How To Starve Your Fat Cells!

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You are born with all the fat cells you will ever have your entire life. When you “lose” fat you’re not actually losing the number of fat cells you have, but rather just making them smaller. This is because fat cells act as the body’s energy reserves, so when you consume too much energy (calories) the excess is sent to fat cells making them larger. Conversely, when you consume too little of calories the body will draw upon its reserves (fat cells) for fuel making them smaller. Seems pretty simple right? Of course it’s not that simple though! There are many ways you can reduce body fat; however, I am going to share with you the BEST way to do it!

Two key principles you must follow to be successful at reducing body fat the BEST WAY without also starving muscle cells or compromising the nervous system:

  1. You must be in a slight calorie deficit every day- To set a slight calorie deficit you obviously need to have an idea of your calorie needs (basal metabolic rate + activity level.) You can calculate your calorie needs for free by inputting your information at https://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm. Once you roughly know your calorie needs, set a slight daily deficit of 350-500Kcals to make sure you can adequately sustain muscle mass and nervous system needs. Then you’ll need to track your caloric intake to make sure you  stay around your deficit every day. You can use an electronic food diary app, such as https://www.myfitnesspal.com/…my personal favorite.
  2. You must control your carbohydrate intake- The body is programmed to use carbohydrates first for fuel, so if the body is always saturated with carbohydrates it will never resort to fat cells for fuel! Once you know your calorie needs, you can now set a carbohydrate ratio (the amount of carbohydrates eaten out of your total calories.) The idea is to consume just enough carbohydrates to fuel your activity level and muscle mass while staying in a slight calorie deficit.

An example of these principles using my very own carbohydrate ratio: I need to consume roughly 3,750-4,000 calories/day to be in a 500Kcal deficit….I know lucky me! I’m very active and exercise quite a lot, so I set my carbohydrate ratio to 40-45% of my total calories. There’s 4 calories in a gram of carbohydrates, so 45% of 4,000 calories is 1,800,which means 1,800 of my total calories will come from carbohydrates. Divide 1,800 by 4 calories to get 450g of carbohydrates/day.

Now many people are not very active or exercising regularly like me, so here’s some examples of how to set a carbohydrate ratio using the same method above based on your activity level (remember- the body uses carbohydrates for fuel, so the more you exercise/stay active the more carbohydrates you can consume without feeding fat cells.)

Inactive to moderately active person- carbohydrate ratio of 25-30% of total calories

Moderately active person to very active- carbohydrate ratio of 30-35% of total calories

Very active person to athlete- carbohydrate ratio of 35-40% of total calories

Athlete to person not looking to reduce body fat- carbohydrate ratio of 45-50% of total calories

Just remember every one is different, which means there body’s needs are different. The amount of muscle mass you have, your activity level, genetic predispositions, and fitness/physique goals all factor in when figuring out your ideal carbohydrate intake for body fat reduction. Once you calculate your calorie needs, make sure stay in a slight deficit of 350-500Kcals/day and stay consistent with your carbohydrate intake making adjustments based on results. When no results are made, cut your calories down slightly and drop your carbohydrate ratio down to the next lowest tier…or exercise more!

Need help putting together a meal plan that is tailored to your macro needs? We can help! We offer custom meal planning based specifically on your body’s needs and your physique goals. Revisions are made to your plan based on results until your custom plan gets you to where you want to be!

Contact Justin Check at justin@check-yourself.com for more information or to request a meal planning questionnaire to get the process started.

Justin Check, NSCA-CPT,  NESTA-FNC

justin@check-yourself.com

www.check-yourself.com