What I'd Do If I Had To Lose 40 Pounds of Body Fat (5 Steps)

Summary

In this video, the speaker outlines a strategy for losing 40 lbs or 18 kg of body fat, a common goal for many to achieve their ideal physique. Starting with a strict diet and consistent weightlifting, the speaker emphasizes the importance of breaking bad habits and establishing new, healthy ones. They also suggest incorporating daily walks to increase activity levels and improve overall health without the need for drastic calorie cuts. The speaker advises eliminating alcohol and maintaining consistency in habits for sustainable results, highlighting the psychological benefits of perseverance and the importance of momentum in achieving long-term fitness goals.

Takeaways

• 🎯 Setting a goal of 15% body fat for the first big physique change is a sustainable and healthy target for most men.
• 📉 Expect a non-linear weight loss journey with initial progress showing more in the face and arms rather than the midsection.
• 🗓 Preparing for a long-term commitment is crucial, as losing 40 lbs may take 5-6 months without major setbacks.
• ⚡ Starting with a strict diet can boost motivation and break bad habits, which is essential for long-term success.
• 💪 Maintaining muscle mass while losing fat is possible by consuming 1 gram of protein per pound of goal weight and lifting weights.
• 🍽️ A strict approach to diet in the beginning helps reset taste buds and reward centers, paving the way for new healthy eating habits.
• 🏋️‍♂️ For weightlifting, a sustainable pace is recommended, focusing on consistency and gradual progression.
• 🚶‍♂️ Incorporating walking into daily routines, aiming for 8,000 to 10,000 steps, can significantly aid in weight loss and overall health.
• 🍻 Eliminating alcohol for at least the first two months can greatly enhance weight loss efforts by improving diet and workout performance.
• 🔁 Consistency is key to success; maintaining momentum is easier than restarting after a setback.
• 🤸‍♂️ Even on days when full commitment is lacking, performing part of the routine helps to keep the habit alive and build a new identity as a fit person.

Q & A

What is the target body fat percentage suggested for the first big physique goal in the video?

The video suggests setting the first big physique goal to be 15% body fat, as it is sustainable, healthy, and will result in a great appearance.

Why is losing the first 20 lbs not very noticeable in the midsection according to the speaker?

The speaker explains that losing the first 20 lbs will not show much in the midsection because the abs will still be covered with a significant amount of body fat, and the progress will be more noticeable in the face, shoulders, and arms.

How long is the estimated time frame for losing 40 lbs of body fat as per the video?

The estimated time frame for losing 40 lbs of body fat is about 5 to 6 months of solid work, assuming no major setbacks or life events.

What is the recommended approach for measuring weight loss progress in the video?

The video recommends looking at weekly weight averages in combination with waist size and visual changes from photos, rather than daily weight fluctuations.

What is the speaker's stance on starting a diet with a strict approach for losing a significant amount of weight?

The speaker believes that starting with a very strict diet is better for losing a significant amount of weight due to the motivation it provides and the ability to break bad habits effectively.

What is the recommended protein intake per pound of goal weight while dieting according to the video?

The recommended protein intake is 0.8 to 1 gram per pound of your goal weight to maintain muscle mass while losing fat.

What is the advice given for the frequency and duration of weight lifting sessions in the video?

The advice is to lift weights three to four times per week for about 45 minutes to an hour, focusing on good form, following a plan, progressively overloading, and keeping a training log.

Why is walking recommended as an activity to increase daily steps in the video?

Walking is recommended because it is an easy, accessible way to increase activity levels, which can help with fat loss without the need for cutting calories as low, improving sleep and recovery, and can be made more interesting with audiobooks or social engagement.

What is the speaker's suggestion regarding alcohol intake during the initial phase of weight loss?

The speaker highly recommends completely eliminating alcohol for at least the first two months to create and sustain a calorie deficit more effectively.

What mindset is suggested for maintaining consistency in a weight loss journey according to the video?

The mindset suggested is to do everything in your power to keep the habit alive, even on days when you don't feel like doing the whole routine, by doing a part of it or making quick resets after mistakes.

What is the importance of consistency in achieving long-term weight loss success as mentioned in the video?

Consistency is crucial as it builds momentum and a new identity of a healthy, lean, fit person. Success is more about steady, consistent action rather than intermittent all-in efforts.

Outlines

00:00

🏋️‍♂️ Weight Loss Strategy for a 40-lb Transformation

The speaker outlines a comprehensive plan for losing 40 pounds of body fat, targeting individuals who are at a high body fat percentage. The goal is to reach a sustainable and healthy physique with 15% body fat. The video emphasizes the importance of setting realistic goals and understanding the gradual nature of weight loss, where the first 20 pounds may not significantly alter the midsection but will show progress in the face, shoulders, and arms. The speaker prepares viewers for a 5-6 month journey, highlighting the non-linear progression of weight loss and the importance of tracking weekly weight averages, waist size, and visual changes through photos. The diet approach starts with a strict regimen to break bad habits and establish new, healthy ones, recommending a protein intake of 0.8 to 1 gram per pound of goal weight and weightlifting to prevent muscle loss. The video also advises against drastic changes in exercise routines, suggesting consistency and gradual progression instead.

05:01

🚶‍♂️ Incorporating Walking and Lifestyle Changes for Efficient Fat Loss

The speaker discusses the role of increased activity levels, specifically walking, as a means to enhance fat loss efficiency without the need for extreme dietary restrictions. The recommended method involves scheduling 30-minute walks throughout the day, aiming for a total of 10,000 steps daily. This approach not only aids in digestion and energy levels but also incorporates social elements and mental stimulation through listening to audiobooks or podcasts. The speaker also addresses the issue of alcohol intake, suggesting its complete elimination for at least the initial two months of the weight loss journey to maintain calorie deficits and improve overall motivation. The importance of consistency is stressed, with advice on maintaining habits even when faced with challenges or setbacks. The speaker encourages viewers to keep habits alive through imperfect actions and to reset quickly after any deviations, emphasizing the mental progress made on tough days and the long-term benefits of steady, consistent action.

Keywords

💡Body Fat Percentage

Body fat percentage refers to the proportion of fat in relation to a person's total body weight. It is a key indicator of body composition and health. In the video's theme, the speaker suggests that reducing body fat to 15% can be a sustainable and healthy goal for most people, which aligns with a more aesthetic and fit physique. The script uses body fat percentage as a benchmark for setting weight loss goals and measuring progress.

💡Weight Loss Journey

A weight loss journey refers to the process of reducing body weight, typically for health or aesthetic reasons. The video's theme revolves around the speaker's approach to losing 40 lbs of body fat, emphasizing the importance of a structured and consistent plan. The script describes the journey as a long-term commitment, with expected ups and downs, and the need for mental preparation for the duration of 5-6 months.

💡Calorie Deficit

A calorie deficit occurs when a person consumes fewer calories than they burn. It is a fundamental principle for weight loss, as it forces the body to use stored fat for energy. The script mentions creating a calorie deficit through strict dietary changes and increasing physical activity as essential strategies for losing body fat.

💡Portion Control

Portion control is the practice of managing the size of the servings of food one eats to prevent overeating. In the context of the video, the speaker suggests that one of the bad habits leading to excess body fat could be large portion sizes. The script advocates for breaking this habit by overhauling dietary behaviors and adopting healthier eating patterns.

💡Progress Tracking

Progress tracking involves monitoring one's performance and changes over time to assess the effectiveness of a plan or strategy. The video emphasizes the importance of tracking weight loss progress not just through daily weigh-ins but also by considering weekly averages, waist size, and visual changes from photos. This holistic approach helps maintain motivation and adjust strategies as needed.

💡Macronutrients

Macronutrients are nutrients that the body needs in relatively large amounts for energy and growth, including carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. In the script, the speaker mentions hitting macros as a way to ensure that dietary changes are not only about reducing calorie intake but also about consuming a balanced diet that supports weight loss and muscle maintenance.

💡Physical Activity

Physical activity refers to any body movement produced by skeletal muscles that results in energy expenditure. The video suggests increasing physical activity levels, particularly through walking, as a non-negotiable part of the weight loss strategy. The speaker recommends time-blocking walks into the daily schedule to ensure consistency and reach a goal of 8,000 to 10,000 steps per day.

💡Alcohol Intake

Alcohol intake is the consumption of alcoholic beverages. The script highlights the impact of alcohol on weight loss efforts, recommending its complete elimination for at least the first two months of the weight loss journey. This is due to alcohol's high caloric content and its potential to disrupt the calorie deficit necessary for weight loss.

💡Consistency

Consistency refers to the ability to maintain a regular course of action or behavior over time. In the video, the speaker emphasizes the importance of consistency in both diet and exercise for successful weight loss. The script provides advice on maintaining habits, even imperfectly, to keep momentum and prevent setbacks from becoming full-blown derailments of the weight loss plan.

💡Mental Progress

Mental progress refers to the psychological gains made through overcoming challenges and maintaining commitment to a goal. The video script discusses the importance of mental preparation for the weight loss journey and the mental progress achieved by pushing through days when one doesn't feel motivated. This mental fortitude is crucial for long-term success in weight loss and lifestyle changes.

💡Nutrition Plan

A nutrition plan is a structured approach to eating that is designed to meet specific health or fitness goals. The speaker in the video advocates for a strict nutrition plan at the start of the weight loss journey to break bad eating habits and establish new, healthier ones. The script describes the initial phase as a 'pattern interrupt' that involves cutting out convenience foods and focusing on whole, real foods.

Highlights

The video discusses a plan for losing 40 lbs or 18 kg of body fat to achieve a goal physique.

A 40 lb weight loss could reduce body fat percentage from 30% to 15%, which is a sustainable and healthy goal.

The first 20 lbs of weight loss may not significantly change the midsection but will show progress in the face, shoulders, and arms.

The journey to lose 40 lbs is expected to take 5 to 6 months with no major setbacks.

Weight loss is not linear; there will be ups and downs, and daily weighing is recommended.

Weekly weight averages, waist size, and visual changes from photos are better measures of progress than daily weight.

A strict diet approach is recommended at the start of a fat loss phase for motivation and breaking bad habits.

Protein intake should be 0.8 to 1 gram per pound of goal weight to preserve muscle mass while losing fat.

A complete overhaul of diet and cutting out bad habits like junk food and stress eating is necessary.

Lifting weights 3 to 4 times per week for 45 minutes to an hour is a sustainable pace for most people.

Consistency in training is more important than intensity, and good form should be prioritized.

Adding daily cardio and drastically reducing calories can lead to burnout, injuries, or sickness.

Walking is an effective and underrated way to increase activity levels and contribute to fat loss.

Setting a goal of 8,000 to 10,000 steps per day can improve digestion, energy levels, and make walks more interesting.

Eliminating alcohol for at least the first two months can significantly aid in creating and sustaining a calorie deficit.

Consistency is key, and maintaining habits is more important than perfection on any given day.

Even on days when motivation is low, doing a part of the routine can still contribute to building a healthy identity.

Success in weight loss is about steady, consistent action rather than intense bursts followed by inactivity.

Transcripts

so in this video I want to go over what

I would do if I had to lose 40 lb or 18

kilos of body fat why 40 lb for a lot of

people 40 lb is all it would take for

them to get to their goal physique so

let's say you're currently at 220 lb

about 100 kilos and you're at 30% body

fat if you were to lose 40 lb you'd be

down at 180 lb about 81 kilos and that

would put you at 15% body fat and if

you're setting goals and if you're

sitting at a high body fat percentage

right now I think it makes the most

sense to set your first big physique

goal to be 15% body fat that's going to

be sustainable for most guys you're

going to be healthy you're going to look

great and it's all just a nice bonus

from there if you decide to go lower

down to 12% or 10% body fat so how would

I approach losing these 40 lbs well I

know that not all 40 lbs are going to be

the same those last 10 lounds of

stubborn belly fat are going to be the

hardest lose and they're going to take

the longest I also know that losing the

first 20 lbs will not show that much in

the midsection my abs are still going to

be covered with quite a lot of body fat

and the progress will mostly being the

face the shoulders and the arms I am

expecting close to be looser and that's

going to be a great sound of progress so

I'm looking at about a one size

reduction after losing 20 lbs mentally

it's very important that I prepare

myself for a longer journey ahead

because I know that I'm looking at about

5 to 6 months of solid work and that's

assuming no major set setbacks or life

events that get in the way which is of

course something that can happen and I

know that weight loss won't be linear

there are going to be a lot of ups and

downs even though I would weigh myself

every day and I highly recommend it

don't expect the scale to go down every

day for measuring progress I think it

makes the most sense to look at weekly

weight averages in combination with the

size of your waist and also visual

changes from photos and just paying

attention now when it comes to the diet

I would start off with a very very

strict approach and this is something I

changed my mind on over the years I'm

still a big believer in how small

changes over time add up to Big results

but I do think that if you have 40

lounds or more to lose that being strict

at the start of a fat loss phase is the

better approach for a few reasons the

first one is motivation it's very

important at the start to be fully

committed to the process and what really

gets that initial buying is if you drop

the first 10 to 15 pounds fast you see

changes you feel a lot better and

motivation is a lot higher and we also

know there's not a lot of risk of losing

muscle so we can go faster if you're

starting at a high body fat percentage

as long as you're eating 8 to 1 gram per

pound of your goal weight and protein

and your lifting weights you're going to

be fine now the second reason I think

being strict is better is for breaking

all bad habits there's a reason you have

an extra 40 pounds of body fat that

number in your current physique is just

a reflection of your habits that could

be too much junk food the weekend

snacking between meals could be stress

eating relying on prepackage process

convenience too much getting extras

after dinner could be portion sizes

whatever bad habits LED you to gain that

weight in the first place we need to

break those and we need to replace them

with new healthy ones and one of the

best ways to do that is by using a

strong pattern interrupt it's by making

100% commitment to completely cut those

behaviors from your life for the next 30

to 40 days that means no more door Dash

You're uninstalling the apps no snacking

you're creating a simple grocery list to

bring real food into the house you're

doing a complete overhaul of your diet

there are no exceptions and this will

allow your taste buds to reset and your

reward centers to reset so you're

actually opening up room for new health

eating habits to form you're cleaning

things up plus these simple meals are

much easier to track and much easier to

hit your Macros with and that will

naturally improve your consistency now

while I did say go very strict with the

diet for lifting weights my advice is to

go at a pace you can sustain I think

most people are perfectly fine with

lifting three to four times per week for

about 45 minutes to an hour that's if

you do it the right way which means

following a plan focusing good form

progressively overloading keeping a

training log and taking the workouts

seriously now with nutrition we want to

be more aggressive at this start but

with training it's sort of the opposite

you want to learn good form first and

build consistency you want to get that

initial sess side of the way and then

gradually get stronger over time and

make training harder and if you were

dabbling around before without any kind

of plan or intent in the gym by dialing

things in just the way I describe them

now you're already going to start

stimulating muscle growth and a mistake

that I see a lot of people make is

they're going to go very strict with

nutrition you're going to slash their

calories in half and then on top of that

they're also going to add daily cardio

they're going to be lifting weights five

to seven times per week suddenly for two

hours in the gym pushing every set to

failure and typically this leads to

burnout injuries or getting sick there's

no need to do that take your time focus

on consistency and do it the right way

let nutrition and hitting the like

button on my videos handle the maurity

of the fat loss you'll do much better

than those guys who start exercising 2

hours per day they're consistently

hungry and then eat it all back then get

frustrated and simply drop off now while

you could drop 40 lbs of body fat just

through nutrition and creating a calorie

deficit if you want to make things a lot

more efficient I would also recommend to

increase your activity levels and in my

opinion the best way to do that is

through walking and the method I found

works really well to add more walking

into my routine is to time block a few

30 minute walks into my daily schedule

that means that I already pre-committed

that time and I know it's already

allocated so other stuff doesn't get in

the way my first walk is usually as soon

as I wake up then there's one more in

the afternoon and there's one in the

evening which is usually after I finish

my workout but all of that and combining

with walking around the house I'm

already at about 10,000 steps per day

you can time your walks with meals if

you prefer to get those benefits for

digestion and energy levels you can also

time your walks with meetings if you

want to do it while you're in a phone or

in a conference call and I would

generally recommend if you're setting

goals to set up a goal of 8 to 10,000

steps per day the benefit are that you

won't have to cut calories as low you're

going to sleep a lot better you're going

to recover better from the JY you can

also listen to audiobooks and podcasts

during your walks to make them even more

interesting or you can invite someone to

join you and make it a social activity

walking has been an essential part of my

routine for getting in staying lean and

being healthy for the last 14 years and

I still believe it's highly underrated

and I wish more people were add this

habit into their life you know how I

mentioned earlier to be very strict with

your diet the start well another thing

we need to be brutally honest about is

alcohol intake I would highly recommend

completely eliminating alcohol for at

least the first two months this alone

will make a huge difference in creating

a calorie deficit and sustaining that

deficit over time to lose the 40 pounds

you'll be making way better food

decisions you'll be a lot stronger in

the gym and overall you're going to be a

lot more motivated this one is a

complete no-brainer if you're serious

about results and also have to point out

that none of this advice will work

unless you're you're consistent and my

advice for consistency is to be in a

mindset that you're going to do

everything in your power to keep the

Habit alive and I'm surprised by how few

people understand this everything is

easier when you have momentum when you

keep the chain going Break the Chain

Break momentum and everything is 10

times harder and you can maintain basic

momentum even with just a few minutes of

good effort on some days if you don't

feel like doing the whole routine one

day just do a part of it if you can't do

it perfect do it poorly if you make an

honest mistake instead of letting guil

turn one cookie into a whole bag and

then whole day or whole weekend off

quickly reset minimize your losses and

get back on track you don't always have

to do it for the best result or do it

perfectly sometimes you just do it for

the Habit keeping the Habit alive is

infinitely more important than how much

progress you can make on a single day go

to the gym and do two sets go back home

if you don't want to do more you still

win the truth is those days you don't

want to go and you go anyway are the

days you make the most mental progress

and that's what consistency looks like

over the long term sometimes you have to

make the Habit smaller in order to keep

the momentum going give yourself

permission to be imperfect you're still

getting things done and it's all helping

you build that new identity of a healthy

lean fit person success is more about

steady consistent action instead of

weeks where you go all in followed by

weeks where you go out if you follow

these steps I promise you you will see

results whether that's losing 40 lbs 50

60 or however many pounds you got to

lose this will work for you and if

you're looking for accountability and

coaching and you want to work with me on

your journey link for coaching is in the

description below so check that out and

I'm going to see you in my next video