Training & body composition
FAT LOSS.
Aim to eat a little less than your body uses while keeping up your strength training and getting enough protein. Look at your progress over a few weeks before deciding whether anything needs to change.
Weight change is not all fat
Weight includes water, food and stored carbohydrate, so every scale change isn't a change in fat.
Put it into practice: Choose measures that matter to your health, comfort or fitness. Use weekly weight averages, waist and training performance to see the bigger picture.
Modest loss can improve health
In adults with overweight or obesity, modest total weight loss can improve health. The ranges below describe average findings, not personal targets or guaranteed results. (6)
| Starting-weight loss | What may improve |
|---|---|
| Below 5% | Some metabolic, cardiovascular, liver and quality-of-life markers can improve, but the response is inconsistent. |
| Around 5% | Insulin sensitivity across the liver, muscle and fat tissue, along with pancreatic beta-cell function. |
| Around 5–10% | More consistent improvements in blood glucose, triglycerides, blood pressure, HDL cholesterol, mobility and quality of life. |
| Around 10–15%+ | Larger changes in conditions such as sleep apnoea, fatty-liver inflammation or type 2 diabetes remission may require this range. |
Put it into practice: Use these ranges to discuss health goals when relevant to you, rather than assuming more weight loss is always better.
Choose meals you can keep up
Fat loss requires eating less energy than your body uses over time. No diet label reliably wins long term; the approach needs to fit your hunger, health and routine. (1) (2)
Put it into practice: Start with one manageable portion change or reduce an extra that's easy to overeat. Keep meals filling and varied, and count calories only if it helps without increasing anxiety.
Keep lifting
Strength training during dieting helps retain fat-free mass and strength, even when scale loss is similar. (4)
Put it into practice: Keep two lifting sessions with controlled, challenging sets. Maintaining strength while eating less is useful progress.
Build fitness as well
Cardio can reduce waist and body fat while improving fitness. Intervals are optional and don't consistently produce better fat loss. (3) (5) (8)
Put it into practice: Gradually work towards 150 minutes a week through walking, cycling, swimming or suitable classes. Add more only when time and recovery allow.
Get enough protein
Around 1.6 g/kg/day is a reference for many healthy lifters, not a precise dieting requirement or upper limit. The short, demanding high-protein trial in young men doesn't set a dose everyone needs. (7) (11)
Put it into practice: Include a good protein source at meals, alongside fibre-rich foods. Get help adapting intake for your body size, calorie deficit or health.
Review plateaus calmly
Energy needs may fall during weight loss, while hunger or food intake can rise. Temporary water changes can also hide the trend. (9)
Put it into practice: Look at two to four weeks of comparable information, check consistency and movement, then make one small adjustment if needed.
Plan maintenance
Keeping weight off involves ongoing habits and support as appetite and energy needs change. Regain isn't a personal failure. (10)
Put it into practice: Gradually increase food towards a level that keeps weight stable, keeping useful meals, training, movement and light monitoring. Respond early if the trend starts rising again.
Adjust the plan to you
Research can't set the best deficit, protein intake or pace of loss for everyone. Lean athletes, older adults and people using medication may need more individual support.
Put it into practice: Adjust the plan if hunger, energy or training becomes difficult to manage, and seek qualified help for the circumstances listed below.