Sometimes I feel as though we get too caught up in thinking about “pounds of fat” when we think about fat loss.
This is especially true when we’re concerned with how are bodies look more than how much our bodies weigh.
As an example, let’s imagine losing 5 cm of thickness from an area of 15 cm by 15cm (a very impressive and noticeable loss).
In inches this is roughly a 6 inch x 6 inch inch x 2 inch “block” of fat. This would be a noticeable “smoothing out” of the fat below your belly button, or noticeably lowering the amount of love handles you have.
[[ Think 2 iPhone 6S’s side by side in area and 7 iPhone 6S’s stacked on top of each other for the thickness]]
That’s 1,125,000 cubic millimeters of fat loss, which is equivalent to 1,250 milliliters.
1,125 milliliters is roughly the volume of 1,033 grams of fat (the density of body fat is 0.918 g/mL), and 1,033 grams of fat contains a little less than 9,300 Calories.
Now imagine losing those 9,300 Calories over 10 weeks. That’s 70 days, which means losing a little under 135 calories per day.
[[ Even the slowest of metabolisms would use more than 10 times this amount of calories in any given day. ]]
This is a slow gradual loss that happens over the course of weeks that is barely perceptible from a metabolic point of view, but extremely perceptible from a “visual difference’” point of view.
Sometimes we need to step back from our “fast and at all costs” mentality and instead think of “slow is smooth, and smooth is fast”.
135 calories per day. You can do that. Realistically we can TRIPLE that number and we get 405 calories per day.
A 400 calorie deficit is barely dieting, if anything it’s responsible eating. It’s something you can do while eating your favorite foods, have the occasional drink, going to dinner with your friends, and celebrating birthdays.
It’s why consistency will always trump urgency.
BP
