Losing weight or, more specifically, fat, is pretty simple—eat less and move more to create a caloric deficit. Faced with this energy shortfall, your body has no choice but to start burning fat for fuel.

Sure, things like macronutrient balance and sleep all affect how well your body burns fat, but what’s commonly known as your energy balance is the key to getting lean ( 1 ). After all, fat is just stored energy, and your body won’t dip into those reserves if it doesn’t need to.

Unfortunately, faced with a caloric deficit, such as during a cut, your body doesn’t just burn fat—it also sheds muscle tissue. That’s because muscle is metabolically expensive to maintain. So, in an effort to make your fat stores last longer, your body drops some muscle, too.

This is good news if you are stran

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