Some guys seem to have no problem getting lean and seeing their abs.

If that’s you…congrats. If not, keep reading–here’s exactly what you need to know about fat loss.

Think of fat loss in two phases: 

•  Fatty Acid Mobilization: First, your body must release stored fat for energy. This happens when you’re in a calorie deficit, during periods of fasting an increases in hormones like adrenaline.

•  Fatty Acid Oxidation: Mobilized fat isn’t burned until it’s oxidized. To oxidative fat, it ravels to you mitochondria (our cells’ power plants). Through a process called beta-oxidation, fatty acids are broken down to produce energy.

Oxygen is needed for this process–which is why exercise plays an important role of accelerating fat burning.

The Best Training To Maximize Fat Loss

The goal of weight training in the gym is to preserve strength & muscle–which in turn keeps your metabolism running full throttle.

In a calorie deficit, you’ll oxidize more fat with training.

•  Strength Training: Builds muscle, maintain strength, and improves insulin sensitivity, keeping you leaner and supporting fat release.

•  Low-moderate-Intensity Cardio: Great for steady fat oxidation. Walking, biking, or jogging taps directly into fat stores for fuel.

•  HIIT: High-intensity intervals spike hormones that release stored fat and keep the metabolism elevated post-workout.

The Fat Loss Cheat Code: Daily Movement

Simple movements–increasing your step count, fidgeting, standing, can increase calorie expenditure by 800-2k calories, according to studies by Rothwell and Stock.

Incorporating more “non-training” movement like this can dramatically enhance fat loss.

Personally, I recommend clients increase step count and daily activity before adding more cardio workouts.

Sleep Your Way Shredded.

Aim for 7 hours of sleep per night.

Sleep regulates hormones related to body composition–testosterone, growth hormone, cortisol, insulin , etc.

Sleep impacts hunger hormones–leptin & ghrelin.

Studies have shown that those who get less than 7 hours of sleep can do “everything right” for fat loss and lose fat slower & lose more muscle than those who are getting more than 7 hours per night.

“What If I’m doing all this and it’s not working?”

A few considerations:

1. Most people over estimate calorie expenditure and most “calorie trackers” are off by over 30%.

2. Most people underestimate calorie intake by 25%, minimum.

3. If you’ve crash dieted before or your hormones are truly out of whack, what “should” be a calorie deficit is no longer a calorie deficit.

Fat loss still comes down to this:

You need a consistent calorie deficit.

And the only way to tell if you’re in a calorie deficit is if you’re losing fat.

Yes, hormones can play a role.

They can impact how you break down certain nutrients, your metabolic rate, and your energy levels–which then connects to how many calories you burn.

That said, fat loss still comes down to creating a calorie deficit–consistently.

Quick Hitting Fat Loss Facts.

Fast fat loss is 1% of fat in a week. 200lbs? 2 lbs of fat in a week–if doing everything right.

Keep aggressive fat loss diets–20-30% deficit to 4 weeks or less.

The longer you diet, the more negative impacts on muscle mass, hormones, & metabolism.

The more aggressively you diet, the more negative impacts on muscle mass, hormones, & metabolism.

As you get better at an exercise, the fewer calories you burn doing that exercise–another reason calorie expenditure is a poor & unreliable metric to focus on.

The Winning Formula for Fat Loss 🧬

• Calorie Deficit: Target 10-20% below maintenance calories for steady, sustainable fat loss.

•  Protein Intake: Aim for 1g per 1lb of target body weight. Protein preserves muscle, helps control hunger, and boosts metabolism slightly.

•  Strength Training 4x/Week: Focus on progressive overload—adding weight or reps to challenge muscles. Rest long enough, don’t turn weight training into “cardio”–unless you’re after the skinny fat orange theory body type. In that case, go nuts.

•  Sleep 7+ Hours: Quality sleep improves recovery, regulates hunger hormones (like ghrelin), and keeps energy up.

•  Increase daily activity level first–get to 10k steps before adding cardio.
Success comes from the ruthless execution of the basics–not sporadic 30 day challenges.

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