or even setting an alarm on your phone to get up and walk every two hours or so.
Sometimes my wife and I even walk the stairs a few times before bed just to hit our step goal for the day because we know that walking is a powerful tool for fat loss.
If you want further data on that, I encourage you to read the blog I put out revealing my exact numbers for Summer Shredding 2020.
Walking - and no, I don’t mean on a treadmill - was a huge part of the reason I was so easily able to lose my first 10 pounds.
And for an even deeper dive on the powerful benefits of walking, check out this article I wrote called How to Leverage Walking to Your Fat Loss Advantage.
7: You’re convinced you have to lift weights to lose fat.
You don’t.
Obviously, I lift weights and do CrossFit because I enjoy that kind of exercise and have physique goals centered around building muscle, but I realize that’s not for everyone. And it doesn’t have to be!
You don’t even have to go to the gym period to lose body fat.
Don’t overhype lifting weights for fat loss if you don’t like lifting weights.
Keep in mind, however, that you do have to lift weights if you want to build muscle, and it will certainly boost your metabolism over time as you continue to put on lean tissue.
Walking alone won’t be able to accomplish that aspect of the mission for you, but it can be implemented powerfully for fat loss.
8: You think that high-intensity exercise and “lots of cardio” are non-negotiables for getting diced.
They aren’t.
Before I started doing CrossFit, I hated both of those things, but I still lost 31 pounds of fat while obtaining the best physique of my life.
Pretty cool, right? You don’t have to do cardio or HIIT (high-intensity interval training) to get leaner.
Now, does doing a bit of cardio-based exercise for the sake of promoting a healthy heart do a person good? Of course!
To be honest with you, I think just about the healthiest life you can live is one that mixes a predominantly plant-based diet with CrossFit training systems, but this article is about fat loss.
And we’re not talking about general health here. If you’re thinking to yourself right now, “Aren’t being healthy and looking good pretty much the same thing"?” let me point you to another article I wrote called Are Being Healthy and “Looking Hot” the Same Thing?
Here we’re just talking about what it takes to lose body fat, and doing formal cardio just doesn’t have to make the list if you don’t want it to.
9: You’re convinced you can target reduce your belly fat or underarm flab if you do crunches and tricep pushdowns.
Friends, this idea that you can target fat loss from any specific area of your body is not true, and it’s probably one of the most misleading and widely-believed fitness myths out there.
If you want to make your arms a little less flabby, you’re going to have to do the same thing as someone who wants to get a six-pack or a less jiggly bum: Get into a caloric deficit either by reducing your food intake or increasing your energy expenditure.
As depressing as this may be, everyone has a different genetic predisposition to hold and distribute body fat in different areas and different amounts.
This is why being “genetically blessed” is very much a term in the fitness space.
Some people simply hold their body fat in more visually appealing ways.
For example, my body fat likes to hang out on my love handles. Do you think I would choose for it to be that way if I could pick? Probably not.
But it is what it is, and I just have to be patient with the process and know that the squishiness on my sides is going to be one of the last places for the chub to fall off. I can’t change my genetics (as far as I know) and neither can you.
The good news, however, is that getting lean is the great equalizer, so if you’re bummed out about your flabby arms - just keep losing body fat!
Eventually, you will be lean, and if you’ve been training with weights and eating an adequate amount of protein while eating an otherwise healthful diet, chances are you’ll be sporting a strong, aesthetically-pleasing frame underneath it all once the hard work is done.
10: You think fat loss happens a lot faster than it really does.
I was very guilty of thinking this for a long time.
In college, I literally thought I could get lean in probably two weeks, but the reality is that a true fat loss phase should probably last anywhere between 8-16 weeks when you lose at expert-recommended rates of 0.5-2 pounds per week.
Think about that. Using those numbers, it could take you up to 20 weeks to lose 10 pounds when done properly and sustainably.
Are you willing to be that patient?
Long story short, it takes commitment, consistency, and patience to get leaner, and this is why so many people give up on their fat loss goals.
They just don’t give their bodies enough time to change.
11: You’re not aware that your metabolism is adaptable.
This one is complex, but it’s important for you to know that your metabolism can be up-regulated or down-regulated depending on a host of factors including your muscle mass, caloric intake, exercise habits, sleep/recovery, and stress levels.
So, try not to be the person that wields their “terrible metabolism” as an uneducated excuse for an unhealthy lifestyle unless you’ve been diagnosed by a medical professional with a legitimate medical condition.
Summary
So, there you have it! These are my top eleven picks for the most common ways we’ve been wrong about fat loss.
Have you been caught being wrong about any of these things?
If so, don’t sweat it. I was wrong about literally all of these things at one point or another in our early twenties. In fact, it’s a huge reason we launched IVRY in the first place.
We wanted to help honest people achieve exciting body recomposition goals without all of the fitness mythology and fat loss lore we fell prey to for years.
So, just learn and move on like we did.
Thanks for reading, everyone! I sincerely hope you enjoyed the content and learned something.
If you feel like this blog brought you any value at all, consider sending it to a friend or family member!
And, if you're interested in working with me one-on-one, visit The Vegan Gym and apply for coaching. I’ve had nothing but success in guiding people toward their fat loss goals.
Cheers, everyone!
-Andrew
