Want to lose FAT? Look Here First

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I think we can all agree that we see a lot of new posts every day that is pretty much repetitive. I'm making this thread to hopefully get it stickied and help some new comers out before posting a thread.

New Members: Fill out your profile, Age, Height and Weight are the most important.

The Lingua Franca of Fat Loss

Simply put(taken from Wave Length)

- Workout 3 times a week with weights.
- Eat 1g protein / lb lean body mass.
- Reduce calories to lose 1-2 lbs / week.

Since many questions revolve around further details of cutting diets, here is a list of factors that I believe to be of insignificant effect for body composition:

- Cardio and fat burners,
- Meal timing and meal frequency,
- Protein / Carb / Fat distribution throughout the day,
- carb / fat ratio,
- Sodium intake,
- Moderate alcohol intake,
- Use of supplements resp. meal replacements,
- "Clean" food vs. Junk food (sugar and saturated fat).

All these factors should be used as tools to make the diet as convenient as possible. Many people e.g. have an easier time dieting with eating more calories and doing cardio or taking fat burners. Some people like myself have an easier time without cardio and fat burners. In my experience, the end result (body composition improvement) is not significantly influenced. Another example is protein supplements. I e.g. use whey powder to meet my daily protein intake out of convenience. I could just as well get all my protein from other sources. A third example is meal frequency and timing. This tool should be used to reduce hunger as much as possible throughout the day. For some people that means eating 6 times a day, for others it means eating only once or twice a day.

If you want to read up more about this check out the link below:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...#post401681611

Fat loss, in depth

Diet

- Eat healthy and have a deficit, thats it. Eat fish, steak, chicken, leafy greens, other vegetables. If you want you can have a cheat meal, once every week, make sure it is in between your daily calorie intake and your maintenance. Once you learn how to count calories, you can pretty much dial in your cheat meal without taking you off track.

Calorie Counting

- If you don't do so already, it is recommended to start, not only will it help you keep track of your calories and what you put in your mouth, when you hit some type of problem with your diet the first things we will usually ask is "Do you count calories? What is your daily log like?"

Some helpful sites to help you start counting calories.

http://fitday.com/
http://www.livestrong.com/

How do I figure out what my calorie intake should be?

- The easiest way to do this would be BMR x Harris Benedict Equation - 500-1000 calorie deficit.

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/ - BMR calculator
http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-ca...dict-equation/ - Harris Benedict

BMR x Harris Benedict = Maintenance calories (this is roughly how many calories you need to take in daily to stay at your current weight)

Now, minus 500-1000 calories from your maintenance and you should start to lose 1-2lbs per week.

I have done the above and I'm not losing weight?

To quote EJTHOMP

"Wait 3 weeks before making any changes to your diet"

If it has been 3 weeks, and still no change, post a thread, key points to mention when creating a thread.

- Diet (daily calorie intake, and how long you have been on this diet)
- Height, Weight, Age
- Workout Routine

If you have been counting calories, and can look back at your log, we can come close to pin pointing what the problem is.

Note: Usually the first 5-10lbs of weight loss can be the cause of water weight, don't be alarmed you are on the right track.

Tracking my weight

- Get a regular scale, don't spend money on those scales that tell you how much muscle mass you have and what youre body fat is. If you want get calipers from the BB store and get the hang of using it. Or you can visit the "Body Fat Estimation Thread" and members there can give you an estimate.

- DO NOT, step on the scale everyday. Set a day during the week, typically in the morning right after you wake up, do this once a week. Stepping on the scale everyday, will just stress you out as your body weight fluctuates every day.

- USE THE MIRROR, check yourself in the mirror, do you look more toned? Is that belly going down? The MIRROR can give you lots of motivation. If you've been sticking to the diet, working out as planned, you will see results in the mirror.

Workout Programs

Here is a link,

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=115643271

Very informative and should get you started on becoming that sexy beast you want to become. Lift HEAVY, less reps(8-12 reps), 3-4 sets. For big compound movements, like Bench Press, Squats, Deadlifts, Rows, for new comers, for these exercises I would do a 5x5 Riptoe type set/rep scheme.

Supplements

- Whey Protein
- Multi-Vitamin
- Creatine
- BCAAs
- Fish Oils

Note: You do not have to get these supplements, but I find that this combination helps me most on my routine.

Disclaimer: I am no way a professional at weight loss etc..but after countless of hours reading this forum specifically, these tools are what I have learned from members that were once in my position. I thank them all for the countless information that they have provided me. This thread is aimed mostly to those who have a lot of weight to lose, members with 10% body fat, weight loss can get a little more complicated and I don't have the proper knowledge for you guys that are already sexy beasts

This is not the perfect thread, however if you guys have anything extra to add that is important, post here and I will include it somewhere in the main body.