Planning for Success 2: Setting Targets for Fat Loss
- Jonny Potter
- Dec 17, 2015
- 5 min read
In my last post, we looked at setting your goals and understanding your Estimated Maintenance Point. This gave us the total calories required daily to maintain your body weight.
In this article, I will show how to break down this total to give you your macro targets for fat loss.
(If you are focused on muscle gain, you may want to switch to my 'Setting Targets for Muscle Gain' post here).
To lose fat you need to create a calorie deficit by either increasing energy expenditure or consuming less calories.
An ideal ‘fat loss’ target would be to lose between 0.5 – 1% of your ‘current’ total body weight per week or about 1-2lbs. weekly. This may not sound like a lot but losing this amount ensures that:
You keep your muscle and don’t use it as fuel (when you are in an extreme diet muscle will be the prime source of energy, not fat)
You have enough energy for your workouts
It doesn’t affect your mood or energy levels
You minimize cravings which can result in longer term adherence
Fat Loss Calorie Intake
In order to work out your calorie intake for fat loss and create a deficit a simple way is to take your maintenance number and reduce it by 20%.
Example
In my first post, we worked out John’s estimated maintenance target as 2816 calories per day.
20% of 2816 kcal = 563.8 kcals (rounded to 563 kcals)
2816 – 563 = 2253 kcals
John is estimated to have to consume 2253 calories per day in order to lose 0.5-1% of his total body weight per week in fat.
John's calorie target is 2253 kcals per day.
Fat Loss Macro Split
Now that fat loss calories have been calculated they need to be split up into protein, carbs and fat.
Protein
Protein is the most important macronutrient. Muscle is made of protein and our body uses it to build and repair tissue.
The main goal of a fat loss diet should be to keep as much muscle as possible. The greater the muscle you have the higher your metabolic rate and also the more calories you burn during daily activity.
Without consuming sufficient dietary protein when trying to lose fat your body will start to use muscle as energy causing it to be broken down and resulting in muscle wastage.
Protein should be higher during a fat loss phase than when trying to maintain weight or build muscle. The body will use more protein as fuel when in a calorie deficit and this needs to be accounted for.
To workout your daily protein target for fat loss take your bodyweight in lbs. and multiply by 1 – 1.4.
In general, the leaner you are (less than 8%BF for men and 17% for females) the more you should look towards multiplying by 1.4, and if you are less lean look more towards the lower end of the scale.
Personal preference can also influence what you should multiply your weight by. Protein is very satiating and if someone can adhere better to a higher protein diet then it is ok to bump it up slightly.
If trying to aggressively lose fat (not recommend for lots of reasons) you should also look towards the top end of the scale.
Example
John weighs 176lbs. and is 12% bodyfat so I may set his protein intake as:
176lbs. x 1.1 =193.6
Round the 193.6 up to 195g of protein per day
1g of protein has 4 kcals,
195g of protein x 4 = 780 kcals per day from protein
John's protein target is 195g per day (780 kcals).
Next you should set your fat target.
Fat
The benefits of fat include helping the body produce hormones like testosterone, controlling inflammation and assisting cognitive function. Fat is also great at providing satiety and helping foods taste better and less bland which can help with dietary adherence.
Working out your fat intake is really simple to do. An optimal and also safe fat target intake is around 20-25% of total daily calories. For very short periods (towards the end of a diet) this can safely be taken lower than 20% but for an extended timeframe this isn’t recommended.
Fat intake can also safely be taken higher but I would only do this for a client's personal taste preference as compared to carbs and protein it isn’t as satiating in high amounts.
Example
John’s fat loss target calories are 2253 kcals per day.
20% of 2253 = 450.6
450 kcals of John’s 2253 kcals should come from fat
There are 9 calories per 1g of fat so 450 kcals/9 = 50g
John’s fat target is 50g per day (450 kcals).
Next, your carbohydrate target.
Carbohydrates
Once the fat and protein targets have been calculated we are left with the final macro, which is carbs.
During a diet carbohydrate should be kept as high as possible when losing fat as carbs will help fuel your muscle, aid recovery and taste great in larger amounts.
Example
John’s fat loss target calories are 2253 kcals per day overall
2253 - 780 kcals protein = 1473 kcals
1473 - 450 kcals fat = 1023 kcals
Once protein and fat has been subtracted John is left with 1023kcals to be used from carbs.
There are 4kcals per 1g of carbs (just like protein)
1023kcals / 4 = 255.75
John’s carb target is 255g per day (1023 kcals).
So Overall...
John’s total daily macros for fat loss:
Calories: 2253kcals
Protein: 195g
Carbs: 255g
Fat: 50g
Fibre
No matter your goal don’t ignore the need for fibre either:
- Fibre aids the body and regulates blood sugar
- It helps maintain bowl health
- It Lowers cholesterol
- Helps regulate blood sugar
How much do you need?
A typical range should be 10-13g of fiber per 1000 calories.
That means if you consume 2000 calories per day, then ingesting 20-26g of fiber will be an optimal amount.
Overview
Without delving into the importance of micro-nutrition (vitamins and minerals) which I will save for future posts - the above article will be a strong starting point for calculating your ‘initial macros’ and calories.
The recommendations here won’t be 100% perfect, as no theoretical calculator will ever give you exactly what you need. That said, they’re a calculated guess, and one which I’ve found to be a highly effective estimation method.
As you begin your flexible diet remember to monitor progress. If you aren’t moving in the right direction (either weight isn’t being lost when trying to lose fat or weight isn’t being added when in a muscle gain phase) then calories need to be added/reduced accordingly until you start seeing progress.
Next Steps
So we have been through how to set and understand your goals and how to calculate your targets (either for fat loss or muscle gain). Next we will look at how to set up your diet and monitor your progress.
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