Run the 5-4-3-2-1 Method
Most people approach fat loss by trying to optimize everything at once. Dr Andy Galpin argues this is backwards. His 5-4-3-2-1 method is a tiered activity framework built on a single premise: caloric expenditure has to be high, consistent, and sustainable, and you get there by stacking five descending commitments rather than chasing one perfect protocol. The method works outward from the most basic requirement. Five days a week, be active in any form. This counts walking, vocational movement, anything that keeps you off the couch. Four days a week, that activity becomes structured exercise, and not all four need to be hard. One could be yoga. Three of those four days, you work hard enough to produce a genuine sweat. If you hit the first three numbers alone, Galpin says you are in a good position from an exercise standpoint. The final two numbers sharpen the adaptation: at least two days of strength training per week, and at least one day where your heart rate gets genuinely high. "If you've done those first three, we could even just call it the 543. You're in a pretty good spot."