Dropping body fat quickly is the silver bullet for many people. Whether it’s dieting (which obviously everyone loves doing), fasting or just managing your weight, either for an event or an upcoming holiday, at one time or another, everyone will want to drop their body fat. The difference is when you want, or need, to do it quickly.
If that’s something you want to do and, in doing so, create a leaner physique, then you absolutely can do it. Is it easy? Not necessarily, but is it achievable? Definitely yes! There’s a caveat, however. You need two things to be successful; a plan, and secondly, the desire to adhere to that plan. Ready? Of course you are.
Let’s clear something up first. We’re not talking about starving yourself, messing up your hormones, sacrificing your muscle mass or even coming close to causing havoc with your metabolism. What we ARE doing here is simply looking at losing body fat….. fast!
It probably won’t come as a great surprise to you to learn that to drop body fat, quickly or otherwise, you need to place yourself in a regular calorie deficit. It would be easy to think that you’d need a huge 50% (or more) deficit to reach your target and that might work, but it’s not healthy. It wouldn’t help you maintain muscle mass and most certainly isn’t recommended. Instead you need a more sensible reduction of 25%, but I don’t advise that you go beyond that, but by all means go lower, depending on your current circumstances and goals.
If this just sounds like a simple maths equation, then it’s worth pointing out there’s real science behind it. Back in 2015, Finnish researchers at the University of Jyväskylä carried out a study using 15 elite male athletes with a body fat count of about 10%, which meant they would likely lose muscle mass as part of the research. To counteract this, they gave them 1g of protein powder per pound (lb) of body weight every day. They would record their diet and training for 4 days initially, then put them on a low-calorie, high-protein diet for another 4 weeks.
They had their body composition (using a DXA machine), hormone levels (testosterone, cortisol, globulin) and athletic performance (via counter-movement jump performance) all measured beforehand to create a baseline.
They split the athletes, who all specialised in track-and-field events, into 2 groups; one group of 7 athletes had a calorie deficit of 300 (10% reduction) and the other group had a reduction of 750 calories (a 25% reduction). Their intake was controlled by eating less carbs and fats. Incidentally, the training plans for the athletes stayed the same as before, whilst their meal plans were managed, albeit following flexible dieting principles.
At the end of the research, the results were staggering. As you might expect, both groups lost body fat, but the group with the 25% reduction lost 4x as much fat. In fact they lost 5 lb in body weight and 4 lb of fat, compared with 1 lb of weight and only 0.5 lb of body fat for the other group.
Yes it was a small sample and yes, there was 1 more person in the 25% group, but the results speak for themselves. If you’re looking to drop body fat fast, then clearly a 25% reduction is the way to go. There are other reasons why dropping fat faster is better. Firstly, it’s more motivating. The sooner you see it working, the better you’ll feel. Other research shows that those who lose the most weight in the first 2-3 weeks of a nutritional plan also lose the most weight longer-term and they tend to keep the weight off for longer.
There you have it. If you’re looking to drop body fat quickly, then aim for a 25% reduction in your calorie intake. Get yourself a food plan to ensure you get enough protein and go for more whole foods to fill you up for longer. If you stick to it, you’ll have the body you want in no time (well a few weeks anyway) and will look fantastic. I’d love to see the results. If you need any more help, you know where I am.
