bronco67

the key to getting lean is eating less. Everyone knows that. But actually doing it is tough. I have some general rules I follow and some specific practical things I do to help make it easier.

First thing to do is what I mentioned earlier. Stop thinking about it as weight loss. That implies the "loss" is indiscriminate. When the number on the scale goes down, you're losing water, fat and muscle. How you go about it will determine the ratio. If you just do a bunch of cardio and no weight lifting (or some form of resistance training) you can lose just as much muscle as fat. The idea is to focus on losing body fat. You have to hit the weights at least a couple times a week to let your muscles know they're still needed.

As I said, the weighted backpack walks are awesome for burning calories and retaining muscle. Don't jog. It's for suckers.

As far as eating less goes, I'd recommend tracking calories with an app. I used to be into the macro balance and all that, but I've been staying lean by making sure I get enough protein and having a little extra carbs on workout days. I kind of wing it now, but that's because I tracked for so long that I know how many calories I'm eating daily (ballpark).


Your body doesn't make changes based on what you do in a day, so don't drive yourself crazy worrying about messing up. If you look at the 30 days in a month, and the balance of good eating days compared to bad eating days favors the former, then you're on the right track. Actually, when I've been having a good run of eating well and not having ice cream or pizza, I take a deliberate step back and have those things. I've found that constant forward progress is not possible, so I hit pause for a couple of days. When I get back to it, I find that no progress has really been lost in the tape measurement. But I gained a mental release which is important to keep going. Sometimes, I end up being leaner so maybe there's something to be said physiologically as well as psychologically for that spike in calories being good during a diet.


Practical stuff:


1. fasting. This is the number one way for me to eat less. Starting to eat later in the day makes it easier to hit a calorie target. It never fails for me. I don't religiously look at it as "I can't ingest any calories"...I still have creamer in my coffee or might snack on a couple of grapes, but I just don't eat a real meal until the afternoon (the later the better).


2. Chicken or beef broth. One cup contains 15 calories (a little protein too) and makes you feel like you had a meal. If you feel like raiding the kitchen, just have a cup or two to stave off the hunger.

3. Popcorn is my favorite snack to help with hunger. Low in calories.

4. Meal prep. I don't do it as much as I used to, but it's a good way to know exactly how many calories and protein you're consuming. It only takes an hour for me to make 10 meals. I use either ground beef or turkey, frozen vegetables and either rice or sweet potatoes and pack them in the plastic Tupperware containers. Actually, I might start doing it again soon to push past that sub 10% barrier.

If I can think of any other things I'll keep posting here.

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