I wrote this article a few months ago, it covers the basic things that a person should incorporate in order to lose fat at a good pace. Often we get wrapped up in the small minuite details and ignore the stuff that makes more of an impact on how we look.
By Lawrence Hosannah
Losing body fat is simple and can be achieved once you understand and apply certain principles to your day. We all respond to the influence of proper nutrition and exercise in varying degrees as a result some people will achieve faster and greater progress than others. This same principle applies to most adaptations in life, for example some humans tan darker than others, and some no matter how long they sit under the sun will not tan well at all. Despite this fact we all must encounter ultra violet rays if we wish to get darker the rule is the same for everyone. The point to the above example is that your genetic inheritance will to some extent determine the rate at which your body will burn fat. Of course if you apply proper principles from the beginning of starting a fat loss program your progress will be the quickest that it can.
Here are some tips to help you optimize your own (genetic) ability to burn body fat.
To burn fat your body must be eat less calories than you burn; i.e. create a caloric deficit.
A pound of body fat contains about 3500 calories, so creating a deficit of 500 calories a day will lead to a pound lost a week (3500 divided by 7 = 500) at least until your body reaches a level that it needs another lowering in caloric intake to continue losing weight. For most people a pound a week of fat loss is a good number to aim for, this will allow steady fat loss with little or no loss in muscle mass.
Those who are drastically overweight may lose weight more expediently (providing that they have no metabolic issues) when beginning a fitness program but results will slow down as they get closer to their ideal weight. If you reach a plateau in fat loss reduce your calories by another 100 to 500 calories, this will allow your body to continue to burn more fat (don't reduce below 1100-1200 total calories per day).
Lifting weight builds muscle (obviously) which in turn speeds the rate at which you can burn body fat (not so obvious).
Muscle requires energy to maintain itself; a typical person burns an additional 50 calories a day for every pound of muscle they gain. If you build 5lbs of muscle you will burn approximately 250 additional calories a day that is why the most effective fat loss plans include weight training. Similar to weight training cardiovascular exercise burns calories during activity, and also allow the body to burn stored calories (fat) while you rest, although not to the same extent as weightlifting will. All being said exercise combined with proper nutrition is a potent blend for burning body fat.
A caloric deficit can be achieved in various ways
Reducing your caloric intake or the amount of food you eat in a day
Exercise more (build muscle and burn calories
Reduce calories and increase exercise (a highly effective combo for speeding up fat loss)
Other methods such as shivering, drinking cold water, taking certain herbs and drugs also speed up metabolism but some of these can be dangerous.
The most effective long-term method for fat loss is a holistic approach
This includes lowered caloric intake, sufficient water intake, intense weight training, cardiovascular exercise and sufficient rest. The total sum of the parts will allow you to get lean faster and keep the fat off.
To develop a body that burns fat rapidly increase your lean muscle mass.
The best way to build new muscle mass is to train with progress resistance, train intensely, after training allow for full recovery to and super-compensation (muscle growth to occur). When it comes to properly performed weight training more is not better, less is not better, an amount that you can get a bit stronger on a week-to-week basis is best.
Perform cardiovascular exercise more frequently that weight training to get leaner.
Cardiovascular activity supports weight loss and can be done more often than weight training, The reason being that it is less taxing on the physiology than weight training. An hour of hard Jogging burns about 400-500 calories; an hour of walking will burn less. With cardiovascular activity it is necessary to periodically increase your intensity slightly. 30 minutes done moderately intensely is better than 1 hour done easily for burning up fat stores. Intense cardio (intervals) take longer to recover from than moderate to low intensity cardio and thus must be used sparingly. The most effective way to lose fat via cardio is to alternate the high intensity interval cardio with easier low intensity cardio from session to session, this should prevent burnout and allow for best results.
When exercise is carried on for too long (high volume) your body’s ability to burn body fat will decline.
This is where you must listen to your body if you feel tired, lethargic, and angry, depressed, have aches and pains, and don't want to train suspect overtraining. If this occurs simply take a few days to a week off from training and reduce your intensity and volume when you return to the gym.
Eat a balanced eating plan of unprocessed foods.
In the general ratio of 30 percent protein, 20 percent fat, and 50 percent carbohydrates works very well for optimizing fat loss. If you wish to reduce your water retention, which can blur definition, simply reduce your carbohydrate percentage to approximately 40% and increase your protein to 40%. Protein has a slight diuretic effect and carbohydrates make your body hold onto water.
You should be eating enough food each meal so that when the next one comes around you are slightly hungry.
When your next meal or snack comes around you should be slightly hungry, If you are not then you probably are not burning enough calories between meals, and if this is not occurring your body has no reason to start burning stored body fat. In such a case reduce your meal sizes a bit. Be careful though, if you eat too little your body will hold onto the fat it has, the trick is to supply slightly less than what it needs. Once again you must be slightly hungry when you go to eat your next meal.
All meals should contain fiber and water in some form or another.
These substances cause you to feel full without eating a lot of calories. Foods such as tomatoes, celery, carrots, lettuce, asparagus, spinach, apples, etc. are high in water and fiber. Fiber helps stabilize insulin levels in the body by preventing the rapid breakdown of food; this prevents high insulin surges which has can lead to fat storage.
To reduce hunger and add flavor to foods add a little bit of fat (a little bit) to your meals.
Good fat sources are olives, vegetable oils, and natural nut butter, nuts. A serving of 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil or a 1/4 handful of nuts is more than enough. Certain foods contain fat, such as whole grains, meats and dairy products in these cases do not add additional fat to your meal.
Protein helps build and rebuild muscle mass
People who train intensely require more than your average couch potato. I recommend 1 gram of protein per pound of lean muscle mass. Don't weight yourself every day. You will go insane if you do this. Pick one day a week preferably a day that you eat the least and weight yourself, after that put the scale away for a week.
A great way to determine if you are losing body fat is to purchase a pair of jeans or trousers that barely fit.
Once every 3 weeks (no more) put them on, and see if they are starting to become looser.
The scale is an inaccurate way to determine fat loss.
For example if a person was to gain 10lbs of muscle and loss 10lbs of fat that person’s body will be leaner, tighter, stronger, fitter, healthier, and more attractive. In the above case the person’s bodyweight would have remained the same but that person’s body would look and feel very different. If you choose to use the scale combine it with other measurement takers such as body fat testing, tape measurements and the mirror.
In order to increase metabolism it is necessary to get sufficient rest.
This means you should feel fully rested when you wake up, most people will need 7-9 hours a night. Lack of sleep can lead to sub par surges in growth hormone, optimal growth hormone levels greatly speed up your body’s ability to burn body fat and build muscle mass. An interesting note is that some studies have shown fat burning hormone Leptin declines in people who get insufficient sleep, in other words your ability to burn fat optimally declines. So get your rest.
By applying the basic principles you will see great progress in your quest to build a leaner and stronger physique.
Want to get leaner? Stronger? Bigger? without drugs then check out
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Lawrence Hosannah is a natural drug free athlete who has been involved in health, fitness and athletics since an early age. He is a student of physique display thus his work and participation with various photographers, artists, and bodybuilding competition. Lawrence is an educator on various aspects of optimal fitness and health, and teaches via articles, books, his website, and spoken word. (If you wish to download this article to your website, web-blog or another online communication source you are welcome to do so; with the stipulation that you maintain the link in this article to
www.hosannahdiesel.com as well as the entire byline).
