Daily weight lies. The trend does not.
Weigh every morning and read only the seven-day average. Why the daily number is mostly noise, and how to build a trend that tells you what to do next.
5 min read
Fat loss
Deficits, plateaus, maintenance and the parts of fat loss that a number on a scale will not tell you.
Fat loss is a calorie deficit held long enough to matter, and almost everything hard about it is the 'held long enough' part. These articles cover how big a deficit should be, why the scale moves in ways your body does not, what a plateau usually is, and how to stop losing without starting to gain.
Start with
How to lose fat without quitting in three weeksA deficit you barely notice, protein high enough to keep muscle, and a weekly trend to steer by. The whole method, and the parts people get wrong.
18 articles
Why the scale went up overnight when you did nothing
Sodium, carbohydrate, gut contents, training and the menstrual cycle all move body water by a kilogram or more. What each one does and how long it lasts.
4 min read
What a weight loss plateau usually turns out to be
Four causes account for nearly every stall: the deficit shrank, the log drifted, movement fell, or water is masking real loss. How to tell which is yours.
5 min read
Losing fat on a vegetarian diet, without powder
The protein target is the hard part and it is reachable. Where vegetarian diets leak calories, which swaps pay for themselves, and a worked day.
5 min read
Water weight: how much it hides and for how long
Body water moves by one to three kilograms on carbohydrate, sodium, training and hormones. What each does, how long it lasts, and why none of it needs fixing.
4 min read
Steps, NEAT, and the calories you burn standing up
Incidental movement varies by hundreds of calories a day, and it falls when you diet. Why a step target is the number you are not tracking.
5 min read
Sleep and fat loss: the part nobody logs
Short sleep raises appetite, worsens training and shifts the ratio of weight lost towards muscle. Why it belongs in any fat loss plan.
5 min read
Maintenance calories, and how to find yours
The intake that holds your weight steady, measured from three weeks of your own data rather than predicted. Why it is a band, and why it matters most.
5 min read
Losing weight without giving up Indian food
The food is not the problem. Five adjustments to how it is cooked and served handle most of it, with the plate arithmetic to show why.
5 min read
Losing fat while keeping the muscle you built
Three things decide the ratio: deficit size, protein intake and resistance training. What each contributes, and what a good outcome looks like on the scale.
4 min read
How to stop dieting without gaining it all back
The end of a fat loss phase needs a plan. Raise intake gradually, expect a water rebound, rebuild movement, and know your new maintenance before you need it.
5 min read
How to calculate your TDEE, and what it can't say
Four components, three equations, and one better method. Why every calculated TDEE is a hypothesis and how to replace it with your own measurement.
5 min read
How to calculate your calorie deficit properly
Calculators give you a starting guess. Your own two weeks of data give you the answer. The method, the maths, and why the 3,500-calorie rule overstates things.
5 min read
How fast should you lose weight? The honest range
0.5 to 1 per cent of bodyweight per week for most people. Why faster costs muscle, why slower is often better, and how the right rate changes as you get leaner.
5 min read
What changes about fat loss after 40
Less than the marketing suggests and more than nothing. Muscle loss, recovery, sleep and medication all shift the picture; metabolism itself shifts least.
4 min read
Cheat meals, refeeds, and what a big day costs
One large meal changes a week very little. The compensating days after it change a lot. What a big day actually costs and how to absorb it.
5 min read
Breaking the restrict-and-binge cycle
Severe restriction reliably produces the eating it was meant to prevent. Why the cycle is physiological as well as psychological, and how to step out of it.
5 min read
How to lose fat without quitting in three weeks
A deficit you barely notice, protein high enough to keep muscle, and a weekly trend to steer by. The whole method, and the parts people get wrong.
7 min read
Terms used in this topic
- BMR
BMR, or basal metabolic rate, is the energy your body spends at complete rest to keep organs, temperature and basic cell function going; it is the floor of your daily expenditure, not a calorie target.
- Body recomposition
Body recomposition is losing fat and gaining muscle at the same time, which produces a visibly different body at a nearly unchanged bodyweight and is most achievable for beginners and people returning after a layoff.
- Calorie deficit
A calorie deficit is the amount by which your daily energy intake falls below your daily energy expenditure; sustained over weeks, it is the only mechanism by which stored body fat is lost.
- Energy balance
Energy balance is the difference between the calories you take in from food and drink and the calories your body spends over the same period; a negative balance means fat loss, a positive one means gain.
- Maintenance calories
Maintenance calories are the daily intake at which your weight holds steady over several weeks, measured from your own data rather than predicted by a formula.
- NEAT
NEAT, or non-exercise activity thermogenesis, is the energy you spend on everything that is not sleeping, eating or deliberate exercise: walking, standing, chores, fidgeting and carrying things.
- Satiety
Satiety is how full a food keeps you and for how long, which depends far more on its protein, fibre, water and volume than on its calorie count alone.
- TDEE
TDEE, or total daily energy expenditure, is the total number of calories your body spends in a day: resting metabolism, the energy cost of digesting food, deliberate exercise and all incidental movement combined.
- Water weight
Water weight is the short-term change in body mass caused by shifts in body water, glycogen, sodium and gut contents, which can move the scale by one to three kilograms without any change in body fat.
- Weight trend
A weight trend is a rolling average of your daily weigh-ins, usually over seven days, which strips out water and gut-content noise and shows the direction body fat is actually moving.