The BEST Diet Plan For Fat Loss, For YOU!

Have you been through different diet plans that cut out carbs, make you go through times of not eating, or make you howl at the moon? (Yea.. look it up, it’s real).

How about you’ve been scrolling the internet now for the past 15 minutes looking for the perfect diet plan for you to follow.

Maybe you WANT to eat carbs, or you WANT to eat breakfast, but all these plans say you can’t if you want to lose fat.

Maybe you are a shift worker or a busy parent, but you still want to find a way to find some sort of “routine” to follow.

First things first, without a plan, you aren’t going to have anything.

This whole fly by the seat of your pants probably has not worked thus far for you.. So you must come to terms with you having a plan.

BUT, the beauty is, it is YOUR plan.

There is no ONE meal plan I am going to give you through this article.

There is no ONE diet I am going to tell you to follow. Rather, I am going to give you the tools to come up your own plan.

A plan that takes into consideration YOUR life, and YOUR goals, and YOUR time responsibilities, etc.

To my knowledge, there is not a resource like this on the internet.

I hope it brings you value, I hope it gets you thinking, and I hope by the end you will have YOUR own plan you can take with you and put into action.

Because remember, failing to plan is just planning to fail (I SO hate using phrases like that.. but damn is it true).

Let’s jump in.

What Every Diet Plan MUST Have

So before we get into actual components of making the plan, we must understand the goal behind the plan.

What is the plan going to accomplish? Fat loss with YOU and YOUR schedule / preferences in mind yes..

But, HOW do we do that? How does ANY diet plan do that? No matter if it’s keto, fasting, plant based, carnivore, you name it.

They all MUST have one thing in common.. Because without this foundational piece, everything else won’t matter in the slightest.

THE ONE THING THAT YOUR PLAN MUST HAVE IS BEING IN A CALORIE DEFICIT.

This is something that is non negotiable. You can’t argue this. You can’t exercise enough to make this not true.

Your diet plan MUST have this. Without it, you will NOT lose any fat.

Now, HOW you do that, is a totally individualized story. Truthfully, that is the beautiful part about nutrition coaching to me, is finding that piece of the puzzle for every individual.

This is where we get into the actual components of making the diet plan.

So like the article on how to program design for strength training I wrote , get out that piece of paper and pen, and be ready to take notes.

No seriously, I would do that, because as you go through this article, section by section you will be coming up with a part of your plan.

By the end, you should have written down all components to then piece together to make a plan.

So happy note taking, let’s continue.

Calorie Amount

So, piggy backing off the last section, it is only right we start this section off by talking about calories.

Now that we know you HAVE to be in a calorie deficit to lose fat no matter what else your plan entails, this then brings the question, well how many calories should you eat?

This also entails it probably would be a good idea to start counting calories to find out how many calories you are eating, to ensure you are in a calorie deficit.

If you want a full guide on how to lose fat through calorie counting, click HERE for a full free guide on that.

In the short term, I will answer this question of how many calories you should be eating to lose fat.

This is truly dependent on the individual. Your diet history, your current weight, your lifestyle, are all things that can come into play when deciding this.

That being said, below is a GREAT place to start when it comes to how many calories to eat.

Goal Bodyweight x 12 = Daily Calorie Amount For Fat Loss

I have an entire video covering exactly how many calories you should eat on my YouTube channel, you can watch that HERE.

One thing I will say is, it is much less about getting the EXACT number.

You may find that you need 1400 to lose fat, or you can do 2000 and still lose fat.

Either way, the whole point here is, get a number, and just get started.

The more you look for the “perfect” plan, the more you will procrastinate, the more you won’t do anything at all, and the more you stay right where you are at.

Go read the guide on how to lose fat through calorie counting, get your calorie amount, start tracking, and start seeing results.

Also, one last thing, I promise.

Give it time. Please.

Don’t do it for 6 hours and say “Wow I haven’t lost 20 lbs yet this is stupid I’m doing keto”.

Give yourself 21, 30, 60 days. Be consistent over that time period.

I promise you it will work. Promise. I am putting all this information out here for free, I have no reason to lie to you.

Protein Amount

So now we Segway into our next section, protein.

By now you should have your calorie amount down, and if you read the calorie counting guide to fat loss, feel confident in counting calories.

The next most important factor in this equation is going to be protein.

Protein is SO huge for SO many different reasons.

One being that it is the most satiating macro nutrient, which just means it will fill you up the most.

Most people’s diet plans fail because they get hungry enough to eat for a small village. You can combat this, by keeping your protein intake high throughout the day.

Another reason is because protein has a high thermic effect of food. Again, that just means it can basically boost your metabolism by eating protein.

If you don’t believe me, or want to check out more on how to boost your metabolism, check out my guide on how to increase your metabolism HERE.

And no, there will be no fat burners or discount codes to buy something in there.

Lastly, it is the only macro nutrient that can build and preserve lean muscle mass.

This too can help your metabolism, but also help shape the way you look. That lean aesthetic physique you are searching for can be accomplished through being in a calorie deficit, and keeping protein intake high.

Okay so, we know protein is important now, but, again, how much do you want to have daily?

Glad you asked.

Protein Goal For The Day = .8-1.2g protein Per lb of bodyweight, or 35-45% of your total calories.

So, let’s use the example of the 150 lb individual again.

.8-1.2g of protein for a 150lb individual would be 120g-180g of protein daily.

Personally, I would just have yourself fall right in the middle. For every lb you weigh, have 1g of protein.

150lbs=150g of protein.

This is also what 40% of your total calories for the day would be, 150g.

And if you want to know how I got that, I just did .4×1500=600. There are 4 calories in every gram of protein, so I then did 600/4, which brought me to 150.

If you want the whole scoop on protein, I did a quick 12 minute podcast on it via my podcast, you can click HERE for the audio to that.

Carb & Fat Amount

Alright, to recap quickly, we so far have calories, and protein covered in your plan.

Those two things will be the most important.

If you have those two things in check, you will be golden.

To start, no carbs do not make you fat. Eating carbs after 6pm does not make you fat. Eating carbs when you wake up does not make you fat.

The only way you will gain body fat is if you are in a calorie surplus consistently over a long period of time. Notice the “consistently” and “long period of time”.

You don’t have to do a low carb diet to lose fat. If that is what you prefer, cool, go for it.

If you don’t, and you are like the guy in the picture above, as long as your calories are in check, you will be just fine eating carbs.

Though I have heard people will tell you eating fat makes you fat too.

Hell if you look far enough on the internet, people will say carbs make you fat, fat makes you fat, protein makes you fat, so just don’t eat at all.

But, then, starvation mode makes you fat, so, you’re f’ed.

It is actually funny and sad to see at the same time that people get so confused, which is one of the main reasons I am writing this article.

Moving along, fat is great for you and absolutely should be eaten.

It helps a ton with the process of your hormones, and keeping them at a healthy level.

It is also a very filling macro nutrient that keeps you full for a longer period of time than carbs will.

The truth is, these two macro nutrients, don’t spend a ton of time on them.

If you prefer a high fat, low carb diet, go for it. If you prefer a higher carb, lower fat diet, go for it.

Don’t major in the minor, if you would LIKE to know what exact numbers of what your carbs and fats should be, head HERE* to watch my YouTube video where I cover that.

If you have read this far, this is where I said you will take each section and create your own plan come into play. You should be able to create your own numbers from your own body weight from this.

BUT WAIT…. Numbers are cool and awesome, now how do you apply these numbers to your actual life?

With your schedule, your work, your kids, etc.

Don’t worry, that is what the next few sections will cover. Keep reading, and keep that pen and paper close.

Meal Timing / Meal Frequency

So, this is where it starts to get good. This is where you start to put your own twist on things.

The information and numbers above is cool, but these sections are where you put things together, and actually apply those numbers to real life.

I will give you things to think about as far as making your own diet plan, and examples of things you could do with yours.

Meal timing and meal frequency can help play a role in keeping you in a calorie deficit.

They are similar, and can play a role with each other, but are not quite one in the same.

Meal timing refers to WHEN you eat, like breakfast, lunch, snacks, dinner.

Meal frequency refers to how many meals or snacks a day you eat. So 2, 3, 4, 5.

Keeping things very honest, it does not matter if you have 2 meals a day, or 6 meals a day.

It doesn’t matter if you eat breakfast or skip breakfast.

If you are total calories are in check and you are in a calorie deficit, this has been proved over and over in research, you will lose fat.

Anyone else telling you otherwise is just trying to sell you something to get your money. That is the bottom line.

BUT, both of these things can play a HUGE role in keeping you full, fighting off hunger, keeping energy levels high, amongst other things.

If you are not hungry, if you have good energy, if you feel good, chances are you are going to stick to your plan.

If you stick to your plan, you will see results. So using these 2 things to your advantage can make a huge difference.

Let’s stick with the 150 lb person trying to lose fat, with their calories and protein goals.

Now I will also make up a scenario in which say this person works full time, has kids events at night, and also makes it to the gym 3-4x a week.

This make believe person, and you, are busy! You have a job, responsibilities, an incredibly busy life.

That can make it difficult to get a plan for you to follow.. This is why we are here.

Meal timing / meal frequency can help play a role in keeping you in a calorie deficit.

Say you wake up at 6am to get ready for work. You get to work by 8am, you work all day until 4 pm, maybe go straight to the gym from there. You workout from 5-6 pm. After that, you have to go home cook dinner and get to your kids soccer practice from 7-8pm.

This is a jam packed day, and being a coach, I have seen this and MUCH more from my online coaching clients .

BUT, that doesn’t mean you just say “Well I am going to be super busy, it is going to be too hard, I might as well not even try”.

Like we said earlier, failing to plan is planning to fail.

This is where you put your calorie number and protein number to work for you, and actually start to make a plan for YOU so you can stick to it.

This is where if you know you get hungry before you leave work in the afternoon, you can plan a snack.

If you know your morning is SUPER busy, and you have no time to cook, you can have a protein shake.

This section is all about using your own life, to plan things out, in a way that is going to suite YOU best.

Sample Diet Plan

I want to create a sample day plan for this made up person above, to get you thinking about your own plan.

Just through coaching hundreds of people by now, I have seen 3 meals and 2 snacks works GREAT for a lot of people in terms of their hunger, energy, keeping a deficit, etc.

I will use that concept for this plan below.

Again, THIS MAY NOT WORK FOR YOU, YOU MAY WANT TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT, AND THAT IS 100% FINE.

You may not like this food or eating at this time, and that is okay. That is not the point of this example plan below. It is again, simply just getting your brain thinking about how you can structure your plan for your day.

The plan below is keeping two things in mind for that 150lb person, 1500 calories, and 150g of protein.

DIET PLAN FOR FAT LOSS

Meal 1 6am: 40g protein shake, 1cup unsweet vanilla almond milk, 1/2 tbsp olive oil dressing

Snack 9am: Greek yogurt, 1tbsp peanut butter, 1 apple

Meal 2 Noon: BAS (Big Ass Salad): 2 cups of salad (spinach, peppers, tomatoes, errythang), 1/2 tbsp of olive oil dressing, 5 oz chicken

Snack 3:30pm: 2 cheese sticks, rx bar

Meal 3 6:30pm: 5 oz turkey, 1 cup of rice, grilled veggies

So above, you are using meal timing / frequency to help shape your own plan.

You are using your calorie limit to guide food choices.

You are also using the protein goal to guide food choices.

It is much less about eating these exact foods at these exact times, but making a plan around your schedule, rather than your schedule around a plan.

Because at the end of the day, that is not sustainable, and just not going to work.

Let’s dissect the plan above so you can see my thought process a bit more for WHY I made these recommendations.

Again, I am here to educate you as much as I can, and hopefully get your brain thinking. If you can think through your own plan like this… You will be in a GREAT spot.

If your brain hurts already, and you might want me to help you with your plan, click HERE to fill out the form to see if me and you may be a good fit for coaching together.

Okay so meal 1, protein shake. I LOVE this for so many of clients, especially if they have a busy morning.

If you can’t cook food for time reasons, it takes about 47 seconds to make a protein shake. Take some unsweet vanilla almond milk (because it is bomb), take some protein, 1/2 tbsp of flax seed oil, and chug it on down.

It will give you protein and healthy fats to keep you full. This will make you not want to donuts or muffins or foods that tend to be higher in calories.

The snack is usually a bit later when you aren’t STARVING, but you could be a bit hungry. This can save you from getting starving, and over eating. Usually people are busy, so may not be able to eat a 3 course meal.

Perfect, greek yogurt and a piece of fruit. Both easy to travel with, high protein, and can hold you over.

Lunch, having one big ass salad a day, you saw it in the plan above, helps SO MUCH with fat loss.

It gives you a lot of food volume to fill your stomach up, with not a lot calories, to keep you in a calorie deficit. Throw some chicken on it to get your protein, and you are good to go.

It doesn’t have to be a boring lettuce and chicken salad either. Spice it up, put what you want in it… As long as it will fit your calories ;).

Second snack, same thing, easy, quick, and simple. Also provides you some carbs to fuel before your workout.

Lastly dinner, this can be prepped in advance, or made at the time, whatever your day depicts. But again, just some sort of protein, some veggies, throw some carbs in, and call it a day.

This is a GREAT thought out plan to keep you full so you don’t over eat. A great plan to ensure you are keeping your energy levels high. A great plan to work diet around your life, not the other way around.

You probably don’t have a chef or chauffeur doing things for you (If you do, you should definitely sign up for coaching with me), so things aren’t going to be “perfect”.

If you can some way find a way to be consistent, and make it work, I promise you, you will be in a great spot.

Final Thoughts

Alright so this meme is great, I laughed out loud reading it. Can you tell I like to mix actually having fun in life with dieting?

In all seriousness, I truly hoped this article helped you.

It was not a “oh, eat only this food to lose weight!”. Or “only eat at this time to see amazing results!”.

No, that is not what a “diet plan” is about.

A diet plan is about coming up with just that, a plan. A plan for YOU, and YOUR life.

Every person is an individual. With different responsibilities, different preferences, different lives for lack of a better term.

It is also about working to create a plan that works around your life, not working your life around a plan.

I referred to this a few times above, but this may be the most important concept from this article.

You trying to work your life around a plan, is not going to work long term, ever.

If you LOVE carbs, you doing keto is never going to work long term.

If you LOVE eating breakfast, intermittent fasting is never going to work long term.

Rather than trying to change your entire life to fit a diet plan, why not make the diet plan fit your life?

Because then you aren’t “dieting” anyway, you are just learning how to eat for your life.

I don’t think there is ONE plan out there you need to follow. That being said, there can be some guidelines if you will, mixed with some critical thinking on your own part, that can lead down a very good path.

It doesn’t have to be perfect. You may deviate here and there, or have something different than what was originally thought out.

THAT IS OK. The fact is that if you are taking the time to plan ahead, and put thought behind your decisions… I can almost guarantee that is a lot more that what you are currently doing, right?

To get a different result, you have to do something different. Make this article the place you start doing that, so you can stop wasting more time, and start seeing more results.

If you have a question about your plan that I may be able to help with, PLEASE feel free to drop a comment below, or email me at coacheric@ericrobertsfitness.com .

If you are like yeaaaahh maybe I better have a professional handle this for me, head HERE to fill out the form to see if we might be a good fit for coaching together.

In the meantime, thank you for reading, I hope this at least sparked a thought in your head, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Talk soon. -E.

ERF Q&A 029: You Don’t Have To Be Sweaty To Have An Effective Workout

Your cardio class REALLY kicks your butt! It really makes you sweat and out of breath!…

But, so does going outside and running down the street as fast as you can for 12 seconds. 

Or chasing your kids around the house 3x..

Does that mean those two things are an effective workout as well?

We need to break this myth that you NEED to be sweating and out of breath to have a “good” workout. 

Listen to this podcast if you think that is the case, I guarantee by the end I will give you new perspective to look at.

ERF 030: Carb Cycling, Does It Work, How Can You Use It To See Results?

Please subscribe to my YouTube channel HERE

In this episode, I talk about..

-What is carb cycling exactly?

-Does it “work”?

-How do you use it to lose fat and have better workouts?

If you are interested in coaching with me, click HERE.

Instagram 

 

 

ERF Q&A 028: Why Fad Diets “Work”

Keto isn’t magic.

Intermittent Fasting isn’t magic.

South Beach, ideal protein, none of it.

All of them have ONE goal in mind. All of them HAVE to have one thing..

Calorie deficit. 

It is just how you create that deficit (and how sustainable it is) can be a million different ways.

Listen up to learn more about fad diets, and how you can learn from to apply the knowledge for yourself.

 

How To *ACTUALLY* Boost Your Metabolism

 

Do you have a slow metabolism?

Better yet, do you LOOK at a cookie, and gain 27lbs?

What about just struggling to LOSE weight, but have no problem GAINING it?

If your answer was yes to any of those questions, especially the cookie one, this article will be for you.

Whether through age, through previous diet history, through lifestyle change, your metabolism has gone down hill.

You don’t burn as many calories, you really don’t eat that much food yet still gain weight.

No need to fear, Eric is here.

I am going to teach you how to increase your metabolism the RIGHT way to see results.

And no, this will not be an ad for some fat burning pill with a promo code at the end.

Just real science that you can take and implement today to help start seeing results.

What Actually Is Your Metabolism?

It is funny, people will be quick to blame their metabolism for their lack of fat loss..

But when I ask them to explain to me what metabolism actually is, they cannot quite speak with the same conviction.

I cannot teach you how to increase something without actually knowing what it is first.

In the simplest of words, your metabolism is simply the sum of all chemical processes going on in your body at any one time.

At any one point in time there are millions of processes going on inside your body. Your heart beating involves your metabolism, your eye movement reading this, digestion of the food you eat.

Anything that is allowing you to live and breath right now, is apart of your metabolism.

Now that you have a basic understanding of what metabolism ACTUALLY is, you can have more context when Sally from the gym complains how hers is just SO SLOW.

Now let’s look into what components play a role, and how we can use them to your advantage to speed up your metabolism.

RMR, Resting Metabolic Rate

Your RMR, or resting metabolic rate, is the most practical component of your metabolism.

Some people use BMR, basal metabolic rate, but that is literally when your body does NOTHING but lay in bed and not even more..

I mean, you at least gotta blink or something right?

So your RMR is what we can use to begin to talk about how your metabolism works.

These are the calories you burn when you stand up and get out of bed. Your brain processing and thinking as you read this. Everyday life things.

What can go into your RMR? Super glad you asked.

Lean Body Mass

Your lean body mass plays a roll into what your RMR is.

This is can be how much muscle you have. Also, Your muscle to fat ratio.

This can also be how tall or short you are.

Taller people, like myself, burn more calories than those who are shorter. We will talk more on this when we get into gender as well.

Depending how tall or short you are, you can have differences in bone mass, and in overall total body expenditure. 

This can lead to a difference in how hard your body has to work to maintain itself.

Muscle Burns More Calories.. Kind of.

One BIG thing I do want to briefly touch on is the fact that more muscle can lead to an increased metabolism.

Now, this is 110% true.

The more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn. Absolutely.

BUT, the amount it does is minimal.

For every 1lb of muscle you add, you burn an extra 6-10 calories a day, at most.

So if you added 10 lbs of muscle, you would potentially only burn possibly 60 more calories a day.

Is it more? Yes. Is it so significant you should listen to someone selling you something crazy about building tons of muscle to boost your metabolism?

Nope.

Now you should clearly be building muscle, but it isn’t a justice to you go to go and eat pizza and ice cream.

Do it for health reasons, for strength reasons, increased bone density, all things that build you up.

Rather than worrying about it tearing your fat down. That will be done mainly through diet anyway.

Click HERE to find out how many calories you should be eating to lose fat.

Gender

Here we are, the forever war between girls and boys.

Who truly started cooties? One will never know.

Anywho, yes, men normally burn a bit more calories than women.

But that is not some magical fat loss potion.

It is just science.

Like we said earlier, taller people have more energy that their bodies have to use.

There is more blood to be circulated, takes more energy to go up and down steps, more bone mass to them, etc.

Men are typically taller, so they typically burn more calories.

We also just said the more lean body mass / muscle mass you have, you burn more calories.

Again, men typically have more muscle mass / lean body mass to them.

Both of these things lead to a higher metabolism, because again it is just more work their body has to do.

I coach mostly women, and trust me when I say, you all are much more bad ass than us men could ever be.

So you win.

AGE

Oh boy, Age.

This one is the crutch of many individuals wanting to lose weight.

They claim they are not 18 anymore, so their metabolism doesn’t work like it used to!

I am here to tell you to STOP using this excuse as to why you cannot lose fat.

Does your metabolism slow as you age?

Yep. Sure does.

BUT, first and foremost it is usually lifestyle based, not solely because you got older.

You eat less overall, eat less protein, your lean body mass decreases, your activity level goes down.

If you have been following thus far, those things are key factors when it comes to how your metabolism works.

Second, the amount it decreases is almost next to none per year.

Good thing for you is, however much is does slow down, this can pretty much be reversed.

Through proper strength training, well thought out nutrition, and losing body fat, you can pretty much reverse that aging process.

Click HERE if you want to contact me about possibly coming up with a plan for you to do just that.

Genetics

Yet again, another thing people look towards to pin the tail on their fat loss scapegoat.

I debated whether I wanted to go into this or not, because if I give you a reason to quit, most of you will.

The truth is, genetics plays a HUGE role in your metabolism.

It affects obviously your gender, your height, your lean body mass, all of these things.

A lot of it again is lifestyle based, but there are just cases of genetics winning no matter what.

If you are a 5’5 male out there reading this.. You aren’t making it to the NBA.

Just not gonna happen.

Some people have the perfect genetics for bodybuilding. 

Here’s the thing, we are talking about fat loss here, not professional basketball or professional bodybuilding.

So, even if we say your genetics are the worst ever.

Why would you not still do EVERYTHING you can to make the best of them.

To increase your lean body mass. To do proper strength training. To eat healthy.

Regardless, that is a great idea.

So, don’t use genetics as a crutch either. This is fat loss here we are talking about, not stepping onto the court or a body building stage.

TEF, Thermic Effect of Food

Protein protein protein.

Protein is the #1 macronutrient I see missing in the average individuals diets when I go through my initial nutrition coaching evaluation.

Protein should be a staple in ANY fat loss diet. Let’s talk about why and how it helps boost your metabolism though.

Let’s talk practical application first.

Protein is the most satiating macronutrient, meaning it will fill you up and keep you full the longest.

This then means if you are not hungry, and stay full, you tend to not eat at much.

Then leading to eating less calories aka being in a calorie deficit.

Which is the only way to lose fat.

It also is the only macro nutrient that can help build and maintain muscle / lean body mass. Which as we know from above, helps with boosting your metabolism.

There is also something called the thermic effect of food.

This basically just means how many calories your body has to burn digesting food.

Protein has the highest thermic effect of food. Meaning when you eat protein, your body has to burn more calories to digest it. Just because you ate a chicken breast.

Obviously you can see how, if you make your diet high in protein, all day your body is burning more calories digesting it, as opposed to if you were eating carbs or fats all day.

TEA, Thermic Effect of Activity

This picture was just absolutely hilarious, so I had to use it.

Okay so thermic effect of activity.

This is basically just the calories you burn through exercise and or movement through the day.

And before we get any farther, NO your fit bit or apple watch tracking your calories is not accurate.

It actually over estimates by 50%. Click HERE to find out why.

Okay, moving on.

Strength training I believe is the most important for long term fat loss.

This will increase your lean muscle mass, increase your lean body mass, and with the right diet decrease your body fat.

This will have the biggest impact on boosting your metabolism long term.

It will burn less calories than cardio in the short term, but long term will allow you to burn more.

More importantly, will KEEP the fat off, without having to do hours and hours of cardio.

Because I’d rather watch grass grow than do hours of cardio.

Next up would be said spoken cardio.

Whether LISS or HIT, low intensity steady state or High intensity training.

Both can be beneficial and both can have their benefits.

Not only physical, but mental and emotional as well. Which I would argue is maybe a bit more important for most people.

It is not very high up on my list as far as importance of boosting metabolism, but it certainly plays a role.

The last would be NEAT, and that is the Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis.

Now don’t worry, big word, but it just means all of the stuff you do throughout the day that is not dedicated exercise.

Walking into the grocery store. Brushing your teeth. Scratching your head.

People VASTLY underestimate NEAT when it comes to fat loss.

This is why counting steps became so huge. Shooting for 8-10k steps a day is an amazing way to increase NEAT.

Eventually leading you to move more, and increase your metabolism.

Park farther away at the store, walk around the perimeter of your house 5x, take the stairs no matter what.

I strongly urge you to not be one of those who underestimate how much getting 10k steps can help your fat loss journey.

Supplements / Metabolism Boosting Foods

So, I HAVE to go into this, but keeping it very brief.

Anyone who tells you you can take a pill to burn fat, run.

Run far, far away. After you laugh at them.

Also anyone who tells you to eat a certain food because it can boost your metabolism ( besides protein we learned because science not because some marketing ad ), run even farther.

Seriously, anyone who tries to sell you on a fat burning pill or metabolism boosting food, they are doing just that.

Trying to get your money and sell you something.

No other way around it.

Let’s put an end to it one person at a time.

Final Thoughts

So, as you see, nothing here is sexy.

I can’t go sell you something some product from any of this.

Nothing is about doing this ONE trick to start boosting your metabolism!

Or eat this food or do that workout to boost your metabolism!

Because in 100% honesty, it is quite simple.

Move more, optimize your lean body mass, keep protein high, and you will increase your metabolism.

It would be just down to science at that point, your metabolism would HAVE to increase to keep up with the work you are putting on it.

Focus on things you can control, things that will give you the biggest return on the change you put in, and I promise you will see change.

Though I would love to hear, what is the craziest thing you ever heard or read to increase your metabolism?

It is always great to hear what fitness marketers can come up with these days.

I hope you enjoyed the article, learned something, and can take it with you to start using your metabolism to your advantage.

If you have any further questions leave them below, or feel free to reach out to me at coacheric@ericrobertsfitness.com.

If you are interested in seeing if we are possibly a good fit for coaching together, head to the link HERE!

Talk soon.

-E.

ERF 029: Cheat Meals, Diet Breaks, Re Feeds, Sustainable Eating

It is not about sprinting to the finish line, then “maintaining” after that.

When have you ever seen someone do an all out sprint, then just maintain after that… They are damn tired and exhausted. Why do you think dieting Is any different?

Honestly, chances are, if you need a “cheat day”, your diet is too restrictive to stick to long term anyway. 

Listen, A. you should be able to work your certain foods into your diet plan. 

B. Diet breaks and or refeeds can and SHOULD be used within a fat loss plan. 

Why? Because that is what sustainability is. You are not going to diet for the rest of your life are you (at least I hope not)? 

They can help lead to long term SUSTAINABLE ways to eat healthy. 

Give the podcast a listen, and if you need help with your plan, feel free to reach out to me, would be happy to help. 

ERF Q&A 027: Frustrated With Your Lack Of Progress? A Troubleshooting Plan

You are putting in a TON of effort. 

You think you are doing everything right.

Eating “healthy” (whatever that means?), working out 3-4x a week.

And just not seeing the results you want?

Well, one of many things could be going on. 

You may need a new plan..

But for 99% of you, you need to ensure you are actually following your current plan.

And when I say following, I mean like on the weekends too. 

And those bites here and there you eat off your kids plate.

Not following your plan with 90% or more consistency, and being frustrated with progress, is just not a real thing.

Whether that is calorie counting, or exercising, it is often the extra 5-10% that people think don’t matter.

That extra 5-10% effort, weighing foods out, doing one more rep when it gets heavy, tracking the weekends, makes the difference.

And from there, you will see you don’t need a new plan.

You need to figure out where you are going wrong, and nail that extra 5-10%.

Brand new YouTube video is out now on how to troubleshoot your own progress, especially if you are not seeing the results you want.

And please, don’t hesitate to reach out to me for help or advice, I would love to help however I possibly can.

 

How To Lose Fat By Counting Calories

 

Have you tried different fad diets, lost 5 10 15 lbs, but not ever been able to really stick to anything?

Maybe you tried keto, or cut out sugar, but after 2 weeks you’re like F I WANT A COOKIE. You “break” and realize this isn’t going to work for you, so you fall back to your old ways.

Well, I have a simple solution for you.. Start counting your calories.

Every single thing you eat, drink, put on top of your cheeseburger, all of it has calories.

And, when it comes to fat loss, calories ALWAYS count.. So why not count them?

Dive in with me, let’s go over not how to diet, but how to eat for the rest of your life.

 

Before We Get Any Farther..

I believe in educating you so you can learn and understand, rather than following a plan blindly.

This has been shown to increase long term adherence in my online coaching clients.

This cannot be said loudly enough, THE ONLY WAY TO LOSE FAT IS TO BE IN A CALORIE DEFICIT.

There is simply NO other way around that. I don’t care if you eat sugar, eat carbs, do keto, do intermittent fasting..

The only way to lose fat, in this universe at least, is to be in a calorie deficit. That simply means taking in LESS calories than your body burns out.

Every diet out there has this one single purpose in mind.. most just end up being not very sustainable.

This article is not going to tell how you can’t eat pizza, cookies, or pasta.. Rather how can you do that, and still see fat loss progress?

And no, I am not saying you can eat pizza, cookies, and pasta all day everyday and lose weight.. Though, if you are in a calorie deficit, you could ;).

Where & How To Count Calories

As I am sure you know, as you are probably reading this off your phone right now, technology is one hell of a drug.

But, you can use this drug for good use.

As far as where and how to track, there a few ways.

The first would be to just go old school pen and paper. This can work for some people, if you are a math wizard, because it will require a lot of math throughout the day.

And if you are caveman.

The second option would be to use your smartphone device, you know that thing everyone is on all day long, to let one of the many apps do this for you.

Some are labeled below.

  1. My Fitness Pal – This is the one I use personally for myself and my online coaching clients. It is very easy to use, it has millions of food in its data base, you can scan foods you eat and put them right in. You can also add friends to see their diary or vice versa, this works very well if you are doing it with a friend for accountability or working with a coach.

           2. Lose It!

            3. Fitbit

There are millions out there, I just label the top 3 I see used very often.

It is less about picking the right one, more about just getting started using them.

Calorie counting is a task within itself, so just getting started using one of these apps is a great first step.

Once you get whatever app you choose downloaded and get familiar with it, now is time to actually track.

I CANNOT UNDERESTIMATE THIS ENOUGH, THIS IS WHERE PEOPLE GO WRONG.

You would think, well what is so hard about it now?

When you start to count your calories, and track your food…. You have to do just that!

Meaning, if you have a ham and cheese sandwich, you have to put in all the ingredients of that ham and cheese sandwich.

Let’s use that for example.

If you just type into the app, “Ham and Cheese Sandwich”, the calories comes out to 250.

Now, let’s look at what you actually ate on that ham and cheese sandwich, including the 2 slices of white break, 4 oz of ham deli meat, 1 slice of Swiss cheese, and a serving of mayo.

Look at how the calories almost DOUBLED, at 493.

This is HUGE, because if you think you are tracking everything correctly, you end up following the guidelines I lay out later in this article, and you aren’t seeing results, you are going to get frustrated.

You will think it is not working.

When in reality, as you can see, you MUST track accurately if you want to get results.

You may think you are eating 1200 calories everyday… But if you were accurately tracking, you would see you are eating 1800, and THAT is why you are not losing weight.

Because it all comes down to a calorie deficit, right? ;).

And yes, I know this can be tedious at times, but I promise you, it will be worth it.

You will LEARN what 4oz of ham looks like.

You will LEARN how many calories 1 slice of Swiss cheese has.

You will get educated on so many things.. and if you remember from the beginning, what leads to long term success / adherence?

Education.

How Many Calories Should You Shoot For?

So, know that you have where to track your calories, you have gotten used to doing it, and you KNOW you have to track EVERYTHING ACCURATELY..

Let’s get into the fun stuff.

It would be good to know what to shoot for now, right?

Let’s talk calorie equations for if you want to lose fat.

 

WEIGHT LOSS EQUATION – Bodyweight x 8-12 = Calorie Limit For The Day

 

So say your body weight is 150, you can do 150 x 10 = 1500 calories. 

All of this can be VERY dependent on YOU.

YOUR activity level, YOUR previous history, YOUR relationship with food, to name one of many.

BUT, it is not the point to be perfect here. The point is, pick a number, and go with it.

Do it for 2, 4, 6 weeks straight. 100% during that time, and track your results.

If you do this, I PROMISE you will see results. Then from there, you will be able to made adjustments if need be.

But please, just start something.

** FOR FAT LOSS IN PARTICULAR, LISTEN UP**.

So, I know most of you looking at this equation will automatically jump to the body weight x 8 to achieve your desired calorie number for the day, because it will give you lower calories.

Please, please, let me make you aware.

This is NOT about losing weight as fast as possible. If that is the reason you are here, I am sorry for wasting your time, and you may as well leave now.

Will that equation make you “lose weight faster”, maybe.

BUT, think about this.

If you pick this, and it gives you a amount YOU cannot sustainably adhere to, and causes you to binge, over eat, have negative hormonal responses..

Then is it really worth the perceived “increase rate of fat loss”?

When really, you won’t be making much fat loss progress at all because the deficit will be so aggressive that you will not be able to sustain it.

I am not saying don’t try it, I am saying if you do, be aware, work in periods where you can have more calories, and always think big picture.

Consistency, Not Perfection

I cannot say enough about consistency during this, or any fitness journey.

I can give you the perfect plan, perfect number of calories, everything.. But, if you don’t follow it consistently, none of it will matter.

I am not asking you to only eat chicken and broccoli. Not asking you to cut out your favorite foods.

What I am asking you to do is stick to track your calories, stick to a calorie number no matter what, and from there you will see results.

You can have cookies. You can have pizza. Nothing is “off limits”, as long as you can stick to your calories, you WILL see results.

Now, should protein be prioritized? Should you be getting a good amount of veggies and fruits to maintain hunger and micro nutrients? Yes of course.

But that is a different article for a different day (reach out if you want me to cover that!).

For the purpose of this, just know that consistency trumps perfection.

And that means, weekends, holidays, travel, all of that counts too.

I cannot tell you how many people track PERFECT Monday – Friday morning…. Then Friday night – Sunday, they act like a blindfold is on and it doesn’t count.

Saturday night means the same as Tuesday night.

Friday night means the same as Thursday morning.

It all counts towards your progress.

 

 

You can be perfect Mon – Fri, hit your calories, but if you on Friday Saturday Sunday eat 3000 calories, when you are only supposed to eat 1500.. You won’t lose fat.

Because by the end of the week, you WON’T be in a calorie deficit.

You will have effectively gone into a maintenance, or surplus, by your actions on the weekend.

Weekends count, travel counts, birthday, all of it.

And that is not to say you can’t have birthday cake on your sons birthday, you can certainly do that.

But, just know that if it comes a point you think you are being perfect but not seeing progress, check these trouble spots out first.

Because I can tell you first hand as a coach, this WILL happen to you at some point. And you will be ready to conquer them hopefully, after reading this article.

Ready To Take On Your Goals?

Hopefully by now, you are confident that you can take on your fat loss goals.

Listen, fat loss is hard. It takes time, effort, consistency, all of it.

BUT, it does not have to be complicated.

All it comes down to is if you are in a calorie deficit or not. If you are, you will lose weight. If you are not, you will not lose weight.

Simple. NOT easy, but simple.

And that is why I am such a huge believer in calorie counting, because it can give you the most accurate way to track what you are doing.

It gives you a plan, it gives you the most optimal way to reach your fat loss goals.

Because remember, you don’t HAVE to count calories, but calories ALWAYS count.

If you have any questions about your specific situation, feel free to reach out to me via email @ coacheric@ericrobertsfitness.com, and I would love to help you out.

If you are interested in coaching with me, click HERE to fill out the form to see if we would be a good fit together!!

Talk soon. -E.

ERF 028: How To Make Promises To Yourself, And Keep Them

“I’m going to exercise 3-4x a week”.

“I’m going to stick to my diet this time”.

Ever said these before, maybe along with some other things?

It is one thing to make a promise to yourself… It is another to keep it. 

The more you break promises to yourself, the less confident you are, the more self doubt you have, and the less your word means anything. 

If you want to know the secret to weight loss, or hitting any goal, it is to stop breaking the promises you make to yourself. 

This podcast I cover more in depth about breaking promises like the ones above, and what you can do TODAY to help get on a better track. 

Let me know what you think, what promises you break, and if you have any questions please feel free to reach out. Talk soon. -E.