I’ve always been passionate about food, cooking, and living a healthy lifestyle. I was at the top of my year in food tech at school and surprisingly found chemistry fascinating. This naturally led me to study nutrition at university.
I graduated from university with a double degree in BSc Nutrition & BSc Health Promotion in 2015. I have been working in the nutrition space ever since. Shortly after, I completed my certification in personal training, and worked at a gym as both a personal trainer and nutritionist, gaining valuable hands-on experience.
In 2018, I decided to take the leap and start my own business, Rachel’s Touch of Health, focusing on nutrition and fitness for busy professionals looking to lose weight.
Before starting my business seven years ago, I wanted to test my approach to weight management on myself. I followed a calorie deficit diet along with a strength training program for 8 weeks and successfully lost 8kg. After this, I was determined to maintain my weight without gaining it all back, so I adopted a reverse diet strategy. As a result, I’ve been able to continue to build muscle while maintaining my weight.
I believe in practising what I preach, and this personal experience has shaped my approach to assisting clients in discovering a sustainable method for managing their own weight. Here is my strategy for weight management:
Combine light cardio with strength training
This helps you to achieve a well-rounded fitness routine that supports weight loss while also building muscle. Building muscle mass is important because the more muscle, the higher your metabolism. The higher your metabolism, the more calories you’ll burn throughout the day, even when you’re not actively exercising. So, even when you’re resting, you’ll burn calories which will ultimately lead to weight loss. Over time, this calorie-burning effect contributes to fat loss by creating a caloric deficit without requiring you to do constant intense workouts.
Here are light cardio exercises I recommend you could implement into your workout routine:
- Walking is highly underrated. It’s low impact and it can be done anywhere. It’s easier on the joints, it’s accessible for almost everyone and it aids in creating that caloric deficit.
- Light cycling or light swimming.
- Light jogging, but it would have to be a light jog, not a full run.
Light cardio helps with burning those extra calories without reducing muscle mass because it can be effective for increasing your caloric expenditure. In saying that, I would avoid too much intense cardio, so for example, long endurance workouts or high-intensity interval training. They do burn a lot of calories quickly, but you risk losing muscle in the process, and that can slow down the weight loss progress.
This is because muscle loss from high-intensity exercise mainly arises when it’s done excessively without proper nutrition or recovery. If your primary goal is fat loss, and you’re focusing solely on burning calories without paying attention to nutrition or strength training, there’s a risk of muscle breakdown, particularly if you’re in a calorie deficit. But, when exercises like HIIT include strength exercises, good nutrition (like enough protein), and proper recovery, it can support muscle growth rather than lead to muscle loss.
Alongside light cardio, I also recommend implementing strength training exercises into your routine.
Here are a few strength/resistance training exercises I recommend for weight loss:
The main types of resistance training exercises I recommend you do for weight loss are compound exercises. These are exercises such as squats, push-ups, lunges, deadlifts etc.
Compound exercises are exercises that engage multiple muscle groups at once and use your full body. These are ideal for building muscle mass and increasing caloric expenditure.
The key with resistance training is to progressively overload, which means gradually increasing the weight or the reps as you get stronger to keep challenging your body. This allows for continued muscle growth and ultimately fat loss.
Have an effective exercise schedule
In my business, I work with clients to create flexible, time-efficient routines that fit into their busy lives. Here is a manageable exercise schedule to help you lose weight loss
- Resistance training
In terms of the session length, or duration, there’s not really a universal ideal time. However, based on optimal volume and frequency for muscle growth, most training sessions you’ll find will fall between 30 minutes to 1 hour.
The optimal volume for muscle growth is around 10 to 20 sets per muscle group per week. The lower end for beginners and the higher end for more advanced lifters. This is usually achievable within a 30-minute to 1 hour session if you’re focusing on the key exercises.
In terms of optimal frequency for muscle growth, you want to target your muscle groups between 3-5 times a week. For example, if you’re training your glutes, exercise them at least three times a week.
This frequency combined with the right volume will give you time to recover while also providing enough stimulus for muscle growth.
In terms of rest days, definitely have at least 1, but preferably 2 rest days would be ideal if you were doing 5 resistance training days. But if you were doing 3 resistance training days, then you can have more rest days. Rest days are just as as essential as the active days because your muscle grows and repairs during rest.
I would recommend a minimum of three full-body days of resistance training for the ideal amount of muscle growth. I believe that combining this with cardio is a practical and effective strategy for most people. Anything less might not provide enough stimulus for muscle growth in terms of frequency, volume, and intensity, while anything more could risk overtraining, which can hinder recovery and muscle repair.
That said, muscle growth can be achieved with different training frequencies. There is certainly no one-size-fits-all approach. Ultimately, it comes down to your individual needs, fitness goals, and recovery capacity. If someone can handle four or five training days a week with proper recovery, they’ll likely make progress.
- Cardio exercise
It’s definitely ok to do light cardio on the same day as your resistance training. For example, if you walk in the morning for 30 minutes to an hour, and then do resistance training in the afternoon, that’s absolutely fine.
I would do your strength training first and then do your cardio just so you get the most out of your workout and have your full strength to complete the resistance training.
You could also do light cardio as an active rest day. This wouldn’t interfere with your muscle growth and it would also help burn some extra calories.
Try a Reverse dieting strategy
At the start I said that I lost 8 kg by doing a calorie deficit programme and maintained weight by using a reverse dieting strategy. Here is the dieting strategy I would recommend for losing and maintaining weight loss:
The best diet that can help you to lose weight will be one that puts you in a calorie deficit. This is a diet where you consume fewer calories than you burn. However, rather than going straight into a calorie deficit, my approach is to do reverse diet.
A reverse diet involves gradually increasing the amount of calories you consume week by week by roughly around 50 calories a week. It’s important to note that reverse dieting isn’t just about increasing calories, but doing so gradually and in a controlled way, while also incorporating resistance training and a high protein intake. This approach supports muscle growth without unnecessary fat gain.
Reverse dieting also needs to be done in a slow way so that your body knows to grow muscle and not gain fat. Once you build your calories high enough, you would then decrease your caloric intake say, by 500, to get weight loss.
For example, if someone started at a low-calorie intake, say 1500, then went straight into a fat-loss phase, they would need to decrease their intake to 1000 calories. 1000 calories a day is not an ideal amount to be eating.
Instead, if you built up your calorie intake say from 1500 to 2000 to begin with while building your muscle and then cut your calorie intake by 500 calories to a total caloric intake of 1500 calories, it would be a lot easier to enter the fat loss phase on those higher calories.
This approach allows your body to adjust to changes more gradually which can help promote long-term weight loss success because it helps to prevent metabolic adaptation during the fat loss phase. This is commonly known as a plateau. It also helps you to avoid regaining weight which is super common when people try to lose weight.
Ultimately, when using this strategy, include nutritious foods alongside ones you enjoy and don’t restrict anything. This flexibility will help you to stick to your plan without feeling deprived. For example, having a high-protein diet will support muscle growth but it also helps boost your metabolism, reduces your hunger and improves your fullness, which makes it easier to stick to the calorie deficit.
A well-rounded, nutrient-dense diet – including protein, carbohydrates, fibre, and healthy fats – along with foods you enjoy, ensures that your body has everything it needs to perform at its best, recover efficiently, and sustain long-term fat loss.
Why this exercise approach works
In general, regular exercise, especially strength training, can also improve your insulin sensitivity. This means that your body becomes more efficient at burning carbohydrates for energy rather than storing them as fat which ultimately makes it easier to lose weight.
It can also help with your hormones, particularly the stress hormone cortisol. When cortisol is elevated, it can lead to overeating and fat storage particularly around the stomach area. So, exercise can help reduce those hormones.
This type of exercise programme is meant to strike a good balance between training volume, recovery, and time commitment. This is often a more manageable approach for beginners or intermediates and works well for most people in the long term. It also allows space for other activities like cardio without overloading the body.
Conclusion
When I work with my clients, I guide them in building a positive, sustainable relationship with food and exercise, while addressing any misconceptions they may have about weight loss. By focusing on what truly works – like strength training, proper nutrition, and a balanced mindset, I help them feel empowered and confident. Setbacks are part of the journey, and I want my clients to understand that they’re not a reason to give up, but an opportunity to learn and adjust.
I also focus on helping them build a mindset of consistency, rather than perfection, so they can overcome the fear of failure and stay motivated, even when things don’t go exactly as planned. Ultimately, it’s about progress, not perfection.
Disclaimer: While the guidelines I’ve shared are effective for many, individual needs vary, and talking to your nutritionist/doctor is always a good idea for customised recommendations.
Written by
Dawn Lim
Dawn is a final year exercise sciences student from New Zealand. Through her internship with Ankha Azzura Magazine, she has been able to combine her passion for fitness and health with journalism.
