2. Calories Count -- Your goal is to eat as much as possible
while still losing fat. For example, if I can get you to lose 1 to 2
pounds of fat per week on 1,400 calories per day, I'm on track. If I
try to accelerate the process and lower your calories to 1,200, I
sabotage your efforts. Anything more than a 2-pound loss per week will
strip muscle tissue and give one a soft look.
A good example is
the person who goes on a crash diet and ends up thin but still soft and
flabby when they get to their goal weight. This takes place because
they lost not only fat, but also valuable muscle. They lowered calories
too much, lost at too fast of a rate and did not try to eat the optimal
amount of calories for fat loss.
3. Eat Breakfast -- A
balanced breakfast comprised of carbohydrates, protein and a little fat
is a critical start to the day. The point of consuming breakfast is
that it breaks the fast from an overnight sleep. In addition, breakfast
will rev the metabolism for the rest of the day. This is your first
opportunity of the day to get blood sugar back to a balanced state
after the all night fast and is critical for sustaining fat loss.
4. Ratios count!
A calorie is not a calorie -- Do you know those people who tell you to
simply lower your calories to lose fat? The people who never mention
protein, carbohydrates or fats? They're wrong.
Protein, carb
and fat ratios are important. The correct ratios (which can vary
depending on an individual's response to food) help to stabilize blood
sugar levels, which helps to increase energy and fat loss. Generally,
40 percent to 50 percent of carbohydrates, 25 percent to 30 percent
protein and 20 percent to 30 percent of healthy fats is the best
starting place.
Carbs are necessary for energy and not the enemy
everyone makes them out to be. The key is how much you consume. Protein
is also critical to build and retain muscle tissue, which in turn helps
to burn more fat.
Finally, good dietary fats are extremely
important. They help to balance hormonal levels, increase strength and
create satiety (fullness). If you're looking for a plan that takes this
into account I recommend eDiets GI plan (Glycemic Impact Diet).
5. Weight Training
-- To affect muscle versus fat ratios you have to train with weights or
perform some type of resistance training. An intense weight workout
lasting no more than 60 minutes is the most efficient route to go. You
don't have to workout with a bodybuilding routine, but you do need to
work the entire body approximately three alternate days per week.
6. Cardio
-- Cardio should be approached as a tool to lose fat. It should not be
used as a never ending event in the hope that all body fat will
magically burn off. Excessive cardio is counter productive and will
burn not only fat, but also valuable muscle tissue.
If fat loss
is not taking place, increase the intensity of your session, not the
time. The key is to perform all that is necessary -- and no more than
that. This is accomplished by incorporating interval cardio training
(integrating slower levels of intensity for several minutes with very
high levels for several minutes). Intervals are great for boosting the
metabolism and creating more of a post caloric burn (calories burned 24
hours after the workout.
7. Water Intake -- From the
standpoint of water intake and fat loss, you want to be in a position
where the liver is converting stored fat to energy. The liver has other
functions, but this is one of its main jobs. Unfortunately, another of
the liver's duties is to pick up the slack for the kidneys, which need
plenty of water to work properly (more than most people realize).
If
the kidneys are water-deprived, the liver has to do the work of the
kidneys along with its own (lowering its total productivity in the
process). The liver then can't metabolize fat as quickly or
efficiently. If you allow this to happen, you're setting yourself up to
store fat because you've made the liver less efficient at turning
stored body fat to energy.
Usually if you multiply .55 times
your weight, that should be enough in ounces of water to suffice. Water
is the underrated fat-loss tool.
8. Discipline -- This is
the seldom used word in the fitness industry. As I mentioned earlier,
you'll read a lot about the new magic workout, the new magic diet, the
machine that's sure to burn fat off your butt, etc. It's all a bunch of
nonsense.
It's about doing the right thing and the hard thing at
times. One day of discipline leading to another day of discipline. You
build your body and your mind simultaneously. Without this, every point
I've made above is fruitless. The good thing is anyone can do it -- if
they choose to.
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