I'm adding some of my past posts from a previous blog that seem to be on subjects many people ask about.
If you’re just starting a fitness program with an objective to lose body fat, this blog is a good place to start. There’s no secret of the tips to fat loss. The key objective for a successful program is to ensure one formula is met.
‘Calories in’ is less than ‘Calories out’.
Calories in is obviously the food you consume. Calories out refers to the number of calories your body burns throughout the day, often enhanced through exercise.
Simple.
However, beyond this key principle, there are other elements that will make your program more effective and successful.
The key to losing fat and maintaining a healthy weight is all about a lifestyle. Forget about the concept of a diet. A diet is a temporary eating plan with temporary results. In fact, on average, those that lose a substantial amount of weight using a fad diet often result in more weight gained if and when the individual quits an unrealistic eating plan. The key to losing weight is to simply change your eating habits for life. Now, before you close this page, this concept doesn’t mean that you can’t eat your favorite foods. But the key is to eat them in moderation, at the right time and in conjunction with an exercise program. It’s important to note that fad diets are not based on effective nutritional principles and are often unsustainable for the long term. However, simple and sound eating habits are easily attainable for a lifetime and thus are more effective in the long run.
Losing and maintaining fat loss requires a change in your life. A change to the way you eat and a change to your activity level. If you aren’t willing to make changes to either of these areas, then your chances of successful weight loss are slim to none. People continue to spend billions of dollars every year in hopes of finding a quick fix to weight and fitness goals. To date, the formula and practices in this article are the only means of meeting those goals. Many people elect or are forced to proceed with gastric bypass surgery. This is often a life-risking surgery that will result in an inability for individuals to consume large amounts of food, but why risk your life when you could improve your health and life with a little effort every week?
Ignorance and laziness are the main culprits as to why there are more and more obese people in society today. Ignorance of what is most healthy and beneficial to eat and laziness to take the time to ‘eat clean’ diets, and not the processed and preservative laden foods currently found with fast food and pre-prepared meals.
The function of food is to supply energy and nutrients to the body. What’s important to note is that some of your favorite foods encourage and promote fat loss. But it’s key to eat them properly, with the right portions and at the right time.
What’s important to note is that for most people, the objective is to lose body fat, not body weight. The goal in a program such as this is to maintain muscle and lose body fat. Your body burns more calories to maintain muscle, which requires a faster metabolism. Your metabolism is the process and speed at which your body burns calories. A goal during fat loss is to speed up your metabolism as much as possible so you are burning as many calories at possible, even at rest. So it goes without saying that a fast metabolism that supports your ‘calories out’ exceeding your ‘calories in’ is a crucial component to fat loss. Metabolism can be increased through proper eating habits and exercise, which we’ll get to later.
Diet
Food consists of three macro nutrients:
• Protein
• Carbohydrates
• Fats
There are numerous functions of proteins in the body, but I'll just concentrate on the most important: proteins are involved in growing, repairing, and replacing tissue. Proteins are large organic compounds made of amino acids which are obtained through the consumption of foods containing protein. These proteins are used as the building blocks of muscle tissue, while others are converted to glucose for use for energy. This use of protein as a fuel is particularly important under starvation conditions as it allows the body's own proteins to be used to support life, particularly those found in muscle. This is what the bodybuilder or fitness enthusiast wants to avoid. The goal is to ensure that protein intake is used almost exclusively for growing, repairing and replacing tissue. Amino acids are also an important dietary source of nitrogen.
Carbohydrates are the preferred form of fuel for the body's energy needs. An important point about carbs and where the average person makes a mistake is that after you supply your energy needs, any excess carbs will be stored as fat. Once your energy needs are met and you keep eating high carb meals, the excess "spills out" and you will add fat.
Fats are by far the most efficient energy storage form. They have various functions in the body including providing energy for cells, controlling what goes in and out of cells, determining the integrity of nervous tissue and helping to form hormones. As much as you hear of the evil of fat, it is actually a required and beneficial nutrient. Many people aren't aware of what the "good fats" are and in what foods you can find them. The American Heart Association recommends restricting the total fats in a diet, reducing the consumption of cholesterol-rich foods, such as milk and butter, replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats, and limiting the intake of trans fats. Although fats are required in every nutritional plan, it is crucial to control and limit their consumption as required.
High protein, moderate carb (particularly complex carbs), and low fat is the most common and effective nutritional strategy for fat loss. As well, smaller and more frequent meals (5-6 per day) prevent stress on the digestive process and will ensure your metabolism is a finely tuned machine.
The most common fat loss nutrient daily ratio recommended is 40-45% carbs, 40-35% protein, and no more than 20% fat. Depending on one’s metabolism, this daily formula is commonly optimal. In addition, this ratio creates a favorable hormonal environment that leads to muscle growth and fat loss.
Exercise
Judging by the line up for the elliptical machines at your local gym, it’s obvious that people view cardio exercise as the most important means of burning calories and losing fat. However, by using cardio as your sole source of exercise, you will lose equal amount of fat and muscle. As mentioned above, a fast metabolism is key for an effective fat loss program. Solely focusing on a cardio fitness plan will result limited effective fat loss with a lower metabolism due to muscle loss.
Gaining muscle is the secret to permanent at loss as the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn at rest on any given day. In addition, gaining muscle is the key to achieving the firm good looking body that everybody wants that dieting and cardio alone will not give. As we get older, we all find ourselves losing muscle. Losing muscle also slows our metabolism. Weights are a key way to mitigate this.
Of course there are many women that are concerned that if they lift weights, they will become bulky and manly looking. If this was the case, every guy that walked in a gym would easily look like Schwarzenagger. The women with large muscle mass are focused, either through an extremely intense weight lifting program and/or the help of performance enhancing drugs, in their effort to go beyond what the female body is naturally limited to looking like.
Recovery
The three pillars of a fitness program is diet, exercise and recovery. Exercise is what sparks growth, food ensures the body has the ability to leverage and respond to training, and recovery allows the body to respond to the stress that it’s faced and prepare for the next workout. If you do not get enough sleep, it will hinder your gains. Without enough rest or sleep, you will lack energy for your workouts, and a large amount of exercise benefit and fat loss actually occurs during sleep. Be sure to get at least 7 hours of sleep a night and allow your body the opportunity to rest and relax. After all, when working out with great intensity, you deserve it.
This article should be a good starting point to meeting your fat loss goals. As was said earlier, it isn’t rocket science and the high level overview in this article touches on an approach that is tried and true. There’s no secret to fat loss. If you are willing to commit to an exercise program, eat properly and ensure proper rest, you’re on your way to meeting your goals and living a healthier life.
