Why for men?
Men were the primary hunters as we evolved. Hunting expeditions took a long time and men often had to go without food for days. If you bitched about being hungry on these trips the other males would kick your ass. Men are designed through evolution to prosper during times of limited resources. The modern diet, especially the Standard American Diet destroys this manly ability.
Men need testosterone for robust health. Cholesterol is the primary precursor to testosterone production. As men pass the age of about 30 our T levels naturally go down as a part of the normal aging process. Men can boost their T levels by healthy lifestyle which includes eating plenty of saturated fats/animal products.
The final reason this is an article for men is that it eliminates 90% of the people who disagree with much of this, mainly fruitarians and vegans. If that is the way you eat then you have a different belief system this approach is simply not for you!
1) Eat saturated fat. Lots of it. Saturated fats (and monosaturated fats) are safe for humans in unlimited doses.
2) Go to bed early - there are no true "night-owls" Every human has a circadian rhythm. Our circadian rhythm tells us when to go to sleep and when to wake up in a natural manner. When we live against this basic biological mechanism we increase our general stress levels = higher daily cortisol = belly fat!
3) Eat only a little below calorie maintenance levels. If you go too low in calories you will lose muscle tissue which effectively slows your metabolism. Every day on a too low calorie diet and it gets harder and harder to lose bodyfat.
4) Eat 1-3 meals a day but not more than 3 and only eat 1 meal a day 1-2 days/week. Metabolism is flexible and changes in response to our diet. If we eat the same amount of food/meals every day fat-loss will stagnate. Its a good idea to have some days where you eat only 1 meal and other days where you eat 2 or 3 meals. This is a way better way to increase metabolism in response to diet than the traditional way which asks you to graze like an herbivore and eat food all throughout the day.
5) Lift weights progressively. More muscle = more calories burned at rest = you can eat more food and still lose bodyfat than your less muscular peers.
6) Walk. Often. Walking is great for fat-loss because it will not burn precious muscle tissue unless you walk for some ungodly length without eating any food. You can probably walk 60-90 minutes a day 5-7 days a week and your fatloss will prosper.
7) Eat vegetables at every meal. I eat moderate portions of vegetables so I can have good digestion and get the few micronutrients that are not in animal products. Most people underestimate the amount of micros (vitamins/minerals) in animal products but they have everything we need for good health. That being said, since most of us are not consuming bone broth and eating many different parts of the animals (which contain different micros), plants are our best resource to fill in the nutritional gaps.
8) Avoid fruit - Fruit is simple sugar with some fiber and some micronutrients. You are better off getting your fiber and micros via vegetables as they are about 90% lower in sugar!
9) Avoid cooking in vegetable/man-made cooking oils -this is really more for a mans health than fat-loss but they health and fat-loss are very much related. Vegetable oils are terrible for cooking because they oxidize at low heat. Cook in lard, butter, ghee (clarified butter) or coconut oil. My favorite oil to cook in is the excess fat I get when I cook uncured bacon! Olive oil is good for salad toppings but not great for cooking although you will find cultures that do well cooking in olive oil so I consider it an in-between cooking oil which can go either way.
10) Control carbohydrate intake but not too much! Since you are lifting weights you need some carbs to fuel the training but not so much that you are eating more than your burn while lifting. Most guys can lose fat eating between 200-800 calories a day from starchy carbohydrates.
11) Relax! Practice yoga or meditation but do something that will help you lower your daily stress levels. High daily stress levels (high cortisol levels) signal the body that trouble (famine in this case) is coming and tells the body to store fat. Even the leanest of us have trouble losing our last bit of bellyfat because modern life is stressful at best.
http://perfecthealthdiet.com/2010/09/saturated-fat-reduces-risk-of-stroke-and-heart-disease/
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/03/10/389596946/circadian-surprise-how-our-body-clocks-help-shape-our-waistlines
http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/28/6/1485.long
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23019316
http://www.thankyourbody.com/vegetable-oils/
https://www.endocrine.org/news-room/press-release-archives/2010/testosteronedecreasesafteringestionofsugar
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16353426
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