03/02/2026
"๐๐จ ๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฌ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ?"
The short answer? No.
Fat loss comes down to calories in vs. calories out.
If you reduce your calories enough or increase how much you move each day, you'll lose weight. Itโs not always easy to do, but that's the math of it.
But here's the secret most trainers and coaches won't tell you:
The most overlooked strategy for keeping weight off is muscle.
Not bodybuilder muscle. That's incredibly hard to build, even for pros.
๐'๐ฆ ๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐๐ ๐ข๐ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฌ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐ฌ ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐จ๐๐ฒ ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ค๐ฌ, ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐๐ก ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ง ๐๐๐ญ, ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ฒ๐ฌ ๐จ๐๐.
Here's what I mean.
19 years ago, I started coaching my wife Lauren.
Several of her church friends were running and doing cardio constantly and eating as little as possible. You know how dieting goes, right?
The scale was dropping fast for themโ8,10, sometimes 15 pounds in just a few weeks.
Lauren was lifting weights three times a week and eating quite a bit more food than any of them.
I had her doing things that would build muscle while she lost fat.
She was still a bit focused on the scale.
Six weeks in, we did her first check-in.
Her clothes fit better. She could tell something was changing. She was pretty excited.
๐๐ก๐๐ง ๐ฌ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฅ๐โฆ
She'd lost only about 6 lbs while her friends were losing as much as 15.
She cried.
She asked me if maybe she should just run and eat less like everyone else.
I told her to trust the process. Her friends would plateau soon if they kept doing what they were doing and she would, too, if she did their way.
She agreed that she didnโt want that, but I could tell she was a bit skeptical, but she agreed to trust the process.
Six more weeks went by.
A few friends hit the 25 pound mark and they were pretty stoked.
Lauren was hopeful sheโd have some great results this week. She stepped on the scale.
She lost more, but nothing like she had hoped.
She cried again.
โI worked so hard.โ, she told me through tears. โI really felt like my clothes were fitting way better.โ
I told her that we were only partway through her results and that the scale doesnโt tell the whole story.
Then we took her body fat measurement and I showed her the photos side by side.
She cried for the third time.
I was prepared to console her, but then I could see these were different tears.
๐๐ก๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ญ ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐ง๐๐ฑ๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐๐๐ค ๐ฉ๐ข๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ .
Her waist was smaller. Her arms had shape. Her legs were strong and lean.
She looked fit. She was now in a healthy body fat range and I could see the confidence growing.
โ๐ ๐๐๐ง๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฌ๐ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐จ๐ญ๐ก ๐ฆ๐! ๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ญ ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ง!โ, she shouted. She was elated.
After week 12, Lauren kept making progress.
Stronger. Leaner. Eating more food than she ever had while losing fat on her hips, thighs and belly.
Her friends were complaining to each other that they plateaued and felt like smaller versions of their old bodies. Still uncomfortable. Still unhappy.
Some started gaining weight back.
And, then they started asking her what she was doing differently.
That's when it hit her.
Their way was faster at first. But it didn't lead where she actually wanted to go.
She wanted to be fit and stay fit for life.
๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐๐งโ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฌ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐ก๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ฌ ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฌ๐ก๐ ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ค๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ซ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ง ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐๐ญ๐๐ซ.
And 19 years later, sheโs still going and still healthy and fit.
Here's why working out like she did changed everything:
When you build muscle, your metabolism stays highโnot just during workouts, but all day.
Sitting at your desk. Watching TV. Sleeping.
Your body burns more calories doing nothing.
So you get to eat more food and still lose fat.
You look lean and defined instead of just smaller.
You even slow aging.
And when life gets crazy, the muscle protects you. It keeps your metabolism from crashing so you don't regain everything the second you stop being perfect.
That's the difference.
Weight-loss chasers drop pounds fast, plateau, and gain it back.
Longterm results chasers transform their mindset, habits and bodies and keep the results.
This is a bit part of what we teach in JoyfullyFit 365.
๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ง'๐ญ ๐๐ก๐๐ฌ๐ ๐ ๐ง๐ฎ๐ฆ๐๐๐ซ ๐จ๐ง ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฅ๐.
We build muscle, restore metabolism and learn to steward our bodies so we get a permanent transformation instead of another temporary makeover.
If you're tired of losing weight only to regain it, check out our JoyfullyFit method in the comments below.