How to Lose Fat the Right Way

How to Lose Fat the Right Way

March 23, 2025 5 min read

Losing fat isn’t about drastic measures—it’s about a balanced approach that preserves muscle, fuels your workouts, and melts fat slowly but surely. Whether you're a seasoned athlete or just starting your fitness journey, understanding the core pillars of a successful cut is key.


1. Maintain a Moderate Calorie Deficit


To lose fat, you must consume fewer calories than your body burns. However, the magic lies in moderation. Experts recommend a daily deficit of 500-1000 calories, but never exceed a 1000-calorie deficit. Going too low can:

  • Slow down your metabolism
  • Risk losing muscle mass (the worst possible result here)
  • Leave you feeling deprived and exhausted


By keeping your deficit moderate, you’ll lose fat gradually, preserve lean muscle, and maintain the energy needed for effective training. This part is unfortunate, because I’m sure many of you would rather be more miserable for less time, than be mildly miserable for a very long time. But, we have to cut slowly. Otherwise we will pay the price.


2. Prioritize High-Protein Intake


Protein is your best friend during a cut. It does more than just build muscle—it also:

  • Promotes satiety, reducing hunger 
  • Aids in muscle repair and preservation during calorie restriction
  • Helps boost your metabolism through its high thermic effect


Aim to include high-quality protein sources at every meal. Think lean meats, fish, eggs, dairy, legumes, and plant-based proteins. This will ensure that even as you lose fat, your muscles remain strong and well-defined.


Specifically lean meats and fish will be your best friend for protein sources. It’s tough to get your protein in normally, and it just gets harder when you’re losing fat because you don’t have as many calories to use.


3. Increase Your Activity Levels


While eating in a deficit is crucial, relying solely on reducing calories can be limiting. Boost your fat loss by incorporating more physical activity:

  • Cardio Workouts: Engage in steady-state or high-intensity interval training (HIIT) to ramp up calorie burn. Long distance walks are a hack.
  • Strength Training: Lifting weights not only builds muscle but also supports a higher metabolic rate.
  • Everyday Movement: Small changes—like taking the stairs, walking more, or incorporating active breaks—can add up over the day.


By ramping up your activity, you can afford to eat slightly more while still maintaining a caloric deficit. This balance makes your cut more sustainable and enjoyable.


Not only will an activity increase help by letting you eat more, its also good for other general health markers like testosterone levels.


4. Consistency Is Key


Fat loss is a marathon, not a sprint. It takes time, patience, and consistency:

  • Stick to Your Plan: Minor deviations are normal, but staying on track over weeks and months is where real progress happens.
  • Do not monitor your progress often: This is a controversial opinion, but I do not believe in constantly looking at your progress. Because it happens so slowly, it leads you to obsess over tiny details and stress about overall progress. Instead, just weigh yourself every day, and look at progress week to week, or month to month. 
  • Adjust as Needed: Your body adapts over time. Fine-tune your calorie intake or workout routine if progress stalls.


Remember, consistent effort—even when progress seems slow—is what transforms your body over the long run.


Plan Your Fat Loss Phase with Confidence


Cutting effectively means balancing your diet and training in a way that works for your unique goals. We also provide a free weight loss calculator for you to use to plan your cut. It gives you a detailed breakdown on how much you should eat based on your information.

 

Weight loss calculator


Our specialized Bulking Calculator for BJJ can also help you switch gears when it's time to gain lean muscle, ensuring you have the perfect blueprint for your transformation—whether you’re cutting or bulking.


By understanding and implementing these core pillars—moderate calorie deficit, high-protein intake, increased activity, and unwavering consistency—you’re setting yourself up for sustainable fat loss and overall performance gains.


Stick with it, trust the process, and watch your hard work pay off on and off the mats.


See you on the mats!

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FAQ

Porrada is a Portuguese term commonly used in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) and Brazilian culture to describe a tough, intense, and gritty style of training or fighting. The direct translation of porrada from Portuguese to English is "beating" or "brawl." It embodies the spirit of going all out, giving your maximum effort, and pushing through challenges. In BJJ, practicing porrada means training with high intensity and determination.

This website is a collection of resources curated by grapplers, for grapplers. Our goal is to provide you with all the information you need to succeed. Whether you want to learn about nutrition, training on the mats, lifting, or anything in between, we are here for you. We want to see you on the podium most of all, and we hope to help you do exactly that. If you have any questions, feel free to shoot us an email or DM us on any of our social profiles!

There are two main ways you can get started with training: 1) You can find a BJJ gym near you and do a trial day, or 2) you can create your own mini home gym and start training with friends. Option #2 is how our team at Porrada got started! We ordered 1-inch thick puzzle mats in a 10’x10’ square and began training using online resources. If you do start with the second option, we recommend eventually finding a gym down the road in your career. It will help you by allowing you to roll with more people and receive high-level instruction.

BJJ is quite similar to wrestling. Both start standing and use takedowns as a method to score points. Both use very similar mechanics overall. The main differences are that there are no pins (you can be on your back in Jiu-Jitsu), BJJ involves submissions, and the points system for each is very different. BJJ grants points for takedowns/sweeps, back control, mount, guard passes, and knee on belly. Wrestling grants points for takedowns, escapes, and back points (back exposure for freestyle).

BJJ is a very unique sport in many ways. There are so many incredible benefits to training Jiu-Jitsu. The biggest reasons we advocate for it are the mindset training and the added ability to defend yourself. In BJJ, you are forced to humble yourself over and over again, every single day. This sport is a great way to mature rapidly and generally become a better person (in our opinion). You will also have a better ability to defend yourself than 99% of the population—a pretty big bonus.

You’re never too old to start training! We see people on the mats of all ages and sizes. Large and small, old and young can, and should, train BJJ. If you are on the older side, it is perfectly acceptable to take it slow and learn at your own pace. You don’t always have to go full speed—don’t worry. There are typically also classes that separate people by goals. Certain classes are for those who want to compete, some are for general instruction, and some are specifically for self-defense teachings. There is a place for everyone on the mats.