Many people are chomping at the bit to get their cycle started and most of us are always preaching to make sure they lower their body fat to an “acceptable” level before starting. So this may be a strategy for those of you who want to get your cycle started ASAP but need to drop some fat first. Note: This is not a contest prep strategy but some of the principles here may have some merit for you.

What I am talking about here is losing 10lbs of pure fat not 10 lbs of scale weight, so you are actually going to be losing more than 10lbs of scale weight when you drop 10lbs of fat. Here is the reason why. Most people who are overweight lose about the same amount of fat as they do bloat. Drop your weight the wrong way though and you will also be losing muscle = not good So dropping that 10lbs of fat may likely net you dropping 20lbs in scale weight because of the extra bloat that will be lost along with the fat. If you are running on the leaner side, the ratio of fat/bloat (water) lost is more like 80/20 so dropping 10lbs of additional fat when you are already lean may net you only 12lbs of scale weight lost. This here is the reason why overweight people are able to lose weight much faster. They are dropping a ton of bloat along with the fat.

So, you are overweight and want to drop 10lbs of fat FAST. Here are some protocols you should follow.

1. Veggies are your only source of carbs

The first thing you need to do is cut out all carbs that aren’t veggies. Here are a couple of good reasons to do this. It is an excellent way to balance out the bacteria in your gut. Most of the bad bacteria in our gut and intestines feed off of sugars and starches, so getting rid of most of those should help to decrease inflammation which will help you get rid of bloat and abdominal fat. Another reason for veggies only is that it is much more difficult to make fat out of protein, it is much easier to make fat out of simple carbs.

2. Eat lots of veggies

Lots of veggies means 12-14 servings/day. Sounds like a lot doesn’t it, but considering you have gotten rid of all of your other starchy carbs it really isn’t. The added fiber, minerals, and antioxidants you’ll be getting from these veggies will help to increase your metabolism and other fat burning enzymes. Keep it colorful also. The more different colored veggies you eat the better. They don’t all have to be raw either, just make sure they don't come from can.

3. Mmmm good! Fiber and coconut oil

Supplement your breakfast with fiber and coconut. Coconut oil is high in MCT’s which actually increase various fat burning enzymes and since you are not eating starchy carbs any more it will also give you a boost of energy in their place. Actually feel free to have some coconut oil anytime when you are feeling fatigued due to lack of carbs. Don’t skimp on the fiber. The more fat in your diet the more fiber you need. Your new higher protein higher fat diet is going to lose its effectiveness when there isn’t enough fiber to help with digestive flow. It also helps keep the good bacteria in your gut happy as well.

4. Who likes green tea?

You should. Green tea is one of the bee’s knees when it comes to a fat loss supp. It increases metabolism in multiple ways, is an antioxidant and a detoxifier. Shoot for a gram a day. Get most of this during the first half of the day unless you want to be up all night. Keep in mind a regular tea bag provides about 12mg of green tea extract so you may want to supplement with some capsules. I need to take the capsules on a full stomach; otherwise I puke them back up. True story.

5. Become a morning person

When you wake up in the morning your body is already in an accelerated fat burning mode. So take advantage of that and accelerate it even more by doing some fasted HIIT or lactic acid training if you are a cardio phobe. You also stimulate growth hormone doing this, which we all know is a potent fat burning hormone.

6. Glutamine and Leucine post workout, NOT carbs

Remember we are only eating veggies for carbs, so now replace your normal post workout carb load with glutamine and leucine instead. The glutamine will help restore your depleted glycogen levels in a slow and controlled fashion and the leucine has a small insulinogenic effect that will help you store your other post workout nutrients without having your insulin levels get to high. The two work synergistically together for the perfect anabolic response spurring on muscle growth. Shoot for 0.1g of glutamine and 0.05g of leucine per pound of bodyweight.

7. Finish your workout with a lactic acid burner.

As a general rule, when trying to lose fat your training should be shorter but more intense. Decrease your rest intervals, add in some drop sets or giant sets etc. Get those muscles burning at the end of the workout to build up the lactic acid in them. They should be on fire. This will in turn help to increase growth hormone which I touched on earlier.

8. Sleep like a baby

Sleep is a fat burning period and your main fuel source at night is fat, so don’t skimp on your sleep.

9. Increase the number of days you train or add in some extra cardio sessions

Nuff said there.

Now the million dollar Question. How long should I do this for??

To figure that out you should weigh yourself at least every couple of days. If you are not dropping at least a .5lb or more you need to make some adjustments. If you need to make some adjustments first try a refeed day of high carbs and low fat (no more than once every five days though). This may be needed since as your body adjusts to using more fat your metabolism may begin to slow. So if you have been losing weight steadily and then it comes to a halt, give it a refeed day to perk your metabolism back up. Your second option is to decrease total cals OR increase your training volume. If your refeed days aren’t working your diet needs to improve more or you need to decrease cals more or you need to train more.