My 12 Week NO-GYM Fat Loss Transformation

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I spent this past Christmas in Medellin, Colombia and on Boxing Day as I sat in my little studio apartment, I decided I wanted to put on a little bit of muscle…

For the next 4 months I trained hard in the gym and I ate A LOT of healthful whole food…with the odd milk-free dark chocolate bar thrown into the mix, yum!

After my active muscle gain phase I had accumulated a little bit of extra unwanted ‘fluff’ that I wanted to get rid of, so in late April I decided to do my own 12 week nutritional coaching program for fat loss.

But…what kind of results could I achieve without access to a gym?

It had already been over a month since I set foot in a workout facility when I started my fat loss journey, but fortunately I was still getting 4-5 at-home in workouts per week.

So, being that I was solely working out from home, I decided to do a little experiment and log EVERYTHING.

My weight, calorie intake, alcohol intake, meals out, workouts, steps, sleep…all of it.

Here’s what happened…

Weight 

Week 1 - 175.5

Week 12 - 164.5

Total Weight Lost - 11 lbs

Average Weekly Loss - 0.92 lbs

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Nutrition

86% of my meals came from single ingredient whole foods that I cooked myself, 14% of the time I ate out.

Yes I tracked this…I know I’m a nerd.

Workouts

Cardio - None

Resistance Training - Push, Pull, Legs, repeat (at-home)

Equipment wise, I had access to…

-A pair of 15 lbs dumbbells

-A single 50 lbs kettlebell

Being that my access to equipment was so limited, I did a lot of bodyweight training.

Sleep

8-9 hours per night.

I could have lost fat a lot faster, however I purposefully took things quite slow because I wasn’t in any sort of rush.

I never once felt hungry and I still enjoyed 2-3 meals out per week.

I had an average of 5 drinks weekly, which is super realistic for most folks in my opinion…especially while still losing fat consistently week after week.

One thing that surprised me was that I thought I was going to lose more muscle mass being that I was limited to at-home workouts…fortunately that turned out not to be the case!

I made the most of what I had and focused on exercises and movements that I was able to do vs. getting caught up focusing on what I couldn’t do.

All in all I’d say it was a pretty successful experiment and I hope it illustrated the following 5 points clearly…


  1. Nutrition is king for fat loss and body composition change.

  2. You don’t need access to fancy equipment or a gym to make progress.

  3. Getting your steps in is a very powerful tool for fat loss.

  4. You can still enjoy meals out and alcoholic beverages while losing fat.

  5. Consistency is key.

**Bonus**

If your goal is fat loss, I’d recommend tracking your…

  1. Calorie intake (intake will depend on many factors)

  2. Scale weight (daily or weekly)

  3. Steps (aim for 8-10k daily)

  4. Sleep (aim for 7-9 hours nightly)

I track all of these metrics and some with my clients, but these are the 4 essentials in my opinion.

If you’re wondering where or how to start, start with your eating habits first and foremost as they’ll provide you with the most bang for your buck results-wise!