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Nutrition

These Common Fat Loss Mistakes Will Kill Your Lean Gains

by Jonathan Salmon Published on Nov 15, 2022

maingaining
This post may contain affiliate links (disclosure policy).

It’s simple to slip up and ruin your gains with everyday mistakes.

Let’s face it. Whether you’re a professional bodybuilder who just the average lay person, being in lean athletic shape is always an attractive idea. You could be inspired by your favorite superhero or just simply want to make a healthy lifestyle change and will eventually be flirting with the idea of getting into shredded condition.

In order to bring that to pass you’re going to have to shed fat and build muscle in order to look at impressive as possible. But so many individuals going about losing fat in the wrong ways, ultimately leaving them feeling defeated. While trying to burn fat and get shredded, many individuals make mistakes along the way, mistakes that end up costing them in the end. So what are the most common mistakes people make when they’re trying to get rid of fat? The list below should answer that question pretty handily.

Thinking A Carb Is A Carb

Many people look at carbs as either the worst thing to put into your body ever or fuel utilized for getting you through a tough workout. If anything the latter makes more sense than the former.

You see, you can’t look at a carb like a carb. By that we mean that simple carbs are the ones you want to avoid more so than complex carbohydrates. Fruits and vegetables are great complex carbs that can give you fuel while white breads, white pastas, and sugary snacks can spell doom for your waistline. The only time you should be eating simple carbs is after an intense workout in order to replenish glycogen levels.

Not Eating Enough

Dieting is key to shedding fat, but you never want to go overboard. The idea is that you want to eat enough calories in the day in order to fuel the body for a hard workout at the gym. When you want to lose fat, being in a calorie deficit is a must. But dropping the calories too drastically will just slow down your metabolism and ultimately send the body into starvation mode, forcing it to hold onto fat rather than burn it.

alcohol fat loss

Avoiding Fats

Fats may be calorie dense but they are a necessary part of your diet. Dietary fats live oily fish and avocado are loaded with nutrients that will have a positive effect on your physique and performance. Fats don’t make you fat, sugars and simple carbs are the culprits. If you’re cutting simple carbs then it’s great to replace those calories with healthy fats, as well as protein, which will promote greater fat loss as well as increased testosterone, another key component to muscle growth and fat burning.

Not Doing Enough High Intensity Work

It’s good to get some miles in on the treadmill, no doubting that. The hard truth is that doing steady state cardio will be great cardiovascular system, but will eat away at your muscle. Upping your training intensity, whether it’s with HIIT cardio or by performing HIIT strength training, putting in the hard in the gym is essential if you want to drop the fat and look like a shredded god.

Have you made any of these mistakes when trying to burn fat? Let us know by hitting up our comments below or head on over to our official Facebook and Twitter.


*Header image courtesy of Envato Elements.

About Jonathan Salmon

Managing editor of Generation Iron, Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor, and geek culture enthusiast. He has been writing about bodybuilding, combat sports, and strength sports for over 8 years. Check out his YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Sound Cloud for in-depth MMA analysis.

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