When it comes to fat loss specifically, there are 2 types of people:

1. Those who can lose fat by "eating less" and "exercising more"

2. Those who cannot lose fat by "eating less" and "exercising more"

It is really that simple.

And this principle doesn't just apply to fat loss; it also applies to muscle and fitness gains:

Some people can gain fitness by just training more or harder, while others can't (need to train differently).

Let's call them "Type A" and "Type B", and I'm a Type B, always have been.

Examples of Type A are your professional athletes, or the people you see in the gym who are naturally lean and athletic.

You take 2 people, put them on the exact same triathlon training & nutrition plan for 6 months. One becomes a superstar, the other improves but not as much. The superstar is a Type A person.

I never worry about Type A people - they rarely struggle.

Let's talk about Type B people.

Those are people who:

- Train hard, lose some fat, but then can't seem to break below a certain bodyfat %.

- Reduce calories but still can't get rid of stubborn fat.

- Increase their training, but either get injured or their body doesn't seem to respond well.

- Are often frustrated and tempted to give up.

Type B bodies have common characteristics:

- They tend to have elevated fasting blood glucose or insulin

- It takes longer for them to recover from workouts

- Increasing training dramatically triggers injuries or hormone disruption

- Many suffer from digestive issues.

I am myself the definition of Type B.

- When I was 30 years old, I was close to 100kg. I rarely ate junk, I exercised every day, I rarely drank.

- When I got into triathlon, and even after training 20 hours / week for months and doing an Ironman, I was still overweight and suffered from injuries all the time.

- No matter how much more I trained and calories I cut, I still couldn't drop my weight below 82kg and fat % below 18%.

Let's look at my body today, at 43 years of age:

- I'm faster and fitter than I ever was

- My weight is at 78kg, bodyfat % is at 12%

- I never count calories

- I have more muscle mass than I ever have

- My fasting blood glucose is under control (barely)

- My body is able to deal with the onslaught of stress better than it did in my 20s and 30s.

So how should Type B people eat and train to lose fat and get fit?

Step 1: don't follow generic advice like "low fat", "low carb", "keto", etc. A Type B body is very individual: you need to work with a knowledgeable coach & dietician. If they don't ask about how "you personally" respond to exercise and diet, fire them and chose someone else.

Step 2: get bloodwork done and find out where your fasting glucose, insulin and hormone levels are. You can't know what exercise and diet will work if you don't know how your body responds.

Step 3: Focus on "what you eat" much more than "how much you eat".

Step 4: prioritize sleep - no matter how much you diet and train, if you're not sleeping you're not recovering. Not recovering means high cortisol, which makes it extremely difficult to lose fat and build muscle.

Step 5: be patient and stick with it. Type B bodies take a long time to respond, so try an approach for 2-3 months before you draw any conclusions. If it doesn't work after 3 months, then you can try a different approach.

Step 6: don't give up. It may take you longer than your friends to get fit and healthy, but you will get there if you follow the 5 steps above.

And remember, losing fat and getting fit are driven by a combination of:

- Training

- Diet

- Sleep/Recovery

- Genetics

- Stress

You will have to self experiment and play around with these 5 to figure out what works for you. If you do it correctly, you will even enjoy the journey of self discovery even before you reach your end goals. You will learn a lot about how your body works and responds.

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