Leaner, healthier, fitter. What it really takes?

Sep 23, 2021Nutrition

Getting healthy, lean, strong, and fit requires commitment, mindset, and lifestyle change on your part.

But how much commitment and sacrifices you need to make to get your desired results greatly vary from person to person. Most don’t realize that getting from 30% body fat to 20% requires a different amount of effort, attention to diet, and time spent exercising than getting from 12% to single-digit numbers.

In addition to the adjustments to the diet, there must be a change in lifestyle and mindset for lasting change.

The good news is that just mastering the basics of healthy eating and exercising will get you far. You don’t need to make gym and food your new job.

But to set your expectations straight, here is what it takes to get from obese all the way to ripped.

How to read this article:

  • Read the part that is relevant to your current physique and what it takes to take it to the next level.
  • Most people want to be healthy, fit, and look good. There is an example of a professional CrossFit athlete and how his training and nutrition were different during his peak and after competing.
  • Check the additional resources linked at the end of this article.

 

From obese to healthy (20-25% body fat men and 20-30% women)

It is relatively easy for an obese person to get to a healthy body. Obese people have a lot of room for improvement and therefore even small changes in lifestyle lead to great progress. After getting to a healthy body weight, you will feel an increase in energy, improved health, freedom of movement, you will stop taking some medications and this will motivate you.

Nutrition:

In your diet, focus on quality food in 75% of meals. These are whole foods without added oils and sugars.

When preparing a meal, focus on the vegetables and proteins in each meal and fill the rest with complex carbohydrates and fats.

Avoid drinks containing calories.

Substitute soft drinks for zero-calorie versions and drink water, tea, or black coffee most of the time.

Skills & abilities

  • Learn to read the nutrition labels on the packaging and learn which foods are a good source of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats.
  • Practice noticing your hunger and fullness.
  • Eat 3-5 times a day.
  • Avoid grazing – eating small meals, snacks, or anything throughout the day.
  • Design your environment to remove temptations and foods that trigger you to overeat or crave more food.

Movement:

Move daily (eg 10,000 steps a day), find physical activities that you enjoy.

Imani Mitchel

Imani Mitchel

“My family is number one but so am I!”

Imani is a wife to a soldier in the US Army and a mother of four. Three girls 15, 14, 5, and 3.

Workouts

Fitness is my passion. I’d like to consider myself a hybrid athlete that does it all. On my long training days, I can put in anywhere from 2-3hrs and my short days are about 90 mins. There are times when my children have a million things going on and I’m like I’m never going to get my sessions down.
My youngest is typical with me while I’m training. There’s even a video of me floating around doing back squats with him strapped to me in a baby carrier.
I spend a lot of time solo parenting and when that happens instead of not training I change my schedule. If I know my teens have after-school activities that I have to attend then I train in the AM.

Nutrition

Being an active family and my husband’s health and fitness is a huge portion of his job makes it extremely important that we all eat to sustain our needs. With my littles I’ve learned if I allow them to help with the cooking process I don’t have to force them to “eat healthy”.
I used to make two separate meals but then I decided I want the entire family to eat clean. You hear it all the time my kids only eat chicken nuggets and cereals. Well, they only eat what you feed them. I learned that early on.

From a healthy body to a lean body (15-20% body fat men and 20-30% women)

When you reach this level, you will feel further energy improvements, better health, and your body will give you more options than to show the newly acquired energy athletically. With good habits, such a body composition is easily maintained all year round without sacrificing your social life.

Nutrition:

In your diet, focus on quality food in 80% of meals.

When preparing a meal, focus on the vegetables and proteins in each meal and supplement the rest with complex carbohydrates and fats.

Avoid drinks containing calories.

Skills and Abilities:

  • Learn to read the nutrition labels on the packaging and learn which foods are a good source of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats.
  • Practice noticing your hunger and fullness.
  • Eat 3-5 times a day.
  • Avoid grazing – eating small meals, snacks, or anything throughout the day.
  • Design your environment to remove temptations and foods that trigger you to overeat or crave more food.
  • Learn about the caloric content of food – even healthy foods like nuts can cause your weight loss to stall.
  • Learn how to choose the right food when eating out.
  • Learn to say no, sitting with alcohol and coffee with dessert on a daily basis.

Movement:

Move daily (eg 10,000 steps a day), find physical activities that you enjoy, and exercise 3-5 times a week.

From lean to athletic (10-13% body fat men and approx. 20% women)

When you reach this level, you will be at the peak of your health and energy. However, food and training already require daily attention, and daily sitting with alcohol or coffee with dessert may have to go sideways. You will have to find a compromise for social activities. However, it is still a relatively easy level of leanness, especially if you are committed to sports.

Nutrition:

In your diet, focus on quality whole foods in 90% of meals.

When preparing a meal, focus on the vegetables and proteins in each meal and fill the rest with complex carbohydrates and fats according to the activity.

Consume alcohol sporadically, if at all.

Skills & Abilities:

On top of what you learned at the previous level, there are other skills that will help you.

  • Learn to read the nutrition labels on the packaging and learn which foods are a good source of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats.
  • Practice noticing your hunger and fullness.
  • Eat 3-5 times a day.
  • Avoid grazing – eating small meals, snacks, or anything throughout the day.
  • Design your environment to remove temptations and foods that trigger you to overeat or crave more food.
  • Learn about the caloric content of food – even healthy foods like nuts can cause your weight loss to stall.
  • Learn how to choose the right food when eating out.
  • Learn to say no, sitting with alcohol and coffee with dessert on a daily basis.
  • Learn about the portion size and quantity of the food you eat and how it affects your energy levels.
  • Pay attention to food preparation and planning. However, you do not have to prepare all meals in advance. Depending on your activity levels, you will still have leeway in social situations if you are smart with your food choices.

Movement:

Move daily (eg 10,000 steps a day), find physical activities that you enjoy.

Exercise 5-7 days a week, 1-2 times at high intensity.

A former athlete example – From peak, to fit, healthy, and sustainable

The former CrossFit athlete Marcus Filly described his journey as he moved from the professional scene to healthy living. It is a good example of how much volume time he devoted to training, eating, and recovering compared to what he is doing now, after retiring.

Example – fit dad, entrepreneur

Ambition in business, pushing your boundaries and balancing them with physical activities can be challenging, but not impossible. You know that exercise not only helps you stay in shape, but also helps you have more energy and clear your head. It’s important to consider your priorities.

To conclude:

Even elite athletes’ bodies don’t look all the same! Don’t think that moving from 12% fat to 10% will definitely help you win your race.

Take these insights as a guide, not as a complete plan tailored to you. No matter which category you fall into, strength training is always a benefit. It is also not necessary to exercise hours a day if you balance your physical activity with a wise diet.

Keep in mind, that whatever you are doing and you are not progressing, it means you need to do something differently. Changing your body requires you to move, exercise, and eat in a way you have probably never done before.

If your goal is to be fit and lean, you need to get aware of your physical activity and energy intake but you don’t need to live in a gym, nor spend hours doing cardio every day, and count every gram you eat. Making smart decisions with your eating and training that are sustainable is the key.

If you are trying to get to your peak physique and performance, you will need to design your life around food and training. Many athletes don’t realize what it takes to get there.

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