So here’s how to lose body fat without stepping foot in a gym. The mainstream media would like people to believe that they must exercise to lose body fat, but that is simply not the case. I guess this is a good way to sell gym memberships, but I’d rather tell you the truth.

What a back injury in 2003 taught me

I hurt my back in 2003 and couldn’t walk let alone run. This was the first time in 15 years that I was unable to exercise. This was really a bad time too. I had just bought tickets for a trip to Mexico with 4 other friends and we rented a beach villa in a prime spot on the Gulf of Mexico. I was 5 months away from the trip and I injured myself so much that it hurt to stand.

Since I couldn’t exercise, I went on a heavy diet.

I had about 10 pounds of fat to lose, but I couldn’t lose this body fat with any kind of exercise. I simply had to create 100% of my calorie deficit through diet. To be honest I was skeptical that this would work. In the past I lived on the treadmill before a vacation or for the summer. I am great at losing weight through cardio and have never done it through diet alone.

I dieted down to 8% body fat in 3 months

Losing body fat is one thing, but losing body fat when you’re already pretty skinny is tricky. It gets even more complicated doing this with diet alone. So how did I achieve this? I had a protein shake for breakfast, another for lunch, and then a salad with chicken and rice vinegar dressing for dinner. It was a bland way of eating, but it worked just fine. I allowed myself a Fuji apple for dessert if I was still hungry, but not every night.

You can create a greater calorie deficit through diet than through exercise

The biggest thing I learned from going through this experience is that you can create a really big calorie deficit just by dieting. If my daily calorie maintenance level is 2,000, I can simply eat 1,200 and create a massive 800 calorie deficit. It takes a lot of exercise to burn 800 calories a day! I’m just using this number as an example, you don’t need to expose yourself to such a huge shortfall.

Obviously, exercise will help keep the muscles

The only drawback to using the diet solely to lose body fat is that you won’t maintain all of your muscle mass. To be honest, you will not wither, but you will lose a little muscle if you do not train at least for a while following a strict diet. So the above is an extreme example of how to lose body fat without exercising.