I've been training clients for some time so have heard all the bulls**t...
"Lose belly fat fast!",
"Drink this to scorch fat overnight",
"Eat what you want, get the physique you desire"
This last one's cherry picked from truth: you can eat what you want and still lose mass in a calorie deficit. HOWEVER, THIS MUST BE DONE WITH THOUGHT, CARE AND PORTION CONTROL. Otherwise you will likely be tracking your calories in order to hit the calorie target, feeling starved after a couple of weeks due to these foods lacking satiety, losing plenty of muscle, and training with lower intensity because regularly consuming high quantities of junk can prompt lethargy due to spikes/crashes in energy (if they are high in sugar, which most impulse choices will be).
Plenty of my money has been wasted on pills, potions, quirky magazine headlines over the years because either I used to believe it or science has evolved, but there's no magic cure or fast-track. You gotta put in the work! Doing anything else is literally prolonging the time it takes to reach your goal and fooling yourself.
That being said, there are THREE ACTIONS you can incorporate TODAY which will have a large impact on your results: -
1. WALK
If a 70kg individual walked 10,000 steps per day, by the end of the year that equates to a LOSS OF ALMOST 24KG or 3.7 STONE!!!
2. SLEEP
A study involving two groups of overweight subjects compared fat loss for those in bed 5.5 hours per night with those in bed 8.5 hours per night. The result? 8.5 hour group lost 55% more fat mass!
3. STOP SKIPPING MEALS
Studies have shown evidence of elevated cortisol levels (stress hormone) when fasting. In this environment the hormone can stimulate sugar cravings and increase addiction vulnerability.
Caveat: some individuals experience positive affects on well-being when fasting including improved digestion, help with fat-loss and clarity of thought if performed in the right context, but the right context is often what separates results from stagnation. Plus the fat loss component still requires a calorie deficit, which you won't be getting when binging on calorific food/drink choices if you can't control your cravings.
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