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4 Fat-Loss Behaviors: Commit for 60 Days, Drop Your Body Fat Rate by 5%
Weight loss is not always fat loss. To truly become leaner, you need to shed excess body fat. How can you achieve scientific fat loss while preserving muscle mass? Embrace these 4 recognized fat-loss behaviors and stick with them for 60 days to potentially reduce your body fat percentage by 5%:
Behavior 1: Ensure Your Daily Caloric Intake is 20% Below Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE). If your TDEE is typically 2000 kcal per day, aim for around 80% of that, roughly 1600 kcal, during your weight loss period. You can effectively control your calorie intake by simply cutting out various snacks, eating regular meals, and making smart food choices.
For example, if you used to eat 2 bowls of rice per meal, reduce it to about one and a half bowls during this period. Slightly lowering your refined carbohydrate intake can help manage blood sugar levels and inhibit fat accumulation.
Replace fatty meats like pork belly with low-fat, high-protein options such as lean meat or chicken breast. Incorporate plenty of high-fiber vegetables into your meals. These adjustments will naturally help you reduce calorie consumption, and consistently applying these changes for over a week will gradually lead to a decrease in your body fat rate.
Behavior 2: Engage in HIIT Interval Training 3 Times Per Week. Compared to traditional aerobic exercise, High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is a combination of aerobic and anaerobic exercises, offering flexibility in workout styles. It can involve a series of bodyweight movements, such as 20-30 seconds of high knees followed by 20-30 seconds of rest, then 20-30 seconds of jumping jacks, and so on. Choose 6-8 exercises per session.
HIIT is highly effective for burning fat and preserving muscle mass, preventing muscle loss. Just 20 minutes of HIIT can achieve results comparable to 40 minutes of slow jogging.
After a HIIT session, your body’s metabolic rate remains elevated for over 12 hours, keeping calorie expenditure high even at rest. This sustained calorie burning helps build a physique that is more prone to losing weight. To effectively reduce body fat rate and maintain muscle, try doing HIIT every other day. This can help you break through plateaus and achieve better fat-burning results.
Behavior 3: Change Your Staple Food Choices. Staple foods are rich in carbohydrates, which can cause fluctuations in blood sugar and stimulate insulin secretion. Different staple foods have varying glycemic index (GI) values. Individuals aiming for fat loss should consume fewer refined staple foods and opt for more low-GI options.
Low-GI foods slow down blood sugar fluctuations, can help reduce inflammation levels, significantly improve cardiovascular health, and lead to a faster decrease in waist size. Recommended low-GI staple foods include oats, brown rice, multi-grain porridge, barley, various beans, sweet potatoes, corn, potatoes, and buckwheat noodles. These foods are rich in dietary fiber, are not easily digested, keeping you feeling full longer. They also effectively promote waste elimination and improve constipation, helping you slim down faster.
Behavior 4: Increase Your Daily Step Count. Many modern individuals are accustomed to a sedentary lifestyle, often taking fewer than the recommended 6,000 steps per day. As we age, prolonged sitting accelerates muscle loss, decreases basal metabolic rate, and makes it easier for fat, especially around the waist, to accumulate.
Increasing step count is a relatively easy behavior for many people, particularly those who are overweight. Don’t underestimate the impact of walking on fat loss. Walking an extra 5,000 steps a day can burn an additional 150 kcal, which translates to losing over a pound of fat in a month.
Furthermore, the faster you walk, the higher your fat-burning efficiency. If you want to reduce your body fat rate, start by committing to walking an extra 5,000 steps every day.
