Struggling with losing those last few kilos? I often get asked the same questions about fat loss and after reviewing their nutrition and exercise log I see the same mistakes made time and again.

Here are a few of the most common mistakes I see people make and how you can solve them…

1. Not calorie counting. To lose weight you must create a calorie deficit through exercise and nutrition. A calorie deficit basically means you burn more calories than you consume. You can’t out train a poor diet, you need to know how many calories you’re consuming on a daily basis – otherwise how are you supposed to know whether you’ve created a calorie deficit? Everyday keep a nutrition log of your diet.

2. Not training consistently enough. When training for fat loss you need to increase your metabolism, the higher your metabolism the more calories you’ll burn. If you don’t train consistently enough your metabolism won’t increase to desired level. Consistent training has a cumulative effect resulting in more calories (fat) being burned. Train a minimum of 3 times per week.

3. Drinking too much alcohol. This one ties in with fat loss mistake number 1 but deserves special mention. Alcohol is full of empty calories with no real nutritional value and will therefore increase fat storage.

Drinking too much alcohol reduces the amount of fat your body burns for energy and while the liver is metabolizing alcohol you’re unable to metabolize fat. If you’re trying to lose fat – you need to completely cut out alcohol.

1 glass of wine (average): 130 Calories
Regular beer: 150 Calories
Pre-Mixed Smirnoff Raw, (all flavors): 230 Calories

4. Not changing your exercise program regularly enough. Ever wondered why you hit a plateau? Typically you need to mix up your program after every 6 exposures. Once you’ve performed the same exercise for 6 times or more in a row you need to;
a) Change the exercise
b) Change the reps
c) Change the sets
d) Change the tempo (lifting speed)

If you have any questions please feel free to post a comment below.

Train Hard!

Dan Clay

Dangerously Fit Personal Training
Personal Training Sydney
Boot Camp Fitness Sydney
Corporate Fitness Sydney

Q. Dan,

Before boot camp this morning I was going to have either an up and go or a piece of fruit about 30 minutes before training – any views?

A. Before training have a banana which is a good source of energy before training, bananas are quickly digested and have a high GI which means they’re broken down into sugar quickly.

Have the up and go after training or even better have a JP+ complete shake (made from plant protein). The carbs will replenish energy stores while the protein will help build lean muscle tissue.

Q. Dan is the sample nutrition plan you sent to us aimed at losing weight or maintaining? I’m aiming for the former.

A. The nutrition plan is for weight loss, multiply your bodyweight (in kilos) by 28 - this is the amount of calories you need to eat to maintain your current weight.

Take 20% off this number and you’ll cause a calorie deficit, meaning you’ll burn more calories than you consume and will therefore lose weight.

Add this to the training that you’re doing at our boot camp which is aimed at increasing lean muscle (muscle burns more calories than any other tissue).

Plus the high intensity cardio part of the boot camp program will increase your metabolism and therefore burn more calories and create an even higher calorie deficit so you’ll lose weight at a much quicker rate.

Remember to re-calculate your new calorie maintenance every week as your weight starts to decrease.

Train hard!

Dan Clay

Dangerously Fit Personal Training
Personal Training Sydney
Boot Camp Fitness Sydney
Corporate Fitness Sydney

I’ve been following one of your programs for 7 weeks, my waist is smaller, my hips and thighs are smaller and my clothes are fitting me better but my weight’s still the same.

Why am I not losing weight?

A.
If you knew when you started training that after 7 weeks your waist, hips and thighs would be smaller and that your clothes would fit you better would you be happy?

I think most people would.

Weight is not always the best way to measure your results, if you look slimmer, your measurements are smaller and your clothes are fitting you better you’ve obviously lost bodyfat.

Above is a picture of 2.2 kilos of fat.

As you can see fat is much larger than muscle, so if you lose 2.2 kilos of fat but put on 2.2 kilos of muscle you’ll be leaner, your clothes will fit you differently but your weight will stay the same.

Don’t get too caught up on scale weight, it’s more important too know how you look and feel than it is to see a drop on the scales.

Here is an assessment sheet we use with our clients, as you can see we use more than way of measuring results.

Train Hard!

Dan Clay
Dangerously Fit Personal Training
Personal Training Sydney
Boot Camp Fitness Sydney
Corporate Fitness Sydney