There were a lot of posts that focused on how many sets and reps he did, and how much he ate, but there’s actually a much, much more important piece of the fat loss puzzle to be learned from Chris:
How much his perspective changed.
Six months.
Ten pounds per month.
Losing ten pounds per month is fast, but it isn’t ridiculous. You can lose ten pounds per month without taking steroids or starving yourself or doing anything too crazy. It’s about as fast as you can do in a healthy way, if you’ve got everything dialed in.
Good fat loss: Losing 0.5-1 pound per week
Great fat loss: Losing 1-2 pounds per week
There’s 26 weeks in six months. Chris Pratt lost 60 pounds in that time, so that’s losing 2.3 pounds per week, just barely faster than what I would consider really great fat loss.
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This Quote from Esquire:
“I’m less susceptible to impulse. When I was way out of shape, the idea of using whitening strips on my teeth seemed terrible. I have to do that every day? I’ll never do it.
What you want is instant results when you’re out of shape. You want your teeth whitened in 45 minutes with lasers. But when you’re in shape you know it’s the result of doing a little bit every day. Moments aren’t just moments. A moment might be a week or a month.
So instead of right now, I’m considering a little further into the future. I’m thinking, I eat that hamburger and that’s 1,200 calories, and I’m going to work out tomorrow and lose 800 calories. I may as well eat a salad here, still do that workout, and then I’m actually making progress.”
[emphasis added, broken up into three paragraphs]
This quote is everything — It’s all about the little bit every day.
What all of the other articles focused on was how dramatic and how fast his weight loss was. But what made the most difference for him was how slowly it was.
He’d had a couple other major body transformations before (like when he did Zero Dark Thirty), where he’d run himself into the ground, felt terrible the entire time, and even got a major injury to his shoulder.
This, on the other hand, was the most healthy and sustainable body transformation he’d done.
What if it even took you twice as long?
Now, most of my clients, without movies to work towards and with their full-time jobs and kids and all of their other commitments, are closer to losing 1 pound per week. I’ve had dozens of clients lose 80 pounds in 80 weeks, 60 pounds in 60 weeks, and 40 pounds in 40 weeks.
So even if it took you twice as long, would it still be worth it?
I’m going to give you the formula:
1.) Lift weights and get stronger in the big four movements: Pushing (presses), Pulling (rows and pullups), Squatting (squats, lunges, step-ups), Hip Hinging (deadlifts, kettlebell swings, single leg deadlifts).
2.) Reduce calories until you are losing 1-2 pounds of fat per week.
Pretty quickly, we start to see that there’s nothing complicated about knowing what it takes. The game is always doing what it takes.
He’s A Pretty Regular Dude
What’s great about Chris Pratt is that he’s someone we all can relate to — he really had to work for it.
He’s someone who’s been in great shape a couple times before, but clearly when left to his own devices, is about sixty pounds overweight.
Chris is a totally average dude, totally has to work for it, and this is what happened when he did work for it.
Putting In The Time 
It’s the day in and day out of doing it. It’s the “how many days can I string together” of it.
Remember, Chris Pratt put in six months.
The real transformation wasn’t Chris Pratt’s body. The real transformation was Chris Pratt’s perspective on how long it should take and how much work it would be.
His perspective changed, and his body followed.
Even if you only lose fat half as fast as Chris Pratt did — if you only lose 1 pound per week — you’re still going the right direction. You’re making great progress.
Don’t look for magical instant huge weight loss. Look for losing 1 pound per week, consistantly, until you hit your goal.
by Josh Hillis
Author of the upcoming Fat Loss Happens on Monday, with Dan John
Head Coach at PowerHour Personal Training in Denver.
Great article Josh. I can attest as one of the clients who lost 40 lbs in 40 weeks…