Written by Garett Reid | NSCA, CSCS, CISSN, M.S.E.S.S
Fact checked by Tyler DiGiovanni, BSBM
FACT CHECKED
What makes a great weight loss program? There are a ton out there but some are better than others. This can make it confusing when deciding what one is right for you. We wanted to make it a little more simple for you by laying out the 5 major components of a weight loss program. These are 5 variables that you need to consider when choosing a program to ensure you're getting the most out of your effort.
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#1 TDEE And Calorie Expenditure
The first thing you need to understand is your TDEE and calorie expenditure.
TDEE stands for Total Daily Energy Expenditure and refers to the total calories you burn daily. It is the total sum of the energy your body expends for various functions and activities.
You might find this link very helpful to figure out some of these numbers.
Your TDEE is the number you use when modifying the calories you consume to control your weight.
- Lose weight = Eat less calories than your TDEE
- Maintain weight = Consume the same amount of calories as your TDEE
- Gain weight = Eat more calories than your TDEE
What you need to know is that your TDEE is composed of four main components.
- BMR (Basal metabolic rate)
- TEF (Thermal effect of food)
- EAT (Exercise aerobic thermogenesis)
- NEAT (Non-Exercise aerobic thermogenesis)
We'll go over these in more detail as they each affect your weight loss success.
Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)
BMR refers to the energy your body requires to maintain basic life functions when you're at complete rest. These functions include things;
- Breathing
- Heart pumping
- Organ function
- Maintaining body temperature
- Various cellular processes like protein synthesis
- Cell repair
Think about if you slept all day long; this is your BMR.
Interestingly, your BMR accounts for the largest portion of your total daily energy expenditure at roughly 60–75% of total calories.
Thermic Effect of Food (TEF)
The closest thing you have to "free calories" is found in TEF or "The Thermic Effect of Food."
The body needs to break down food into its basic components (amino acids, glucose, fatty acids, etc.) before it can be used for energy, stored, or utilized in other bodily functions. The energy required for all these processes is what composes TEF. Some processes are:
- Digestion
- Absorption of nutrients
- Metabolism of the food you eat
- Dispelling the junk
Now, different food sources have different amounts of TEF, with major differences between your macronutrients. Here is the average TEF of your 3 macronutrients and the result.
- Fat - 1-3%; If you ate 100 calories of fat, you'd burn 1-3 calories and absorb 97-99
- Carbs - 10%; If you ate 100 calories of carbs, you'd burn 10 calories and absorb 90
- Protein - 20-30%; If you ate 100 calories of protein, you'd burn 20-30 calories and absorb 70-80 calories
Pretty cool, right!?
TEF accounts for around 10-15% of your total calories burned. There is a way to increase this, which we'll discuss below.
Exercise Aerobic Thermogenesis (EAT)
EAT refers to any voluntary physical activity performed specifically for fitness, whether exercise or sport. This includes activities like:
- Working out
- Running
- Cycling
- Playing sports
The more active you are, the more calories you burn through physical activity. However, for most people, this plays a very small role, only about 5-10% of total calories.
This isn't a whole lot and is what people need to understand. Many people base 100% of their weight loss success behind going to the gym.
Gym workouts are great. However, they play a very small role in the grand scheme of things.
Now, this definitely doesn't mean that gym workouts serve no purpose, which we'll get into below.
Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT)
NEAT encompasses all calories burned through physical activities that aren't considered structured exercise.
This includes things like:
- Walking around your house
- Cooking dinner
- Walking your dog
- Writing this article
Before we go further, we'll tell you that there's some debate on what qualifies as EAT and what qualifies as NEAT, but it doesn't matter, as the end result is the same: more calories burned!
While many people focus on their gym workouts to burn calories, they ignore NEAT. There's an idea that we need to use high-intensity exercise to burn calories, but the truth is that increasing NEAT can make a massive difference.
In fact, the whole idea of "increasing steps" is derived from the concept of increasing NEAT.
This is really important for those who have sedentary jobs. For example, let's compare two people;
- Person A is a construction worker who builds houses all day but never goes to the gym
- Person B is an accountant who is at their computer all day but goes to the gym 4 days a week for an hour
Who do you think is burning more calories?
Therefore, if you have a sedentary job, try to incorporate movement at work. This might simply mean using a standing desk you use half of the day.
The easiest way to increase NEAT, and arguably the most effective tool for weight loss, is to increase your daily steps.¹
#2 Nutrition For Weight Loss
"You can't out-train a bad diet!"
You've probably heard this claim before, and it holds a ton of value. The main premise is that your first and primary concern when you start a weight loss program is to get your nutrition under control.
So often, we see people who are trying to burn thousands of calories with hours and hours of training each day. You only need to train for hours every day if your nutrition is out of whack!
That said, you need to get a grip on it. Here are some easy tips.
Follow An 80/20 Diet
The 80/20 diet is simply a form of flexible dieting in which 80% of your diet is made up of whole foods. This means you could get the other 20% from processed foods.
Doing this is going to provide numerous benefits, including 2 big ones.
- Ensure you get the necessary micronutrients, i.e., vitamins and minerals
- You will feel fuller as whole foods are generally less calorically dense compared to processed foods
Keep in mind that you don't have to get 20% of your food from processed foods. This is simply an allowance to provide some flexibility so your diet is more manageable for long-term success.
One way to start is to simply cut out fried foods or foods with added sugar.
Eat High Protein
As discussed above, protein has by far the highest TEF of your three macronutrients. This means if you increase your total protein intake, you will burn more calories through TEF.
Let's look at two diets.
- Diet A: 2,000 calories / 20% protein / 40% fat / 40% carbs
- Diet B: 2,000 calories / 40% protein / 20% fat / 40% carbs
Now, let's say a person is trying to lose weight and eats 2,000 calories; which diet will result in more weight loss?
Diet B has a much higher percentage of protein, resulting in higher TEF!
In addition, high protein also has 2 other benefits, including:
- Higher satiety (you'll feel fuller)
- Mitigate muscle loss
This is not just theoretical, as high-protein diets have consistently been found to be very effective in weight loss.²
Therefore, increase your protein intake. 2.0g per kilogram of body weight is a good starting point, but eating more can likely bring more benefits.
Give Yourself A Cut-Off Time
The one time of day when people mess up their diets is in the evening. Therefore, the easiest thing to do is simply not eat!
Give yourself a cut-off time; 7:00 pm or 8:00 pm works well.
You need to be finished with your dinner by this time and then no eating afterwards. Having this tiny restriction will cut out the biggest hurdle for people. Sometimes simply having this little reason is all a person needs to not grab the chips!
#3 Strength Training For Weight Loss
The next aspect your weight loss program should contain is strength training. And this is where our opinion deviates from many other mainstream weight loss programs.
However, after we explain, we think you'll agree and see the value.
So, when a person goes to the gym to lose weight, they often choose "fat-burning" exercises and methods. This might consist of;
- Circuit training
- HIIT classes
- Cardio
- Various classes
Now, there's nothing wrong with any of these; they all have many benefits. However, when you go to the gym, you should be focused on one of two things;
- Build muscle
- Maintain muscle
Consider that the first group of exercises used to burn calories can be performed anywhere! However, unless you have a gym at your house, the only place you can put the necessary stress on your muscles to drive anabolic adaptations is the gym!
By choosing to do HIIT classes rather than lift weights, you are forfeiting your only chance to build or maintain muscle.
Therefore, when you go to the gym, incorporate actual strength training. And don't worry, you'll still burn a good chunk of calories while you're maintaining muscle mass.
With that said, you want to use appropriate rep schemes while losing weight – use loads equal to 80% of your 1RM for at least one exercise for each muscle group.
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#4 Cardio & Endurance For Weight Loss
Once you have implemented an adequate amount of strength training, you could then add in cardio and endurance training. This provides several benefits;
- Cardio is going to improve your cardiovascular system
- Cardio will improve your endurance, and total work capacity means more work!
- It burns calories!
Now, this doesn't need to be overly complicated and can contain a mix of moderate-intensity and HIIT or intervals. Some examples can include;
- 60 minutes of brisk walking on an inclined treadmill
- Interval training
- Tabata
Ideally, you have at least a session of each component in your training as they provide different physiological benefits.
#5 Increase Daily Physical Activity
As we mentioned above, increasing physical activity is one of the greatest variables in a person's overall health and success in weight loss.
This means being on your feet and engaged in low-intensity activity, with "getting in your steps" being the most popular manifestation of this concept in daily life.
As we mentioned above, a very important lesson is that we do not need high-intensity training to burn calories. In fact, the majority of our calorie expenditure comes from bodily processes!
With that in mind, we can also burn many calories just by staying active.
Also, we're limited in how much high-intensity work we put on our bodies, especially newer trainees. This is increased by a few factors, including:
- Too much stress on our bodies, such as joints
- Many new trainees simply don't have the fitness levels to perform high-intensity training for long durations. For example, how long can you run? How long can you walk briskly?
Therefore, here are some great benefits of low-intensity exercise;
- An individual can get in a lot of low-intensity exercise
- Acts as a form of recovery
- Gets us outside, which is awesome for our health
Weight Loss Fitness Program
As you see, many can go into an effective weight loss fitness program. However, this is a good thing! This means you have multiple tools to use for weight loss!
Here is how we like to look at the various components of a weight loss program;
- TDEE & Nutrition- This is your primary tool as it controls how many calories you eat. Get into a caloric deficit of around 500 calories, follow an 80/20 diet, and eat 2.0g/kg+ of protein.
- Strength training/gym—Use the gym to lift weights. This will mitigate muscle loss or perhaps even build muscle while also burning some calories. You should have a minimum of 2 strength sessions but more is better.
- Cardio/Endurance: Cardio will train your cardiovascular system and keep your heart strong. It will also burn a lot of calories during your session.
- Increase Daily Activity—Increasing your daily activity is like a nice little afterburner, like the cherry on top. Walking 10,000 steps a day will ensure you get a good caloric burn daily. Further, it will help improve your mood and mental well-being.
References
- Creasy, Seth A., et al. “Pattern of Daily Steps Is Associated with Weight Loss: Secondary Analysis from the Step-up Randomized Trial.” Obesity, vol. 26, no. 6, 6 Apr. 2018, pp. 977–984, https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.22171.
- Halton, Thomas L., and Frank B. Hu. “The Effects of High Protein Diets on Thermogenesis, Satiety and Weight Loss: A Critical Review.” Journal of the American College of Nutrition, vol. 23, no. 5, Oct. 2004, pp. 373–385, https://doi.org/10.1080/07315724.2004.10719381.
Garett Reid
Author