However, Natarajan Shanker has proven you don’t need to do any cardio whatsoever to blitz body fat – after losing an impressive four stone without doing any aerobic exercise.
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The businessman, 35, was desperate to lose weight after reaching 14 stone following years of eating high-calorie, fatty foods.
And he stumbled upon a “how to burn fat” article which emphasised the need to eat more protein, be in a calorie deficit mode and lift weights rather than doing cardio.
Natarajan said: “The author of the article, talked about only three basic points to keep in mind to lose fat: 1) Be in a calorie deficit mode, 2) Eat protein – 1 gram per pound of body fat, and 3) Lift weights.
“I found this so interesting because dozens (hundreds actually if I recall correctly) of people had replied to this thread saying that these are the three key principles to burn fat.
I learnt that when the body gets more calories than it needs, it converts it into fat, and when it gets less than it needs, it loses fat
Natarajan
“So as I was reading their replies, I remember thinking ‘this is a real-world person, who is offering his wisdom for free of charge and he’s not trying to sell anything.
“And most importantly, he is not saying the usual things like ‘go on a diet’, ‘eat clean’, ‘eat healthy’, ‘do cardio’ etc, so there has to be some truth here.
“Through this article, I also learnt that when the body gets more energy (calories) than it needs, it converts it into fat, and when it gets less than it needs, it loses fat.
“So as I started reading more about calories and the calorie deficit pattern (shortage in the amount of calories consumed in comparison to the amount of calories required for maintenance of your current body weight), I discovered that these concepts are not new.”
Natarajan introduced meat into his diet and started making sure he was following a calorie deficit pattern and not over-eating, each day.
Natarajan’s diet plan
“A typical day in my life would ideally include the following meals:”
Breakfast: A protein shake with two scoops of whey protein mixed into water or milk
Lunch: Boiled chickpeas and carrots followed by a protein bar later in the afternoon
Dinner: A big meal of rice, sambar, potatoes, pickle and papad
“I would even throw in a tea or coffee in between, as the beverages would fit into my 1300-1400 calorie limit. I wasn’t super strict about hitting 1350 cal per day. Some days would be 1400 cal, some days even 1500 cal. And some days I would try to make up for it by eating just 1200 cal.”
He added: “I set myself on a 500 calorie deficit per day.
“That worked out to one pound of fat per week, since one pound is 3,500 calories – I used a handheld fat percentage estimator as well as an online Navy Method of Body-fat Estimation (it takes your body’s measurements and gives a fat percentage estimate) – to calculate this value and then fed it into the IIFYM calculator.
“It arrived at 1,850 calories as my Total Daily Energy Expenditure – TDEE is the total number of calories your body burns each day.
Since I have covered my entire calorie deficit with my total intake, there was simply no need to introduce any cardio in my workout routine to burn calories
Natarajan
“To maintain a steady weight, this number must correspond with your body’s energy expenditure.
“After arriving at these numbers, I set my calorie goal as 1,350 per day, and within this I would vary from day to day to meet the desired goal.
“I also introduced meat in my diet but didn’t follow any meal timings and ate whatever I could fit into my macros.
“I found that meat brings tremendous amounts of protein at a low calorie level. Thus via meat, it became easier to stay within my calorie goals for the day.”
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Natarajan also started weight-lifting in the gym rather than exercises that would get his heart-rate up.
He said: “I followed a weight training routine and focused on strong lifts.
“I did five sets of five reps, alternating A-B-A and B-A-B on Monday-Wednesday-Friday.
“An ‘A’ day would comprise of squats, bench press and barbell rows and a ‘B’ day would be squats, deadlifts and shoulder press.
“This was a no-cardio routine as I realised that since I have covered my entire calorie deficit with my total intake, there was simply no need to introduce any cardio in my workout routine to burn calories.”
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It’s been five years since Natarajan first started his weight-loss journey and has so far managed to keep the weight off.
And he still refuses to do any cardio – instead sticking to weight-lifting and yoga,
He said: “It’s been five years since I lost weight, I have been able to maintain a steady weight by eating in a sattvic vegetarian and practising yoga.”
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