Your Questions Answered (Finally!) How To Lose Body Fat and Some Delicious Recipes Too!

So, the time has come for me to finally start answering your questions - several of you posted some great questions a few weeks ago and I must apologise for taking so long to reply!

My first question was asked by several peeople and was contained within many questions such as the ones below:

Hi Caroline

I'm 12 weeks pregnant so any articles on how to prepare physically for the birth and how to eat well, what exercises to do and what to avoid.

I'm still training finding it really hard to stick to my usual paleo-style eating plan because my tastebuds have gone haywire! Most of my usual fish and meat choices smell and taste horrible now, so getting enough lean protein in is proving difficult. Advice on that would be very welcome.

Many thanks

Rachel Johnston

I would love teaching on how to eat. I have seen a huge improvement in my figure with kettle bells, but if I could lose 5 pounds it would be great. How do you balance enjoying life and having a slim body?

Joy Humphries

Hi Caroline,

I'd really like articles on nutrition... specifically, how to make the same ol same ol tuna and chicken interesting again! :)

And of course, kettlebell routines are always a plus!

Thanks!
Cheverly

Ok you asked for it Caroline.

A tricky question from Australia!
I compete in mountain bike races, long distance adventure races and well, most things going really! I train hard and usually two sessions a day (from 60 mins to three hour sessions) and im not just doing long slow distance! Im mixing in intervals, speed work, some killer hill repeats up mountains. I also do a bodyweight/ kettlebell superset circuit three times weekly, and some yoga and rockclimbing. im no slouch, i train hard and i am fit (with calves and quadriceps to die for!)
But im still fat!! And i think this is more a nutrition question than anything else. Sure i can lose weight if i cut out carbs, but i also guarantee that i won't be able to get out of bed, let alone do my training! im still struggling with this awful chubby stomach, to the point that it is really affecting my self esteem because well, i guess i don't really look like i can do what i do in terms of my sports performance.
So my question is how should i eat to maintain a high volume of training, and hard training, but still lose weight. I understand that it all comes down to calorie balance in the end, but sometimes i am just eating to be able to train or to recover for the next session, but i am not getting lean the way i should be!
I hope this question spurrs you on to right some more great articles!

Regards,
Lissanthea Taylor

Hi Caroline,

Thank you for this. I have a big problem in my mid-section, especially around my hips and butt. I have been struggling to get rid of the excess fat after I gave birth to my son. I would really appreciate any tips as to how I can effectively deal with this in my diet and exercise programme.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards

Thenjiwe

So, there is a LOT of confusion out there regarding diet and nutrition!

All of these questions have a different slant, and of course there are many other questions there regarding pregnancy, recovery and stubborn fat areas and these will follow in the next few articles, but to start with there are a few basics to make sure you are losing fat, not simply 'eating healthy':

1. You MUST have a calorie deficit to lose body fat! You can't trick this one - calories do count, most diets that don't ask you to count them will trick you into it by making it hard for you to eat by banning things! Or by managing cravings, which is much more valid, but not a guarantee of success. Not tracking doesn't work for me as I like to eat, even if I eat only 100% clean, natural foods I will still eat more than my body needs to lose weight, if I'm lucky I will maintain. Remember, to lose fat you need LESS than your body needs - and your body wants at least what it needs, so relying solely on your body's intuitition will at best lead to maintenance. In a world of temptation you have to add the fact that your mind is constantly being bombarded by messages to eat, so you may feel hungry but its a Pavlov's response to constant harrassment to eat (even weight loss ads are selling you food to eat to burn fat).

2. Quality of food is vital for ensuring you have maximum energy, even more so if you are in a calorie deficit and / or training hard! Meats, vegetables and fruit are more nutrient dense than starchy carbs, so focus on those first. If you must add carbs (if you are an endurance athlete like Lissanthea) then add them last and focus on starchy veggies and potatoes first: squashes, sweet potatoes etc. Then wholegrains such as brown rice, millet, oats, quinoa. Also remember that sugar and white starches such as flour are actually 'vitamin robbers'. Yup, as the name implies, they actually use up more nutrients in the process of digestion than they supply. If you have an intolerance this will be made even worse by gastrointestinal distress...

3. Training is important not only for the calorie burn element but for the fact that you will ensure that it is fat you lose, not muscle. If you don't use muscle it won't stick around as its metabolically expensive (read 'burns lots of calories at rest') which is bad for a body that wants to store fat for emergencies, but great for someone who wants to lose fat. So use it or lose it! Full body compound moves are far better (squats, lunges, press ups, rows) as they actually use all your muscles - a simple jog round the park can do the opposite, encouraging muscle loss and as its not using many of the muscles of the body you will also not be supporting the maintenance of muscle throughout the entire body in the way that full body workouts do.

4. Inspiration is important too! Clean eating can be divine, but sometimes it feels a bit like hard work or we just don't know where to start. If you already have the Kettlebellebody Ebook you have Daniel Munday's fabulous 13 and a half minute meals so go hunt it out of your computer and give one of the recipes a try today!

An alternative, if you don't have my book (and really, if not, why not?! Especially as summer is practically here, Antipodeans notwithstanding: www.kettlebellebody.com...) you should check out my friend Jon Le Tocq's great new recipe book, Cooking for the Fitness Lifestyle. It's on sale at the ridiculously bargainous price of $13 or £9.99 with 150 clean and delicious recipes. He's also listed calories of all the recipes, so you can indulge (many of them feel pretty indulgent and certainly not 'diet food'!) but also plan your food so you can maintain a calorie deficit... Get a copy before he realises he's actually giving it away!

Next time I will answer some of the more specific questions regarding eating for different goals and situations.

If you have any more questions, please email them to me or post them in the comments box and I will add them to the list. As with this post, where there are several questions on a certain area or topic I will focus on those areas first so worth adding your question id you want to see an answer sooner!