Starting your fat loss journey and wondering where to start? 

In your mind you may already be confused, have started doubting yourself, and read a whole load of conflicting information… this is before you’ve even begun!

So, I am going to give you 5 small tips that I guarantee will make a BIG impact on your fat loss journey…

1) Simply Move More

A lot of people say they haven’t got time for the gym (now, we all do but I won’t be covering that in this post) but that doesn’t have to stop you. One of the best, most effective, and most underrated ways to achieve fat loss and burn more calories it to increase your NEAT (Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis). This will come from the amount of calories you expend outside of exercise, eating, and sleeping.

So if you’re sitting static in an office all day you’re not burning many calories in comparison to a builder who is doing manual labour all day. So what can you do to increase your NEAT? Simple changes such as using a fitbit or pedometer to monitor your steps could be just what you need. Find out what you are doing on an average day, say 1000 steps, and try to beat it. By increasing from 1000 to 3000 steps daily for example, you will easily burn more calories.

2) Log Your Food 

Use an App like My Fitness Pal to track your food over the week (be honest!) and see how many calories you are eating and burning. You will most likely be surprised at how much food you do have, as most people massively under report their food intake or selectively ‘forget’ foods they know they shouldn’t have eaten. That chocolate bar you had at work, that extra spoon of peanut butter; log everything here for a week. Once you have an honest log you can assess and slightly reduce your intake. Remember: eat less, move more – This is the simple formula that will put you in a defecit and allow the fat loss to begin.

3) Switch to ‘Real Food’ 

Drop the processed and ready-made foods and switch to unprocessed options. Foods such as eggs, meat, fish, avocado, nuts, potatoes, and vegetables are all nutrient dense, full of good macro and micro nutrients that will fill you up for longer. Likewise, they will help to support a healthy digestive, hormonal and metabolic system, and will massively reduce inflammation, cortisol, oestrogen and stress on the liver. All of the above will play a massive role in how successful your fat loss journey is.

4) Drink More Water 

A simple but massively effective tip… this will curb cravings and hunger. Drinking more water will keep all your cells and organs effectively hydrated so that they can function optimally. Your brain is 80% water and your muscle is 70% water so you can’t afford to be dehydrated if you want to train optimally and stay focused on your goals. Increasing your water intake to a minimum of 2 litres a day should work as a rough guide.

5) Lift Weights

There are so many benefits to lifting weights that I could be here all day writing them down for you. The main one I will focus on here, and that places weight training over cardio for fat loss is the fact that weights don’t simply just burn calories, it also has the potential to boost your metabolism by increasing muscle mass – a win-win for fat loss!

This post was written by Nottingham personal trainer Danny Fox. To see and hear more from Danny, you can find him over @

• www.foxphysique.com
• Facebook

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