Fat Burning College Diet

Fat Burning College Diet

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The Best Student Diet For Fat Loss (that ACTUALLY WORKS!)

The Best Student Diet For Fat Loss (that ACTUALLY WORKS!)

Is there such thing as "The Best Student Diet"?

It goes without saying the average student has lots of things on their plate.

Typically, we are so pressed for time and under so much stress that having a proper, nutritious and healthy meal is a rare occasion.

This makes following a particular student diet an almost impossible task!

In fact, before we even realize it, our student diet, along with our nutrition habits are the first to get neglected.

So, because I know how easy it is to completely fall off the nutrition bandwagon in university and start eating unhealthy (pizza and doughnuts on the daily), in this post I will share how a student diet should look like in my eyes.

It suits perfectly the busy lifestyle and I have never felt more energized, productive and better in my life before!

On top of that, this way of eating has allowed me to get the most out of my university experience and establish solid eating habits that will be useful for life!

Before that though, I'd like to clarify a few things.

Attention:

1) Although this post is targeted at students and young men (after all, The Fit Students blog aims to help mainly young guys), the nutrition concepts here apply to everyone.

They are fundamental nutrition principles that have stood the test of time. Therefore, anyone can benefit from them by applying them to practice, no matter the age.

2) It is so easy to get overwhelmed with so much confusing information online.

There are constantly more and more new fad diets and each of them is presented as "the best diet" to follow – The Keto Diet, Paleo, Vegan, The Mediterranean, Low-fat, Low-carb, etc.

The list goes on and on and on …

While I don't have anything against them, I believe you can't say 1 diet is superior over the rest for each and every human being.

Because we are bombarded with so many shiny fitness trends, we get caught up in the marketing hype, making it difficult for us to take the right approach.

This is why in this I"ll shed some light on student diets and hopefully, you will pick up lots of value and change your eating habits.

Time for FUN now!

What is The Best Student Diet to Lose Weight?

The answer is clear:

There is NO such thing as "THE BEST STUDENT DIET"!

Say Whaaaat?

Yes, you read that right.

(Actually, I don't like the term "diet" at all. It somehow has negative connotations attached to it!)

Even the "BEST" diet plan will fail miserably when reality kicks in: exam period, rough days at university and work, life trauma etc.

One thing I can say with 100% certainty is there is NO such thing as a "Miracle Diet" for everybody, let alone for students!

However, don't freak out just now. Let me explain!

The truth is – no diet is superior than the rest.

Every single one of them has this ONE thing in common – they all achieve fat loss, causing you to be at a CALORIC DEFICIT (eating less than you burn daily).

* See this post for the full game plan for losing fat and getting killer abs!

Yes, the different diets have certain physiological and psychological benefits, BUT none of them have any "special fat loss" effect.

Instead, all of them can work simply because they help you eat less calories, i.e. be in a CALORIC DEFICIT.

PERIOD!

GOT THAT?

COOL!

Therefore, "The Best Student Diet" would be the one you ENJOY THE MOST and can easily ADHERE TO in the long run.

Consistency is the KEY for long-term results.

I have tried several of them – low carb, low fat, vegetarian for a while etc.

In my opinion, it's not a good idea to cut out certain food groups completely or demonize one macronutrient (like carbs) as some nutrition strategies preach doing.

Honestly, the idea of limiting particular foods is restrictive for me. The goal is to find what student diet works best for you, helps you look and feel good and finally, be able to enjoy your favourite foods and follow it with pleasure.

With all that being said, let me tell you what diet or nutrition strategy I have enjoyed the most.

I have experienced great results in the gym while still being able to have fun as a student.
Besides, I haven't had a problem sticking to it!

The Solution

Drums rolling …

It's called Flexible Dieting For Fat Loss!

Wait, whaaat?

Keep reading to learn all about this eating strategy and how to use it to your advantage, too.

Flexible Dieting can be tweaked according to your goals (building muscle, losing fat or just maintaining your weight), but this post is oriented only towards fat loss.

What is Flexible Dieting?

Flexible Dieting or also know as IIFYM (If it fits your Macros) is simply the counting and tracking of macronutrients (protein, fats and carbohydrates) at least for some time to achieve a body composition goal (in our case – fat loss).

( NOTE: Tracking food intake is not completely mandatory, but advisable at least for some time to get an idea of what you put into your mouth, what different portion sizes look like etc.)

It supports the belief there are NO magical foods for building muscle or losing weight, so no good or bad foods.

Now to the fun part.

You are free to have all food groups in the world – No Limits, No Restrictions!

In other words, you have the opportunity to eat whatever you want as long as it fits your macros (and therefore calories) for the day, which also includes alcohol.

(I will soon make a post all about combining alcohol and fitness as a student.)

Sounds surreal, doesn't it?

Well, this is true provided that you don't overdo it and follow the fundamental guidelines listed below.

* see below for more details.

What are the Benefits of Flexible Dieting?

Before we get down to the nitty and gritty part (how to get started on the diet and some basic rules), it's important that I tell you about the huge benefits of Flexible Dieting (IIFYM).

• Flexible (as you can probably tell lol)

As you can probably guess, it's flexible (lol), meaning it gives you the freedom to eat whatever you want provided that you meet your caloric (and macronutrient) requirements for the day.

This makes it a perfect option for busy students and people with tight schedules as you don't obssess excessively over your diet and food choices.

Research actually shows that a more flexible diet is better for weight management and can significantly lower stress and anxiety.

As stressed-out students, isn't this exactly what we are looking for from a student diet?

Besides, you can join in on meals with your friends, family and student peers without feeling guilty.

You can go to parties, social events and have a whale of a time, enjoying a couple of drinks in moderation, too.

You can have that piece of cake and still look and feel great (as long as it's not the entire cake!).

As long as you keep track of it and it's in moderation, it's absolutely fine!

• Sustainable

Another advantage to flexible dieting is its sustainability.

Because you literally have the freedom to eat your favourite foods in moderation, you don't have such a big problem sticking to the diet.

If you were following another nutrition strategy, say, the keto diet – you would have to eliminate food groups that contain carbohydrates almost completely.

But carbs are life – so many delicious foods are high in carbohydrates, so this is not a great idea at least for me.

I have followed flexible dieting for long time and have never felt the urge to start binge-eating as I used to do with other restrictive diets.

It's mentally and emotionally sustainable to know that you can still fit in that doughnut without it hurting your progress!

So, this means you can have your favourite treats every now and then without feeling guilty afterwards, while still making mad progress in the gym!

It's a WIN-WIN!

• Effective

Last but not least, Flexible Dieting is extremely effective if your goal is to lose weight!

It works wonders provided that you don't mess up and start binge-eating like crazy.

* see the practical guidelines below for more information.

MODERATION IS KEY!

Although you have more freedom regarding your food choices, this is not an excuse to completely fall off track and eat pizza and doughnuts all day, every day!

(I'm sure it would be nice, but naaah!)

You still need to focus on eating quality, nutritious food roughly 80% of the time.

The most important thing is to meet your macronutrient (protein, fats and carbohydrates) requirements for the day (if you meet them, you will meet your calories, too).

How to start with Flexible Dieting?

Before sharing with you how to start flexible dieting, I first need to mention a very important caveat for fat loss.

I have probably repeated this countless times, but let me be clear once again:

Fat loss occurs only when you are in a CALORIC DEFICIT. In other words, you will lose fat only when you eat less calories than you burn daily.

Now, with flexible dieting, you need to track your calories and macronutrients to get results.

Otherwise, how in the world will you account for the junk food or treats you occassionally have and know that you are still making progress?

Here is the 3-step process to follow to start your student diet on the right foot.

Calculate your calories for fat loss

The first and most important step is to find the number of calories you need to consume every day.

Okay, we now know the only way to lose fat is to be in a calorie deficit , i.e. eat fewer calories than we need to maintain our weight per day.

There are two ways to do this.

Before looking into each one, bear in mind though neither way is perfect – the numbers are just estimates! So, you will still need to test things for a couple of days and adjust accordingly.

Use an online calculator.

The first way to optimize your student diet for fat loss is by using an online calculator.

Now, it will require you to put some basic stats about yourself – fitness goal (fat loss), age, weight, height, activity level etc.

The more stats you need to input, the more accurate it is likely to be.

Here is an example one.

* NOTE: the stats you receive are not going to be perfect. This is why you need to test the waters in the beginning and tweak them based on your progress.

If you have put all of your stats (including your goal of losing fat), you will get the number you should shoot for per day.

And you are ready to go – based on the information you have provided, the calculator has calculated how many calories you need to eat every day to lose weight.

Depending on how fast you want to lose weight, the numbers can vary.

For instance, if you want to do it gradually – the calorie deficit could be ~ 300-400 calories (~300-400 fewer than you need to maintain your weight per day).

If you want to be more aggressive and do it faster – the calorie deficit is likely to be bigger – + 500 calories.

I recommend taking the slow route and going for ~ 300-500 calorie deficit (500 calories is the upper limit!). If you go more aggresive than this, you risk losing your hard-earned muscle, so I don't think it's a good idea.

There is NO need to rush things.

Slow and steady wins the race!

Calculate your calories and macros by yourself

Take your bodyweight in pounds and multiply it by 15.

To number you get is your maitenance calories (also called TDEE – total daily energy expenditure) – the number of calories you need to consume each day to maintain your weight.

For instance, for a 70-kg individual (~ 155 pounds), this makes: 155 x 15 = 2325 calories per day.

Then, in order to lose weight, you need to be in a calorie deficit as already outlined.

So, to start with slowly, you subtract 300 calories and you get: 2325 – 300 = 2025 calories!

That's the figure you aim for per day.

Again, there numbers are not 100% accurate. However, chances are, you will be within shooting distance of the perfect number, so it's vital that you test things and take it from there.

Determine your macronutrients (macros) for fat loss

Now that you've got your calories per day, you need to determine your macronutrients (macros). In other words – protein, fats and carbohydrates.

1) Proteins

First of all, we always start with protein because it helps muscles repair and grow. It is essential for muscle growth, so that's why it comes as a top priority.

Research indicates consuming around 0.8 – 1.2 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight is most optimal for training individuals.

To make it simple, I recommend shooting for 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight, which is around 2 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight.

For example, if you weigh 70 kg, you need to consume ~ 140 grams of protein per day.

Simple!

2) Fats

The second macronutrient we will determine is fat.

Consuming enough healthy fats is vital for hormone regulation, brain function and optimal health.

Going too low on fat will make you hungry and make your meals too bland.

Fat should make up 20-30 % of your daily calories and I recommend going for 25% to start with.

(If you enjoy higher fat, stick with 30 %. If not – go for 20%, but don't go below that!)

To calculate fat intake (below is an example): multiply your calories per day by the desired percent (25 % = 0.4). Then, divide that number by 9 because 1 gram fat = 9 calories (while 1 gram protein = 4 calories, 1 gram carbohydrate = 4 calories).

Example for 70-kg individual:

1) 2025 calories per day x 0.4 =  810
2) 810 : 9 = 90 grams of fat per day

3) Carbohydrates

The remainder of your calories are your carbs!

Carbohydrates are your body's preferred energy source, so eating enough carbs will allow adequate training performance.

Moreover, your glycogen stores will be full to make sure you are as anabolic as possible.

To calculate carbohydrate intake (below is an example): add your protein and fat calories per day. Subtract the number from your daily calorie requirement. This will give you the number of calories you need to get from carbs per day. Then, you divide that number by 4 to get the required number of carbs per day (as already outlined, 1 gram of carb = 4 calories!).

Example for the same 70-kg individual:

1) 4 x 140 (grams of protein) + 9 x 90 (grams of fat) = 560 (calories from protein) + 810 (calories from fat) = 1370 calories in total
2) 2025 – 1370 = 655 (the number of calories you need per day from carbohydrates)
3) 655 : 4 = 163. 75 (grams of carb per day)

There you have it.

That's how you adjust your macros for fat loss! Again, the numbers are not 100% accurate, but this is why you need to experiment and adjust along the way.

In my opinion, this is the perfect nutrition scenario (macronutrient ratio)!

Install MyFitnessPal app to track your food intake (at least for some time)

After you have done the groundwork of setting up your calories and calculating your macros, it's time for you to track them daily.

I recommend installing the app "MyFitnessPal" to track your food intake.

(Check this article out for an in-depth guide to losing fat and getting 6-pack abs. It also contains vital information regarding food tracking and monitoring the process.)

Tracking is a very useful tool to see how you respond to different foods. Plus, you can learn more about foods, their calorie and macronutrient content, how you can fit certain meals into your daily life to meet your calories etc.

* NOTE: food tracking is not forever! You just need to have an idea of portion sizes, food groups, macronutrients and calories. Once you get the hang of it, you can start eyeballing food so you can estimate without measuring.

Still, knowledge is power! Numbers don't lie!

Adjust accordingly over time, take progress pictures and trust the process

Track your food for a couple of days and see how it goes.

If you don't lose less than 0.5 % of your bodyweight in pounds, decrease the number of calories you consume per day. So, instead of eating 300 calories less, make them 350 or 400.

It's good to know 1 g of fat = 3500 calories. Put differently, to lose 1 g of fat, you need to consume 3500 calories less.

For instance, if you str in a 500 calorie deficit per day, you will lose 1 g of fat per week. ( 7  x 500 = 3500)

Now, not all of this lost weight will be fat. Actually, in the beginning most of it would be water weight.

General rule of thumb: lose around 0.7% of your bodyweight weekly (0.5 %- 1.0 % is the range you want to stick to). This is the Sweet Spot that has been proven to maximize fat loss and minimize muscle loss.

On top of that, take progress pictures frequently and evaluate your situation. It always motivates me when I see my abs popping more and more as time goes by, so definitely do this!

At the end of the day, BE PATIENT!

Losing weight (and fat!) is not an overnight game! It's a process and you need to be dilligent with it, consistent in your actions and patient enough to see results!

Basic Rules and Guidelines of Flexible Dieting

We have covered a lot of things so far, but the following fundamental rules are hugely important for making sure you are on the right track.

• The 80/20 Nutrition Rule

To start with, although you are basically allowed to eat anything under the sun, you should still follow the popular 80/20 nutrition rule.

80 % of your diet should consist of the "healthy", nutritious foods.

20% of your diet – "the fun stuff". This is where you favourite foods, sweet treats and junk food come into place.

You can learn more about this rule here and here.

• MODERATION IS KEY!

If you love food as much as I do, chances are, you will probably be tempted to eat your favourite foods more often than necessary.

Although Flexible Dieting allows you to enjoy them every now and then, there are still some limits that you need to bear in mind.

Make sure to follow the above-mentioned 80/20 Nutriton Rule.

Prioritize "healthy" foods first and leave some room to enjoy yourself occasionally.

As I mentioned earlier, have this piece of cake, but not the whole cake!

• Eat plenty of fruits and especially vegetables

As I like to say: "Eat the rainbow!"

Variety here is a KEY to get the whole range of vitamins and minerals. As a result, you will have long-lasting energy to support your studies, work out and tackle your other commitments.

You cannot go wrong with eating veggies.

Therefore, try to incorporate your favourite veggies in each meal.

This way, you won't get any nutrient deficiencies and will make sure you consume enough fiber to keep you full throughout the whole day.

• Prioritize Protein

It is arguably the most important macronutrient that you first need to pay attention to!

Protein is vital for life!

The body breaks it down into its building blocks, amino acids.

It contributes to muscle growth, recovery and the proper function of the immune system. Also, it is important for your skin and bones.

It is worth mentioning it also reduces appetite and makes you feel fuller, which could be effective for weight loss.

In short, protein plays a major role in lots of things and we need to eat protein-rich foods daily!

I recommend eating a high-quality protein source with each meal: eggs, meat, fish, cottage cheese, low-fat yoghurt, skyr etc.
(More information on protein here and here.)

The scientific literature has had many debates about how much protein to consume per day.

Yet, as stated, around 2 grams per kg of bodyweight works perfectly fine.

(Keep in mind you are trying to lose weight, so having enough protein is crucial for preventing muscle loss.)

Final Thoughts

I assume you are already aware of the fact there is NO such things as "THE BEST STUDENT DIET".

Life is pretty short to cut out certain foods groups, limit ourselves and not enjoy our favourite foods in moderation.

At the end of the day, If I have to define the term, the best student diet is the one you:

– can adhere to and follow in the long run
– have no problem sticking to
– look and feel great
– enjoy your favourite foods in moderation and make progress at the same time

I just hold the opinion that limiting ourselves by not allowing particular foods is not the best diet or strategy for getting fit and healthy, especially as a busy student.

The various fad diets that are massively marketed by the "fitness gurus" may be effective for some, but they shouldn't be viewed as the only way to diet right.

We are all different, so I'm against this kind of cookie-cutter diet plans.

Ever since I started following this Flexible Student Diet, I have never looked back.

It is:
1. flexible – I feel free to enjoy my favourite foods (because FOOD IS LIFE lol) and still be fit and healthy.

2. sustainaible – I have been able to follow it for long time without thinking twice or binge-eating.

3. effective – I have experienced great results without sacrificing my social life.

I'm loving it!

I highly recommend that you try it out and let me know if this is your cup of tea.

I hope I have given you an interesting insight into student dieting.

Comment down below if you have found this one helpful.

Also, take a look at the following FREE articles:

• How To Get Fit As A Student (The Beginner's Guide) –  my most detailed and extensive article. It's for any student (16+) and young adult who is looking to build a great body and get fit.
• How to make your own workout plan for beginners – If you don't have an idea from where to start or you are a complete newbie , this is the exact, step-by-step guide on how to start out the right way!
• The Best Student Workout Plan –  Learn about how to go about training, which training programme to follow and basically how to work out, even if you are a complete beginner!
• How To Lose Fat: 7 PROVEN Ways – Top 7 ways to lose fat not only for summer, but forever!
• The Complete 3-Step Game Plan To Getting KILLER 6-Pack Abs – If you want to have a chiseled 6-pack abs, these article is perfect for you! Maybe you are lost because of trying every "quick fix" in the books, but don't worry! I got you covered because this is the entire, step-by-step guide to getting the desired abs!
• Top 3 Strategies For Getting 6-pack Abs – the best real-life strategies that will help you melt off belly fat effortlessly, provided that you eat at a CALORIE DEFICIT and your training and recovery are in place!

In health,

– The Fit Student

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