May 26, 2025 • 31 mins
Download my free Nutrition 101 for Body Composition guide to implement these principles with exact calorie and macro targets:
https://www.witsandweights.com/free/nutrition-101-guide
--
Tired of regaining the weight or losing muscle every time you diet? Sick of feeling like garbage during fat loss phases?
Today I'm breaking down The 3+3 Model, a science-based framework for optimal fat loss that separates what you absolutely need from what's just nice to have.
Learn the 3 foundational elements you must have in place for effective fat loss (the non-negotiables), plus 3 powerful enhancers that can take your results to the next level (the optimizers).
This isn't about suffering through chicken and broccoli or earning your carbs with cardio. It's about engineering a fat loss process that preserves your hard-earned muscle, maintains your metabolic rate, and actually feels sustainable.
Main Takeaways:
- The 3 Non-Negotiables form the foundation of effective fat loss
- The 3 Optimizers enhance your results once the foundation is in place
- Weight loss is not the same as fat loss – this model ensures you lose fat while preserving your hard-earned muscle
- A properly executed fat loss phase can actually improve your body's future muscle-building capacity through enhanced insulin sensitivity and nutrient partitioning
Timestamps:
0:01 - Weight loss vs. fat loss and The 3+3 Model
4:12 - Non-Negotiable #1
7:41 - Non-Negotiable #2
11:02 - Non-Negotiable #3
15:05 - Optimizer #1
17:55 - Optimizer #2
20:56 - Optimizer #3
24:36 - How to put everything together
27:42 - Why a proper fat loss phase improves future muscle gain
29:11 - Final recap and tips to implement
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Philip Pape (00:01):
Have you noticed how most people lose weight but
they end up looking skinny, fatrather than lean and athletic?
Or maybe you've tried to loseweight yourself and felt weak,
exhausted, constantly hungry.
You gain the weight back.
That's because there's amassive difference between just
losing weight and losing fatwhile preserving muscle, and
most people get this wrong.
Today I'm breaking down what Icall the 3 plus 3 model.
(00:24):
This is a science-basedframework to simplify fat loss
so it's effective andsustainable.
You're going to learn threefoundational elements you
absolutely need for fat loss andthen three enhancements or
optimizers that can improve yourresults.
It is about working with yourbody's physiology to shed fat
while maintaining your strength,energy and sanity.
(00:58):
Welcome to Wits and Weights, theshow that helps you build a
strong, healthy physique usingevidence, engineering and
efficiency.
I'm your host, philip Pape,certified nutrition coach, and
today we're tackling a topicthat confuses and frustrates a
lot of people Fat loss, just fatloss in general, not weight
loss, but specifically fat losswhile preserving lean muscle
tissue.
Because here's the problem Mostfat loss approaches or I should
(01:22):
say weight loss approachesfocus on creating a calorie
deficit without any regard forbody composition, metabolic
health or long-termsustainability.
Meaning, can you stick withthis diet for a long time, and
that's why so many people end uplosing muscle along with fat,
whether they're doing thisnaturally or with weight loss
(01:42):
medications, and that tankstheir metabolism.
It ultimately results inregaining everything that they
lost, plus some extra, andhaving higher body fat in the
end.
But it doesn't have to be thisway.
By understanding the scienceand implementing a framework,
you can optimize fat loss forthe results you want with less
suffering, and that is whatwe're covering today with the
(02:04):
three plus three model ofoptimal fat loss a way to
simplify three things you mustdo and three things you can do
to optimize.
For the folks who are brand newto this, or even if you need a
refresher and wanna do it theright way Before we get into it,
if you wanna take a deeper diveinto nutrition for yourself and
set up your calories, yourmacros, your meal timing and all
(02:26):
of that, I created a free guidethat complements today's
episode perfectly.
It's my Nutrition 101 for BodyComposition Guide, again totally
free, gives you a breakdown ofhow to set all this up, whether
you want to lose fat or buildmuscle.
Download it using the link inthe show notes or go to
witsandweightscom.
Slash free to get a copy ofthat and many, many other guides
(02:46):
, but the easiest way is toclick the link in the show notes
to get my nutrition one-on-onefor body composition guide.
All right, let's break down thethree plus three model of
optimal fat loss.
And this is just a fancy namefor a framework that I've
refined through the years ofcoaching clients and studying
the literature and making thispodcast.
So I'm hoping this ends upbeing kind of a definitive
(03:07):
episode for hey start here whenit comes to fat loss.
So what makes this different isit isn't just a list of tips.
It isn't, you know, randomworkout recommendations.
It is a hierarchical frameworkthat distinguishes between
what's absolutely necessaryversus what can enhance your
results.
So, right off the bat, I'mtrying to simplify it for you so
(03:27):
that you don't get bogged downin all the confusion, all the
information out there, and youcan stick with what matters the
most.
So I've got two categories.
First, we have the threenon-negotiables, and these are
the foundational elements thatmust be in place for optimal fat
loss.
If you skip these, you aresetting yourself up for failure,
regardless of what else you do,and you will not lose fat.
(03:50):
You might lose weight, butyou'll lose muscle too.
So that's the importantdistinction.
Second, we have the threeoptimizers.
These are strategies to enhanceyour results once you have the
foundation.
Some people jump to these first.
Do not do that.
Wait till you have the threenon-negotiables in place.
These aren't even required,these optimizers, but they can
improve, sometimes significantly, the outcomes for most people.
(04:12):
So let's start with thenon-negotiables.
The first one is maintaining ahigh protein intake throughout
your fat loss phase.
Now, you thought I was going tomention resistance training,
but honestly, if you can't getyour nutrition dialed in early
on, you're going to getfrustrated when you start
training due to some lack ofenergy or a feeling like you're
(04:34):
not making progress buildingmuscle.
So, even though I often go onpodcasts and say everyone should
be strength training, that'sthe thing people are missing, I
think.
When you are setting yourself upright now for fat loss from
step one, one of the mostaccessible and important steps
is increasing your protein, andthat means consuming between 0.7
and one gram of protein perpound of body weight.
(04:56):
You can go above that, for sure.
There's diminishing returnsabove the one gram per pound,
but I would try to get withinthat 0.7 to one If you're very
lean, or if you're deep into adeficit, or if you're training
really, really hard, you mightwant a higher end of that range
or even above that.
Or if you just love protein,you can eat more than that.
It's fine.
But getting that minimum of 0.7is so crucial during fat loss.
(05:19):
And it's crucial for threereasons.
The first reason is thatprotein is anti-catabolic.
It is, of course, anabolic,meaning it helps build muscle,
but it's also anti-catabolic.
It sends a signal to your bodyto hold onto the muscle tissue
you have when you go into thatcalorie deficit.
This is why you often eat moreprotein in fat loss than when
(05:43):
you're not in fat loss, and itsounds counterintuitive to
people and it makes it a littlebit more challenging to hit your
fats and carbs.
But it's so important for yourbody to tell it hey, go ahead
and burn through your fat stores, don't burn through the muscle,
right?
Because we're trying to avoidthat.
We're just trying to burn fat.
The second thing is protein isvery satiating.
Research consistently showshigh-protein diets reduce hunger
(06:04):
.
They increase feelings offullness.
Anybody who's doubled theirprotein knows this.
When you're eating fewercalories in fat loss which is
where we're trying to go withthis, managing hunger becomes
one of the most critical thingsto stick with the diet, and
protein is your best ally here.
Besides fiber, I mean proteinis it?
Third, protein has the highestthermic effect of feeding of all
(06:27):
the macronutrients.
What that means is your bodywill burn more calories simply
because you're consuming more.
Protein burns about 20 to 30%of its calories just to be
digested and processed, comparedto only about 5 to 10% for
carbs and close to 0% for fats,and this gives you a bit of a
metabolic advantage and it addsup over time.
So, again, we want to get thatprotein up to a reasonable level
(06:50):
before you hit fat loss, sothat during fat loss it's much
easier to hold on to muscle.
And you know I can't tell youhow many times I've met people
who thought they were eatingquote unquote plenty of protein.
And then they track theirintake, they use macro factor or
really any way to track, andyou see that you are probably
dramatically overestimating howmuch you consume.
And if you think they'regetting enough, just log food
(07:11):
for a week and get back to meand let me know what you found.
Also, don't forget aboutdistributing your protein
throughout the day.
It's not, I'll say, requiredfor fat loss, but it slightly
optimizes your results.
But again, this is not requiredfor most people.
They're going to want to haveprotein in every meal anyway,
for the satiety, for the balance, for the blood sugar, for
(07:33):
everything else.
So that's non-negotiable Numberone is get that protein up to
at least 0.7 grams per pound ofyour body weight.
Non-negotiable number two, ofcourse, here it is Resistance
training with progressiveoverload.
All right, this is the secondnon-negotiable.
And that means lifting weightsthree to five times.
(07:55):
I mean you could lift six timesa week too, but at least three
to four, but up to five timesper week, with an emphasis,
initially at least, on compoundmovements like squats, hinges,
presses, pulls, tracking yourperformance and striving to
maintain or increase yourstrength over time.
Now you're going to be doingthis at first not in a calorie
deficit, but then, when you arein a calorie deficit, you are
(08:18):
still going to intend and trainhard to do this, to increase
your numbers, even if eventuallythey potentially stall out
because of the lack of resources.
That's okay.
You're basically giving yourbody the signal to hold onto
muscle, whereas if you weresedentary and not training, your
body is going to say, well, fatprotein or fat muscle doesn't
(08:39):
matter, it's all energy I'mgoing to burn what I need to
burn to lose the weight you'reasking me to lose.
Muscle tissue is metabolicallyexpensive for your body to
maintain when you're in acalorie deficit.
Your body is trying to conserveenergy right.
It downregulates everythingdown to the cellular level,
including your hormones, and itwill happily shed muscle if it
doesn't perceive a need to keepit.
(08:59):
So for those of you thinking,ah yeah, I train, it's not
consistent, whatever, I justwant to lose weight, you're
going to be in a world of hurtbecause you're going to just get
skinny, fat, fluffy.
You're going to have more bodyfat.
That's not what we're trying todo.
Resistance training providesthat signal that muscle's
necessary and should bepreserved.
But it is not enough to just gothrough the motions.
Please listen to me on this.
So many of you are not trainingproperly or hard enough or
(09:21):
consistently enough.
Progressive overload is theterm we use.
Whether you like the term ornot, whether it's a misnomer,
what it means is the continuouschallenge to increase weight,
reps and or volume.
So something is going up thatrepresents the increase in
strength, and I say strengtheven though we're trying to
build muscle.
Hold on to muscle whatever.
Ultimately, it's expressedthrough the ability to do more
(09:45):
in the gym and that will keepthe signal strong.
One of the mistakes I see peopledoing during a cut, during
weight or fat loss, is reducingtheir training intensity.
They think, well, I have lessenergy, so I should lift lighter
.
This is exactly wrong.
It's exactly wrong.
While you might need to reduceoverall volume for your recovery
(10:06):
, if your recovery iscompromised, and that's okay
maintaining the load,maintaining the intensity, the
signal to your body, high enoughpercentage of your max is
absolutely needed, because yourgoal isn't to burn calories
during fat loss with yourtraining, it's to preserve your
muscle mass and strength.
That is the main goal.
We use the diet to manipulatethe calories right, it's an
(10:28):
input and output side of theequation and we don't want to
become weaker and weaker andthen we still have to eat less
anyway.
Plus, we lose muscle right, andI've had clients who were
surprised to find they couldactually gain strength while
losing fat.
And if you're newer, that's notunusual to gain strength, to
gain muscle while you're losingfat, especially if you keep the
deficit reasonable just bymaintaining that training
(10:49):
intensity and ensuring adequateprotein intake right, your body
is very adaptable when you giveit the right signals.
That's what we're doing.
We're telling it to adapt inthe way we want, not the way
just on a whim.
All right.
So the third non-negotiable isrecovery.
Now, this is a big topicbecause it includes, I'll say,
(11:09):
all the other things that I workwith clients on Sleep, stress
management, hormonal health, andI find that these are even more
individualized only becauseeverybody's lives are so
different that, compared to, say, training and food, these have
a lot more variability.
Compared to, say, training andfood, these have a lot more
variability and that's why it'simportant to personalize this.
(11:31):
So what we mean by recovery isgetting enough high-quality
sleep, managing stress to alevel that doesn't overwhelm you
, that doesn't wreck your sleepActually, they go hand in hand
or wreck your cortisol, make itharder to lose fat because your
metabolism is lower than itcould have been.
It's avoiding overreaching andovertraining by monitoring
(11:53):
feedback like, um, I should say,soreness, right, your energy,
how does it feel when you gointo the gym and come out of the
gym, recovery days, et cetera.
Right, and of course it shouldbe obvious why this is important
.
But just to jump into thescience of it, we start with
sleep right.
Poor sleep is going todramatically increase your
hunger hormone, ghrelin.
(12:14):
It's going to decrease yoursatiety hormone, leptin.
So this is a perfect doublewhammy for cravings, for
overeating.
You're going to seek out highenergy foods with lots of fat,
sugars, carbs and not thebeneficial kind for you,
generally very calorie densefoods usually, and then it's
going to be harder to stick toyour diet.
Or you're going to be stickingto it with lots of willpower and
(12:38):
then feeling very, very hungry.
Either way is not great.
So that's sleep right and thehours of sleep.
There's a lot of research onthat.
It varies significantly byperson.
Usually you hear seven to nine.
Some people can do okay as lowas six and a half.
Some people need that eight ornine hours of sleep.
But then the quality isimportant and that's a whole
other topic.
Stress is the other thing.
(12:58):
Chronic stress and yourperceived stress is going to
elevate your cortisol.
Cortisol is great signal foryour body to try to hold onto
fat, especially around yourmidsection, and so where's your
body going to get the energyfrom Breaking down muscle tissue
?
So even if you are doing theother things, if stress is
really high and you're trying tolose fat, you can still
potentially lose muscle becauseof that stress.
(13:25):
And then hormonal adaptation isa real thing.
That happens during fat loss,and it gets, I'll say, more
exacerbated the longer you go orthe more aggressively you diet,
because your body's reallysmart.
It's going to adjust yourhormone levels to fight back
against what it perceives asstarvation.
You know the effect of whatyou're doing to it.
You're depriving it ofresources to maintain where it
was, and so something's going tohave to give.
(13:46):
So your body says you know what?
Let's save some energy here,let's save some energy there.
Downregulate your thyroid,downregulate your reproductive
hormones things that aren't asimportant, let's say.
And there you go.
So proper recovery helpsprotect against these to the
greatest extent you can, knowingthat some of this is inevitable
.
No matter what, even in aperfect situation, you're still
going to have metabolicadaptation from hormones.
(14:07):
The key here is, though, we'retrying to mitigate those.
So in all of these I would say,if you had to pick one, it
would be sleep.
It's probably the mostunderrated factor in the entire
fat loss equation, even trainingand protein, because I've had
clients who've made moreprogress just by improving sleep
quality than any other dietaryinvention or modifying their
training.
Now, they're usually alreadytraining consistently and
(14:30):
they're eating reasonably well,but the reason here is that the
sleep directly affects yourhormone regulation, which
directly affects your hunger,your energy for your training
and then your recovery, and itall viciously or beneficially
cycles together.
So those are the threenon-negotiables protein,
training and recovery.
Those are the threenon-negotiables protein,
training and recovery.
Those are the foundation forfat loss.
(14:50):
Honestly, you could end thepodcast right here, if you've
never done this before, andfocus on those.
Pick one, start with it, rollin the rest, keep going.
That is how I help clients inthe first couple months of our
journey together, before weactually go into a diet.
Okay, now, once you then are inyour fat loss phase, or
preparing for it, and you'vedone this before, or you've got
(15:13):
the foundational habits dialedin and you want to optimize
further, I'm going to give youthree extra things to consider.
Okay, optimizer number one isstrategic refeeds or diet breaks
.
Now, a refeed is just usually aone or two day period where you
eat up to your maintenance byincreasing your carbohydrates.
(15:33):
A diet break is just a longerperiod of doing that, usually
one to two weeks or even longer.
I mean, it could be indefiniteand then you're just at
maintenance.
And these strategies while, yes, they do mitigate some of the
hormonal adaptation to yourleptin, your thyroid hormones,
your reproductive hormones,those are just temporary.
More importantly, they reduceyour perceived mental fatigue,
(15:58):
which helps you improveadherence right, be able to
adhere to the diet, and they canhelp you restore some of your
training intensity during thatrefeed.
We also see that research likewell, there was the Matador
study and there's also a studythat Bill Campbell did that I
talked about recently on theshow called I think it was
called the Weekend Diet.
(16:18):
Look for that in the podcastfeed, very recent.
It suggests that again, not theMatador, but that particular
study suggests that your leanmass preservation may actually
increase if you use two-dayrefeeds every week, the catch
being you're going to eat evenfewer calories on the other five
(16:38):
days to stay in the samedeficit or you can go to slower
weight of loss.
So anyway, just to simplifythis whole optimizer, think
about whether you would preferto have the same calories every
day and that would help you beconsistent and adhere, or if you
want to have a little bit lowercalories on the weekdays and
come all the way up tomaintenance on the weekends
Great strategy.
You want to learn all about it?
(16:59):
Go check out my recent podcast,the Weekend Diet.
This can be really helpful forleaner clients who are pushing
into lower body fat.
This can be helpful forhigh-stress periods when
adherence is a little morechallenging.
These are not cheat days.
This is a controlled,structured approach that can be
really important.
Now that's refeeds.
Diet breaks is the longer breaksyou might need.
Like someone posted in theFacebook group hey, I've been
(17:21):
dieting for 15 months.
I've had these great results.
Should I take a break?
And my immediate response isjust a yes, not even a well, it
depends.
It's kind of she's reaching outwith a little bit of a cry for
help, saying how she feelsfatigued.
I'm like okay, that's your sign.
(17:42):
Let's just take a break.
There's no reason to bemiserable and suffer and push it
for longer than you need tojust to get to a number, when
the more sustainable way to dothat is to take a break right
now.
So that's optimizer number oneis refeeds or diet breaks.
Optimizer number two iscreatine monohydrate.
Now, creatine is a supplementand I was hesitant whether this
would be in here, because to me,supplementation is just the
(18:02):
very tippity top 1% after you'vedone everything else, and very
individualized.
But creatine specifically ishelpful to just about everybody
for training and almosteverybody might benefit
long-term from cognitive healthas well, according to the latest
research.
And it's very easy to do.
Most people have no symptoms oralmost everybody is
(18:26):
symptom-free.
There's a very tiny percentageof people who are actually
allergic to it and then there'ssome people that just don't
respond like 10 to 20% of peopledon't respond.
But it's worth attempting, it'sworth trying.
And this is taking five grams aday of creatine monohydrate
starting trying.
And this is taking five grams aday of creatine monohydrate
starting basically now and justcontinuing to take it for the
rest of your life.
Creatine is supposed to supportstrength and power output and
(18:48):
that could be even more helpfulwhen you're in a calorie deficit
so you can maintain yourintensity.
It increases muscle cellhydration, right.
That's why your muscles fill upa bit at first and you gain a
couple pounds on the scale offluid weight, which is totally
normal.
But that muscle cell hydrationcan actually reduce muscle
breakdown, catabolism, and mighthelp preserve fat-free mass and
(19:09):
improve your recovery duringfat loss.
And that's why I wanted tothrow it in here, because
creatine does all these things,it may give you an advantage
during fat loss and then,finally, it may give you some
advantage during fat loss andthen, finally, it may give you
some improved mental clarityduring the cut, usually on
higher doses though that's thecaveat usually up in the 15 or
even 20 gram range.
(19:29):
It is safe.
It is inexpensive.
It's one of the mostwell-researched supplements out
there.
If you're not taking it already, it is definitely worth
considering, but do so longbefore you start your fat loss
phase so that you can experiencethe bump in weight early.
Let things normalize, getthrough any minor bloating or
issues with hydration early on,because you should drink a lot
of water with your creatine andkind of.
(19:50):
Let it normalize and now you'rein a good place to know where
you truly stand with yourmaintenance calories to go into
the fat loss phase.
And, by the way, just anothershout out to the guide that I
have, because this episode isnot about, uh, setting up your
fat loss phase.
This is more about thefoundational habits you need for
fat loss, the actual numberslike how do you determine your
(20:12):
calories, macros, all that.
I call that the easy stuff,even though some people, people,
reach out every day saying Ihave no idea what to eat for my
fats and carbs.
I'm like well, it's because youneed to track and become aware
and then know what your goal is.
And there's a way to get that.
So download my guide attachedto this episode, the Nutrition
101.
That will walk you throughthose.
Today is the non-negotiables andthe optimizers.
(20:34):
Okay, optimizer number threefiber and micronutrient density.
And I left this for last sothat you remember it in your
head as this podcast will wrapup afterward.
It's the most fresh thing inyour mind of the optimizers.
So this third optimizer isgetting enough fiber intake and
micronutrient density in yourdiet.
(20:56):
Okay, and I'm sorry, carnivoreand low carb folks, you are not
optimizing for fat loss or forlong-term health, longevity or
performance on a extremely lowcarb diet generally and I say
generally because the vastmajority of people will improve,
not in those restrictive diets.
(21:16):
A tiny percentage of peoplemight thrive on those diets
because they have all sorts ofintolerances or inflammation
from eating those foods.
But I'm saying in general thatif you are fearful of consuming
fiber or vegetables or plants,don't be.
Don't be fearful for any of theclaims you hear on social media
.
Don't avoid them just for thatreason, avoid them, because it
(21:39):
would make sense for you.
If that makes sense, all right.
So what does this look like?
I would say females consumingat least 25 grams of fiber,
males consuming 30 to 35 gramsof fiber a day, keeping in mind
that that gets more challengingwhen you're in fat loss because
the calories are lower, but italso becomes even more effective
and helpful in doing so.
(22:00):
Now let's talk about how andthen why.
So the how is just filling yourplate with colorful,
high-volume foods, all sorts ofvegetables, berries, even
legumes, even whole grains.
Yes, grains are fine if you cantolerate them.
You know, being aware of thecalories and the calorie density
for your goal, fiber.
(22:21):
So the why?
Fiber promotes satiety, keepsyou full, but it also supports
smooth digestion.
It reduces issues like bloatingthat can make a deficit feel
worse than it is.
Micronutrients found in allsorts of variety of foods,
especially plant-based foods and, by the way, I'm a big meat
eater.
I love my protein andanimal-based products.
(22:42):
I'm not vegan or vegetarian,but I love my plants as well,
because the diversity is whereit's at Magnesium, b vitamins,
iron, potassium all the thingsthat support thyroid function,
your metabolism, your energy.
Yes, you can supplement, ofcourse.
I mean vegans and vegetariansoften have to supplement with
things like B12.
People on carnivore often haveto supplement.
(23:02):
In my opinion, everyone shouldsupplement with magnesium, most
likely because we're deficientno matter what you eat, given
today's food environment.
So if you can focus onnutrient-dense foods, it can
reduce.
It can help with other thingslike food noise and decision
fatigue, making your adherenceeasier.
It can actually help withemotional eating and guilt and
(23:22):
shame over foods.
Believe it or not?
Yes, it can, because whatyou're doing you're adding in
things that make your body justfeel so good and your digestion
smooth and you feel full andsatisfied on these whole foods.
And this is in addition to theprotein we already talked about.
And, of course, fats are inthere as well, naturally, as
you're eating whole foods.
(23:43):
And when I talk to clients, theyoften report feeling initially
hungrier after they go from ajunk food type diet to a I
shouldn't even use the word junkfood.
See, there's a label that wetry not to use, but a food
predominant with ultra-processedfoods as opposed to whole foods
(24:04):
, and then they switch to morewhole foods, and that transition
is important because you've gotto give it a little time.
What's actually happening isthey're becoming more aware of
their true hunger signals,because processed foods can mask
your natural satiety cues theway they're designed and when
you return to whole foods it'sgoing to bring back your body's
natural regulatory mechanisms.
So do it before you go into fatloss.
(24:25):
Again, a lot of this is prepwork for fat loss.
That's the irony of this wholething is it is to make fat loss
easier so that when you go intothat deficit, all the things are
dialed in to make itsustainable.
So how do we integrate all thesecomponents of the three plus
three model?
Remember the hierarchy.
First, ensure you have thethree non-negotiables in place
High protein intake, resistancetraining with progressive
(24:47):
overload, proper recovery.
These must be consistent, andI'm going to say consistent
every day.
Obviously, you're not going totrain every day and you're not
always going to hit your protein.
You're going to have some daysthat are less than others, but
you want to do something everyday for these.
And again, training.
You might only train three daysa week, so the days you're not
training, you're gonna focus onrecovery in terms of getting
(25:10):
enough sleep or walking enough,et cetera.
But they've gotta be consistent.
Then you're gonna layer in theoptimizers as needed for your
individual circumstances, yourpreferences, your biofeedback.
Not everyone needs all three.
I do have clients that don'ttake creatine.
They're just fine, but they'renice tools to have in your
arsenal.
And there's a few insights Iwant you to take away from this
(25:31):
model that probably challengethe conventional wisdom.
You've heard the first one.
If you've listened to thispodcast for any length of time,
you've heard this.
But if you're new to it, it'simportant.
Weight loss is not the same asfat loss period.
You can lose weight and losemuscle, which is not the goal at
all.
This is what happens whenpeople go on Ozempic and they
don't have any guidance withregard to training and protein
(25:54):
and they just lose a ton and tonof muscle up to 30, 40% of the
weight lost as lean mass ormuscle.
And so this model, this threeplus three, is just a simple way
in your head to say hey look,my goal is to protect against
this scenario.
I'm trying to lose fat, I'm nottrying to lose weight, I want
to look better, I want to feelbetter, I want a better body
composition.
Second is you don't have to dotraditional cardio to lose fat
(26:17):
unless you enjoy it or you needit to create the well no, I
shouldn't say it unless youenjoy it.
That's all I'm going to say.
Resistance training providesthe extra, the stimulus you need
for body composition.
Walking provides the overallmovement.
Right, we didn't even reallytalk about that in detail, but
getting your steps, walking,moving, is the priority when it
comes to quote unquote cardio.
(26:38):
And then only after that wouldI consider something like
sprinting once or twice a week,if needed, if needed.
The third thing here in termsof challenging conventional
wisdom is that muscle retentionis a skill, like many of the
things we talk about.
It's a skill, it's a process ofpersonal improvement that's
going to be developed over time.
(27:00):
Your fat loss phase does nothave to feel like a collapse in
your performance and health.
It doesn't have to feel like aswitch.
When most people go on a diet,they think of it as this period
of suffering.
I'm going on a diet, I'm sayingno, I can't do this, I'm not
going to eat quote unquote badfoods.
It's all these labels, moralitybehind it, judgment, guilt,
(27:21):
fear, shame.
But in reality, if you do itright, this can be an enjoyable
process that doesn't feel likesuffering at all, can be quite
reasonably done, and you have tobe patient, of course, but it's
a strategically engineeredperiod in a year or in a
two-year period or whatever,where you're prioritizing fat
(27:41):
loss.
Okay, the cool thing about fatloss itself, when you do it
right, is it improves yourbody's future capacity to build
muscle and maintain leanness.
This is what I have seen andwhat I believe the evidence
shows.
When done properly, awell-executed fat loss phase, it
yeah, it changes how you look,for sure, but it also rewires
your metabolic machinery, forlack of a better phrase.
(28:04):
There's research into musclememory, for example.
That shows that theneurological, the epigenetic
adaptations from maintainingmuscle during a deficit actually
makes subsequent musclebuilding more efficient.
You ever heard about that?
It's pretty cool.
Your body essentially becomesbetter at preserving and
building muscle because youchallenged it with fat loss the
(28:26):
right way, and that's why Ioften see clients achieve their
best muscle building results inthe phase immediately following
a properly executed fat lossphase.
And if you have some excessweight to lose, I'm totally cool
if you want to go with fat lossfirst, after you've prepped a
few months for it, and thenbuild muscle afterward, as
opposed to because you know me,I talk about how everybody needs
(28:49):
to spend time, at least once ina muscle building phase, but it
might be best done after yourfat loss phase, depending on
where you're starting from.
So we have things like improvedinsulin sensitivity, enhanced
nutrient partitioning, optimizedhormones.
All of it will actually help inyour muscle building phase
coming up.
So let's recap Threenon-negotiables high protein
resistance, training withprogressive overload, proper
(29:10):
recovery.
Three optimizers are refeeds ordiet breaks, creatine and fiber
slash, micronutrient density,and the overall picture here is
we don't want to suffer.
We don't want to suffer throughbland, boring meals.
We don't want to punishourselves with cardio.
We don't want to just cut outall these foods so that all
we're thinking about are thefoods we cut out.
This is a physiological processthat you can engineer to be
(29:34):
efficient when you understandthe requirements, and then you
leverage what we know, thescience that we know, and
personalize it to you, andtoday's model provides you that
approach to do that.
All right, if you found thisvaluable, if you wanna take your
nutrition knowledge further,put this into practice and set
up your fat loss phase, downloadmy free Nutrition 101 for Body
Composition guide.
It expands on many of theprinciples we discussed today.
(29:57):
It gives you the step-by-steppractical approach to do it, and
it also, I think, talks aboutfat loss and muscle building.
Although if you're specificallyfocused on muscle building, go
to witsandweightscom, slash freeand get my muscle building
blueprint.
But if you're going to do fatloss, next, download the guide
in the show notes for nutrition.
(30:18):
All right, until next time,keep using your wits lifting
those weights, and remember fatloss doesn't have to be a
mystery or a misery when youapproach it with intelligence
and strategy.
I'll talk to you next time hereon the Wits and Weights Podcast
.
Have you noticed how most people lose weight but
they end up looking skinny, fatrather than lean and athletic?
Or maybe you've tried to loseweight yourself and felt weak,
exhausted, constantly hungry.
You gain the weight back.
That's because there's amassive difference between just
losing weight and losing fatwhile preserving muscle, and
most people get this wrong.
Today I'm breaking down what Icall the 3 plus 3 model.
(00:24):
This is a science-basedframework to simplify fat loss
so it's effective andsustainable.
You're going to learn threefoundational elements you
absolutely need for fat loss andthen three enhancements or
optimizers that can improve yourresults.
It is about working with yourbody's physiology to shed fat
while maintaining your strength,energy and sanity.
(00:58):
Welcome to Wits and Weights, theshow that helps you build a
strong, healthy physique usingevidence, engineering and
efficiency.
I'm your host, philip Pape,certified nutrition coach, and
today we're tackling a topicthat confuses and frustrates a
lot of people Fat loss, just fatloss in general, not weight
loss, but specifically fat losswhile preserving lean muscle
tissue.
Because here's the problem Mostfat loss approaches or I should
(01:22):
say weight loss approachesfocus on creating a calorie
deficit without any regard forbody composition, metabolic
health or long-termsustainability.
Meaning, can you stick withthis diet for a long time, and
that's why so many people end uplosing muscle along with fat,
whether they're doing thisnaturally or with weight loss
(01:42):
medications, and that tankstheir metabolism.
It ultimately results inregaining everything that they
lost, plus some extra, andhaving higher body fat in the
end.
But it doesn't have to be thisway.
By understanding the scienceand implementing a framework,
you can optimize fat loss forthe results you want with less
suffering, and that is whatwe're covering today with the
(02:04):
three plus three model ofoptimal fat loss a way to
simplify three things you mustdo and three things you can do
to optimize.
For the folks who are brand newto this, or even if you need a
refresher and wanna do it theright way Before we get into it,
if you wanna take a deeper diveinto nutrition for yourself and
set up your calories, yourmacros, your meal timing and all
(02:26):
of that, I created a free guidethat complements today's
episode perfectly.
It's my Nutrition 101 for BodyComposition Guide, again totally
free, gives you a breakdown ofhow to set all this up, whether
you want to lose fat or buildmuscle.
Download it using the link inthe show notes or go to
witsandweightscom.
Slash free to get a copy ofthat and many, many other guides
(02:46):
, but the easiest way is toclick the link in the show notes
to get my nutrition one-on-onefor body composition guide.
All right, let's break down thethree plus three model of
optimal fat loss.
And this is just a fancy namefor a framework that I've
refined through the years ofcoaching clients and studying
the literature and making thispodcast.
So I'm hoping this ends upbeing kind of a definitive
(03:07):
episode for hey start here whenit comes to fat loss.
So what makes this different isit isn't just a list of tips.
It isn't, you know, randomworkout recommendations.
It is a hierarchical frameworkthat distinguishes between
what's absolutely necessaryversus what can enhance your
results.
So, right off the bat, I'mtrying to simplify it for you so
(03:27):
that you don't get bogged downin all the confusion, all the
information out there, and youcan stick with what matters the
most.
So I've got two categories.
First, we have the threenon-negotiables, and these are
the foundational elements thatmust be in place for optimal fat
loss.
If you skip these, you aresetting yourself up for failure,
regardless of what else you do,and you will not lose fat.
(03:50):
You might lose weight, butyou'll lose muscle too.
So that's the importantdistinction.
Second, we have the threeoptimizers.
These are strategies to enhanceyour results once you have the
foundation.
Some people jump to these first.
Do not do that.
Wait till you have the threenon-negotiables in place.
These aren't even required,these optimizers, but they can
improve, sometimes significantly, the outcomes for most people.
(04:12):
So let's start with thenon-negotiables.
The first one is maintaining ahigh protein intake throughout
your fat loss phase.
Now, you thought I was going tomention resistance training,
but honestly, if you can't getyour nutrition dialed in early
on, you're going to getfrustrated when you start
training due to some lack ofenergy or a feeling like you're
(04:34):
not making progress buildingmuscle.
So, even though I often go onpodcasts and say everyone should
be strength training, that'sthe thing people are missing, I
think.
When you are setting yourself upright now for fat loss from
step one, one of the mostaccessible and important steps
is increasing your protein, andthat means consuming between 0.7
and one gram of protein perpound of body weight.
(04:56):
You can go above that, for sure.
There's diminishing returnsabove the one gram per pound,
but I would try to get withinthat 0.7 to one If you're very
lean, or if you're deep into adeficit, or if you're training
really, really hard, you mightwant a higher end of that range
or even above that.
Or if you just love protein,you can eat more than that.
It's fine.
But getting that minimum of 0.7is so crucial during fat loss.
(05:19):
And it's crucial for threereasons.
The first reason is thatprotein is anti-catabolic.
It is, of course, anabolic,meaning it helps build muscle,
but it's also anti-catabolic.
It sends a signal to your bodyto hold onto the muscle tissue
you have when you go into thatcalorie deficit.
This is why you often eat moreprotein in fat loss than when
(05:43):
you're not in fat loss, and itsounds counterintuitive to
people and it makes it a littlebit more challenging to hit your
fats and carbs.
But it's so important for yourbody to tell it hey, go ahead
and burn through your fat stores, don't burn through the muscle,
right?
Because we're trying to avoidthat.
We're just trying to burn fat.
The second thing is protein isvery satiating.
Research consistently showshigh-protein diets reduce hunger
(06:04):
.
They increase feelings offullness.
Anybody who's doubled theirprotein knows this.
When you're eating fewercalories in fat loss which is
where we're trying to go withthis, managing hunger becomes
one of the most critical thingsto stick with the diet, and
protein is your best ally here.
Besides fiber, I mean proteinis it?
Third, protein has the highestthermic effect of feeding of all
(06:27):
the macronutrients.
What that means is your bodywill burn more calories simply
because you're consuming more.
Protein burns about 20 to 30%of its calories just to be
digested and processed, comparedto only about 5 to 10% for
carbs and close to 0% for fats,and this gives you a bit of a
metabolic advantage and it addsup over time.
So, again, we want to get thatprotein up to a reasonable level
(06:50):
before you hit fat loss, sothat during fat loss it's much
easier to hold on to muscle.
And you know I can't tell youhow many times I've met people
who thought they were eatingquote unquote plenty of protein.
And then they track theirintake, they use macro factor or
really any way to track, andyou see that you are probably
dramatically overestimating howmuch you consume.
And if you think they'regetting enough, just log food
(07:11):
for a week and get back to meand let me know what you found.
Also, don't forget aboutdistributing your protein
throughout the day.
It's not, I'll say, requiredfor fat loss, but it slightly
optimizes your results.
But again, this is not requiredfor most people.
They're going to want to haveprotein in every meal anyway,
for the satiety, for the balance, for the blood sugar, for
(07:33):
everything else.
So that's non-negotiable Numberone is get that protein up to
at least 0.7 grams per pound ofyour body weight.
Non-negotiable number two, ofcourse, here it is Resistance
training with progressiveoverload.
All right, this is the secondnon-negotiable.
And that means lifting weightsthree to five times.
(07:55):
I mean you could lift six timesa week too, but at least three
to four, but up to five timesper week, with an emphasis,
initially at least, on compoundmovements like squats, hinges,
presses, pulls, tracking yourperformance and striving to
maintain or increase yourstrength over time.
Now you're going to be doingthis at first not in a calorie
deficit, but then, when you arein a calorie deficit, you are
(08:18):
still going to intend and trainhard to do this, to increase
your numbers, even if eventuallythey potentially stall out
because of the lack of resources.
That's okay.
You're basically giving yourbody the signal to hold onto
muscle, whereas if you weresedentary and not training, your
body is going to say, well, fatprotein or fat muscle doesn't
(08:39):
matter, it's all energy I'mgoing to burn what I need to
burn to lose the weight you'reasking me to lose.
Muscle tissue is metabolicallyexpensive for your body to
maintain when you're in acalorie deficit.
Your body is trying to conserveenergy right.
It downregulates everythingdown to the cellular level,
including your hormones, and itwill happily shed muscle if it
doesn't perceive a need to keepit.
(08:59):
So for those of you thinking,ah yeah, I train, it's not
consistent, whatever, I justwant to lose weight, you're
going to be in a world of hurtbecause you're going to just get
skinny, fat, fluffy.
You're going to have more bodyfat.
That's not what we're trying todo.
Resistance training providesthat signal that muscle's
necessary and should bepreserved.
But it is not enough to just gothrough the motions.
Please listen to me on this.
So many of you are not trainingproperly or hard enough or
(09:21):
consistently enough.
Progressive overload is theterm we use.
Whether you like the term ornot, whether it's a misnomer,
what it means is the continuouschallenge to increase weight,
reps and or volume.
So something is going up thatrepresents the increase in
strength, and I say strengtheven though we're trying to
build muscle.
Hold on to muscle whatever.
Ultimately, it's expressedthrough the ability to do more
(09:45):
in the gym and that will keepthe signal strong.
One of the mistakes I see peopledoing during a cut, during
weight or fat loss, is reducingtheir training intensity.
They think, well, I have lessenergy, so I should lift lighter
.
This is exactly wrong.
It's exactly wrong.
While you might need to reduceoverall volume for your recovery
(10:06):
, if your recovery iscompromised, and that's okay
maintaining the load,maintaining the intensity, the
signal to your body, high enoughpercentage of your max is
absolutely needed, because yourgoal isn't to burn calories
during fat loss with yourtraining, it's to preserve your
muscle mass and strength.
That is the main goal.
We use the diet to manipulatethe calories right, it's an
(10:28):
input and output side of theequation and we don't want to
become weaker and weaker andthen we still have to eat less
anyway.
Plus, we lose muscle right, andI've had clients who were
surprised to find they couldactually gain strength while
losing fat.
And if you're newer, that's notunusual to gain strength, to
gain muscle while you're losingfat, especially if you keep the
deficit reasonable just bymaintaining that training
(10:49):
intensity and ensuring adequateprotein intake right, your body
is very adaptable when you giveit the right signals.
That's what we're doing.
We're telling it to adapt inthe way we want, not the way
just on a whim.
All right.
So the third non-negotiable isrecovery.
Now, this is a big topicbecause it includes, I'll say,
(11:09):
all the other things that I workwith clients on Sleep, stress
management, hormonal health, andI find that these are even more
individualized only becauseeverybody's lives are so
different that, compared to, say, training and food, these have
a lot more variability.
Compared to, say, training andfood, these have a lot more
variability and that's why it'simportant to personalize this.
(11:31):
So what we mean by recovery isgetting enough high-quality
sleep, managing stress to alevel that doesn't overwhelm you
, that doesn't wreck your sleepActually, they go hand in hand
or wreck your cortisol, make itharder to lose fat because your
metabolism is lower than itcould have been.
It's avoiding overreaching andovertraining by monitoring
(11:53):
feedback like, um, I should say,soreness, right, your energy,
how does it feel when you gointo the gym and come out of the
gym, recovery days, et cetera.
Right, and of course it shouldbe obvious why this is important
.
But just to jump into thescience of it, we start with
sleep right.
Poor sleep is going todramatically increase your
hunger hormone, ghrelin.
(12:14):
It's going to decrease yoursatiety hormone, leptin.
So this is a perfect doublewhammy for cravings, for
overeating.
You're going to seek out highenergy foods with lots of fat,
sugars, carbs and not thebeneficial kind for you,
generally very calorie densefoods usually, and then it's
going to be harder to stick toyour diet.
Or you're going to be stickingto it with lots of willpower and
(12:38):
then feeling very, very hungry.
Either way is not great.
So that's sleep right and thehours of sleep.
There's a lot of research onthat.
It varies significantly byperson.
Usually you hear seven to nine.
Some people can do okay as lowas six and a half.
Some people need that eight ornine hours of sleep.
But then the quality isimportant and that's a whole
other topic.
Stress is the other thing.
(12:58):
Chronic stress and yourperceived stress is going to
elevate your cortisol.
Cortisol is great signal foryour body to try to hold onto
fat, especially around yourmidsection, and so where's your
body going to get the energyfrom Breaking down muscle tissue
?
So even if you are doing theother things, if stress is
really high and you're trying tolose fat, you can still
potentially lose muscle becauseof that stress.
(13:25):
And then hormonal adaptation isa real thing.
That happens during fat loss,and it gets, I'll say, more
exacerbated the longer you go orthe more aggressively you diet,
because your body's reallysmart.
It's going to adjust yourhormone levels to fight back
against what it perceives asstarvation.
You know the effect of whatyou're doing to it.
You're depriving it ofresources to maintain where it
was, and so something's going tohave to give.
(13:46):
So your body says you know what?
Let's save some energy here,let's save some energy there.
Downregulate your thyroid,downregulate your reproductive
hormones things that aren't asimportant, let's say.
And there you go.
So proper recovery helpsprotect against these to the
greatest extent you can, knowingthat some of this is inevitable
.
No matter what, even in aperfect situation, you're still
going to have metabolicadaptation from hormones.
(14:07):
The key here is, though, we'retrying to mitigate those.
So in all of these I would say,if you had to pick one, it
would be sleep.
It's probably the mostunderrated factor in the entire
fat loss equation, even trainingand protein, because I've had
clients who've made moreprogress just by improving sleep
quality than any other dietaryinvention or modifying their
training.
Now, they're usually alreadytraining consistently and
(14:30):
they're eating reasonably well,but the reason here is that the
sleep directly affects yourhormone regulation, which
directly affects your hunger,your energy for your training
and then your recovery, and itall viciously or beneficially
cycles together.
So those are the threenon-negotiables protein,
training and recovery.
Those are the threenon-negotiables protein,
training and recovery.
Those are the foundation forfat loss.
(14:50):
Honestly, you could end thepodcast right here, if you've
never done this before, andfocus on those.
Pick one, start with it, rollin the rest, keep going.
That is how I help clients inthe first couple months of our
journey together, before weactually go into a diet.
Okay, now, once you then are inyour fat loss phase, or
preparing for it, and you'vedone this before, or you've got
(15:13):
the foundational habits dialedin and you want to optimize
further, I'm going to give youthree extra things to consider.
Okay, optimizer number one isstrategic refeeds or diet breaks
.
Now, a refeed is just usually aone or two day period where you
eat up to your maintenance byincreasing your carbohydrates.
(15:33):
A diet break is just a longerperiod of doing that, usually
one to two weeks or even longer.
I mean, it could be indefiniteand then you're just at
maintenance.
And these strategies while, yes, they do mitigate some of the
hormonal adaptation to yourleptin, your thyroid hormones,
your reproductive hormones,those are just temporary.
More importantly, they reduceyour perceived mental fatigue,
(15:58):
which helps you improveadherence right, be able to
adhere to the diet, and they canhelp you restore some of your
training intensity during thatrefeed.
We also see that research likewell, there was the Matador
study and there's also a studythat Bill Campbell did that I
talked about recently on theshow called I think it was
called the Weekend Diet.
(16:18):
Look for that in the podcastfeed, very recent.
It suggests that again, not theMatador, but that particular
study suggests that your leanmass preservation may actually
increase if you use two-dayrefeeds every week, the catch
being you're going to eat evenfewer calories on the other five
(16:38):
days to stay in the samedeficit or you can go to slower
weight of loss.
So anyway, just to simplifythis whole optimizer, think
about whether you would preferto have the same calories every
day and that would help you beconsistent and adhere, or if you
want to have a little bit lowercalories on the weekdays and
come all the way up tomaintenance on the weekends
Great strategy.
You want to learn all about it?
(16:59):
Go check out my recent podcast,the Weekend Diet.
This can be really helpful forleaner clients who are pushing
into lower body fat.
This can be helpful forhigh-stress periods when
adherence is a little morechallenging.
These are not cheat days.
This is a controlled,structured approach that can be
really important.
Now that's refeeds.
Diet breaks is the longer breaksyou might need.
Like someone posted in theFacebook group hey, I've been
(17:21):
dieting for 15 months.
I've had these great results.
Should I take a break?
And my immediate response isjust a yes, not even a well, it
depends.
It's kind of she's reaching outwith a little bit of a cry for
help, saying how she feelsfatigued.
I'm like okay, that's your sign.
(17:42):
Let's just take a break.
There's no reason to bemiserable and suffer and push it
for longer than you need tojust to get to a number, when
the more sustainable way to dothat is to take a break right
now.
So that's optimizer number oneis refeeds or diet breaks.
Optimizer number two iscreatine monohydrate.
Now, creatine is a supplementand I was hesitant whether this
would be in here, because to me,supplementation is just the
(18:02):
very tippity top 1% after you'vedone everything else, and very
individualized.
But creatine specifically ishelpful to just about everybody
for training and almosteverybody might benefit
long-term from cognitive healthas well, according to the latest
research.
And it's very easy to do.
Most people have no symptoms oralmost everybody is
(18:26):
symptom-free.
There's a very tiny percentageof people who are actually
allergic to it and then there'ssome people that just don't
respond like 10 to 20% of peopledon't respond.
But it's worth attempting, it'sworth trying.
And this is taking five grams aday of creatine monohydrate
starting trying.
And this is taking five grams aday of creatine monohydrate
starting basically now and justcontinuing to take it for the
rest of your life.
Creatine is supposed to supportstrength and power output and
(18:48):
that could be even more helpfulwhen you're in a calorie deficit
so you can maintain yourintensity.
It increases muscle cellhydration, right.
That's why your muscles fill upa bit at first and you gain a
couple pounds on the scale offluid weight, which is totally
normal.
But that muscle cell hydrationcan actually reduce muscle
breakdown, catabolism, and mighthelp preserve fat-free mass and
(19:09):
improve your recovery duringfat loss.
And that's why I wanted tothrow it in here, because
creatine does all these things,it may give you an advantage
during fat loss and then,finally, it may give you some
advantage during fat loss andthen, finally, it may give you
some improved mental clarityduring the cut, usually on
higher doses though that's thecaveat usually up in the 15 or
even 20 gram range.
(19:29):
It is safe.
It is inexpensive.
It's one of the mostwell-researched supplements out
there.
If you're not taking it already, it is definitely worth
considering, but do so longbefore you start your fat loss
phase so that you can experiencethe bump in weight early.
Let things normalize, getthrough any minor bloating or
issues with hydration early on,because you should drink a lot
of water with your creatine andkind of.
(19:50):
Let it normalize and now you'rein a good place to know where
you truly stand with yourmaintenance calories to go into
the fat loss phase.
And, by the way, just anothershout out to the guide that I
have, because this episode isnot about, uh, setting up your
fat loss phase.
This is more about thefoundational habits you need for
fat loss, the actual numberslike how do you determine your
(20:12):
calories, macros, all that.
I call that the easy stuff,even though some people, people,
reach out every day saying Ihave no idea what to eat for my
fats and carbs.
I'm like well, it's because youneed to track and become aware
and then know what your goal is.
And there's a way to get that.
So download my guide attachedto this episode, the Nutrition
101.
That will walk you throughthose.
Today is the non-negotiables andthe optimizers.
(20:34):
Okay, optimizer number threefiber and micronutrient density.
And I left this for last sothat you remember it in your
head as this podcast will wrapup afterward.
It's the most fresh thing inyour mind of the optimizers.
So this third optimizer isgetting enough fiber intake and
micronutrient density in yourdiet.
(20:56):
Okay, and I'm sorry, carnivoreand low carb folks, you are not
optimizing for fat loss or forlong-term health, longevity or
performance on a extremely lowcarb diet generally and I say
generally because the vastmajority of people will improve,
not in those restrictive diets.
(21:16):
A tiny percentage of peoplemight thrive on those diets
because they have all sorts ofintolerances or inflammation
from eating those foods.
But I'm saying in general thatif you are fearful of consuming
fiber or vegetables or plants,don't be.
Don't be fearful for any of theclaims you hear on social media
.
Don't avoid them just for thatreason, avoid them, because it
(21:39):
would make sense for you.
If that makes sense, all right.
So what does this look like?
I would say females consumingat least 25 grams of fiber,
males consuming 30 to 35 gramsof fiber a day, keeping in mind
that that gets more challengingwhen you're in fat loss because
the calories are lower, but italso becomes even more effective
and helpful in doing so.
(22:00):
Now let's talk about how andthen why.
So the how is just filling yourplate with colorful,
high-volume foods, all sorts ofvegetables, berries, even
legumes, even whole grains.
Yes, grains are fine if you cantolerate them.
You know, being aware of thecalories and the calorie density
for your goal, fiber.
(22:21):
So the why?
Fiber promotes satiety, keepsyou full, but it also supports
smooth digestion.
It reduces issues like bloatingthat can make a deficit feel
worse than it is.
Micronutrients found in allsorts of variety of foods,
especially plant-based foods and, by the way, I'm a big meat
eater.
I love my protein andanimal-based products.
(22:42):
I'm not vegan or vegetarian,but I love my plants as well,
because the diversity is whereit's at Magnesium, b vitamins,
iron, potassium all the thingsthat support thyroid function,
your metabolism, your energy.
Yes, you can supplement, ofcourse.
I mean vegans and vegetariansoften have to supplement with
things like B12.
People on carnivore often haveto supplement.
(23:02):
In my opinion, everyone shouldsupplement with magnesium, most
likely because we're deficientno matter what you eat, given
today's food environment.
So if you can focus onnutrient-dense foods, it can
reduce.
It can help with other thingslike food noise and decision
fatigue, making your adherenceeasier.
It can actually help withemotional eating and guilt and
(23:22):
shame over foods.
Believe it or not?
Yes, it can, because whatyou're doing you're adding in
things that make your body justfeel so good and your digestion
smooth and you feel full andsatisfied on these whole foods.
And this is in addition to theprotein we already talked about.
And, of course, fats are inthere as well, naturally, as
you're eating whole foods.
(23:43):
And when I talk to clients, theyoften report feeling initially
hungrier after they go from ajunk food type diet to a I
shouldn't even use the word junkfood.
See, there's a label that wetry not to use, but a food
predominant with ultra-processedfoods as opposed to whole foods
(24:04):
, and then they switch to morewhole foods, and that transition
is important because you've gotto give it a little time.
What's actually happening isthey're becoming more aware of
their true hunger signals,because processed foods can mask
your natural satiety cues theway they're designed and when
you return to whole foods it'sgoing to bring back your body's
natural regulatory mechanisms.
So do it before you go into fatloss.
(24:25):
Again, a lot of this is prepwork for fat loss.
That's the irony of this wholething is it is to make fat loss
easier so that when you go intothat deficit, all the things are
dialed in to make itsustainable.
So how do we integrate all thesecomponents of the three plus
three model?
Remember the hierarchy.
First, ensure you have thethree non-negotiables in place
High protein intake, resistancetraining with progressive
(24:47):
overload, proper recovery.
These must be consistent, andI'm going to say consistent
every day.
Obviously, you're not going totrain every day and you're not
always going to hit your protein.
You're going to have some daysthat are less than others, but
you want to do something everyday for these.
And again, training.
You might only train three daysa week, so the days you're not
training, you're gonna focus onrecovery in terms of getting
(25:10):
enough sleep or walking enough,et cetera.
But they've gotta be consistent.
Then you're gonna layer in theoptimizers as needed for your
individual circumstances, yourpreferences, your biofeedback.
Not everyone needs all three.
I do have clients that don'ttake creatine.
They're just fine, but they'renice tools to have in your
arsenal.
And there's a few insights Iwant you to take away from this
(25:31):
model that probably challengethe conventional wisdom.
You've heard the first one.
If you've listened to thispodcast for any length of time,
you've heard this.
But if you're new to it, it'simportant.
Weight loss is not the same asfat loss period.
You can lose weight and losemuscle, which is not the goal at
all.
This is what happens whenpeople go on Ozempic and they
don't have any guidance withregard to training and protein
(25:54):
and they just lose a ton and tonof muscle up to 30, 40% of the
weight lost as lean mass ormuscle.
And so this model, this threeplus three, is just a simple way
in your head to say hey look,my goal is to protect against
this scenario.
I'm trying to lose fat, I'm nottrying to lose weight, I want
to look better, I want to feelbetter, I want a better body
composition.
Second is you don't have to dotraditional cardio to lose fat
(26:17):
unless you enjoy it or you needit to create the well no, I
shouldn't say it unless youenjoy it.
That's all I'm going to say.
Resistance training providesthe extra, the stimulus you need
for body composition.
Walking provides the overallmovement.
Right, we didn't even reallytalk about that in detail, but
getting your steps, walking,moving, is the priority when it
comes to quote unquote cardio.
(26:38):
And then only after that wouldI consider something like
sprinting once or twice a week,if needed, if needed.
The third thing here in termsof challenging conventional
wisdom is that muscle retentionis a skill, like many of the
things we talk about.
It's a skill, it's a process ofpersonal improvement that's
going to be developed over time.
(27:00):
Your fat loss phase does nothave to feel like a collapse in
your performance and health.
It doesn't have to feel like aswitch.
When most people go on a diet,they think of it as this period
of suffering.
I'm going on a diet, I'm sayingno, I can't do this, I'm not
going to eat quote unquote badfoods.
It's all these labels, moralitybehind it, judgment, guilt,
(27:21):
fear, shame.
But in reality, if you do itright, this can be an enjoyable
process that doesn't feel likesuffering at all, can be quite
reasonably done, and you have tobe patient, of course, but it's
a strategically engineeredperiod in a year or in a
two-year period or whatever,where you're prioritizing fat
(27:41):
loss.
Okay, the cool thing about fatloss itself, when you do it
right, is it improves yourbody's future capacity to build
muscle and maintain leanness.
This is what I have seen andwhat I believe the evidence
shows.
When done properly, awell-executed fat loss phase, it
yeah, it changes how you look,for sure, but it also rewires
your metabolic machinery, forlack of a better phrase.
(28:04):
There's research into musclememory, for example.
That shows that theneurological, the epigenetic
adaptations from maintainingmuscle during a deficit actually
makes subsequent musclebuilding more efficient.
You ever heard about that?
It's pretty cool.
Your body essentially becomesbetter at preserving and
building muscle because youchallenged it with fat loss the
(28:26):
right way, and that's why Ioften see clients achieve their
best muscle building results inthe phase immediately following
a properly executed fat lossphase.
And if you have some excessweight to lose, I'm totally cool
if you want to go with fat lossfirst, after you've prepped a
few months for it, and thenbuild muscle afterward, as
opposed to because you know me,I talk about how everybody needs
(28:49):
to spend time, at least once ina muscle building phase, but it
might be best done after yourfat loss phase, depending on
where you're starting from.
So we have things like improvedinsulin sensitivity, enhanced
nutrient partitioning, optimizedhormones.
All of it will actually help inyour muscle building phase
coming up.
So let's recap Threenon-negotiables high protein
resistance, training withprogressive overload, proper
(29:10):
recovery.
Three optimizers are refeeds ordiet breaks, creatine and fiber
slash, micronutrient density,and the overall picture here is
we don't want to suffer.
We don't want to suffer throughbland, boring meals.
We don't want to punishourselves with cardio.
We don't want to just cut outall these foods so that all
we're thinking about are thefoods we cut out.
This is a physiological processthat you can engineer to be
(29:34):
efficient when you understandthe requirements, and then you
leverage what we know, thescience that we know, and
personalize it to you, andtoday's model provides you that
approach to do that.
All right, if you found thisvaluable, if you wanna take your
nutrition knowledge further,put this into practice and set
up your fat loss phase, downloadmy free Nutrition 101 for Body
Composition guide.
It expands on many of theprinciples we discussed today.
(29:57):
It gives you the step-by-steppractical approach to do it, and
it also, I think, talks aboutfat loss and muscle building.
Although if you're specificallyfocused on muscle building, go
to witsandweightscom, slash freeand get my muscle building
blueprint.
But if you're going to do fatloss, next, download the guide
in the show notes for nutrition.
(30:18):
All right, until next time,keep using your wits lifting
those weights, and remember fatloss doesn't have to be a
mystery or a misery when youapproach it with intelligence
and strategy.
I'll talk to you next time hereon the Wits and Weights Podcast
.
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