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As discussed in the article about goal disengagement<\/a> that I wrote a few months ago, I’ve recently shifted from heavy barbell training to more bodybuilder-type stuff focusing on hypertrophy. I’m having fun working on the aesthetics part of strength training.<\/span><\/p>\n With a shift in training style has also come a shift in nutrition.<\/span><\/p>\n When I powerlifted, it paid to be heavier. I ate a ton of food to fuel my recovery and put on mass to hoist more weight. Before I started barbell training seriously in 2015, I weighed 185 pounds. By 2019, I weighed 225. So I put on 40 pounds in about four years. This increase in poundage was a mixture of muscle and fat.<\/span><\/p>\n I hovered around 215 for the past three years.<\/span><\/p>\n But this May, after a few months of doing my new bodybuilding-like training, I decided to lose some weight. I wasn’t what you would call “fat,” but I wasn’t exactly trim. I figured since I didn’t have a goal to deadlift 700 pounds anymore, I didn’t need to weigh 215 pounds anymore, either.<\/span><\/p>\n To help me navigate my new weight loss goal, I turned to the AoM Podcast<\/a>. What\u2019s great about hosting a podcast is that I get to learn right along with listeners. Over the years, we’ve had several guests on the show who have shared their expertise on how to lose weight. I followed their advice, and by August, I was down to 194 pounds.<\/span><\/p>\n It was pretty dang easy, too. I didn’t follow any particular diet like keto, low fat, Whole30, or whatever. I just tracked my macros and gradually reduced calories during those three months. My approach even allowed me to eat Chick-fil-A on a weeknight or have a McDonald’s Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese at the airport.<\/span><\/p>\n I’m looking pretty trim and jacked (at least for a 40-year-old dad) \u2014 the best I’ve ever looked. According to my fat calipers, I mainly lost body fat and very little lean body mass. My clothes fit better. I feel better.<\/span><\/p>\n Below, I share the advice I gleaned from the AoM Podcast that helped me the most in losing 20 pounds in three months. Maybe it will give you some ideas for reaching your own weight loss goals.<\/span><\/p>\n All of the guests we’ve had on the podcast to talk about weight loss emphasized the importance of shedding pounds slowly. Crash diets don’t work, and you end up gaining the weight back and then some. In my conversation with Layne Norton about fat loss<\/a>, he highlighted research about why people get stuck in the yo-yo diet cycle and why those up-and-down undulations are terrible for long-term weight loss. Basically, when we lose weight too fast, our body responds by making it harder to lose weight. It does that by ginning up your hunger and slowing down your metabolism.<\/span><\/p>\n When you set out to lose weight, understand that this will likely be a months or even years-long process, depending on how much weight you have to lose. Most weight loss experts recommend losing one to two pounds a week.<\/span><\/p>\n For the first few weeks, I aimed to lose two pounds a week. But that was a little too aggressive. I lacked energy, and my hunger distracted me from work. So I shifted to trying to lose one pound a week. Some weeks I lost more, some I lost less, but it averaged out to shedding about 1.5 pounds a week. That was sustainable for me.<\/span><\/p>\nTake Your Time: Aim to Lose 1-2 Pounds a Week<\/h2>\n