Simple Fat Loss: a 4-Week Experiment

I like it when things are simple. Simple things make me happy, and I like to be happy.

So when I looked at my kettlebell swing form in the mirror after getting out of the shower (don't try to form too clear a picture in your head, and definitely don't ask why) and saw things jiggle that ought not to jiggle, I decided it was time to drop some body fat.

Not lose weight, mind you. You can chop off an arm and lose weight. I still want to be strong(ish) and I still want to look like I'm strong(ish), and that requires holding on to or even gaining muscle mass. That means staying far away from any starvation-based, macro-nutrient demonizing, Hollywood bimbo-endorsed "diet cleanse" that leaves you hungry and weak and requires you measure every seed in your tiny serving of watermelon so as not to go over your allotted food mass limit of the week.

For my fat-loss program to work, I need four things:

-Plenty of protein to maintain muscle mass
-A caloric deficit large enough to be effective but small enough to stay away from starvation mode
-Plenty of vitamins, minerals, and fiber to keep me feeling good and healthy
-Some leeway to account for having a life outside of dieting.

This last one is what I thing breaks most people. In a bubble, I think most people have the willpower to see even a super-strict diet to its conclusion and see great results. But life...just, like, frickin' life man, it just gets in the way. Work gets overwhelming, your significant other wrecks your car, 30 Rock has its final season, and when your buddies invite you out to the bar Saturday night you just want to unwind and have like six plates of wings and a beer for each one and not have to explain why you're on a diet and only ordered water.

The other half of the equation is what happens in the gym. Nineteen protein shakes a day won't help you hold on to your precious muscle mass if you don't give said muscles a reason to exist. I firmly believe you should keep lifting heavy while dieting, and seek to at least maintain your strength levels while throwing in some conditioning work to burn more calories and increase your work capacity.

Here's the thing though: I hate training when I'm on a diet. My willpower is usually so sapped from denying myself food that I can't pony up the man juice to do that last set of heavy front squats. As a result, my workouts suffer and I don't do enough to elicit a training effect to hold onto what little mass I've worked so hard to get.

I need three things from a training program:

-Simplicity. I don't want to write an extravagant workout-to-end-all-workouts every time I lift, I just want to train and go home. Or more accurately, back to work, seeing as how I work in a gym.
-Rigidity. I need a plan on paper that I'm not allowed to deviate from, and that I must complete before I'm done.
-Intensity...sort of. I need weights that keep me strong without breaking me, and conditioning work that gasses me without obliterating me.

With that, and with not just a little inspiration from T-Nation, I've developed a four-week fat loss plan that is simple and has everything I require.

Nutrition

My diet, every single day, is:

Breakfast
1 cup oatmeal
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1 tbs peanut butter

Meal 2
1.5 scoops protein powder
1 tbs peanut butter
1 serving of fruit

Meal 3
1.5 scoops protein powder
1 tbs peanut butter
1 serving of fruit

Meal 4
1.5 scoops protein powder
1 serving of canned vegetables

Meal 5
1.5 scoops of protein powder
1 serving of canned vegetables

Total Calories: ~1800
Protein: ~ 180 grams
Calories required for defecit: 2200

See that last part? I have 400 calories not included in my meal plan. Those go wherever, however I want them. Two slices of pizza at night? Go for it.  A couple of brownies my roommate cooked up? Sure! Even -gasp- a beer or two after work? CRAZY! IRRESPONSIBLE! ....and allowed.

I try to eat a lot of colors and add spices here and there to make things bearable, but that's the entirety of my meal plan.

Training

Even simpler. The 10,000 Swing Kettlebell Workout, as prescribed by Dan John:

http://www.t-nation.com/workouts/10000-swing-kettlebell-workout

I chose this one for two reasons:

1. Dan John wrote it

2. See number 1

Okay, a little more reasoning:

I am a big fan of kettlebell swings for conditioning. They gas you pretty quickly, they're easy to learn, and they work my favorite muscle group, the glutes. The workout also intersperses heavy strength movements into the mix, which I really like. 

It's also tough, but doable. My first workout left me sweating like I haven't in months, but I didn't have the burning in my throat and the dizzying fatigue I remember from my Crossfit days. And something about the workout just...I don't know, felt right. 

Starting video and photos

Here's a video of my fourth round of the workout:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mze_bMBd0jk

And here are my starting photos:

I will try to update often, post about my progress and, above all, see this little experiment through to the end.

I S.A.I.D. K.I.S.S.

Exercise physiology has experienced a boom in popularity in the past decade or so, and with the nation's omnipresent obesity epidemic, we're finally getting the respect we deserve as a profession. As I've mentioned before, personal trainers are good for more than just counting reps, and most of us have a well of knowledge that rivals any other profession.

Sometimes, that screws things up.

When you're in possession of that much knowledge, you want to apply all of it, all the time, to show off that you do actually know what you're talking about. Pick up the latest issue of Men's Health and you're bound to see some fitness guru demonstrating barefoot one-legged Yugoslavian kettlebell chops on a balance node to work on improving neuromuscular adaptation, endocrine response, core strength, and sex drive all at the same time.

This is called the hyperextension with  dumbbell scarecrow twist.
I'm not kidding.

I don't think the smart guys over at Men's Health or magazines like it are trying to mess with us by throwing in ridiculous exercise variations like this. They just know if they printed "squat heavy twice a week" every month, people would get bored in a hurry, because the newest stuff must me be the most effective, right? And hey, they're not wrong. To quote Dan John, "Everything works...for about two to six weeks."

Whenever I get off track following the latest fad in fitness, before I take it to heart, I think of two acronyms that never fail to keep me on the right path.

The first is S.A.I.D.

 Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demand.

 In plain English: your body does what you tell it to. If you run for a long time often enough, your body will get better at that. If you lift heavy things off the ground, your body will get better at that too. If you eat Cheetos and look at dirty pictures on the internet all day, your body will adjust to do that as efficiently as possible. 

Here's the thing: each of these goals points in a different direction. Trying to do everything at once is just pulling your body in different directions, so in the end you really end up going nowhere. If you want to get stronger, focus on that. Lift heavy things, eat, recover, and realize that you can practice balancing a barbell on your knee with your eyes closed later. 

The other one is my favorite: K.I.S.S.

Keep It Simple, Stupid.

To get stronger, pick up heavy things.

To get bigger, pick up moderately heavy things a lot.

To get leaner, eat better and keep picking up heavy things. Maybe move around a little more.

To get better at your sport, play your sport a lot.

To eat more Cheetos, buy more Cheetos.

Fundamental movements are fundamental; that one's quoting Mike Boyle. Push, pull, squat, hinge, run, throw, jump, and keep a strong core the whole time. You can reach 90% of your potential just getting better and better at the basics, and that's not just limited to weight training. 

Simplify, and adapt accordingly. 

As always, go forth and lift heavy things.

Justin is a trainer at Lift Fitness and Wellness in Lexington, Kentucky. He lifts stuff. Then, sometimes, he writes blogs, like this one and the one for Lift over at liftfitnessandwellness.blogspot.com