How To Lose Weight: A Complete Recap Of My Mini-Cut
Weight loss is one of the most popular goals in the health and fitness industry.
And it’s not easy!
Losing weight can be very difficult, especially if you aren’t sure where to start or what you should be doing.
Weight loss, along with most other goals related to health and fitness, takes a TON of patience and consistency in order to see results.
And to add insult to injury, there are so many fads and weight loss products out there now that CLAIM to get near overnight results.
Like this ‘weight loss belt’ thing, for example…
But if you’re reading this, I can tell you that you are starting off on the right foot.
I actually just took myself through a “mini-cut”…
AKA - a shorter duration fat loss/weight loss phase.
And I documented EVERYTHING on my Instagram, including my…
daily weight tracking
weekly progress photos
daily step goal
And more!
So if you haven’t checked that out yet, I would definitely recommend it.
If you go to my Instagram HERE, you’ll see a ‘MINI-CUT’ highlight on my profile.
I would definitely recommend taking a sec and going through that if you haven’t yet!
But, I am currently in the perfect position to explain the dos and don'ts of ‘How to Lose Weight’ because I just did it!
As a matter of fact, here are my progress photos…
And here is my weight tracking chart…
So, you might have a few questions at this point.
And my goal is to answer ALL of them in this article.
I am going to outline exactly what I did to lose 5 pounds in just about 5 weeks…
And what you need to do, to do the same.
RATE OF WEIGHT LOSS
So first, some of you might be thinking that 5 pounds in 5 weeks doesn’t seem like a lot.
And I completely understand why.
We hear stories about 50 pound and 100 pound weight loss transformations, so a small 5 pounds can seem like nothing.
It’s important to remember that the general rule of thumb for sustainable weight loss is…
1-2 pounds PER WEEK
Not 1-2 pounds per day.
Not 1-2 pounds per hour.
1-2 pounds PER WEEK
Studies have shown that this rate is the most sustainable rate of weight loss, meaning that you are most likely to lose weight AND keep it off at this rate.
Now this isn’t to say that people don't lose weight faster than this.
People most certainly do. In fact I have people in my online coaching program who have lost weight at a faster rate than this.
If you are starting at a heavier weight, your rate of weight loss can be faster (faster than 1-2 pounds per week) at the beginning of your journey.
But that rate will more than likely slow down eventually.
The last 5 pounds are MUCH more difficult to lose than the first 5 are.
And I started this mini-cut at 171 pounds, which for a 6 foot tall guy, was already relatively lean.
So that is why my rate of weight loss was what it was.
Now let’s get into what I did.
CALORIE DEFICIT
If you’ve followed me for a while, these words might trigger an eye roll.
Because I am CONSTANTLY harping on the importance of eating in a calorie deficit if you want to lose weight.
But I’m going to do it again.
Eating in a calorie deficit…
Which means consuming LESS calories than you burn…
Is the ONLY way to lose weight.
It doesn’t matter who you are, or what kind of diet you adhere to.
If you aren’t eating in a calorie deficit, you will NOT lose weight.
So my first step was to calculate my calorie deficit.
There are two super simple ways that you can do this.
One is to multiply your goal weight by 12.
Here’s the formula…
GOAL BODY WEIGHT x 12 = CALORIE DEFICIT
The other is to use an online formula to find your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE).
Here is a link to a calculator that you can use!
Using a few different factors (height, weight, age, gender, activity level, etc.), the calculator will spit out your TDEE.
The number that the calculator gives you will be your calories at MAINTENANCE.
So once you get that number, anything under that would be your calories in a deficit.
I typically recommend most people start at 300-500 calories below maintenance.
PROTEIN GOAL
Now besides calories, protein is the only macronutrient that I specifically tracked.
There are a few reasons for this…
protein is essential to build and maintain lean mass (muscle)
protein is the most satiating macronutrient, so higher protein intake helps me meet my calorie goal
if my protein is in check, typically everything else is as well
So here is exactly how I calculated my protein goal.
I aimed for…
1 gram of protein PER pound of goal body weight
I started my mini-cut at 171 pounds, and my goal was to get down to 165 pounds.
So I aimed for 165 grams of protein per day.
Very simple, not rocket science.
For most people, this amount of protein daily is going to help them maintain their lean muscle mass while also keeping them fuller throughout the day and helping them stay within their calories for the day.
INCREASED PHYSICAL ACTIVITY (STEP GOAL)
So as I mentioned before, the only way to lose weight is by creating a calorie deficit.
This means, burning more calories than you consume.
And one way to help create this deficit is by increasing your physical activity.
This is SUPER important if you want to lose weight.
Increasing your physical activity can be incredibly helpful at achieving a calorie deficit, because by…
increasing physical activity WHILE ALSO
decreasing calorie intake
It becomes much easier to create a sustainable calorie deficit.
And a great way to increase your physical activity is by instituting a step goal, this is what I did for my mini-cut.
Now unfortunately, there is no ‘one-size-fits-all” step goal that everyone can use.
Depending on your personal activity level, your goal should be different.
Here’s how I typically recommend people calculate their step goal…
First you need to track your steps for 3 days.
Once you have 3 days of step data, you’re going to take the average amount of steps from those 3 days (add all 3 days of steps together and then divide by 3).
Then, add 3000-5000 to that average number. This is your new daily step goal.
Here’s the formula…
AVERAGE DAILY STEPS (from 3 days of data) + 3000-5000 = DAILY STEP GOAL
This sets a step goal that is specifically tailored to you and your current activity levels.
I did this exact same thing to calculate my daily step goal for my mini-cut!
STRENGTH/RESISTANCE TRAINING
Now, don’t misunderstand the fact that I’m mentioning this aspect last as it being “less important” than any of the other aspects.
The strength/resistance training aspect is extremely important.
By getting on a consistent strength training program and focusing on getting stronger with each lift, you will…
build lean muscle
improve your metabolism
improve how you look AND feel
Strength training does burn some calories and contributes to an overall calorie deficit somewhat, but that should not be the ‘goal’ of strength training.
The goal is to get stronger and build lean muscle, which has numerous benefits for weight loss.
The more muscle you have, the faster your metabolism is, meaning you burn more calories at rest.
And typically, the more muscle you have, the better you look.
People with more muscle typically are able to achieve their ‘dream body’ at a heavier weight than they would if they had less muscle.
I consistently strength trained 5-6 days per week during my mini-cut.
You DO NOT need to strength train this often to get results though, I just personally enjoy lifting (weird, I know) so I have structured my program to allow me to be in the gym that often.
All you really need to see great results is 3-5 days per week of strength training.
So, there you have it, a complete recap of my 5 week mini-cut and a step-by-step guide of how to lose weight.
If you follow these steps, you will see great results with time.
But remember, as with any fitness goal, you need to be consistent AND patient with these steps in order to see results.
Take another look at my weight tracking graph, and note how many times my weight spiked or increased day to day…
If I would have quit any of those days, I would not have achieved the results that I did.
So let that be a reminder, to JUST KEEP GOING!
Thanks so much for reading! I hope this helps you and if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out.
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