Most people underestimate how much fat they have to lose to achieve a specific look.

 

Guys, in particular, are guilty of this.

 

Ask any guy in the gym how much fat they have to lose...

 

"About 5-10 pounds" will be the answer A LOT of the time.

 

Typically what happens when someone wants to get in shape:

 

• They lose 5-10 pounds
• They don't look as lean as they thought they would
• They lose 5-10 more pounds
• They don't look as lean as they thought they would
• They lose 5-10 more pounds

 

The reality is that they are 15-30 pounds away from the look they are after.

 

 

I think part of that is that many guys WANT to be heavy, but lean.

 

I have had guys tell me things like:

 

"I want 6-pack abs, but I don't want to get lighter than 180 pounds."

 

"I want to get ripped, but I don't want to lose more than 10 pounds to get there."

 

I think being on the light side (within reason) is better.

 

 

The trick is to keep this sleek build into your 40's, 50's and beyond...

 

...which is what I teach in my book "12 Weeks Physical Transformation Journey".

 

I believe women in the 60's had it dialed in as well.

 

I know the trend now is a much more muscular build, especially building a larger butt...

 

...but there is still a segment of the population of women who strive for a more traditional slim bikini-bod.

 

 

Losing the last 5-10 pounds is hard for a couple of reasons:

 

• The lighter you get, the fewer calories your body will burn each day.
• When your body fat is high, leptin levels are high, which suppresses the appetite a bit. As you get lean, leptin levels get lower, so the "appetite brake" is released. You now crave more food than when leptin levels were higher.

 

The reality is that it is quite a bit easier to lose that first bit of weight because you don't have to fight hunger as much.

 

 

To get really lean, you WILL be fighting your increased appetite.

 

In my opinion, the best way to keep calories low while remaining full is to eat foods with high fiber and low energy density.

 

Things like fruit, potatoes and oatmeal are more filling calorie-per-calorie than butter.

 

These types of foods become increasingly important if you want to get lean without as much willpower.

 

 

This is why people who follow high carb fat loss have a high success rate.

 

They still have to watch calories if they want to get extraordinarily lean. It just makes it easier to hit a deficit when foods with low calorie density are selected over foods with high calorie density.

 

Hope this makes sense.