By show of hands: who has gained some weight over the last 2 months and would love to get rid of it?
Thought so.
Here is what happens in most cases: Person joins gym or goes back to gym, cuts calories by 50% or more, starts doing hours of cardio, and buys questionable fat burner.
Sounds familiar?
Sadly, this approach will not only not work, but most likely will make you fatter.
Why?
By cutting calories too drastically and simultaneously increasing your activity level, you are throwing your body into survival mode to which it will respond with the sacrifice of muscle mass and the slowing down of the metabolism to keep you alive. Throw in a fat burner which is really a highly priced caffeine pill and you are looking at adrenal burn to make things really perfect.
Great Maik, so what should I do? Glad you asked.
Step 1. Cut out the booze and the snacks. Please note I did not say limit or minimize, but cut it out. All of it. Water, tea, coffee and diet sodas are fine to drink… Stop snacking and go back to your regular meal frequency; if you need help watch this video by yours truly.
Step 2. Start training with weights. I recommend whole body workouts if your training age is below 18 months or time is of the essence. If you have more time available, think of an upper/lower body split or the all-time push/pull/leg classic. Make sure to set up a progressive overload template, if you are in need of one, you can find some here.
Step3. Once you have a solid two weeks of junk-free eating under your belt, start establishing a slight daily deficit – think 300-500 calories.
Step 4. Start adding 30 minutes of cardio for the first week, and increase by 10 minutes every following week.
Step 5. Do not buy a fat burner.
Follow these steps and you’ll look great by May. Do anything else such as program hopping, trying fad diets, etc. and you will not. It is that simple.
Happy 2017!
Maik