Fat loss for women involves much more than simply eating less and exercising more. Approaching weight loss with the traditional “calories in, calories out” mindset doesn’t account for hormone levels, stress, sleep quality, or genetics—factors that significantly impact fat loss. For healthy and sustainable fat loss, these elements are essential for not only a fit body but also for well-being and confidence.
In the vast majority of diets, weight comes back within two years of dieting. Extreme calorie restrictions, cutting out major food groups, or replacing meals with supplements are generally unsustainable. So, what does healthy fat loss for women actually look like? How can you achieve lasting results?
Before diving into the specifics of fat loss, let’s acknowledge that body fat is normal, and it's normal for women to have more visible (subcutaneous) fat than men. Our culture’s focus on weight can be misleading, as many images of "ideal bodies" are either heavily airbrushed or maintained with intensive external help.
You're beautiful just the way you are. Plus, if this last year and a half has taught us anything, it's that there are more important things to worry about than a few vanity pounds. But if you feel uncomfortable in your skin, if the clothes you love to wear no longer fit, and if you're unable to do the things you used to do for fun, then it might be time to make some lifestyle changes.
When considering a holistic approach to fat loss for women, it's important to think about all the factors involved. Everyone has different goals, abilities, and internal and external factors that affect their body composition.
The goal (again) is to improve your relationship with your body and the ways you like to use it. When you get these four key things in sync with your own natural inclinations, you'll be most likely to see results.
If you’re focused on weight loss, this advice might send your scale in the opposite direction — at least at first. But we'd like to encourage you to think about a larger end goal than body weight. If you want to feel good in your clothes, trim up, and do what you love comfortably and confidently, strength building can help.
Muscle is an active tissue. It requires more calories to make and maintain muscle than it does fat. Muscle promotes insulin sensitivity, may change your metabolic rate and how your hunger signals talk to your brain. Because of this, muscle helps you more easily maintain blood sugar levels between meals and throughout the day, giving you sustained energy, longer periods of satiety, and no sudden crashes that lead to sugar cravings and overeating.
Resistance training is a great place to start, even if you use bodyweight exercise or light resistance bands. Building muscle doesn't have to mean lifting heavy weights at the gym — although if you like the idea of weight training and enjoy being at the gym, get it girl. By building muscle, you'll get more efficient at fat burning.
You've heard the whole "work smarter, not harder" thing, right? Well, we're all about that idea. Your time is precious, just like you are! There's really no reason to spend hours running on a treadmill unless you're training for a distance run or some sort of endurance competition — or unless you truly, genuinely enjoy running for its own sake. Not only is standard cardio efficient. It's also not the fastest way to burn excess body fat.
The most efficient aerobic exercise is to try a metabolic workout. For fat loss, short, intense workouts like HIIT (high-intensity interval training) can be highly effective. Unlike steady-state cardio, HIIT exercises elevate your heart rate intermittently, creating an "afterburn" effect where your body continues to burn calories post-workout. This type of workout not only promotes fat loss but also enhances cardiovascular health and improves insulin sensitivity.
HIIT workouts do this by continually changing your heart rate during the workout, which leads to the production of excess post-oxygen consumption (EPOC). EPOC is the reason your body keeps burning calories even after you're done training (it's called afterburn). In fact, this type of workout helps increase insulin sensitivity just like having more lean muscle does. So it's a win-win.
You might not realize it, but poor sleep and high stress can have a direct result on your body composition, food intake, and even belly fat.
Build a healthy sleep hygiene routine by turning the lights down after sunset, avoiding screens a few hours before bed, and winding down at roughly the same time every night. You might find this simple change will reduce cravings between meals, cause you to eat fewer calories throughout the day, and help you with your weight loss goals.
As for mitigating stress, those tactics can be pretty individual, based on what’s stressing you out, for how long, and the time you have to deal with the stressors that come your way. If you have a friend or partner who can talk things through with you, grab them when you’re feeling overwhelmed. You might also try Symmetry, a Cira supplement geared toward the busy woman looking to boost mood, energy, and sense of well-being while dropping water weight and smoothing hormonal flare-ups in her cycle.
In an acute moment of stress, it’s important to remember to breathe through your feelings and emotions, allow yourself to feel them, and then take a step back to get some perspective. Meditation can help with the practice of breathing and stepping back so that when you’re actually in the moment, you have the tools. Other stress relief/prevention techniques include a short, brisk walk, a cold towel on the back of your neck (especially if you’re angry), or sitting down on the ground outside and breathing some fresh air for a few minutes before diving back into your list of tasks.
We saved food for last because we spent so much time talking about how diets don't work. Changing the way you eat is hard, no matter what your favourite keto blogger says. Placing restrictions on whole foods groups (like keto) or eliminating a meal or two (like with intermittent fasting) might be popular fads right now, but they're not necessarily sustainable (or advisable) for a long-term lifestyle change.
What's important is that you eat high-quality foods that make you feel good (and full!). And to take it a step further, don't beat yourself up when you choose to indulge in something outside of your ideal meal plan.
Life is about so much more than fat percentages and jeans sizes. If a weight loss program is so strict that you can't enjoy a meal with your friends, if you're so regimented that you feel guilty when you eat an occasional dessert, you're really setting yourself up for failure (and even eating disorders). In fact, there's a growing movement around intuitive eating that's aims to "re-establish a healthier relationship with food." The idea is to get more in touch with your body's needs and less focused on macros and calorie intake.
A podcast episode with Dr. Joshua Wolrich on Jameela Jamil's IWeigh sums up some important concerns around diet culture, obesity, and mental health. Dr. Wolrich debunks some fad diets (and even links them to heart disease), discusses why the BMI (body mass index) is an irrelevant metric, and uncovers why a balanced approach to health and wellbeing is the right way to go.
Nothing we're recommending reflects any sort of value judgment on a woman's life or how much fat she has on her body. They're simply suggestions to help you feel strong, powerful, confident, and fantastic.
By approaching fat loss for women holistically — the way you exercise, your sleep quality, your stress levels, and noticing the way your body feels after eating certain foods — you're a lot more likely to see gradual, sustainable changes in your energy levels and the way your clothes fit.
Let go of what society tells you is the "right" way to look. Just try to love and accept yourself in the body you're in, and appreciate what your body can do for you. The rest will come with time.
