1. Creating a calorie deficit
A Calorie deficit is when you use up more energy than you are consuming, this is when your body will look internally for supplies, this is when fat burning will occur.
2. Exercise rather than starvation
You do need to restrict your calories in your diet, but you ultimately you should aim to burn off your fat through exercise rather than starving yourself with an extremely low calorie diet. Your body’s response to being starved is to slow down your metabolism which is the last thing you want when trying to burn fat. Making Exercise part of your life is the key to permanent fat loss!
3. Avoid trying to lose weight too fast
Don’t try to lose too much weight too fast, if you are losing weight quickly it is likely that a lot of the weight is going to be muscle and water, this will leave you looking unhealthy and weak. One to one and a half pounds a week is a safe amount to ensure that the weight you are losing is from just fat.
4. Avoid Processed foods
Try to avoid processed food as much as possible, even the low fat healthy options. There are high in refined sugars, not good for fat loss. The more natural the better, eating highly nutritious foods will set a perfect fat burning environment for your body.
5. Increase you protein intake
A lot of people think that protein is just for bodybuilders and people trying to bulk up, this isn’t true at all. Your body needs protein to maintain and repair muscles, when you are losing weight you need enough protein to prevent your body from going into a negative nitrogen balance, this is when your body breaks down your muscle as a nutrient source. There is also the fact that the more lean muscle you have the more calories your body uses, so if you put on a little muscle that is great news!
6. Resistance training
Start training with weights three times a week. Why would you want to train with weights when you are trying to lose weight? Well as I mentioned above muscle burns calories very efficiently, the more muscle you have the more calories you burn, even when you are not exercising. A weight training session is a great calorie burning sessions as well.
7. Train cardio three to four times a week
Cardio is essential for successful fat loss. A good cardio session can burn hundreds of calories. build up to 45 minutes per session or if you prefer use interval training to shorten your time spent on your cardio.
8. Hydrate yourself
Every function in your body depends on water, including the fat burning process. Dehydration affects your body’s performance, so in other words if you are dehydrated you body will not be functioning properly. As a rough guide try and drink eight to ten cup a day.
9. Monitor your progress
Taking regular measurements of your weight and body fat is vital to ensuring that you are losing fat not muscle. You need to monitor your body measurements on a weekly basis, weighing yourself the same time of day is essential for accurate readings. Seeing your weight loss written down will be great for your motivation, and will keep you on track to your goals.
10. Set yourself goals and targets
Set long term and short term goals. Set yourself date for milestones. Also set yourself targets in your workouts, try to beat personal bests, etc. This will make your workouts more fun and keep you motivated. This is important for long term success.
Apply everyone of these points to your weight loss plan and most importantly keep it up! This will ensure that you will soon look in the mirror and be amazed at what you see!
by Jon Allmark
