What’s the most important factor for weight loss?

By Eugene Thong CSCS ....................................................................................

 

Last saturday night, my buddy and jiujitsu sempai Francisco had the good graces to invite my wife and I over to his apartment to watch (Ultimate Fighting Championship) UFC. 

 

What a great night, exciting fights full of action, and all my picks came through (which never happens). 

 

One of the other guests was a relative newcomer to mixed martial arts and as such had a lot of questions for us both, such as:

 

“So what’s a submission?”

“How do they figure out who wins?”

“How come that guy on the bottom won the fight?”

“How can they tell that a guy’s knocked out?”

 

Like I said, a first-time watcher.  But you gotta love her curiosity.

 

It was actually one of her later questions that got me thinking.  She asked:

 

“So what’s more important – height, weight, or reach?”

 

It’s a good thing Francisco chimed in right away because I honestly didn’t have an opinion.  As he eloquently answered her question, something hit me. 

 

I didn’t have any opinion about those things because I didn’t think any one thing was more important than the other. 

 

What’s more, none of those things are the most important factor(s) that determine the outcome of the fight.

 

The same thing happens when clients and trainees ask me about fat loss.  I probably get asked,

 

“What’s the most important factor for weight loss?”

 

in some way, shape, or form every single day.  At least twice.  Whenever I get this question, I know I’ve got to get my soapbox out, because what the question really implies is,

 

“What stuff can I get away with not doing and still lose weight?”

 

Nope, sorry.  You don’t get a pass on this one.  I’m afraid life doesn’t work that way.

 

Folks, there is no one most important factor for weight loss.  Simply because you have to put it all together in order for you to succeed.

 

You can’t have great dietary habits, and terrible workout consistency and sustain lasting weight loss. 

 

You’ll lose weight in the short-term, but it’ll jump right back as soon as you go off the diet – and you’ll have a down regulated metabolism to boot.

 

You can’t just exercise and not change dietary habits – that’s about as effective as shooting an unloaded gun.

 

Most people come looking for the silver bullet, the magic pill, the ancient Chinese fat loss secrets.  The secret is this: there aren’t any magic tricks.  What works best are simple principles applied consistently.  These simple principles are:

 

 

That’s all.  Every weight loss trick under the sun falls under the subheading of one of these 5 things.  Within these 5 basic principles, there are numerous ways, methods, and techniques. 

 

For instance, how do you go about eating fewer calories, just cut everything you eat in half?  Or substitute foods?  How about low-carb or low-fat? 

 

You can make it as complicated as you want to, but the basics still stand… and you have to follow through on all of them, no exceptions.

 

So what’s the most important factor for weight loss?  Applying all this knowledge we’re dispensing to your great benefit. Now get going, it’s time for your next workout.

 

We’ve got a ton of articles about different fat loss techniques, strategies, and tips.  We’ve even collected the best 61 in an easy-to-read e-book – The Black Book of Secrets.  It’s designed to kick your fat loss into overdrive, so you spend less time researching on the Internet, and more time getting lean.