Aside from the physical struggles, losing fat and getting lean is tough on a mental and emotional level. It requires careful planning, hours of meal prep and training, intense commitment, and an iron will.
I learned this first hand when I competed in an online 90-day physique challenge held by YouTuber Christian Guzman.
The rules were simple: submit a before and after video and the most impressive transformation wins.
I didn’t win the competition, but I went from pudgy to ripped and achieved the best physique I’ve ever had. I also learned a lot through the process and wrote this article to share these lessons with you.
But first, I want to show you my transformation…
On March 6th 2017, I entered the competition at 182 pounds (82.6 kg). For reference, I’m 5 feet and 11 inches tall. Here’s the physique I started with…
On June 3rd 2017, 90 days later, I finished the competition at 161.5 pounds (73.3 kg), more shredded than ever.
If you doubt this transformation, I don't blame you! There is a lot of BS in the fitness world.
But I assure you this is a 3-month transformation (89 days to be precise). I didn't actually gain any muscle during this period, I just burned body fat. The lighting helped as well to give me an extra shredded look. Here is my before/after video with proof. The video on the laptop that I am holding up in my before video is Christian Guzman's launch video for the Summer Shredding 2017 Challenge, which was uploaded in March 2017. And I hold up an iPhone in my after video clearly displaying the date June 3rd.
In just 3 months, I chopped more than 20 pounds off my already-fairly-lean physique, which equates to an average weekly weight loss of 1.6 pounds.
And my strength didn’t drop at all, indicating that most of this weight loss was bodyfat.
How did I accomplish this?
Well, it required a lot of hard work and mental fortitude, but I learned that having the right plan makes things much easier.
In this article, I will tell you everything you need to know to lose fat and get lean – even shredded if that is your goal.
Here’s what we’ll cover:
How many calories you should be eating to lose fat with ease
Why macros matter (even more than calories!)
My favorite shredding meals (that each take less than 10 minutes to make)
The best exercises for losing fat and getting shredded
Why you don’t have to kill yourself with cardio to lose fat
How much protein you should be eating
Shredding advice from two top bodybuilders (Rebecca Unruth and Zack Staver)
Before we begin, I've been working on creating a course called Vegan Meal Planning Mastery. If you are a visual learner and would like to learn how to create your own meal plan to lose fat and build muscle while eating the vegan foods you love, then you must check it out here: Vegan Meal Planning Mastery course.
I’m running an Early Bird $37 Special for this course, which will officially launch on August 28th. This price will only be good until August 28th.
Okay, now let's begin!
How To Eat To Shred Fat
When your main goal is to lose body fat while maintaining muscle mass, diet and exercise are both important. But, I’d argue that diet is far more important. In this section, we’ll cover the basics about dieting for fat loss.
Caloric Deficit for Fat Loss
You must burn more energy than you consume to achieve meaningful fat loss. This is called a caloric deficit (i.e. consume less calories than you burn).
The size of your caloric deficit and the length of time you maintain it determines how much weight you lose. Every pound of pure body fat that is metabolized yields approximately 3500 calories, thus a daily caloric deficit of 500 calories theoretically results in fat loss of approximately one pound per week if the weight loss comes entirely from body fat.
However, eating very little, known as starvation dieting, isn’t ideal for weight loss. If your caloric deficit is too extreme, your metabolism will slow, you will lose muscle along with fat, and you’ll really hate the process.
In a study of bodybuilders during the twelve weeks before competition, male competitors reduced their caloric intake significantly during the latter half and subsequently lost the greatest amount of lean body mass in the final three weeks. This study is just one of many that suggest diets yielding weight loss of approximately 0.25 to 0.5% of bodyweight weekly may be superior for lean body mass retention compared to more aggressive diets.
How do you achieve steady, sustainable fat loss? You should maintain a caloric deficit of approximately 20% to lose fat while preserving lean muscle mass, energy levels, hormone production, and general well-being. In other words, you should eat about 80% of your total daily energy expenditure.
Why Macros Matter More Than Calories
Macronutrients, often referred to as “macros,” are substances required in large amount in the human diet. There are three primary macronutrients that the human body needs in order to function properly: carbohydrates, fat, and protein.
Regardless of the sources foodwise, 1 gram of protein contains 4 calories, 1 gram of carbohydrates contains 4 calories, and 1 gram of fat contains 9 calories.
Many of the most respected vegan medical professionals (Dr. Michael Greger, Dr. Garth Davis, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, Dr. T. Colin Campbell, and many others) do not advocate a specific macronutrient ratio. The ones that do tend to recommend a high carb, low protein, low fat diet with an 80/10/10 split (80% carbs, 10% protein, 10% fat). However, their recommendations do not necessarily reflect optimal dietary approaches to achieve specific physique goals.
A plethora of nutritional research indicates that a high carb, high protein, low fat diet is optimal for gaining and preserving muscle mass. This can be accomplished on a healthy, whole food, plant-based diet with perhaps some protein supplementation depending on your specific goals.
Because your specific macro intakes matter, you should focus on them instead of simply focusing on calories.
For example, let’s say that your total daily energy expenditure is 2,500 calories. Your total daily energy expenditure is simply the number of calories you body burns in a day to function and perform exercise.
If you want to shred body fat, your daily calorie target should be 2,000 calories (2,500 calories x 0.8) to efficiently burn fat.
Of these 2,000 available calories, you need to determine how many grams of carbs, protein, and fat to consume to give you the best chance of achieving your physique goals.
While calculating your macros is simple and straightforward, the process takes a bit of work.
You can calculate your macros accurately with our vegan nutrition calculator. We make it easy by doing it for you right in Facebook Messenger.
Macros are calculated for all clients of The Vegan Superhero Academy. You can apply for the VSA program here!
How Much Protein Should You Consume on a Cut?
To ensure all your weight loss comes from body fat, higher protein intakes are required to help preserve muscle when on a caloric deficit.
A joint study conducted by AUT University, California State University, and the University of Illinois found that caloric intake should be set at a level that results in bodyweight losses of approximately 0.5% to 1.0% per week to maximize muscle retention.
With this caloric deficit, the study concluded, “most but not all bodybuilders will respond best to consuming 2.3 to 3.1 g/kg of lean body mass per day of protein, 15-30% of calories from fat, and the remainder of calories from carbohydrate.”
A meta-analysis led by the same AUT University researchers provided a systematic review of 6 studies with energy-resisted, resistance-trained (> 6 months) adult subjects.
The AUT University researchers reached the same conclusion as the previous study: protein needs for energy-restricted resistance-trained athletes are likely 1.05 to 1.41 grams per pound of lean body mass (2.3 to 3.1 grams per kilogram of lean body mass) scaled upwards with the severity of caloric restriction and leanness. Lean body mass is everything in your body that isn’t fat (i.e., organs, skeletal muscle, water, and bone).
A study from the Exercise Metabolism Research Group at McMaster University concluded that strength athletes on a caloric deficit should consume as much as 0.82 to 0.91 grams per pound of body weight (1.8 to 2.0 grams per kilogram of bodyweight per day), depending on the extent of the deficit.
A study from the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences at the University of Birmingham examined the influence of various dietary protein levels on lean body mass and performance during short-term periods of caloric restriction in athletes. Their findings indicate that young healthy athletes need approximately 2.3 grams per kilogram of body weight for maintenance of lean mass during short periods of caloric restriction.
Collectively, these studies suggest you should consume 0.82 to 1.40 grams of protein per pound of lean body mass (2.3 to 3.1 grams per kilogram of lean mass) when dieting to shred fat.
Please keep in mind that these recommendations are for serious strength athletes and bodybuilders. If you do not compete in strength or physique contests, then you likely don’t need that much protein.
Here are my general guidelines for protein consumption:
If you follow the high carb mantra in most vegan health circles, these protein requirements probably seem way too high.
But trust me. I’d rather hit my protein and be safe than risk burning any of my hard-earned vegan muscle gains while I’m on a caloric deficit.
For example, if an experienced weightlifter (4+ years of weightlifting experience) loses just a single pound of muscle while shredding, it could take 2 to 6 months of intense weightlifting to gain that pound of muscle back during his/her next bulking period!
Assuming five 1-hour workouts per week, that single pound of muscle could take upwards of 135 hours of intense weightlifting to gain back!
I don’t know about you, but I’d rather eat a bit more protein than I probably need to avoid losing any muscle instead of killing myself for 135 hours in the gym just to get back to my pre-shredding lean body mass.
Yes, hitting 1.1 grams of protein per pound of lean body mass while on a caloric deficit is a challenge. It requires careful planning and most likely protein supplementation.
Protein powders simplify your life and allow you to eat plenty of healthy fruits and vegetables while still hitting your high-protein macros.
My Favorite Shredding Meals:
I’m a pretty simple guy. I can eat the same things over and over again. Two of my favorite meals – that I usually eat every day during a cut – are Berry Protein Oatmeal and Jerk Tofu Taco Salad.
These recipes are filling and packed with protein and micronutrients to make you lean and feeling like a million bucks.
Berry Protein Oatmeal
Ingredients:
Quick oats (I use 50 grams during a cut)
Naked chocolate pea protein powder (I use 60 grams during a cut)
Frozen berries (I use 300 grams during a cut)
Nutrition facts: 615 calories, 86 grams carbs (54%), 48 grams protein (31%), 11 grams fat (15%)
Note: I cook the quick oats in water and I do not add any non-dairy milk. If you do need to add some, I would recommend you try low calorie soymilk for the added protein boost.
Jerk Tofu Taco Salad
Ingredients:
Organic tofu (I use 450 grams – weighed uncooked – during a cut)
Shredded cabbage (I use 200 grams during a cut)
Kale (I use 200 grams during a cut)
Refried beans (I use 100 grams during a cut)
Salsa (I use 150 grams during a cut)
Balsamic vinegar (I use 20 grams during a cut)
Nutrition facts: 750 calories, 72 grams carbs (36%), 69 grams protein (31%), 30 grams fat (33%)
Note: The most important part of this recipe is cooking the tofu correctly! Click here to learn how I make delicious, crispy, oil-free tofu.
How To Exercise For Fat Loss
How many people have you seen that spend hours on the treadmill every week, yet never get lean?
How many people have you seen who seem to only lift weights and never do cardio, but are ripped?
What gives? Everybody knows that cardio is required to get lean and weight lifting is just for getting bigger muscles, right?
Not exactly.
Your body fat percentage is primarily determined by your diet. Doing cardio does burn fat, but if you eat too much, your body will simply replace the fat lost with the excess calories you’re giving it.
Weightlifting actually burns about the same amount of calories per hour as low-intensity cardio, but it also burns more calories after your workout, known as “the afterburn effect.” The muscle you build as a result also helps keep you lean because it increases the total amount of calories that your body burns while at rest.
What Are The Best Exercises For Building And Maintaining Muscle?
Just like I recommend for building muscle while bulking, you must emphasize heavy compound weightlifting in your workouts to maintain muscle mass while shredding as a natural weightlifter.
What exactly is a compound exercise?
A compound exercise is an exercise that involves multiple joints and muscle groups. If you maintain proper form and do not overtrain, heavy compound exercises are not harmful to your body.
The best compound exercises are the squat, deadlift, bench press, dip, row, and overhead “military” press.
These exercises are highly “functional” meaning that the strength you develop from them is far more applicable to daily life than targeted isolation exercises like bicep curls.
For example, lifting a heavy 100-pound box will be fairly easy if you are repping out 300-pound deadlifts in the gym.
No matter who you are and what your fitness goals are, compound exercises deserve far more attention than isolation exercises.
What Makes Compound Exercises So Effective?
Because compound exercises employ multiple muscle groups and allow you to lift heavier weights through a large range of motion, compound exercises better progressively overload your muscles than isolation exercises. And the more you can progressively overload your muscles (with proper rest), the faster they will grow.
Although compound exercises are most effective at building muscle, isolation exercises are really important too. Without isolation exercises to fill in the gaps, compound exercises can create imbalances in the mass and strength gains of your muscles.
To avoid imbalances, I use isolation exercises to target muscle groups like biceps and calves that are difficult to hit in heavy, compound movements.
For example, if all you did for leg training was back squats, you’d likely develop an imbalance between the strength and size of your quadriceps (the prime muscle group in the exercise) and hamstrings (the secondary muscle group in the exercise). In the long-term, the result of this imbalance could be hamstring injury or knee problems.
A well-designed weightlifting routine for strength and aesthetics includes both compound and isolation exercises.
Depending the muscle group I am training, compound movements comprise about 60 to 75% of my lifting routine while isolation exercises fill in the remaining 25 to 40%.
How Much Should You Train?
For the first 9 weeks of my cut, I lifted weights 5 to 6 days a week for 50 to 75 minutes. For the last 3 weeks, I ramped this up to 6 days of lifting per week with five 45-minute StairMaster sessions per week.
But the amount of time you spend in the gym isn’t a great metric to follow because it doesn’t really correlate with results.
For example, you could spend 60 minutes in the gym on the flat bench press hitting 5 lightweight sets with 10-minute rest periods spent scrolling Instagram.
Obviously, your results would suck.
Instead, volume is the important metric. Volume, or the total amount of total reps performed, is the determining factor in your muscle and strength gains.
If the volume of your training for each major muscle group is too low, then you will struggle to gain size and strength.
If your volume is too high, then you’ll run into problems related to overtraining. You have to bring the intensity, but take rest days and be careful to not overtrain.
Get the volume right and you will be able to gain muscle like clockwork over time.
According to various experts and studies, optimal volume appears to be in the range of 60 to 180 reps per major muscle group per week. The heavier the training, the fewer reps you should do every week.
Since I focus on heavy compound lifts in the range of 75 to 85 percent of my one-rep max (1RM), I stick to the lower range of the 60 to 180-rep spectrum. I usually lift around 60 to 80 total reps per major muscle group per week.
Should You Do Cardio To Burn Fat?
While I recommend cardio for its many health benefits, if you’re willing to be strict with your diet, you can get lean by that alone and not even bother with cardio.
That being said, I do like cardio because I find it easier to increase my caloric deficit with cardio than by eating less. I feel deprived when I don’t eat a certain amount each day.
Still, I keep my cardio to a minimum because I frankly don’t like it and research indicates that it inhibits muscle growth.
In a 2016 study conducted at the Academy for Sports Excellence in the UK, researchers divided 30 resistance trained men into 4 groups and they completed a 6-week training program in which they trained 3 days per week.
Group 1: Only strength training 3 times per week
Group 2: Strength training 3 times per week and endurance training (treadmill running) once per week
Group 3: Strength training 3 times per week and endurance training (treadmill running) 3 times per week
Group 4: Didn't train at all (control)
At the end of the program, Group 1 and Group 2 had the highest lower body strength increases, but Group 1, the strength only training group, had a significantly higher lower body power increase than all the other groups. Upper body strength increased similarly in Groups 1-3.
What do these findings tell us?
If muscle growth and strength are the primary goals, then you should keep cardio to a minimum.
HIIT vs. Steady State Cardio
If you decide to include cardio in your training routine, you have a few options. You can do high intensity interval training (HIIT) like sprinting or you can do steady state cardio like hitting the stair climber, treadmill, or elliptical with low to moderate intensity.
So which type of cardio is best for fat loss?
A 2017 meta-analysis showed similar reductions in body fat from HIIT vs. steady state moderate intensity cardio when protocols were matched for energy expenditure.
This indicates that personal preference should be the determining factor in which form of cardio to perform from a fat loss standpoint. Importantly, cardio should only be considered a supplement to enhancing fat reduction as neither type of cardio produced clinically meaningful reductions in body fat.
As I’ve said, reducing calories through diet should be your primary focus in getting lean.
What About Fasted Cardio?
I don’t want to get into a huge debate about whether fasted cardio does or does not have a place in anyone's shredding program, but I personally have never done it myself or for my clients. I don't see a reason why I would ever implement it, unless future published research changes my mind.
As it now stands, current research shows that fasted cardio does not cause any significant improvements on weight loss or body composition versus fed cardio.
If you prefer to do your cardio very first thing in the morning for personal/schedule reasons that is absolutely fine, just be aware that you're not doing some magical form of cardio that is going to help you lose more fat than non-fasted cardio.
If you still prefer fasted cardio, I would at least recommend some type of branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) or pea protein shake either before and/or during cardio to help maximize muscle retention.
Should You Take Supplements?
I’ve left the supplement section for last because I think that it is the least important. Hard work and diet produce 99% of the results. Depending on your goals and current level of fitness, you might consider using supplements, but keep it to a minimum.
Beyond my regular supplements – I take vitamin B12, zinc, DHA/EPA, iodine, and vitamin D (only during the winter months) – here are the supplements I take while shredding:
Protein Powder (I take this all the time)
A high-protein diet is absolutely vital for building muscle and maintaining lean body mass when dieting. You don’t need protein supplements to gain muscle, but considering how much protein you need to eat every day to be “safe” in maximizing muscle protein synthesis (MPS) response, getting all your protein from whole food can be impractical.
If you want to learn about the best vegan protein powders for building and maintaining muscle, check out my article: What is the Best Vegan Protein Source for Building Muscle?
Pre-workout
I don’t usually take a pre-workout because I think they are pretty bad for you, but it was a huge struggle to drag myself to the gym on a caloric deficit, especially toward the end of my cut when I was doing 45 minutes of StairMaster 5 times per week. If you need a boost of energy, there are healthier alternatives (e.g. coffee).
BCAAs
According to current research, the required “leucine threshold” to maximize muscle protein synthesis is somewhere between 3.2 and 4.4 grams (for most people). This is easily reached with a soy/pea protein shake and some tofu. However, I believe BCAA supplements are beneficial during a caloric deficit (particularly at low body fat) or during fasted training as a muscle sparing strategy.
If you have a few minutes, check out my article on BCAA supplementation: Should You Take A BCAA Supplement?
Tracking Your Progress
In order to know for certain whether you need to make a change or not, you MUST weigh yourself on a daily basis. Doing so is the only way you will know for certain whether your health and fitness approach is succeeding in reaching your goals. I recommend you weigh yourself at the same time every day (preferably morning) and track your weekly average weight to ensure you are consistently losing weight over time.
Additionally, you must track your calories and macronutrients. The best method I’ve found to track these is an app named Cronometer. I highly recommend Cronometer over other fitness apps such as MyPlate and MyFitnessPal as it tracks your micronutrients as well as individual amino acids in the free version.
Advice From The Shredding Experts
Rebecca Unruth, IPL Bikini Pro
How tall are you?
5'5"
What is your approximate pre-cutting weight?
121.5 lbs
What was your most recent stage weight?
116 lbs
What are your staple cutting foods?
Bananas! I rarely go a morning without my banana smoothie and salads too. You can add protein, carbs, and fats, whatever you want into a salad to make it work for your prep. And you can eat a ton that way.
What is the most difficult part of contest prep?
For me personally it was my schedule. I was working two jobs, going to school 5 days a week with a few surgery rotation days, and trying to train 4-5 days a week. It got rough and I ended up slacking a bit towards the end of prep when finals came around.
What’s your favorite cheat meal after a competition?
There's a local breakfast place near me and I would always get their tofu scramble and sweet potato hash browns! So amazing!
Do you have any tips for people starting their first contest prep?
Do what works for YOU! A lot of people see what other girls are doing for their prep and try to mimic that but every body responds differently. I did the complete opposite of what I've ever learned about prep. I kept eating carbs in abundance but I kept it super clean, fruits, veggies, rice, quinoa, and potatoes. It worked for me so I went with it.
Follow Rebecca on Instagram: @beccau.fit
Zach Staver, NPC Competitor
How tall are you?
5'6"
What is your approximate pre-cutting weight?
188 lbs
What was your most recent stage weight?
148 lbs
What are your staple cutting foods?
My staple cutting foods are vegan protein ice cream, big salads, flatbread pizzas, and puffed rice cereal.
Did you do cardio when cutting?
I use cardio as a tool for weight loss I only implement it when needed. If my calories become too low to where I feel I don't have enough energy to function well I will add cardio in instead of dropping more calories to break weight loss plateaus.
What is the most difficult part of contest prep?
The most difficult part of contest prep is mentally and physically feeling horrible day in and day out at different times of the day. You go through many highs and lows and battling them is hard. Also when you get really lean you're constantly cold so that was a huge struggle.
What’s your favorite cheat meal after a competition?
I don't believe in the term "cheat meal" it provides a negative connotation and leads people to often times over eat or have quilt associated with a certain meal. No food in moderation is bad for you and I follow a flexible dieting lifestyle so I can fit in any "cheat" foods daily into my caloric goals. I had no urges to have a cheat meal after my show I simply just wanted more food. I went to a restaurant but that was just to spend time with family, to me I just wanted more of the food I was already eating.
Do you have any tips for people starting their first contest prep?
Give yourself more time than you think you need. All too often people think they're bigger or less fat then they really are and they don't realize the amount of weight that's needed to cut to actually be stage level leanness. Also I'd tell them to trust the process and not get too bogged down by little fluctuations. Take it slow and make sure you're maintaining as much hard earned muscle as possible.
Follow Zach on Instagram: @veganmeathead
Final Thoughts: Adjust Your Plan Based on Your Results
If a weight loss program gets you results, but cannot be sustained over the long term, then it is not the right program for you.
Let’s be honest, everyone wants to look and feel great, but we don’t want to achieve our goals with a daily regimen of tasteless slop and tortuous workouts.
What we really want are diet and training plans that are enjoyable, effective, and sustainable. The goal here really isn’t short-term fat loss, the goal is to create a healthy, sustainable, fit vegan fitness lifestyle.
If your body is responding well and changing as desired, just keep doing what you are doing.
Need some help to get in the best shape of your life?
You can apply for The Vegan Superhero Academy online personal coaching program here.
That's a wrap! Thank you SO MUCH for reading this article!
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