Yo yo,
Before we begin, have you done your productive tasks for the day? Have you done that homework? Done your workout? Completed your meditation? Have you made your bed? If not, get onto that right after this, or better yet, do it right now!
Alright onto business.
Caloric deficit. In other words, your route to fat loss.
If you don’t know what a caloric deficit is, it’s essentially when you are burning more calories than your body needs to maintain its weight. The result? Ideally fat loss. If not, it’ll also be muscle. (To ensure fat loss: make sure that you’re consuming high protein, training hard, progressively overloading and eating nutritious foods)
Many people have a sound understanding of calories and the notion of what a caloric deficit is, however not many people actually know how to maintain it. This is the key.
If you search “caloric deficit”, the search results will most likely just explain what it is, how to calculate it and some vague tips such as “eat high protein”, “Cardio”, “deficit of 500 cals” and that other stuff.
What they’re saying isn’t incorrect at all, but if that’s all you needed to know, you wouldn’t be reading this right now would you?
So not many people know how to maintain it, and this is what we’ll be going through today.
At the time of me writing this, I’ve been in a caloric deficit (also known as a “cut”) for the past 8 weeks and have lost around 3kg. I could have lost more if I wanted to, but this time (this is my second cut) I’m taking it much slower so I actually feel better.
Today we’ll be going through the necessity of a routine, discipline and sacrifices, timing of meals, preparation, trusting the process, and actionable steps alongside me sprinkling my own experiences throughout.
A change in perspective and mindset
Hunger.
In a cut, you will feel this. It’s normal.
You’re eating less food than normal, so of course hunger is inevitable.
However, it’s how you view and respond to hunger that is the important PART.
I recently saw a clip of someone explaining how it’s useful to change your perspective on hunger. Instead of viewing it as “ah I’m so hungry, I really want to eat.” (This is the natural response after all)
Change it to “this is good, this means I’m burning fat! The caloric deficit is working!”. We are now shifting our mindset as hunger being a bad thing, to a signal of progress.
I’ve been trying it myself and it’s helped a lot. I haven’t made the complete switch, because my initial reaction to hunger is “ugh I’m so hungry”, however I quickly correct myself and say afterwards “No this is a good thing. The fat is melting!”
Keep this in mind. It will most likely take some getting used to, but it’s definitely worth it. If you incorporate this into your thinking, you’re much less likely to give in to those urges and remain focused on your goals.
So i’d like you to repeat this to yourself whenever you feel hungry. Say the words:
“There we go, the fat is burning! Hunger isn’t a bad thing, it’s a sign of progress”
Discipline and Sacrifices
Alright let’s tackle the food aspect.
It’s necessary to be disciplined. Essentially, doing the hard thing especially when you don’t feel like it. This is certainly important within a caloric deficit.
It is likely that you will need to cut out some foods. Some foods won’t be able to fit into your caloric allocations for the day and that’s just how it is.
You need to be able to prioritise long term success over short-term pleasure.
Think about it like this. Imagine you give in to a craving. It could be a doughnut, fast food, alcohol or whatever you choose to give into.
It tastes nice right? Of course it does. It feels nice.
But only for a short period of time. What now?
You’ve just gone over your calories and proven to yourself that you have no self control.
You feel guilt. Shame.
All because you have no self control.
Of course you might tell yourself “ah it’s only for today. I won’t do it tomorrow.”
That’s just cope.
Cope.
You know it too. You’re just coming up with excuses for your shameful actions.
Look, I’m not here to make you feel terrible, I’m just here to tell you the truth. I know from experience.
Every time you give in to whatever urges, you delay your progress. What next? You complain later on that this is taking too long. Or you might even give in to whatever new “fat burning trick” is in trend.
Does it make sense now? You need to prioritise your future success. You need to be able to let go of what’s holding you back.
I know this may initially sound scary and intimidating, but that’s fine. It’s a process. It will take time.
Maybe you’re having donuts every day, or fast food every day for example. Instead of everyday, change it to 6 days. Then 5. Then 4 and eventually go all the way down to 0.
Progress takes time, but it’s definitely worth it.
I believe in you my friend.
Timing of meals
You may notice that you are hungrier at certain times of the day.
For myself, this is most high in the morning.
This is where the timing and allocation of meals is important. As a result of my tendency to be hungrier in the mornings, I allocate a substantial amount of calories for my breakfast, which fills me up for a long time.
This is what I recommend you to do. If you’re like me
Organise food for when you’re most hungry. Could be at night. Could be in the morning. Could be during the middle of the day.
So observe yourself throughout the day, and notice when your hunger peaks at drops. Following this, begin to allocate more of your calories to those particular times to counter this
Not much more to say on this point, quick and simple, but should go a long way for you!
Preparation
By preparation, I mean meal prep.
If you’re really serious about fat loss (again, another term for “cut” and “caloric deficit”) meal preparation will go a long way. It will save you time, reduce the likelihood of falling off on your diet and will always result to you having the calories you need.
It’ll probably be good for you to purchase some meal prep containers on Amazon. Following this, dedicate 2 hours a week on any day to meal prep.
It could only be dinner, it could only be breakfast, a snack, lunch or a combination of all. Personally, I only meal-prepped my dinners and that worked fine for me (I have no problem with making breakfast and lunches every day).
Now today I am not going to give you meal prep recipes for a number of reasons:
1. I do not want to give the impression that these are the best meals.
2. I don’t want you to feel restricted.
3. I’ll explore these meals another time.
4. The purpose of today is to explain the methods to maintain a caloric deficit.
Also, if you’ve already meal prepped, this really decreases your chances of giving in to cravings because no one wants to waste food. So it basically locks you in.
Anyway, if you don’t need to meal prep because you’re able to get your calories in without issue, don’t meal prep. This can just be a useful tool if things get busy.
Trust the Process
This is absolutely essential.
I know it sounds cliche, but you really do need to trust the process. If you’re mindset is good, you have been disciplined, you’ve been meal prepping (if you deem it useful), eating high protein, training hard and all the other essentials…
Then don’t worry. If you have been controlling all the variables that you can, there is nothing to worry about. You’re doing fine.
Big progress takes big time. Don’t be swayed by the fat burners, “get abs in 7 minutes” videos (I used to love those videos and did them in my room all the time) and whatever trend is happening.
I’m trusting the process and so should you. Take a breather and don’t beat yourself up so hard if you’re doing the right thing.
Understand it can be hard.
Actionable Steps
Alright let’s go into some steps that you can implement right now.
1. Remove the triggers in your home. Think about the triggers that get you, it could be cupcakes, doughnuts, peanuts or whatever.
Go into your pantry or wherever they are stored and throw them away or give them to friends. If the triggers don’t exist, you won’t be tempted. Eliminate any potential variables that will derail your progress.
Now this may be difficult if you live with others. I know I do so I wasn’t really able to throw anything away. However, there is a way to counter this.
You hide them and put them in a really annoying place. It could be behind all the bags or behind all the other foods. The point is that you’re removing the accessibility to them and are placing them out of sight.
This way you’ll be less tempted.
2. Drink coffee. A classic, but it’s effective.
Caffeine is an appetite suppressant, so drinking this (preferably long before bedtime so it does not disrupt your sleep) is a great idea. A simple cup is enough and it’ll do you well.
3. Think of hunger as a good thing. As explained earlier, change your perception and mindset towards hunger.
Remind yourself that it’s a good thing and a signal that you are making progress.
Recite the words “This is good, the fat is burning!”
Conclusion
Alright, that concludes us for today.
I didn’t want to get into the standard tips such as eating high volume low-calorie foods, eating high protein, reducing alcohol intake and fasting. You most likely already know these things so I decided to take a different approach.
Good luck everybody and thanks for reading. I know you’ve got this.
I’ll see you next time.
(Now go do those productive tasks! Be strong)
