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How to ACTUALLY Lose Stubborn Belly Fat (7 Tips)

How to ACTUALLY Lose Stubborn Belly Fat (7 Tips)

by | Nov 12, 2023 | Blog, Diet

“You don’t even have any belly fat!”

I got that comment on a post I had with tips to help clients lose that oh so stubborn belly fat.

My reply back…

“You’re right. I don’t!

I have the ab definition I want BECAUSE I followed these tips.

I was surprised by that comment on the post about how to get rid of belly fat because I’m legitimately proof that those tips work!

They’re how I got the ab definition I wanted myself!

Because I know how frustrating it can be to see everywhere else lose fat but that stubborn belly fat not shift no matter what you seem to do, I wanted to share what I implemented to finally see results.

And the tips that have helped my clients see results no matter their age.

It’s essential you first recognize that you can’t just set and forget your habits. 

There is no one perfect plan that works forever.

And as you progress toward your goals, what you will need will CHANGE. 

That’s why you need to focus on 3 main things to constantly tweak and adjust.

#1: Cycle macros every 2-3 weeks.

By cycling macros every few weeks, you allow yourself to get consistent with a ratio but also allow yourself to adjust macros to build upon previous ratios.

You can use a lower carb cycle to deplete your glycogen stores and potentially better help mobilize fat to be burned as fuel. 

You can then use higher protein to help you focus on building and retaining lean muscle to improve your metabolic health even as you lose fat. 

Then you can even go a bit higher carb to push harder in your workouts and see the whoosh effect happen. 

Sometimes after a lower carb cycle, our fat cells with store water, making us look softer.

Adding back in carbs can help us release that stored water! 

But these cycles help us adjust our energy source while capitalizing on the different benefits each macro can provide without overcomplicating things with daily changes that can impact our energy levels!

#2: Include Diet Breaks AND Mini Cuts. 

Your body, and even your mind, will fight the fat loss process, especially the leaner you get. 

It’s why we want to include diet breaks.

Diet breaks are when you increase your calories to maintenance and even potentially include foods you may have cut out or are craving for about 10-14 days. 

It is both a mental break from being in a deficit and driving toward a goal, but also a physical one.

It’s often essential to help us avoid getting burned out while pushing to reach a new level of leanness. 

It can help you avoid metabolic adaptations and push harder in your training to build muscle. 

It can even help you maintain hormonal balance after an extended weight loss phase.

A diet break may seem like it isn’t moving you forward, but it ultimately does allow you to see better results once you go back to your fat loss focus. 

And after a dieting break, you may even consider a mini cut.

A mini cut is an extra intensive, about 2 week period, where you create a more extreme short term deficit and use a more intense macro breakdown to accelerate fat loss. 

You don’t do this long-term. It’s just a short term push.

It’s great when you’ve hit that plateau or dead zone to help you bust through and keep going. But it is best used after a higher calorie period.

These cycles within your fat loss journey are essential to long-term results and truly getting off that stubborn fat! 

#3: Assess lifestyle changes to address them in your diet and exercise planning. 

So often we only work toward goals when times are ideal, when we are super motivated.

But that’s why changes never add up.

We need to find ways to do the habits that build results even when times aren’t perfect…when we’re busy, stressed or tired. 

That’s why we need to constantly assess our lifestyle and plan for it.

If you’re busy at work and your usual 6 day a week training schedule is impossible to be consistent with?

Design for 3 days so you get in that great training frequency and volume. 

If you can’t meal prep like you had been?

Find frozen meal prep you can easily use or even restaurants that you can eat out at in a pinch. 

But assess what you need right now to stay consistent over pressuring yourself into some “ideal” that you can’t maintain so ultimately completely fall off of.

When we aren’t realistic about what we need now, we ultimately sabotage our own consistency and ability to move forward.

So if you want to lose that belly fat, you need to make sure you’re finding ways to move forward even as your lifestyle changes! 

Then you need to be consistent past the point you want to quit.

Often with these stubborn areas we will lose fat from everywhere else FIRST. 

And only once fat has been lost from those other areas will we begin to see the progress we want.

It can literally feel like nothing is happening at times. We’re in a dead zone. And it can feel like our love handles or belly even look WORSE as we lose.

This doesn’t mean do more to see results. 

It means giving our systems more TIME to work their magic.

Too often it isn’t more “tactics” we need but more TIME. 

And if we instead try to cut our calories lower or train harder to rush things, we end up actually seeing our results slow further or even completely stall.

So stop thinking you can out do time!

Instead focus on these 2 things…

#1: Create DAILY consistency in macros and calories. 

We get good at, and see results from, what we consistently do.

Too often we have our macros up and down, calories higher and lower…and while it may average out over the week, we aren’t really hitting any numbers truly consistently to know what works.

When we are all over the place each week, it makes it hard to truly make changes that snowball. 

Even if you hit your macros averaged out over the week, if there were huge swings day to day, you may find your energy isn’t consistent. 

Or you feel bloated.

Or your workouts suffer.

But you won’t know WHY.

It could have been the macro breakdown. 

Or it could have been too many calories one day and not enough on another. 

It could have been your meal timing. Or the types of carbs you included. 

That’s why you want to focus on daily consistency to see what works and to fuel yourself in a way that makes you feel GOOD.

Only once we’ve truly hit our macros and calories for about 10-14 days can we know if that works for us! 

Constant variation doesn’t allow for those systems to add up!

#2: Have a clear workout progression focused on a PERFORMANCE goal. 

The more ways we measure success, the more ways we are successful.

If you want to have extra incentive to do the healthy habits that lead to those aesthetic changes, you need to see other ways that those habits pay off. 

That’s why setting a performance goal for your workouts is so key.

Direction drives us.

So having a clear goal for your training pushes you to train harder and with PURPOSE.

You don’t want to miss your workout because you want to be accomplishing a specific goal tied to your training. 

You also stop just seeing your workouts as a chance to burn more calories.

It keeps us from just doing wasted volume or simply training for longer.

It keeps us intentional.

When you have that clear focus for your workouts, you not only see your performance improve but you’ll also find that fat loss happens faster because you’re staying more consistent with the healthy habits you need. 

And then finally…You’ve got to be willing to embrace the suck.

There is never balance in life…it is a constant balancing act.

And sometimes if you want a goal, you have to be willing to make more sacrifices than you normally would. 

Once you reach that goal, you will often find you can create a new balance over time.

But we do have to embrace more challenges, make more sacrifices and own the HARD a bit more in pursuit of a goal we haven’t achieved before or haven’t had in awhile. 

It’s not EASY to push those limits

That’s why you need to do two things to embrace the suck…

#1: Assess past struggles.

When we fail, when something didn’t work, we want to move on from it and forget about it as fast as possible.

But if we don’t pause to assess what happened, often we keep repeating the same mistakes disguised as a new program.

We keep forcing unrealistic habits or expectations on ourselves.

So as you start to make changes, reflect on what has held you back in the past to see how you can plan for those challenges or even avoid them.

Assess how you will find ways to stay consistent through the hard and make it even feel more manageable just because you’ve recognized it is there. 

Instead of downplaying the challenges, OWN THEM.

It helps us think, “Well that wasn’t so bad” when we encounter them which can allow us to keep moving forward and seeing that fat loss occur!

#2: Focus on the habit build. 

Discipline is the secret to success. But discipline isn’t just something we are born with.

It is built.

And it is built by us creating habits that become so natural, we can repeat them even when we don’t seem to be motivated or have the willpower.

Yet so often we make diet and exercise changes in a way that overwhelms us and depletes our motivation quickly. 

We make ourselves do a million and one things we aren’t comfortable with while cutting out most of the things we love.

So while we do need to recognize there will be challenges and sacrifices we have to make, the easier we can make the changes to start, the more we create that discipline with those habits right away. 

And then the more we can build off of those fundamentals without sabotaging ourselves.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed with trying to lose that stubborn fat, focus on one thing you can easily do to start that build. 

That will help you then stack more habits slowly on top without feeling like it is so all or nothing.

Then when life does get in the way it will be easier to keep doing the habits you need even during a stressful or hard time.

But focus on the habit build over having that all or nothing attitude toward change! 

If you’re struggling to lose belly fat, focus on these key tips. 

And just remember, as you move forward toward your goals, what you need WILL change.

There will be hard situations and challenges along the way.

But by embracing that you can’t out exercise or out diet time, you can help yourself create habits you can truly be consistent and disciplined with! 

Ready to create the sustainable balance you need in your diet and workouts to see the results you deserve?

–> Schedule A Coaching Consultation

How To Build Muscle And LOSE FAT at the same time

How To Build Muscle And LOSE FAT at the same time

by | Oct 17, 2021 | Blog, Diet, muscle-featured, Workouts

When you think about gaining muscle you think about a “bulking” phase.

And all too often for people this calls to mind images of people stuffing their faces with all sorts of foods.

You need to eat big to get big right?!

While, yes, a calorie surplus is key to gaining muscle, too often a “bulk” often becomes the perfect excuse to pig out and way overeat.

And this often leads to a lot of unwanted fat gain as you put on muscle.

This unwanted fat gain means you will then at some point have to go into a CUT to get rid of the fat and lean back down.

And when you cut, if you don’t do it super slowly, you’re most likely going to lose some of the muscle you worked hard to gain anyway.

So the question is…can you gain muscle WITHOUT gaining fat?

Is it possible to bulk in a way you don’t really need to then do an extreme cut to lean back down after?

The answer is YES.

By being precise in how we go about gaining muscle and taking the time to do it right, we can ultimately gain muscle without packing on the fat.

That’s why I wanted to share 3 tips to help you gain muscle without gaining fat.

But before I dive into the tips, I do just want to discuss calorie intake and whether you ACTUALLY even need to be in a surplus first to gain muscle…

Do You Really Need A Calorie Surplus To Gain Muscle?

The answer to this is…It depends.

And part of what it depends upon is your current level of leanness and even training experience.

If you’re just beginning your weight loss journey and have a good deal of fat to lose while also wanting to put on muscle, you’ll actually find that a small calorie DEFICIT works to your advantage. Especially if you focus on a higher protein ratio.

By putting yourself in a small calorie deficit, while focusing on protein, you can lose the unwanted fat while not only retaining but even gaining muscle.

If you instead put yourself in a calorie surplus, you’d potentially, yes, build muscle, but not see the body recomposition or fat loss results you want.

By creating a small deficit, you can lose fat AND gain muscle.

So even think just a small deficit of 100-300 calories off of maintenance.

However, if you’re already lean, a calorie surplus will work to your advantage.

BUT this doesn’t mean adding 1000s of calories to your daily intake.

Often a more moderate surplus is best while still maintaining that focus on protein.

When you’re leaner you want that surplus to ensure you have readily available energy to fuel your training sessions so you can create progressive overload and help your muscles repair and grow.

If you don’t have that positive energy balance, you risk catabolizing lean muscle, which will hinder your gains.

A newbie lifter though does have more growth potential than someone who’s been training for awhile so may go on the higher end of a “moderate surplus” if they’re lean to start.

But you still want to be mindful of your surplus as more calories doesn’t mean faster muscle growth. Any excess energy, aka extra calories, you consume your body doesn’t need will simply be stored as fat.

So while you will want to set your calorie intake to start a few hundred calories over maintenance, you don’t need to create any crazy surplus to see results.

Generally speaking in the range of 100-400 may be more than enough above maintenance to see amazing results.

Once you have figured out your calorie intake, you then want to consider these 3 tips to help you dial in both your training plan and your diet to assist in gaining muscle without gaining fat.

 

3 Tips To Help You Gain Muscle WITHOUT Gaining Fat:

#1: Don’t Fear Carbs. Dial In Your Macros.

If you want to add muscle without gaining fat, you can’t ignore the importance of the macro breakdown you use. And you may even find you cycle ratios as your training routine changes.

By focusing on macros over just the calories in vs calories out, you can help yourself avoid gaining unwanted fat.

And while focusing on protein should be the first thing you do, going slightly higher in protein if you’re in a deficit than you would when you’re in a surplus, you also can’t ignore the importance of CARBS.

Low carb is all the rage right now, especially for weight loss. But carbs play an important role in promoting the most efficient muscle gains.

You want the immediate energy to fuel your workouts so you can train hard without fatiguing as easily. This allows you to really fully benefit from your training routines.

Carbs have a protein sparing effect.

They create an anabolic environment that protects your lean muscle while giving you the fuel you need to rebuild after your training sessions.

If we don’t have sufficient readily available energy, protein will be used instead. And, especially if you’re already lean, this means your body will even start to break down muscle tissue to use as immediate fuel.

So consuming enough carbs is key to helping you protect your lean muscle, support muscle growth and recover faster from your training sessions.

And the more active you are, often the more carbs are even necessary to help with body recomposition and fat loss.

So while you may fear carbs because you saw a quick change on the scale due to glycogen and water weight being stored, you need this fuel if you’re serious about those muscle gains.

This scale change due to full glycogen stores is NOT fat being gained. So be prepared for that weight change if you are increasing carbs to go into more of a muscle building focused phase!

#2: Use A Variety Of Rep Ranges.

If you want to lose weight, you can actually do so by simply adjusting your diet.

While training makes it easier, and has been shown to be key for long-term success, you can truly lose weight without changing your activity.

BUT if you want to gain muscle, you’ve got to create a clear plan of action for the gym.

Now the question that often comes up is, “How many reps and sets?”

Do I do lighter weights and more reps or heavier weights and fewer reps?

The simple fact of the matter is – If it challenges you, it will change you.

So while yes, lifting weights makes it so much easier to gain muscle, you can achieve gains even using bodyweight moves by creating progression through tempos, range of motion, instability not to mention simply advancing moves in different ways.

The key is creating that new challenge strategically.

Now in terms of the reps and sets you use…

Well that really depends on so many factors, but the simple answer is USE A VARIETY or rep ranges to get the best results.

This can actually help you even increase training frequency over the week if every workout isn’t leaving you completely destroyed and help you utilize all three drivers of muscle growth.

Program in heavy compound lifts to start a few workouts in that 1-5 rep range. This can help you build maximal strength to lift more even in other moves. And it can help you really apply loads to those big muscle groups to challenge them. The more weight you can move overall, aka the stronger you are, the better the gains you’ll see. So doing some lifts focusing on building strength can improve your muscle gains.

Then program in some other compound accessory exercises to address those muscles further, working in that 6-15 rep range or the traditional hypertrophy rep range. This can help you really continue to challenge those stronger muscles.

To finish you may want to add in some more isolated moves working in that 15-20 or strength endurance rep range even. These moves may create more metabolic stress or they may be moves that isolate smaller muscles where you can only create so much challenge through loads alone.

By working in these different rep ranges, using different types of moves and even tools, you can even better utilize the different drivers of muscle growth as well – from muscle tissue damage to mechanical tension and metabolic stress.

But just remember, whether you’re working in the 1-5 rep range or the 15-20, no loads should feel light. You should always feel like you can’t do more weight in the given rep range, even focusing on working down in the assigned rep range over the week while increasing loads!

#3: Play With Meal Timing.

Meal timing is one of those things I think should oddly be the LAST of your worries BUT I also think it can be a really powerful tool to use to your advantage when working to get the most efficient muscle gains without gaining fat.

I just want to note that you should not stress over your meal timing, especially to start. If you hit your macros and calories overall for the day, you’re going to see results.

So do not stress if one day you can’t adhere to your ideal meal timing.

However, because making sure our muscles have the fuel they need to recover, repair and rebuild is so key, tweaking our meal timing can be super helpful.

Taking in some carbs pre workout can help really prevent any extra muscle tissue breakdown and allow our muscles to efficiently utilize the protein to build.

You have that immediate fuel to power through a tough workout and you immediately replenish those depleted glycogen stores after for the protein sparing effect.

By also consuming protein pre and post workout, you ensure your body has what it needs to rebuild when it is primed to do so.

A big main reason to eat post workout is actually to create an insulin response.

Insulin is an anabolic hormone, meaning it helps promote muscle growth and spiking it halts protein breakdown while encouraging protein synthesis.

Preventing protein breakdown can also aid in recovery.

Basically, post workout your body is primed to use the calories you give it to rebuild so some sort of post workout fuel can be good to help you build muscle and recover.

A simple carb source is key to replenish depleted glycogen stores and help you create that insulin response to build muscle, reduce soreness and help your body recover more quickly.

Fast digesting proteins and simple carbs are ideal.

Especially the older we get, because we don’t utilize protein as efficiently, the more we can benefit from taking in more protein, closer to 40 grams of protein, post workout.

Now what about Intermittent Fasting and fasted training?

You can 100% do IF and gain muscle. However, fasted training may not be ideal if your focus is truly on gaining muscle.

Studies have shown that even moderate glycogen depletion may impact performance.

So if you are training fasted, you may not be able to push as hard as you would had you had full glycogen stores. And being able to create that progression is key.

Not to mention you do risk your body seeking out energy from other sources, breaking down protein and muscle tissue for energy depending on the length of your fast and the fat stores available.

Especially if you are in a deficit, but really want to focus still on building lean muscle, be careful of fasted training.

So if you do choose to do IF consider breaking your fast prior to your training with even a small snack if muscle hypertrophy is your primary focus!

SUMMARY:

While it is possible to gain muscle and lose fat or achieve body recomposition, don’t expect results overnight. Especially the longer you’ve been training the longer it will take often to create those changes.

And as strange as it sounds, when it comes to body recomposition, slow results are often the REAL results.

So while you may want to do what you can to rush the process focus on staying consistent even when it feels like things aren’t building!

Achieve your ideal body composition and lasting results with a workout and diet routine that actually fits YOUR lifestyle.

Learn more about my 3-Part RS System…

–> The RS Formula