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The Big Five: The Only Habits That Really Move Fat Loss

Water, steps, protein, calories and strength training. Build them one brick at a time and everything else gets easier.

By John Schaefer, fat loss coach for 27 years

Water, steps, protein, calories and strength training. These are the five pieces that matter by far the most to the fat loss equation. There are a few other tools that can help, but simplifying the process is a must for your success. Without these five habits, progress doesn't happen.

Before we get into them, one rule on how to build them.

One brick at a time

Everything all at once never works. It's overwhelming and intimidating. If you try to change everything at once, you'll get overwhelmed and it won't work. We can't have that.

Instead, stack one brick at a time. Build one new habit, and once it becomes automatic, move onto the next one. The goal is to disrupt your current way of doing things as little as possible. Take a bit longer to hit full speed rather than going too fast at the beginning.

You're not bad at fat loss. You've just had bad information and impossible-to-sustain programs. Let the past go and apply one principle at a time.

Habit 1: Drink more water

If all you do for the next 30 days is increase your water intake, you'll be in better shape than you are today.

Water is to the body what oil is to a car. Dehydration slows everything you're trying to do before it has a chance to start. Getting enough water helps your sleep, energy, skin and sex drive, and it keeps premature hunger away. All good things, my friend.

Whatever amount you're getting now, start increasing it by at least one glass per day starting this second. Working up to 80+ ounces a day is a great starting point for most of us. It might sound crazy now, but the more water you drink, the more your body will crave it.

Tips to make it easier:

Set recurring reminders on your phone every 2 hours or so. Each time, drink 10+ ounces and go about your day.
Keep a big water bottle with you wherever you go. I've had my 40 ounce bottle for years and I know I need to down two of them each day as a bare minimum. Convenience is key.
Add lemon, mint, cucumber or a zero calorie mixer. Sparkling water works too.
Don't sip, chug. Bigger gulps get you there without having to think about it all day.

Habit 2: Take more steps

Steps get the award for Sneakiest Fat Loss Tool. You've probably heard of 10,000 steps a day, and that number may be a little intimidating. Luckily, it's not really about a specific number. The idea is to raise your average daily steps over time. If you've been averaging 2,000 steps a day, let's get you to 2,500. 4,000 gets bumped to 4,500, and so on.

10,000 steps a day conservatively burns about 350 calories. Over 30 days, that's an extra 10,500 calories, and a pound of fat is about 3,500 calories. That's roughly 3 pounds of fat from walking alone. Walking also helps you recover from your strength training, which matters more than you'd think. I wrote a whole piece on it: Walking: the sneakiest fat loss tool.

Habit 3: Increase your protein

Almost every client I've worked with is underdoing protein at the start. As we age, we naturally lose muscle, and the less muscle we have, the slower our metabolic rate. The only way to fight that is proper strength training and consistently eating enough protein.

Goal weight x 0.7 = your Daily Protein Minimum in grams.

Ways to make it easier:

Lean on protein powders and bars for convenience. I'll typically have a couple scoops of protein powder (40 grams) or a protein bar each day to keep it simple and delicious.
Go double protein whenever you're eating out, or simply add to your portions at home.
Eat the protein on your plate first, then fats and fiber, and finish with your carbs.

Easy math: 3 ounces of meat or seafood is about 20 to 25 grams. One egg is 6 to 7 grams. Six ounces of Greek yogurt or cottage cheese is 15 to 20 grams.

Habit 4: Create consistent calorie deficits

To lose fat, you must burn more calories than you consume.

Goal weight x 12 = your Daily Calorie Limit.

For a 200 pound goal weight, that's 2,400 calories. Coming in around 500 under that, as long as you're hitting protein and feeling well energized, has been a sweet spot for clients over the years. And remember, this is governed by the law of averages. Your 30 day average is what counts, not any single day.

Think of protein and building muscle as your long-term play for sustainable fat loss, and daily calorie deficits as the immediate play to start losing fat. If you don't know your numbers yet, get your two numbers here.

Habit 5: Strength train twice a week

I don't care if you're 18 or 80, strength training is mandatory. Every single day we're fighting the tide of losing muscle as we age. Strength training protects the muscle you have from being lost along with the fat. Skip it, and you get weight loss, which is a combination of muscle, bone and fat. You want fat loss, not weight loss.

A few pieces of good news:

You only need to strength train twice a week to tap into most of the benefits. It's truly about quality over quantity.
You can and should start slow. The first few workouts can be as little as 10 minutes.
You can choose what you like. Bands at home, bodyweight, or a full gym routine all count.

And strength training, especially in a calorie deficit, will not make you big. Think of a sprinter's body vs. a distance runner's body. Strength training is the difference.

Every workout should outpace your current level of fitness, but just a bit. You get stronger outside your workouts, through food, sleep and recovery. It's not about crushing yourself into the ground.

Your takeaway

Pick the one habit on this list you're doing least. Just that one. Give it two weeks until it's automatic, then add the next. Five bricks, stacked one at a time, is the whole foundation.