After almost 10 years of working as a dietitian and even longer learning about nutrition, I wanted to share some tips for losing body fat, with an emphasis on maintaining that loss too.
This knowledge has been gained through the following:
- Self-directed learning about nutrition, largely starting in 2011.
- Formal qualifications, such as a Bachelor of Nutrition and Dietetics, graduating in 2016.
- Almost 10 years of working with clients. Throughout that time, I’ve refined approaches based on what I’ve seen works well in practice.
- Around 6 years of building the Ideal Nutrition team to consistently achieve these results on a larger scale.
Below are 20 tips that are worth implementing or considering if your goal is fat loss.
- Keep protein intake relatively high (e.g. >1.5g/kg)
Protein is the most satiating macronutrient per calorie. It has a higher thermic effect of food, which has a small benefit for increasing calorie expenditure. It also can help with maintaining muscle mass. Muscle is metabolically active and burns more calories than fat. The practical difference is not huge, but small differences can still be worthwhile.
2. Keep fibre intake relatively high (>25g for most people)
Fibre can help with feeling fuller for longer. Aiming for a higher fibre intake has benefits for gut-health too. And the pursuit of a higher fibre intake likely leads to a diet that is higher in micronutrients and lower in processed foods.
- Outside of extremes, your carb/fat breakdown does not matter much.
Both studies looking at controlled environments and real-world type situations find that on average there is minimal difference in fat loss from lower carb vs lower fat diets. This means it makes sense to just choose an approach that suits you best.
- Since carb/fat breakdown does not matter much, it makes sense to focus more on total calories and protein.
We know that a calorie deficit is required for fat loss, so the name of the game is finding the best way for you to consistently stay in that deficit. Protein helps with muscle retention and satiety, so it makes sense to prioritise that too. Even if you have a preference for low carb or low fat, this knowledge allows you to adjust based on what each day presents you with. - Drink a decent amount of water
Being well-hydrated in general is a good idea. You should just feel better. But drinking enough water can also help with satiety at times too.
- Get good sleep, if possible.
– Getting good sleep can help for so many reasons.
– Decreased cravings
– Reduced time awake and available to eat
– Increased motivation and focus on goals
- While meal frequency doesn’t matter for fat loss, it makes sense to try find the frequency that makes YOU feel your best.
There’s nothing magical about 6 small meals to “speed up your metabolism” or intermittent fasting. When calories are matched, results come out similarly. Instead, it makes sense to focus on whatever approach works best for you.
- In most cases, front-loading or back-loading your calories too much could increase the risk of unintentional overeating. Spreading it out a bit more evenly could help.
While some people might do well with certain approaches such as intermittent fasting, others can struggle. Or alternatively, some people might not be fasting, but just instead put a large percentage of their calories in a small portion of the day. If you find yourself struggling and/or unintentionally overeating at certain times, it is worth adjusting how you distribute your food. - Implement some aspects of volume eating where you choose slightly higher volume, lower calorie options a bit more often.
Volume eating can be a helpful tool for feeling fuller while on reduced calories. It can be taken too far, which is why I say “implement SOME aspects” of it. But if you are not utilising it at all, you could be leaving some easy wins on the table.
- Aim for >500g fruit and veg per day. Ideally more.
This is partly for satiety reasons, partly for fibre reasons and partly for micronutrient reasons.
During a deficit, micronutrient intake and fibre intake can unintentionally drop. This is even more relevant if you noticeably reduce your food volume. Prioritising fruit and vegetable intake can help offset this.
- Be rigid enough to get good results, but flexible enough that you do not feel overly restricted.
Sometimes you need to say “no” to certain things. That’s a skill worth having but it’s also beneficial to be adaptable and flexible. Overly rigid approaches rarely work well long term.
- Take some time to plan meals/snacks
If you do not plan in advance and are struggling with consistency, that is not surprising. Taking some time each week to plan out what you are going to be eating and how/when you are going to get ingredients and prepare that significantly improves the odds of success. - Don’t focus on short-term scale fluctuations
Scale weight can be influenced by a bunch of things like water, glycogen and food weight. Quick fluctuations are rarely representative of fat gain or loss. Instead, it makes more sense to focus on average trends over time. It also makes sense to focus on other markers too such as visual changes or measurements.
- Aim for a calorie deficit that allows you to get lean at an efficient rate, without feeling super hungry/fatigued/restricted.
If you are not losing body fat, then you are not consistently in a deficit. You need to either reduce your calorie intake or increase expenditure. If you take these too far though, you likely will suffer consequences. This can be a tricky balance so finding this sweet spot can improve the odds of success. - Most people aim for far lower calories than they need to get the results they want over the long term.
A lot of people struggling with consistency are also just aiming for lower calories than they need. For example, they might keep going off track because they are really hungry or fatigued. But if they simply added a bit more food, they would feel a lot better while remaining in a good-sized deficit.
- You should prioritise building/maintaining muscle.
This is partly because of the metabolically active aspect mentioned above. But it is also because statistically, people who consistently exercise have much greater odds of maintaining weight loss. Prioritising muscle growth also disconnects the goal from simply trying to lose weight. This also can help increase the odds of continuing to exercise after hitting a scale weight goal.
- Preferentially implement more carbs around training sessions, with a focus of feeling good during those sessions.
Feeling under-fuelled during training sessions can be detrimental for two main reasons. It could lead to worse sessions which could have a direct impact. But mentally, it could also lead to an increased desire to eat more to feel better when exercising. Prioritising intake around sessions can help with both of those things.
- Think of your calories as a weekly budget, rather than just daily.
When you solely focus on the day-to-day, it’s a lot easier to just write off a bad day and think “I’ll just keep going and then start again tomorrow/Monday.” But if you think of it as a weekly budget, everything you do today on top of your planned intake still contributes to the overall week.
- Just because you have gone slightly off-plan, doesn’t mean you should say “screw it” and go even further off-plan.
One of the best skills to develop is being able to just take the next opportunity to get back into consistency when you can. Going slightly off plan is not a big deal. Especially because you likely aiming for a large enough deficit so that a small deviation likely still leaves you making progress for the week. But if you keep building on that, things can get out of hand.
- Aim for good, not perfection. The 80/20 rule can be a solid approach.
Many people are so focused on perfection that they feel like failures when they are not perfect. And this can lead to going off track. Fortunately, nutrition is an area where there are diminishing returns the closer you get to perfection. Being 80-90% of perfection leads to very similar results as 100% perfection. Prioritising being consistently in that 80-90% range leads to much better results than swinging between 100% and <50%.
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