First off, some background information:
1. The number of daily calories needed to maintain my current weight is 3,000.
2. There are 3,500 calories in one pound of fat.
3. One mile of walking burns up roughly 100 calories.
With that in mind, my fat loss goal is to get from 25 percent body fat down to 15 percent.
This means going from my current weight of give-or-take 240 pounds down to 212 pounds -- or a loss of a total of 28 pounds.
Now, how do I plan on doing this? In two main ways.
1. My first strategy is to reduce my daily calories by 500. This means that my daily caloric consumption should not exceed 2,500. For this to work, I'm having to keep a careful record of the number of calories I'm eating daily as well as the number of grams of protein I'm consuming. I have a daily planner set aside for just this purpose.
2. Secondly, I have been walking about 5 miles every day at a comfortable pace. For me, this involves about an hour and 15 minutes.
So how long will it take for me to achieve my target weight of 212? Well, if I've done the math right, no longer than 4 months. In other words, if I lose 500 calories a day through eating less, this translates into 3,500 calories per week. And since one pound of fat weighs about 3,500 calories, we're looking at losing as much as one pound of body fat each week due to diet alone. Furthermore, by walking 5 miles every day, this too translates into 3,500 calories (or one pound of fat) every week. This means that it's possible for me to lose 2 pounds of fat a week.
Finally, if we divide 28 (the total number of pounds I need to lose) by 2 (the number of pounds I hope to lose every week), this comes out to 14 weeks or 3.5 months. Keep in mind this is not about becoming "shredded" or anything like that but rather about reducing my lower belly fat and becoming fairly "lean" while building my fat loss meal plan around the proper food sources (high quality proteins, minimally refined carbohydrates, and healthy fats.) Furthermore, in addition to 3 strength training sessions at the gym per week, this program includes daily walking (at least 3 miles a day but ideally 5) and maybe an additional cardio session per week of running or cycling.
To sum up:
Both my calorie intake, my gym sessions, and my cardio workouts matter for fat loss, overall health, and muscle growth. That said, losing belly fat ultimately comes down to creating a consistent calorie deficit. It's the old "Calories in, calories out" maxim. At the end of the day, if you want to lean down successfully, then the ultimate goal should be to create a calorie deficit (about 500 calories below maintenance) in the way that's most enjoyable and sustainable for you.
I believe I'm going to be able to do this -- by the grace of God. But we will see. Time will tell whether or not it works and what kinds of adjustments I will have to make going forward.