Duke’s 11 Step Daily Guide to Losing Fat in CrossFit

When a person first starts CrossFit, one of two scenarios occurs:

Scenario 1: They quit and never show up again.

Scenario 2: They are hooked and immediately realize, “I need to work on double-unders. Oh and kipping handstand pushups. And those muscle-ups look really cool, let’s get one of those. And I really just need to get stupid strong and up my back squat and deadlift.”

There is nothing wrong with either scenario. CrossFit isn’t for everyone. If you don’t like it, don’t do it. Simple as that.

If CrossFit is for you, I have seen people do amazing things and progress in multiple domains simultaneously. People have increased their strength, endurance and mobility all at the same time.

There is one goal that stands apart. This particularly goal should not be pursued while training any other goals. Those ancillary goals have to take a backseat to this goal. This goal is likely the most popular goal as well: fat loss.

Fat loss is its own war that needs to be fought separate of all other goals. Yes, some untrained individuals can make huge strides in fat loss and strength at the same time, but that is only for a brief period of time. Even then, it is still not optimal.

All of the advice I’m going to provide isn’t just relevant to Crossfitters. It’s relevant to anyone. Crossfitters just tend to be the worst at focusing on one goal at a time.

1. Don’t hit snooze, Wake up, go to the bathroom then weigh yourself. I don’t necessarily care about your weight, but it is a good habit to track data over time and learn your personal trends. Get a Bluetooth scale like Withings that can record your weight automatically in an app just to cut down one more step.
2. Drink some water, take a multivitamin (optional), Black Coffee. Goal here is to continue your fast from the night before. That means no calories. No sugar nor cream in your coffee. There are studies both supporting fast training and those that say it doesn’t do anything. I have tried both. In practice; when it comes to fat loss, fast training is far superior. Black coffee can be substituted for any no-calorie caffeine whether that is an energy drink, caffeine pills or pre-workout. I prefer black coffee. I feel like it works better, it’s the least expensive and there is something elegant about only one ingredient.
3. CrossFit Class. Goal here is to chill the f*ck out. Check your ego and go 70% on whatever metcon is programmed. I don’t care what Ed or Chad is doing. Let them redline in order to get on top of the leaderboard. Nobody cares if you win or come in 5th on a random Tuesday in March. Your goal is fat loss so act accordingly. If you push your metcon, you are setting yourself up for failure. Training at a greater intensity is not going to “burn more fat”. It does not speed things up. You burn fat predominantly at the lowest levels of exertion (Zones 1 & 2). Above that you are using glycogen. Additionally, you need more calories to recovery appropriately from that kind of exercise. If you are trying to lose fat; well, you’re not supposed to have those extra calories. Let Chad win. Same goes for whatever strength is programmed too. Scale the percentages down to a level that feels easy. Do not go anywhere near a number that you could fail. Check your ego and remind yourself of your singular goal. Cut sets/reps if need be.
4. Immediately Post-Class. Don’t “work on stuff”. Don’t add posterior chain work. Don’t work on strict handstand pushups or handstand walks. Don’t throw in a few muscle ups. Chill the f*ck out. When you are done the wod, just go take a stroll whether that is a literal stroll, on a treadmill, an assault bike or a bike erg. Just cool down for about 10 minutes or more. The fat cells are going to be activated from the metcon and strength since you are in a fasted state. The “walk” then mobilizes them. I feel this signals to the body “We’re burning fat today!” and it stays like that the whole day. At home immediately after class, I start a pot of coffee for the house and take my Malamute for a walk before I feed him. This is my post metcon walk. I live close enough to the gym that I can finish my work out, drive home, take a 20 minute walk and still have my post workout shake within an hour. this walk also serves a second purpose, my dog is seriously overweight too and needs his fasted cardio. Exception: Loaded carries are awesome for fat loss and don’t take a toll on the body like concentric/eccentric work. Just don’t go overboard.
5. Stick to your calories and macros. Go to Precision Nutrition. Use their free calculator. Enter your info. Chose “Lose Weight” as the goal. It will ask you a goal weight and a target date. Do not exceed goals that are over 1lb/week. Just don’t. You will be tempted, but it just doesn’t work as well. I know, Brenda, you want to lose 15lbs in the next month. You will get closer to your goal by setting it to 1lb/week than you are by setting it to 3lbs/week. Precision will ask you how active you are throughout the day. Underestimate it. It will ask you about your workouts. You will be tempted to pick “Very Intense” because you are a super-duper active Crossfitter that goes to class 6 days a week. Don’t. Treat each CrossFit class as :30 minutes of intense exercise. So if you go to class 6x a week, you will select “Moderate”. “Intense” & “Very Intense” are not for you. They are for people doing multiple two-a-days or doing serious endurance work. This is not you. The reason it is not you is because your goal is fat loss, right? If your goal is fat loss, then you can’t do two-a-days and you can’t do serious endurance work. You will fail. Chill the f*ck out. Get the results and plug them into your food app. Follow them. You don’t need to be perfect, but follow them.
6. Increase NEAT throughout the day (Optional). Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis. If you have the ability to go for walks during the day or drop and do a set of pushups if you work from home, go for it. This is especially helpful if you are tied to a desk all day. Non of this should be strenuous at all. Personally, I do 10 pushups in a set. Then I add +1 each set until it becomes not easy. Then I restart. Some days I can do over 300. Others I don’t do any. This isn’t critical, but it is helpful.
7. Drink Water and Eat/Drink something probiotic 1–2oz of non-diuretic water per a pound of bodyweight each day. Diuretic beverages include anything that is caffeinated; coffee,tea, energy drinks. I’m not saying don’t drink these; I personally do, I’m saying these don’t count toward your daily water totals. I have found that Kombucha that is a probiotic is excellent for making sure my metabolism is working like it should. Other people may prefer fermented foods. I think they are a hassle, but that is just me. Yes beer is fermented, but…
8. Alcohol is not part of a fat loss plan. Every time I have lost fat, alcohol has been removed. Every time I gained fat alcohol was a major player. Learn to enjoy nonalcoholic beer. Heineken 0.0 is awesome. I highly recommend it.
9. Eat dinner as reasonably early as you can. Some of this is constrained by family life and work. The earlier you can eat dinner, the more time between when you last ate and when you sleep. The earlier you eat dinner, the longer your total fast between dinner and breakfast is also. When you are done eating dinner, be done eating for the night. There is no good eating after dinner. I’m not saying never snack nor ever have a dessert, but it is not part of the fat loss plan. It is part of the maintenance plan.
10. Night time multivitamins, Melatonin, and Apple Cider Vinegar. I’ve seen studies that both support apple cider vinegar and those that say its basically snake oil. My personal experience with it says it does something helpful. Don’t ask me the exact chemical mechanisms as I can’t articulate it in perfect layman’s terms. I feel like it makes my fast more productive and I wake up feeling better.
11. Good to bed early. Not all sleep is equal. Sleeping from 9pm to 5am and sleeping 1am to 9am are both 8 hours. They are not the same.

What if you workout in the late afternoon or evening?

Not much changes. Wake up/water/black coffee/etc just the same. Instead of working out I still want you to go for a walk for 20 minutes. Get the body moving in a fasted state. When you are done your class later in the day, just try to eat as soon as you can to have as much buffer between your meal and bed time.

It is a simple plan and easily stackable. The hardest part is resisting the urge to do more or go harder. Some new move or piece of equipment you see in the gym and then you dabble in it. Next thing you know you’ve added an hour of accessory work to you day. Resist this urge. Want to speed up the process? Go for an extra walk. Track progress weekly with progress pics as its the most accessible way to track fat loss. If you are fortunate enough to have access to and Inbody/Dexa/similar, you can use that as well.