By: Zach Rocheleau
If your goal is to finally take action on that New Year's resolution to lose weight, this email will outline this process step by step.
My plan is to make this fat loss journey as easy as possible for you.
So here’s my completely FREE 8-step weight loss cheatsheet that will explain everything you need to know (and nothing you don’t) on how to finally lose that weight in 2024.
1) Calories
It’s not sexy to track your calories but damn does it work.
Being in a calorie deficit is the only part of weight loss that’s essential.
Aka you cannot lose fat unless you’re eating less than you burn.
Figuring out the perfect calories for your weight loss is just a few simple steps.
First, multiply your current body weight by 10.
Ex: If you are 180 lbs, then 180 x 10 = 1800 calories.
This is considered your maintenance calories not accounting for how active you are.
Now we need to apply an activity multiplier to take that into account.
1.2 if you are sedentary (0k-4k steps per day with no weight lifting)
1.4 if you are lightly active (2k-5k steps per day with 2-3 days weightlifting)
1.5 if you are moderately active (5k-8k steps per day with 3-4 days weightlifting)
1.7 if you are very active (8k-12k steps per day with 4-6 days per week weightlifting)
1.9 if you are a competitive athlete (12k+ steps per day with 5-7 days per week weightlifting)
Ex. Let’s say you are 180lbs and we found out earlier your non-activity maintenance calories were 1800. And you’re the moderately active multiplier (where most people should start), you would multiply 1800 x 1.5 = 2700 calories as your activity-adjusted maintenance calories aka your true maintenance calories.
So since maintenance calories are the calories needed to maintain your body weight, we need to take away from that number to create a calorie deficit.
I recommend subtracting 300-500 calories from your maintenance to start.
Up to you with how aggressive you want to be but I recommend starting with 300 because I’d love to have you eating as many calories as possible and still losing weight.
2700 calories - 300 calories = 2400 calories. So your fat loss calories would be 2400 calories.
I also have a completely free calorie/macro calculator in the app store for iOS called Find Your Macros if you want to use that.
Takes less than 20 seconds to figure out your macros with this:
And a quick caveat, you don’t have to track your calories to be in a calorie deficit but I would recommend it to start because it leaves zero doubt.
Plus, the calorie-to-serving size awareness you gain is invaluable for the future when you stop tracking calories.
2) Protein
You want to aim for about 1g of protein per pound of your IDEAL body weight.
So if you are currently 180lbs and want to be 150lbs, then aim to eat 150g protein.
Protein not only helps you build and maintain muscle mass, but it also will help keep you fuller for longer which is crucial when on lower calories in a fat-loss phase.
Don’t think you have to hit your protein exactly to the gram each day. It’s just a rough point to aim for. Slightly over or under is all good in the hood!
3) Fat & Carbs
The research has been pretty conclusive that as long as you are hitting your calories and protein, the amount of fats and carbs you eat comes down to personal preference.
Ideally, we want to hit at least 25% of calories from fatssince it is essential for overall hormone health.
So let’s say your fat loss calories are at 2400 like we did above:
Protein is set to 150g which coincides with your ideal weight goal.
150 x 4 calories per gram = 600 calories from protein.
Fats are set to a baseline of 25% of calories.
So 2400 calories x 0.25 = 600 calories from Fat
9 calories per gram of fat so that means 600/9 = About 66g of Fat
So to figure out your carbs, you just add your calories from protein and fats and then subtract from your total calories.
600 + 600 = 1200 calories from protein and fats.
2400 - 1200 = 1200 calories left for carbs.
4 calories per gram of carbs.
1200/4 = 300g carbs.
So tentatively, your daily macros for 2400 calories would be: 300g Carbs, 66g Fat, 150g Protein
4) Food Quality
“Technically” you can eat anything you want and still lose fat as long as you are hitting your macros…
But realistically, this is a pretty shitty plan.
Why? Well because the hyper-processed delicious foods are very calorie-dense.
And when in a fat loss phase, you want to maximize food volume for the calories because you want to stay full on fewer calories.
That’s why it’s super important to prioritize nutrient-dense whole foods so you can actually stay full, have energy, and feel good while in a calorie deficit.
That’s mostly lean protein sources paired with plenty of fruits and veggies.
5) Steps
Think of ways to “sneak” activity into your lifestyle. Steps are simply there as a metric to aid in burning more calories.
I see these as easy calories. They just challenge you to take action. Get outside and fit some steps in!
I don’t care about the arbitrary 10k steps. I just care that you are doing more than what you were doing.
So if that was 2k steps and you are now doing 4k steps. Let’s go! That’s a 100% increase! Work off that and build on it over time.
6) Exercise
Do you see how this is number 6 on the list? It’s not essential for weight loss but it is extremely important for your body composition and overall mental/physical health.
I’d love to see you add in strength training to some capacity because a base of muscle mass is a cheat code for living a long, healthy, and pain-free life.
However, if you are just starting out, you don’t have to add exercise straight away.
I just want you to be more active. Find a form of exercise that you enjoy and can see yourself doing consistently.
7) Sleep
GOSH I should put this at the top of the list just because of the positive trickle-down effect it has on steps 1-6.
I say that because I want you to take your sleep very seriously.
Think of the days when you get 7-9 hours of sleep. You feel superhuman. You are more optimistic. Hunger levels are lower. Energy levels are higher.
I know if you have kids, this is easier said than done (especially if you have young kiddos).
But all I ask is you do your best to maximize your sleep because it will make your fat loss phase 10x easier.
Just aiming to sleep slightly more than you currently are is a great starting point.
8) Supplements
This is last for a reason. Many influencers will make this #1 on their list because they want to make money off of you.
There are no supplements that will directly make you lose weight. None. Nada.
But there are some supplements I do take that help with body composition, performance, and general health.
Protein Powder: Helps me reach my protein goals. I use it as a way to make low-calorie sweet treats to help curb my sweet tooth while in a calorie deficit.
Creatine: Arguably the most bang for your buck supplement to help with performance in the gym, muscle building, and new research showing positive impacts on brain health.
I also supplement with Vitamin D3 and Omega 3for general health.
To wrap things up...
Here's the Final Hierarchy of Importance Checklist:
Calories
Protein
Carbs & Fats
Food Quality
Steps
Exercise
Sleep
Supplements
Take care of #1 and then take care of #2 and so on.
And remember, good enough is better than nothing at all.
We are ALWAYS going to be a work in progress.
