I get loads of emails from guys who are training hard, doing plenty of fitness… but still can’t shift the belly or stubborn side fat.
The easy advice would be the old “calorie deficit” one.
That’s partly true.
But here’s the thing: your body is just a byproduct of your habits.
Your standards at your most average.
So if you’ve been spinning your wheels, here’s some of the real reasons you’re not losing fat or seeing the definition you want:
1) Drinking your calories.
Juice. Fancy coffees. Milk. Too much booze. These aren’t the habits of guys who look good with their shirts off.
It’s way too easy to consume more energy than your body burns through food alone never mind drinking your calories too.
Simply cutting out all the calorie dense drinks is the low hanging fruit for a lot of guys to see almost instant results in fat loss and more definition.
2) You eat well all week then behave like a nob at the weekends.
Lean and healthy people still enjoy their weekends and eat or drink a bit more.
They’re just good at picking and choosing where and when they do it.
They don’t get to Friday and let the whole weekends food and drink choices go to shit.
They’ll still aim to get enough protein and stay active even if just doing stuff with their kids.
And they don’t need to ‘start again on Monday’.
3) Snacking too much on “healthy” foods like nuts or even low-calorie treats.
All foods have calories. Even ‘super foods’ like nuts an seeds are way more calorific than some ‘junk foods’. Nuts, seeds, avocados are great for you. But only in small doses. Fat sources have more than double the calories than proteins or carbs.
And then a lot of the time you’re probably snacking through habit, boredom, low energy, stress or anxiety… But your body isn’t physically hungry.
This means you’re just putting energy down your gub when you don’t need it. So you’ll store it as fat. Rather than give your body a chance to tap into your fat stores as fuel.
Try embracing some hunger pangs between meals.
It’s healthy for you.
4) You’re not eating enough protein.
I could talk about a bunch of research here but I’ll just say I don’t know any guy who consistently hits his protein target who doesn’t see the fat melting off him like shit off a shovel.
Or has a hard time staying lean.
Get enough protein – that’s somewhere between 1.6-2g per kg of your ideal bodyweight.
5) Or getting enough fibre from colourful fruit and veg.
Fiber fills you up too, but equally of importance is the health of your gut microbes, and that comes down to having diverse plants in your diet.
A healthy gut is strongly correlated with less cravings.
6) You avoid even slight hunger pangs instead of embracing them.
Hunger is completely normal. In fact it’s a sign that your about to start tapping into your fat stores for fuel. So stop losing your shit and looking for snacks or food as soon as you start feeling hungry.
7) Assuming your diet isn’t that bad (it really is, mate).
So many guys who come to work with me say things like “my diet’s actually not that bad, I think it’s really just the workouts I need improved”.
Wrong.
Almost all of them who are willing to learn and make improvements end up totally changing their mind on that (hard to argue once a leaner, stronger body is staring back int he mirror).
Never assume your diet is good enough.
8) You eat too many meals til the point of fullness or feeling stuffed.
The elder people of Okinawa (one of the worlds blue-zones) have this saying of eating until 8/10 full.
They know it’s not healthy to eat until the point where you feel stuffed or bagged up.
So they don’t.
It’s cultural to leave a little room in their belly at meal times.
At least it used to be until the rise of western diets start having an increasingly detrimental impact.
But the practice works great for fat loss (along with good nutritional principles) and I have lots of my clients embrace it.
9) Scoffing the kids’ leftovers.
Need I say more? Stop it.
10) Not walking enough.
Guys who are more active tend to struggle less with their weight and have an easier time getting or staying lean.
the more low intensity movement you do, the better your circulation and overall health. Your energy is better. Your moods are better. Your stress is lower and you’ll eat less through boredom or cravings.
Not to mention you’ll burn more energy.
Shoot for at least 7K steps a day. Ideally over 10K.
11) Looking at “calories burned” on smart trackers and thinking you’ve earned extra food (you haven’t).
These things will sabotage your progress and potentially create some serious eating disorders.
It’s not healthy to get in the mindset of thinking you’ve earned extra food because you did a workout or went a short hike.
Just stick to your standard nutritional goals for each day and you’ll be fine.
12) You’ve been skipping your 5am fasted cardio, before drinking apple cider vinegar, then soaking up the 6am rays of the rising sun.
Ok, that one might be a piss take.
13) Trying to just eat less, instead of focusing on eating better
The restriction mentality can work for guys who are already lean, fit, and have a high level of good nutritional standards and consistent habits.
When you’re in that position all it takes to get leaner is tightening up a little on your food targets and that might just mean cutting back a little or tracking calories macros for a while.
But a lean, fit and strong body is one that needs quality fuel.
Yet a lot of guys try to get in shape by just eating less, restricting calories and getting more active.
That might be good for temporary weight loss, looking like a condom full of peanuts, and becoming a low energy guy, if that’s what you’re into?
But if you want to feel fit, strong, and bouncing with energy as you’re shedding the fat then you’d better focus on fueling your body properly rather than depriving it.
What To Do Now?
Here’s what I suggest:
Pick out the ones that hit home for you.
Stop those behaviour and start doing the opposite.
Consistently.
And you’ll finally start dropping the excess fat and seeing more muscle definition in the mirror.
Now, if you’re nodding along because you recognise yourself in this list, I want you to know:
You just need a plan that works with your life, your habits, and your goals.
That’s exactly what I built my Rebirth program for.
Get involved and in 6 weeks time you’ll see better results than most guys will see in 6 months.
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Dean