Stop overthinking your fitness journey. Instead, let’s simplify it. Here are 13 of the most important things to know about weight loss.

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If you’ve been following me long enough, you should know the basics of weight loss.

• Establish that moderate calorie deficit (here’s how to do that)
• Eat more protein (here’s how to do that)
• Pick up heavy shit (here’s how to do that)
• Increase daily activity (here’s how to do that)
• Manage sleep (here’s how to do that)
• And mitigate stress (here’s how to do that)

Do those things really well (and consistently) and weight loss will happen.

But there are a few other things to know about weight loss that are never advertised by the influencers and the gurus.

Today, I’m going to share some quick bullet points about this weight loss process that you need to know.

In the process, it’ll make things easier for you going forward once you’ve really embraced the 13 things I’ve learned over my decade-plus career as a fat loss coach.

Let’s get into it.

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1) Losing weight is hard … really hard

You’re going to be hungry.

It’s going to take a long time.

Your workouts during the fat loss phase will suck because you aren’t running off of optimal fuel for the body.

Meanwhile, no one else cares about your weight loss goal. Which is why social pressure from loved ones will end up being one of your biggest challenges.

2) Consistency is more important than perfection

Write that down. Take it to heart.

Understand that your journey will include tons of mistakes. But, the level of success you achieve will only be measured by your ability to get back on track as quickly as possible.

Adopt the never miss twice rule:

• Skip a workout, don’t miss the next one
• Go off-plan on a meal, get back on plan with the next

That’s how you build consistency and that’s how you’ll win.

3) You get to eat more after you lose the weight

Calorie deficits means cutting out food.

But, once you finally reach that desired goal, you can add more food back into your day.

Let’s say you’ve been cutting down and your deficit calories are set at about 1,600. Once you reach that level of leanness you’d like, you’ll be able to add upwards of 400 to 500 calories to your diet.

And as long as you’re eating a nice dose of protein and veggies, those 400-500 calories could come from less nutrient-dense foods. Yes, that includes things like cookies and the occasional glass of wine.

4) Keeping the weight off is the hardest part

Sure, you get to eat more food, but it is not an invite to eat like a total asshole.

You must still prioritize protein, nutrient dense foods and strength training.

This is why it is so important to find a dietary lifestyle that you can stick to for life. Because you must keep up with that way of life, even after you’ve reached that weight loss goal.

5) You cannot diet forever

Be sure to have a plan for what will happen after you lose the weight.

Because you can’t just set your calories to deficit targets and ride that out for life.

Hell, I don’t care if you still have weight to lose, you should still be taking a diet break from time to time to give your body metabolic, physiological and even psychological recovery.

6) You probably need to eat more than you think

Fun fact: Most people that come to work with me in the Lean4Life Academy are actually eating fewer calories than needed.

“Uh, how is that possible if they need to lose weight? I mean, calorie deficit and all.”

Yes, this is true.

The problem is that most people drive calories too low in an effort to lose weight as fast as possible. Or because some shit wrinkle with a big following on Insta told them 1,200 calorie diets are effective.

(hint: they are not)

And while keeping up with a 1,200 calorie diet would actually lead to pretty rapid weight loss, it’s so low in calories that it’s simply unsustainable.

While those people are well-intentioned, they are blowing their calories on weekends, holidays and just not keep up with that unrealistic calorie target.

So when they come to work with me, I usually increase calories to a healthier and more sustainable level. And they’re more likely to stick to that diet consistently to see results.

7) You need to get stronger

Improving lean muscle tissue will increase your daily energy expenditure.

This is just fancy speak for muscle burns more calories at rest than fat. It is more metabolically active.

To capitalize on this, you should be aiming to lift heavy stuff at least two to three times per week.

Use progressive overload (another fancy term for “getting stronger” with measuring improvements over time).

8) You won’t get bulky

Ugh. Can we stop worrying about this one?

Ladies, you need to lift heavy shit.

Let’s put it this way: how are bicep curls with a five pound dumbbell going to prepare you to lift up your 35-pound toddler?

Here is an entire article explaining why women need strength training (and why it won’t make you bulky).

9) Cardio is underrated

It can help deepen that calorie deficit, allowing you to eat a little more food during your fat loss phase.

Cardio is also incredibly important for overall health.

Building cardiovascular endurance can mean having a little more stamina to keep up with your toddler when she’s bouncing around the playground.

10) Cardio is overrated

Yes, it can be both underrated and overrated.

Too many people think cardio is the sole driver of the weight loss journey. If you’ve been following me long enough, you know that’s not the case.

In order of importance:

• Calorie deficit
• Protein
• Strength training
• Daily activity (i.e., walking)
• Nutrient-dense foods
• Quality sleep
• Stress management

And then you can toss in some cardio as a supplement.

But only after the top priorities are met.

11) Progress is progress

A healthy rate of fat loss is somewhere in the range of about 0.5 to 2.0 pounds per week on average.

If you are just starting out, or you are really heavy with a lot to lose, you might see 2.0 pounds per week to start.

However, those on the shorter/smaller side and anyone who’s been chasing weight loss for an extended amount of time might see something closer to 0.5 to 1.0 pounds per week.

On average.

Remember, that scale weight will not go down every day. It will not go down every week. Your job is to track the weight daily and compare the week-over-week or even monthly averages.

Here’s a handy guide to measuring your progress (it’s more than just about that damn scale).

12) It’s going to take longer than you think

Your goal of losing 20 pounds in 10 weeks is just not realistic. And while that 0.5 to 2.0 pound weight loss target is a general rule of thumb, it usually doesn’t work out to that kind of math.

Which means you’ll need to be patient.

However long you think it will take to lose the weight, double that timeframe and you might have a better idea of how long this will take.

13) You cannot fuck this up

Even if you planned on eating two slices of pizza and ended up housing the entire pie, you didn’t fuck it up.

I don’t care if you skip a week of workouts and instead opted to veg out on the couch, binge watch Disney+ and eat nothing but ice cream, you didn’t fuck it up.

In fact, the only way you fuck up your weight loss journey is if you give up altogether.

So when you go off track––and you will go off track at some point––simply understand that you are never more than one rep and never more than one bite of food from getting back on track.

Let me help you learn how to simplify the most important things to know about weight loss so you can finally crush your goals … 

I’m here to help you out. 

If you have any questions, reach out. I answer all of my emails at pete [at] petecataldo [.] com … Hit me up with the subject line “Things to know about weight loss” and I’ll answer any questions you have to make this work for you.

Or you can hit me up anytime on the socialz on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

If you enjoyed this post, maybe you’d like more knowledge bombs from me. I’d be honored if you join my mailing list to get regular updates every time I post something pretty dope.