How To Lose More Fat Than Muscle, Sedentary vs. Smoking, 3 Things I Love About Fitness
“As long as there is chocolate, there will be happiness.”
I’ve been churning out content on my Instagram page and through my weekly newsletter. However, many of you don’t follow me and aren’t subscribed to my newsletter. You should totally do that (just click here for Instagram and here for the newsletter). Regardless, if you only check the site and don’t keep up with me on other mediums, I don’t want you to miss out on all the fun. So, here is a conglomeration of the fitness facts, tips, and stories I’ve shared this past week. Enjoy.
Q: “John, I’m trying to lose weight and I’d like my body fat percentage to go down. I’m wondering, won’t weight loss cause muscle loss and then inadvertently cause a higher percentage?”
A:
Only if you forget these 2 keys.
Your body fat will go up after losing weight only if you lose more muscle than fat. In that case, your percentage of fat compared to lean mass will have gone up and, as a result, your body fat will have actually increased. Bad news!
The good news is that we have 2 effective strategies to prevent this:
Resistance training (2-5x/week)
2. Eating plenty of protein (.7-1g / pound of body weight)
It’s that simple.
If you make sure to train hard and keep your protein high, you can rest assured that when you lose weight your body fat percentage will go down.
Losing weight is tough stuff. Make sure to do these 2 things correctly so that you don’t put in all that work for a disappointing result.
Don’t forget about these 3 reasons to love working out.
“I love you!” I finally exclaim.
I wait anxiously for a response, but all I get is silence.
Just sitting there staring at me, not saying a word. Is it possible my love is unrequited?
Considering the object of my admiration is a hunk of iron, I’d wager it’s a strong possibility.
I’m in love with the barbell and I’m not ashamed to admit it. I love working out.
…
Here are the TOP 3 underrated reasons to love fitness.
1. Helps you develop DISCIPLINE
Fitness is the epitome of delaying short term pleasure for long term satisfaction. It teaches you to appreciate the value of delayed gratification.
If you want immediate results, you’re looking in the wrong place. You don’t build muscle after 1 back squat or lose fat after 1 broccoli stalk.
You need to put in work - for a long time - and wait patiently. If you learn this lesson and put it into practice, it will carry over into other aspects of your life.
2. It has a positive effect on HORMONES
How do you feel right now? Glad? Furious? Hungry? In Love?
Whatever your answer, it’s dictated by chemical messengers in your body called hormones. If your hormones are in-check, your mood, thoughts, and everything else in your life will follow.
Put another way:
Hormones → Thoughts → Experience → Quality of Life
It all goes back to hormones.
One of the most effective ways to support hormone balance is through exercise. Researchers have found that it can positive impact:
Dopamine
Serotonin
Insulin
Ghrelin and Leptin (hunger hormones)
Growth hormone
Cortisol (the stress hormone)
On a chemical level, staying active is the best way to be happy and healthy.
3. It’s a fun DISTRACTION
Life can be rough. It’s helpful to have a distracting outlet for stress to cope with it all. It’s simple and silly, but training can make life more enjoyable.
It doesn’t matter if you deadlift 200lbs or 500lbs. The practical impact the difference will have on your life is absolutely zero.
That said, you can have a ton of fun getting unnecessarily strong. It’s a rewarding and productive hobby. As a byproduct, you’ll improve your health and confidence.
If nothing else, focusing on fitness will keep you from spending all of your time in destructive ways. You probably won’t be downing shots at 3am if you plan on setting a squat PR the next day.
Those are my top 3. What do you love about fitness?
Being extremely sedentary is worse than smoking.
Put down your cigarette and listen up.
🚬
What’s that? You weren’t smoking? Regardless, now that I’ve got your attention check out this mind blowing fact:
•
•Being extremely sedentary is WORSE for your health than SMOKING.
🤯
Put another way, the magnitude of the positive effect of walking on your lifespan is stronger than the negative effect of smoking.
😱
That’s right, plain ole walking will help you live longer. Allow me to explain.
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In the research review (PMID: 34417979) the authors found that compared to walking 16k steps/day, those that walked only 2.7k/day had a 200% INCREASED risk of all cause mortality (death).
•
To put that in perspective, smoking increases your risk of death by 70-80% (thanks to the guys at @strongerbyscience for pointing out this wild comparison).
🙏🏻
They say that smoking is the new sitting. That’s dramatic, but these results actually support it!
🙊
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These results are fascinating because before, to the best of our knowledge, the benefits of daily steps topped off near 7-9k/day.
•
But now, it seems that the positive effect continues to grow in relation to the amount of steps, all the way up to 16k/day.
✅
Don’t get me wrong - I’m not trying to tell you to walk 16k every day, I already know that’s not going to happen.
😂
However, it’s just another reason (in case you needed another) to go out and get those steps in.
Wrap Up
Thanks for stopping by. If you enjoy my weekly updates, I’d love for you to share the website with your friends and family.
As always, please give me feedback. What do you want more of? Any other suggestions? (Really, let me know - I love it!) Just let me know at solokasfocus@gmail.com.
Best,
John
