Fat-loss Engineered: A No-B.S. Guide on How I Lost 47lbs

Debunking the confusion and myths behind weight-loss.

I don’t think I’m really saying anything controversial when I say that the fitness industry is making a killing on the average person’s inability to be consistent with their diets and programs.

From meal replacement shakes, to detox fads and ‘abs in 5 minutes’ magazines, the fitness landscape appears to profit a lot from confusing the masses (making $100 billion globally), in how to best go about one’s fitness journey and finally achieve the body that continuously eludes them.

I’m here to let you know, that I too know what it’s like to be on that hamster wheel. I too have been caught in an endless rampage of programs and diets, screwing up, hiding away in my shame cave as my self-worth takes a colossal hit…only to find myself falling prey to newer, fresher, better programs, better diets, and better products that would act as my saving grace time and time again, only to repeat the same pattern a few weeks later.

From paleo, slow-carb, keto, feast-fast, carb backloading, intermittent fasting, six meals a day, one meal a day, and all of its cousins, I’ve covered a lot of ground.

I should note I am not a physical trainer, nutritionist nor a bodybuilder. I’m just a self-taught guinea pig who happened to go further with this venture at a time when I was fed up of being fed up.

I’m not here to fight for one camp over the other. I’m just here to tell you what I know, what I did, what I learned, and how I ultimately achieved the best physique of my life…so far.

Beginning: How it Started

I remember buying my first ever issue of Men’s Health in December 2004. As a scrawny thirteen year old I was infatuated with how a person could transform their body, literally sculpting oneself into a living, breathing Greek God. I was hooked.

Based on the limited amount of knowledge and naivety I had at the time, and prior to Google becoming the monster that it is today, I asked my Dad for the Abswing, (think Teleshopping device where the models unrealistically ‘smile’ during their workouts), a seated adjustable ab machine that promised those sultry, deep-cut abs of envy.

Every school night I would run up and down the street, wearing ankle weights, followed by a rigid routine of 200 ab swings, because as far as I knew, that was how abs were made. This wasn’t sustainable, but it did provide me some results, just not what I wanted.

I wanted it all. The biceps, the leanness, the chest and legs. Who the hell wants to be skinny with abs?

Jumping ahead a few years I had ballooned in weight, and following the first proper breakup I had, I was driven to start taking my life back, leaning on the only source of information I had at the time which was my Men’s Health and Men’s Fitness monthly subscriptions.

My chosen activity was swimming, I saw a swimming program in one of the articles and a decade on, I can still remember the complex 50 minute routine like the back of my hand.

I can distinctly remember each stroke being a conscious ‘closing in’ on the person I wanted to be. Capped off with a calorie-restricted 6 meal a day, 7 days a week, I followed it to the ‘T’, gram per gram, to the point of mindless obsession…but it worked, I lost 3 stones (39lbs/18kg)…but alas I could not sustain it.

For years I’d be yo-yo-ing between being ultra-disciplined or ultra-not, hiding away in my shame cave with a bag full of junk food until I was ready to rejoin the rat-race once again.

A time after, I stopped yo-yo-ing, completely submitting to my lesser self, and stopped caring about what I ate, to the point where I eventually had to double-take a passing mirror, baffled at the person I had allowed myself to become.

More on that later.

The Truth About Any Diet

Just about any fitness influencer or diet propagandist will swear by their nutrition program as being the most optimal way of losing weight over any of the other approaches. After all, it’s their business to do so.

The reality is when it all comes down to it, all the diets and fads have one thing in common, a caloric deficit:

Low Carb Diet

• Restrictive consumption of carbohydrates with more protein and fat emphasis.

Why it works: By creating a caloric deficit

Paleo Diet

• Consumption of only foods from the Paleolithic age.

Why it works: By creating a caloric deficit

WW (Weightwatchers)/Slimming World Diet

• Portion control system by utilizing a Points/‘Syns’ scheme.

Why it works: By creating a caloric deficit

Ketogenic Diet

• Next to no-carbohydrate intake, high fat with some protein.

Why it works: By creating a caloric deficit

Weight-loss, no matter what any self-professed guru will tell you, comes from when your body is in a caloric deficit i.e. when one consumes fewer calories than what one’s body expends. From there, your body then taps into its stored fat reserves in order to get the energy it requires.

That is it!

Everything beyond that is just a dietary preference.

But such and such diet does this and that…

Maybe, but dig deep enough on the internet and you can most likely find a study or experiment that favors one diet approach over the others. That being said, regardless of every program out there, for me, the ultimate determiner of how effective an approach is, comes down to what a person can realistically adhere to in the long term.

There is no one-way system when it comes to weight-loss, just whatever an individual can stick with.

My Breakthrough, What Ended Up Working For Me

For those unfamiliar, IIFYM (If it fits your Macros) is a huge movement within the fitness circle.

A macro, short for macronutrients is a way of splitting your daily calorie allowance into three categories: 1) Protein, 2) Carbs and 3) Fat.

So as long as I hit my allotted allowance for each of these macros, then I could rest assured that I was on track with my weight-loss goal.

For the longest while, I thought I had to follow restrictive and expensive meal plans in order to lose weight. Turns out I could have done it just by eating cookies (or pop tarts for that matter!).

Jokes aside, this was huge for me. Following the IIFYM protocol while adhering to a calorie deficit was a game-changer for me. It allowed me to eat healthily while allowing me to have such treats from time to time, the closest thing I ever came to a balanced diet.

The only negative I found with IIFYM is that in order to ensure you are still in a caloric deficit, you must be quite vigilant with your tracking. After a while, it is possible to ball-park the calorie content of food based on tracking experience. Although I personally like to log my food intake in my food diary, apps such as MyFitnessPal have proven to be a valid go-to app for clocking macros and calorie content.

Middle: Time to Face the Music

This was me at my heaviest weight to date at 14 stone 8lbs (204lbs/92.53kg).

This was taken a day after I had to stop four times to stretch my tight calves while eating the dust of my then 65-year-old father when we went for a 5-mile walk.

This was my low-point. I was heavy, defeated, and mentally deflated. I wouldn’t say I was depressed at this point, but I was definitely teetering on the fringes. I had no dating life, I just lost my job, and now I was back living at home, with no seeming hope or visible platform to build on.

The only thing I knew for certain was that I wanted to change how I looked. I did not know it at the time, but my confidence began to grow the better I felt about my body.

From week to week I started to see results. Although it wasn’t a big difference initially, on the inside I felt a drastic shift.

Weight training

Between 18 and 22 years old, I really had developed confidence within the gym. At the time when I started this latest journey, however, I had become a complete stranger to a world I once knew and had undone all of my progress with my poor lifestyle choices.

My strength had diminished, so I scoured the internet, did my research, and began applying what I had learned.

Reverse Pyramid Training

Reverse Pyramid Training (RPT) is a training style in which the first set of a given exercise is performed with the heaviest weight, with subsequent sets performed with weights typically 10% lighter than its predecessor, with the aim of adding at least 2 extra reps than the previous set:

Set 1: 4–6 reps x (weight) Set 2: 6–8 reps x (10% less weight than Set 1) Set 3: 8–10 reps x (10% less weight than Set 2)

According to a study published in the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, the benefits of applying RPT(aka drop-set training) include:

• better muscle gains while training in the heavy rep range.
• maximizing one’s strength capacity by hitting the fresh muscle straight away with the heaviest set (post-warm-up) making gains become more imminent.
• Time efficiency- due to the nature of RPT, training can be cut short based on the strong stimulus the training style provides averaging 45 minutes or fewer workout sessions.

The Workouts

The following workout was a rough guide I followed and was implemented every other day, with one-day rest in-between workout.

Workout A (Chest & Triceps)

• Incline Dumbbell Bench Press: 3 sets — 4-6,6–8, 8–10 reps (RPT)
• Weighted Dips: 2 sets — 4-6, 6-8 reps (RPT)
• Incline DB Flyes: 4 sets — 12, 10, 8, 6 (Standard Pyramid)
• Skull Crushers: 3 sets — 6, 8, 10 reps (RPT)
• Rope Extensions: 4 sets — 12, 10, 8, 6 (Standard Pyramid)

Workout B (Legs, Shoulders and Abs)

• Seated DB Shoulder Press: 3 sets — 5, 6, 8 reps (RPT)
• Hang Cleans or Sumo Deadlifts: 3 sets — 5, 6, 8 reps (RPT)
• Lateral Raises: 4 sets — 12, 10, 8, 6 (Standard Pyramid)
• Barbell Squats: 3 sets x 6–10 reps (3 mins rest between sets)
• Calf Raise Machine: 4 sets — 12, 10, 8, 6
• Ab rollers: 3 sets — 10–15 reps

Workout C (Back & Biceps)

• Weighted Chin-ups: 3 sets — 5, 6, 8 reps (RPT)
• Back Rows: 4 sets — 12, 10, 8, 6 (Standard Pyramid)
• Reverse Fly Machine: 3 sets x 8–12 reps (1–2 mins rest between sets)
• Incline DB Curls: 3 sets — 5, 6, 8 reps (RPT)
• Hammer Curls: 4 sets — 12, 10, 8, 6 (Standard Pyramid)

After about 6–8 weeks I would try and mix things up, replacing some parts with others that still accentuated the muscle group I was targeting.

e.g. Swapping ‘Weighted Dips’ with ‘Flatbench Dumbbell Press’ etc.

Cardio

For a long time, I was a huge advocate of High-intensity interval training (HIIT) when it came to burning off that unwanted fat, but after a while, I found it physically taxing and expended my energy considerably.

Capped off with the amount of caffeine I was consuming, my levels of cortisol were higher than I wanted it to be, and II became ill time and time again. Although short and sweet and I could feel the fat melting away, but it was absolute hell.

This time around I took a different approach. I chose Low-intensity steady state (LISS) as my form of cardio, meaning that I did not expend much energy. My cardio of choice was either hiking, walking 10k steps, or going on the StairMaster.

As much as cardio is good for one’s heart, I treated it as a bonus that helped quicken the results I was after.

Without cardio, I’d on average be losing 1.5-2 pounds a week, whereas applying consistent cardio and pretty much walking everywhere (food shopping, social gatherings, even to the gym!) I would lose approximately 2–4lbs a week.

The beauty of walking is that I found it didn’t impact my hunger as a HIIT workout on a treadmill would do. It was leisurely, it was refreshing. Although it took longer than a 20–30 minute HITT workout, I really enjoyed just putting some headphones on, chuck on a podcast and lose myself in it. What’s more, I was pretty much getting the same result had I killed myself with HIIT without taxing my body.

Nutrition

Revising my Calorie Intake

Now, all of the above means absolutely nothing if the nutrition is not dialed in.

First, I calculated out what maintenance calories were, i.e. the number of calories I needed for my lifestyle and sheer existence.

Again, there are many ways to work out this, and so many theories as to best to calculate this from MyFitnessPal and TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) calculators, but a general rule I follow is to multiply my weight in pounds (lbs) by 15 to get a rough estimate for my calorie maintenance:

e.g. For a 180lbs person, 180 x 15=2,700 calories

According to Healthline, a good caloric deficit is 500 calories below one’s maintenance (based on the 180lbs example, 2700–500= 2,200).

Go too high in a deficit and the sustainability of a diet will come into question. Yes, you can lose a considerable amount of weight but hormonally and metabolically you are doing more harm than good.

For starters, your leptin levels (a fat-burning hormone) decreases, while your ghrelin levels (not quite a gremlin, but equally annoying hunger hormone) can increase exponentially, making it harder to stick it out and easier to revert to old eating habits as well as cursing anyone with the depleted energy levels a hermit zombie (drawing from my own personal experience).

So here’s what I calculated.

At my heaviest I was 204lbs and my goal was to reach 160lbs. Therefore I calculated what my maintenance would be at 194lbs, but I would choose a slightly higher deficit, subtracting 700 calories from my required maintenance.

194 x 15= 2,910

2,910–700= 2,210 calories.

Once I reached 194lbs I would then recalculate my macros based on my new micro-goal weight which was 184lbs, and repeat the process until I reached my initial desired goal weight at the time of 160lbs.

After 10–12 weeks of being on a caloric deficit, I found that my fat loss ability began to diminish, therefore I would take my weight at that time and then eat at maintenance for a 2–3 week period before returning to a caloric deficit, where my fat loss ability had been restored and was better than it was pre-maintenance.

Calculating my Macros

When I calculate my macros, I always calculate my protein first and foremost. Now, there are many theories as to what is the best protein intake, with a predominant amount leaning towards a higher protein intake such as matching one’s protein intake per gram for every centimeter of their height i.e. 183-centimeter person = 183grams of protein

From what I found, a person’s protein requirement was surprisingly not as high as initially believed, with most of the research pointing towards 0.82g of protein per pound of bodyweight (approx 1.8–2g per kg of body-weight), as the most sufficient amount of protein needed to support muscle growth and muscle retention on a diet.

Therefore 194lbs x 0.82= 159g protein

Now with 4 calories per gram of protein, I then multiplied my protein intake by 4, then deduct from my daily calorie allowance:

159 x 4= 636

2,210- 636= 1,574 calories remaining.

Now for the fats and carbs.

I calculated my carbohydrate intake at 60% of my remaining calories, therefore:

0.6 x 1574= 944 calories.

Like protein, carbs have 4 calories per gram, i.e. 944 ÷ 4 = 236g carbohydrates.

Fat on the other hand has 9 calories per gram and with 630 calories remaining (1,574 - 944= 630), the total amount of fat came to (630 ÷ 9) 70g.

So my final macros came to 136g protein, 236g carbohydrate, 70g fat.

Foods

I wanted to make my meal plan as exciting as possible while still fueling my body with micronutrients it required to remain optimal. Therefore I compromised my daily caloric intake to 80% ‘clean’ foods (sometimes 90%) and 20% of less-than-ideal-but-forever-dear-in-our-hearts junk food.

When it came to clean foods I would allow myself free reign with vegetables (unfortunately potatoes/fries do not count towards this) particularly greens (broccoli, spinach, salad etc.) and nightshades (tomatoes, peppers).

Protein

• chicken, eggs, cheese, beef, fish, pork, whey protein, protein bars

Carbohydrates

• oats, wholegrain rice, wholegrain bread, cream of rice, legumes, potato, sweet potato and fruit.

Fats

• cheese, peanut butter, almond butter, coconut oil, butter, sour cream, nuts, avocados and olives

Some of the foods I would predominantly eat.

Refeed and Cheat meals

I think we’ve all seen Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s epic cheat meals in where he devours mountain after mountain of pizzas, brioche French toast, ice cream and pancakes.

Well, I’m not the Rock, and I know for a fact that the aforementioned cheat meal would cause major damage to my progress (despite how bad I really would love to devour his cheat meals).

Refeeds however is essentially a day where one gets to eat their maintenance calories, without suffering the damage of a cheat meal/day.

I started off having one refeed a week at the initial stage, but I found that it would make me hungrier in the process. To combat this, only at the times where I would feel hungrier than usual, I allowed myself an extra 300 calories to play with for that day. In doing so, I found that it did not sway me off my weight-loss journey, and if anything, it relieved me somewhat and motivated me more to go harder the next day.

Now I didn’t always use this ‘extra 300 calories', and I would try to avoid using it where I could, but once in a while, it proved handy when I felt myself getting fed up with ‘dieting’.

Supplements

I used to spend a bulk of my student loans on buying supplements, but from what I’ve found, it’s nowhere near as essential as they make it out to be. It is possible to achieve your goals with proper nutrition without the need of tubs and tubs of whey protein supplements. Ultimately they are there for convenience more than anything. Can you use them? Yes. Do you need to? Not really.

I’ll admit I used whey protein on occasion but I really didn’t need to. The truth is I probably spent more money on protein bars more than anything, just because I loved the taste of them.

On a consistent basis, however, I did buy pre-workout (which arguably could be alternatively supplemented by a triple shot espresso), vitamin D3 and vitamin C, that’s it.

Beyond that, all of my micronutrients and macronutrients needs came from food.

End: Crash Days, Everyday Life and Final Thoughts

Crash Days: Paying the Piper

Weight-loss is not a linear journey so I’m not going to pretend to tell you that I was perfect to say the least. Hell, I’m a proud cookie addict, with an insatiable thirst for all things peanut butter, so crashing during this journey was definitely inevitable.

How I combatted that was learning to forgive myself and start afresh the next day, but not until I ‘paid the piper’.

For me, the piper was a deal I would make with myself, that for every 1 day I slipped up, I owed myself 3 days in penance. This may seem extreme to some, but for me it worked. It allowed me the relief and enjoyment to eat as I wanted while equally holding me accountable so that I did not revert to my old ways, (particularly when an accumulation of days meant I owed the piper a lot of days!).

The Long Road Holds The Answer

Look, I’ve done a lot of fad diets…a lot! One thing most of them love to boast about was how ‘quick’ your results would be.

Now of course, who wouldn’t want abs within a month?

The problem with these quick-fix programs is that they not only impact one’s health and wellbeing but also amplifies the likelihood of reverting to your old body, pre-program.

As fast as you get it is as fast as you’ll lose it.

I liken it to building the infrastructure to your house. The more time you have to carefully manage and put the correct foundations in place, the better and more long-lasting the results, (and the better it’ll be at withstanding the storms of life!). I’m sure you can imagine what would happen to a house built in haste.

The long road, although long in duration has been proven the easiest in retrospect because it was more enjoyable. I didn’t have to worry about or face the pressure of getting somewhere quick, because I knew that strong foundations were being set for the body I wanted to have (and keep!).

Personally speaking, I found it took between 13–16 weeks to make a drastic change to my appearance with some hiccups along the way.

It wasn’t perfect, but it was consistent.

I didn’t have to kill myself for this body. I built it. One quality brick at a time. The rest took care of itself.

Keep Moving Forward…even if it is only a few inches

Regardless of what kind of week I had, I always forced myself to go to the gym and do my weightlifting sessions. That was a no-budge for me.

On the days where I feasibly could not see myself going for a walk, no matter how much I tried to, then I didn’t force it.

As long I was staying in a deficit nutritionally, then I was moving forward, even if it was only a ‘few inches’ for that day, I was moving forward regardless.

It’s a marathon after all, and some days it's better to conserve one’s energy in order to come back stronger the next day.

Aftermath

I’ve worked hard for my body and I’m proud of what I managed to achieve. Could it be better? Of course, but considering that I am no athlete, nor have I been blessed with mad genetics, I’m pleased with the results.

Looking back at it all, I’m glad I took that ‘before-after’ pic, at a time when I really didn’t want to, because it’s now become my personal confirmation of what I can do if I really set my mind to it.

Through many trials and errors, I found what worked for me, and I saw it through to the end. There was nothing really spectacular to what I did beyond my level of consistency with nutrition and working out.

As a consequence of this consistency, I was then able to maximize the likelihood and probability that I would achieve my desired physique.

But, I should stress, I am only human. Maintaining such consistency can waver over time.

These days I allow myself a leeway of moving 5 to 10lbs up the scales, but then when I need to, I’ll dial in my macros to ensure I go back to my lean physique as the foundations I have placed are still there for me to rely on.

Suffice to say I’m not ready to embrace the dadbod quite yet.

Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is for educational purposes only. I am not a doctor and this is not meant to be taken as medical advice. The information provided in this article is based upon my experiences and research. Consult your physician to ensure that the information provided is appropriate for you before implementing the information. The author does not accept any responsibilities for any liabilities or damages, real or perceived as a consequence of using this information.

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