11 Steps This Nutrition PhD Would Take to Get Lean ASAP, "It's Simple But Not Easy"

Ever wondered what a fitness expert would do if they had to get lean as quickly as possible? While most of us scramble through conflicting advice and fad diets, having a proven game plan can make all the difference.

Adam McDonald, a performance coach, a nutrition PhD candidate, and a natural bodybuilding competitor, breaks down exactly what he would do if he needed to get shredded fast. With his master's in nutrition and years of coaching experience, Adam combines scientific research with real-world results. Here's his step-by-step strategy to shed fat while maintaining muscle – and how you can apply these principles to your own transformation.

Know Your Numbers First

"99% of people underestimate how much fat they need to lose," Adam warns in his post. Before starting any diet, he emphasizes calculating your exact starting point and goal. "Get it out of your head that you want to be X weight at a certain body fat percentage," he advises. "You don't get to choose how much weight you have to lose to reach a certain body fat percentage."

Set Your Weekly Target

For sustainable results, Adam suggests "aiming for around 1% body weight loss per week, but anything between 1.5 and 0.75% is going to be an acceptable range." This approach helps preserve muscle while ensuring steady progress. "Anything faster than this and I'll probably lose muscle, and anything lower than that, I'll just lose motivation."

Calculate Your Daily Calories

"Calories are the most important thing. It's not the only important thing, but it's the most important thing," Adam emphasizes. His simple formula: multiply your body weight in pounds by 10. "You can lose fat without tracking calories," he notes, "but if you want to be efficient and effective, tracking is your best option."

Dial In Your Macros

"I give myself one gram of protein for every pound of body weight," Adam explains. The remaining calories are split between carbs and fats. For tracking, he recommends specialized apps: "I'd use MacroFactor or MyFitnessPal. They're both decent, but MacroFactor has a better database."

Plan Your Meal Timing

"When it comes to dieting, the North Star is optimizing for hunger," Adam explains. His strategic approach includes delaying breakfast until 10 AM because "I tend to get hungrier in the evening when I'm not working." This controlled fasting helps manage daily hunger levels while maintaining the calorie deficit.

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Choose the Right Foods

Food selection is crucial for managing hunger. "Potatoes are great," Adam shares. "They're one of, if not the highest food on the satiety index table, basically meaning that per calorie, they're the best for hunger." He also emphasizes the importance of protein sources like turkey burgers that "don't get disgusting" when meal prepping.

Structure Your Training

"What builds muscle also maintains muscle," Adam emphasizes. His approach is surprisingly straightforward: "I rarely train with weights more than four days per week, and actually at the moment I'm just training three days per week." The key is consistency with:

• 10-14 sets per body part weekly.
• 2-3 exercises per body part.
• Rep ranges between 5-20.

Master Your Daily Movement

"Steps work well as you can get them in multiple times throughout the day and you don't have to shower," Adam explains. His target is 12,000 daily steps with a crucial rule: "I'd always want to have about half of my step goal for the day done before lunch because if I didn't, it just got difficult to hit them."

Track Progress Properly

Success requires consistent monitoring. "I track my body weight every single morning after I went to the bathroom and before drinking everything," Adam shares. Weekly averages are crucial because "there's going to be days where weight is just up for a number of reasons, so getting that average gives you much better data."

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Handle Social Situations

"As far as eating out goes, I would really limit it or completely avoid it," Adam advises. However, he maintains flexibility: "If things were moving along nicely and I was making good progress, I'd allow myself to maybe have a meal out now and then, but I'd be really sensible about it."

Prepare for the Final Push

Adam is refreshingly honest about the challenging final stages: "By the end, calories are going to be pretty low, and steps are going to be high. Calories are going to be 1,600 and steps are going to be 15,000. That sounds awful and in my experience, it kind of is, but I know that's necessary."

"Fat loss is simple. It's not complicated, although many people think it is," Adam concludes. "If you have 20, 30, 40 pounds to lose, if you follow this religiously, you'll literally have everything you need to get lean."

While the approach is straightforward, the execution requires dedication. As Adam emphasizes, "Fat loss is simple, but it's not easy." By following these 11 steps and staying consistent with the process, you can achieve your lean body goals efficiently and sustainably. And if you enjoyed this article, don't miss12-3-30 Walking Method: 20 Proven Tips to Lose Weight Faster.

Looking for a simple way to lose weight without complicated meal plans? Fitness coachDan Go discovered that focusing on just five specific foods helped him drop 20 pounds in three months. "Eating similar meals every single day is a low key weight loss hack," says Dan, who specializes in helping entrepreneurs transform their bodies. Here's his straightforward approach that anyone can follow.

Dan's Weight Loss Philosophy

"I get way more benefit from doing something almost every day as opposed to figuring out what I'm going to eat on an hour-to-hour basis," Dan shares about his journey. As an entrepreneur, he found that simplifying his food choices was key to sustainable weight loss.

The Lifestyle Change That Made It Possible

"We make about 200 food decisions a day," Dan reveals. His solution? "I'd rather have limited decisions rather than open myself up to the hundreds of decisions that I would make around food." This mindset shift helped him maintain consistency while losing those 20 pounds.

Why These Foods Work: The Three-Factor Framework

Before diving into specific foods, Dan explains his selection criteria: "I look for three key factors when choosing foods for weight loss: nutrient value, satisfaction level, and the protein-to-calorie ratio." This framework ensures you're not just counting calories but getting maximum nutrition and staying full longer.

Your New Best Friend: New York Strip Steak

"Steak is a superfood with the amount of nutrients it contains," Dan emphasizes. A 100-gram serving of strip steak provides 30 grams of protein for just 175 calories, plus essential nutrients like carnitine, zinc, creatine, iron, and B vitamins. Can't afford strip steak? Dan suggests extra lean ground beef as an equally effective alternative.

Power Up with Cruciferous Vegetables

Want to eat more while losing weight? Dan's solution is simple: "I love to volumize my meals with vegetables like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale, spinach, and asparagus." These low-calorie powerhouses are packed with fiber and nutrients. Dan particularly favors grilled broccoli for its crunch and impressive nutrient profile, including calcium, iron, phosphorus, and vitamin C.

The Unsung Hero: Chicken Breast

"It's not the flashiest food," Dan admits, "but chicken breast gets the job done." With 31 grams of protein per 100-gram serving at just 165 calories, it's one of the most efficient protein sources available. Dan notes that this budget-friendly option is perfect for those who want flexibility with their remaining daily calories.

RELATED:Coach Lost 49 Pounds at 43 by Removing These 7 Foods From Her Diet

Your Insurance Policy: Whey Protein

While technically not a whole food, whey protein is Dan's secret weapon. "Think of this as protein insurance," he says. A double scoop provides 50 grams of protein for just 120 calories. Dan's pro tip: Add psyllium husk for fiber and satisfaction, plus creatine for additional benefits.

The Freedom Factor: Planned "Free" Meals

"If you can incorporate your favorite foods into your diet, that makes for a way of eating that you can sustain for the long term," Dan explains. He recommends following an 80/20 approach: "80 to 90% of my meals are going to come from whole single ingredient nutrient-dense sources, and 10 to 20% of my calories are going to come from whatever I want."

Dan's Simple Success Strategy

"I like to call this kind of like the Steve Jobs turtleneck of dieting," Dan says of his approach. "You have your flexibility with the free foods that allow you to have some fun, but 80 to 90% of the time, you're basically wearing a black turtleneck with jeans." This simple but effective strategy helped him lose 20 pounds while maintaining his busy entrepreneurial lifestyle.

RELATED:9 Things You Need to Do to Drop Body Fat in 30 Days, According to Expert

Putting It All Together: Your Action Plan

Dan's approach is refreshingly simple: "I created about five to seven meals that I had on rotation." This eliminates decision fatigue and ensures consistency. By limiting your daily food decisions, you can focus your mental energy on what really matters while still getting results. And if you enjoyed this article, take advantage of these 15 Quick Ways to Lose Body Fat Percentage in a Week.

Do you want to lose 10 pounds by the holidays? Jenn Markwardt is a fitness and nutrition coach and founder of Flourish Nutrition, whose goal is “helping you lose 20lbs in a stress-free way. In a recent social media post, she reveals how to drop weight fast by making a few simple tweaks to your routine. “Maybe it’s your energy, maybe it’s an extra 10-20lbs that came out of nowhere, especially around your middle, or maybe it’s exhaustion and brain fog you can’t get rid of,” she writes in the Instagram post. “Here are the three️ things I (and my clients) would avoid if I wanted to drop fat and get my energy back.”

Stop Eating Healthy and Start Eating with Intention

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Her first tip? Stop eating “healthy” and start eating with intention. “Track your food for a week (not forever, and you’ll be amazed at what you learn. It’s not about eating as little as possible; it’s about understanding how to build your pants in a way that leaves you full and satiated and helps your body lose fat without restriction and hunger,” she writes in her post.

Get More Focused with Exercise

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Next, “stop doing random workouts and only relying on cardio,” she says. “Muscle is the key to lighting up your metabolism and helping you actually keep your results! You should be training intentionally in a progressive overload style (building in weights or reps each week) to optimize your results!”

Don’t Do It Alone

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And her third tip is to “stop trying to go it alone,” she says. “Listen, things change as we age, but you are not broken. It’s not impossible to see results, but you have to do things differently than you did in the past, and it’s a heck of a lot easier when you have the support and accountability of coaches and other women just like you.”

RELATED: I'm a 75-Year-Old and Here Are My 15 Secrets to Staying in the Best Shape of My Life

She Also Recommends These 5 Healthy Habits for Weight Loss

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In another post, she reveals that one of her clients dropped a whopping 30 pounds over a period of six months, “and this was someone who has done literally every diet under the sun,” she says in the clip. “Here are the five habits we focused on to optimize her metabolism hormones and get her energy back so fat loss felt easy,” she adds in the post.

Walk 8,000 to 10,000 Steps Per Day

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The first habit is to get your steps in. She recommends “daily movement of 8-10k steps.” Why should you aim for 10,000 steps per day? A 2018 study published in the journal Obesity found a link between walking that amount and weight loss and weight management. Other studies published by the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) in JAMA Neurology and in JAMA Internal Medicine also linked walking 10,000 steps a day to less dementia and less cardiovascular disease overall, with less heart disease, less heart failure, and fewer strokes.

Amp Up Your Protein Intake

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Next, amp up your protein intake. “30g of protein at each meal for satiation and preserving and building muscle,” she writes. According to clinical trials, consuming more protein than the recommended dietary allowance not only reduces body weight (BW) but also enhances body composition by decreasing fat mass while preserving fat-free mass (FFM) in both low-calorie and standard-calorie diets.

Also, Increase Fiber Intake

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Also, she recommends amping up your fiber intake. “25g of fiber daily” is her suggestion. Why? “Fiber is key for balancing blood sugar and keeping you full, so you avoid mindless snacking,” she says.

RELATED: This Guru Doctor Reveals 8 Hormone Mistakes Making You Gain Weight After 40

Strength Train

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In addition to getting your steps in, she recommends doing strength training to build muscle. Specifically, she suggests three 30-minute strength workouts a week “using our Flourish Fitness progressive overload program,” she writes. According to the Mayo Clinic, strength and weight training help reduce body fat, preserve and increase lean muscle mass, and burn calories more efficiently. Strength training may also help you:

• Develop strong bones
• Manage your weight
• Enhance your quality of life
• Manage chronic conditions
• Sharpen your thinking skills

Stress Management

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Lastly, she stresses the importance of mental health. She explains that “stress management and finding and creating the time to prioritize” yourself is fundamental in getting in physical shape.

A Lot of Factors Impact Weight Loss

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“And here’s why this works: your metabolism isn’t just ONE thing. There are a lot of factors, and your daily habits have the biggest impact on your metabolic health and hormones. You don’t have to do these things perfectly, but consistency (even on the weekends) matters for forever results,” she writes at the end of the post. And if you enjoyed this article, take advantage of these 15 Quick Ways to Lose Body Fat Percentage in a Week.